Just typed a huge update, and somehow it disappeared. To tired to redo. Will update later. Here are some pictures.

Great Things About My Baby

This is a small snippet of the full list. (The full list is in my mind, and I'm not going there!)

1. We haven't used a bottle since Monday.
2. She feeds herself, including oatmeal!
3. Today when she pulled down a package of tea, and all the packets fell out, she put them all back in the box, and put the box back on the shelf.
4. She has figured out how to put the different shapes in their respective holes about 75% of the time.
5. She can sign eat, change diaper, all done, and sleep.
6. She says "Shh" when I put her shoes on her, and "Sha" when she takes off, or I put on her socks.
7. She thinks its her chore to put the silverware away. By that, I mean she comes up as soon as the dishwasher opens, takes out each piece of silverware, one at a time, and gives them to us.
8. She's extra snuggly.
9. She dances by doing trunk rotations with her hands in the air.

And my new favorite reason that she's great...

10. Last night, Apple was between George and I on the couch. She kept going between the two of us. Once, when she was sitting on my lap, she leaned up to give me a kiss. I said "Mamma loves you!" She said "Mamma lahs"

Thoughts on Havah

I read a lot. I love reading. I love how books entertain, teach, and open your mind about new ideas. Sometimes, books just occupy my mind when I have to stay still for awhile. Occasionally, I'll come across a book that just makes me start to view something differently. I'm usually grateful.

I recently read Havah by Tosca Lee. It is the fictional story of Eve. Like most Christians, I've heard this story from the bible many times. I have recently gained more insight to Eve, so the idea of this book intrigued me. The book itself wasn't exactly overly fantastic. I thought the speech to be to flowery with big words thrown in to prove the author knows big words. I could see how this would fit in the book's topic, but I thought it was a little much for me. For a Christian book, it was also a little sensual. Again, I think it fit, just not what I'm used to reading. The majority of the book was also quite depressing. Those things aside, it was fascinating to think of how it could have been for her. To put real, human emotions with the story. Hopes, dreams, expectations, fears, misunderstandings, failings, longings.

The thing that changed my mindset most, wasn't the characters or description of Eden or how they forged their way in an unknown world with only each other, but the realization of just how much it means to be reconciled to God. In this book, Adam and Havah take the words of God when he is kicking them out of the garden to mean that they will have a son who will lead them back to the garden, and make everything right again by destroying the serpent. The majority of the book is her longing to be made right again and everything in the world to be made right again as well.

I've been a Christian for awhile, and I tend to forget how monumental this is. I've been made right with the One Who Is. It's a BIG deal!!!! But the world hasn't been reconciled yet. And still, I cling to this world. I pray every night, thanking God for my life, my husband, and my daughter, and I ask for the three of us to have another day together. Because you never know when it will be the last. But I think when the world is reconciled, I'll be amazed that I ever prayed that, clinging to this faulty life, when we were meant for so much MORE.

Also, and I know I harp on this a lot. Let me pause for a side note. I harp on this because before my husband accepted Christ, he saw no need for a savior. He hadn't done anything terrible. Why would he need to be forgiven? I wonder if Adam and Eve, when thinking about people with this belief say, "Oh yeah? You think your ok? All we did was eat an apple??!!!" I'm just saying.

The Bleak Part of My Day

Today I ran into a screen door. Hard. I bled from the nose. I didn't have a bloody nose. It bled between the eyes. And white stuff came out. I bet it leaves a bruise. Boo. George laughed. Okay, I laughed too. Then I winced. Because it hurt.

Halloween!!!

Our baby girl was a flower for Halloween. We went ot our church's fall festival and helped her play some games. She had a lot of fun looking at herself in the mirror! She also had a lot of fun handing out candy to the other kids who came to our house. Everytime the doorbell rang, she would get excited. After the kids left and the door was closed, she would, without fail, say "Bye-bye!" All our tricker treaters were very polite! I was suprised!

Here she actually has chocolate in between her two bottom teeth! I think she is very fond of Halloween! Check out the video, where you can even hear what a dog and lion say!

Fun Stories

On Saturday, I went to Trader Joe's and while I was checking out, I kept hearing "Cheese! Cheese!" I looked over and saw two young kids getting their picture taken from multiple people with a VERY large pumpkin. I asked the cashier what was going on, and she said they just won the huge pumpkin. People guessed the weight, and whoever was closest, would get the pumpkin. It was one hundred and seventy something pounds! The people had two vehicles! One for humans and one for another human and a human-sized pumpkin! The cashier finishes ringing me up, says the total, and then says "Oh wait, is this tote yours as well?" To which I answer yes, and she says my new total and then...

