Onward and Upward

Launching "The Nurturing Mama"

2010-02-11T11:57:00.003-06:00

Check out my new blog! Entitled The Nurturing Mama, I'll be talking about family, faith, food, and more. Of course, there will be plenty of Maddie updates. Please update your links and RSS feeds and head on over there!

This will be the last post on Onward and Upward, although I may go through and add more links from here to there. It's been fun, and thanks for reading!

A Fresh Start

2010-02-09T12:53:00.003-06:00

I've been daydreaming for weeks about where to go and what to do with this blog. It was originally begun by my friend Ashley and I as a way to encourage other working wives who had yet to pass through the gates of motherhood. Eventually, Ashley bowed out because of other commitments, which left me with the reigns. I decided to keep posting here, mainly because of a lack of desire to create a new blog. The focus eventually shifted to being a blog with nothing more than updates.

Now the time has come. I'm so excited about shifting gears and finding another voice. My new blog is now in the works, and I'm hoping to launch it within the coming weeks. Instead of the original, other-focused purpose of Onward and Upward, it will be personal; a reflection on motherhood and my personal journey in that realm. I plan on discussing what I'm passionate about: faith, family, good food, and playing in the dirt. And how they all connect.

Stay tuned and check back for the new site soon!

New Maddie Video

2009-10-31T20:38:00.002-05:00

This has been up for a couple of weeks, but for anyone who doesn't know Stu's Youtube account might be interested in this. It's a compilation video of Maddie's first year. We celebrated our little munchkin's first birthday on the 6th. I can't believe she's a year old!

Winterizing

2009-09-26T15:33:00.002-05:00

There's not even a nip in the air yet, but I'm all ready for the upcoming cold now that we're no longer in Houston. I went to the most amazing consignment sale the other day to pick up a bunch of basics for the baby in preparation of the upcoming chill. Here's Maddie all geared up and ready to go:

Major (Bum)mer

2009-09-07T09:02:00.003-05:00

I'm a huge cloth diaper fanatic. They're adorable, hold leaks better than disposables, and are a much cheaper option in the long term. When Maddie was born, I eagerly checked out all my options, purchased the cute little diapers, and happily went on my merry cloth-diapering way. We did switch to disposables when she was in day care, out of courtesy to the workers there.

Once we moved and I stayed at home with Maddie, I used them full time. We've saved so much on our grocery and toiletries budget by not having to buy diapers.

I originally purchased 18 Baby Kangas, a pocket cloth diaper, which I figured suited me the best. It is a style of diaper with a soft absorbent layer next to baby's skin, and an outer waterproof layer to prevent leaks. In the middle of these two layers goes an insert, which holds all the wetness. As well as the diapers, I purchased 18 inserts, wipes, 1 wetbag for the diaperbag, and 2 big wetbags for holding the diapers while they were waiting for the wash. I must say, that I love them. I had planned on ordering 12 more of the ever so cute Baby Kangas once we had another child. I was going to get some in Robin's Egg and Daisy, 2 colors I have not added to my collection.

I received a coupon this morning from Kelly's Closet, the website in which I purchased my lovely diapers. They were running an end-of-summer clearance, so I thought I'd check it out, just for fun.

They are discontinuing the Baby Kangas at their store.

I know I can probably find them elsewhere, but I never found any comparable price in any other online retailer. Baby Kangas are a bit pricey, and they don't even come with inserts when purchased alone. Once we're expecting the next baby, I'll have to decide whether to try to find a decent price on them, or (banish the thought) switch to something else.

I did see another pocket diaper that closely resembled the Baby Kanga, but it had no zipper. It's called the Smartipants, and it's really pretty cute as well--and they're cheaper than the Baby Kangas are. They even come with an insert! So yeah, major deciding to do someday.

Maddie News

2009-09-04T14:17:00.002-05:00

For those of you who haven't seen our Flickr account, here are some more recent pictures of Maddie. These were snapped at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, a great, free place in which to take pictures. Maddie is definitely small for her ages, but she's developmentally right on target.

She crawls like an old pro now. She pulls up on furniture all the time, but is not yet brave enough to try standing on her own.

She loves to point. She's starting to wave bye-bye more frequently, and she's good at giving high fives. We're working on "Touchdown" for football season. :-)

She has even started saying Da! when Stu gets home from work. It's the most adorable thing ever. Her first tooth came in a few days ago, and I can't wait to see what it looks like once it's done sprouting!

One last shot, just because I love the lighting:

Lazy Sunday

2009-08-30T13:08:00.002-05:00

I love days like today. The baby and skinny cat are asleep in the living room, and the fat cat is curled up on my bedroom pillow. Stu is also napping--he's resting after a 24 hour call.

It's pouring down rain outside, and I've got nothing more pressing than a cup of coffee and an old issue of Southern Living, just waiting to be read. It's a November issue from a few years back--I've been excited about fall for a few weeks now, and I can't wait for the chilly air and seasonal food.

We've been doing well here; I feel like I've got a very established routine going now. It's hard having Stu be gone so much during the day, but I was expecting it. I'm so glad that I'm introverted enough to thrive with alone time, so I don't really feel alone. Plus, we've made some great friends already here in Birmingham, so I get out and see them when I am feeling lonely. Tonight we're going to a tapas party hosted by some of our friends.

I'm hoping that just maybe I'll start blogging more. I have a lot of recipes, gardening stuff, and cute Maddie pictures that I'm hoping to share. During the next few months, we're hoping to do a lot to upgrade our existing landscape, and I'm hoping to catch it all on film. My cooking has significantly improved since moving (so says Stu), and I'm enjoying my time in the kitchen with fresh seasonal produce from the farmers market. I've missed blogging, so I'm hoping to pick it up again.

Quiet Satuday

2009-08-01T17:40:00.003-05:00

I normally reserve my computer time to blog reading or shopping, but it's been a particularly slow Saturday today. There is still nothing in my Google reader. Argh. Stu is at work right now for his first call as a medical resident. Maddie and I are just relaxing at home after spending the morning grocery shopping.

We first went to the Valleydale Farmers Market, which is only slightly farther than the main Pepper Place Market. It was fun to try a different one this time. The market up at Pepper Place is close to downtown, so it's big and crowded and parking is hard to come by. Valleydale is smaller, with only 10 vendors or so, but it was worth the drive if only to satisfy my curiosity.

Our next stop was a flea market run by one of the big churches here in town. I was originally going for baby stuff, but that sort of thing is always the first to go, and I was pretty late in getting there. I did find these really pretty framed botanical prints for only $10; I think they will look good in our master bath. I've been looking for something like this for awhile--there was a really cute shop in Michigan that sold nothing but botanical prints (many of them hand-painted originals from the 1850s), but they were well out of my price range (and unframed). I had to buy them on a whim, so Stu hasn't seen them yet. I hope he likes them!

Oh! Garden update! I've got an impressive patch of weeds growing in my new raised bed. Stu and I put it in about a week and a half ago, and I promptly planted some lettuce. They have yet to spring up. Weeds, however, are quickly taking over. Once this string of thundershowers finishes up, I'm going to try again. I did order some seeds for the coming year, and I hope to get them soon so I can begin my broccoli, Chinese cabbage, and rutabagas.

Crazy Baby and Other Odds and Ends

2009-07-19T19:32:00.004-05:00

Maddie and I just returned from a week and a half in Indiana and Northern Michigan. It was a beautiful trip, and it was so much fun to get away. The weather was in the mid-60s to lower-70s most of the week, so we actually needed to get Maddie and sweatshirt and pants for the time. One day during the week we went to a strawberry patch to pick some sweet berries for pie. I just carried Maddie with me, since she wasn't to enthused about the stroller. I set her down in the middle of the row of berries, and she snatched a huge one from the box I was filling. It was at least the size of her little fist. She began sucking on the thing (she can't yet chew) and dribbling strawberry juice down her new light pink onesie and white pants. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen, so I just let her continue even though she was a mess. I really wish now that we got a picture, but at least both my parents got to see the cuteness.

Maddie is having one of those days where she is getting into everything, and I'm having one of those days where I need her not to be. Her favorite place is the cat food, which we keep on the floor by the back door. At first she would simply tip over the water and food and let them spill all over the floor, but now she finds it fascinating to pick out individual pieces and try to put them in her mouth. At least it's less messy that way. She makes a bee-line for the bowls whenever I set her down. If she's not by the cat food, she's in the fireplace or in the cat box. Her real toys are just not that enthralling, I guess.

I never realized how messy she can be as well. She loves to crawl with her toys in her hand, so her toy animals from the living room will end up in the kitchen, spoons will end up in the living room, and my shoes somehow end up on a low bedroom table. Today she decided to knock over my full glass and watch it shatter all over the floor. At least we were outside on the back patio, so I didn't have to worry about cleaning all the liquid. Right now she's eating the springy door stop that she pulled off of the wall.

I've been working on my garden plan for next season the past few days. Although it feels weird to be thinking of starting now instead of next spring, when one usually begins. I figured I would ease into the process by planning one raised bed of fall veggies. I'm thinking of starting some lettuce, swiss chard, and maybe some rutabagas. This summer and fall I plan on doing a lot of work in the back to get the beds all ready to plant in the spring. I have a whole host of things I'm hoping to try then--hopefully I don't get to overwhelmed!

I'm also hoping to go peach and blueberry picking sometime in the next few weeks. I really miss my picking buddy (Hi Leslie!), so I'll either go by myself or ask one of my new friends here. I'm hoping to freeze a lot of the peaches and make freezer jam, and with the blueberries I'm not really sure yet what I'd like to do. Maybe I'll just freeze them all for smoothies and such. We had a blast picking strawberries over vacation, and I really wanted to bring some back with me. The only way I could think to do that was to get some dry ice to keep them frozen, but that wasn't going to happen. Next spring I'll have to find a place here in Alabama that grows them. There are U-pick cherry farms in Michigan, and I think next year we'll pick a whole bunch and I can take them home in a cooler, then make some jam or something at home. Hmmm, sounds like that might be a plan.

I've also been experimenting with pizza crust lately. I've never been able to find a recipe that I really love. The ones I've tried have been to think and doughy with not enough crisp to the bottom. I'm trying another recipe I found and have already prepped the dough, so I'm hoping to make the pizzas later this week. We'll see how that goes.

And that is all for now.

Settling In

2009-06-04T17:35:00.002-05:00

I've got iced tea brewing on the stove, and a tall glass of iced coffee next to me while I type on our kitchen table, which is an old desk converted for the purpose. It is simply wonderful to have a kitchen table again! The baby is sitting next to me, relatively content in her brand new high chair.

We're still getting settled, but this place is beginning to feel more and more like home. We've had to purchase an amazing amount of stuff we never thought of (Shower curtain rings! Lawn mower! Shelves to create more closet space!), but we were sort of expecting it. We've been running from one thing to the next, trying to get everything up and running. We've only just gotten the internet an hour ago.

