We've Got a Date!

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It's with a moving truck! We finally got our date for moving nailed down. We are moving August 6. I know I know, it's soon, but the day we found out we were moving, July 9, I packed a box. And have been packing boxes ever since. Most of our stuff is packed. We've been humming right along and I'm actually quite pleased with our progress. So is hubby. Although, our house is small and our garage is eclectically organized (read: A MESS!). So we cannot store our boxes in there until we move. Soooooo we have boxes lined up, stacked up, stored up in the hallway, in our room, in the living room, basically any available space that is not occupied, or is not required for living at this point. It's cramped. But we don't care! We are leaving in...ACK! TWO WEEKS! breathe in breathe out.........


My last day at work is Tuesday, that is, if my trainee needs me to come in. He's catching on very quickly and I might not have to. Hubby's last day at work is Friday and then my father in law is coming out to help with carpentry type things. He will be helping to drive one of the vehicles to the church. What a blessing. And my bff will be coming the weekend before we go to help with Nadia and packing last minute things. We have such a list of things to do to the house before we put it up for sale. But God is good. We will get done what needs to be done. I am already impressed with how well we are moving and so I am not worrying about those things.

We are attending our former church tomorrow. We left with them knowing we were leaving, so we can go back to say final goodbyes. Then, Sunday evening, we are attending our church picnic. I love church picnics. Nadia should be a riot. Looking forward to it, it's a good way to chat with everyone before we go. It's interesting, because at last years picnic we had just gotten back from a regional approval meeting that went very wrong. Now were are going to say goodbye. It's good.

Well I had better go. I've got so many things to do and I do want to get some time to rest.

Oh, did I mention? I got to 169!!!! I have just 4lbs to go to get to my goal weight. That's right, just FOUR measly pounds. I'm ecstatic. I still haven't figured out what I am going to do to celebrate. 115lbs is a lot of weight to loose, I definitely need to celebrate. I'll let you know what I figure out. You think too. I welcome ideas.

Have a great evening!

Organized Chaos....Well Sort Of

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My house is in a state of disarray right now. Oh I'm sure it's not THAT bad, but there are boxes everywhere, some half full of JUNK and empty boxes and full boxes, just lying around. I have piles of stuff for freecycle and things to pitch. It seems that my daughter has noted these changes and is deciding that NOW would be a great time to lapse into the terrible twos. NO NO NO NO! (her and well, me too.) She wants to do everything herself, which makes me sloooow down. She wants something, then doesn't want it. She won't eat her meals, but cries for food as soon as she's put down. Ugh. I am very frustrated at this point and usually around 6:30 I can't wait for her to be in bed, but then after she goes to bed I feel so bad about how the day went. Oh, I'm getting better, I am learning the best approach is to be firm and stay with what I told her, but do it in a low, calm, hushed voice. Raising my voice only makes her worse.
Not only that, but I am trying to be cheerful and chipper for when my husband comes home. I want to be sure that home is a welcome place for him to be and come to at the end of the day. That is really hard when at around 5pm I am trying to get dinner on so that my husband can have a hot meal to eat, have a hungry, cranky, tired toddler who is clinging to me, asking to watch, needing help with something or just whining and try to have a wonderful welcome for my husband. What I'd like to have happen, this would be my ideal homecoming for hubby. Nadia is sitting on the floor, coloring, smiling brightly as her father walks through the door. My hair is neatly up swept in a cute bun and I am wearing just a touch of lipstick and makeup. Supper is just about done, which, by the way, has been wafting out the open window enticing my husband to come in. Then as he walks through the door, I meet him with a kiss, a cold glass of water and I proceed to take off his shoes for him. Meanwhile Nadia nicely says "papa!" runs over waiting for him to pick her up. That would be my ideal. Here is what really happens. Nadia is right at my feet, arms outstretched, whining, begging to watch or something. There is stuff (read: toys) strewn about all over the kitchen floor. The table is not made, I have not even lip balm on, let alone makeup. My hair is up swept alright, but with in a messy something-or-other with a wooden stick through it. Supper is no where near being done, but it does smell nice. Hubby walks through the door and Nadia launches herself towards him, throwing herself at him, hollering 'UP UP UP'. I greet hubby with an exasperated, audible sigh and a grimace. To which he says 'that bad?' He peels Nadia from his leg to sit and take off his shoes. Then, maybe then, I hand him cool tap water.
I suppose it's not all that bad. I mean it could be worse, I could be watching soaps or something and suppers in the freezer. I guess I'm not all that bad. But still I think things could be better and I want them to be. However, until we get settled again in a new house, it's going to be ruckus.
Which I don't know why I called this organized chaos. I am an organized person, but this whole process of packing, moving and getting gone is anything but organized. Chaotic? Yes. Very.
Well I'd better stop flabberjawin' and getting to packing.

Ol Dan Tucker was a fine ol man
Washed his face in a fryin pan
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel
Died with a toothache in his heel

Get outta the way for ol dan tucker
he's too late to get his supper...

If You're Happy And You Know It...

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Clap your hands, do a dance, shout for joy, bake a cake, go to dinner, kiss your hubby, squeeze your child, call some friends, quit your job, paint a room, put on a closet door, lay down some mulch, fix the house, pack the house, put the house up for sale, rent a moving truck, pack said moving truck, drive to another state, set up home in a new house, start pastoring a church......


And all of this because the northern church approved Andrew to be their new pastor!

We, of course, said yes and these are just some of the things we will be doing in the next month.



Pray for us.

I wish blogger had smilies, I will put a bouncey one right here. *bounce bounce bounce* Imagine tigger.......

A Wedding Date

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My very best girl friend got married yesterday. It was a beautiful day. And it was a joy to be able to share in it. Our day started at 5.30 at a hotel with toddler in tow. Hubby was the photographer, daughter was flower girl and I was matron of honor, gown seamstress, assistant to the photographer and anything else that was needed at the moment. The night before I had noticed that the dress was lacking an essential french tack at the very center back seam. She requested a wrist loop instead of bustling and the tack was needed to make the satin and lining lay right. I thought I had put it in. I guess I hadn't. Also when I took the dress out of the cleaners bag, it was horribly wrinkled. So I got a hold of a iron and steam/ironed the dress hanging. Anyway, early the morning of the wedding I was putting a french tack in the dress, only took like 5 minutes, but still, I wanted to be done with sewing before the day of the wedding. Oh well. I got myself ready and then assisted the bride with her underthings, the dress, hair and makeup. It was fun!!!

The wedding itself was just beautiful. Christ was honored and invited to the wedding and the marriage. I have no doubt that He will be center of their lives. The groom was dressed in his Navy Whites, looking hansome. They made a beautiful couple. Nadia did incredibly well with being the flower girl. I walked with her and she just threw those petals very well. I was impressed and very proud of her.
Hubby did well with the pictures, turning all professional, as he usually does. I will try to get a picture on here before too long.
Nadia went all day running around like a nut, without a nap. Got 1.5 meals and slept like a rock last night. But she didn't take much of a nap today, I can't understand it. But she did this too when she was younger. If she got less, much less sleep the night/day before she wouldn't sleep well the next day. Odd.
We all were running around and on our feet a lot. I got to even dance with my hubby! I don't get to do that very much. I enjoyed it.
I can't wait until she gets back, but I remember what it was like when I got married. I only wanted to be with Andrew, so I am going to be understanding. I remember. Whether that makes it right or not, I don't know.
The dress looked very nice. I got a lot of compliments on it. A lot of people thought it was professionally done. Really?! Well, now that's a compliment. The bride thought I should go into it as a side job. Geee! I don't know if I want to do another one again! It was an accomplishment, something to put in the books, but, well, we'll see. Those things are tough! Time consuming! It was hard getting anything else done. I'm backed up on sewing. Mostly I do sewing for family needs. Like, I promised my husband a vest for father's day. I am hoping to have that done before we move. It would be nice.
Speaking of moving, we find out next wednesday. If you think of us here are the dates we need prayer:

• July 8 - Congregational Meeting of the church. We are guessing that the congregation is voicing their opinion of Andrew (and the family). This happens sunday morning
  
• July 10 - The Council Meeting. This is ultimately the final deciding meeting. This body is who makes the vote, with the congregational voice in mind. This happens tuesday evening.

• July 11 - We should get a call telling us either way of the council and church's decision. Please pray that they call us no matter what. We have heard of church's not calling if they don't want the pastor. That's rude. I am hoping that they call even if we are not the right one. Pray for us to be ready for whatever their decision is. Good or bad we want to be ready for it. We have put a lot of hope into this, as we have heard positively from the individuals in the congregation. We feel we have a good chance of getting this position. But they could still say no. However, I will be the first to tell you that our attempts to quell our hopefulness have failed. Our hopes are high. That doesn't mean they will be dashed, but it's always harder coming down from a higher height. PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS.

Thanks for your prayers and your thoughts. I will let you know as soon as I know something.
I'm kinda getting anxious. What if they say no? What if they say yes? Eck!
Gotta go. Bed time for toddler.

