I saw this book on my sister-in-law's bookshelf one week when I was helping her clean. The title jumped out at me and I borrowed it. It took me a few months to get around to reading it, but I finally finished it. And I would highly recommend it to any wife out there who desires to better serve God and her husband. (Which is all of us right?)
Not only is this book packed full of Biblical wisdom and truths, at the end of each chapter are several practical ways to carry out in real life what the chapter talked about. I think that is what I appreciated the most about this book.
Some practical advice that was very helpful to me was:
*Show greater respect for your husband. i.e. look at him when he's talking, don't interrupt, ask him nicely for things etc.
*Encourage your husband.
*Take care of yourself and make yourself more attractive for your husband i.e. fix your hair, dress up, exercise.
*Make the beds daily.
*Pay attention to times of the day when you tend to get 'tired' (or feel lazy) and figure out the things that get you going.
*Get enough sleep at night so that you aren't too tired for your husband.
*Work on your attitude.
*Get up before your children do.
*Visit your parents.
*Plan one fun activity a week with your husband.
*Make a list of things you've always wanted to do, and then do the things together.
Of course she had a lot more suggestions, but these specifically spoke to me and where I'm at.
Again, I would highly recommend this book to any wife out there. You will definitely be challenged to be a better wife and better follower of Christ. I have to return this book to my SIL, but I wish I had a copy of my own to reference again in the future.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Evelyn & Elsie 'Isms
The way that Evelyn says things these days:
Hankune: Thank You.
Slipalee: Slippery
Lankey: Blanket
Me-Me: Chapstick
Sisser: Sister
Cozies: Sweatpants
Ness: Nest (usually for sleeping in)
Finnanas: Finger Nails (almost always referred to in the context of wanting them painted)
Sack: Snack
Kiwi Bar: Chewy bar aka granola bar
Some of Elsie's words:
Foooo: Food
Foooo: Shoe - must pay attention to context to determine which.
Baby: Blankey
Wooeee: Rudy aka Aunt Maria
BeBe: Baby doll, or stuffed animal
Naaa: Snack
Aame: Amen
Ah Da: All Done
Peee: Please
My: Mine
Hep: Help
She is also very good at nodding and shaking her head to express what she would or wouldn't like to do.
Hankune: Thank You.
Slipalee: Slippery
Lankey: Blanket
Me-Me: Chapstick
Sisser: Sister
Cozies: Sweatpants
Ness: Nest (usually for sleeping in)
Finnanas: Finger Nails (almost always referred to in the context of wanting them painted)
Sack: Snack
Kiwi Bar: Chewy bar aka granola bar
Some of Elsie's words:
Foooo: Food
Foooo: Shoe - must pay attention to context to determine which.
Baby: Blankey
Wooeee: Rudy aka Aunt Maria
BeBe: Baby doll, or stuffed animal
Naaa: Snack
Aame: Amen
Ah Da: All Done
Peee: Please
My: Mine
Hep: Help
She is also very good at nodding and shaking her head to express what she would or wouldn't like to do.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Shanghai Stirfry
I don't think I've ever posted a recipe before, but we just ate this last night, and it was so yummy, I thought I would share it. The recipe is called Shanghai Stirfry from the recipe book "Two Sisters Cookbook". Well, the sauce recipe is from there. The rest is just what I throw together. Doesn't it look yummy?
To make the sauce, mix together:
*1/2 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1/2 C. Braags Amino Acids
*A chunk of Ginger Root a little bigger than your thumb sent through the garlic press
*3 Garlic Cloves minced
*2 Tb. Honey
*1 Tb. Cornstarch mixed into 1/4 C. Cold Water
Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute until quite bubbly. Then let it sit until you're ready for it.
I used a 3lb beef roast for the meat, cooking all of it, but only putting half into the recipe. The other half went in the freezer ready for next time. I've made it with a venison roast before, and that is delicious as well. Let the roast thaw in the fridge for a day so that it's still mostly frozen, but easily sliced with a sharp knife. Slice the meat into thin strips. Pour about 1/4 C. of sauce into frying pan and cook the meat. Then pull the meat out and set aside.
Chop up whatever vegetables you have on hand or want in your stir fry. I try to keep it to about 5 different veggies max. Too many more gives it too many different flavors. I like to keep it simple. For this batch I used carrots, onion, broccoli, and cauliflower, but feel free to mix it up to suit your tastes. Cabbage, and peas are two of our other favorites to add. Cut them small so that they cook faster. In the same pan you cooked the meat in, add another 1/4 C. (approximate - I just dump some in) of the sauce and cook all the veggies until they are the tenderness you like. I cook them pretty soft so that the girls don't have any trouble eating them. This usually takes about 20-30 mins.