The cats are settling in surprisingly well. We're were afraid they would miss the back balcony, but they absolutely love the big space and bird watching out the back door. We went ahead and purchased a bird feeder for them, and I can see two birds checking it out right now. Lily especially loves watching the birds outside.

Stu is going to set up a folder in our Flickr account so that I can post tons of pictures of my gardening progress. I took a whole bunch of the weeds overtaking our yard, and they should be up soon. I'll also post some shots here once I find the time.

I'm loving the SAHM thing and can't wait to blog more. Baby is getting fussy, so that's it for now.

It's Official!

2009-05-26T20:14:00.002-05:00

I had my last day of work this past Friday, which means that I've now begun my dream job. I'm a stay-at-home mommy! It still hasn't sunk in just yet. When I awoke this morning, it was surprisingly hard to convince myself that I really wasn't going back to work. Not ever. It almost feels like summer vacation has begun.

So anyway, we're moving to B'ham in a matter of days. Ever since my last day of work we've been busy packing, cleaning, and keeping the cats and baby in line. It's amazing how moving everything around can make you realize what a poor housekeeper you are. I have a baby and worked full time, but still. How did we live like this?

Updates will still be scarce until we get our internet up and running after the move. I can't wait to begin blogging more regularly!

One Month, One Week

2009-04-22T18:10:00.000-05:00

One month. That's how much longer until I get to start my dream job, and begin a brand new chapter. I can't believe just how quickly the years here in Houston have flown. We left Chattanooga as newlyweds and fresh college grads to really begin our lives in a brand new city. Stu continued in school, while I launched my career. We found a great church and wonderful friends.

We're leaving 4 years older, hopefully a little wiser, with 2 cats and a baby. We're going to start afresh, with new friends and a new church. We'll have to establish a new routine. I cannot wait to stay at home with Maddie and run our household full-time.

One week. That's how much longer until Maddie is no longer in daycare. We love the people there, but we are ready to have her be taken care of by one of us. (We also can't wait to not have this as an expense!) Stu has the month of May off, so while I'll still be working, he'll get to play stay at home daddy.

It's hard to believe just how close we are to such big changes! It's almost like we have senioritis in high school--we can't wait to be done!

Indian Chicken Curry

2009-04-22T06:22:00.001-05:00

I was reviewing my archives to see if I had ever posted this recipe, and I hadn't! This is one of our favorites--we have it probably once every week or two. Don't be scared off by the long ingredient list, as it comes together quickly. This is also a mild curry, but very flavorful. Add more paprika or cayenne if you want more kick.

I especially craved this when I was pregnant with Maddie, so I made it often. For some reason, it just hit the spot, as well as any other Indian or Greek dish.

Indian Chicken Curry

1 Tbsp coconut or olive oil
1 med onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp curry powder (I like the one from Whole Foods, but it's cheaper to make your own!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger powder or minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp paprika, or to taste
1-2 bay leaves
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 c. plain yogurt
1 c. coconut milk (about 1/2 can)
1 Tbsp tomato paste

Heat oil over med-high heat, add onion and cook 5 min. or until soft. Add garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, paprika, and bay leaves and roast 1 min, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients, and reduce heat to simmer for 20 min. Serve over rice. Makes 3-4 servings.

Edited to add: Agh! I forgot about salt! You'll need to add about a teaspoon of salt to this, or it will taste really bland.

Alabama, here we come! (and other various randomness in list form)

2009-04-10T06:42:00.003-05:00

I have to take off of work today, since our daycare was closed for the holiday. I thought I'd take a moment and update with all news from around here.

--We're going to Birmingham! Stu was accepted into the residency program at the University of Alabama. We are so excited about this, since we'll be only 2 1/2 hours from friends and family in Atlanta! Match Day itself was quite an exciting day--lots of good food and a wonderful time with friends.

--Speaking of Match Day, they have a "jackpot" tradition at the school. Everyone that matched is called up one at a time to receive an envelope with their residency location recorded inside. As they come up to the stage, they drop a dollar in a basket. At the end, the very last name called gets to keep all of the money in the basket. Guess who won? I think Stu was so flustered by the end that he wasn't as excited as I was, but we won $180! He stays he felt panicked that there had been a mistake and he hadn't matched at all. Poor guy!

--Two weekends ago we flew to Alabama to find a house! We felt that with the market the way it is now, and the fact that we need more space, it was time to buy. House-hunting was so much fun! We spent 2 days searching. I wish I could say we found the perfect house, but it didn't quite work out that way. Hubby found one he loved (a new house that needed no work), and I got my heart set on another (an older home where the laundry was separate from the house, meaning a walk in the rain to wash clothes) We had to compromise on this one, and went with the new house. I guess that's part of being married! The house will be cute with some work, though, and the garden is a complete blank slate. All that's out there is sod! I'm going to have so much fun back there.

--Maddie is starting solids now. She seemed eager to eat our foods, plus she's been Miss Fussypants and I think it's because she's teething. I fed her some rice cereal, and she loved it! She kept opening her mouth for more. My little girl is growing up so fast!

--Work has been terribly frustrating the past month or so. I don't want to get into details, but I just really needed to vent a bit. I'll post more details after my last day (May 22nd!), but if you're curious you can e-mail me.

--I probably won't post much, if at all, until after we move. We'll be so busy wrapping things up, packing, etc, that I just don't think I'll have much time for blogging. Hopefully, once I'm staying home with Maddie, I'll find the time to post more regularly.

The Suspense is Killing Me

2009-03-18T17:52:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is the day.

We will find out where we will spend the next 3 years of our lives. I'm excited, but a bit nervous, too. The time has moved so slowly, but it's finally almost over!

I've got another headache (bleh!), so this will be short. I'll let you guys know where we're going tomorrow!

It comes with a REMOTE

2009-03-12T21:38:00.003-05:00

Oh. My. Goodness.

I had completely forgotten just how wonderful it is to possess a remote control. We've been flipping stations manually for about a year now. The TV we have is one Hubby's dad no longer used, and he had lost the remote long before. (And I know about universal remotes, but this TV brand is so special that it doesn't work with them.)

At least we don't have cable, so we only flipped between 2 stations.

We got the coupon for our converter box in the mail the other day, and we were so excited that Stu went out today and bought one. Being the handy-dandy man that he is, he hooked it up no problem and got the digital TV working. And it is awesome--the stations come in clearly, and we even have more than we started with! All for the $20 after using the coupon.

When Stu opened the box to the converter, both of us did a giddy dance to celebrate the new remote that was an unexpected surprise. Now I can nurse the baby and change the channel all at the same time!

Oh, and for those who want to see what the baby looks like now, here's a random picture:

What We Decided

2009-02-14T10:50:00.003-06:00

I mentioned awhile back that we were deliberating over our residency program choices, and last weekend we finally hashed it all out and submitted our ranking!

So here it goes:

Nashville
Columbia, SC
Birmingham
Chattanooga
St. Louis
Charlottesville, VA
Augusta, GA
Dallas
Houston

You'll notice that this list is way different from the one before. The Chattanooga and Augusta programs were just not really good enough, so they went lower on the rankings. St. Louis and Charlottesville were much better programs than I gave them credit for, so up higher they went.

Stu feels that the Nashville program (at Vanderbilt) is very competitive and so he probably won't get in there, but we went ahead and ranked it first anyway. So, we may end up with our 2nd or 3rd choice, and we feel that both would be awesome.

Match Day is a little later than I realized--it's on March 19th this year. So it's still one month away before we find out where we'll be! Be praying that it all works out for the best! :-)

Life is way more difficult than I thought it would be, but it is good

2009-02-13T18:52:00.002-06:00

I honestly don't see how women can work full-time and take care of a baby. This is hard work. Maybe many working moms have a stronger desire to work and can organize a schedule way better than I can. I'm just not cut out for this. I can barely find the time to make dinner more than twice a week, let alone blog. (And my nights to cook are currently Saturday and Sunday.)

At least I'm having the time of my life being a mother. Remind me to post pictures sometime of my now 4-month-old and 12-and-a-half pound child. She's growing too fast. Blogging is still going to be light until I retire from the working world in May, but I will post our final residency programs decisions and such sometime in the next few days.

Residency Programs

2008-12-18T06:55:00.001-06:00

Stu is on his final interview in Chattanooga. Yay! He's been gone most of this month criss-crossing the country with interviews for his residency program. It's so hard to believe we're this close to a new phase in his career! He had 9 interviews total, and once he finishes all of them he will rank the programs and then, we wait. March 1st (maybe 2nd this year, since March 1st is a Sunday; we're not sure) is Match Day, where every med student is (ideally) placed in a residency program based on their preferences and the programs' desire to accept them. (It's some really complicated computer-type matching system that I'm completely ignorant about.)

Anyway, here's my list of programs, based mainly on location, size, and proximity to Atlanta. Stu's ranking may be slightly different. Unforunately, Atlanta did not ask Stu for an interview :-(, but as you can see we have other great options:

Chattanooga: This would be the MOST IDEAL PLACE EVER. Stu and I both love the city, after having lived there for 4 years during college. It has a small-town feel, but enough stuff to do that you won't get bored. Plus, it's only 2 hours from Atlanta. Stu hasn't finished his interview yet, so I don't have much to say about the program. UPDATED TO ADD: Well, Stu just finished the interview, and said that the program in Chattanooga is a bit sketchy, since it's brand new. That means that it may be lower on the list. Don't know yet.

Nashville: While Nashville is 4 hours from Atlanta, it has one of Stu's favorite programs, and it's also only 4 hours from my grandparents in Indy. I would love to live here with its cold(er) winters and changing of seasons. Of course, any location we've looked at has a winter that is colder than Houston's!

Columbia, SC: Another city where Stu loved the program, so it's very close in rank to Nashville. It's also 4 hours from Atlanta, but I rank it lower than Nashville since it's further south and farther from my grandparents. It seems like a beautiful city, though, and a great place to live.

Augusta, GA: Only 2 1/2 hours from Atlanta, but the program isn't quite as good as the ones listed above. It's almost in a dead tie with Birmingham, in my opinion.

Birmingham: Pretty much the same as Augusta. See above.

Dallas: Stu felt the program was solid, and it would be great to be close to his family. So this is a great fall-back city. I think it's a bit too big of a city for me, though, and we both would prefer to be in the Southeast.

Houston: I only rank it above the others below because we're familiar with this place. The program is only so-so, and the salary is one of the lowest out there.

St. Louis: Stu interviewed here only because his best friend currently lives here. While we'd be happy where ever we go, this is a bit too far from all family and friends.

Charlottesville, VA: Stu only interviewed here because they asked and we thought Virginia, it's in the South, right? It can't be that far from Atlanta. Well, we were wrong. It's at least 12 hours from anyone we know. But the program is great and the city is beautiful, so if we end up here it's not the end of the world.