Things That Go Boom!

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Well as promised a more thorough update....again.

The candidating at the northern church went very well. The travel was beautiful and we again fell in love with the area. It's in the mountains. *sigh* I live in flatlands, but grew up in the mountains. Anyway. We stayed at the home of one of the parishioners, very nice people. Nadia even had her own room! You do not know how nice that is! Or maybe you do! Anyway. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and just beautiful. The people were very warm and inviting and I felt right at home. Andrew preached passionately and strong. It's one of the things I love about my husband. His sermon was well received. They had a wonderful potluck for us afterwards. Those people know how to cook! If this happens and they have a lot of these things, I'm going to be gaining a lot of my weight back. Ugh. Anyway. The one thing that I wanted to share about this is that my husband and I really want to go to this church. We can see ourselves being a part of this family and loving this family. I want to serve with this church. We really want this. And I was told by more than a few people that they want us there. So we feel pretty good about this.
We are already thinking about moving and those sort of things. I have no idea as to when we will move. Maybe a month? It all depends on my job, really. Andrew can leave at the drop of a hat, I need to leave two weeks notice, but I can't just put in two weeks notice. I need to train someone to take my place. So they have to find someone to take my place, that person needs to put in their two week notice, and then I could train them. I would think it would only take a week to train them, but I could be wrong. My boss said she could finish up anything I didn't get to. I hate to put that on her plate, she's so busy as it is right now. But it will all work out. I'm not concerned. Nevertheless we are constantly looking at our stuff and getting rid of what we don't need or want. I don't want to move with a whole bunch of needless things.
Sara's dress is done! The garters are almost done and I just need to put the little hook on the front of the jacket and make the flower purse for my daughter. I know that sounds like a lot, but these are easy projects, done in an afternoon or evening. I'm not stressing. I'll probably work on some of the garters tonight while we watch a movie. I will show pictures of everything next week after the wedding is over. I don't want to 'give' away the dress yet. I don't feel that's right.
I made my skirt and it turned out wonderfully! I so wanted to do something that was not related to the dress, so I made my skirt and wore it this last Sunday. It's nice. I really like it.
We had a nice visit with my parents last week. It was good to see them. Although I am a bit worried about my dad, he's been getting a lot of headaches and my mother has been having more than is normal forgetfulness. I am concerned about that. It's not the normal forgetfulness.
I've been looking up midwives in the area of the church. I found two! The one is in a practice with a female OB/GYN DO. That is what I have now and I like it. But I really want a midwife. She is 23 miles away. But all the other OB's are MD's and OLD. I would be willing to go with a MD if they were younger, you know, more willing to work with me instead of telling me what to do.
The Lord has impressed upon me to focus more on Him rather than my anger. My anger is something that needs to be fixed, but if I focus on Him, He will do the work in me and know how best to 'fix' it. I struggle with knowing what to do to make it go away and therefore nothing changed. I remain angry and react poorly. I want this changed. I don't like it anymore. But my focus is to be on God and not the anger. To be aware of it is one thing, but to focus solely on it is not the answer. It's like when one is going to speak and is nervous, the more one focuses on being nervous the more nervous that person is. It's a vicious cycle.
We got rain today. We haven't had rain in like three or so weeks. We needed it. If only Texas could send some of that rain our way.
Well it's about time for someone to go to bed, so I will sign off.
Tootles!

Going Good....

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We had the candidating Sunday at the church in the North and it went very very well. We feel very positively about this church and feel that the people want us there. We don't have the job yet. They will have a congregational meeting July 8 and then a council meeting July 10. We should have their decision after that. We are eagerly awaiting their call. I will write more later of how it all went. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Thank you for your prayers, they were heard and answered! YAY!!

Good News Again!

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I'm just all full of good news, which is a welcome change from a few months ago.
We have a candidating Sunday at the northern church on June 24. YAY! This is what we were hoping for. Now we don't have the job yet, but since Andrew already interviewed and did a mini-sermon a few weeks ago, he is already approved by the council. It is probably going to be a congregational vote, but if the council approved him, we are thinking that unless there is something really wrong that comes up, it will pretty much be a rubber stamp. I can't say that for sure, that is our best and most hopeful guess. And as for moving? Well we figure we'll know maybe by the first week in July and then, well we'd have to let our jobs know, I'll have to train someone and we'll have to pack and move. We are insanely thinking a month. Yeah, right, I know. But this is all speculation. We don't have the job yet, but we are one step closer. And being that we are the only candidate at this point, the only one they've had in two years, it could very well be the place God wants us. Continue to pray in this direction. We want to know if He wants us here, we think He does. We are feeling its a fit. But you know how those things can change. Just pray He clearly shows us and we clearly hear it!
Oh and I forgot to mention, I am only 9 lbs away from my lifetime goal. Pray this happens too! I have been trying to get here for years and it would be so nice to reach this. It seems this last couple of pounds have been a little harder to loose, but they are coming off, so I'll keep on keeping on. This makes 31 lbs in all. Yay! I can't wait to make that skirt. That'll be for next time.

A More Thorough Update

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Well I promised a more in depth update once I was up to it. So here goes. Our adventure out east started before we even got in the car.
It was Monday night, I had put one last load in the washing machine, dirty diapers. Ya know, I didn't want to come back to THAT once we got home. Washing diapers takes a long time, want to make sure they are clean, so when at 9:30 they weren't finished, I didn't bat an eye. However, when the washing machine was still running at 10:30 I thought I'd better look. Seemed ok, so I turned it off, opened the door and shut it again. Nothing. Great. Night before we leave and our washing machine is on the fritz. Great, just greaaaaaaaaaaaat. So I take all of the diapers out, ew, rinse them in the tub and hang them there to dry, all the while wondering what they are going to look like after two weeks of hanging there.
The next day I woke up at 5:30 to do some yoga, get things around and get on the road. We got on the road at approx 8am. Which is good for us. The trip, itself went well, with all of us getting a little nutty after about 6 hours. The trip takes 8.
The first meeting was Wednesday evening. It was their prayer meeting and they asked Andrew to give a short devotional. This is the northern church that I was not real keen on at first. Every bone in my body was rebelling at this interview and even driving up there. I thought 'if I am so against this, something must be telling me it's not the one. Why even drive up there? Why go through this? I know I'm not going to like it." We got up there and I found myself liking the area. It is very remote, very rural, but in the mountains and very beautiful. I was trying make myself not like it. I didn't want to fall in love with anything there, because if I did that might mean we were to go there. I am such a child.
Anyway, we got there, killed some time and then met some of the gentlemen of the church. They showed us around the labyrinth of a church that it is. It looks small from the outside, but once you enter the doors there is quite a facility there! I was shocked. And is it beautiful. They still use their bell, regularly! They have deep mahogany wood paneling, real wood! It is a beautiful church. We met some of the people. Warm, big hearted people. Then when the service started I was filled with such joy and excitement, I couldn't believe it. I have never before experienced that level of joy! I smiled like I hadn't smiled in years. I kid you not. Oh I was struggling. I still didn't want to go to this church, I was very resistant to it. But I felt the Lord saying "I want you to be willing to go to this church, even if I don't call you to it." I couldn't be resistant to my Lord, I just couldn't do that. So I relented.
I deeply enjoyed my time in their prayer service. They are a praying people and their prayers touched me deep. I pray that they find the pastor they need, even if it's not us. My heart goes out to them, as I've been in a church before without a pastor. Truly churches like that are sheep without a shepherd. Good folk, but lacking leadership.
The interview followed the service, which went well. I felt open and was very talkative with the people there. It was very relaxed and we even laughed! Not the nervous laughing either. Very comfortable. We can both see ourselves there. We are trying not to get our hopes up.
We saw the parsonage. A lovely home, bigger than ours, with lots of room for more family. Ample yard, room for a garden, a large garden and they even have a clothes line already set up. I like it.
They basically asked us to call with our decision on follow up, as they knew we had an interview with another church later that week. I think I could hear hope fading in his voice as he asked us to call with our decision. I felt sad for him.
Anyway, we both feel positively about this church and are hoping for the best. They have a council meeting to discuss us/this/whatever Tuesday night. We should know by Wednesday of their decision.
Friday was the meeting with the southern church. This church is inner city. Very inner city. Large large church. The biggest I've ever been in. And the position was not a pastoral position, but more of an administrative position. Andrew is called to be a pastor. The interview went very well, we thought, but we both came out of there not feeling a fit with this position. Because of that and because of the subsequent phone call we got from them confirming that, I will not go into the church much more than what I have.

