Photo Tidbits

Today I got my first library card as an adult! We didn't live inside city limits for most of my youth, and because of that we couldn't use the library for free. Sadly, it took me over a year of living here to get around to registering. I really want to start reading more, so I thought maybe this was a good start.

I chose green, but was really tempted by blue ;)

The first book I checked out. I have two others on hold: bread books!

A fun foodie project: Bible study treats from last Tuesday. It was a fantastic way to use fresh cherries and still enjoy them fresh. I'd definitely recommend it! I got the idea from this recipe.

Pitted, thus the holes.

Some rolled in toasted coconut, some plain, some rolled in toasted sliced almonds.

Mutant cherries, four sets in one bag!

 A few pictures from my drive:

One of my favorite views. I love this little pond, usually full of ducks.

From the road (I did pull over to take the pictures).

This weekend we grilled a 17.7lb prime rib. It took four hours of cooking and 45 minutes of resting. It turned out perfectly! Our friends, the Dunbars, had us and our Bible study friends over to their house. Blake and I were the primary 'chefs' which was really fun!

The beast, all rubbed and seasoned up, ready for the grill.

It was so ridiculously delicious! An incredible sight to behold... even better to eat.

A lively game of bocce ball after dinner.

Last but not least, a few work shots. I helped take some pictures today for the newsletter, so I thought I'd share a few. Our rehab team is always changing the only constants are myself, our OT and our PTA (not pictured).

Me, Tom/PT, Kim/OT, Scott/COTA and the Let 'R Buck logo. Cause we're in Pendleton ;)

This is our goat Gertie. She lives in the nursing home's back yard.

This is her home. She comes in to visit the residents frequently. She wears a diaper and has on her pink collar and leash.

Confessions

Cookie Confessions:

I make over three batches of cookies a month. I shape them into balls and freeze them.

I eat cookie dough out of the freezer at least once a night.

I eat about one cookie a month actually baked.

My husband loves chocolate chip cookies, preferably his mom's recipe to the T. Which includes mixing by hand, using shortening only, no butter, and imitation vanilla (He can actually taste the difference if I use a mixer... you know, like your supposed to).

I have been making cookies with half the shortening for over two months now and it has gone unnoticed. I also use real vanilla. Scandalous I know.

I love to bake, except chocolate chip cookies... so boring.

A double batch

Four dozen, ready for the freezer
We'll see how long this lasts...

Dinner Confessions:

I use my roasting pan more often for cheesecakes than I do for roasts.

I buy a store rotisserie chicken about three times a month. We eat it for dinner night one, and use the rest for up to two other meals.

If I was a really great homemaker I would ALWAYS make chicken stock from the carcass. Instead I do this maybe once a month.

It's not uncommon that I'll serve broccoli as many as three times a week. It's cheep, we buy it at Costco, and it's easy.

I insist on serving something green with every meal. If it isn't broccoli, it's probably canned green beans.

The chances of me following a recipe correctly are slim-to-none. Usually that's because I didn't read it all the way through, but sometimes because of my 'creative genius'.

I'm a super messy cook. My kitchen floor looks like eight people live here.

I usually pick the menu for dinner based on one ingredient and almost always during my drive home (I am trying to start planning weekly menus though).

I let my husband eat Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets because the breading has some whole wheat in it.

I make my husband elaborate lunches, weighing out the ingredients for caloric information and with well balanced snacks- all the night before. I make pb&j on my way out the door.

Cleaning Confessions:

I only vacuum when it looks like it needs it. My mom would be ashamed, she vacuums daily, dirt or no dirt (I do clean the kitchen floor more frequently).

I only dust when people are going to come over. It's the desert, dust blows in two seconds after you've removed it.

I use all non-toxic cleaners (my all-time favorite brand: method). Yet, we use bleach in the laundry.

My husband actually does the laundry, including line drying all the things that require it. I just hang it up.

I can't see our shower because I don't wear my glasses in there. So I presume it's clean enough until proven dirty.


Miscellaneous Confessions:

I do most of my Facebooking, emailing, etc. from my phone in bed between the hours of 11:00 pm and 12:00 am.

I always drag my sorry rear out of bed happily get up to see my husband off to work in the morning. I don't always stay up, since I set my own start time at work.

Sometimes I wake up and accomplish something noticeable just so I can have an excuse to take a mid-morning nap.

I am usually running late for my self determined work starting time.

I am always running late on days that I take a mid-morning nap.

I realize that when we have kids I'll have a rude awakening to real life. Half the time I try to make good habits now. The other half I try to enjoy this lifestyle while I can.

I probably finish about 3/5 projects within the 30 day period I started them.

"When are you guys going to have kids!?"