While all of this is going on, don't forget to cook some rice. Time it to be done at the same time as everything else if you can. I made this meal last night, and from start to finish - slicing meat to ready to eat it took 1 1/2 hours. But a lot of that time is cook time, so I got all the dishes washed and the kitchen mostly cleaned up during that time as well. Then, enjoy!
Let me know if you give this recipe a try. I'd love to hear how you like it!
To make the sauce, mix together:*1/2 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1/2 C. Braags Amino Acids
*A chunk of Ginger Root a little bigger than your thumb sent through the garlic press
*3 Garlic Cloves minced
*2 Tb. Honey
*1 Tb. Cornstarch mixed into 1/4 C. Cold Water
Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute until quite bubbly. Then let it sit until you're ready for it.
I used a 3lb beef roast for the meat, cooking all of it, but only putting half into the recipe. The other half went in the freezer ready for next time. I've made it with a venison roast before, and that is delicious as well. Let the roast thaw in the fridge for a day so that it's still mostly frozen, but easily sliced with a sharp knife. Slice the meat into thin strips. Pour about 1/4 C. of sauce into frying pan and cook the meat. Then pull the meat out and set aside.
Chop up whatever vegetables you have on hand or want in your stir fry. I try to keep it to about 5 different veggies max. Too many more gives it too many different flavors. I like to keep it simple. For this batch I used carrots, onion, broccoli, and cauliflower, but feel free to mix it up to suit your tastes. Cabbage, and peas are two of our other favorites to add. Cut them small so that they cook faster. In the same pan you cooked the meat in, add another 1/4 C. (approximate - I just dump some in) of the sauce and cook all the veggies until they are the tenderness you like. I cook them pretty soft so that the girls don't have any trouble eating them. This usually takes about 20-30 mins.
While all of this is going on, don't forget to cook some rice. Time it to be done at the same time as everything else if you can. I made this meal last night, and from start to finish - slicing meat to ready to eat it took 1 1/2 hours. But a lot of that time is cook time, so I got all the dishes washed and the kitchen mostly cleaned up during that time as well. Then, enjoy!
Let me know if you give this recipe a try. I'd love to hear how you like it!
acTivity Tuesday
Well, summer and fall got busy, and I haven't had much time to post about our activities lately. But we've still been doing them. This week, the girls wanted to go outside and draw with chalk. Since it's getting pretty cold outside, I decided that since one of their favorite chalk activities is to trace themselves, we could trace ourselves on the giant roll of red paper I got at our Church clean up day.
Had I known how attached those girls would become to the cutouts of themselves, I may have rethought that decision. But it's too late for that. The girls now carry their cutouts everywhere with them. They wanted to take them to bed last night, and were only satisfied not to when we laid them on the floor of their room and covered them their own blankets.
When Elsie tried to grab hers and the arm ripped off, I thought Evelyn was going to cry. This morning there were loud and terrible screams coming from both girls in the living room. I went in to see what was the matter, and Elsie had Evelyn's paper person. Evelyn was screaming because she didn't want Elsie to have it, and didn't want to rip it to get it back. Elsie was screaming because Evelyn was trying to get it away from her. Oh. Wow. This afternoon Evelyn insisted on taking her paper baby in bed with her for her nap. She usually takes her nap on our bed, and she laid her paper self on Kevin's pillow and she slept right next to it. She's gotten into making a 'nest' for herself with blankets to take her nap in, and she even made a nest for her paper self. She was also calling her paper cutout her sister. Here's Evelyn napping with her paper doll.
The girls holding their babies.
Elsie holding her paper person. Notice the tape holding it back together? Well, Elsie also took her person with her during her nap and it returned with all limbs and the head torn off.
The good thing is they are only paper and we can either tape them up, or make new ones if it comes to that.
Had I known how attached those girls would become to the cutouts of themselves, I may have rethought that decision. But it's too late for that. The girls now carry their cutouts everywhere with them. They wanted to take them to bed last night, and were only satisfied not to when we laid them on the floor of their room and covered them their own blankets.
When Elsie tried to grab hers and the arm ripped off, I thought Evelyn was going to cry. This morning there were loud and terrible screams coming from both girls in the living room. I went in to see what was the matter, and Elsie had Evelyn's paper person. Evelyn was screaming because she didn't want Elsie to have it, and didn't want to rip it to get it back. Elsie was screaming because Evelyn was trying to get it away from her. Oh. Wow. This afternoon Evelyn insisted on taking her paper baby in bed with her for her nap. She usually takes her nap on our bed, and she laid her paper self on Kevin's pillow and she slept right next to it. She's gotten into making a 'nest' for herself with blankets to take her nap in, and she even made a nest for her paper self. She was also calling her paper cutout her sister. Here's Evelyn napping with her paper doll.
The girls holding their babies.
Elsie holding her paper person. Notice the tape holding it back together? Well, Elsie also took her person with her during her nap and it returned with all limbs and the head torn off.