As far as the rest of our trip. Well suffice it to say, I was glad to come home. It was a long trip. We all stayed in the same room. Nadia is not used to us sleeping in a room with her, nor are we used to her sleeping in a room with us. I do not know how we did it for two months here in our house. Grace. That's all I can say. We all did not sleep well. Andrew had a cough that forced him out of the room more than once to sleep on the couch, which would wake up both Nadia and I. One more than one occasion Nadia slept with us. Then on Sunday my in laws had a family reunion of over thirty people in a small three bedroom ranch. It was nuts. But wait, there's more! Most everyone was outside and then it decided to rain. I mean it poured! Like sideways! I kid you not! So everyone was inside, and poor little claustrophobic me was starting to hyperventilate. It was not pretty. I had to leave. I stood outside under the awning. Nadia was not faring well. She wasn't eating, wasn't sleeping and I thought it was because of the people. She was hot, it was hot. But then the next day I took her temp and it was high. Like 104 high. Well Monday was memorial day, we were out of town, so we took her to the ER. She had had a cold two weeks ago, so we were pretty sure of what it was. Fast forward all day in the ER and she had an ear infection. Bingo! She was a gem there though. Poor punkin was just tired. So she rested and slept. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she did that! So we got her prescription and went home. Ever since she started that med she has not had a normal bowel movement. I feel so bad for the poor girl. I wish I could take her pain. I don't wish this on her. But she's almost done with the regimen and the family dr said to keep it up, it's normal, eat yogurt, she'll be ok. And yogurt has been the one thing she's wanted. So that's good.
We got a call from the southern church on Tuesday that another interview was not needed, don't call us, we'll call you (that's why we waited so long, in case they wanted another interview, not to have to travel another 16 hour round trip, do it all in on she-bang.) So Wednesday we cleaned up, packed up, and Thursday came home. YAY! I was never so happy to see our home.
Andrew, my wonderful, talented, able-bodied hubby, was able to fix out washer! It was a rubber band around the motor. And we thought we'd have to buy a new one! YAY! No money out on this repair and all thanks to my wonderful hubby!
I went to my best friends bridal shower at the beach on Saturday. Just her and her girls. It was nice. It was relaxing and I enjoyed myself. I know Sara did too. Now I just gotta get her dress done. Just have to sew the hem, fix a few little diddies here and there and the dress is done. As far as the jacket is concerned, I have to sew the sleeves on then sew the trim on, then it's done. And I want to get the dress either dry cleaned or pressed. She is coming on Saturday for a final fitting.
Speaking of the rest of the month, boy is June packed! I am working this Wednesday because of a conference this weekend that my hubby is attending and that I am taking pics for on Friday. We have a guest for Friday night who is attending the same conference. Sara is stopping by on Saturday for the dress and then I am taking Sara shopping for her wedding present. Figured she would know what she needs more than I do.
Sunday I am in the nursery. Nadia will love that!
Thursday evening is saying goodbye to the big boss. Then that Saturday my parents are coming into town for another conference in town. They aren't staying with us. Then that conference is the following Monday through Wednesday (which my hubby and I are doing pics for) and then my mom is staying with us wed through fri. That weekend is the only weekend we have free for a possible candidating Sunday. Then the last weekend we are helping a friend move. And then July 4 Sara gets married! ECK! Too much, too much too much.
But before you know it, June will be gone, July will be here and then Nadia will be two! Can you believe it!?
My little girl is almost two! I'm so ready for another one. But that's another post.
So there you have it, the whole kit and caboodle.
I can't wait to get this dress done so I can start making some skirts for myself. I found some great sites that I'll share with you next time. I need to get going on this dress so later!

Short Update

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I thought I'd give a short update of what's going on here in my world. We just got back today, we are exhausted. It was a long trip. I will elaborate more next time.
Suffice it to say. We had two interviews and one was not a fit. Not the one we thought, though. But one was/is. They are excited, we are very excited. We are waiting to hear back from them next Wednesday for a candidating Sunday. We think this could happen. We both see us there in ministry. That's all I'm going to say for now. I am so tired. I just want to eat my jello.
I'll talk later.

Making A Break For It

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I thought I'd post on here since I probably won't for about two weeks, at least.

We leave tomorrow for PA. Wednesday hubby has an interview at the northern church and friday with the southern church. Please pray for us.

He got a call from another pastor in MI that is talking about an associates position. I'm not holding my breath. Not to say I'm not grateful, it's just not sounding too promising.

Nadia and Andrew both seem to be over their colds. Although Andrew has a lingering cough that seems to happen to him after colds in the spring and fall. Don't know why. He's tried everything. I'm beginning to think it's allergies.

I started to get a cold from the both of them, but I stopped it in it's tracks. I'll share my secret. Take two garlic cloves, cut them up so that they are small and swallow with water. I recommend doing this before bed, that way you can't offend people with your breath. Just your hubby, or wife. And, well, they took vows, right? Garlic can't be that bad. And if you both do it, you don't even notice! I did this for two days right at the start of it and no sign of a cold. YAY! I am going to do this everytime. It does make EVERYTHING about you stink though. But hey, I'd rather be stinky than stuffy.

Nadia has started an additude of late. She just simply won't do what I say. It's frustrating. I know I am learning too.

I should get to bed. It's only 9.30 but I'm tired and I want to get up at 5am so I can work out, get ready, get Nadia ready, eat and be on the road by 7am. That's what Andrew wants and I want to do it for him, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. We'll see.

Please be in prayer for us, I will post if I can.

-Kathryn

When It Rains......

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To say we are stressed is an understatement. To say we are inundated with calls and projects and places to go and people to see is an understatement. Ever since the Regional Conference we went to, what, two weeks ago, it seems like life has taken a turn and is on the expressway. Do not get me wrong! These are good things! Let me elaborate.
We were contacted at the Regional Conference by a pastor and his elder about a position at their church. We currently have an interview with said church at the end of the month (your prayers are welcome and needed!). Also, we were contacted last evening by a church that contacted us months ago, but could not afford the salary. Time has a way of sorting things out and they are now able to pay the package that we would need. That is good. However, we now have two church with which to discuss things with and that leaves us sort of discombobulated. Would this be any other job, we would interview all at the same time. However, this is not. It's so different. Do we do one at a time? Or all together? That is something to figure out. Also into this equation is 16 hour round trips, for both churches. Both are in PA, but one is north and one is south. Ugh, what to do! And how do we hear God on this? I mean both can pay what we need, yay! (Which means health insurance, which means we could have another baby!) but we don't want to go solely on who can pay more. We are not in it for that. Just what we need, thank you. And these past almost two years have shown us that we can live on a lot less than what we initially thought. We didn't have health insurance, but we have our health. I value that more. So we are trying to figure that out.
We also agreed to taking a membership class at the church we currently attend. Our thought was, this is where we are at, we could be here for another five years (yikes!) or another five months. But this is where we are at. Well we started the classes and now these things are happening.
My best friend is getting married in less than two months. I am the Matron of Honor, so that means I am throwing her a shower, just a relaxing thing. To the lake. It will be relaxing and nice, but that is right and I do mean right, after we get back from the interview at the end of this month. Also I am making her wedding dress and the jacket to go with it. Eck! It is going well, but it is cutting close. She lives over an hour away, so time together to fit and such is short. I am still working so finding time to sew is at a premium. My husband is the photographer for it (which leaves me sort of out for it, I am usually his right hand man, er, woman for weddings. I will help as I can.) And my daughter is the flower girl. We are all involved. The wedding is over an hour away.
Keep in mind that for all of the meetings we will need to take time off of work to go. That means less money coming in. It is all very confusing. I know God is in control and believe me I am excited at the opportunities. It is good stress. However, it is stress, nonetheless.
So that is life at high speed ahead, please join us in our prayers. Please pray for peace, wisdom, understanding and discernment. We need it.

Good News On the Home Front

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Just thought I'd check in after being AWOL for a week from the net. We traveled back home for the Regional Conference there. I worked the conference for my boss, taking pictures and writing a report for the paper. Got to do that yet. I have it started, but I have to finish it. Anyway, I went into the conference very negatively and discouraged. That was monday. It was a good day, but still downhearted. However, Tuesday night, the night of the ceremony, God sent several people our way to lift us up, to fill us with hope. The pastoral couple that I took my internship under (I took my internship in the SW with the Navajo) were there at the conference. I talked briefly with them about our struggles while admiring the beautiful Navajo jewlery they had there. It is well worth the money they ask for it, but I cannot spend money on something that is a want. Later the pastor's wife came up to me, embraced me while shoving something in my hand. She spoke words of encouragement and hope to me. I don't remember all that she said, I just remember that it was much needed. I was lifted. I looked later at the pieces she gave, a beautiful ring, one I was admiring and a wonderful bracelet. I was blessed, I was very blessed. Then another pastor came by, one who is the head of one of the committees and arranged a meeting with another head of a committee (the committee that places pastors!). And then the Director of the Region and his wife sat down and had dinner with us! What words of encouragement they spoke to us! We both were lifted. It was needed. What was so wonderful about all of that is it showed me that God cares about the state of our hearts. He cares that we cry even though He knows how it will turn out. It's like when Nadia cries about leaving Pooh in her crib, I comfort her even though I know she will have him again in a few hours. He cares that we hurt. And that means so much to me.
The ceremony went very well, I am so proud of my husband. He is a pastor now! I was able to get some great shots of the lisentients and the ordinands. I don't know if I spelled those words right or not, but they used them in the ceremony, so I am too.
We have some serious opportunities for jobs available to us that we are excited about. Please pray for wisdom and the ability to hear His voice in this. We are so excited.
Thank you again for your prayers and please continue to pray. Just thought I'd give a little update.