This is the story of my journey toward motherhood (we're not there yet):
We get asked this question a lot. I really don't mind, it's to be expected at this stage in our lives. My mom doesn't ask because she knows that I have gone through many phases of wanting or not wanting kids and the reasons for those phases. I also think that she trusts us to make the decision when we're ready and just doesn't feel the need to meddle. Sometimes my answer to this question is: "Maybe never."

The truth is, we did go through a phase where we seriously questioned if we should have kids instead of how many and when. We both agreed that we wanted kids when we were dating, but certainly not anytime soon. After we got married, we thought it was pretty great to have our time all to each other and we were impressed with what life with two incomes might offer. We selfishly thought that maybe this DINK (Double Income, No Kids) lifestyle would be better than all that stress and cost of raising kids in this society. At first the motivation was really just selfish. I had just finished working in the schools and was working with pediatrics right after our honeymoon, so this seemed like a nice way to satisfy my love for kids... enjoy them at work but don't bring them home.

After several months of marriage I started working in geriatrics again. Maybe it was God's hand but I had several patients in a row that never had children. It was uncanny that patient after patient was unable to have children and either adopted, took care of nieces and nephews or just lived without dependents. I realized the longevity of the decision we would make at such a young age. It's not something you can really change your mind about after a certain point. I also realized how hard it was for these elderly couples that didn't have kids or grand kids to help them make decisions or care for them. This was now a selfish reason to have kids. We weren't really getting anywhere... selfish reasons for, selfish reasons against. Self, self, self, me, me, me.

Time passed and life went on. I started to question whether it would even be a good idea to bring kids into this world, with the way things were going- our country's economy... the crazy things going on in the Middle East. Not only that but I was watching friends that had toddlers to teenagers and wasn't sure I wanted any of those issues. Ever. So I really pondered this. I love babies, but that stage is gone fast and then it's years of work and worry as you try to shape a free willed mind to love God and obey Him when so few other people are asking the same. I was pretty serious about this, but Blake thought he wanted to experience fatherhood and teaching our kids things. He thought that sounded like fun. Ya, fun for him, I thought. Still lots of work and worry for me. Also he only said this once or twice, usually he just 'joked' about how much he didn't want kids with other people. So I wasn't sure how seriously he'd been taking this or how seriously I could take him.

Time continued to go on and we were growing together and, more importantly, together toward God. My heart softened during a small group study of the book The Excellent Wife toward my role as a Biblical wife and woman. I started to long to stay home and do my duty as a wife, a feeling I did not have before. I had learned during my stint of unemployment that staying home had it's benefits, and a stay-at-home-wife lifestyle sounded great (that took care of the stay-at-home part.. now I just needed to get to -mom rather than -wife). Through this study, our marriage really blossomed too, we were really communicating now and were following a much more Biblical framework for marriage (i.e., leading husband, submissive wife), which had previously been a little unbalanced. It's amazing how working on your own behaviors, actions and motives can have positive change your spouse's behaviors, actions and motives.. without even trying. It's also amazing how much better God's plan for a healthy marriage works than your own selfish stab at it.

Time went on, we were very happy where we were at when... It finally hit me. My love of babies (I truly do LOVE babies) went into overdrive after holding a friend's newborn. I was baby CRAZY. My mommy gene was in overdrive for a baby. But... I still wasn't sure about the toddler to teenage years. I obviously wasn't going to bring a kid into this world because I wanted to enjoy 12-15 months of it's eternal life. That would just be irresponsible.

It was during this time that we started to consider foster parenting. We could try to foster only babies! Maybe older kids as we got the hang of things. This seemed to be a way to meet my baby-only desire while doing some good. In all seriousness, being a foster parent (and adoption) has always been on my heart and I thought why not now. Getting started now, would make it more likely that we'd do it in the future too. I was afraid that we'd get too comfy in our lifestyle and never take that leap. Just because we weren't ready for a lifelong parenting commitment, didn't mean that we couldn't love some kids right now. We prayed and prayed and prayed.

Through orientation (a mandatory step in the process) we discovered that there wasn't a great need for foster parents that are willing to take only one kid and only ages 0-12 months, most infants seemed to come in sibling sets, and we didn't have the room to be set up for more than one kid, or specifically one over 12 months (infants are allowed to sleep in a crib in the parents' room, so we had room for them). Also, we realized that even if we could have offered our spare bedroom to an older kid (my brother stayed with us routinely for work and the bedroom was 'his') we weren't ready to parent a kid that needed real parenting. An infant needs attention and love, but less parent know-how and experience. That is what we felt able to provide... beginner parenting only. We realized that we wanted to go through the natural stages of becoming a parent, starting with itsy-bitsy infant and learning as they grew.

THIS WAS HUGE. We really did want to be parents! Not yet, but we found ourselves wanting this parent thing in sequence, and continuing past infancy! Someday, we really did want to be parents of real children that would grow up into *gasp* toddlers and *GASP* possibly beyond!

