Menu Plan: July 6-15

Welcome back! I have been absent all week due to issues with my laptop. We officially started our grain-free at home journey this month. Since we do not have any known allergy or intolerance to grains, we will still eat them if we are served them in other peoples homes, but will make wise choices when we eat out to avoid them as much as possible. The only exception to this, of course, is Julian, who will not eat grains until his first year molars come in. The way that we eat grains is grossly distorted from how they used to be consumed and I am convinced this affects our health as a nation. Considering the government still recommends a large portion of your daily intake come from grains, many Americans are consuming WAY too many and not the right ones when they do. But, I digress.

Here is our menu for the next week or so:

Breakfast

• Friday: Chocolate zucchini muffins and fruit
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes and bacon
• Sunday: Eggs w/ sausage and fruit
• Monday: Chocolate zucchini muffins and fruit
• Tuesday: Eggs w/ salsa and fruit
• Wednesday: Almond flour muffins and fruit
• Thursday: Eggs w/ sausage and fruit
• Friday: Almond flour muffins and fruit
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes and bacon
• Sunday: Eggs w/ sausage and fruit

Lunch 

My husband takes a packed lunch (or dinner, if he works third shift) when he is working at the hospital, which consists of peanut butter and jelly or honey between two pancakes, veggies, fruit and a dessert. If he is working at the office, he eats lunch out, much to my chagrin! Julian and I had been eating leftovers, but too many times we were finishing everything at dinner, which left us with nothing for lunch the next day. I am going to try doing snacky style lunches for him and I. We will have smoothies and veggies everyday and rotate between hardboiled eggs and beans with cheese. He is typically home for lunch on Saturdays and we eat lunch at church on Sunday afternoons.

• Saturday: Pigs in a blanket, veggies and fruit
• Sunday: @ church
• Saturday: Shrimp curry w/ quinoa and smoothies
• Sunday: @ church

Dinner

•  Friday: with friends, bringing a salad
• Saturday: Leftovers
• Sunday: Salmon patties, veggies and fruit
• Monday: Chicken and potatoes
• Tuesday: Leftovers
• Wednesday: Red-Red w/quinoa and sauteed bananas
• Thursday: Salmon, veggies and potatoes
• Friday: Chicken cakes and veggies
• Saturday: Leftovers
• Sunday: Pigs in a blanket and bananas

What are you feeding your family lately?

Scripture Study: Creating an Atmosphere of Worship

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Lately, I have found myself getting easily frustrated and quickly irritated with both Kerry and Julian. I could throw out a bunch of excuses in an effort to justify my behavior, but that is not the appropriate response. My behavior is not the fault of Kerry or Julian. It is the result of my own sinful heart choosing sin rather than grace.

I reflected on my daily routine to see if there was any way that I could carve out more time to spend with the Lord, more time in His Word and, while I realized that I often do have more time that I could spend with Him, sometimes that is just not reality. However, one simple change afforded me the opportunity to spend literally all day with the Lord and not allow my homemaking and child-rearing tasks fall to the wayside. I decided to listen to nothing other than praise and worship music during the day. I did this yesterday for the first time and I noticed a definite difference in my attitude and my response to both my husband and my son.

1 Chronicles 16:23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Psalm 71:8 My mouth is filled with Your praise and Your glory all day long. 

 

According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the word worship shows up in scripture 114 times and the word praise 195 times. The word sing appears 99 times, most often in some variation of the phrase "sing to the LORD". It seems to me that worshiping and praising the Lord is an important thing to do. While I know that worship is not limited to singing, having praise and worship music flowing through my home during the day definitely adds to the atmosphere of worship I hope to cultivate in my home.

Another way that I am aiming to create an atmosphere of worship in my home is by committing Scripture to memory. I was blessed to come to know the Lord at a young age and memorized quite a bit of Scripture as a child, which comes back to me easily even many years later. I memorized Scripture in school, all the way through college where I memorized entire books at a time. I have let that go since getting married and having a baby, but that is something that I want to re-ignite in myself so I can be an example for my children.

I am planning on taking this challenge over at Intentional By Grace during the month of July.  
Will you join me? How do you create an atmosphere of worship in your home?

Recipe Reveal: Salmon Patties

One of my goals for 2012 was to serve fish once a week. I know that eating good fish can do wonders for your health. However, have you seen the price of fish at the meat market? It is hard for me to stomach the $5/lb for grass-fed beef, let alone the $10-$15/lb for good fish. What's a mama to do?