Dancing, Jigging....But not at the same time

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I am doing a little dance today. God has blessed me through my husband....again.
About two-three weeks ago my little rotating, umbrella-like outdoor clothes line fell over....AGAIN. In fact, it so liked the falling, it did it THREE times. Of course, I had it laden with heavy, wet clothing. And of course, Andrew was at work. Of course it fell into the freshly tilled garden and of course, I lifted it up all three times, muttering what a terrible piece of tin this thing was. I was waiting, just waiting for my neighbor to walk up his driveway and start chuckling. Hm, chuckle. Yeah, it's funny.
Anyway, in the midst of all that warring with my aluminum friend, it got bent. I mean really, the arms bent up in a most modern art-like way. Well the line was mixed up so terribly, meanwhile clothes, wet clothes, mind you, and clothes pins were all in this jumble too. I was not to be outdone. Nooooo way was a clothesline going to get the best of me. I left all of those clothes on there to dry. Well except for the now dirty ones. Took those off and washed them again. By the end of the day, however, most of them got thrown in the dryer, because there was not a lot of airflow between the clothes. Most were layered on each other. Sigh.
Fast forward to yesterday. I had done my research and knew what type of clothesline I wanted. I wanted a real one. Like what my mother had when I was growing up. A nice pulley system, so that I don't have to walk, drag, walk, drag, walk, drag to put up laundry. I told Andrew of my plans (which by the way, I think most men like it when you present to them what your end result is, what you need and how you need it, I don't think they like all of the inbetween figuring out. Well at least my man likes that!) and asked him if I could pick up the stuff. He said sure!
So off Nadia and I went to Home Depot.
I should've found a woman.
Nay, I should've found a woman who hangs laundry.
Instead I found a woman, who found me a man, who said (in a home improvement store) 'no we don't have anything that will help you'. Excuse me? I wanted a wooden pole, preferrably treated, two pulley's (big honkin pulley's), line and the screws and so forth. I was told that the wood would warp and not be very good for that. Really? Then what, pray tell, do you sell to people who are making DECKS!!!
Anyway, they told me to go to a store that sells things for landscaping. Really? Ok. So before I go there I use the store phone to call and see their hours. 8-9, great, but they don't sell clothesline stuff. Go to Tractor's Supply.
So I stuff Nadia back in the car and we head merrily off to TS. They don't have the big honkin pulley's, haven't carried that stuff for years. DOESN'T ANYONE HANG THEIR CLOTHING ANYMORE OUTSIDE TO DRY??
Ahem. Then, I see, shining in the distance like a beacon, Menards. One last try.
I again stuff a now disgruntled Nadia back in the car and head to my one last try.
I find a woman, who has hung clothing in her parents backyard for years.
Thank you Lord!
Well they didn't have the pulley's but I revamped my plans, made an executive decison and went with a crossbar with two lines out to the tree and back. Andrew was impressed with my planning and subsequent change of plans and put it in that night.
Right now, ladies (and gentlemen?), I have a beautiful clothesline that I am proud to call mine, that I am proud to hang my shirts on, my diapers (well not mine....). I am so fond of this new thing I want to take it with me when we move. But it's cemented in the ground, that's not gonna happen.

On another note.... I got a new dishwasher!!!!
Oh it's new to me, but it's like 17 years old. However, it's nicer than the one we had before. Mainly because I don't shriek and holler everytime I walk past "Awwww, crap, it's leaking again!" The stinkin think leaked so much. I was ready to give it a diaper. Well I kinda did. I would stuff rags underneath. It was a portable. We had to turn it everytime we wanted to run it. This one is quieter, we don't have to turn it, it gets the dishes cleaner. I am loving it!

I can thank my hubby for both of these things. He's a good man.

It Hurts A Little Today

Seems that as time goes on the pain of being forgotten gets just a little bit bigger. We've been waiting for a church for two years now. We've sent out resume's to all the regions. We've been accepted in one, contacted by a church in that one region (over a month ago, still waiting to hear back, they are looking for enough money to pay), have been put on the back burner in another region, and the other one, well we must've gotten lost or something. Two years! I know two years is nothing when considering somethings. But when you are considering that this is what you went to school for, this is what you feel called of God to do, two years is a long time. This is our occupation! We are barely scraping by. Life is so much on hold. We don't have insurance, so we can't have another baby right now. I haven't been to a GYN appt since my 6 week post pardum checkup. Do we put another garden in? Will we be around to harvest it? Or will we be around for next years garden too? We can't get too involved with a church, who wants someone who will be here today and gone tomorrow? We could be here another five years, or we could be gone by the end of summer. I just don't know what to think anymore. Oh God remember your promise!
Aside from all that my heart just hurts over this. I thought we'd be somewhere by now. I'm trying not to whine, trying not to complain. And really I'm not, I just hurt. How much more can I say about it but that. I'm not asking why, not yelling at God. I just hurt. And I can't tell you why. I don't have a really good reason in mind, I just hurt. I just hurt.
I'm not a grieving person. Not really, anyhow. I mean I cried over my lost cat, but when my grandfather died, well I didn't really feel anything. But I don't cry over lots of stuff. But this gets me. I just don't know what to think or do or pray anymore. I'm just kinda stuck. So that's where I'm at. Just hurt.

Faith, Fitness and Finding a Home

It seems we are heading into some wintery weather for the next couple of days. Great. I am soooo looking forward to it.

Well I'm down 21 pounds so far. My goal is another 19 to get to my calculated weight. I took a health class and they have a way to accurately calculate your weight. A 25 fat percentage for my lean muscle mass and my bone structure would put me at 165. I don't care if you know how much I weigh. 25% is just in the 'healthy' standard of fat. So, I am aiming for that. So far I've lost a total of 100 pounds. Yes, I weighed almost 300 pounds at one point. I was a big girl. This is the thinnest I've ever been in my life. When I get to my 165 weight we'll see if I need to loose more, but I am going to be happy if the scale never budges from that. I am going to reward myself with making a dress for me, just me. I make stuff for hubby, friends, I am making a wedding dress, but the last time I made something for myself to wear was when I was pregnant. I needed it, but this time, it's for fun.
The only problem with loosing weight is....I don't have any clothes to wear. You know those commercials where the woman is holding the waistband of her pants out? Well I can do that. All of my summer clothes are too too big. I can't wear them. I don't have any money to buy new. But I've taken some clothes to consignment and am selling some on ebay. Which reminds me, one of my auctions is ending tonight. Gotta see how much I made.
Nadia has another cold. She just fell asleep about 30 mins ago. I know some will disagree with this, but we give her baby cold medicene. It's called Little Colds and she does really well with it. It helps her cough, her stuffy nose and helps with fever. I figure she'll heal faster if she can get some sleep. She didn't sleep well last night, yesterday and today's naps were VERY short. I even laid down with her and she kept sticking her fingers in my nose and mouth (yeah, and I wonder how I get sick....)
When I was younger I didn't like Easter. Now I think Easter is my favorite holiday. It is so significant to me. Without Easter, Christmas would be nothing. I'm trying to read through Christ's last week as the days coincide. So much happened in that last week. No wonder the man died so quickly. He was tired!
I've found myself longing to be done with this time we are in. I want to be somewhere. Although I can't complain. There was a young man who used to visit with us every week. He'd come over, eat dinner and chat. Nadia just LOVED him. He helped us with the roof. He was good to have around, nice company. He enlisted in the army and went to basic at the end of January. Andrew and I were very open (how can we not be, he's trying to get a church to pastor!) about our faith, but we were also very human too. In his last letter he said that we helped him find his way to Christ. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!! I'm baking that boy some cookies! Probably my huge chocolate chip cookies. When I read that, it made me cry. If God has given me the ability to cook in order that others may be blessed, then Lord bless my hands that You may work through them more! I baked the lady down the street some bread when she first moved in. She's a single mom. I don't know where she stands. But we've started a friendship. Her little girl is 2.5 and she and Nadia just love each other. She's a nice woman. Hope to get to know her better.

It has come to my attention that people actually read this blog. *Gasp* Nah, I know that, just sometimes don't realize how many people read it.

We are currently in communication with a church. Things are still being worked out and arrangements being thought through. So we are waiting. But waiting is ok. We've been waiting for a couple of years now, I think we ought to be content with it. And I am. I truly am. I am content with where we are at. It's a funny thing. A year ago, I bemoaned the fact that we were sitting ducks. Well now I see that's not the whole truth. Waiting on the Lord to move is so much more differently than just waiting for a dr, or waiting for the water to boil. God is moving. He is working. I know that. And most of all I know that He is working in me to change me, where I need to be changed. And, well, if that helps me to deal better with taking on a church, then so be it. I know I will be thankful after we come out of this forest. Please keep us in your prayers for this one.