Once Stu finishes all the interviews, we'll talk and pray about our final ranking decisions.

What I've Been Up To

2008-12-11T20:25:00.002-06:00

I miss blogging. It feels like forever since I've had a substantial post. Now that I've returned back to work the time seems to vanish before I even realize it.

I started back on December 2nd, and that was probably one of the hardest days of my life. Stu was away on another residency interview (a topic in which I hope to discuss sometime soon) that morning, so it was just me and Maddie curled up in bed and that was the hardest thing to get up with her sweet sleeping self next to me knowing that I had to leave her with a relative stranger for 9-plus hours.

Plus, my darling little one was still refusing to take a bottle. It makes me happy to know that she prefers nursing that much, but it was still rather stressful to be called in the middle of the day to go over to the daycare to nurse her. Especially when I had to walk home, then drive over there. As I mentioned, Hubby Dear was having a residency interview (in Birmingham, I think), so he wasn't quite able to come and pick me up.

The day went well enough, and it was wonderful to see everyone I've missed for the past 8 weeks. But I still can't wait for the day 5 and a half months from now when I can stay home and just be Maddie's mom full time.

Things are getting better on the bottle front now, since Maddie found a nipple she likes and she was able to drink four ounces yesterday. Yay! That was pretty comforting to me.

Anyway, I'm hoping to soon create a routine in which I'll be able to blog more frequently. We'll see. :-)

Isn't This Cute?

2008-11-07T14:09:00.002-06:00

Now I just need to decide which baby picture of Maddie to put in here!

First Stroller Ride

2008-11-03T18:15:00.004-06:00

I can't believe Maddie is already 4 weeks old! Since the weather was beautiful, we took her out in the stroller for the first time, and she seemed to really enjoy it. We've been using the sling to carry her around for the most part, since it's easier and she loves that too, but the stroller will be great for small excursions to McDonald's and what not. Plus it has handy-dandy cup holders.

Also, the kitties had a mild protestation at the removal of their stroller. Lily climbed into it as we were getting ready to leave, and then nipped at Stu when he tried to shoo her out of it. After we left, Stu ran back to grab the camera, and found Lucy sitting in the vacant spot. Ah, kitties.

Stu has edited the shots from today and set it to music. I think it's really cute! :-)

Maddie's First Stroll from James Booth on Vimeo.

It's Definitely the Milk

2008-10-25T10:19:00.003-05:00

Maddie was up screaming her head off til about 12:30 last night, which was the worst night we've had with her so far. I caved yesterday and had a nice tall glass of frosty milk, and I just know that's what set her off.

I think I drank several glasses of milk a day during the last 2 months of pregnancy, partially because I needed to gain the weight, and partially because it just tasted so amazingly good. So it's been really, really hard to go cold turkey, especially since I have a whole half gallon still in my fridge, just tempting me to drink it.

So far I think other dairy products are okay, since Maddie hasn't had any trouble with the yogurt I tend to consume every morning. I also haven't noticed any trouble with the cheese in my turkey sandwiches. Anyway, I must move on and find another satisfying beverage to consume when I'm thirsty.

On a completely unrelated note, Maddie seems to be having issues keeping herself clean. Every single poopy diaper this little one has seems to explode all over the place. I'm still using disposables, since I have some left and I think she's still too small for the cloth ones I have. Anyway, is this normal? I think I might go ahead and try sticking her in the cloth diapers and see if they hold stuff in better.

Maddie at 2 Weeks

2008-10-21T12:47:00.002-05:00

Our internet is back! Yay! Here is a video Stu made of Maddie a few days ago, which I'm just now getting around to posting. I can't believe she's already over 2 weeks old!

Maddie is 2 Weeks Old from James Booth on Vimeo.

The Story

2008-10-15T13:40:00.000-05:00

Our Internet is still not working! It crashed last week as I was typing up this post. I'm at Chick-fil-A right now so I can finally put it up. Hopefully our internet will be up and running soon!

***********

Thank you all for your comments! We're doing very well here and are easing in to our new schedule. Maddie is nursing like a pro and sleeping for 2-3 hour stretches at a time so I can catnap, which I'm so grateful for! My mom is here, and both she and Stu have been so helpful.

So anyway, for those interested to know, here is the birth story. Let me preface this by saying please don't hate me! :-)

I went to work on Monday morning, just like any other day. At about 10 I started having mild contractions that were only slightly more intense than the ones I had been having frequently over the past few weeks. At this point I thought nothing of it and finished packing up the samples I was shipping to another lab. The contractions continued regularly, but didn't increase in intensity until around 1, when I began to finally believe that I might be in labor. At this point, I decide to wait for my midwife's appointment at 2:15, and then walked over to the other side of the hospital, since my coworker needed me to bring over some supplies. I hung out over there for a while, and we talked about whether I should come back to work after the appointment. She figured I really was in labor and told me to go home afterwards.

So I walked to my midwife's appointment (I live and work in the Texas Medical Center, so my midwife is close by.) and waited for a long while in the waiting room while the contractions came on stronger. They were painful, but not anything I couldn't handle. When the nurse called me back, I mentioned that I might be in labor, so when the midwife came in around 4, she went ahead and checked me and found that I was already 4 cm. dilated. Since I lived down the street, she let me go home for an hour or two to grab a bite to eat and take a nice bath. She would notify the hospital that I was on my way.

Stu picked me up from my appointment, and we drove over to Smoothie King. I called my mom to let her know what was going on, and then we headed back home. My contractions at this point were about 5 minutes apart, and still coming on stronger, but I really wanted to rest at home before going to the hospital.

At home, I drew a bath and hopped in, sipping my smoothie. The midwife on call called me to see how I was doing (There are 4 midwives in this practice, and I've met and really like all of them), and to get an idea as to when I would arrive. I told her I was planning on coming in within the hour, and that I just wanted to relax a bit. This was fine with her, so I hung up the phone and tried to get more comfortable.

With the next contraction my water broke, and suddenly I had the very surprising and painful urge to push. Stu was finishing up grabbing all my things and helped me my dry off. I told him I thought I might want an epidural after all, but he being a med student and all figured I was a little past that point. We rushed to the car, pausing to let me get over each contraction. We drove the 3 blocks to the hospital and decided to valet park, and Stu yelled for a wheelchair.

Stu was really so great through the whole thing--he practically ran me upstairs to the labor and delivery floor. At the check-in station, where the guy was asking for my information, another contraction hit, and one of the nurses grabbed me and took me into a room. She checked me and yelled that I was complete, and that I was ready to push. A doctor rushed in and guided me through the pushing, and Maddie was born at 5:46. The nurse commented that she had never delivered anyone without having time to at least start an IV. My midwife didn't even make it in time.

They let me hold Maddie for an hour or so while they stitched me up (I tore a bit) before they took her to be weighed and measured. It was such a wonderful feeling to be able to finally hold her and see what she looked like and just get to love on her.

So anyway, that's my story! I think I'm going to get back to my newborn now. :-)

Update from Beth

2008-10-15T08:40:00.003-05:00

Beth called me a few days ago and wanted me to give y'all an update. She has been without internet all week, and it looks like it will be another week or two before it's fixed. Of all the times to be without internet...!!

She said Maddie is such a good baby and has been actually pretty good in her one week of existence on this side of Mommy's tummy. :-) Beth's mom is staying with them for a few weeks, which I think has been helpful. (And I'm sure Grandma loves being with her new baby granddaughter!) Beth said transition to motherhood has been pretty good - that nursing hasn't been a problem and only slightly frustrating at times. Though, she may have to stop drinking milk because it seems to be making Maddie fussy. Poor girl! (Poor both of them! I love milk and hope I don't have to give it up!) Beth says she still feels like she's heading back to work any day now, even though she has 7 more weeks to play stay-at-home mom. :-)

Anyways, I will keep y'all updated on Beth and Maddie, and in the meantime keep checking her husband's Flickr for pictures! In the meantime, I leave you with this picture from his photostream:

Video of Maddie

2008-10-07T20:59:00.001-05:00

Beth's husband made a video of Madeline and put it to music. She is so cute and I think she already looks like her mommy! :-)

Maddie is Born from James Booth on Vimeo.

Pictures!

2008-10-07T06:47:00.001-05:00

From Stuart's Flickr account

Madeline has arrived!!!

2008-10-06T21:47:00.003-05:00

My phone rang this evening, and when I looked down I saw Beth's number. I answered it and she said, "Well, I had the baby!"

I of course squealed and Beth made me write down all the details so I could pass them on. :-) Madeline Grace made her appearance in this world at 5:46pm. She weighed 6lbs and 11 oz, and was 18-something inches long.

Beth is doing really well. I am very proud of her accomplishment of giving birth completely naturally. :-) She went into labor this morning while she was at work, and by the time she got to the hospital she was already pushing! Madeline came very quickly, and according to Beth she is perfect.

I promise I will put pictures on here as soon as I get some! In the meantime you can check the new proud father's blog for any updates. (And I'll be sure to post for Beth here!)

Needing Advice

2008-10-01T21:33:00.002-05:00

Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep kitties out of bassinets?

Oh, and strollers, too.

She is cute, though.

It's been a crazy few days

2008-09-17T18:48:00.001-05:00

So, yeah, there was a hurricane.

We just got back from the grocery store, and that was quite an experience. Power is still out most places in town (as far as we can tell). Praise the Lord that our power is already back! The grocery store we went to was running on a backup generator and wasn't selling any perishable items. I don't think I've ever shopped in the dark before. They let customers in a few at a time, in order to avoid riots. We had to scrounge around finding boxed meals that didn't involve any meat or dairy, as well as cans of soup and fruit to tide us over until real food comes back. It was very weird for me since I tend to cook primarily from scratch. I'm making mac n' cheese from a box tonight, something I don't think I've done since college! I'm so glad that we're at least safe and have water, power, and food, since I know so many Houstonians don't.

Trees are down everywhere around here, and most of the billboards we've seen have been blown out. The live oaks here are some of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen, and now so many are missing limbs or falling over. There was some structural damage to the Texans' football stadium down the street. We only lost some shingles from the roof of the apartment.

We decided to stay here through the storm so as to avoid the evacuation mess of Hurricane Rita. They let us off of work early on Thursday and cancelled work Friday so that we could all make our preparations. Friday was actually pretty slow for us--I cleaned out the fridge, we got some supplies, and basically we sat in front of the TV watching the 24 hour coverage. I actually slept through most of the storm, since wind and rain doesn't bother me as much as thunder and lightning.

We went up to Dallas after realizing that the power would be out for a long while. It was nice and relaxing to get away, but I'm definitely glad to be back. We had our first day back at work today, and most of the people I work with are still without power. The whole experience has been a bit surreal. I'm very glad that the baby didn't decide to come when we were away!

