1. Soft Scrub (the spray kind), kills ants immediately upon contact. Incredible, but scary. I mean - Dwight and I clean with that stuff. Eeks.
2. 15 passenger vans with luggage racks set atop them actually look kind of suave and adventurous (it's all about perspective). There is a family at our church with one like that, and I am renewed in my amazement each time I see it. I mean, honestly, I may have totally clued out, but I don't ever remember seeing one like that before. And I have seen quite a few large vans in the last ten years.
3. Sonic's Happy Hour 1/2 price drinks are amazing. Try the medium cherry limeaid without ice. Marvelous. :-D (I think it is $0.88) - plus Sonics is fun. They rollerblade your drink to you!
4. Lots of really amazing places offer free food for your birthday. Noodles & Company, Maggie Moo's and Coldstones, just to name a few.... yummy. You just have to sign up for their mailing list!
5. Next time I'm faced with the possibility of not having enough work in the day to keep me thoroughly busy, I'm going to thank the Lord for His grace on my life and *enjoy* it. If I had done that back in 2007 (rather than adding 2 other jobs at HQ into my task list), I'd have been done with WBLA long before now. Argh. What was I thinking. Now I just want to get it finished before baby comes! Yeah, I should be working on it instead of writing this.
6. Someday I want to have a Yellow Lab, name her Penelope, and buy her a pink collar. Yup. I'm beginning to view German Shepherds in a fonder light (per Dwight), but Dobermans... I just can't do it (sorry honey!). So, maybe we will have a GS and a Lab... my Lab can teach the Shepherd to be sweet, and the Shepherd can teach my Lab how to settle down and behave.
*To Doberman fans out there, I'm sorry. I had an encounter with one chasing me when I was 5. I was small, it was big, and the front door to our house was locked. I thought I was going to die. :-P
7. Pikes Peak still has snow on it's cap. How's that for random? :-P No seriously, it is strange to be out in the sunshine (roasting), and to see snow off in the distance. You should try it sometime. ;-)
p.s. I have my 3rd Ultrasound this afternoon and Dwight will be coming with me! I'm so excited - I ♥ seeing little wiggleworm! He/she is just so cute and precious...
Tuesday, June 23
Monday, June 22
Help!!! (i.e. cloth diaper Q)
Okay, so we know that we want to do cloth diapers, and I'm thinking that I'll do a mix of prefolds & covers/ BumGenius one-size AIO. But I feel lost... anyone out there do cloth/ know someone who does cloth (recently, I mean, most of our generation was clothed as babies)? I've been browsing google and I feel like I've been dropped into the middle of the Amazon. Or Sahara. Take your pick.
I don't mind doing the Gerber covers occasionally ('cause they are so cheap), but I don't really like them. Anyone familiar with the Blueberry one-size coveralls? What covers would you recommend? And is it worth it to pay the extra for the snap BumGenius? The price makes me choke, but they might last longer (???). :-P
And what detergent is good to use? My mom always used Dreft, but some sites say that it shouldn't be used on cloth. And I tend to have really sensitive skin anyways, so if another brand came in bulk size and could be used by all of us, I'd be happy. :-)
Thanks, y'all! :-)
I don't mind doing the Gerber covers occasionally ('cause they are so cheap), but I don't really like them. Anyone familiar with the Blueberry one-size coveralls? What covers would you recommend? And is it worth it to pay the extra for the snap BumGenius? The price makes me choke, but they might last longer (???). :-P
And what detergent is good to use? My mom always used Dreft, but some sites say that it shouldn't be used on cloth. And I tend to have really sensitive skin anyways, so if another brand came in bulk size and could be used by all of us, I'd be happy. :-)
Thanks, y'all! :-)
Friday, June 19
Musings...
I was thinking the other day of where I was last year and everything that was racing through my heart and brain at the time. I had so many dreams, fears, and desires - seemingly all tangled up in a knot! God has been so gracious to me - and has definitely reminded me of how He holds me in the palm of His hand.
Last year I was in Istanbul, Turkey with a missions organization. Met some amazing workers over there, who work and live with their families in very difficult regions. One gal, just a couple months after the gathering, was killed by a well-known muslim-extemist terrorist group. They were passionate about living the Gospel. They loved life. I also met a group of people from a country where it is illegal to worship God freely. They were enjoying their "retreat" immensely (and not just because the women were temporarily freed from the restrictive clothing they were required to wear in their homeland), because they could preach, pray, and sing without persecution. Several were baptized there in the Black Sea, they had waited years for the chance! That night there were about 70 of us present, and after the baptism we sang hymns. We didn't speak each other's language, so we sang in our own. It was so beautiful to hear "Great is Thy Faithfulness" (in Chinese, Iranian, German, Swedish, Russian, Uzbek, Turkish, English, etc.), even in a country where mosques dot the landscape quite profusely, and you hear their call to worship throughout the day. I did get a bit nervous when the guards came to check up on us... I can't even imagine daily life for these dear people!