In about a month we will be totally debt free. We've had a couple of 'blessings' and we will have no credit card debt or medical bills. That will be a joyous day when we send that last check off. YAY! We are planning a 'frugal' party. Some streamers, a ham (done my way, oh yum! and I can make a couple more meals out of that....Split Pea soup with rice and ham, scalloped potatoes and ham, green beans and ham, ham and bean soup....I could go on. I digress) and some other yummies we all like. I think I will bake a cake for this momentous occasion. And we will make a photocopy of the last bill to pay and burn it. I am looking forward to it.

I got my hair cut today. I got about 4 inches cut off. It's still a few inches past my bra, but it's so much more healthier. It was all straw like from blow drying it this winter. I was showering at the gym and couldn't go out with a wet head, so I blew dried it. Well now that Nadia can keep herself busy while I shower, I just let my hair air dry at home. So much better. But I really like the cut I got and it looks so much better! Hubby likes it. So that's all that matters.

I'm reading two books right now Biblical Womanhood In the Home by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and A Woman's Answer to Anger by Annie Chapman. Both are really good and really needed books in my life right now. Yes, I am an angry woman. But I have been working on that for several years. I know it needs to go. Although I realized something. I will always have the ability to be angry. God made us with the ability to feel anger. God Himself gets angry too. So I've learned I'm not to get to the place where I never get angry, I long to be a the place that anger is not my 'go-to' emotion. That's what I'm working on.

I've lost 17 lbs since the beginning of January. It's great! The only thing is just about all of my clothes are too big and well, I don't have a whole lotta cash to go get new ones. But since it's going to warm up soon, I am going to wait. I went through all of my summer clothes, washed them, have them on hangers and am going to sell them at consignment. That will give me some cash to go to Salvation Army to get some new summer clothes. Since I still have 23 lbs left to loose I don't want to invest in a lot of new new clothes, but just some transitional stuff. I'm so excited.

Hubby finally went through the closet in this study. Ugh, it was disgusting. He's a bit of a pack rat. He's kept just about every bulletin from every church service he's ever been to. Things from high school (he's 31). Things he thought he might need, saved and then never looked at again until now. I'm so proud of him. He got rid of a large black garbage bag full of papers and junk. I am giving some stuff to freecycle and have to look through another tote myself. He found more fabric. Ugh. I can't believe the amount of fabric I have. I can't wait to stop working so I can sew more! I'm working on a quilt. It will be nice when I'm done. But the farthest I've gotten on it is cutting the squares. I just basically cut squares out of whatever leftover projects. It will be nice and warm. Can't wait to see it when it's done.

Talked to family yesterday and today. My grandma is in the hospital. BP was 220/110. Not good. She's 90.

Thanks for reading. Please have a blessed evening!

He Brought Me Here

First He brought me here, it is by His will I am in this straight place. In that fact I rest. Next, He will keep me here in His love, and give me the grace to behave as His child. Then He will make the trail a blessing teaching me lessons He intends for me to learn, and working in time the grace He means to bestow. Last, in His good time, He can bring me out again...how and when, He knows. - Andrew Murray

For a long time I have seen the time we are in as a happenstance. Bad things just happen. This quote above has reminded me that, no, bad things just don't happen. For that would mean that good things just happen as well. I have a hard time believing that. My husband didn't just happen, my daughter didn't just happen. So too, the disappointments about a church, the mold, the $350 problem with the furnace on the night of a blizzard, the room, the car, the....the... the...., didn't just happen. They were all orchestrated. That is both reassurring and a little angering. Reassuring in that this is not just a "whoops, did I do that?" sort of God moment. Like God forgot, or slipped his finger off of the buttons. Or took a lunch break. This was meant to happen to us.
Angering in that, it was meant to happen to us. Everything from my PPD, to the financial straits we find ourselves in right now. It was meant to happen. But I KNOW, I KNOW that when we finally come out I will be glad that we went through it. However, I will never want to go through it again.
I can be assured of a faithful saying "This too shall pass..." eventually it will.

The Art of Becoming

I am in the process of loosing weight. I've said that before. But I am constantly trying to think of ways to do it better. I'm here today to sort of 'put on paper' what I am planning on doing.

• I am still a part of Nutridiary.com's website. I log there daily.
  
• I am still being active, I go to the gym everyday, except sunday. I am active at home.
• I am being conscious of what I eat.

But here's where I changed some things, this is what I am going to do differently.

• I found a website that lists 100 snacks for under 100 calories. Which is awesome.
  
• I plan on eating a good breakfast, for under 200 calories. Then mid morning eating a 100 calorie snack. A 500 calorie lunch, mid afternoon 100 calorie snack. Then a 500 calorie supper with a 100 calorie snack in the evening. That will put me at 1500 calories everyday. And I'll always be shoving something in my mouth.
  
• During supper, which is when my resolve flags the most, I will make myself a cup of green tea (decaf) sweetened with stevia.
  
• And in the evening I have the tendency, if I go to bed late, to want to eat. So if I get to that point, I will pop in one of my pilates or yoga tapes and do that instead.
• I will continue with the water as much as possible.
• And while I watch tv or a movie (which isn't often) I will bounce on my exercise ball. One hour burns 250 cals. And I'm just watching TV!
  

So this is what I have planned for my weight loss. It seems to be going well. Right now I've had my lunch, I've worked out, I've had a snack mid morning and I feel pretty good.
I'm even going to see about getting a popcorn popper. Doing it in the pan is calorically expensive. The oil is what gets ya. Plus a popper will pop every kernal, we won't waste on oil, and it's soooo low in calories.

Now if I could just get to bed on time....

Nadia's room is just about finished. The carpet guy came last night to measure. We are choosing a very light green minty carpet. Very pretty. It will match the cream/tan stuff we have in the house. Hubby has the walls back in, painted and looking very very nice. He even improved the window, put more insulation in and put a frame around the window that wasn't there before. He is just about done putting the closet door in. Really all we need to have done is the carpet. He is going to wait to put the door in until the carpet is installed. Then we can put Nadia back in her room. YAY!! I can hardly wait. We need to think about how we want the room set up. I think once she is in her room we will all sleep better. She sleeps great until we get in our room, then she wakes up a lot. She takes great naps because we aren't in there.

We are still waiting to hear from the regions. That committee has their meeting today. Pray! Hubby is sending a resume to another region right now. We'll see how that goes.

Well gonna sign off. Get some other things done.
Blessings!

Just Lil ol me

Good grief! I just realized I haven't blogged on here in about a month! Gee wizz. Gotta get on here more often.

I'm loosing weight. Yup, that's right. I'm back on track and I've already lost my christmas weight and then some. I am just 6 pounds away from my prepregnancy weight. Which is still overweight, but still.... I've been counting calories. Yuck. But hey it works. I've found this great site Nutridiary that is free and is very extensive. I really like it. I've found that for me, if I consume 1500 calories a day but then expend 500 a day I will loose weight, but yet have energy and not feel weak and tired. So far I've lost 6 pounds doing this and I started it Jan 5. YAY!! I have another 36 pounds to go and then I'll be at my goal weight. Most of this is old fat. It'll be harder to get rid of. We've become good friends. About 17 years long. I've always been overweight. Always. I'm gonna do it though. It just takes willpower. Willpower to not eat sweets and breads, willpower to be active. My favorite saying of late has been "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels". It's corny, I know, but it works! I just keep that in the forefront of my mind and it's been working. I do allow myself to indulge. But it's not often. And I enjoy it when I do. And I just compensate later for it. Like I'll take a walk, or bounce on my stability ball for a while. Or just do some extra at the gym. Everything is permissible, just not everything is beneficial. I have to know that everything that goes in my mouth will be accounted for. There is no one else to blame except me. And I'm taking control of this. I think it's about time.

We opted out of going to the pastoral assessment this week in PA. They provided no childcare and while we knew this, one of the leaders said that he could find someone. That someone ended up being 1 hour away. They wanted us just to drop Nadia off at their place and leave. Hello! She's still nursing and only 18 months old. Nevermind that, we don't know these people! This wasn't turning out to be very family friendly. I was worried. So we put it off till later.

Still haven't heard anything from Eastern. Hoping we will soon.

My very best friend is getting married! He's a great guy and very sweet. I think they will make a great marriage. They are both strong in the Lord and are seeking His will in this. She has asked me to be the Matron of Honor and to make the dress. Eck! Eh, it's an easy dress. I'm excited to do it. I have some altering to do to the dress, for how she wants it. It will be beautiful.

Nadia's doing great. She's teething, but when is she not? She's growing and just gets cuter everyday. I didn't think that was possible. She just does these funny things. She's such a riot. I love being a mom. Gasp! Did I just say that? I did.

Seems everyone around me is getting or has had another baby. Ya know, like the people I was pregnant with last time are pregnant again or have already had another one. I feel left out. But, I cannot let that get me. This is what we have decided. We don't have any insurance. It would be foolish. We will wait until we get a church. But I'm worried that we will never feel it's the right time to have a baby.