One way that I have been able to meet my goal of serving fish once a week is by serving my family salmon patties. I buy canned seine net caught wild Alaskan pink Salmon from Aldi for about $2.50/can. One can feeds all three of us one meal plus enough for Julian and I to have leftovers the next day for lunch. This is a frugal way to still be able to eat good fish!

Salmon Patties

1 can (14.5 ounces) wild caught salmon

1 egg

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tbs. parsley

scant cayenne pepper

1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut (or breadcrumbs)

Butter or coconut oil

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Melt a small amount of butter or coconut oil in a pan on the stovetop. Form the salmon mixture into patties and place in the hot pan. Cook on each side about 2-3 minutes. We like to eat ours with homemade ranch smeared on top!

this post is linked to: real food wednesday and healthy 2day wednesday

 

Submitting to Rest

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I am dealing with an unexpected case of mastitis. It came on suddenly yesterday and, as anyone who has been through this before knows, it wiped me out! I don't know about you, but it is not easy for me to accept the fact that my body needs rest. Rest? There is laundry to do, a cleaning schedule to maintain, not to mention an energetic 13 month old to take care of.

So today, instead of tackling my cleaning list, instead of finishing purging the house for a goodwill donation, instead of working on my seemingly never-ending to-do list, I am resting. I am basking in the glory of having my husband home from work and watching him (and cheering him on from my perch on the couch!) cook, clean and take care of Julian for me. It is HARD, though! I want to be up doing, serving, cleaning, preparing etc. Yet, I know, my body will thank me by healing itself much faster if I rest than if I just powered through and continued with life as usual.

This unexpected rest has afforded me the opportunity to catch up on some reading, write a few blog posts, spend lengthy time with the Lord (so refreshing!) and sleep, oh glorious sleep. I am hoping to hit the ground running tomorrow, but, for now, I am thankful for the rest that God gave me, despite the fact that it came via illness.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Menu Plan: June 25-July 1

You may notice some repeats from the menu I posted last Monday. We were blessed to spend time unexpected time with our families this past week, which meant getting to go out to eat twice in one day. I, of course, ended up not cooking, so we had some meals to use up from last week. I made a HUGE batch of chicken and potatoes last week as well, so Julian and I will be finishing those up this week. We start our grain free month on Sunday, so I am trying hard to use up the rest of the grains in the house this week. Here is the menu!

Breakfast

• Monday: Fried mush, cantaloupe
• Tuesday: Sauteed brussel sprouts, bacon and cantaloupe
• Wednesday: Eggs w/ sausage, cantaloupe
• Thursday: Pancakes in a pan, fresh fruit
• Friday: Eggs w/ salsa, fresh fruit
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit
• Sunday: Eggs w/ salsa, fresh fruit

Lunch

• Monday: Chicken and potatoes, cheese cubes
• Tuesday: Salmon patties, carrots w/ homemade ranch dip
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Olive Garden (taking a friend out for her birthday!)
• Friday: Snacky lunch (veggies w/ dip, fresh fruit, cheese cubes, beans etc.)
• Saturday: Family picnic (celebrating hubby's maternal grandparents 57th anniversary!)
• Sunday: Church potluck (celebrating hubby's family friends 50th anniversary!)

Dinner

• Monday: Italian stew, smoothies and organic sweet corn
• Tuesday: Brown rice pasta w/ homemade red sauce, smoothies
• Wednesday: Taco potatoes, smoothies
• Thursday: Leftovers, smoothies
• Friday: Curried brown rice pasta, smoothies
• Saturday: Leftovers, smoothies
• Sunday: Grain free pigs in a blanket, smoothies

menu plan monday 

Around The House: My Cleaning Schedule

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Some people view routine and schedule with disdain. They feel boxed in and enslaved to their schedule. Not me!  I have found that, without routines and a loose schedule in place, scary things happen. Things like the bathroom going uncleaned for weeks at a time. Things like four trips to the grocery store in one week. For me, routines and schedules provide freedom and peace of mind. I know when I wake up on any given day that there are certain things that will be accomplished that day and other things that I know I do not need to worry about because it is not the day for it.

While I have routines and schedules for all areas of home management, one specific area that has relieved stress in my life is my cleaning schedule. Today I am going to share that with you. Please remember that I am not saying that everyone needs to have a schedule, but I just know that this works for me and I want to share it in case someone else might benefit from it.