This is how the girls usually hold their people - under the arms and in a big hug.
The good thing is they are only paper and we can either tape them up, or make new ones if it comes to that.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
What I Thought I Wanted
So I thought I had landed a great way to earn a little extra cash. Turns out God just needed to use it to show me that it wasn't what I really wanted.
I was all ready to go clean the gross auto shop for the first time. I went to bed early and headed over there around 4:30am. And was it ever gross. As I organized the cleaning closet I noticed a small hole in the back of the closet and tons of little chewed up plastic left by a mouse (or mice). I spent almost 3 hours there cleaning the bathroom, windows, and counters. It does feel good to take something gross and make it look clean again. I had to be back before 8 so Kevin could get to work on time. Turns out getting up that early will really wear you out.
I went back later in the week to find out about a few things I would need for the next time, and found out that not only was the only way to get hot water from the bathroom sink, they also weren't wanting to pay as much as I was needing to make it worth my while.
While the extra money was hard to see go, at the end of the day, it's just money. I don't have to get up at 4:30am once a week and wear myself out cleaning. I can wake up rested and have more time and energy for the things I care most about: my girls and my husband. In the months since this happened, I have not missed it once.
God used this whole thing to teach me the truth from Philippians 4:11 "For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
I was all ready to go clean the gross auto shop for the first time. I went to bed early and headed over there around 4:30am. And was it ever gross. As I organized the cleaning closet I noticed a small hole in the back of the closet and tons of little chewed up plastic left by a mouse (or mice). I spent almost 3 hours there cleaning the bathroom, windows, and counters. It does feel good to take something gross and make it look clean again. I had to be back before 8 so Kevin could get to work on time. Turns out getting up that early will really wear you out.
I went back later in the week to find out about a few things I would need for the next time, and found out that not only was the only way to get hot water from the bathroom sink, they also weren't wanting to pay as much as I was needing to make it worth my while.
While the extra money was hard to see go, at the end of the day, it's just money. I don't have to get up at 4:30am once a week and wear myself out cleaning. I can wake up rested and have more time and energy for the things I care most about: my girls and my husband. In the months since this happened, I have not missed it once.
God used this whole thing to teach me the truth from Philippians 4:11 "For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
Monday, September 17, 2012
God Works in Mysterious Ways Sometimes
Last week, while at my weekly house cleaning for some friends, I locked the keys in the trunk of the car. All the doors were locked, and the only metal door hanger I could find wasn't strong or long enough to reach the nob to unlock the door. And the spare key was sitting there in the center console mocking me. And Kevin was 45mins away working and couldn't come to my rescue. Needless to say, I was frustrated. I was super proud of myself for getting the cleaning done in my fastest time yet. And then we had to sit there in the driveway and wait for the locksmith to come unlock the car for us.
But then, as I was filling out the payment slip and making small talk with the technician, turns out he's the owner/manager of the store. And it also turns out that they're looking for someone to clean the front lobby area of their auto shop. He said if I was interested to just stop by their building sometime. Wow! Didn't see that one coming. I stopped in today to check the size of the place out, and get an idea of what they're looking for. And I think it's going to work out.
He said I can come in whenever is convenient. During operational hours, or after hours. I can bring the girls with if I want, they don't care. It's just one bathroom and then the floors and windows in the main room. This is such an answer to prayer for us. We've been praying about ways I can make a little extra money to help with remodeling projects, and they seem to keep falling in my lap.
Like I told Kevin, God wanted me to lock the keys in the car. Not only to teach me some patience and humility, but also to bless me with some extra work. What an awesome God we have!
But then, as I was filling out the payment slip and making small talk with the technician, turns out he's the owner/manager of the store. And it also turns out that they're looking for someone to clean the front lobby area of their auto shop. He said if I was interested to just stop by their building sometime. Wow! Didn't see that one coming. I stopped in today to check the size of the place out, and get an idea of what they're looking for. And I think it's going to work out.
He said I can come in whenever is convenient. During operational hours, or after hours. I can bring the girls with if I want, they don't care. It's just one bathroom and then the floors and windows in the main room. This is such an answer to prayer for us. We've been praying about ways I can make a little extra money to help with remodeling projects, and they seem to keep falling in my lap.
Like I told Kevin, God wanted me to lock the keys in the car. Not only to teach me some patience and humility, but also to bless me with some extra work. What an awesome God we have!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Lyme Disease (Or The Lack Thereof!)
I don't think I've posted about this at all, but this spring in May, I got a tick bite. No big deal right? I've gotten tons of ticks in my lifetime. Wrong. This tick carried Lyme Disease. And it gave it to me. I got very sick for several days, and had the classic symptom of the bulls-eye rash around the bite. It got so bad though, that all I could do was lay in bed and sleep.