Off to do some other stuff on the web. I will try to keep up with this.

I'm Back.

The past couple of weeks have been a blur, a nightmare (of sorts), interesting, educating, and humbling.

About two months ago we repaired our leaky roof. We had water damage to the drywall in Nadia's room that we ripped out about a month ago. That night we all (hubby, me, friends staying with us) got violently ill. We were taken to the ER and told not to return to our house. The church put us up in a hotel for two days and then friends of ours let us stay with them. Our house had mold. Now while we don't think the illness we had was from the mold, it was good we got sick because we could still be in that house and not have done a thing to the mold. We called a mold remediation guy, the insurance company and our families. They came in, cleaned and left. We did a test, this was just last week and the house failed. They only cleaned Nadia's room and did basically nothing to the rest of the house. There was visible mold damage left. They didn't get it all. So we were still out of our house and running out of insurance money. The mold guys came back, ripped out the rest of the mold, cleaned more and set up the air scrubber which is still running right now. Should be until friday. The air quality is already better. Andrew has been vacuuming the snot out of the house. We have a hepa filter on our vacuum. A couple of the ladies and I are wiping down the walls on saturday and I am going to be doing laundry until the cows come home. That's ok, because with all of this, we will be back in the house Christmas Eve. YAY!!
I've learned alot about mold. Mold spores are like seeds, they won't grow unless the conditions are right. So you could have a mold spore on a surface for years and it won't do anything except sit there. Until it gets wet and moist, then it will grow. What we are doing is sucking up, or irradicating any spores that might be around. They can't burrow in anywhere, they will just land, like dust. And I learned that most houses have mold in them, all the time, just small amounts. Those amounts our bodies can handle. Large massive quantities, no. And its worse for a baby. I am so glad I'm still nursing her. I don't plan to encourage weaning until we move out of this house.
On another note, Andrew was approved for ministry with the region we were trying in. This is big, good news! We have lots of ministry opportunities now. I am so glad. That was a bright spot in this whole moldy mess.
We have been so blessed in this whole time, inspite of what's happened. People have come out of the wood work to help and care for us. We are so blessed to have great friends like this. God has taken good care of us.
So we'll be back for Christmas. What a blessing. I got two great big presents from God this year, Andrew was approved and we will be back home for Christmas. Thank you God!

Just a Chat

I thought I'd take a break from work for a while, been working all day. Kinda unfair in a way, I'm about to whine. My hubby works from 8-5 everyday, comes home, eats and then gives the babe a bath, puts her to bed and then vegges for the evening. Sometimes he does some studying or something. But me, I, get up sometimes twice in the night to care for our daughter, which I'm used to now. Then I'm going from the morning, I'm not even out of bed and I'm working (nursing) and then I go go go all day. Right now I'm trying to get some things done for the Gem. I am so tired. If I'm not working on work, then I'm working on home. If I'm not doing either of those things, I'm sewing Christmas gifts. When do I get to rest? I want some fun! That's what date night's for. Date night is really our sabbath.
Anyway. Hubby has another meeting tomorrow with another commission. This one has already approved him, but we are wondering if, in the light of all of the rumblings that have happened because of those conflict of doctrinal issues, that this commission won't recind on their previous decision. Crap. I'm a little disgusted.
I am so tired. I am so cold. I am I am I am.........


Going to close this post. It's 9:38pm, I've been working on the Gem since 6pm, with baby interspersed to put to bed. I am goint to get the house in order and then go to bed.

Good night.

Today is Halloween

And we are Halloweenies, because we don't celebrate it. Actually, we aren't anti-halloween (yes, I know what all of those mean, but) we are un-halloween. I'm sure, given time we might be anti, but for right now, since we don't know our stance on it, we are un. Mainly because here you have tons of people knocking on your door, opening up their bags for freebies and you can so slyly slip a tract in their bag. It's like the easiest witnessing ever! We've never done it, because by the time we think about it, it's too late to order tracts. Ugh. So anyway, we turned our light off and made for the hills (well there are no hills here) But you know what I mean.
I actually had an old woman talk to my daughter in the store last week. Nadia is still just a baby (ok she's 15 mo's, but she's still a baby to me!) and this lady said to her "So have the witches and ghosts got you yet?" Granted Nadia doesn't even know what those things are, but still, I was appalled! I would never say that to a child. Good grief.

So I thought I would mention that I nearly halved our grocery bill!!! YAY!! It's all since I have gotten the cookbook called More With Less. It has tasty tasty tasty! recipes and oh so healthy too. But very very frugal.
Some things I have been doing to cut our expenses lately:
I bake my own bread from scratch (not even using the breadmaker anymore, I use my kitchenaid instead)
I've made my own sourdough starter to use in place of yeast (although I've found a place where I can buy 2#'s for $2.50, so that's not bad) This will take some getting used to though.
I am using beans for half of the recipes I make. ie-Monday night is some sort of bean recipe with a salad and a bread product, either biscuits or homemade bread, Tuesday would be fish (you can get 9lbs of frozen filleted tilapia, which is a nice light fish for less than $10 and that lasts for a long time!) and then wed would be beans again. Hubby has been very happy with this set up and it's helped us to save money and on calories.
From each meal I freeze a large enough portion to be another whole meal for all of us. And we eat the other leftovers for lunches. Nadia eats from our table now, so I don't have to make baby food anymore. I am planning on utilizing those frozen portions for our future menus.
I save bones and scrap meat for stock, likewise with chicken. It's so much more healthy than the store bought, not as much salt.
When it's time to grocery shop I scour the online ads for local stores (we don't get a newspaper, that saves $$!) make a list of potential items that I would use and then make a menu from those items that are on sale.
I shop at Salvation Army, am a member of freecycle.org and go to consignment shops.
This has really gotten me to think about what we really need and what is a want. If it is a want, we go without. And ya know, it's not that bad. We have a new roof, heat (sometimes, but that's another story) and food (yeah, even with this new system I've still only lost 3#'s.)
So pray for us, our furnace only works intermittenly (is that how you spell it?) right now it's desperately trying to kick on and it won't do it. That's why the baby is sleeping in our room, so that if the furnace decides to go on strike, we only have to heat one room. We are slowly getting used to that.
I am sewing a lot of christmas gifts this year. It's another vest for hubby, a pair of flannel pajama pants for Sara, and a dress for mom. Our families exchanged names this year to minimize expense. Thank you Lord!
I'm going to go get more clothes on, I'm cold!! One blessing about that, it's saving us money!

A lot of crap floating around

A lot has happened since my last post, I realize I say that a lot. Right now at this moment, I am sitting next to my daughters diaper pail. And there is a nice scrapping loudly going on above my head. Both are a result of a problem we discovered two weekends ago. Resulting in everything being disrupted in our house. We knew the roof had a leak which caused some discoloration in the baby's room. Discovered that over a year ago. We tried fixing it with roof tar and stuff like that. Then around thanksgiving we discovered it was ruining the wall in her room. Great. Well fast forward to two weeks ago and we had another wet spot on the ceiling and the ceiling was getting heavy. Great. So now Nadia is sleeping in the study at night in her pack n play and napping in our room in her pack n play. That night after she was asleep in the study, we punctured a hole in that wet spot, causing a stream of water to run into a placed bucket. Great. Well we couldn't really do anything about it, because we have no money, so we called the insurance company to see what they would cover. Meanwhile the next weekend we had our first candidating appt with a church. YAY! We weren't approved yet for ministry in that region, but we had a meeting the following tuesday with the appropriate committee for that approval. So we were putting the cart before the horse, but the chairman of that committee is ok with that. The candidating went well, the meeting....well suffice to say it did not. Oh, they were much more respectful and more like brothers and fathers than the last meeting, but Andrew still did not get approved. Didn't get denied either, he needs to return in two months having researched an area of doctrine specific to the denomination we are apart of. And we're not talking about the deity of Christ, or how to get to heaven, you know the IMPORTANT things, no, it's a secondary issue, in my mind. So this church is making their decision before that and the commission is going to call them and let them know of their decision, so we are basically out of the running for that church.
I could just cry. There are two other regions we can go to yet, and the one doesn't have any churches open and the other one we have contacted and they haven't gotten back to us. So we are kinda in a rock and a hard place. We aren't making ends meet right now. I'm thinking of getting an additional job, hubby is looking for something else.
So do you understand my title for this post? There is a lot of stuff just flying around, literally. There are shingles falling from the roof outside the study and somehow I hope to get Nadia to sleep through all of the noise that is going to happen during her nap. I've been cooking and baking to feed our crew, of which is sparse. Pray for more men, or women, I don't care! I'm thankful for the people we have, but I'm afraid we won't get it done in time. Pray pray pray!!!!!!! Anyway, that's that. At least Nadia has slept great through all of this. Even nailing. Wow. I am shocked. Well gotta go check on stuff in the kitchen.

Can I have a vent????

Can I whine a little? I mean, this is my own personal soap box, right? I can say whatever I want, right?

