Today I turned 30.
30!
I considered running around
(literally - up and down halls and stairs and being a goofy teen for the last time)
last night like I did on the eve of my 20th birthday,
but being 10 years older and a whole lot more tired these days,
I decided to be an irresponsible 20-something for the last time and
stay up until a quarter til 1 watching "MasterChef."
It was - almost - worth it.
So I'm happy to be 30. I'm simply happy to be alive,
happy to celebrate a special number attached to an annually occurring day,
and I am thankful that God has given me these minutes and hours to live, breathe, and
honor him.
I'm having a party,
which I love planning but get overwhelmed when it involves me as a focal point.
It took my husband and a good friend to just get over it already and
make the e-vite!
I'm also having a baby;
yes, you non-facebookers/blog readers who I don't know personally,
the miracle of life is happening within me and
I am certainly freaked out and excited and chill and nervous all at once.
One plus of going through infertility is the perspective on how the wait makes this occasion something worth cherishing and taking a day at a time.
The other plus is that, after going through infertility for a while, I've been able to sort through a lot of the pregnancy pressure and hype that surrounds expecting moms, for which I will be
eternally thankful.
So here's to the first day of being 30, the exciting experience of becoming a mom, the prayer and hope that this pregnancy continues heathfully and easily, and the wonder of what this next year will bring.
May God use me for his glory in every awesome and hardcore way.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
30 in 30
In 30 minutes I will turn 30.
I have 30 minutes to fold laundry (2nd least favorite chore) so I don't have to
a. do it on my birthday, or
b. stare at it on my birthday.
So here I go - folding!
Real exciting stuff here, amiright???
I have 30 minutes to fold laundry (2nd least favorite chore) so I don't have to
a. do it on my birthday, or
b. stare at it on my birthday.
So here I go - folding!
Real exciting stuff here, amiright???
Friday, August 30, 2013
Fantasy Football 2013
Well, I need to make an icon for my fantasy team this year, which really is just a little picture
(really, a little picture)
that espn.com can upload correctly.
They have to upload it from a website, so I'm trying to make it happen on here.
I already tried and failed by using Flickr, so I'm hoping that this blog post, which
will actually be a webpage, too, will
serve as such an option for my graphic design needs.
Yes, this is how I'm using my day off, that and driving 8-9 hours to Northern MN.
(really, a little picture)
that espn.com can upload correctly.
They have to upload it from a website, so I'm trying to make it happen on here.
I already tried and failed by using Flickr, so I'm hoping that this blog post, which
will actually be a webpage, too, will
serve as such an option for my graphic design needs.
Yes, this is how I'm using my day off, that and driving 8-9 hours to Northern MN.
 |
| Can you guess who was my first pick? |
Friday, July 5, 2013
fireflies
fireflies are magical to me.
i'd only see them once in a blue moon back home, and
when i moved to iowa, i would see them all the time.
it was on the July 4 weekend in 2011 that I, for the first time, saw
fireflies in abundance at my old home.
it was almost dusk - late at night in the northern U.S., and
you could just start to see stars in the sky.
i was outside after a pretty tough few days,
this one in particular including me yelling for my dad to spit out a piece of chicken because i witnessed him going into a petit mal seizure. he did, and
he was fine, but
it was just another tell-tale sign of the end.
so that night i went outside on the deck and looked
down toward my backyard.
in circles and swoops flew little blinking lights,
and i stood there in a bit of awe.
there were dozens, maybe even fifty or more,
and they swirled around in a mystical kind of way.
I had never seen a single firefly in my backyard - not in the almost
twenty years my parents owned that house.
then, the next evening,
after a fairly traumatic 4th of July trip to the
emergency room with my dad (that had nothing to do with fireworks),
we headed back to illinois before my dad took his last turn.
on the way back,
i kind of wished we got to see some fireworks, maybe because it was the holiday,
and maybe because i just wanted a little normalcy.
this wasn't the fourth that i had expected,
which was what it was,
but what i couldn't have expected were the fireflies.
again, we saw them,
on the way back while driving on some country highways,
they bobbed up and down through tall grass along
the roadside ditches.
this probably won't make that much sense,
but i really felt God's presence with that;
i knew i was going into uncharted territory, even with 20+ years of
experiencing the effects of my dad's cancer.
the little thing like fireflies, which
almost never existed around my home,
showed me that something extraordinary would be present with me and my family.