Hunkering Down Update

2008-09-12T13:52:00.005-05:00

*Update* As far as we know, the power is still out all over the city. We headed up to Dallas instead of holding out. Hubby Dear posted several pictures we took while heading out--check out his blog (The Scut Report, on my sidebar) to see those.

We're still here in Houston anticipating the coming storm. We're far enough from the coast not to have to worry about storm surge, and being on the 3rd floor of our apartment complex, we don't have much to worry about in the way of flooding. Wind damage may be the only issue.

We're just chilling here with the cats right now, and I'm hoping to get some projects done before the power goes out. All of our prep work is done--we've got water, snacks, and brought in our all our balcony stuff. We're expecting to get the worst around 1 a.m. tomorrow, so be praying for us! I'll post again once the power returns.

Lily longing to be outside:

Not much longer and I don't think she'll want to be out there anymore!

34 Weeks and 3 Days

2008-09-05T19:18:00.001-05:00

This picture is a little harder to see than others I've posted, but I love the backdrop!

Baby Sling

2008-08-06T18:24:00.003-05:00

I just finished putting together a baby sling for the new little one, (it was a great was to spend a "hurricane day" off of work!) and I think it came out really well.

I chose a cotton fabric in pretty mossy green for the sling and specially ordered some rings in bronze. I love the combination together! Most of the slings I've seen online have had silver rings, which I think are pretty, too, but I think the mix of green and bronze is just striking. I've been practicing with it a little bit, trying to figure out the best way to adjust it while wearing it. It's definitely not as easy as it looks!

All in all, the project took only about 1 1/2 hours to put together, and it was very easy sewing too.

I'll post a picture of the sling in use as demonstrated by my test subject when I can, since Blogger is throwing a fit right now and won't post pictures. Grrr.

*Updated* Yay! Pictures are working. Here is the one I promised:

I'm Liveblogging the Storm

2008-08-05T10:24:00.003-05:00

The last hurricane to "hit" our area was 3 years ago, when Hubby Dear and I decided to evacuate and head north to his family's house in Dallas. It turns out that everyone else had the same idea, and we spent 10 hours in our car, hoping we wouldn't run out of gas. We left at 8 in the evening, hoping the usually 4 hours drive would be quick. At 6 a.m., we arrived tired, but relieved to be out of Houston. Of course, Hurricane Rita didn't actually hit us as was thought, so we evacuated for nothing.

We didn't evacuate for this one (it's only a tropical storm after all, not near as big a deal as Rita was) and so far, this tropical storm has been a dud. It's been raining, yes, but so far the wind is calm and we are content in our cozy little apartment.

Yesterday, of course, everyone was preparing for the worst, since Houston has had a few very damaging tropical storms and hurricanes in the past. The Medical Center here is practically shut down, and all outpatient appointments have been canceled. I bet they will all feel pretty silly tomorrow when not much damage has been reported. I'm not complaining, though, since it's been really nice to have the day off to relax and clean my bathroom!

So anyway, for those wondering, we are doing fine here. It's a blessing that the storm is not threatening us at all, and I have the day off!

28 Weeks and 2 Days

2008-07-20T17:24:00.001-05:00

Yay! I found contacts I like

2008-07-13T15:56:00.002-05:00

I recently got another migraine after a long day of computer use and decided to head back to the eye doctor for another contact lens prescription. I might have mentioned it before, but my migraines are all eye strain induced, so I've been wearing my contacts less and less since the strain was starting to be more noticeable, and I really don't want to have to take migraine medication while pregnant. I was also due for another eye doctor appointment anyway--it had been almost 2 years since I've been!

Anyway, so I got new contacts and so far I love them. They are much more breathable than my previous pair, and my doctor informed me that I can wear them for a week straight without taking them out for cleaning. Each lens lasts a month! I'm loving this and think it will be great for me when I'm a new mom, since I know I will frequently forget about the lens and leave it in.

I also figured my prescription changed quite a bit, but I found out it barely changed at all, which makes sense since my glasses aren't giving me trouble, and they're the same prescription as the old contacts. My doctor told me how the brand of previous contacts tends to overcorrect, so that could be the cause of my strain. It all makes sense! Also, apparently I have pregnancy-induced astigmatism--who knew that could happen? I've never had astigmatism before, and my doctor figures it will go away and didn't correct for it (it's only slight, and I can still see 20/20).

All this to say I love my new lenses and hope they continue to do well throughout the week when I'm on the computer all day!

What to Do Update

2008-07-10T17:12:00.005-05:00

I just returned from my latest OB appointment, and am feeling rather ambivalent and frustrated by the whole thing. We spent a bit of time chatting about what to expect when labor and delivery comes around (in only 13 weeks. Yikes!), and I am just not feeling right about it. Part of it is that I've never clicked with this doctor; she's great, but I always seem to clam up around her, and she isn't very proactive, either. I'm also very scared of having a C-section (which I've heard is somewhere around 25 percent at this hospital) and am not feeling very reassured that she would do everything she could to prevent it. I would love to do things as naturally as possible, although I still haven't decided if I want an epidural yet or not.

At the same time, I'm not sure I want to go try to find another OB or a midwife in the area, mainly since I have no idea where to start the search, and I don't want to have to go way out of my way to go to the doctor. One great thing about my doctor is the convenience of her being just down the street. I also feel like it might be a mistake to switch this late in the game, for something I might just be irrationally panicking about. It didn't help that we mainly focused on what would happen if things went wrong.

I know it's not the end of the world if I do end up with a C-section or other complications, and I know that could happen with any care I get, and really, in the end, I just hope the baby is healthy. But I know I will really regret my decision if things don't go well with the doctor I have now. Anyway, I've got lots to think about.

*Update* Thanks so much for the kind advice! My thoughts were very rambly, since I wrote the post right after my visit and my emotions were running high. Here is what I do know after talking with my doctor yesterday.

C-sections: As I mentioned before, the C-section rate at this hospital is around 25 percent. While I don't know my doctor's personal philosophy on C-sections, I do know that she would perform one if the baby is breech, large (9-10 lbs or more), or if I fail to progress. Even if I had a better understanding of her thoughts, it probably won't matter, as she is in a practice with about 7 other physicians, and the chance of her being the one to deliver me are actually very small.

Epidurals: She mentioned to me that the epidural rate at the hospital is 95 percent, so they probably don't accommodate well to women who don't receive one. I asked her what I could expect if I didn't get one, and she mentioned that I would still have to have an IV and a fetal monitor, thus limiting my movement. I also know that I would have to be on my back when pushing.

Episiotomy: While my doctor doesn't routinely perform them herself, she said that she does them sometimes if it appears tearing will be bad. She mentioned that other doctors in her practice routinely perform them, and I would have to let them know beforehand that I don't want one. I mentioned to her that I'd like to avoid it if possible, and she just kind of laughed and said that it really was hard to prevent tearing. (This comment is what really frustrated me.)

While I don't know my doctor's opinion on some things, like induction, or what happens to the baby after birth, etc, I feel like I have a decent idea what to expect. If I stay with her and everything runs smoothly, then that would be wonderful. When I said above that I felt my fears were irrational, it wasn't that I was worried from not knowing what to expect, but more because I'm worried things won't go smoothly when they could have if I had a more natural delivery.

Oh, and by the way.

I did a little research and found an OB/midwife practice right down the street. So my convenience rational is shot. It's a little farther walk from home, but closer to work. I haven't contacted them, but from the snippet on their website, they mentioned their philosophy on labor and delivery: letting labor occur naturally and only intervening when necessary. They are there to make labor go as smoothly and as comfortably as possible, and have a variety of ways to do that (and they do epidurals if I go that route.) Plus, they deliver in two of the best hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, so if an emergency does arise, I would still have wonderful care.

I'm still on the fence about the whole thing, but I'm going to give myself the weekend to think and pray about it with my hubby.

So Blogging's Been Light

2008-07-01T17:37:00.002-05:00

I know, I know. Blogging has stopped again. I spent most of last week over a toilet bowl with a horrible stomach virus. (I hope you didn't get it Ashley!) After much rest and lots of Pedialyte, I'm feeling much better. I finally got back to the blogging world the other day and found that everyone had posted several times, so now I feel so out of it. I'm going to try to catch up as the week goes on.
I'm also on vacation in the absolutely beautiful northwest of Michigan, so I may not have the desire to type up a blog post until I get back to hot old Houston. I'll post another belly picture then.

Baby Stuff Overload

2008-06-13T17:29:00.001-05:00

A pregnant friend of mine sent me a picture of her the other day, so we could all see how far along she is. At 37 weeks, she's counting the days! I've been reflecting on that and realizing that that will be me in 15, no, make that 14 weeks. Yikes! I began skimming websites with baby stuff and feeling way more than slightly overwhelmed. So I'm going to ask for advice, starting near the beginning, one thing at a time. I've already decided on a crib and car seat, so here's my first question:

I'm adamant about cloth diapering, but feel utterly lost when looking at all the products available. What all does a new mother need? I also want diapers that can grow with the baby, so I'm not constantly having to buy new ones. And since we plan on having more kids (someday), I would like something that is durable. Any thoughts?

It's June Already?

2008-06-10T19:24:00.002-05:00

Time flies so fast! I've been so busy that I've neglected the blog again--I looked up and it's already June 10th!

Lots of my time has been consumed with the joy of cooking new and wonderful things. I've had cravings for Indian and Greek food the past few weeks, so I've been browsing the Indian cookbook my hubby got me for my birthday for inspiration. I've found gorgeous produce at the farmers market the past few weeks--I love summer veggies and I'm excited to try new recipes with eggplant, squash, and peppers.

Really, all I can think about is food.

Recipe Swap: Lemon Ice

2008-05-29T06:20:00.001-05:00

What wonderful timing to have the Summer Dessert Edition of Recipe Swap now! It's so hot here in Houston that anything sweet and refreshing will be an absolute delight. This recipe takes some melting of sugar on the stove, but no need to heat up the oven.

This is one I made years ago from the Samantha cookbook from American Girl (which I still have after all this time). So it's easy. I haven't made it since then, but I still remember how yummy it tastes. So here is the recipe, typed up as originally written just for fun:

Lemon Ice

Ingredients
4 lemons
1 orange
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups water

Equipment
Sharp knife
Cutting board
Juicer
Bowl to fit juicer
Measuring cups
2-quart saucepan
Wooden spoon
Large mixing bowl
Strainer
Plastic container with lid
Large metal spoon

Directions
1. Have an adult help you cut the lemons and orange in half on the cutting board.
2. Set the juicer over the bowl so the edges fit tightly.
3. Squeeze the juice out of the lemon and orange halves by turning them back and forth on the juicer while pushing down.
4. Measure the water and sugar into the saucepan. Stir them well.
5. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it boils, or bubbles rapidly, for 10 minutes.
6. Have an adult help you pour the water and sugar mixture into the large mixing bowl.
7. Pour the juice through the strainer into the mixing bowl. Stir the mixture well. Then let it cool.
8. Pour the mixture into the plastic container and cover it. Freeze the lemon ice for several hours until it is hard.
9. Use the large spoon to scrape shavings off the top of the lemon ice and shape them into scoop-size servings.