"And that makes you a winner!" She starts ringing a bell VERY LOUDLY!!!! "Go pick out a gourd!!!!!!"

I'm just staring at her confused, and to be honest, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, please don't send me home with a huge pumpkin! My car isn't very big! She points to a small sign that says "If your total is between (I can't remember the exact numbers) you win a prize!" and so I picked a gourd that had a prize written on it, and it was a tote.

The second story I have to share happened right before the Celebration tea. I have been wanting a church cookbook for literally, a year. Ever since last years tea. But I could never remember to bring the money to buy one. I decided that I WAS going to buy one this year. I had to practice my song for the tea early, so I took my money then. I saw our church secretary setting up her table, so I asked if she knew anything about the cookbooks. Our pastors wife happened to be walking by, and she said she was sorry, but she had just given the last one away. If she had known I had wanted one... Then she looks at the church secretay, and says they've done two printings of the cookbook, and it's been about 10 years since it was done. I think she's going to suggest another printing, but I wasn't expecting the next words to come out of her mouth! "It's probably time to do another cookbook. We just need someone to head up the project. Elizabeth, would you do that?" Huh? I just wanted a cookbook! However, I actually feel more equipped to do that then set up a tea table, so I eventually agreed. I just think it's humorous that I went from wanting to purchase a cookbook, to putting one together!

My story of Celebration Tea

Last Saturday was my crazy event number two for October. Last year, I had Apple at the beginning of October and my life changed COMPLETELY!!! For several days (or weeks!) I only put on normal clothes when I knew people were coming over or I had to take her to the doctors, stuff like that. I never fixed my hair or put on make-up. Then, at the end of October, it was time for my church's Celebration Tea. I had never gone before because it always happens the exact time of a high school choir event that I was required to be in attendance. But, last year, I was on maternity leave, so I took my chance to attend. I put my hair in rollers, put on real clothes, put on some makeup, and left my daughter for the first time. (Don't worry, I did take the rollers out of my hair, too!) It was amazing. The tables were incredibly beautiful! The food was fantastic! I had actual conversation! The speaker reminded me (indirectly) that there is more to life than breastfeeding and changing dirty diapers! Everthing about this event was elegant and made to transport women to a different mind-set than the everyday. I was also intimidated. I knew that while I loved this event, I would never really be able to help out with one, because I have no talent for decorating. Fast forward to early this fall. I have promised myself that while I KNEW I would be attending the tea, if I was asked to host a table I would say no. It was beyond my ability. They asked. Somehow the word yes came out of my mouth. Shoot. What do I do now? I'm convinced that I will have the "hobo" table. Everyone will walk around admiring the beauty of the tables, until they come to mine. Their eyebrows will scrunch together, their lips will show confusion, and their head will tilt. "I wonder who came up with this table?" They will silently ask. And then I had an idea. I will taken the handmade table cloth from my husband's country and the vases that I have bought there and design a table around that. It was stressful. For me and my husband. But it came together. And the truth is, it looked quite nice. I don't think one person thought it was a "hobo" table. Here are some pictures of the finished product.

I was also afraid that I had built the tea up in my mind, way better than it really is. But I had not. All the tables were again, SO beautiful. The food was great (especially the Oreo with chocolate mousse, coated in chocolate!!!!!) The music was beyond amazing! (Just kidding, I sang) and the speaker was great. She talked about God's faithfulness. People sat at my table and I think we had good conversation. It was an amazing event, and I'm so glad that God allowed me to help serve, and especially helped me to make the table nice. God is faithful indeed!

I Love the Fall

It's true. The fall has a certain magical feeling. The air is crisp. Leaves change from a lively green to deep, shimmering hues. I especially love when they dance. And it is like a dance when the wind blows the fallen leaves and they swirl in a circle. You get to wear sweaters in the fall and snuggle with blankets and cocoa. I miss buying school supplies. Full notebooks without a single mark. Unused pencils. New bookbags. New clothes. I even loved art supplies, even though I never liked art. Football games, marching band, homecoming, parades.

Most of the great things in my life have happened in the fall., School always started in the fall (a little more fun as a student than a teacher!) I started dating George in the fall. I got married in the fall. I had Apple in the fall.

