And We're Dancing....

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We got an offer on our house today!!! YAY!! We accepted the offer and so we are just waiting on them for their approval for the loan and the inspection. If it all works out it looks like we will have a closing date of March 19. Please pray everything goes smoothly. We really want to be out from underneath this house!! Thanks for your prayers! I know they are working!

Favorite Bread Recipes....

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Here are a few of my favorite bread recipes:

Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough
This pizza dough is the best I've made yet. It's low fat, low cal, and my hubby and daughter love it. It doubles, triples and quadruples well. I will sometimes make a large batch and freeze the rest so that the next time I make pizza I just have to take it out and let it defrost on the counter and in a few hours it's ready to go.

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 C. warm water
2 C. whole wheat flour
1/4 c wheat germ
1 tsp walt
1 tbls honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a small bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes
3. In a large bowl combine flour, wheat germ and salt. Make a well in the middle and add honey and yeast mixture. Stir well to combine till smooth and springy. Cover and set in a warm place to rest for a few minutes.
4. Roll dough on a floured pizza pan and poke a few holes in it with a fork.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 5-10 minutes, top with your best yummy toppings and bake until desired crispiness.

French Bread - Obtained from The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger
This bread is the most basic you can make. It is frugal, because it doesn't have oil, so it is also low cal and low fat. You can, and I suggest you do, substitute up to 3 cups of whole wheat flour or other flour. Otherwise the white flour doesn't give it any hardiness to cut it. I use white whole wheat flour. It fakes you out, makes you think it's all white. It is so easy to make. I am going to assume that you know how to basically make bread, so I am not going to put all of the instructions on here, she has hers step by step, which is nice for the novice. If you do not know how to make bread, do not have a bread maker, or if you have a good sturdy stand mixer, like a KitchenAid or are simply going to do it by hand (which is great therapy) please see this article for instructions. Most basic breads can be made by this method. It took me about 6 months of practicing to make really good bread. But my bread comes out everytime now.

2 C warm water
1.5 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 C bread flour
1 tbsp salt
About 3 C regular flour

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. (did you know that if you put a pinch of sugar in with your yeast and the water it will aid your yeast to meeting it's fullest potential in your dough later on? I do this everytime and it helps.) Stir and let sit till foamy about 10 minutes.
2. Add 2 c of bread flour, beat hard until smooth. Add remaining 1 c bread flour and most of the regular flour .5 c at a time until you have a shaggy dough that clears the sides of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto floured surface and BEAT YOUR AGGRESSIONS OUT OF THAT POOR PIECE OF LIFELESS DOUGH until you have a nice, smooth and springy ball. You need to let that dough know whose boss so that it will do your bidding.
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased deep bowl, turning once to coat the top and (this is so important that you do, my bread making took a turn for the better once I started doing this.) cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temp until tripled in bulk about 1.5-2 hours.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into two portions and using a rolling pin roll out to a wide rectangle shape. Roll the dough up from the shortest end, pinching the seam shut and tucking and pinching the ends under. Repeat with other portion and place in greased bread pans.
6. Let rise again till doubled, this rise will not take as long. Maybe 45mins to an hour. Cover loosly with plastic wrap.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 35-40 mins until crusty and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Now I am going to add something that I've developed on my own to add stability to loaves when cutting. After the bread has baked, remove it from the pans immediately and place on a cooling rack. When the loaves are cool to the touch, cover with a clean, dry dish towel and let set overnight. If you put bread that feels cool to the touch immediately into a plastic bag, it will continue to condense and your bread will be soggy by morning. Letting it set overnight allows it to cool completely. If you cut bread that is hot, warm or not cool completely it will fall apart when you cut it. But the next morning, most breads are cooled and will cut very nicely. Afraid of stale bread? That's what the crust is for! The crust keeps the inside nice. After you cut it put it in a plastic bag and it will stay nice for at least a week. It's rare that I've had homemade bread grow mold. Most store bought breads do before my homemade breads do. And that's not because we eat them faster. I've had bread ends sit in my bread box for two weeks and not had a lick of mold on them. They are hard, so I put them in the freezer for stuffing or bread pudding later on.

Pilgrim's Bread - Obtained from More With Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre
This is the bread I just pulled out today from my oven. I forgot how much I love this bread! I don't know how frugal it is, but it is a nice variation from the French bread.
Combine in a bowl:
.5c yellow cornmeal
.3c brown sugar
1tbsp salt
Stir gradually into:
2 C boiling water
Add:
.25c oil (or applesauce)
Cool to lukewarm (I put mine out on the porch and it was cool in like 5 minutes)
Dissolve:
2pkg dry yeast in
.5c warm water
Add yeast to cornmeal mixture
Beat in:
.75 C whole wheat flour
.5 c rye flour
By hand or stand mixer stir in:
4.25-4.5 c white flour
Turn onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to coat top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide in half and shape each half into a loaf, as described above, place in greased pans. Cover and let rise again in warm place until double. Bake at 375 about 40 minutes. These rise nicely, and have a great sturdiness to them. Great for sandwiches.
I wanted to let you know of another great piece of advice about baking. See that white stuff on top of the loaves? It's not mold, it's flour. After I've formed my loaves and put them in the pan, I sprinkle a bit of flour on the tops of the loaves to keep the plastic wrap from sticking. If the plastic wrap sticks too much and pulls the risen bread, it can make it fall. So the flour keeps it from sticking, plus it makes it look so homey. You can slash your breads with a serrated knife, but don't go too deep. Do you know why they used to do this? In baking bread rises dramatically, sometimes the outer crust will become too hard too fast and the gasses are trapped. The slashing allows for some of the gasses to be released before it gets baked too far. In other words, it allows for rapid rising in baking. I have made most breads without the slashing and have never had this problem. But if you want, go for it.