Whew! Don't you just love how the recipe defines "boil"? That's what I get for transcribing a recipe geared towards 9-year-olds.

Another Project

2008-05-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

I've been working on a dress for my sister, as she is going to a wedding at the end of June. I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, especially the zipper, since I've struggled with putting those in. It looks much better actually on a person than draped across the bed (I know, since I tried it on), but it definitely doesn't fit me like it should, so there is no way I'll take a picture with me in it. Here is the finished product!

Maybe I'll get her to send me a picture with her wearing it. I just hope it fits her! It's not easy knowing if the fit is right without the chance to do a fitting. Ah well. My next project: a really cute maternity shirt for me!

20 Weeks and 3 days

2008-05-26T21:26:00.004-05:00

For more Meet and Greet, visit The Natural Mommy.

Getting Bigger

2008-05-21T21:24:00.003-05:00

I had not one, but two people ask me today if I was pregnant, (That would have been way awkward if I wasn't, but I digress) so I figure that means my baby bump is probably big enough to post a picture. It still doesn't really seem that big yet, especially since it's really hard to tell when I'm wearing my scrubs. But I'll have Stu take a few shots this weekend, and post them up then.

I'm just starting to work my way through some baby names, because I am still so completely undecided. I created some loose criteria in which to follow, just to make it a little easier. It should be 2 or more syllables, not start with B, and I would like something that sounds a bit old-fashioned. And of course, Hubby has to like it. I've seen several names that I really, really like, but nothing really seems to fit. Every name I see is something cute for someone else's child. Growing up, I never had any names that I just had to use for my own kids, so I guess that's why everything fits awkwardly.

Suggestions would be appreciated. :-)

One Point for Mother's Intuition

2008-05-15T20:39:00.002-05:00

Yep, it's a girl! Didn't I say I thought it was a girl? :-) We're so excited, but now comes the hard part of actually picking a name. Eek! Poor Stu will be in a house with four ladies (two having tails). Maybe we should get him a beta?

What's Up

2008-05-14T19:44:00.003-05:00

For those interested in why I'm tired lately, I'd like to mention the fact that Hubby Dear and I are expecting our first baby in October. Sometimes I get overly shy about such things because I don't like to be the center of attention, so it's taken me a while to mention it. We are ecstatic beyond words, of course. It's an interesting story about how we found out--remind me to tell it sometime. ;-)

Okay, fine, I'll tell it now. :-)

I scheduled my yearly doctor's appointment in March, and for the few weeks before the appointment I was feeling really off. I was feeling slightly nauseated and sleepy. Even though the symptoms made sense, because they were mild I just thought it was all in my head, since I wanted a baby so very badly.

When I had my doctor's appointment, I told her about my suspicions, and she confirmed that, yes, I was pregnant. I told her how I had absolutely no idea how far along I could be, so she did an ultrasound, and I was already 8 1/2 weeks along. I remember being excited, and actually relieved that I wasn't going crazy. :-) I was actually very concerned that we were going to struggle with infertility, since I have, um, hormone issues, and I hadn't had that time of the month in a very long time. It wasn't until after that that it really started to sink in, and it still really hasn't.

I've been feeling much better than I expected. Only a little bit of nausea at the end of my first trimester, then fatigue after that. I love that I can eat so much food at once!

Anyway, this brings me to another important point. We find out tomorrow what kind of baby we're having. My gut feeling is that it's a girl, but I know we would be happy either way. I'm still processing all this now, even though I've been able to feel the baby kick the past few days. I just can't believe that I'm going to be a mother. It's so exciting, but a little scary at the same time.

I'll post some pictures in the next few weeks. I'm showing a bit, but it's not really worthy of a picture yet. :-) Anyway guesses as to the gender?

Recipe Swap: Cinnamon Rolls

2008-05-08T20:36:00.003-05:00

I just can't get over how tired I am lately. Everything from blogging to housework has seriously suffered. I'm not even gonna put up the linky button for the Recipe Swap because I'm that exhausted. (Click the button on the sidebar or use the link over there to go The Natural Mommy to see the other fabulous bread machine recipes.)

I'm not too lazy to share my contribution for the week. It's technically a bread machine recipe, as it does utilize said appliance. However, it must be rolled out, filled, and sliced before baking. But I must say, it is so worth it. These are probably the most amazing, melt-in-your-mouth goodies I've ever baked. I only bake half, and freeze the extra cinnamon rolls for future Saturdays, when I'm feeling as lazy and drained as I am today.

Clone of a Cinnabon
From Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 eggs, room temperature
* 1/3 cup margarine, melted
* 4 1/2 cups bread flour (I use all-purpose, with fantastic results)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

* 1 cup brown sugar, packed
* 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 1/3 cup butter, softened

* 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

What Happened

2008-05-03T20:59:00.001-05:00

I got some of my to-do list done today, but due to the gorgeous weather Stu and I decided to go to the park. So, I'll be finishing up my list tomorrow. (I did get all my laundry done. Yay!)

Planning the Weekend

2008-05-02T20:53:00.003-05:00

I've just awakened from a nap, and so I'm rather groggy at the moment. I shouldn't have fallen asleep right after I had eaten dinner! We've been spending the evening attempting to cool off, since the cool week is over and it's quite hot and stuffy outside now. The AC can't cool off fast enough!

I'm trying to decide what to do this weekend, as I really need to put my nose to the grindstone and do some spring cleaning. The kitchen and bathroom are disaster areas, and the bedroom needs some serious cleaning and organizing before the baby comes. It just might take me that long to get it finished! I'm also hoping to work more on a sewing project for my sister (which I'll post about when I'm done) so I can begin working on some clothes for myself. With the farmers market and grocery shopping tomorrow and Hubby Dear's desire to see a movie, it's going to be a busy day!

I think if I can get up at 7 and have breakfast on the table at 7:30 that would be a great start to the day. I'm making homemade cinnamon rolls with a simple sugar icing. I made a batch a week ago and put the extras in the freezer. I'll transfer these to my refrigerator tonight, then set them on the counter to rise for a bit. These are so good with coffee!

At 8 I'll leave with a friend for the farmers market, and hope to be back by 9. Stu wants to see the 10 a.m. showing of Iron Man, so I think we'll do that. Then a quick sandwich or salad lunch. Afterwards I'll head to the grocery store and CVS, so by 3 I'm hoping to start cleaning the bathroom, and I'll throw a load in the laundry. If I can get the bathroom spotless tomorrow, I think that will be sufficient for the day. It's really messy. :-(

Then I'll start dinner (Roasted chicken and potatoes) I love to wind down in the evening with a good book or a sewing project, so I'll finish with some work on Julie's dress. Then a nice glass of iced tea (it's too hot for a warm mug) and some reading.

It sounds good on paper, but with the lethargy I've been experiencing lately, it just may not happen.

Kitties are silly and other news

2008-05-01T21:50:00.002-05:00

I'm currently watching my kitty checking herself out in the dark glass door overlooking our balcony. I think she's picturing another cat on the other side of the glass, as she is walking ever so slowly up to the pane and bobbing her head from side to side to see if the other cat is a threat.

I've been feeling so very tired the past few weeks, and have been turning in as early as 9:30. I've been dragging at work lately as well. It's an odd feeling to have your head bobbing at your desk at 3 in the afternoon! As a result, my desire to blog has spiraled. I'm hoping the beginning of the month will renew my desire to blog and hopefully I'll have some good posts lined up.

Recipe Swap: Toddler Week

2008-04-17T20:06:00.003-05:00

I will be sitting out this week, as I don't have to slightest clue what toddlers eat, since I haven't lived with one since my now senior-in-high-school-aged sister was one. I will most definitely be paying attention to all the suggestions, as I'm sure I will be needing them in about two years.

Recipe Swap: Why I Eat My Peas

2008-04-10T17:39:00.000-05:00

I'm actually quite stumped with this one. Not because I don't love the sweets, but because I have so many recipes that I use only once in a while. Plus, I don't have any of them memorized (like many of my other recipes so far) so that would mean I would have to get my lazy self off of the couch and hunt one down. Let me think a bit.

Okay.

So I've decided to post my ice cream dessert recipe. This is one I got from Taste of Home, and I always get rave reviews. It's quick, easy, and so good! It's great during the heat of summer when you don't want to turn on the oven.

Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert

Ingredients:

* 17 miniature ice cream sandwiches, divided
* 1 jar (12 ounces) caramel ice cream topping
* 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
* 1 Symphony candy bar (7 ounces), chopped

Directions:
Arrange 14 ice cream sandwiches in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. dish. Cut remaining sandwiches in half lengthwise; fill in the spaces in the dish. Spread with caramel and whipped toppings. Drizzle with chocolate syrup. Sprinkle with chopped candy bar. Cover and freeze for at least 45 minutes. Cut into squares. Yield: 15-18 servings.

We Have Some Cardinals Taunting the Cats . . .

2008-04-10T17:20:00.003-05:00

They're sitting outside on the balcony ledge, twitting and singing and just generally poking fun at the girls because they are behind the glass.

Poor things so desperately want to go outside and chase those birds, but alas, it is too hot now to open the windows.

Music Recommendations

2008-04-09T19:06:00.007-05:00

My Hubby Dear won a $15 iTunes gift card at a medical function thing the other day, and he gave it to me to buy whatever I want. Isn't he sweet? I've been a bit out of the loop with music lately, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. What has been a frequent CD on your rotation?

Recipe Swap: Beef with Grape Jelly Sauce

2008-04-03T17:53:00.004-05:00

This time of the week has been sneaking up on me lately, but I'm stoked about Crock Pot Favorites. I love, love, love my crockpot and use it all the time. I'm really excited about seeing all the wonderful recipes so far at The Natural Mommy, and I can't wait to try them!

Here's my contribution for the week. Don't be put off by the name. It's a name I made up, as I couldn't remember the real one. This smells amazing as it cooks, so much so that Hubby Dear claims I'm torturing him with starvation tactics for hours.

Beef with Grape Jelly Sauce

3 lbs. beef brisket (or other similar cut)
1 cup ketchup
1 packet onion soup mix
1/4 cup grape jelly

Cut brisket in half widthwise if necessary to fit in Crockpot. Mix together last three ingredients. Put one half of brisket in pot, cover with half of sauce. Put in other half of brisket, top with remaining sauce. Cook on LOW 8-10 hours, or until meat falls apart. Can be served on hamburger buns, over rice, or by itself. Makes a lot.