At some point during all of this we also had a tiny pregnancy scare and realized some important things in those few days:

1. We were not, nor were we ever, going to feel fully "ready".
2. We would happily accept the challenge if this was what God was putting before us.
3. We were ridiculously unable to afford for me to stop working.
   and most importantly:
4. We never even stopped to ask our Father if we should have kids or when He might want this to happen.

That was a crazy feeling. I never thought about our assumed *right* to have or not have children as anything other than just that: our right to choose (I'm not talking pro-choice in that sense. We are firmly pro-life). Were we willing to ask God, and if so, were we willing to listen to the answer?

As it turned out, we asked, we listened, we were not pregnant nor did we feel the calling to be so.

We entered a new stage of willingness to obey if called 'early', planning on when I am thirty, preparing our finances, changing our lifestyle to fit this goal, and praying that God would lead us in all of these areas. So that now when it is time to take the leap, we will enter with faith and trust that we've done what we can do to be prepared.

Last Sunday we brought it up again and reconfirmed our thoughts on this timeline. We talked excitedly, looking forward to the day when we might begin that journey. We also recalculated the spreadsheet to make sure we were on track for our 'plan' (thanks, Blake!). We feel convicted that in the meantime it is our responsibility to do what we can to prepare so that I can be a stay-at-home-momma. If, in fact, a momma is what God calls me to be.

It is certainly my heart's desire (now), to be a momma, but I am also willing to consider that God may have a plan for us other than the 'settle down, buy a house and have kids' plan. Just because it's what I want (now), doesn't mean that I'm closing my mind to the possibility that it may not be what God wants. He may be leading us to financial freedom in order to send us to the mission field. Whatever it is, I have given up my life in exchange for the one He has for me, and I will follow wherever He leads us... down the path of motherhood or not.

::

That is my journey toward motherhood, thus far.

(To be continued...)

The next installment: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

A Hot Cereal Kind of Day

Today is a FANTASTICALLY rainy day. I know I am probably alone in this simple pleasure, but I LOVE a nice rainy, gray, cloudy day. Sorry farmers, sorry outdoor laborers, sorry moms that have kids to entertain. Today it looks like rain!

: :

This morning, half awake, I stumbled out to the kitchen to make coffee, get a bowl of cereal and go about my quiet time routine. As I was reaching up to get a bowl, something struck me. Something was different about this morning. This morning my sinuses were happy in the whole house (not just the room with the humidifier). This morning the air conditioner wasn't kicking on every five seconds. This morning my husband hadn't taken his motorcycle to work. Could it be?! I went to the window. It was! Gray skies as far as I could see, puddles in the driveway, water dripping from the gutters. It was a rainy, gray, cloudy day!

Now I was awake! I went back to my bowl with a skip in my step and realized that this was a day that called for homemade Cream of Wheat! I hooked up my grain mill attachment and dug some wheat berries out of the fridge. As the grain mill whirred I smiled and thought of the hour and a half I'd get to spend driving to work, looking at the beauty of this rain. It was going to be a great Wednesday.

I settled in with my steaming bowl of wheaty goodness, steaming cup of coffee and my Bible. I could hear it starting to rain again. Thanks, Jesus, for the little things.

: :

Homemade Cream of Wheat
Original recipe found here

You will need:
Grain mill
Wheat berries (hard red or soft white wheat; either works fine), ground to medium-fine.

For a single serving:
1/4 c. fresh ground wheat
1 c. milk (or water) plus 1/4 c. milk
Pinch of salt
1 tsp butter/olive oil (optional)
Sugar as desired (optional)

Microwave Directions:
Combine ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, stir.
Microwave on high for one minute, stir, microwave for another 30 seconds.
Add remaining 1/4 c. of cold milk, stir, and enjoy!

Stove Top Directions:
Bring 1 c. milk (or water) almost to a boil.
Combine ingredients. Stir constantly to prevent lumps for about one to two minutes.
Take off the heat and add remaining 1/4c. of cold milk, stir and enjoy!

Pure Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.       

James 1:2-4 NIV

What a concept. Not only does it say when you face trials (not if ) it says that you are to consider it an occasion for joy!

I'm thankful that this says "trials of many kinds" and not: "really serious trials only." Sometimes life brings major trials and this is definitely a time to find our joy in Jesus and carry on. Yet, life can also bring little trials. Probably not considered a trial in some minds, but when it causes you to either stress out or learn to lean on Jesus.. I think it can be called a trial. I'm going through said type of trial. It's not a huge major trial like an illness of a family member, personal illness or a long separation from a spouse, those are major trials.

Life is bringing stressors that could either drive me inward- toward self dependence or upward - toward greater dependence on God and His leading. These stressors are minor things like: finances, timelines, housing options, automobile repairs and replacements. Yet, when all thrown together it makes for instability.