By the way, I ate that piece of bread laying there, which, is really good with homemade hummus on it. I think I'll have another.

Tomorrow I'll try to post some of my other favorite soups, meals and such that are healthy, easy for you and the pocketbook.

Frugal Living Part 1

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I've had a few questions about what we are doing or have done to save money. So I sat down and wrote down a list of the things that we've done or are doing at the moment to save and stretch our dollar. It's very rudimentary at the moment. And keep in mind this is what works for us, this might not work for others in their particular situation. Like, for instance, you might not have an expansive basement to hang laundry.
I plan on doing this in parts. And since I am in the kitchen most of the time we will start in the kitchen.

My husband gets paid bi-weekly, so after he gets paid I do grocery shopping. This is my method. We do not get a newspaper (one of the ways we save), but we do have internet and I can pull up my grocery stores sale ads for the week. I write down all the things I think I might use or need and then pull out all my cookbooks. Then I go to all my cupboards, frigde and freezers and write down all the contents. You can obtain nice little handi-dandi sheets for filling all this in at Cindy's porch. These are nice, but after you get the hang of it you probably won't need to print them off all the time. And I don't do this at every meal planning session, as I try to keep a running list, checking off what I use and adding what I've bought. I'm not perfect about it. Usually once I've gone through I have a good idea for a while what I have and what I don't have. At any rate, once I have all of the lists with me and my cookbooks, I sit down and try to plan at least suppers for two weeks. Since we have suppers with people and church functions I try to see if those are coming up and plan for that. If I am planning a special breakfast, say for Hubby's birthday or Easter Sunday, I write that down too. And I try to 'shop' from my home stash first, making meals that use the most of the stuff at home. Most of the time I need to get some things at the store, but my list is small usually everytime I go. Now, since we have a bit more money and a lot more room than our old house, if something is on sale and is a great price, I will stock up. If I know I'll use it and it won't go bad, I will get it and get as many as I can. Like diced tomatoes, we use a lot, they don't go bad, so I get a lot. But I only do this if I have some extra money. Like this week, 1# butter is on sale for $1!! Holy Cow!! That is unheard of!
Then with the list you've made up of things you need in the kitchen and around the house, go shopping. BUY ONLY WHAT'S ON YOUR LIST. Unless, you are like me and forget an essential because you use it everyday, like eggs and are like, duh, when you come to the diary aisle. But for things like Cadbury Cream Eggs, nope, sorry, you don't need it, your thighs don't need it, and your kids don't need it. I realize it's only $.50, but then you'll soon be rationalizing other more pricier things. It's a downward slope. Once you get used to telling yourself no, it gets easier and soon you'll know what you need.

Now for a few "Waste Not, Want Not" tips:

• Keep an old bread bag or other ziploc bag in the freezer for bread ends, stale bread, bagels, english muffins, any non-sweet breads. This process of freezing and thawing makes the bread even more dry, which is perfect for making bread pudding, stuffing, plain or Italian bread crumbs. All of these things call for dried out bread. And this is the perfect way to save up for it. I don't use eaten bread, I guess I'm a germ-phobe. That bread gets thrown to the birds.
  
• Save potato and/or veggie boiling water by freezing in containers. Use as stock in soups and stews or wherever veggie stock is called for. The potato water you can use for making bread, increases the nutritional value of your bread.
• Save turkey/chicken carcasses for making broth/stock.
  
• Save clean veggie peelings/scraps to make into broth. (I've not had a whole lot of success with this broth. Can't make the flavor come out right.)
• Keep an eye on all things in your fridge. Clean your fridge out regularly. If a food has been in there for a bit, freeze it till you can use it later.
  
• Make double batches of soups - freeze the half you don't use. Saves energy costs for you and your bills!
• Take advantage, as your money allows, of meat sales. Like Thanksgiving, I bought two turkeys. You can make several meals from the initial meal. The same for ham. While we are talking about Ham buy a smoked shoulder portion - tastes just like ham, but since it's not called ham you pay less. Freeze the leftover meat in 1# portions in good freezer containers and use later in stirfry's, meat pies, casseroles, or shredded for sandwiches.
  
• Eat more beans. They are much healthier - less fat, just as much protein and iron as beef and a tone more fiber. Much cheaper. And you don't have to worry about hormones or something bad in the beans.
  