Ok, here goes:

I want a clean floor for 24 hours. Just 24 hours!! That's all, not much to ask, just 24 hours. I want hubby to place his shoes in the proper spot. I want baby to not throw food on the floor. I need a maid. Oh wait, I have one. Me. I'm the maid. I don't mind really. But I just mopped the floor this afternoon at 4pm. Not 3 hours later it's dirty. GRRRR.


Here's something I don't want:

Shiny snot streaks all over my pants, my shoulders, where ever.

I just need to get more sleep, that's all, and I'll feel better. Maybe a nice relaxing bath.

Maybe I just need a better additude.

Praises and Prayers

We have an interview!!!!! Andrew and I have an interview with a church in a few weeks. They want me there at the interview. Eck! Never had this sort of interview before. Then Andrew will preach for them sunday. Pray for us, specifically this: This is a long trip and the meeting is over Nadia's bedtime, she still nurses before bed, pray this will go well for gramma. Pray the meeting goes well and that God's peace will surround us (and Andrew as he speaks). Pray we will hear God speak clearly to us about this church. Pray the meeting with the Regional approval committee (different meeting) goes well. Pray we all get good sleep!
Needless to say, we are excited and apprehensive. We've never done anything like this before. But we are trying so hard not to get our hopes up. We just want something to go well.

Please please be in prayer for my friends mother. She had ovarian cancer a couple of years back. She's been sick for about a month. They took her into the hospital because she got really bad the past three days. She's in emergency surgery right now. We've all had a foreboding feeling for sometime. Please pray for her father, as he is alone right now, waiting. Pray for the family.

Other than that, we're fine. I've been noticing more dirt lately. I think it's because we might be moving (hopefully, maybe....) soon. So I've been cleaning just a little bit deeper.

Gotta run. It's late, I'm tuckered.

Working again.....

Seems like I'm always working on a deadline for the Gem. I get it done and no sooner turn around and it's a month later and I need to get it done. Ugh.

I got a new cast iron dutch oven for like 10 bucks! I love this thing! But found out not to do stews, or soups until it's throughly seasoned. Like after doing a chicken or a roast or some bacon. I thought I could do a stew, yummy!! Started the first half of it, put the lid on, came back 20 mins later and it was black! It wasn't burnt, it's just that the soup I had done before had leached all the seasoning out. Ew. I felt horrible. Here we are strapped as it is and I have to throw out food. It was only carrots (from our garden) celery, onions and lentils, but still, it's food. Oh well.

Went up to MI this weekend, hubby preached. It was one of the most spirit filled, passionate, full of vigor and vim that I've heard him preach in a while. The man's got a gift. What a shame he isn't using it more often. I love to hear him preach. We are CGGC'ers, but at a Baptist church this weekend, he almost got baptist!! I was surprised. But oh was it good. I shan't tire of hearing him every weekend for the rest of my life. Not when God has His hand on him!

Nadia seems to be over this ear infection, I hope, I pray! She was in the best of moods today and today was a monday, and even after traveling for two days! She was so cute, talkative, funny, animated than I've seen her in a while. But she also took a 2 and half hour nap this afternoon, that we had to wake her up from. That is unheard of around these parts.

Well I'm not working anymore this evening. I've got so housework to do.
Blessings on ya!
Kathryn

Toddler Nadia

Nadia took her first steps on saturday. Much to the excitement of her parents. She hasn't done much since then, I guess she's bidding her time. But we are very excited at her development. She gets this really excited look on her face as if she knows how much we love it.

I am so very tired. I have a mess on the floor in the study and if I don't clean it up the baby will eat it.

Just wanted to say something small. To tired to think of anything else other than a bowl of cheerios. But I will not. I will not. I will not.


I will, however, take my yucky vitamins, take a bath and read my book.

I have obtained from the library two books, which I intend to buy. More With Less and Extending the Table. They are both cookbooks, with international flair. The recipes are very cheap, very healthy for you too. I made the next two weeks menu on these books alone and my list is so small. Yet, I know we will be eating well. It helps that I buy our fish in 9lb boxes frozen and my parents have kept us well supplied with groundbeef. It helps. We eat a lot of beans and lentils. Anyway, trying to work the food list down. Way down. Need to remember to buy that turkey breast at Great Scot's tomorrow.

I'll be seeing ya.

Alot has happened

Alot has happened since my last post. My great aunt died on monday. I got the call monday evening, packed and was on my way with baby tuesday morning. Finances being as they are hubby couldn't go. But I thought I was picking up my mother so I'd have help with the baby. The trip is eight hours. Mom is halfway. Got a call almost to my mother's that the funeral was changed to friday of this week. WHAT!?? GRRRRR. What do I do now? Mom decides not to go, leaving me with sole care of baby all week. I decide to go the whole way in, stay the week till the funeral, leave from funeral to stay at mom's and then come back on saturday to home. I stayed with my inlaws. It was bittersweet. I did better than I thought I would and learned somethings about myself. I didn't know just what I was capable of. I basically took care of Nadia by myself for a week. It was tiring, but I did it. By the grace of God I did it. The funeral was short and sweet, but a tribute to her life and to God's work in her life. It was good. I got to visit with my brother, of whom I didn't know how much I missed till I saw him. I wish we lived closer. Had a good visit with my mother, just some girl time. Which I think was good seeing as how they will be moving down to NM in the next two weeks and I don't know when we will see them again. Saw my great uncle. He looks so frail. He devoted the past, oh, 8 years to taking care of his wife. They never had any children. But they were devoted to each other. I will miss Aunt Tooldie. Her actual name was Thelma, I don't know how it got changed to Tooldie. For a while we just called them Aunt and Unk. But everyone knew who you were talking about.

It's September. Andrew had a New Years Wish this past new years, and that was to not spend another new years in this house. It seems we will. Oh dear. I am kinda down about this finding a church thing. Maybe it's just being tired or something, but I'm just down. I want to find a church I want to be 'planted'. I just want to be done with this process. I want to be where God wants us to be. Yeah yeah yeah I know, I'm right where God wants us to be. I know. But you know what I mean. I'm just sad. I'm just...I don't know what I am.

I have exciting news!!!!

I can officially fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans!!!!!! YAY! I can also fit into my pre-pregnancy under-things!!!! I am soooo excited! The scale really hasn't changed, although I did loose that plateau I was on. YAY! I think it was that TOM.
This week was busy, to say the least. Working a couple of extra hours because of a couple of deadlines for work. Had to get the gunsleeves finished for my dad. Plus the regular house work that needs done. I hate letting that go. Had to make baby food. Yada yada yada.
Speaking of the gunsleeves, my dad got them today and he wants me to make some more to sell at the flea market down in Gallup. Cool. How much do I charge, how many do I make? I have so many questions. What if no one buys them? This is so awesome, I was hoping to start a little sewing biz, but didn't know how. Didn't know if I was good enough. Guess I'm at least a little good enough for the gun slingers in our family.
Tonight I want to get done: I need to fold diapers. Put away the dishes and re-load the dishwasher. Wash my gym clothes. Figure out a special breakfast for tomorrow (Andrew's preaching, gotta make something special for him.) I want to do my nails. I don't get to do it often, but I want to do it before the summer's over. I want some color on my toes (and not spilt baby food either) while I can still wear sandals.
Oh, I got my hair cut today. That was fun. She cut about an inch off. It needed it. I am so very thankful for the gift card my friend got me. My hair looks so much better now. Thank you! Oh, that reminds me, I need a shower. I have little tiny bits of hair all over me. Itchy itchy itchy.
It's warm and muggy here. It was trying to rain earlier, but I'm not sure if it's just going to think about it, or do it. I love having the windows open at night.
I saw they have mums out at Meijer. I've been wanting mums to put out in the front of our house for a couple of years now. I never get around to it. I wonder, how do mums reproduce? Is it a bulb plant? Or seed? Hmmmm. I'll have to research that.
I've been looking into homeschooling. I go back and forth on it. I see the benefits and want to do it, but the only thing that's holding me back is wanting time to myself. But when I really think about it, I'll have had these children with me everyday for the 5 years leading up to them starting school that what difference will it be to have them with me after they start school? It's going to be the same. Plus I get time to myself now. So I guess the only other thing would be, how do I homeschool with other babies? But I know even in that I can set the older kids up with something to do while I nurse or take care of the baby. Maybe we'll hs all year long so that I know I"ll get the right hours in even if we have to take some time off. We can have longer breaks. Or shorter weeks.
Well it's eight o'clock. I'd better wrap this up and get to it.
Blessings y'all!