After some time praying yesterday, trying to discern what God's will is for a few situations in life I was reminded of the passage above in James. God was reminding me that the physical outcome of these decision aren't the only way my life is impacted. He reminded me that I'm also being stretched and grown. "The testing of your faith develops perseverance." This is hard because it's testing my faith, but in the end, I'll be better off for having gone through this process with the Lord and with my husband. We're on our way toward being made more mature and complete in Christ. We'll be better servants, spouses and parents by working through these life changes and learning to live in faith.

After reading James, I looked those passages up in my favorite commentary, by David Guzik. I liked what he had to say about the topic:

i. Patience/Perseverance is the ancient Greek word hupomone. This word does not describe a passive waiting, but an active endurance. It isn’t so much the quality that helps you sit quietly in the doctor’s waiting room as it is the quality that helps you finish a marathon.

ii. The ancient Greek word hupomone comes from hupo (under) and meno (to stay, abide, remain). At its root, it means to remain under. It has the picture of someone under a heavy load and resolutely staying there instead of trying to escape. ... The Greek commentator Oesterley said this word patience describes “the frame of mind which endures.”
...
c. Develops perseverance: Trials don’t produce faith, but when trials are received with faith, it develops perseverance. But perseverance is not inevitably produced in times of trial. If difficulties are received in unbelief and grumbling, trials can produce bitterness and discouragement. This is why James exhorts us to consider it pure joy. Counting it as joy is faith’s response to a time of trial.

I like how he described patience as "active endurance." This is life: a heavy load, a marathon, requiring ongoing movement while enduring. You can't really escape it, but trying to do so can lead to bitterness and discouragement- no thanks! Might as well develop a "frame of mind which endures." Heaven knows I'll have many more things to endure, great and small trials, in the road ahead.

i. “It is occasionally asserted that James asks his readers to enjoy their trials . . . He did not say that they must feel it all joy, or that trials are all joy.” (Hiebert)

Guzik said: faith's response to a time of trials is: joy. We aren't being told to enjoy our trials (see above) but the response of a person who's faith is in Jesus is: joy. Joy because we are growing. Joy because God knows best. Joy because we are developing perseverance. Joy because life has greater meaning than any of these trials. Joy because we are loved by our Father.

Joy has been on my mind lately. I recently heard a sermon on the radio by David Hocking. He's a straight shooter and was clearing up the misnomer that joy is relative to our emotional state or mood. It isn't. Joy isn't happiness, although they can coincide. Joy is what you experience during times of trials and during times of blessing. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. When you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you have a part of the Trinity living in you. This is one of God's gifts to us.

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"   Luke 11:13

I am reading the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream in which the author, David Platt, made the point that in the verse above Jesus compares gifts to our children to the Holy Spirit. This is God's gift to us. When we need comfort, He gives us the Comforter (HS), when we face trials in faith, He gives us the Spirit that produces joy.

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"   Galatians 5:22-23

How badly I want to possess all those qualities mentioned in Galatians. I want to love, to be kind, to be joyful and gentle and self-controlled. I guess this takes time. It takes daily turning to the Lord in faith and asking His Spirit to keep working in me. Which is what I'll do :)


On a lighter note: here are some little things that bring me simple joy (which is probably actually happiness).

Fruit! I love having fresh fruit!

The graph that my husband makes from his spreadsheets that represent our debt going down. These spreadsheets change weekly, daily sometimes, as he reconfigures the "theoretical" numbers to give the most accurate timeline (ignore the blue line when it drops.. we're not there yet). Oh how I love him!

Love notes on the mirror. A reminder that he loves me too :)

'Love' notes on the dishwasher make me pretty happy too!

Life on the Fence

I feel like I am living on top of a fence. A wide and tall and deep fence... please bear with the analogy...

On one side: the world full of sinfulness and lost people being blinded by the devil. On the other side: an eternity of righteousness, truth, love and goodness. We start off in the world because of Adam and Eve. We are born sinners. Through God's gracious gift of Jesus, we have the choice to climb out of that world and eventually enter into heaven. We are stuck 'in' the world but it is not our home (i.e., not 'of' the world). It's like we get to climb out and away from the mire onto the fence of salvation. Yet, we have been commanded to preach the Gospel, to be salt and light, and to help as many people as we can to climb up out of the world and on to that fence of salvation. So we can't get too far away from the world or we'll be no good at helping people out of it. We also can't get too close to the world, or we might get duped into dangling our feet in their muddy waters.

In his preface to The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis wrote:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race falls about devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

I used to care what the world thought, I was a materialist, as C.S. Lewis put it. Yet, I also cared what the Lord thought and what the other people onthe fence thought (i.e., other believers).