• Use TVP in your ground beef. Half it till your family gets used to the taste and texture. TVP is interchangeable in any ground beef recipe. It is made from Soy (what isn't these days) and takes on the taste of whatever you season it with. So if you want 'ground beef' use beef boullion. I've found, though, that it works well in baked products, like casseroles. However, it just doensn't cut it for chili. So I use ground turkey instead.
  
• Which brings me to this tip, buy frozen ground turkey tubes instead of ground beef. It's healthier and cheaper and you don't have the worry of hormones. My family can't tell the difference.
  
• Lentils are a great meat substitute too. We make sloppy lentils, lentil tacos and other such things.
  
• Make your own bread. Buy the flour and yeast in bulk and you will save money. It takes some practice, but with time you will be able to make beautiful bread, sandwich quality, that your hubby will say, "my wife made this, isn't it beautiful?" (Yes, my husband has actually said that.)
• Use applesauce instead of oil. It's cheaper when bought on sale, unidentifiable in baked goods and breads. Sneaky way to get fruit in. Buy unsweetened.
  
• Save bacon fat for greasing baking pans (don't do this if you are trying to loose weight. Kinda defeats the purpose.) Make sure you keep it in the fridge.
• Put in a garden and can/freeze/dry what you will use.
• Lettuce, spinach, onions and most salad greens do not need bees - they can grow in a container in a sunny window all year round.
  
• Freeze banana's when they get too brown for fresh eating. Save for banana bread, muffins. They come out really mushy and soft, perfect for easy mashing.
• When making pancakes, waffles, make extra and freeze for quick breakfasts later.
• Use nonfat instant dry milk reconstituted in your baking instead of fresh milk. Cheaper and easier on the thighs.
• Buy prefrozen chicken, fish
• Compare per pound on items at the store to see which is cheaper. Sometimes the brand is cheaper, especially on sale.
• Make your own granola.
• If you can get WIC freeze the cheese if you can't eat it fast enough. Use cheese only in casseroles and such. We found that our grocery bill went down significantly when we cut out snacking on cheese.
• Make yogurt from the milk
• Crackers are easy to make, as are bagles, breakfast bars etc.
  
• Make your own Bisquick. Check out recipes for easy suppers online using your homemade version.
  
• Check out this website for making your own baking mixes and such.
• I highly recommend Miserly Meals and More With Less. The money you spend on these two books (which you can get used) you will save with meal prep. They have done so much for my family health wise and financially.
  
• Walton's Self Reliance has a ton of information on it about beans and meat substitutes.
  

I hope this has helped. I know it's a lot, but keep in mind this was through like 3 years of research and trial and error. I'm sure I will change some of this to better suit our needs as our family grows. I've discovered, though, that when I was trying to loose weight, it also fit with trying to trim our food budget. The high fat, high calorie things were also high cost. So trimming the waistline and the budget can go hand in hand.

I welcome questions and comments and ways that you do something different or better. I am always trying to do what I do, better.

Blessings.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

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Did I mention we are putting in a garden? It's one of the other ways we are saving money. And I am saving seeds from the plants so that I don't have to buy them next year. I am excited, although this is a new garden plot, so I'm a bit apprehensive if it will do well. We went a little overboard this year. Heh heh. Here's what we are going to plant:

Bush Beans
Carrots
Sweet Corn
Basil
Chives
Cilantro
Lavender
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Thyme
Sunflowers
Juliet Tomatoes
Pickle Cucumbers
Dill
Slicing Cucumbers
Baby Romaine Lettuce
Mesclun Lettuce
Bell Peppers
Jalapeño Peppers
Regular Tomatoes
Peas
Zucchini
Summer squash
Sugar Snap Peas
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Cabbage 

Did we go a little overboard? Maybe, but I can't wait until it comes in and I can eat it!! Especially this year with being pregnant, I can eat fresh fruits and veggies to my hearts content and it's just what my body and my baby needs! I'm stoked.

Now, what, I ask, does a homemaker do with 15 frozen bananas? Why, she makes three loaves of banana bread!!

Yes, I know, there is only two loaves there, that's because the one is just about gone. The tripled recipe called for 1.5C of oil. I used 1C of applesauce and .5c of oil. That way it has some good fats in it. I am eating so very little that I am looking for high calorie. But didn't want to go all the way on it. Plus it's a good way to get my fruit in.

And I am so excited about this!! When I was pregnant with Nadia my dear Andrew got me a body pillow early on. I remember why now, I just can't get comfortable without it. I need some sort of cushion underneath my top leg. And it's not even the belly, I barely have one yet. So we've started using it again. Well we only have one cover for it. And since I hang all our laundry downstairs I kinda needed a new one. Since I have made pillowcases for Nadia's mini pillow that I made her, I refused to buy an expensive pillowcase. They run about $13. Well I took myself and my daughter to Goodwill, found a pretty queen size flat sheet for .99. I was able to make two pillowcases out of it and they look pretty darn good. Hubby is happy and I can change over the cases every week!

Ok, now that I have totally bored you to death, I'll let you go. That's why I put all the pictures in. In hopes that you'd read the whole way down, if not to just look at the pictures. Heh heh.