... ... ...
i'd only see them once in a blue moon back home, and
when i moved to iowa, i would see them all the time.
it was on the July 4 weekend in 2011 that I, for the first time, saw
fireflies in abundance at my old home.
it was almost dusk - late at night in the northern U.S., and
you could just start to see stars in the sky.
i was outside after a pretty tough few days,
this one in particular including me yelling for my dad to spit out a piece of chicken because i witnessed him going into a petit mal seizure. he did, and
he was fine, but
it was just another tell-tale sign of the end.
so that night i went outside on the deck and looked
down toward my backyard.
in circles and swoops flew little blinking lights,
and i stood there in a bit of awe.
there were dozens, maybe even fifty or more,
and they swirled around in a mystical kind of way.
I had never seen a single firefly in my backyard - not in the almost
twenty years my parents owned that house.
then, the next evening,
after a fairly traumatic 4th of July trip to the
emergency room with my dad (that had nothing to do with fireworks),
we headed back to illinois before my dad took his last turn.
on the way back,
i kind of wished we got to see some fireworks, maybe because it was the holiday,
and maybe because i just wanted a little normalcy.
this wasn't the fourth that i had expected,
which was what it was,
but what i couldn't have expected were the fireflies.
again, we saw them,
on the way back while driving on some country highways,
they bobbed up and down through tall grass along
the roadside ditches.
this probably won't make that much sense,
but i really felt God's presence with that;
i knew i was going into uncharted territory, even with 20+ years of
experiencing the effects of my dad's cancer.
the little thing like fireflies, which
almost never existed around my home,
showed me that something extraordinary would be present with me and my family.
... ... ...
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
What to Register for If You're ...
Title:
What to Register for If You're Getting Married
or
What to Register for If You're Pregnant
or
What to Register for If You're Really Ready for People to Buy You Stuff.
Answer:
Good quality things!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been thinking about this lately, and it was compounded by the following:
1. I have a student worker in my office who is getting married, saying he and his fiance are registering for less expensive things because they don't want their family and friends to have to spend beyond what they want.
2. I have a friend who will be moving soon who mentioned the cheap stuff they registered for when they got married, and how those things were going in the toss pile.
Just some advice from the brain that thinks about these things:
People often really want to do something special for you if it's a special occasion,
and if they don't want to give cash, they
will go for the registry list.
Sure, it's good to put less-expensive items on a list for those who can't drop $100 -
heck, $50 -
on a gift, but
find things that are good in quality.
Some people very likely do want to get you something nice,
and most people probably don't want to get you something that's
going to bust once you've used it for a year or
two or
three.
Finally, when the cheap stuff does break, or
if the cheap stuff doesn't quite do the job you want it to do,
then I sure hope you have the ca$h to buy the
$15 measuring cups or the
$30 glasses or the
$50 food processor or the
$75 set of silverware
$100 plates and bowls set or the
$200 high quality, soft, durable sheets or the
$300 vacuum or the
$500 pots and pans or the
$1500 mattress or the
$3000 car repair.
No, you don't register for car repairs,
but the nice registry-eligible stuff you want
will take a BIG back seat
once married life/parent life/etc. really gets going!
What to Register for If You're Getting Married
or
What to Register for If You're Pregnant
or
What to Register for If You're Really Ready for People to Buy You Stuff.
Answer:
Good quality things!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been thinking about this lately, and it was compounded by the following:
1. I have a student worker in my office who is getting married, saying he and his fiance are registering for less expensive things because they don't want their family and friends to have to spend beyond what they want.
2. I have a friend who will be moving soon who mentioned the cheap stuff they registered for when they got married, and how those things were going in the toss pile.