I once befriended a person, out of natural circumstance, thinking that she wouldn't drag me into the world but that I would lead her up onto the fence. As you can imagine. It was much easier for her to have me teetering towards the world side than it was for me to pull her up there. In the end, I stayed on the fence and she walked away, further into the world. During that time of teetering, I started to stink more like the pride and selfishness of the world. My priorities were skewed by the world's priorities. As I said, I didn't fall off the fence (i.e., I didn't lose my salvation or sight of God) but I took on some of the world's qualities.  I tried to play the game of being friends with the world and with Jesus, I tried to serve two masters. This does not work, as the Bible clearly states. (James 4:4, Matt. 6:24). 

Jesus paid a high price for me to sit up on that fence, and for me to one day cross to the other side of the fence into the perfect eternity of heaven. He wasn't going to let me fall in without a fight. He didn't give up on me and I am now safely attached to the fence. I have learned my lesson about being friends with the world. I understand this verse more now than I ever could before.

"If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it." -Jesus    Matt. 10:39

So here I sit on the fence, no longer trying to keep both sides happy. I surrender my measly life plan for the greater picture of God's plan.  When some worldly desire dances across my mind, I dismiss it because I know that what God has for us is far better than what the world can offer. Will I ever shop in Paris? Walk the streets of England? Maybe not, but I'll reassure myself that the clothes of heaven and streets of gold will be better than all the material goods in this world. I know that the promises of God are greater than anything this world can offer me.

I know these things with my head and my heart. I'm sold out, as they say. I serve one master. Yet still the struggle exists, the day-to-day choice to pick up our cross and follow Him. How do I sit up on this fence and also make some sort of an impact on the world?

::

Living in the US is a blessing, but also gives us choices that they don't have in, say, Haiti. Referring back to what C.S. Lewis said, in the US satan wants to make us materialists, but in Haiti, he wants lead them away from Christ as magicians. It makes me wonder how I ended up where I did. Did God know that I wouldn't hack it on the dirt roads of Haiti, or vice verse? How did I get to be so lucky as to have the 'struggle' of dying to my selfishness. These aren't choices they have in most parts of Haiti, they don't ponder organic vs. store brand. However, they fight a different battle that we'll never fight. Open spiritual warfare isn't something we see in the US. Thinking about my challenge to live modestly in contrast to seeing my neighbor be possessed by a demon puts some perspective on things.

I am reminded that my command is the same as theirs: love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.

I will always remember the tenacity these girls had
for survival and for anything American
(especially for my American snacks)!
Tricotte, Haiti - 2004

Weekend Life

We try to enjoy this stage of our lives by really taking advantage of our freedom and flexibility. We won't always be able to pack up and take off on Thursday or Friday nights and be gone all weekend. We won't always be able to make last minute plans and change those plans at will.

Our families are important to us. Most of them live in the same small town four hours from here; our parents live less than a mile from each other. We have other important family and friends in Seattle, and another group of important family in Boise. All of these places are within four hours of driving. This does make seeing our families much easier, but also means that we are away from our home most weekends.

Not this weekend though. This weekend we stayed home and tried to get some housework done and get out into the community.  Ahhh :)

Saturday morning we made it to the Pasco Farmer's Market. We try to get out to either the Pasco or Richland markets to get some fresh produce for the week's menu.

This was it! It's usually WAY bigger, but I guess
it's still early in the season. We managed to find
some fruits and some beautiful chard.

We also tried a Hawaiian Smoothie.
This one is Hawaiian Lemonade:
strawberries, lemon and kiwi.

After the farmer's market, we still needed to get some more groceries for the week, so we went to the Country Mercantile. I love this store. During the summers it's full of fun produce and all sorts of local products and goodies.

We were looking for milk in glass bottles, but they didn't carry it. I also bought some other produce and cherries, which was a surprise this early in the season.

This is one type local product
that they sell. I'm not sure
 about this one though.
Canned Cobbler!? Hmm.

After the Country Mercantile, we finished up our grocery shopping with Albertson's and Costco. Not terribly exciting, except that we do love us a Costco trip. We also went to United Grocers. It's funny that we shop in bulk so much when there is just two of us. We like to get big packs of things and then use our Food Saver to break it down into smaller portions and freeze it. Like we'll buy a whole fillet of salmon and then cut it into servings and vacuum seal them. Blake's newest idea is to get a meat slicer and make our own lunch meat. I'm thinking that we aren't there yet ;). We don't use that much lunch meat. I think that we'll be pros if we decide to have a big family!

::

We had dinner after our grocery shopping (steaks, yams and broccoli, all grilled) and did some gardening.

We now have the following vegetables growing: Tomato (1), jalapenos (2), other hot peppers (2), bell peppers (5), cucumber (1), strawberries (2), lettuce/spring greens (4).