Have a good evening!

Crunchy Me

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So I guess you could finally call me crunchy. I feel like Tom Hanks in Castaway "I HAVE MADE GRANOLA!" It was a cool experience. And a tasty one too. And to think I made a ice cream bucket-full of the stuff for a fraction of the cost of the store bought stuff. And it's better. And it was so easy. And I know what's in it. And Nadia likes it. So does Andrew. Here is the website I obtained the recipe from. I did add cinnamon and used .5c of flax seed, other than that, I pretty much followed the recipe. When it comes to cooking I don't really follow the recipes much anymore. It's more of a guideline, really.

We became 'crunchy' more out of necessity. Money was tight and we figured out that the 'poor' people of old actually probably ate a ton better than we do now. We had to cut out most meat and when we did use meat it was chicken, fish, turkey, or TVP. And it was used in a stew, or soup, casserole, something like that. It was hardly ever a slab of meat on our plates. We used a lot more beans and spent more money on fresh vegetables and fruit. I began to make all of our bread products and we ate more rice. And you know what? We found out we liked it!! Actually preferred it to the way we used to eat. So when money got better, we are still eating that way. I like it because I go to the store once every two weeks. If I run out of something for something I am making I either make a substitution, or go without it. We eat a lot of leftovers around here too. I sew a lot for the whole family. I watch ads for the grocery store and make a menu based around that and what I already have in stock. Here is a list of the resources I use to make our money stretch:

Frankferd Farms Foods - A co-op that, incidentally, sells a lot of organic stuff. Organic is more expensive, I don't buy from them for that, I do buy from them because a lot of the stuff I get is cheaper in say 50lb bags. And we use it up quickly because I make everything from scratch. This has only regional delivery, like most of PA, and Ohio, not sure of other places. They will ship. And you can pick up at the farm too.

More With Less Cookbook - This cookbook was and is a lifesaver. It's 30 some years old, but the recipes are so frugal, yet so healthful and so delicious! Nadia eats them and Andrew loves them. This cookbook not only gives you great recipes but it also has an educational part about pairing grains with beans for a complete protein, so that you can omit meat for meals.

Miserly Meals - Written by Jonni McCoy from the Miserly Moms books. This is another great cookbook for frugal meals. Again the meals are tasty and easy to put together. Mine is falling apart, I need to tape this one!

Cindy's Porch - Taught me how to 'shop' at home before I shopped at a grocery store. At the time our pantry was non-existent, but I did make good use of her advice and her lists.

The Hillbilly Housewife - This is a goldmine of information, recipes and menus. She has a $40 and $75 emergency menus and they are nutritionally complete. This is amazing. She even has health information and nutrition education. And she is a Christian. That is important to me, because she is exampling how to be a good steward of the money God has given us.

Sam's Club. I am a clubber. But only for certain things. And I have researched those items to be sure I am getting a good deal. I only go about every other month. It does have a club cost, but the fact that I can get 2# of yeast for a few bucks, as compaired to three tiny little packets for $2-$3, I'm sold. Like I said, I have a list for what I need and what I need is what I get. No more.

Tammy's Recipes - This is also another great wealth of kitchen information. She has everything from recipes to childcare on here and she is also a Christian. She just had a new baby, so I am watching this closely to see how she does food prep for a family with a new baby while nursing!! Ok I don't know if she nurses while she cooks, but you get the picture.



Anyway, since I like seeing pictures on blogs, I figured I'd post a few on here, as I have zip energy for writing right now. I'm just exhausted!! Anyway, enjoy!Handsome hubby....

My beautiful daughter.....

And my man and me.... (Nadia took this picture, can you believe it? She's not too bad for a toddler!)

Well I'm getting a strange craving for cottage cheese. These days when hunger strikes, I eat. Hunger doesn't strike much. Nausea does a lot though!

Hey can you pray for our house to sell? It's been 7 months and we are feeling the drag.

Have a great evening!

Introducing....

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The newest member of our family.....

Secret Revealed

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We are expecting a baby!! We saw the beautiful babe through an ultrasound today. I am just over 7 weeks along and am due Sept 24. We did get pictures, but I will post them later. Just thought you'd like to know!

Ok, so I lied... Sue me...