Just some advice from the brain that thinks about these things:
People often really want to do something special for you if it's a special occasion,
and if they don't want to give cash, they
will go for the registry list.
Sure, it's good to put less-expensive items on a list for those who can't drop $100 -
heck, $50 -
on a gift, but
find things that are good in quality.
Some people very likely do want to get you something nice,
and most people probably don't want to get you something that's
going to bust once you've used it for a year or
two or
three.
Finally, when the cheap stuff does break, or
if the cheap stuff doesn't quite do the job you want it to do,
then I sure hope you have the ca$h to buy the
$15 measuring cups or the
$30 glasses or the
$50 food processor or the
$75 set of silverware
$100 plates and bowls set or the
$200 high quality, soft, durable sheets or the
$300 vacuum or the
$500 pots and pans or the
$1500 mattress or the
$3000 car repair.
No, you don't register for car repairs,
but the nice registry-eligible stuff you want
will take a BIG back seat
once married life/parent life/etc. really gets going!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
a Happy Fathers Day
A happy Father's Day for my dad would have included the following:
Fishing
Hostess chocolate doughnuts and a Kwik Trip Coffee
Lunch - probably some kind of ham sandwich, made with butter - NOT mayo
Nap
Reading the paper
Sports TV - golf would probably be it.
Grilling
Burgers
Baked beans
Ruffles Chips
A beer - Michelob Light
Dinner with his wife and 2 daughters
Law & Order
and/or
a winning Twins game on TV
Talking about all sorts of things
Laughing
Hugs
No arguing between his two daughters for a day
Kisses from Mom
A good night's sleep
Fishing
Hostess chocolate doughnuts and a Kwik Trip Coffee
Lunch - probably some kind of ham sandwich, made with butter - NOT mayo
Nap
Reading the paper
Sports TV - golf would probably be it.
Grilling
Burgers
Baked beans
Ruffles Chips
A beer - Michelob Light
Dinner with his wife and 2 daughters
Law & Order
and/or
a winning Twins game on TV
Talking about all sorts of things
Laughing
Hugs
No arguing between his two daughters for a day
Kisses from Mom
A good night's sleep
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
TTC T: Facebook 1
This is called Facebook 1, mainly because I'm confident that I'll have other posts about Facebook in the future.
Anyway, it's hard going on Facebook when you're trying to conceive,
particularly when you find out that a friend is having a baby.
It could be his or her first,
second,
third,
fourth,
fifth,
....
that's about the top number I can remember for the amount of kids any of my friends have.
So, it's easy to become jealous, bitter, and calloused toward these friends.
It's also even easier to become jealous, bitter, and calloused toward God.
Finally, it's easiest to become sad, discouraged, and dismayed - none of which are bad, but
none of which are actually good.
So I've learned to
a. say "congrats!"
and
b. avoid FB in the daytime
Why?
a. babies are wonderful, they are gifts from God, and they are worth celebrating!
b. moms post more in the daytime, and my work productivity tanks and my thighs start to spread when I get sad.
It's true.
Anyway, it's hard going on Facebook when you're trying to conceive,
particularly when you find out that a friend is having a baby.
It could be his or her first,
second,
third,
fourth,
fifth,
....
that's about the top number I can remember for the amount of kids any of my friends have.
So, it's easy to become jealous, bitter, and calloused toward these friends.
It's also even easier to become jealous, bitter, and calloused toward God.
Finally, it's easiest to become sad, discouraged, and dismayed - none of which are bad, but
none of which are actually good.
So I've learned to
a. say "congrats!"
and
b. avoid FB in the daytime
Why?
a. babies are wonderful, they are gifts from God, and they are worth celebrating!
b. moms post more in the daytime, and my work productivity tanks and my thighs start to spread when I get sad.
It's true.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Where I would be
I have today off, and I've done just about
NOTHING
so far!
Well, I have washed two loads of laundry and
dried one,
so I'm getting somewhere but nowhere fast.