We also have the following herbs growing: Basil (4), dill (4), sage (1), rosemary (1 large), thyme (2), oregano (1), mint (1). I'm going to try growing my cucumber and future squash plants vertically!

My sage plant (top left) came back from last year, after nearly dying this winter. I've never seen it flower like this before.

After our dinner and gardening, we got an invite to come over to a friend's bbq. Since we'd already eaten, I decided to make a dessert to bring. I had just bought a ton of blueberries and it was a good reason to use them. I made Blueberry Pudding Cake, delicious. The recipe can be found here.

Not the best picture, but this
was the leftovers.

We had a great time visiting with friends. It feels like we never get to just go hang out at friends' houses, since we're never in town. Most of our friends here are originally friends of Blake's from college or new friends from church. We see our church friends every Tuesday during Bible study, but the two groups (Blake's friends and church friends) don't overlap (yet.. wouldn't that be great if they did one day).

Sunday came and brought a beautiful day for church out in their amphitheater. They do this only during the summer. Eventually it gets too hot and has to move to the early service, which we don't usually make it up for :).

At the top of the amphitheater.

I thought this might be a cool shot,
please don't interpret it as signs of boredom.
The study was great!

It happened to be communion Sunday.

The fountain, that also serves as the baptismal.

Took a few other shots while I had the camera out.

I love having my shoes off and my toes in the grass.

Our Sunday tradition is to get breakfast burritos from Roberto's Taco Shop after church. These things are so good! I'm sure my photos won't do it justice, but will make me recall the deliciousness that once was on my palate.

Egg, bacon, potato and cheese. Best served cut in half with
a side of 'green' sauce (which is actually brown).

Simple weekend, but thoroughly enjoyed. It's the sort of weekend that we'll think of as ordinary and boring a few years from now, when most of our weekends are this way. I'm sure that we'll wish for the last minute getaway weekends when we're in the stage of staying home with our family. The grass is always greener, isn't it.

Filler

My mind is mostly consumed with some inner turmoil about work... which I'm not sure if I will or should post about, at least until I finalize my thoughts. So I'll leave it in my brain for now and post something much less thoughtful or introspective.

Here is a little about me. It’s funny to read my responses to these types of questions a few years later.

1. What was your pet name when you were a kid?
   Jilly and my grandpa called me Jillsy-Pillsy (not a favorite).
   
   
2. If we say, we are here to help others, what are the others here for?
   To be helped and to help me ;)
   
   
3. Relate the funniest incident in your life. Or what was the funniest thing you did as a kid?
   Well, my family would all say that the funniest thing I did as a kid was the "waterfall incident."
   We had a tree house that was about 20' up in a tree with a rope ladder as the only way up and down. There was a missing rung right at the top, so it was tricky to get down. My cousin Tommy was a really funny kid, but apparently afraid of heights and for some reason decided to try to cure it by going up to the tree house. Well, long story short. I had to pee like crazy, I mean like crazy. I'm trying to get down the rope ladder, right at the tricky spot and Tommy decides to start freaking out in the funniest way possible. You see where this is going right. I'm laughing like crazy, barely holding onto the rope and barely holding onto my bladder. Guess which I let go of first... yes, my bladder. My family says that the streams of yellow you-know-what was pouring out of both sides of my shorts and went on FOREVER. There it is. They still laugh about it today.
4. Which was the naughtiest prank you played in school?
   I am so not a prankster. However, my friend Brie is and when we lived in the dorms at WWU we were pranked pretty badly by some guys in our dorm and she talked me into retribution. It wasn't my idea, I promise.
   We got into the guys' room, pushed their beds together, put pin-up pictures of teen male pop stars, wrote love notes to and from the roommates, and blared the B-52's "Love Shack" with their windows open. The best part was that when they walked onto their hall, they said, "Who are the tools blaring the B-52's". Imagine the looks on their faces when they realized it was them.
   
   
5. Who was your first crush?
   Troy J. in Kindergarten.
   
   
6. Which was the most embarrassing moment of your life?
   See number three. Also some serious foot-in-mouth scenarios.
    
7. List five things you would need to survive, if left alone on a deserted island.
   A water filter with desalination capabilities, a fishing pole, matches, my Bible with a picture of Blake for a bookmark (counts as one thing) and loads of sunscreen (seriously, I’m so fair skinned, a bad sunburn could kill me).
   
   
8. If it is illegal to drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?
   For the taxis and DDs... No, seriously, because it's a fallen world full of us fallen people.
   
   
9. If man evolved from monkeys and apes, how do monkeys and apes exist?
   According to those silly evolutionists "from amino acids that came from another planet".
   Obviously, this is ridiculous. Read Genesis.
   