I like to set Tuesday aside as my cleaning day. I try to not plan any doctor appointments, play dates or errands on Tuesdays, but, of course, sometimes I can't avoid that and I have to readjust. While have routines and schedules has proven helpful to me, I have to remember that they exist to serve me not the other way around.

 I break my cleaning tasks down into weekly, monthly and quarterly jobs. I assign the monthly tasks to the different weeks of the month, so I am not adding several extra tasks to one cleaning day a month, but spreading them out throughout the month.  I accomplish the quarterly tasks as I have time during the month they are assigned. I realize that I have the distinct advantage of living in a small apartment, so I do not have as many cleaning tasks as a homeowner would have. Perhaps when we own a home, I will not be able to get everything done in one day. However, for now, this system works well for me.

Storms Family Cleaning Schedule

Weekly

• Mop kitchen floor
• Scrub kitchen sink
• Wash stove-top drip pans
• Vacuum
• Dust
• Scrub bathroom sink
• Scrub tub/shower
• Clean toilet
• Clean mirrors
• Change sheets

Monthly

• Clean refrigerator and freezer inside and out (fourth Tuesday of the month)
• Wipe down pantry shelves (fourth Tuesday of the month)
• Wipe down outside of cabinets (first Tuesday of the month)
• Rotate mattresses (second Tuesday of the month)
• Clean shower head (third Tuesday of the month)

 

Quarterly

• Flip couch cushions (August, December, April)
• Vacuum couch and chair (September, January, May)
• Wipe down dining room chairs (October, February, June)
• Change vacuum filter (November, March, July)
• Clean oven (December, April, August)

Do you use routines and/or schedules to accomplish things around your home? 

Scripture Study: 1 Corinthians

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"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." II Corinthians 4:17-18

These verses have been weighing heavy on my heart over the past few days. There are so many injustices in this world. So many things that cause me to weep. The three year old nephew of an acquaintance who just this morning had his cancer-filled eye permanently removed. The child sex slaves not just in Korea or India, but in Minnesota. The over 3,000 children waiting for a family in the Illinois foster care system alone. My 18 year old sister who faces life with a brain tumor. Stuff like this stinks. It hurts my heart. But, I remember the words of Jesus when He says,

"...In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

 For believers, these troubles are more than what they appear on the outside. They are molding and shaping us for God's purposes. They are refining us. I don't know how people who do not have Christ as the anchor, as the foundation, of their lives process issues like this, but I am so thankful that when my heart is burdened, when my soul is torn to pieces, reading and hearing about the troubles in this world, that I can turn to the One who created and sustains all things for solace. 

thankful thursday

Menu Plan: June 18-24

 It has been almost three months since I last posted a menu. For some reason, my typically well-planned life has been not so well-planned as of late, which resulted in some less than stellar menu planning. I think I am back on track, although in about a month everything will be topsy turvy yet again as we move to Champaign!  As a side note, it has been far too long since I have been able to find organic potatoes around here. I found them this past week and promptly bought six pounds. Yikes! Hence all the potato dishes this week...

Breakfast

• Monday: Birthday berry crisp, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Baby red potatoes with sausage and garlic, fresh fruit
• Wednesday: Perfect fall muffins, hardboiled eggs
• Thursday: Eggs with sausage and garlic, fresh fruit
• Friday: Soaked pumpkin oatmeal with walnuts
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes (recipe below!), bacon and fresh fruit
• Sunday: Eggs with sausage and garlic, fresh fruit

Lunch

• Monday: Rice with chicken, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Grain-Free Pigs in a Blanket, carrots with homemade ranch dip
• Wednesday: Cheesy pan-fried potatoes, fresh fruit
• Thursday: Smoothies with cheese and veggies
• Friday: Italian stew, fresh fruit
• Saturday: Salmon patties, fresh fruit
• Sunday: Lunch at church

Supper

• Monday: Popcorn, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Leftovers, smoothies
• Wednesday: Smoothies with cheese and veggies
• Thursday: Chicken and potatoes, fresh fruit
• Friday: Taco potatoes, smoothies
• Saturday: Herb roasted potatoes with sausage, smoothies
• Sunday: Leftovers, smoothies

Coconut Flour Pancakes

 Makes about 20 pancakes

9 eggs

2 sticks butter or 1 c. coconut oil, melted

1 c. coconut milk (or whole milk)

4 tsp. honey (maple syrup or sucanat works great, too!)