As soon as I spotted the rash and knew what I was dealing with, I scheduled to go see my soon to be brother-in-law who is a chiropractor in town. He has a complicated set of vials that I won't even attempt to explain, but I tested positive for both Lyme and Bebisia(a co-infection of Lyme). Yikes! I hadn't done much research, but the people that I know that have gotten Lyme never seem to get better. Was I going to battle this for the rest of my life? The chiropractor was saying, "NO! You won't!".
I began taking herbal tinctures that my sister-in-law makes for the business she started called Nature's Pharmacy. Within 12 hours, my fever was gone. Wow! Because it is only herbs, I didn't expect to feel 100% normal overnight. And I didn't. It was a long road. The joint pain, stiffness, swollen achy joints that hurt to move, tiredness, it took a lot out of me and for a long time. After almost 5 months, I finally feel normal again. I don't need a nap, I can walk up and down stairs with no pain, I can go for a walk and not hurt, I can get a shoulder rub and not feel like someone punched me the next day. And it's awesome!
After taking the tinctures for 3 months and doing a couple of liver flushes, I went in for a follow up appointment. I discovered much to my delight that the Lyme was gone. But... the bebisia was still hanging around. So I continued my tincture regiment for another 6 weeks along with 3 more liver flushes and went back to be tested again. This time: ALL GONE! Praise the Lord! I had been praying for this to be the result for several days before and during my last liver flush. Praying that the Lord would use this to take all of the bebisia out of my body. And he answered my prayer completely! He gets all the credit!
When I first found out I had Lyme and started taking only tinctures for it, many people were skeptical and hesitant about the fact that I was not getting antibiotics for it. I have to admit that I didn't even think twice about it. After watching my sister go the medical route first with no success, I didn't even want to try that. I think the people who say it can't be beat all go with the doxycycline and then give up hope of ever getting better. I trust my mother-in-law and all of my husbands family who have battled through this and come out winners. So that's what I did, and it worked!
Going forward now, is the fun part. No more venison. No more raw milk. Being super duper careful when out in the woods. And also protecting the rest of my family from ticks too. It's not something I even want to take a chance at getting again. The data shows that I live in one of the highest reported areas in the country for Lyme Disease.
But I say, "Bring it on!" I'm not going to sit in my house and be scared about getting Lyme again. I'm not going to prohibit our children from going hunting, or playing in the woods. I'm not going to be paranoid if I accidentally eat some venison or raw milk. BUT, I am going to be proactive. I'm going to never be out of bug/tick repellant. I'm going to check my family members for ticks every time they've been in tall grass. And I'm going to be ready for the day when someone does get Lyme. And I'm going to beat it again!
As soon as I spotted the rash and knew what I was dealing with, I scheduled to go see my soon to be brother-in-law who is a chiropractor in town. He has a complicated set of vials that I won't even attempt to explain, but I tested positive for both Lyme and Bebisia(a co-infection of Lyme). Yikes! I hadn't done much research, but the people that I know that have gotten Lyme never seem to get better. Was I going to battle this for the rest of my life? The chiropractor was saying, "NO! You won't!".
I began taking herbal tinctures that my sister-in-law makes for the business she started called Nature's Pharmacy. Within 12 hours, my fever was gone. Wow! Because it is only herbs, I didn't expect to feel 100% normal overnight. And I didn't. It was a long road. The joint pain, stiffness, swollen achy joints that hurt to move, tiredness, it took a lot out of me and for a long time. After almost 5 months, I finally feel normal again. I don't need a nap, I can walk up and down stairs with no pain, I can go for a walk and not hurt, I can get a shoulder rub and not feel like someone punched me the next day. And it's awesome!
After taking the tinctures for 3 months and doing a couple of liver flushes, I went in for a follow up appointment. I discovered much to my delight that the Lyme was gone. But... the bebisia was still hanging around. So I continued my tincture regiment for another 6 weeks along with 3 more liver flushes and went back to be tested again. This time: ALL GONE! Praise the Lord! I had been praying for this to be the result for several days before and during my last liver flush. Praying that the Lord would use this to take all of the bebisia out of my body. And he answered my prayer completely! He gets all the credit!
When I first found out I had Lyme and started taking only tinctures for it, many people were skeptical and hesitant about the fact that I was not getting antibiotics for it. I have to admit that I didn't even think twice about it. After watching my sister go the medical route first with no success, I didn't even want to try that. I think the people who say it can't be beat all go with the doxycycline and then give up hope of ever getting better. I trust my mother-in-law and all of my husbands family who have battled through this and come out winners. So that's what I did, and it worked!
Going forward now, is the fun part. No more venison. No more raw milk. Being super duper careful when out in the woods. And also protecting the rest of my family from ticks too. It's not something I even want to take a chance at getting again. The data shows that I live in one of the highest reported areas in the country for Lyme Disease.
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