The fall is a time of new beginnings. I do love the fall!

Singing away!

Well, I have finished one big project that I undertook for October. George and I sang for a banquet at our church for the 55 and older crowd. Now, while I taught music and am not a stranger to performing, I have never been overly fond of it. My husband however LOVES it. He sings, but I don't think either one of us would call him a singer. He is, however, a FANTASTIC saxophone player. When we were in college, as a freshman, I wouldn't even try out for the top band, but George not only tried out, he was featured in one of the songs in their first concert! By the way, I did try out the next year (I play flute) and made the 5th and last chair. Eventually, I was able to work myself up to second chair.

Anyway, we sang for the Celebration banquet. We made a list of songs we thought we could do, then realized that it was about 2 hours, and they wanted about 45 minutes, so we got to cut stuff. That was a GOOD thing!!!! Here's a list of what we sang and how it went.

Testify to Love -- honestly, complete disaster!!!!!
The Power of Your Love -- it went well, but it wasn't anything special
Savior, Please -- George sang this and played guitar He has an unpolished tone, so it worked really well.
We Shall Behold Him -- I didn't sing the version that goes up to a high D, as I can only hit a high C about every other week, so I sang in the key that goes to an A. It actually went really well. Unfortunately, the sound system had problems at the end, when it gets really high, so it was JUST my voice. Thankfully, I was able to hold it together.

Then George gave his testimony.

Born Again -- George played guitar. Went very well.

Before the next song, we had some more technical difficulties. To help cover it I said the following: "I wish I had a joke to you guys! Oh wait! If you're an American in the living room, what are you in the bathroom? European!" That's right. I said that joke in our
church! I still can't believe it! Thankfully, they laughed for awhile!

Go Light Your Candle -- George played it on saxophone. Went well.
If You Want Me to -- went well, I'll be singing it again on Saturday
Wedding Song -- George wrote a song for our wedding, and he sang it. The crowd loved it!!! But the main line is "God uses miracles to show us what is real and what is true. Baby, my miracle was you." Except, the piano was facing the wrong way (he was playing piano) so it kinda seemed like he was singing to an older man! :)
The Word -- George played guitar, I sang. It was a BIG hit!
There is a Fountain -- HUGE hit!
Great is Thy Faithfulness -- Another HUGE hit!

If you're thinking, "Huh. That's a lot!" Why, yes. Yes it was! And it was hard to put together, and then to actually do, but I think God used it to stretch us. It will be interesting to see what he was stretching us for!

Tuesday evening I took Apple to the gym. While getting her out of the car in our garage, I decided to tell her how much I love her. I was going to say, "Baby girl, I love you SO much! If you were a puppy in a puppy store, I would choose you everytime!" (George and I had recently watched Marley and Me)

However, the actual conversation went like this:

Me: "Baby girl, I love you SO much! If you were a puppy,"

Apple: "Ruff, ruff!"

Apple's Birthday

Apple's birthday was this last week, and we had her first birthday party. We tried to keep the numbers of guests down, because I thought it would be easier. Really, I guess it was, but I still went bezerko. Anyone who knows me shouldn't be even a little bit suprised by this! I originally thought for Halloween, I would like her to be a cupcake, but then I remembered that I don't REALLY know how to sew, and I don't thin kI could find that costume for a price I would be willing to pay, so instead, I decided to have her party theme be cupcakes. A huge thanks goes out to our good friend B for all of her help. B cleaned, iced cupcakes, helped prepare food (renamed some of it!), decorated, and just plain did whatever was needed. Thanks so much! B has that rare gift where she knows what needs to be done, and then does it. I'm good at helping, but I spend a lot of time looking around wondering what I should contribute. Here are some photos!


A family picture. We also have a picture that looks very similar from the day that we brought Apple home.

Apple really like playing with her balloons! She also liked them the next day, and the day after that!

Our cupcake princess. I was really hoping for one smile with her crown, but it just didn't happen!

This is Apple and me in her church clothes. It's now one of my favorite outfits. Look how nice the weather is!

The cake was a cupcake cake mold. It was cherry vanilla. The pink frosted cupcakes were raspberry lemon and the purple frosted ones were strawberry chocolate. They all tasted great! I was pleased and so was Apple!

So, the food. We grilled burgers and marinated pork. We also had salad, root vegetable chips (George insisted on potato chips, this was my compromise!), fruit salad, rasols (kind of like potato salad with pork, and some other stuff), and veggies. It was pretty good!