   
10. What treatment would you seek if you were addicted to therapy?
    Jesus therapy.
    
    
11. Why are boxing rings square-shaped?
    So that there are corners to be backed into.
    
    
12. Don’t you think, the term, ‘free gift’ consists of a redundant usage of words?
    Not really. I think of a gift as something that was given with the intent to bless someone or make them happy. Something that’s just free, means that someone wants you to have it with an ulterior motive or it’s literally worthless. ‘Free gift’ then means someone has mixed intentions when they’re giving it away. Okay fine, 'free gift' isn't the best use of words.
         
         
13. If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?
    World-wide revival and belief in Jesus.

14. If you won the lottery, what would you buy?
    My college degrees (i.e., get out of debt).
    I'd also save some money to buy a moderate-sized house and land when we decide where that should be, save some money for my parent's elderly years (what they don't use, maybe I will), and start donating large monthly sums to my favorite Christian organizations. I might also make one large donation to a worthy cause… but I guess that’s not what the question asked.
    
    
15. Who is the most important person in your life and why?
    I'll define person as human and thus my most important person is my husband, Blake. He amazes me and makes me feel more loved than any other person has before and I love him more than I thought was possible (wait till I have kids, I’m sure).
    
    
16. Who was the most influential person in your life?
    Hmm. Again, person = human, so probably my youth pastor's wife/my mentor and now friend, Mary Beasley.
    
    
17. What is your earliest memory?
    This is hard because I think that some early memories are tainted/influenced by looking at pictures. It's kind of scary how many things I've forgotten. I really couldn't tell you what my 'earliest' memory is.
    I do remember standing by the window looking out at something outside and instead of resting my chin on the windowsill; I'd rest my top teeth on it because I liked how it felt for my teeth to sink into the wood. I can even remember the sound it made. My mom says I did this when I was pretty young, like the height of the windowsill, so two-ish, but I might have also done this when I was older and kneeling down.. kind of gross I know.
    
    
18. Who was your first kiss and how old were you?
    My first boyfriend, Cameron, when I was 20.
    
    
19. If you could go back to any age, which would it be?
    Either 4 or 5. Before any real responsibilities and when I still had childhood innocence.
    
    
20. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
    Oof. I'd be *gasp* 37. I hope to be loving Jesus more every day and following Him into motherhood, be it my own children, adoption, foster parenting or some combination of the three. I'd love to be living closer to our parents, but truly, I just want to follow the Lord and be content wherever He takes us.
    
    
21. Would you rather have hundreds of acquaintances or a couple good friends?
    Easy. A couple of good friends.
    
    
22. Where did you go on your last vacation and what did you do?
    Italy and Greece. Specifically: Venice, Italy; Bari, Italy; Katakolon, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Rhodes, Greece; and Dubrovnik, Croatia. You can read about it here. We went for our first anniversary. It was wonderful!
    
    
23. What article of clothing do you put on first in the morning?
    My underpants.
    
    
24. What is the first thing you do as part of your morning routine?
    Drag myself out of bed and go pee.
    
    
25. What is the first thing you think about in the morning?
    Probably the first thing I think about is if I really need to wake up at just that second. Then I start talking to my Savior.
    
    
26. What is the last thing you think about before you go to bed?
    I usually curl up next to my husband, who is usually already sound asleep, and fall asleep praying and thanking my Father for such a wonderful husband and the blessings He provides us with.
    
    
27. Where do you sleep on the bed (left side, right side, or the middle)?
    If you are standing at the foot looking toward the pillows, I sleep on the right. I swear my husband sleeps in the middle ;). I used to sleep on the left, but Blake is a left side sleeper and I am adaptable ;)
    
    
28. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
    45 minutes, but easily an hour if I can't decide what to wear.
    
    
29. Do you ever screen your phone calls?
    Almost always.
    
    
30. Why might you screen a phone call?
    I really prefer to focus on the people in the room, rather than the phone. So if I'm around people I'll only answer if necessary, and only if I actually hear my phone ring/vibrate. Also because if you aren't in my phonebook, I don't know your number and there's a high likely hood that you're a recruiter trying to get me to listen to their spiel about their therapy company. Also, I don't love talking on the phone, particularly in front of people. So if it can be accomplished in a text message or voicemail, I love it.
     
31. What is your biggest pet peeve about people?
    I heard an interview about a book called Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us. Their hypothesis is that we are annoyed by things that we can't control or predict. They use the cell phone conversation in public as an example, it's annoying because you can't control it, but also can't tune it out, and can't predict what will be said next because you only hear one side.
    I'm sorry to say that I couldn't pick just one pet peeve about people, and I'm embarrassed by the things that do annoy me. I feel that this theory is probably right about why those things annoy me. Either way, every day is a chance to die to my sinful nature and practice patience and joy.
    