Fruit Gut, Colds, Busy and other assundry items

I should've left well enough alone. I was only mildly hungry. Very tiniest amount, barely noticable, probably not going to whither away to nothing, hungry. So I ate an apple (goes against my rule of nothing after 7, at the latest 8 at night). Now I'm even hungrier!!! It's fruit gut. I should've eaten hummus with celery. Much better snack. Now I'm going to barter with myself on this stupid issue! GRRRR. The small canister of sunflower seeds is staring me in the face. I can't let them go bad, can I?
My cold is still here. Not quite as bad. Day two. I slept pretty well last night. In fact I laid my head on the pillow at 10.30 and woke up at 6.15. Yeah, no getting up to potty, no baby waking, no hubby snoring and no nose blowing! It was the best night of sleep I think I've had since before I was pregnant! That's a long time. I think it was the tea. I'm drinking another cup tonight. I'll let ya know.
I've gotten my father's order for gunsleeves done. Got to mail it out tomorrow. He's leaving with a load on monday. Taking the guns. He needs em. Andrew made supper tonight. It was great!!! Spanish potatoes and a salad. I'll have to post some of my recipes on here. They come from Miserly Meals. Great food. Frugally done. That's my cup of tea!
Ok, so I ate a handful of seeds. yay. I am undone! Woe is me!! I am a woman of uncontrol! (is that even a word? Sounds like pantihose gone bad.)
Anyway, hope y'all (I'm not even from the south, I'm as Yank as they get!) have a great evening and an even better nights sleep!

Who Are You?

Awright, I know people are reading this blog, I just don't know who. No one ever comments!! I would love to know who is reading this blog. Just curious, no other reason.

I was up at 5 this morning. Baby woke me up. Then she wanted to stay up. Sunday nights are like that. Sunday's are different from other days and so she's a little different too. No prob. I have a cold and my brain is turned to mush. Andrew stayed home in the afternoon so that I could meet some deadlines for work. Need to finish Gem, work on article, and need to finish my father's gunsleeves for wednesday. Two down, two to go for his order, then four more for his friend.

Car went to the dr today. Turns out that knocking noise was just an oil change. Cool. Guess that's something we cannot compromise on. I guess I thought we could drag that out a little bit. Not if we don't want the car to freeze up.

Ya know how I was just whining and complaining about not being able to get a haircut? Well I prayed and the Lord provided. It's funny because any money that I was thinking would come in that I could use for a haircut I would eventually think "I should really just use that for ....." And a haircut would never come in the picture. Haircuts for long haired women just aren't a necessity. It's definitely a want. But I prayed. More like spiritual whining. And surprisingly (why am I surprised?) I got my want! Today in the mail I recieved a gift certificate to JCPenney styling salon!!!!! It's kinda neat, I can only use it for that spot. Nothing else. So you know what I did? I booked it to the phone and made an appt with my favorite stylist. I stopped seeing her when things started to get tight. What a treat! And she had an opening saturday afternoon! Of all times! Just when I can go! YAY! I thank my dear friend Rachel for this gift. And it truely is. I think she reads this, or either I whined too much in her presence. Or maybe my hair really looks that bad! Never thought of that. Oh well. Thanks so much!!

I talked to my friend about accompanying me to PA for the pending funeral of my great aunt. She's thinking about it. It all depends on when it is. I know if she didn't have any other things to hold her down, she'd go. But, like life, there are things we cannot compromise on. I respect that. But it doesn't hurt to ask.

Well my body aches, so I am going to soak it in the tub. Got a cup of Country Peach Passion Tea sitting right here beside me (which has chamomile and vitamin c in it, both things I need right now!) and I am going to relax with a good book. I love it.

Blessings.

Colds, dying, being broke and standing

I have a cold. I hate it. It's not the end of the world, but yet, when you are sick, nothing seems to go well. Or at least you can't go well. I am so sluggish. I can't rest when I have to watch a baby. But I'll do my best.

My great aunt is dying. She had a heart attack, not to mention dementia. She has less than 10% of her heart working. She won't be leaving that hospital alive. She's 92. I live 8 hours away from her, Andrew cannot take off time to go with me to the funeral. I don't know if I'm ready to make an 8 hour trip with Nadia and stay at my in laws and make happy with them. I don't know if I can do that. I could do it, but I don't know how good I'll be at doing it. Oh Lord help us. This is on the side of my family that is so angry with each other over the farm. This is as close as we'll get to a reunion anytime soon. I don't know what to do. I hate being broke. Every dollar is spoken for before it's made. I don't mind that, but I hate not having very many options. Why oh why Lord have you not provided a place for us yet? GRRRRR.

Nadia is standing more and more on her own now. I guess it's just a matter of time before she begins to walk. I have to find out if Payless still gives babies their first pair of shoes. We don't have money to get them.

I hate this. I just hate it. But there is nothing else we can do. Lord you have called us together and you have called us to bring others to you. And that is in our bones. We cannot deny it. We wait for you to show yourself. I know you have a place for us. I know it. Please provide. Please provide.

I should hang a shingle....

....I'll cut your hair if you cut mine.....


I cut my mother's hair today. I've been cutting hubby's for a while and a guy friend of ours. Not really hard, just use the clippers. Well, my parents are visiting and my mother mentions that her bangs need trimmed. No prob. Then she mentions she really needs the rest trimmed too. OOOOkay. So I give it a shot. Her hair is stick straight and all one length. I did my best. Nothing spectacular, but it's trimmed and split ends are gone. Now if I could just find someone to cut my hair!! But mines all different lengths and wavy and just a pain, I'm sure to cut. But once I get a great cut all I need to do is just let it dry. It's great.

Still waiting on those churches. Forever waiting. Oh we have lots of churches who want us, but they are only part time. And lots of pulpit supply. But nothing full time. Ugh. I guess something is better than nothing.

I am sewing gun sleeves for my father. I need to have them done by August 23. ACK! I don't have a whole lot of time!! Lord help me get them done. I just need to have four done by that date, then the rest I can mail at any time. I am hoping I'll get enough money that I can get a hair cut. I am obsessed with this want. I kind of feel it's like a need, but in actuality I don't need it. Not to live anyway. But it's just one more thing, just one more thing, that makes me feel poor. I can't even get my hair cut. We can barely pay for the food. Wait a minute. We can't. It goes on the credit card. I hate that.

I think I'd better quiet down. I'm depressing myself.
Gotta get water anyway.

Hello!!

I didn't think anyone actually read this blog. Wow, now I find out that there are at least two people reading it. Wow. Guess I'll actually have to keep it up more often.

Took Nadia to the dr today. She wasn't acting herself. Call it mother's intuition. But I thought maybe her ear infection hadn't cleared up. Well when I took her in there, her ear infection didn't clear up, in fact, she had a double!! Ack! So another round of antibiotics. Glad she eats so much yogurt. The pharmacy tech asked how I knew. Well she was waking up more at night, more fussy and of all things, when I nurse her in the afternoon, she often falls asleep. Then when we get up there is a huge puddle of sweat where her head was. I don't know why that is. But that's what happened the last time and lo and behold she had an infection. So here we go. Usually that stuff works pretty good.

Still no word from the three regions. Hubby still has to get stuff into the one region, but a church contacted us about a position, so we have to get stuff in. But we are so busy. But he could be working on it right now, but he's not, he's reading the news. GRRRRRR. I'm letting that one go. The more I bother, the slower he gets.

This stupid weight loss thing is not happening. I've started running. It's the funniest thing. I"m not the smallest thing and me running I'm sure is quite funny. But I'm hoping it will recharge my weight loss. I know one thing, it's recharged my hunger. I am hungry all the time!!! So I'm trying to keep my eating to a min and drink drink drink.

My great aunt who has alzheimers, had a heart attack. She's dying. Well, we all are, but she's closer, so it seems. But they've been saying that for about five years. I expect a call any day now. It's such a shame, I don't know if we'll be able to make it to the funeral. We can't take off days, we are so tight. It's hard to pay the bills. But I know all of my family will be in and I know there are people that Nadia hasn't met yet. There are those of my family I'd rather she not meet. Sad, but true.

Well tonight is date night. Nadia is down and I am thirsty!!! We are supposed to play a game of Risk. We'll see. Hubby is sooooo competative. Sometimes ruthless! He promises to be nice. We'll see......

Been a while....again

I know I don't blog much on here. Life is just insane at the moment. Coming up on Nadia's first birthday and suddenly we have an influx of people!!!!! Andrew's parents, my parents, Nadia's Godmother (my best friend) and her boyfriend, whom we've never met. We are going up for a church dedication in MI next weekend and last weekend was IMPACT. Crazy crazy crazy. And it's been so hot, I'm so wasted. This lovely Jerusalem diet is working!!!! I've lost at least 6 pounds on it. Slowly but surely. And a momentus occassion (I cannot spell worth a lick!) I've finally decided to go back to my old bras. YAY! Now I realize that may not be as stupendous as you think, but for me it is. I've been in nursing bras for over a year and while very utilitarian, not so fun. I gained weight over the pregnancy and lost it and now those are too big. So I'm going back. Now I'm still nursing, but I found a way to make em work. And she's not nursing quite as much, and only from the one side, so it's not as much of a problem. If I know I"ll be in a situation where I need to nurse in public I'll wear a nursing bra, otherwise, it's the pretty ones!!! YAY!!!
Still no public word on churches. Oh there is stuff going on, but I don't want to get all happy about it, so mum is the word for now.
Just wanted to say hi.