Elastic stretch pants

Here is a quote that I found interesting from a book that I recently read. The woman has been talking about the Israelites receiving manna.

Another characteristic of the manna spoke beautifully of God's mercy: It would always be given in perfect supply for the need. God's measure of mercy is offered according to the need. That is why we often say the words, "I could never endure it if that happened to me." In the moment we say those words, our ratio of mercy matches our present need. True, on that exact amount of mercy, we could not survive. But when the time arises and the need escalates, so does the grace required for us to make it!

I thought this was interesting, because I have recently decided that stress works kind of the same way. I know people (and may occassionally be one of them!) who look at someone else who says that they are stressed out, and think, that is not stressed out!!!!! You should be doing all the stuff that I'm doing, and then you'll know what stress is!!! However, I think the amount of stress we can handle is like stretch pants. They can be tight on all sorts of sizes.

Speaking of stress levels, mine could be better. Actually, it was fantastic. After being a working mom for 5 months, the ease of staying at home will probably last awhile. Working and being a mom was VERY difficult for me. I felt like I was running on a treadmill that was 5.9 mph when my capacity is only 5.95 mph. However, I agreed to do some stuff for our church, one thing in particular that I PROMISED myself that I would NOT agree to do, if asked. And somehow, the word yes came out of my mouth.

A close friend, who George and I used to make fun of for being on the church's "sucker's" list, informed me that since I had promised myself to say no, and they church did indeed ask, that not only put me firmly on the sucker's list, but it also means that I am indeed a sucker. Sad thing is, I agree!!!!

I probably should have warned you that this post would have lots of !!!!!! Oh well! If I can survive to November, my stress level will go way down. Unfortunately, so will the stretch pants!



Also, here is a list of the books that I read this week. This is probably more for me that you, so maybe I can keep track.

Mending Place by Denise Hunter not my favorite.
Piece de Resistance by Sandra Byrd final book in series, didn't like how series ended
A Time to Mend by Sally John and Gary Smalley actually enjoyed it
3 Weddings and a bar mitzvah by Melody Carlson ok, final book in series

Why I Could Never Have A Personal Trainer

Today, I went and ran at the gym. Now, in my gym, there are treadmills with personal tv screens, and they are placed against the wall, so you can see the weight machines, exercise rooms, everything. It's not uncommon to see a person working with their personal trainer, and usually they're doing stuff like lunges across the gym. That is enough to not want a personal trainer. I don't want to parade my workout in front of others. Now, I know some people would say, "No one is watching you. Everyone works out because they are all in the same boat. Blah, blah, blah." However, these "people" clearly have never seen into my mind as I watch the lungers go down, two, up, two, down, two, up, two. (I think all sorts of things!) Today, I saw something that really settled the fact that I will never put my workout on display by getting a trainer. A chunky woman was going all over the gym, multiple times, sweating and huffing and puffing and struggling to pull her trainer behind her. The trainer was squatting in an almost sitting position on a cart with wheels. Yep, no trainer for this girl!

Recap of My Week

The following things occurred this week:

1. Got to spend Monday with George and Apple. We decided it was nice enough to take a walk, but where should we go? We decided on New Towne. We had never gone. I thought it was kind of creepy! It reminded me too much of Stepford or Pleasantville. And why is it in the middle of nothing? George was pleased with the ice cream shop though, and Apple liked the giraffes.

2. Ordered all the decorations and invitations to Apple's first birthday party.

3. Had to convince myself that Apple was indeed old enough for a first birthday party. Yep, she is.

4. Cleaned up after the boy that I watch peed on the carpet.

5. Changed Apple's clothes at least once a day, for several days.

6. Discovered that Apple is NOT ready for fast-flow nipples. (Wish I would have discovered that before number 5.)

7. Discovered that while babies are often still, they are never still when you are changing a poopy diaper.

8. Cleaned up poop.

9. Ran out of milk, cereal, and chicken.

10. Decided after a week with no caffeine (I was detoxing) that I was ready for a coffee.

11. Realized that I do NOT like caramel syrup in my coffee when I make said coffee at home.

12. Started a blog. Also decided that since certain family members have unique names, I would have to give them code names. Then laughed at George when he couldn't figure out the code names.

13. Finally only have 10 lbs left to go before I make it to my pre-pregnancy weight! Halleluia!

Isn't the life of a stay-at-home mom exciting?