Since I'm feeling in a generous mood, and I'm sure you will have lots of leftovers, here is what we do with what's left. Use as many veggies and as much leftover beef as necessary to feed your family. Here is my version to feed 2:

Rustic Beef and Veggies

1 1/2 cup Leftover Beef with Grape Jelly Sauce
2 small Potatoes
1 medium Carrots
Olive Oil
1 tbls Rosemary
Salt to taste (sea salt, if you've got it)

Preheat oven to 450. Peel and cut carrots and potatoes into bite-sized pieces, and place in a 9x13 pan. Drizzle with oil, and top with rosemary and salt. Toss to coat. Cook for about 35-40 minutes, or until veggies are tender and beginning to caramelize.

Meanwhile, reheat leftover Beef with Grape Jelly Sauce. Mix together leftover beef and roasted veggies and serve.

Handmade Pottery

2008-04-02T18:43:00.003-05:00

Last week, my Bible study group got together for a wonderful night of fellowship at The Mad Potter, a local paint-your-own pottery place. (Which incidentally, is owned by one of the Bible study girls.) I had never done this before, but have always been meaning to. I just was never sure it would be worth the trouble. It turned out to be a blast!

We hung out, ordered some yummy pizza, painted pottery, and just got to know each other better. I think I was a little intent on my piece, however, since I don't think I looked up except to eat! Each piece is unglazed ceramic, and there are so many great ones to choose from. I was surprised at how pastel the colors looked after they were painted on, then the glaze brought them to life. (Too bad I don't have a before picture :-(.)

Here's my finished piece:

I picked this as it was the perfect size to display on top of my cabinets, and, it will make a wonderful serving tray. One can never have too many serving trays!

If anyone wants to come visit me in Houston, we can head over there and have some fun!

Brief Update

2008-03-28T18:03:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted more personal entries, so I thought I'd update really quickly. Work has been going rather well. Right now we are in the midst of a crazy time with several patients starting a time-intensive protocol all in the same month. So far we haven't felt too hurried or stressed. Please pray that the next few weeks go well--they will be the busiest of the lot and we are a little worried!

We're heading to Chattanooga in a few weeks (once work slows down!) in order to check out a residency program there. Stuart is really interested in it and wants to spend the day there getting a feel for the program. We're excited about the much needed vacation, and both of us are excited about the possibility of being in Chattanooga. (It's a close second to moving back to Atlanta). We both love the town and miss it a lot, it's close to family and friends, and the program looks promising. It will be only a small chance of getting into this program, but we will have to wait and see what the Lord has in store for us.

Also, it's my 25th birthday today! Happy birthday to me! (And I'm a wee bit surprised Ashley didn't hijack my blog :-).)

Recipe Swap: Champagne Chicken

2008-03-27T21:14:00.003-05:00

Here is my favorite Fancy-Schmancy meal, courtesy of Southern Living. I think I first served this dish for Valentine's Day a few years back, and both of us fell in love with it. It's rather time-consuming, but worth the effort. I buy the cheap ($3) bottle of champagne from the grocery store to keep the cost down. I must say that you really should use the shallots--they add such a delicate richness that can't be duplicated by subbing onions or garlic. For those unfamiliar with them, they look like large cloves of garlic with a purpley skin. They aren't much more expensive than garlic. It's also best to use heavy whipping cream instead of subbing half-and-half, since the cream helps to thicken up the sauce.

This dish is best served over orzo pasta (my favorite) or rice. I like to serve roasted asparagus as a side.

Champagne Chicken and Mushrooms

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots (about 3 medium)
2 (3.5-ounce) packages white mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Champagne or sparkling wine
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
Stir together first 3 ingredients in a shallow bowl. Dredge chicken in flour mixture; place on a wire rack. Let stand 15 minutes. Dredge chicken in flour mixture again; return to rack.

Melt butter with olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken, in batches, 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove chicken to a plate.

Add shallots to skillet; cook, stirring often, 2 minutes or until golden brown. Add mushrooms and garlic, and cook, stirring often, 10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in Champagne and thyme; bring to a boil, stirring to loosen browned particles from bottom of skillet. Reduce heat, and return chicken to skillet. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until done.

Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Stir cream into mushroom mixture. Cook 5 to 6 minutes or until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve sauce immediately over chicken.

Yield

Makes 6 servings

Sunday Pondering: Christ is Risen!

2008-03-23T18:14:00.003-05:00

He is risen indeed!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter! I've decided to go ahead and post on our Easter service today, since it was such a beautiful celebration of our Saviour's love for us. Today the sermon was on John 20:1-18; the passage focused in on the viewpoint of Mary Magdalene, the first witness of Easter.

Our pastor started with an interesting analogy. Pigeons walk the way the do because they cannot focus their vision while moving, so they must stop, readjust, then move again. We, like pigeons, get so caught up in our little worlds that we must stop to refocus ourselves. The cross and resurrection is the truth in which we must fix our gaze.

Next, he discussed John's account of the resurrection. Many have argued that the gospels have been fabricated; that the entirety of Christianity is just a myth conjured up by Jesus' followers. The pastor pointed out that John's account makes this seem very unlikely. Mary was a woman, therefore a second-class citizen in the ancient world. Women couldn't even testify in a court of law during that time. Someone fabricating a story would most certainly use a man as the first witness to the Resurrection. Second, Mary was formerly demon-possessed. And lastly, she was from Magdala, a town with a notorious reputation in the Jewish community. All of these things would make her a horrible choice to be the first witness in a fable. It would not give a false story any credibility. John writes from the viewpoint of Mary of Magdala, because it is the truth.

Our faith is based on actual truth, not on whatever viewpoint works for you. Jesus made the radical statement: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me." Jesus' death and resurrection is the truth that sets us free. Without our Saviour's act of grace, we would be ensnared in our sin.

Call to Worship from 1 Corinthians 15

Minister: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
People: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
(with great voice) But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Minister: Christ is risen!
People: (Louder still) He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

If you have a Sunday Pondering, leave a link here!

Lucy the Plant

2008-03-20T19:36:00.002-05:00

Recipe Swap: Family Favorites!

2008-03-19T20:23:00.002-05:00

This was really hard to think of a great recipe for this category. Most of our family favorites don't really please the palate of little kids. (like our favorite Indian curry recipe. Too spicy!) Not that I've tested this, mind you, since we don't yet have kids, but most of our favorites seem to be more adult-pleasing. I found this recipe in my box and thought it would be perfect. It's on our rotation frequently (not as much as curry, though! Yum!) and we both love it. Plus, I think the kiddos would appreciate this too.

So without further ado:

Baked Ziti

INGREDIENTS
• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound Italian sausage or lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Serve with a salad and garlic bread.

Sunday Ponderings: Psalm 100

2008-03-16T11:55:00.003-05:00

I'll be posting my thoughts after my afternoon nap, but feel free to post your own in the meantime!

It's Spring!

2008-03-14T20:49:00.003-05:00

A ramble on spring:

The redbuds are showing their magenta-colored finest, and the azaleas are looking like little bushy puff balls of bloom. Spring is here! It's always much earlier here in Houston than I'm used to, and I feel like I should still be in winter mode. But it's gorgeous right now. Spring is the most beautiful season here, I think. Summer is just too hot, fall is cool and comfortable, but not pretty, and winter looks pretty dead (but not cold). Spring here reminds me most of home with all the flowers in bloom and the mild weather, just perfect for reading out on the balcony. :-)

Sunday Ponderings: Praise the Lord!

2008-03-09T16:24:00.003-05:00

This week's "theme" in worship was praising the Lord. I've decided to do what Ashley did when she hosted "Sunday Ponderings", and that is to post about the service from the week before. I think it will be easier for me to get this post up for linking if I do it that way.

So I'll write about the pastor's sermon next week, and post a hymn from the service this week. Our first hymn was "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," which was written in 1680 by Joachim Neander. It was translated from the German in 1863.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

--Information from the Cyber Hymnal.

Do you have a Sunday Pondering? Feel free to share!

The Reason Why My Blogging Has Been Light This Week . . .

2008-03-08T20:13:00.005-06:00

I've been spending most of my evenings the past week working on this baby dress for a dear church friend that is expecting in April. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out, especially since this was the most complicated project I've done to date.

Here is a view of the dress from the front. It took me about 2 weeks to finish the whole thing, with most of the work done the past few nights. I made the dress using the 6 month size, so that way my friend will have an outfit to look forward to. :-)

Here is a picture of the front. I still can't believe how straight I got the ribbon on there! The sleeves of the dress were my favorite part to sew. I love to do gathers, and it is surprisingly easy.

And here is a picture of the back. The buttons are adorable little rosettes, which go with the roses in the hem. I had to do the buttonholes by hand, as my sewing machine is broken and can only stitch in a straight line. :-(

So anyway, hopefully my posts will be a little more meaningful in the coming week, since I have now finished my project.

Recipe Swap: Yummy Fruit Dip

2008-03-05T21:29:00.000-06:00

Here is the incredibly yummy fruit dip I alluded to last week. The dip itself is most definitely not healthy, but fruit helps to ease a guilty conscience. My favorite fruits to dip are strawberries, pineapple, apples, and grapes. This goes together so fast and easy, and I bet kids would love it too.

Lime Fruit Dip

6 oz. lime yogurt (I bet other flavors would be yummy, too, but I've never tried it.)
7 oz. marshmallow fluff
8 oz. cream cheese
Assorted fresh fruit

Blend together cream cheese and marshmallow fluff until smooth. Stir in yogurt. Serve with fresh fruit.

For more delicious recipes, visit Beth over at The Natural Mommy.

WFMW: Backwards Week

2008-03-04T21:45:00.004-06:00

This week, Works-for-Me Wednesday is Backwards Week, which means we ask for advice instead of giving it. It's perfect timing this week, since I've got a bit of a dilemma. I'm making a baby dress for a friend expecting a girl this April, but my sewing machine doesn't do buttonholes. I'm wondering how to sew them by hand. Any tips or advice? (Oh, and what's the best method for hand sewing on a button as well?) Thanks!

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Meet and Greet Monday: The Perpetual Student

2008-03-03T07:18:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of my perpetual student at work. Isn't he cute? This photo was actually taken last year, when Hubby Dear was taking several clsses. He doesn't have so many classes now. He's doing rotations, which means he's in an actual hospital learning the practical side of medicine. He still studies all the time, though, and he's gone a lot more. :-(

For more Meet-and-Greet, visit The Natural Mommy.

Sunday Ponderings: Nothing New this Week

2008-03-02T13:12:00.002-06:00

Just as soon as I start getting the "Sunday Ponderings" going, I have to miss church. Stu and I missed it today, since he was on call the night before and came home too late to get ready. I should have a new post next week! :-)

I haven't had a chance to get the button working, but I hope to have that up next week as well. (Ashley, I might need your help!) I'm looking forward to reading your posts this week!

A few things

2008-03-01T20:28:00.003-06:00

I've spent the last half hour putting together the outline of posts for the coming week (a first for me!) in preparation for the busy week ahead. I'll be home, but I'll be working on an adorable dress for a friend about to have a baby. It's frilly and girly and the cutest thing in the world. Her baby shower is this coming weekend, so I'm hoping to finish it up during the evenings this week. I should still be posting regularly.