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I didn't keep up with the whole Sanctity of Life thingy. Sorry about that. Been crazy. My mother came in last week and then started the traveling. We visited my grandmother, whom I have not seen since I don't know when. She had not nice things to say about Andrew when she first met him and, well, I took offense to that, so didn't try to visit her. Plus we lived 8 hours away. But then I heard that she was in the hospital in the ICU, on a ventilator, I felt that I needed to see her. She had either bronchitis or pneumonia. Since my mom was already coming up we all just went to visit her. She has never met Nadia. She proceeds to kiss her on the lips! ARG! She's full-blooded Russian and is a very touchy, huggy, kissy person. They kiss everyone!! Anyway. We visited her. My mother was spoon feeding her. She doesn't want to eat. I don't like hospitals and was feeling queasy and lightheaded anyway. It was after lunch, we hadn't eaten and well I was not doing well.
We then went to my brother's house to try to pack up my stuff (from years ago) and my parents stuff (again from years ago). It was a very tense time. One thing I've learned and loved about my home with Andrew is that we are very open about everything. We may have a lot of disagreements, but we talk aobut everything! In my family of origin we don't talk about anything. And it hangs. Like a thick, dark thunder cloud waiting to drop. And it did. Several times. So we left when we could, and then Saturday night Nadia gets the stomach flu. Ew. Not sick for long, but long enough to be disturbed and upset by it. We watched more Veggietales than I'd like to count on Sunday just to keep her busy. I ended up getting sick with a severe cold on Monday, that had me out on the couch all day. If you all know me, you know that I don't sit for long. Well I was sitting. I was so weak I didn't even have the energy to hold up a magazine (Taste of Home, if you care to know.)
Then today I was up at 5am to take my mom back to the airport. That was the start of a fiasco that I'd rather not go into. Lets just say my mother is still at the airport at a hotel and leaves tomorrow. Oy.
I had a dr's appt today that went well.
Andrew is getting sick with the same cold. It's not a flu. I don't think. I'll have to look that up.

And I have a secret.....

I'll share next week.

Choose Life

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This sunday is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday and all next week is observance of it. We often think of just the wee babes in womb when we think of this. But Life affects all of us. In honor of Life, the gift that God has given all of us (and because my brain is on furlough at the moment) I am going to be posting pictures of people celebrating life!

The first and foremost (and the cutest!)

My daughter! These were taken 6weeks and 12 weeks respectively, a few years ago. In the first one, we could already see her heartbeat. It was amazing.
And our pious little one here:

Some interesting information on the first trimester, which probably all of you know, because you've all had babies before! But it's fun to read about anyway. These little souls that God chooses to bless us with. To think, He allows us the blessing of growing these little people. To know life is in you. Changes how you live your life.

Broken...Again

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Only it hurts worse this time. The fear and treachery are worse this time. I can't believe it happened again. Surprisingly I am not angry. I have never been angry about this. For that I am grateful and shocked.
If I am being vague it's for a reason. I do not feel at liberty to divulge any information other than this. I am so hurt. Only one other person knows about this, thank God for that. I cannot share it with anyone else. And how can I keep this pain to myself? If I keep going I'll say too much.
Please pray. I hesitate in sharing even this.

I changed my mind.....

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But I can, right? I mean it's a womans' prerogative. And I am just sure I spelled that word wrong, looks more like pirogies. I spelled that one wrong too. That, my friends, is why I rely heavily on spell check. I am sure my former boss is cringing right now. You see, I used to work for an Editor. I would look for grammatical errors and spelling errors in publications. Not all, but a few. Fewwwww, glad THAT secret is out. Anyway. Sorry Rachel! But I gained a great friend, even if I couldn't spell. Inherited that from Dad.
ANYWAY.....
I decided to make this. Andrew really likes it, I actually get conversation about it, more than a passing glance. And it will use scraps! And scraps I have! Let me tell you what! And I don't have to think anymore than dark and light colors, none of this matching stuff. I'm not real good at that. I have a tendency to think "does everyone else think that looks nice?" When really I need to think "do I like that?" I think too much about what others think. Anyway, now that I've said that, what do you think?
BTW, tonight Andrew had a board meeting, so I got to put Nadia to bed. The only thing coming out of her mouth tonight were sweet kisses on my cheeks. She does things like this just to remind me that she's still there, but sort of on hold for a bit.
Then she got out of bed and got her toenail bent back in the door. Poor girl. She just can't get a break. I heard the door opening and went right to the door. Well when she saw me, she shut the door again "I'm not really out of bed, mama...." Yeah right, wasn't born yesterday kid. So I open the door, well her foot was behind it. And while an adult would have a toe big enough to stop the door, Nadia's toe is juuuuust small enough to fit under. But the toenail does not. Yes, folks, her toenail actually bent up. I don't know if it broke off or anything, but I got some ice, put it on her while holding her in the rocking chair. She didn't cry much, just sort of said "ow, my toe is in the door!" She's very intuitive. Only kinda whimpered. I used it as a teaching moment. Then I got a "bob" band aid, put it on and then put a sock over it. She liked the band aid. I didn't want to spend too much over it, as she had settled down. Oh and I gave her a pain reliever, as I'm sure, if it doesn't hurt now, will hurt like heck later. If I was still breastfeeding, I would've shot it full of breastmilk. But, alas, they are as deflated as the day is long. Doesn't help that I've lost weight. I don't think they've ever been this small, or flat, or droopy. But yet, a D cup is still considered a bit on the large side, is it not? I wonder how big I was before? Oh, the wonders of breastfeeding. Breast enhancement, the Natural Natural way! No drugs, surgery, pills, creams or exercises needed! Of course there is that whole nine months of pregnancy and then, don't forget the part about LABOR. They don't call it that for nothing, let me tell you what! 20 hours from start to finish. Now I'm just hoping for 12 hours. That would be grand! Labor, hah! They should make up a word that isn't used by men to describe working in a coal mine, or on a farm, or in a logging camp. That's not labor. Put a man with a 30lb pack on the front of him on a hospital gurney and tell him to breath unnaturally for 20 some hours, while having all sorts of strangers examine areas of you meant for your spouse and then push that pack out his nose while having everyone around you shouting for you to push. "WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING HERE? HAVING A TEA PARTY?" I can see the draw for home births. And if we weren't in a parsonage and weren't 30 mins away from a hospital, I'd do it!
Oh my goodness! I digress! I guess!
Forgive the rambling. Hope you enjoyed it. Now I am going to go rummage around for chocolate.