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

Recently, I've been studying in Genesis. I'm amazed at how something different always jumps out at me. This time, I got taken by God telling Noah that he won't destroy the earth with a flood again. In my mind, this is his way of saying, "I realize that mankind is evil. Instead of giving mankind what they deserve, I will work with them, despite their evil." I wonder if Noah understood the can of worms that opened! Or if he thought, "Great! Cause I don't know if I could survive another cruise like that!"

The first major problem after the flood was at the Tower of Babel. Most people think that they wanted to put an idol on the top of the tower. And suddenly, God is faced with a large quantity of evil, again. I get frustrated with how many times I clean up the same thing. As soon as I do, it's dirty again. I can't even imagine how God feels with such a larger scale mess! If I were God, I would think, "I just took care of this! I should wipe them out again. Oh, wait. There's a rainbow. And I promised I wouldn't." But then again, it's a good thing for all of us that I'm not God! So, God confuses them by giving them separate languages. (This is why I now have problems speaking with my in-laws. Thanks a lot, early offspring of Noah!!!) Now, picture yourself a wife of one of the men who was building the tower. That day, when he came home, "Hey! Didn't I tell you I didn't want you involved in building this tower??!!! I knew it was wrong, and you told me that it would be great. I begged. I pleaded. But did you listen? NO. Now I can't talk to the neighbor, our distant relatives, or my best friend. Well, I hope you enjoy the sound of me talking, because now you're the only one I've got to speak to. And I have a lot of things to talk about." All mankind suffered because the people building the tower didn't get what they deserved. (And now we also know why God didn't chose to put me in bible times!)

The hard truth is that God's mercy is why bad things happen. Mercy. Not getting what we deserve. During the last year, I read The Shack. (I'm not recommending this book, just commenting on something I remember) At one time, the man questions why God allowed his daughter to be killed, when he could have stopped it. He could have prevented the murderer from ever being alive. I think we do this a lot. We question, "Why didn't you stop this?" And sometimes the "this" is unthinkable. But it's still his mercy. If he stopped one person, how would he choose? We would want to say, "Okay. Take out all the people who kill or rape or torture." (just some examples) and God could counter with, "Alright, it sounds like you want me to stop anyone who is unnecessarily cruel." "Yeah, unnecessarily cruel." "Sounds good. What about the time you were talking about Susie behind her back with your girlfriends?" "Well, that's not really cruel." "She heard you guys and left in tears. Have you noticed that she hasn't returned since?" "Well, if I would have known I would have called and apologized." "For what?" "Being rude and inconsiderate." "Or maybe, being unecessarily cruel?"

See, we want to look around and say, "I may not be doing what's EXACTLY right, but I'm way better than this person." But even a murderer can say, "I may kill, but at least I don't torture them first." We want to rate sin, but the truth is, there will always be someone that you perceive to be better, and someone you perceive to be worse than you. Sin is in the eye of the beholder. And if the beholder is God, then we're all in deep trouble. Because he has no sin. So, we're all WAY worse than him. But thankfully, he's merciful. No one gets what we deserve here on earth. Even if bad things happen to us, it's still not what we deserve. God's mercy. How amazing.

Disclaimer:
1. I'm not a theologian, and I realize that several of my arguments are probaby unfounded anywhere except my head.
2. This speaks nothing of the times that God does stop bad things from happening to us, and there are plenty of those!
3. Knowing something is not always comforting. Please don't throw this back in my face the next time some catastrophe comes my way. Maybe when I'm already in the recovery process, but not when I'm in the mourning process.

WOW! My first blog!

I don't have anything life changing, inspiring, or really interesting to say in this first blog entry. But, since I have two kids sleeping at the moment, and probably just for the moment! I figured I should try to blog now.

In order to take some pressure off of my husband, I watch a 4 month old boy 3 days a week. This is a fantastic set-up! 3 days a week mean that I get some extra money, but I can still do stuff during the week. Such as grocery shop. Plus, he's a friend's son, so it helps them out too. However, this week, I am watching him four days in a row. It is day 3. Everything is going fine, except I am out of chicken and milk. And Apple is out of multi-grain cereal. I couldn't take care of the problem on Tuesday, because I had book club. When it was done, it was already past Apple's bedtime and George wasn't home yet. Wednesday was church, so another late night for Apple. Tonight, I need to go to the gym in order to continue the quest to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. So, when do I get chicken and milk? Where's a neighbor with a farm when you need one?