I spent the day puttering about the house, since my hubby is on call tonight. I made granola, worked on the baby dress, did dishes, found an amazing cheesecake recipe to make later, and read a lot. I didn't quite accomplish everything I set out to do, but at least I made some headway. The book reading took up a fair share of my time. :-)

It's so wonderful to have time to be productive and have time to reflect by myself during the quiet of the day. I guess that's the introvert in me! Really though, after a full week of work and being around people it's nice to have the quiet. Just the sound of the dishwasher running and a kitty at my feet is enough for me! :-)

I Voted . . .

2008-02-28T22:04:00.003-06:00

. . . and I'm glad I took the time to do so, even if it doesn't matter so much this late in the primary season.

Recipe Swap: Frozen Fruit Smoothies

2008-02-27T21:13:00.005-06:00

I didn't think this would be so difficult, but really I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a healthy snack that we enjoy. I thought of my wonderful fruit dip, and ran over the ingredient list in my head.

It has yogurt in it. That's healthy!

And cream cheese! Hmmm, wait.

Oh, and marshmallow fluff. Ya know, maybe it's not so healthy.

So, this is the best I could come up with. It's been a while since I've made these, but they are yummy! I use frozen fruit instead of ice so it doesn't have a watered-down taste. Enjoy!

Frozen Fruit Smoothies

1 cup frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, and blueberries are all yummy)
1 small banana (or add a little extra frozen fruit)
1 carton sweetened yogurt, any flavor (I use the store brand, but I can't remember what size. Maybe 8 oz?)

Put ingredients into blender, pulse until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses. Serves 1 big glass or 2 small ones

For other great healthy snacks, visit The Natural Mommy!

Recipe Swap '08

2008-02-25T19:05:00.003-06:00

Beth over at The Natural Mommy is hosting a brand-new fantabulous event on Thursdays! I'm so excited I think I'll explode. (Okay. Not really.) But just to be safe, head on over there and see what the fuss is about. And just for fun, I'm putting her cute little button on my blog. :-)

Sunday Ponderings: Remembering the Gospel

2008-02-24T16:31:00.004-06:00

Welcome to the first edition of "Sunday Ponderings" here at Onward and Upward! The purpose of this is to remember and reflect on various aspects of Sunday worship--anything from the hymns to the sermon. I tend to easily forget what I learn during the service, so this is a wonderful way for me to remember by writing it down to collect my thoughts. To participate, blog your own "Sunday Ponderings" post and add it to the Mr. Linky below. Sometime later this week I'll provide the information for the button to put on your own blog, if you want to. Thanks so much to Ashley for the work on this!

This week's sermon was preached by our associate pastor on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, 2:1-5:

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

He reminded us to be singularly focused on the gospel. It is very easy in our study or witnessing to focus on our favorite preachers and writers instead. Like in the passage when people claimed to follow Apollos or Paul, we may find ourselves listening to the gospel according to others. (Not that it's a bad thing to study more mature Christian's works, but we must be careful to not elevate it too highly.) We must be careful not to attach other things to the gospel message as well. We preach Christ crucified, not Christ crucified and keep all your ducks in a row to get to heaven. We must also not let ourselves get in the way as we share the gospel, as Paul says not to preach with "words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." We should not focus so much on what to say or how to say it to give us the best light. We should not be ashamed of our stuttering selves when we share the Good News.

Do you have a Sunday Pondering? Feel free to share!

New Life

2008-02-23T12:16:00.002-06:00

Happy birtrhday . . .

2008-02-21T20:21:00.001-06:00

. . . to my favorite red-haired sister!

Blast. No pictures of us together during her recent visit here. I need to get her to send me some! :-)

"Experiments"

2008-02-20T21:25:00.002-06:00

I've been reading Louisa May Alcott's classic "Little Women" for the first time since elementary school, and I had forgotten what a charming little book it is. I only remembered bits and pieces of it, and that is mostly from the Winona Rider version of the movie, but of course the book is much better!

I just finished a chapter entitled "Experiments," where the two oldest March sisters find out they have a summer to do as they please. The younger two decide they want to spend their days as carefree as well, and their mother decides this would be a great lesson for them all. The girls neglect their chores and play and do as they please, only to find themselves bored and irritable. Towards the end of the chapter, Mrs. March feigns fatigue and allows their maid to have the day off, and instructs the girls to take care of themselves as they desire. The day turns into a disaster, and they discover just how valuable, meaningful, and enjoyable work can be.

What a wonderful chapter this was! Hard work, especially around the house, is something that I sometimes have a lot of trouble bringing myself to do. The chapter made a point to emphasis the little touches that made their home comfortable--a fresh flower in a vase, a freshly made bed, and so on. They dearly miss these things when no one is up for doing them. I would love to have a home that is as cozy, but my laziness usually wins out.

I found the benefit of a well-kept home appealing, but also just the appreciation of a job well done. The March sisters learn what trouble and discontent happens when one is idle, and what joy one has when work is done well. This is a lesson I still am learning, and I hope it is one I will take to heart.

My Kitty Learned a New Trick

2008-02-19T21:09:00.002-06:00

While watching American Idol, I happened to glance over at the built-in bookcase to see my fat cat with her paws on the second shelf, perusing the titles we have there. Then, she decided to glance at one further, and proceeded to pull it off the shelf to see the cover. She's such a bookworm! :-)

Naturally, the book falling on the floor startled her and she didn't try to read it further. Ah well. I'm glad to know she's interested.

Sunday Ponderings: I'm hosting!

2008-02-17T20:59:00.004-06:00

Ashley has decided to pare down her blog a bit, and has graciously asked me to host "Sunday Ponderings." I am delighted to do it! The idea behind this carnival is to spend time reflecting on various aspects of Sunday worship, whether it be the music, the sermon, or any Scripture passages during the service. I've found that worship has much more meaningful for me as I ponder each service during the quiet afternoon around the house.

Each week, I'll be posting an article here, along with a Mr. Linky for those who write their own posts. I'll try to provide a new graphic for those interested as well. So join me next week as I begin hosting! :-)

More on My Recent Cleaning Efforts

2008-02-15T19:12:00.003-06:00

I spent a few hours last weekend rooting through all the stuff in my closet, and feel that I only came a little closer to getting it all clean. The picture below is after I removed one trash bag of junk and one of stuff for Goodwill. It's kinda depressing to see how much farther I need to go!

I'm sure in the long run this cleaning adventure will be for my benefit. I can't remember where I saw this, but I think it was A Gracious Home: that when purging stuff, one should consider every item, even sentimental ones, on whether it would be replaced if it was lost in a fire. Pondering over that remark really makes me reflect on most of the stuff I have in that closet; items I never use and only see every 6 months. I hold on to things because I remember how much money I blew on them when I thought they were important, or I can remember who gave me such and such and I don't want to hurt their feelings by throwing it away even though it's been in the closet for five years.

This weekend I planning on doing some more purging. Hopefully I can dump another trash bag full.

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

2008-02-14T22:13:00.003-06:00

We sang this hymn during church this past Sunday, and I thought it would be a wonderful way to celebrate Valentine's Day by remembering our Saviour's love for us.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Why I Need to Plan Ahead

2008-02-12T21:42:00.004-06:00

Due to an overly long episode of American Idol and preparations for a dinner party tomorrow evening, there will be no regularly scheduled posting.

Someday I'll keep finished drafts in my box to post for nights like this, just like the really cool bloggers do.

Getting Rid of Stuff

2008-02-11T20:38:00.000-06:00

One of the things that doesn't tend to bother me is a little bit of clutter, but now that I'm getting older, the degree of clutter I can tolerate is growing smaller and smaller. I've found that opening my closet door is cause for alarm, and getting ready for work in the morning tends to be a nightmare. Here is my closet in its present state:

All of my sewing supplies, important papers, etc, are buried somewhere in that pile. I have to remove all the stuff on the floor just to get at it. One of my more superficial reasons for cleaning out the closet is so that this bookshelf--

--will be put in the closet. Our overly fat black cat (whom we affectionately call "Tubby" when she's not listening) likes to awaken us with the nails-on-a-chalkboard sound of books ripping, at 5 a.m. no less. I'd like to put the shelf in the closet to keep her away from it, instead of the lovely towel-jacket-pillow draping combination you see here.

I spent an hour and a half cleaning it tonight, with the end result being the removal of one trash bag of junk, and one of stuff for Goodwill. Yet, it still looks the same. I realize that my closet stores other stuff besides my clothes (luggage, sewing supplies, and so on), but I still have a long way to go.

Sunday Ponderings: Severe Mercy

2008-02-10T14:42:00.000-06:00

Our pastor continued this week with the series on Joseph. My posting so far has been sporadic, but you can see other sermon summaries here and here. This week focused on Joseph's reconciliation with his brothers.

The passage today was from Genesis 42-45. Our pastor discussed several themes from this passage, including the importance of communication in reconciliation, Joseph's wisdom in his testing and mercy towards his brothers, and so forth. While all of that was wonderful, I want to highlight the imagery of Christ found in this passage. (Read or skim the passage so this will make sense!)

After the brothers leave Egypt for the second time, with Benjamin by their side, a messenger comes back to them saying that the royal silver cup had been stolen. All of the brothers said they had not taken it, and that whoever had should surely die. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Upon returning to Egypt, Judah, who had previously offered up Joseph to the Ishmaelite traders as a slave, offered himself in Benjamin's place. He said to Joseph:

Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.

Judah offers to die in his brother's place, just as Christ does for us.

Later, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and acknowledges the Lord's sovereign work in his life. He mentions to them how he was sent ahead to preserve their lives, for he was over all the grain storehouses of Egypt while there was famine in the land. God used the tragedy from Joseph's youth to bring salvation to His people, both spiritually and physically.

While neither Judah or Joseph are like Christ exactly, since they were far from perfect, the imagery is striking, don't you think? I love how this story points forward to Christ's perfect redeeming work for us. How much more is His love for us than even the love among brothers.

Coming Up

2008-02-09T22:28:00.001-06:00

I plan on tackling my overflowing closet over the next few weekends, for various reasons. (I've attempted this before, to no avail.) I'll try to post pictures of its present state tomorrow, since I'm tired and want to go to bed.

The Weekend

2008-02-08T20:42:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned before, my sister visited me this past weekend. It was her first time in Houston, and it was wonderful to show her around.