Return to civilization

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We are back. Boo. But that means we had a great time! We stayed in a very nice cabin, ate lots of food and slept. It was nice. We did nothing. It was very nice. Nadia did great for Andrew's parents, but WOW did she make up for it as soon as we got back. Andrew was trying to get her ready for bed and she was upset over wanting a toy or something in the living room that Andrew wouldn't let her have, it was time for bed. She got so upset, she threw up her dinner all over the bathroom floor. WHERE HAS MY SWEET BABY GONE? Andrew and I are seriously wondering what is going on. Is it just the terrible two's? I mean, good grief. However, it was sort of a good thing, though, because she knows that throwing a temper tantrum like that gets her nowhere and that throwing a temper tantrum makes her throw up. She's never really done that before, throw up that is.
How is the 30 day challenge going? Well, good and not good. Somedays I forget to read it! And then I will forget, on days that I do read it, to tell him the thing I'm supposed to tell him! So, since I read it in the morning, I am going to write the thing on a piece of stationery and put it at his breakfast plate. But I think I am getting better at not saying things that are negative. Although, I think it is coming off as the silent treatment. My thought is, when we are having a disagreement, instead of saying the things that are non-productive not to say anything. I will have to somehow explain this to him. I think he will understand.
It is extremely warm here for the season. Mid 60's. Usually we'd be in the low 20's. Lots of walks today, this weather will not last.
I am putting together another project for myself. I am vest-ed out. But we do need a nicer blanket for our bed. The one we have has pulls and all those little wear balls all over it. So I am going to make this. I hope I can put it together ok. Looks easy enough and maybe, just maybe I can make it from the scraps in my bags. Ugh, you should see my scrap bags! Although, after having looked at it I think I will tone down the colors. Might be a bit too colorful for Andrew. You know, him being a guy and all. But it is easy!
Well time for breakfast!

5 Years Ago....

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I forever changed my life and married my blessing, my beloved.........





I am a blessed wife. Happy Anniversary Andrew!

The Good Wife's Guide

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I am sure some of you have seen this list of suggestions from Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May 1955, but it's worth repeating. My MIL handed this to me before Andrew and I got married, tongue-in-cheek, so to speak. She said that she was not in any way implying that I do these things, she just thought it might be good for a laugh. Surprisingly I do a lot of these things, others, well, I question who wrote this in the first place. I am not a militant feminist, I am not even a feminist. In fact, you might call me a grassroots feminist, in that, I believe there is a calling for all women to go back to the way God created us to be. And that is, feminine. I will post a few links to what I mean.
Anyway, here for your enjoyment...

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

• Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

• Be happy to see him.

• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

• Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

• Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order, and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

• Don't greet him with complaints or problems.

• Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

A book I read before I got married was The Power of Feminity by Michelle Mckinney Hammond.
This is what got me started on the return to the true feminine. It opened my eyes to the destruction of the feminist movement. Granted, there are women who are oppressed, even today, and that is wrong. But those men are not following the biblical standard for masculinity. Anyway. I also want to refer you to a wonderful author whom I haven't been able to get on the radio since moving. Nancy Leigh DeMoss. She is a single, powerful speaker, author and theologian. I have grown and been convicted many times since listening to her.

Now about the 30-Day Challenge. How is it going? Today is the first day, it's going ok. I only said one thing that I was convicted of, before it came out of my mouth. But it came out anyway. Ugh. That frustrates me. I don't know why I do it. I see that line in my head and think "I'd better not say that," and out it comes. It wasn't really bad, but it was negative and didn't need to be said. I love praying for people when I know what to pray for, so these written out prayers are nice. I'll update tomorrow.

Gee, what are you going to do? I've updated my blog so many times this week. I'll bet you are dizzy now. Well enjoy!

It Starts Tomorrow....

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Yes, yes I know, the New Year starts tomorrow. But what I'm talking about is so much more monumental, it's worth noting.

Tomorrow, myself, along with a whole bunch of other women are committing to praying and speaking nothing but encouragement to our husbands. I've been trying my hand at it already and good grief, it's hard! But I've already noticed a difference. There are thoughts that will come in my head to say and then I'll think "do I really need to say that? What will that accomplish, really?"

I am going to try to post on here my progress as much as possible. Ideally everyday, but I don't blog near that much anyway, and sometimes hubby needs it. So, whenever I get to it, that's when you get the update.

If you want to follow along praying for your hubby, scroll down, the introductory post with all the links and so forth is further on down.