3 tsp. sea salt

3/4 c. coconut flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (aluminum free, if possible)

Mix together eggs, butter/coconut oil, milk, sweetener and salt in a larger bowl. Add the baking powder and coconut flour and continue to mix until everything is incorporated. Melt a little more butter/coconut oil in a skillet and scoop about an 1/8 of a cup of batter into the pan. Repeat until you have about 20 pancakes. Server warm with more butter and real maple syrup!

This post is linked to menu plan monday

Birthday Berry Crisp

In honor of my husband's 25th birthday, I created this special berry crisp. He is not a huge fan of cake and I am not that great of a cake baker, so it works out well for me! This dish also got me one step closer to using up the remaining oatmeal in my apartment as we are preparing for a grain free experiment during the month of July.

Birthday Berry Crisp

1 c. organic rolled oats

1/4 c. melted coconut oil

1/3 c. organic sucanat

1/4 c. coconut milk

1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 c. organic berries (I used strawberries, but raspberries, blueberries etc. would work too!)

1 tbs. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Mix the first six ingredients together in a small bowl, cover and allow to soak for 12-24 hours. After the soaking period, mix berries and lemon juice together in small baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 in.). Pour/spread the soaked crumb topping over the berries. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy as is or with homemade ice cream!

Cucumber Infused Lavender Lotion

photo credit: karenandbrademerson

Ever since embarking on our real food journey about a year ago, I have been incredibly interested in the effects of what we eat on our bodies. This quest led to lots of reading, shopping, questioning and habit changing. It also led me to realize that not only does what we eat have a major impact on our bodies, but what we put on our bodies also matters. I wrote a post about that a several months ago. This journey is best approached with baby steps, although I have been known to go crazy when I find out that yet another thing that we use that is less than stellar for us and throw it all away (just ask my husband about infant Tylenol...), and this post is a new baby step for me.

I have known for quite some time now that the lotion from a certain smell good product store that I have used for the past several years is essentially a toxic cocktail. However, I had tons of it stored up. It is expensive. I was given some of it as gifts. The list goes on, but the point is, I finally ran out. I knew that day was coming, so I had been slowly building up my supply of homemade lotion ingredients. Julian took an especially long morning nap today, so, after I did my necessary work (cleaning the bathroom and showering!), I stepped into the kitchen and created this delightful lotion.

Cucumber Infused Lavender Lotion

2/3 c. cucumber pieces

1 c. avocado oil

1/4 c. beeswax

1/2 c. almond oil

1/2 + 1/8 c. water

20-25 drops lavender essential oil

Place the cucumber pieces a small pot and pour the avocado oil over it. Turn the heat to medium and allow the oil to heat until you hear (or feel, if you are standing to close!) it start to pop. Turn it down to simmer and put a lid on the pot. Allow this to sit for an hour and a half. Strain the cucumber infused oil into a large measuring cup and immediately mix in the beeswax. Stir until the beeswax is melted. Pour in the almond oil and allow this mixture to cool for about ten minutes. Pour it into the blender and slowly add the water. Drop in the essential oil. Blend the mixture on medium, stopping to stir every so often. Blend until everything is well incorporated, about ten minutes. Store your lotion in a pint sized jar and enjoy!

May in Our Home

We experienced an unseasonably beautiful and warm May here in central Illinois. May was busy! It brought Julian's first birthday, my college graduation and my little sister's high school graduation three weekends in a row. We finally had a break to breathe Memorial day weekend and celebrated by simply relaxing!

We enjoyed Julian's birthday as a family by taking him on a picnic and playing at the park. A dear friend of our family gifted us a photo shoot for his birthday and we took advantage of the gorgeous weather on his special day by taking the pictures at her home and the nearby park where we picnicked. We have been blessed to cultivate friendship with her and her family over the past two years and are incredibly grateful for them! I am a big believer in practical gifts, especially when the recipient doesn't know any different :), so we gave Julian a floppy sun hat, a new amber teething necklace and a stainless steel sippy water bottle for his birthday. He has worn the necklace 24/7 since we put it on him, we have not had a chance to try out the hat and the sippy cup is a bit of a learning curve for this exclusively-breastfed-never-had-a-bottle child, so we are still working on that one!