While there in Turkey I could rest, and think and pray. I'd been talking to Dwight for several months, one one hand valuing his friendship and on the other hand being scared to death of reopening my heart. The only emotion I could feel was fear, and even that was vague and distant. I felt emotionally numb, had for the past few years, and didn't know how to escape. Often I was so busy with work, etc. that I could ignore it. I'd been sick earlier in the year (sick as in down to under 112 lbs., skin sticking out after you pinched it, unable to be propped up by pillows because I was so exhausted sick) but my brain had been too achy to think at that time. So in Istanbul I could rest. Somewhere along the city streets, long bus rides, sleepy warm nights (no AC, my friends! Oh and the fun fireworks going off in the middle of the night right outside our window! Scared the daylights out of me the first time - I seriously thought there was a gunman coming down the hall. My imagination is pathetic.), splashing pools and quiet walks along the sea when I could get off by myself, I found His peace that had already been there waiting. I rediscovered deep joy, and after several years I felt like me. It was so amazing!
I loved "my kids" for that week (really... you'd be amazed at how incredibly fun it is to teach 12-15 three year olds (mainly boys) in an open hotel lobby full of breakable glass, 3 or so of them not speaking/ understanding ANY English, and only one of the few having English as his first language being without a STRONG British/ South African/ Austrailian accent, it was so creativity stretching and FUN! :-D I had a blast! I also had my humility reinforced as I could occasionally get one of my 3 year olds to translate for me. That sweet little brain spoke three languages fluently. I was jealous. Thankfully for that week I was able to take the curricula and then, make it my own - which allowed for plenty of skit time, color time, etc. Oh and even though I had one lady get upset (why?), I did have Pastor Jeff's okay (he heard about it later and laughed... he has 4 gals under age 7 I think) to divide the snack into two separate times. Rather than 4 cookies at one time, they got 2 cookies twice! Helped break up the 1 1/2 hour class time. I mean goodness! It would be hard enough for me to sit that long! The coconut ones were the best...
Yet I couldn't wait to get home. I had a certain friend waiting with Janny and Marty to pick me up. And I missed him. I had so wished that he could have been in Instanbul with me, to explain customs, etc., to help me understand the culture better. (He'd been in to the Middle East previously.) I'd come to where I couldn't get him out of my mind - soccer games on the beach, a worker who looked *just* like him, arabic culture, etc., didn't help any either. I saw in the heart of each worker, the same heart I'd found with Dwight. A steady, assured in Christ, love for life and people. It wasn't shouted out, life wasn't about looking good or saying the right things so that people *know* you are a believer, life wasn't about ease, it was a quietness that you discovered more of as time was spent together.
Soon I was back stateside, and he was off to Co. It was sad to have him leave just as I had began to have a peace about a relationship with him! But a dating/courtship began, and our cell phones could have smoked with the usage they received. (As in up to 7-8 hours most days... sometimes less, sometimes more.) Not easy when you are still working at HQ (yup, I was on my way out and Mr. G did know... just fyi... hehe). Staff meeting came WAY too early. But one month later, Dwight was placing imo the most beautiful ring in the world on my finger, and we had a busy 12 weeks before our wedding. So yeah, my heart didn't just thaw... it melted. I love being married to him, sharing our life together! I am so excited to be the mama of his baby and I would love to turn 100 with him, though older would be fine with me, too! :-P God's graciousness in my life leaves me overwhelmed.
So anyways... my musing turned into rambling. And got long. And the clock is ticking away - it is Chapel day today! I am determined to not be late this month. Yeah, haven't always been too great about that! I get distracted!!! So for now... "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! No time to say 'Hello, Goodbye!' I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" :-P
Last year I was in Istanbul, Turkey with a missions organization. Met some amazing workers over there, who work and live with their families in very difficult regions. One gal, just a couple months after the gathering, was killed by a well-known muslim-extemist terrorist group. They were passionate about living the Gospel. They loved life. I also met a group of people from a country where it is illegal to worship God freely. They were enjoying their "retreat" immensely (and not just because the women were temporarily freed from the restrictive clothing they were required to wear in their homeland), because they could preach, pray, and sing without persecution. Several were baptized there in the Black Sea, they had waited years for the chance! That night there were about 70 of us present, and after the baptism we sang hymns. We didn't speak each other's language, so we sang in our own. It was so beautiful to hear "Great is Thy Faithfulness" (in Chinese, Iranian, German, Swedish, Russian, Uzbek, Turkish, English, etc.), even in a country where mosques dot the landscape quite profusely, and you hear their call to worship throughout the day. I did get a bit nervous when the guards came to check up on us... I can't even imagine daily life for these dear people!