Saturday Stu and I picked her up from the nearby airport, grabbed breakfast at the coolest neighborhood IHop, then headed back home to our apartment for the "grand" tour (All 710 square feet of it!) Stu had to work afterwards, so Julie and I walked on over to CVS and Walgreen's to kill some time. At dinner, we headed out to the Galleria, which is one of the biggest malls in Texas. We at dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: The Cheesecake Factory. A yummy meal was had by all. :-)

Sunday Julie and I headed to the grocery store to pick up supplies for our favorite party snacks in preparation for the Super Bowl. (which was an outstanding game, by the way.) We made our family's traditional Tex-Mex dip and ate that for dinner, along with some homemade Puppy Chow for dessert. We spent the evening relaxing, watching the game, then introducing Julie to House, a favorite show of ours that Julie had never seen before.

On Monday, Stu, Julie, and I toured around my place of work, and she got to meet all my co-workers. After the tour, we took the MetroRail up to the Houston Zoo, where we had a wonderful time seeing all the animals, especially the giraffes and elephants. The lion and tiger exhibits were closed for renovations, however. I wonder if that had anything to do with that tiger attack in San Francisco a few months ago?

Tuesday Stu had to work, so Julie and I slept the morning away before walking up to a nearby shopping center and visiting two really cool stores I had never been to before. One sold British wares, and had the most adorable teapots, as well as all the fixings for a British tea! The other store sold handicrafts from artists in Third World countries, in which they were paid fair wages for their work. There were some beautiful items there. I will definitely have to go back to both! After that, Stu met us and we grabbed some coffee, then headed to the farmers market.

It was an absolutely wonderful weekend, and it was so wonderful to spend time with my sister whom I don't see very often at all. I've been craving more time with my sisters ever since I've moved to Houston, and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to spend time with one of them. Growing up, Julie and I didn't get along very well at times, but this past weekend we were almost like best friends. I feel like I got to know her so much better during her time visiting. If only I could move back to Georgia and see both of them more often!

(Alas, I have no pictures. I always forget to use my camera!)

A Quick Breath of Air

2008-02-07T22:28:00.000-06:00

It was so incredible to have my sister for a visit this past weekend, but with all the driving, car-shuffling, forgotten-item-shipping, and other odds and ends the past few days, I haven't had a chance to catch up on my real life. I'll explain more about the weekend later.

Today was spent get the apartment back in a semblance of order, so now that the house is clean and it is well past my bedtime, blogging will have to wait.

What will you guys do without me?

2008-02-01T20:27:00.000-06:00

I have an actual, real-life guest coming in this weekend for a wonderfully cheery visit. So, blogging may slow for a bit over the next few days. Don't miss me too much. :-)

The Most Marvelous Enchilada Recipe Ever

2008-01-31T21:26:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe on All Recipes, the all-knowing power of all things related to cookery. I tweaked the innards a bit to mimic a dish we had at a Mexican restaurant, so this version is my take on the original. I also halved the original recipe, and the directions reflect this.

Stuart loved this meal and ate 3 himself. That made my day. :-)

Beth's Version of "Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce"

* 6 corn tortillas
* vegetable oil for pan-frying
* 1 cooked boneless skinless chicken breast half, shredded
* 1/2 can enchilada sauce (about 5 oz)
* 1/4 cup frozen corn
* 1/8 cup butter
* 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1/2 can chopped green chiles, drained
* 2 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortillas (one at a time) for 5 seconds on each side to soften and make them pliable. Add more oil to pan as needed. Drain between layers of paper towel and keep warm.
3. Cook chicken, enchilada sauce, and corn until heated through, divide among the 6 tortillas. Roll up each tortilla and place seam side down in a greased baking pan.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until mixture begins to boil. Slowly add the broth, stirring with a whisk until thickened. Mix in the sour cream and chiles, heat thoroughly but do not boil, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture over the enchiladas.
5. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. Top with Monterey Jack cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.

This recipe isn't as difficult as it looks, but it is a bit time-consuming. I felt that it was well worth the effort. I made this dish with Joanna's yummy refried bean recipe to round out the meal.

May This Be My Prayer

2008-01-30T21:34:00.000-06:00

I'm currently in a very encouraging women's Bible study, in which we are discussing the book of Proverbs. The lessons are thematic, rather than by chapter, and we have had many wonderful lessons thus far. I just returned from an especially meaningful one on the subject of money, prosperity, and wisdom. This prayer was the last topic for discussion of the evening:

Proverbs 30:8-9

8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

WFMW: Freezing Cookie Dough

2008-01-29T21:26:00.000-06:00

My husband loves cookies, (and I love to bake!) but it can be so difficult to find time to make a fresh batch after a long day of work. Plus, since there are only 2 of us, we could never finish a whole batch, even if we wanted to! So, I've started freezing the leftover dough.

I've found with homemade dough, especially ones made with real butter, that it is nearly impossible to scoop it out once frozen. So, I freeze the cookie dough (chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal all work great!) in cookie sized portions and place them on a wax-paper covered baking sheet. I place them like that in the freezer for an hour or two, just until they have hardened a bit. After that, I place them in gallon size freezer bags which are labeled with the oven temp and bake time, as well as the cookie type and date of preparation.

When I'm ready to bake, I just take the desired amount of cookies and place them on a cookie sheet, then bake for 1-2 minutes longer than the recipe states. Fresh cookies, with little time! Works for me!

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday, visit Rocks in my Dryer.

What's Happened?

2008-01-28T21:23:00.000-06:00

Let me step on my soapbox for a minute.

The other day Stu and I headed out to the suburbs to return a shirt I had received for Christmas. (Apparently this was the only location for this store in Houston . . .) Anyway, this store was located in a regular old mall, and immediately upon walking in I felt uncomfortable.

I've avoided the mall lately since I tend to find myself wanting everything I see, which is not good when one is on a budget. (Plus it's the principle of the thing. I don't need more stuff!) This particular mall was an overstimulating zoo. My senses just simply felt attacked. Everything was from the floor to the ceiling decorations to the storefronts was brightly colored, loud music was blasting, and the smell of Cinnabon was drifting down the way. It was like being at the Discovery Zone, only with stores where you would be enticed to spend to your heart's content.

I don't remember malls being this assaulting. It gives me a headache just thinking about it! Growing up, the closest mall was a dreary shade of greens, mauves, and white. Is this a new trend? Are there other malls like this in Suburbia? Or am I just overreacting?

Okay, rant over.

Seriously, though, I want to pursue godly simplicity in my life, and it can be so difficult when surrounded by places that purposefully exist to drain my pocketbook.

Sunday Ponderings: It Is Well With My Soul

2008-01-27T18:17:00.000-06:00

Our pastor's sermon series continued this week on Joseph, and the topic was about suffering. We sang the hymn "It is Well with my Soul" during the beginning of the service, and I thought I would post on it today.

I first remember connecting with this hymn at my grandfather's memorial service back in high school. The two stanzas especially have stuck with me through the years. Whenever I am struggling with something these words come to mind and comfort me. The hymn was penned in 1873 by Horatio Spafford.

From Wikipedia:

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S.S. Ville Du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with another ship, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

Psalm 139

2008-01-26T22:22:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite Psalms:

Psalm 139
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Praise the Lord It's Friday

2008-01-25T20:43:00.000-06:00

I'm looking forward to this weekend for no particular reason. It's one weekend closer to my sister visiting me, and one weekend closer to the Super Bowl, but the weekend itself holds no special excitement for me. And I like it that way.

After having so much fun last weekend, I'm hoping to get several things accomplished--starting some seeds, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen (again!), finishing a book, and tackling a sewing project. For tonight I plan on curling up on the couch with a cup of chamomile tea and a good book. It's my favorite winter pastime, and the Lord has seen fit to give us a beautiful cold evening.

The weekend is a glimpse of what my life would be like if I could stay at home. It can be hard sometimes to stay content in the situation God has me in right now, since working full-time is not my cup of tea. Sure, I enjoy aspects of it, but I would love to be able to set my own schedule and accomplish more at home than is possible now. I would love to be able to spend a week focusing on one sewing project, or a whole morning puttering in my garden. I would love to have a home that is clean most of the time, and a home where I can create a warm place for my husband and friends. *sigh* Pardon me. Here I go rambling again. It's not that I'm unhappy, I just long for other things. Good things, but not the best for me yet. God is just having me practice my patience, I guess.

Miscellany

2008-01-24T20:32:00.000-06:00

I set a few goals for myself this past weekend, and so far I have been able to sorta keep up. Tonight I made turkey broth with a leftover bird I purchased at Thanksgiving for 37 cents a pound. It's been chilling in my freezer ever since. With the leftover meat I made turkey salad for tomorrow's lunch, and I have also prepped the dough for tomorrow's calzones. But enough about food, I seem to have mentioned it frequently as of late.

At the beginning of the year, I mentioned my probable participation in the Puritan Read-a-long, but I have yet to receive the books I ordered. I've heard that the company I ordered from has received so many that they are running low on stock! I'm sure that's why it's taking so long. I'm still hoping to play along, but for now it looks like I will have to sit this out. I tried to reserve a copy of the first book at the library, but I guess Puritan greats are not high on the "must-read" list for the general public, so they did not have a copy. :-(

Oh, and I just won an adorable 1950s sweater from ebay. It will look adorable with a pair of jeans and a white-colored shirt. This was a treat for me using money received from Christmas, and I plan to use the rest of it for other fun, but more necessary things, such as socks. All mine have holes!

Ummmmm

2008-01-23T21:55:00.000-06:00

I just arrived back home from a women's Bible study, so I'm dead tired and non-coherent, so I will update this blog tomorrow.

Food Culture

2008-01-22T20:27:00.000-06:00

I spent this past weekend creating a meal plan for the week, and I noticed something--almost every recipe is one that would be recognized as taken from another culture. Tonight I made curry, and later this week I plan on making quesadillas, Asian style pork chops, and Greek pasta. Barbara Kingsolver mentions in her book "Animal, Vegatable, Miracle" (which I still plan to review, someday) that American food is known for what it is not, rather than what it actually is. Can you even define something by what it isn't?

Does that sound accurate to you? What defines American food, and what does a quintessential American dish look like? Is it even important to identify with a food culture?

Speaking of food from different cultures: Ashley, guess what I saw at the grocery store tonight. Inca Cola. How about I buy you a bottle for nostalgia's sake? I'll bring it by next time I'm in town. :-)

It's the Little Things

2008-01-21T16:42:00.000-06:00

I just returned from Kroger, where I happened to find organic, hormone- and antibiotic-free milk, for 2 dollars. And this wasn't the little single serving carton size, this was a whole gallon. So I will be drinking a whole lot of milk in the next 6 days. (I do plan on freezing some for baking and cooking.)

On a side note, I've heard that the above-mentioned variety of milk is much better for you than the regular kind, but my husband made a good point: Straight from the cow milk would have hormones as well, since the cow produces them naturally in order to lactate. So my question is, what is the big deal about cow's milk being "hormone-free"? Is it because they are artificial and worse for you than natural hormones (I'm not sure if that's true or not) or is being hormone-free a claim that organic companies make in order to sell more milk?

This isn't enough to stop me from buying it from time to time. I'm just curious.