Friday, January 29, 2010

snow day

Lots of snow today. Lots. I generally like snow, when I don't have to work :) I've been calling today a snow day, except I wasn't scheduled to work so it's less like a snow day and more like just a normal day off. But that's okay. . . I like snow. The doggies like the snow. Jack eats it. He doesn't lick it like other dogs, he bites at it. He loves snow. He doesn't love shots. . . and he got shots today. I'm thinking though that his love of snow and hate of shots balanced each-other out today so his day didn't totally stink. The doggies spend their whole day looking out the windows, especially on snow days. I think it's weird. . . what are they looking at? It's funny when they do see something though. . . like on the movie UP. . . 'squirrel'. So funny.

Yes . . . I am one of those people who writes blog posts about their dogs . . . and I'm okay with that.

p.s. I am working on my computer skills . . . because they stink. Jonathan is helping me learn photo shop. . . hence the fancy picture above.  Bear with me people . . . I'm trying.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

gifts


You may have heard of all the 'love language' stuff after a book by Gary Chapman became very popular both in churches and out. In some of the circles I am in, it was common (and still is) to be asked what your love language is during a get-to-know you type conversation. . . and I've always felt uneasy answering. If you say my primary love language is gifts, especially to someone who's love language isn't gifts. . . it sounds selfish or materialistic (at least to my ears). I don't want people to feel like I'll only feel loved by you if you give me stuff. And truth be told. . . there are other love languages, and we all feel loved by all of them. My husband is not a big gifter. . . giving or receiving . . . but I sure as heck feel loved by him. :)

I think it comes from my mom. My mom is a great gift giver. She loves LOVES thinking of things to give. She is creative in her gift giving and gives things you didn't remember or realize you wanted but when you receive her gift you feel known. I have other people in my life who are the same way, from close friends to my step-mom too. . . I have a lot of gifters in my life. I'm one too.

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I received some great gifts from family and friends. Some really great gifts. None huge or super flashy expensive or anything like that, but as I opened them each on different occasions. . . I felt known. When you receive a gift you didn't ask for, that so perfectly meets a need or fits inside of your taste you feel known. And that, I decided, is why my love language is gifts. Because giving a gift that makes someone else feel known, is a priceless feeling. It's not about stuff.

Monday, January 25, 2010

on work

My small group is doing a study about the book of John. It's called John, and is from the Life Changes Series. It's a good study. . . This week the below text was one of the side notes:

"Jesus speaks often of "work" and "works." He is usually referring to the Father's work(s) that He, Jesus, is doing. These works include the miraculous "signs" of transforming things, healing, and raising the dead. but they also include Jesus' teaching and all His other actions day to day as the manifestation of God. Indeed, His very presence in the world is His mission, His work.

Whereas John usually calls Jesus' miracles "signs," Jesus calls them and everything else He does "work(s)." Unlike "sign" and "miracle," "work" is a mundane word. It implies that both Jesus' natural and His supernatural actions are simply His work, His job, just as other men have their jobs. But Jesus' work comes from the Father and points to the Father; in the Old Testament, God's "works" are involved with creating and delivering His people from slavery. "

mmm. . . good stuff. I've been thinking about it all week. . . so I thought I'd share. Is doing the Father's work such a normal part of my life that it's my work, my second nature, just like the job I take a paycheck home for?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

kitchen cart and a recipe

We were just in Texas visiting my Dad & Julie & Stephanie. We hadn't seen them for Christmas so we exchanged gifts and I got this new beautiful island for the kitchen. Pretend the rest of the kitchen isn't ugly. . .use your imagination people. I love it. . . and especially love how it looks in my head with my pretty kitchen.






spiced nuts

2 cups pecan halves (or a big huge bag works too)
1 cup sugar
2 T cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
1 egg white

Beat egg white with 1 T of cold water. Pour over nuts and toss to coat evenly. Mix sugar and spices in large bowl or pan. Pour in nuts and toss. Spread evenly on cookie sheet or cake pan. Bake at 250 for 1 hour turning over every 15 minutes until nuts are dry.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

can't call the maintenance man

We love our house. We love our house because it is old. A lot of life has been lived in this house. It's beautiful in a lot of ways. I realize I say our house is beautiful and post pictures of the uber-ugly kitchen down below. . but never fear. We will restore it and make it beautiful too someday. But back to my point. . . our house is old. So things happen. Like dishwashers breaking and spewing out nasty brown water while I am cleaning the kitchen floor. Ugh. Never fear. . . Jonathan to the rescue. Turns out there is a spring missing and the water was only brown because of some rusty screws and the leaking was solved with weather-stripping. Just have to say. . . the upside to renting is the maintenance hotline. I miss those.


And just because this picture makes me laugh. . . behold Jonathan & Austin putting away our Christmas tree. This is during the "smooshing so it will fit in the box" phase of taking it down.

Friday, January 8, 2010

tote

I made this tote to carry my binder from work home in. . .cute huh? I also made some as gifts. I followed the instructions from a tutorial on one of my favorite blogs here. You should check out Ashley's blog. . she's awesome!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

chap-stick and hair dye

One of the best parts of the holiday season is having good friends visit Kansas to see their families. . .and US! I am so thankful for the time we got to spend with friends during the past few weeks.

During Amanda's stay in Kansas I dyed her hair. Just to her natural color. . it was beautiful. However, much to Amanda's disappointment. . .I didn't have Vaseline to use to keep her face from getting dye on it. So I made her use chap-stick. Ha.


I hope you got to hang out with some of your besties during the past month too!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

our christmas view

Found the camera cord after a lot of looking (turns out in was in a drawer I had looked in like 5 times. Seems it helps to lift the book in the drawer up in order to fully look through the drawer).
This was our view as we set out for Christmas. As a huge snow storm hit the midwest. . . we got on the road. Smart huh? We made it. And Christmas was great. Jonathan had a headache and it took much longer than normal. . . but it was fun too.



Jack slept sitting up like that the whole way to my mom's . . . it took 3 1/2 hours to get there and he just slept sitting up. Weird dog.