I encourage you to do so. It might change your marriage.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Random Thoughts About Adoption

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I wasn't going to blog today. Today being Sunday and I try not to do anything more than what is required of me, or more than I want to do. Like I'll sew on Sunday, because I LOVE it. Anyway, we have a 50th Wedding Anniversary renewal of vows down at the church in 30 mins. I'm going to be late, Nadia's napping and if I got her up in the middle of that I would first kick myself and second not really be able to see the ceremony anyway. She is a routine girl and needs her sleep. So we'll go to the reception. 50 years, can you imagine? What a blessing.
Anyway, for some reason adoption has been on my mind and I have been bombarded with it for the past week or so. I've seen commercials and heard Christian songs, even one of the blogs I frequent has an article on it. Andrew and I have both said we'd adopt and we want to. I guess I thought I wanted at least one more biological child before we did that. I love being pregnant, I love carrying a child, but I also want to open my home and my love to children who don't have that. We are trying for another child and really have only been trying for like 2 months or so. Haven't really kept track. Just kinda easin into things. I am truly content right now with Nadia. I'd be content if I got pregnant. I just am ok right now with where we are at and with what could happen. But I do want more children. And I do want to carry at least one more, but I do want to adopt. And so I don't know if God is preparing my heart for this or if it is a step we are to take right away. I don't know. Adoption is so expensive though! We are on a pastors salary. I don't know how we would be able to afford it. Seems so wrong though, when there are children who spend so much time in foster care and we could take care of them! I know, though, just because of Nadia's age, I wouldn't want to adopt any child older than what she is. I don't know why, but just seems prudent.
I am going to continue to pray about this. I've brought it up to Andrew and am not going to say anything until the Lord prompts him. Then I'll know it's time. Until then we will just be at ease with the whole TTC. I don't want to get in a tizzy about it. I did last time. If God wants us to bear another child, we will. No fussing or pushing on our part will change His time. Oh I'll still pray for it. But I will enjoy where I am at right now. And, when we get pregnant, I will enjoy that too. Did I mention I love being pregnant?

My Christmas Greeting

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Dearest Family and Friends,

Emmanuel! What a proclamation! God with us. He truly is. He is with us on the mountain top, the valley below and even in the desert wide. In those places He manifests Himself so that His purposes may come about; that we may come to know Him better and grow in closer intimacy with Him. Please let me share how He has been “Emmanuel” in many ways with us this past year.

The Christmas season 2006 was hard for us. Right around Thanksgiving we discovered black mold in Nadia's room that necessitated our finding a temporary living space. Some very good friends offered to put us up for the time it took to remediate the problem; which ended up being 6 weeks. (Thank you friends!) We got back in our house right before Christmas with a fully decorated tree and gifts waiting from an unknown source. (Thank you friends.) Our insurance came through for us and we weren't out a dime. Thank you Lord Jesus.

That December Andrew also received approval for pastoral ministry within the Eastern Region Conference. This was an encouraging bright spot for us. Thank you Jesus.

In January Andrew and I celebrated our 4^th anniversary and we also got a call about a small country church in the Northern District of ERC. It was a part time position but they wanted a full time pastor. Andrew felt God leading him to full time work so we continued to pray and wait.

A few days before Valentines Day Nadia's room was finally finished. The remediation process had left her room carpetless and with a huge gaping hole in the ceiling and wall. Andrew worked evenings and weekends on it while Nadia slept in her crib in our room. He did a fine job on it and we were happy for it to be Nadia's room again.

Then in April the family went back to PA for the annual Eastern Regional Conference. It is this conferences custom to license all ministry candidates at their annual conference. We went to that conference feeling very low. God met us in so many ways and encouraged us through many people. We left encouraged and with a possible ministry interview.

After ERC we started to have more contact with the little church up in northern PA. Since we were interviewing at the end of may with another church in PA we decided to candidate with the northern church as well. The northern church, went very well. We left energized, encouraged and very eager to pursue the next step. The other church was not in God's plan. We continued the process with the northern church, having a second candidating Sunday in June.

But just before we found out of their decision, a very good friend of mine, Sara, got married. She wed July 4 to a wonderful, Godly man, Joshua. It was a family affair. Andrew was the photographer, Nadia was the flower girl (Sara is her Godmother.) and I was the Matron of honor. I also made Sara's wedding gown. That was an awesome accomplishment. I am forever grateful to Sara for her encouragement and faith in me. She looked beautiful the day she walked down the aisle, but not because of the dress. It was a beauty that radiated from within. Thank you Sara and Josh for allowing us to be a witness of your marriage covenant.

After that we heard back from the northern church. They had unanimously accepted Andrew as their pastor. We were overjoyed. We accepted the position and started the moving process. The date of August 6 was set to move and we had lots of things to do in the time frame of about 5 weeks.