So,
let's just say I had the following:
a. no obligations
and
b. a good wad of cash
With such things, I would take
a. my husband
and
b. myself
to somewhere warm
somewhere tropical,
somewhere with a beach,
and somewhere my expired passport wouldn't matter.
I'd go to any of these places:
That is where I would be.
NOTHING
so far!
Well, I have washed two loads of laundry and
dried one,
so I'm getting somewhere but nowhere fast.
So,
let's just say I had the following:
a. no obligations
and
b. a good wad of cash
With such things, I would take
a. my husband
and
b. myself
to somewhere warm
somewhere tropical,
somewhere with a beach,
and somewhere my expired passport wouldn't matter.
I'd go to any of these places:
 | |||||
| San Juan, Puerto Rico |
 |
| The U.S. Virgin Islands |
 |
| Hawaii! |
That is where I would be.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Favorites.2
I was looking over my blogs from the last 3 years, and boy,
writing was a lot easier way back when, huh?!
I don't know what really to write, and I
am dealing with this thing where I just don't feel like going to bed even though I'm so,
dang tired!
Meh, perfect time for rambling, huh??? :)
Here's some favorites of mine lately, in a "as it comes to me" order:
- helping my husband run for the grad. student VP of Student Life position at TIU - so fun!
- daffodils popping up everywhere
- leaf buds (whenever those things show up)
- classy and feminine dresses
- lace [almost] anything
- Contemplating Arminianism
- "Rick Steves Europe"
- "Keeping Up Appearances" (on Amazon Prime/PBS/interwebs?)
- Spring, when it happens
- "The Amazing Race"
- Violets
- Safron flowers
- Trinity Wives Fellowship
- seeing babies smile
- conversations with kids
- not moving (residences, that is)!
- vacation
- Genesis, I & II Samuel, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Matthew, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, James, Revelation. No, I'm not reading all of those right now...actually, I've been in Mark this semester and not much else. Thanks TWF leadership!
- Haircuts at Aveda
- $20 coupons at Aveda
- Rivers
- Gardening
- Sporadic capitalization in lists
- Dragonflies
- fresh sheets
- letters
- fonts
- Our Victoria Secret shopping bag-patterned couch. Yes, it's a real thing.
- The faithfulness of God
- the afghan my Grandma B. made me long ago
- good lip balm
- the games Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, and Agricola
- the games of football, baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, competitive swimming, running...etc.
- chocolate
- dry wine
- the beach
- seeing friends
- seeing family
- home
- love
- Love.
writing was a lot easier way back when, huh?!
I don't know what really to write, and I
am dealing with this thing where I just don't feel like going to bed even though I'm so,
dang tired!
Meh, perfect time for rambling, huh??? :)
Here's some favorites of mine lately, in a "as it comes to me" order:
- helping my husband run for the grad. student VP of Student Life position at TIU - so fun!
- daffodils popping up everywhere
- leaf buds (whenever those things show up)
- classy and feminine dresses
- lace [almost] anything
- Contemplating Arminianism
- "Rick Steves Europe"
- "Keeping Up Appearances" (on Amazon Prime/PBS/interwebs?)
- Spring, when it happens
- "The Amazing Race"
- Violets
- Safron flowers
- Trinity Wives Fellowship
- seeing babies smile
- conversations with kids
- not moving (residences, that is)!
- vacation
- Genesis, I & II Samuel, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Matthew, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, James, Revelation. No, I'm not reading all of those right now...actually, I've been in Mark this semester and not much else. Thanks TWF leadership!
- Haircuts at Aveda
- $20 coupons at Aveda
- Rivers
- Gardening
- Sporadic capitalization in lists
- Dragonflies
- fresh sheets
- letters
- fonts
- Our Victoria Secret shopping bag-patterned couch. Yes, it's a real thing.
- The faithfulness of God
- the afghan my Grandma B. made me long ago
- good lip balm
- the games Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, and Agricola
- the games of football, baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, competitive swimming, running...etc.
- chocolate
- dry wine
- the beach
- seeing friends
- seeing family
- home
- love
- Love.
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