    
32. What type of driver are you?
    Confident, nearing careless. Not over cautious. I’m not even slightly hindered by bad weather, driving at night etc. However, I take liberties that I probably shouldn’t, like I always drive (long-ish distances) with my shoes off and one foot tucked up. Every day that I drive to work Sometimes I even sit crisscross when I have the cruise on. By most standards, I’m a bad driver. I do things while I drive, which I’ve stopped admitting to people because they are appalled.
    
    
33. Have you ever been stopped by the police? What happened?
    Funny they put these questions back to back. Given my admittedly poor driving habits, the answer is unsurprisingly, yes. I have had several speeding tickets, a ticket for failure to stay right, a ticket for talking on my cell phone and one ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign, which I got dropped in traffic court because I really did stop. The funny thing is that I don’t really speed anymore. I certainly used to, and that is when I got half of my speeding tickets. Now I’m thoroughly addicted to my cruise control and make a point to never speed, no matter what. However, there are still times when I can’t use cruise (traffic, 25 mph speed limits etc.) and it never fails, when I’m just not paying attention.. they are!
    
    
34. What is one of your biggest regrets? I hate it when people say, ‘I live a life with no regrets’.. Usually I hate this because their attitude implies that they can fix their own problems in their own strength. Also because these people tend to say that when they should regret the choices they’ve made. I feel like they say it because they feel convicted for their choices and this is a way to assert power over the feeling of conviction instead of just submitting and repenting.
    
    That said, I do firmly believe that there is ‘no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). In that context, I have no regrets.
    Yet, I do wonder what my life would have been like if I’d really and truly always put God’s perfect will before my own. I regret some choices that I’ve made, knowing fully that I wasn’t serving God with them. I don’t condemn myself for those choices, but I’d certainly rather live without the consequences of those sins than with them.
    I'm starting to regret this survey..
    
         
         
35. What's your favorite TV show?
    I really like Bones on Fox.
    
    
36. What’s your favorite movie?
    I recently committed to this. Previously in my life, I could never choose. I’ve decided that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. The new one, and I feel a little guilty about not loving the old one.
    
    
37. What type of music do you most like to listen to and why?
    Christian. I like that when I’m sending subliminal messages to my brain, they’re always positive. They point me to Christ if they do anything and I’d prefer that than pointing me to a lifestyle or thought process that is of the world. I used to love country too, but I feel like so much of it isn’t positive that it outweighs the few good Christian-ish songs on the station. I’ll still listen to some country, like on my iPod.
    
    
38. Do you have an easy time forgiving and forgetting?
    Not until recently. Last summer I read a book with my small group called The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. I’ve thought about doing a book review on it. It is ridiculously excellent (no pun intended). In that book I really took to heart the meaning of the oh, so popular (we had it in our wedding) verse: 1 Cor. 13:4-7. I think we hear this so much get kind of immune to the depth of these words. Anyway. I used to really keep track of the wrongs against me, I think something from my childhood caused this, a way to keep from being hurt again. I realized through this book study that we are commanded by Jesus to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors. If Jesus told me to do this, it’s important. My closest neighbor is my husband. If I say that I love my husband, and I do, then I should be patient, kind… and keep no record of wrong. If forgiving and forgetting is how I’m supposed to love people, specifically my husband, then I’d better get on it. Since then, it’s been easier to do so.
    

    ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

    
    
          
39. Do you enjoy surprise parties?
    I’ve never had one thrown for me, but I don’t think I would enjoy it. I don’t like being the center of attention and when I do have to be, I need to know as many of the variables ahead of time as I can.
    
    
40. Do you have any hidden talents? What are they?
    I can wiggle my ears.
    
    
41. Do you sing in the shower?
    Most morning. I always have the radio on in the bathroom, so I probably sing along more that I think about it.
    
    
42. What is the one thing you can cook the best?
    I am a foodie. I love cooking. I particularly love a food challenge. I think the one thing I can cook the best would be cheesecake. I’ve found the perfect recipe and can generally turn one out that looks like it might have come from the you-know-what Factory.
    
    
43. What is your biggest fear?
    I fear economic collapse. I fear the possibility that our country will go under and food will be too expensive. I mostly fear this because my mom would then be right (she thinks this is likely).
    
    
44. What do you worry about?
    Oh, I guess this is answered in #43. I consciously try not to worry. I trust Jesus so much that I know He will get us through anything as long as we are following Him with all our hearts. That said, when worry does cross my mind, it’s about this economy failure thing. Also I worry about lost opportunities to lead people to Christ because of my selfishness. That I just have to surrender to Him though.
    
    
45. What do you hope for in the future?
    I hope that the people I love will love Jesus (if they don’t already) and know the peace and blessing that comes from knowing Him. I hope to be able to be a mom and do look back on my life knowing that I’ve served my King well.