I was still working part time for the office and after they found my replacement I started to train him. We also had a laundry list of home projects we needed to get done to sell our home and we had to put our home on the market. Never mind we also needed to pack. It was a busy but a long awaited time. Nadia handled it very well and surprisingly we got it all done. August 6 found us with an empty house, a very full moving truck and a 'For Sale' sign in the front yard (by the way, as of this writing, that sign is still in that front yard, please pray for this.) and two heavily weighted down cars. Andrew's father, Bob, graciously helped us with home projects and the actual moving to PA.

We were greeted in our new home by a band of workers from the church, a full dinner and a birthday party for Nadia. (Her birthday was in two days.) Along with many other blessings received from the church, we were warmly welcomed and began to settle in to the parsonage. Andrew's Mother, Norma and his elder brother, Brian were also there to help us settle in. Andrew started officially pastoring two weeks later.

October was a busy month for us as well. Midway, Andrew was officially installed as the new pastor at the church. It was a good day. A day we had waited two years for. We definitely feel that God has prepared us for this particular body of loving, imperfect believers, and prepared them for us, an imperfect family who loves them.

We also welcomed someone new into our family, by way of marriage that is. My elder brother, John, got married on October 20 to a lovely lady I am pleased to call sister, Heather. It was a wonderfully simple wedding. We were blessed to have been there. I am excited at this new union.

Nadia throughout all of this has been doing well. She is growing and so smart. She is quite a talker and given the chance would talk the legs off a brass kettle. She loves music, loves to sing and dance and enjoys reading. She is a beautiful, healthy girl and for that we are grateful. She has been a continued blessing and a source of joy, even if she is growing all too fast.

And that has been our year. It's been a full one, but a good one. Thank you all for your prayers, we appreciate them and we felt them! Continue to pray for us as we figure out this 'pastor' thing. We continue to pray for you all as you are brought to mind.

Christmas blessings and may you know anew the true meaning of this season.

Merry Christmas!

Your Mission....

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Ladies, I've got a challenge for you. If you are married, happily or not, going to be, or just got married, this challenge is for you. This subject is near and dear to my heart. I don't want to taint your decision too much, but I encourage you to click on the following links and decide for yourself.

30-Day Husband Encouragement Challenge for Wives

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/pdf/30DayChallenge.pdf

Not sure what the difference is between these two pages, but I have printed them both off to do this challenge. I will be doing this starting Jan 1, 2008. I will be putting weekly updates during this challenge. Please let me know if you are considering doing this.

I believe this could profoundly change our marriages, our families and, inevitably, our country. Join with me, won't you?

Zee Cookies....

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I was hoping I had at least one cookie left to take a picture of. These things are sooooo addicting! And since I got the go-ahead from Erin, I will share with you. I so highly recommend these cookies. They simply are the best. I kid you not. I have a new favorite!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
1.25 c. Butter or margarine, softened
2.25 c. powdered sugar
.3 c. baking cocoa
.25 c sour cream
1 Tbls vanilla
2.25 c. flour
2 c. chocolate chips
.25 c chocolate sprinkles

Delicious Directions: Cream butter, sugar and cocoa until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add flour, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate 1 hour. Roll into 1 inch balls, dip one side in sprinkles. Place, sprinkled side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake @ 325 degree oven for 10 mins. Cool 5 mins before removing. (Make sure to put the cookie dough back in the frig between ball formations.)
And because there is no eggs in it, you can eat the dough. Therefore, I have no idea how many cookies this recipe makes. But they are so good, baked or unbaked, or half baked, or frozen or or or....

Let me know if you make these, they are sooooo good!

Thank you Erin! You can find her blog here.

A Story In Pictures

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What have I been up to? Well instead of just telling you I am going to bombard you with pictures because we took so many the past weekend and some are sooooo cute!















You haven't seen Nadia for a while and this was just adorable! She is sooooo cute! Yeah, I know, I'm biased. But I can be!














One cannot have too much cuteness in a day. So here is more.















Hubby took this one. The arm is a friend of ours. Just reminds me of what we are to be doing everyday. Reaching out to God. But He also reaches out to us.















This is my latest sewing project completed. This is Nadia's Christmas present. It is a denim pocket quilt. I got the idea from here. I made it out of an old green skirt of mine and two pairs of old jeans from Andrew. It is so nice. I was very pleased at how well it turned out. It is large so it will grow with her and she can keep little buddies or whatever in the pockets. She loves blankets.




















Here Nadia is helping with cleanup from cookie making (don't worry, it doesn't have any eggs.) This recipe came from my Secret Sister on crosswalk. We love these cookies and so does everyone else who eats them. Erin, can I share the recipe?














This is my VBFF (very best female friend!) of all time, Sara. She and her hubby Josh finally got to visit this past weekend. I missed her so. Here we are making supper and hammin' it for the camera.














We are having a bloodmobile at the church tomorrow and I volunteered to make cornbread. This is one of three cakes of the stuff. So good. I am also taking some of the leftover cookies from the party on sunday (went well) and helping the canteen. I might also give a pint. I need a new t-shirt. :)




















And finally, our humble tree. It was a pre-lit from Walmart for very very little money. But I love it and it is beautiful. Surprisingly Nadia is leaving it pretty well alone. But, we still have the durable ornaments on the bottom. :)

Enjoy!