While there in Turkey I could rest, and think and pray. I'd been talking to Dwight for several months, one one hand valuing his friendship and on the other hand being scared to death of reopening my heart. The only emotion I could feel was fear, and even that was vague and distant. I felt emotionally numb, had for the past few years, and didn't know how to escape. Often I was so busy with work, etc. that I could ignore it. I'd been sick earlier in the year (sick as in down to under 112 lbs., skin sticking out after you pinched it, unable to be propped up by pillows because I was so exhausted sick) but my brain had been too achy to think at that time. So in Istanbul I could rest. Somewhere along the city streets, long bus rides, sleepy warm nights (no AC, my friends! Oh and the fun fireworks going off in the middle of the night right outside our window! Scared the daylights out of me the first time - I seriously thought there was a gunman coming down the hall. My imagination is pathetic.), splashing pools and quiet walks along the sea when I could get off by myself, I found His peace that had already been there waiting. I rediscovered deep joy, and after several years I felt like me. It was so amazing!
I loved "my kids" for that week (really... you'd be amazed at how incredibly fun it is to teach 12-15 three year olds (mainly boys) in an open hotel lobby full of breakable glass, 3 or so of them not speaking/ understanding ANY English, and only one of the few having English as his first language being without a STRONG British/ South African/ Austrailian accent, it was so creativity stretching and FUN! :-D I had a blast! I also had my humility reinforced as I could occasionally get one of my 3 year olds to translate for me. That sweet little brain spoke three languages fluently. I was jealous. Thankfully for that week I was able to take the curricula and then, make it my own - which allowed for plenty of skit time, color time, etc. Oh and even though I had one lady get upset (why?), I did have Pastor Jeff's okay (he heard about it later and laughed... he has 4 gals under age 7 I think) to divide the snack into two separate times. Rather than 4 cookies at one time, they got 2 cookies twice! Helped break up the 1 1/2 hour class time. I mean goodness! It would be hard enough for me to sit that long! The coconut ones were the best...
Yet I couldn't wait to get home. I had a certain friend waiting with Janny and Marty to pick me up. And I missed him. I had so wished that he could have been in Instanbul with me, to explain customs, etc., to help me understand the culture better. (He'd been in to the Middle East previously.) I'd come to where I couldn't get him out of my mind - soccer games on the beach, a worker who looked *just* like him, arabic culture, etc., didn't help any either. I saw in the heart of each worker, the same heart I'd found with Dwight. A steady, assured in Christ, love for life and people. It wasn't shouted out, life wasn't about looking good or saying the right things so that people *know* you are a believer, life wasn't about ease, it was a quietness that you discovered more of as time was spent together.
Soon I was back stateside, and he was off to Co. It was sad to have him leave just as I had began to have a peace about a relationship with him! But a dating/courtship began, and our cell phones could have smoked with the usage they received. (As in up to 7-8 hours most days... sometimes less, sometimes more.) Not easy when you are still working at HQ (yup, I was on my way out and Mr. G did know... just fyi... hehe). Staff meeting came WAY too early. But one month later, Dwight was placing imo the most beautiful ring in the world on my finger, and we had a busy 12 weeks before our wedding. So yeah, my heart didn't just thaw... it melted. I love being married to him, sharing our life together! I am so excited to be the mama of his baby and I would love to turn 100 with him, though older would be fine with me, too! :-P God's graciousness in my life leaves me overwhelmed.
So anyways... my musing turned into rambling. And got long. And the clock is ticking away - it is Chapel day today! I am determined to not be late this month. Yeah, haven't always been too great about that! I get distracted!!! So for now... "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! No time to say 'Hello, Goodbye!' I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" :-P
Thursday, June 4
O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore
I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace
Help me now to live a life
That’s dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me
© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore
I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace
Help me now to live a life
That’s dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me
© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).
Monday, June 1
Colorado Springs, CO. USA. :-)
I took this one of our town while we were out driving around & doing errands this past weekend. You can see the Front Range behind Co. Springs, the snow-capped peak just off-center is Pike's Peak. Isn't it pretty? (And yes. Dwight was the one driving. No worries!) *Though a side note with driving is that if you have a jeep, you will fit right in here. They are everywhere. I do have a hard time finding mine at times! ;-) *
25 weeks
Here is proof. I really dislike every self-portrait I have ever taken. Hence the weird expressions (well, and baby was kicking me in the first one... gonna be a great soccer player!) So Mom, Kate and Shel... here is a token of my love for y'all!
20 Week Ultrasound :-)
Baby's profile... look at that tiny nose!
It looks like our little wiggleworm is smiling. :-)
Mama's favorite... sucking his/ her thumb! And playing bashful. :-)
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