We traveled to Chicago for my  graduation from Moody Bible Institute the second weekend in May. Although I officially finished up classes and graduated last May, I was too busy recovering from having a baby the week before to participate in the commencement ceremony last year! To be honest, I was not looking forward to the stress of traveling and staying away from home etc., but I am exceedingly glad that my parents convinced me to go through with walking in the ceremony. Besides having the satisfaction of actually walking across the stage to receive my diploma rather than just getting it in the mail along with bills and other day-to-day things, I was able to see my friends that I lived with for three years all together one last time before we dispersed, quite literally, across the globe to do the work the Lord has prepared for us. I was especially grateful to get to visit with one of my floormates and her husband who will be doing work in India this summer. She shared some special news with me that I would have missed out on had I not gone to commencement. I was able to encourage her and her husband in a special way that I would not have been able to do otherwise. I also spent some time with my roommate of two years and was able to meet her entire family for the first time. It is sobering to think that it is quite possible that I will not see some of these amazing women I lived with for three years again this side of heaven. I praise the Lord for the work He has called each of us to do and sincerely hope that we will all be reunited again on this earth!

With all the major events going on, I was afraid Mother's Day would end up an after thought. We had lunch with my husband's mom and her family, then came home and took a much needed nap. In the evening, my sweet husband gave me a handmade card and took me and Julian on a hike at the nature center near our apartment. We finished the night with frozen yogurt from a local shop.

My one and only sister graduated from high school the weekend after my college graduation. This was also a bittersweet ceremony as it marked for my parents the end of a seventeen year relationship with Peoria Christian School. The ceremony was beautiful and my sister even more so, of course!

We are looking forward to a summer filled with birthdays, our second anniversary, weddings, VBS, a big move and more!

Simple Cobb Salad

In the winter, we love to eat soups and chilis several times a month. In the summer, we much prefer salads. Although I am always looking for new dinner salad ideas to serve, this is an old favorite of ours.

Simple Cobb Salad

10 oz. bag organic lettuce

10 grape or cherry tomatoes

2 hardboiled eggs, sliced

1 avocado, sliced

6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Homemade ranch dressing

Place bacon in a deep frying pan and cook over medium heat until done. Remove to plate and allow to cool before crumbling. Arrange lettuce on two plates. Top with tomatoes, eggs, avocado and crumbled bacon. Finish with the dressing and enjoy!

This post is linked up to Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. 

 

Julian turned UNO!

Although Julian's real birthday is May 5th, we celebrated with family this weekend. The theme for his party was UNO, the card game of yesteryear, and I had so much fun incorporating it in all the details.

The Invitations (Design: Randie Kocher ; Photo: Kelsey Sliger)

My good friend Kelsey took some adorable photos of Julian playing with UNO cards and my husband's cousin Randie came up with the awesome design. I fear I set a precedent with these invites and will have a hard time topping them in the years to come!

The Decorations (Dollar Tree and Party City)

I borrowed the color scheme from the UNO cards, so everything was black, red, yellow, blue and green. We had yellow and red plates, blue and green cups, yellow and green forks, red and blue napkins and black tablecloths. Each table had a bunch of balloons in the same colors. We scattered UNO cards throughout the house as further decoration. I also used mini UNO cards that we found at Party City as the cupcake toppers. My favorite part was the banner that my husband put together using the photos that Kelsey took of Julian playing with UNO cards and some vintage UNO cards from his mom.

The Memories (Book Design: Grace Lawler ; Materials: Scrapadoodle)

I borrowed this idea from my friend Kelsey, as well (...do you see a theme here? Kelsey has great ideas!) She made a small scrapbook that she gave me at the baby shower she hosted for friends and family to write notes to Julian in before he was born. I LOVED that idea, so I had my crafty sister make a similar one for Julian's first birthday since he won't be able to remember anything about it on his own.

The Food (Hyvee and homemade)

I served chips with homemade salsa, broccoli and cauliflower with homemade ranch dip, fruit and organic whole wheat chocolate cupcakes with sucanat buttercream frosting. My mom and I attempted to arrange the fruit to look like a UNO wild card.

The Outfit (Amazon and Jo-Ann Fabric)

I got the idea for Julian's party outfit from my good friend Kelsey. She introduced me to freezer stenciling at the baby shower she hosted for me a little over a year ago. Since I am really not crafty at all, she came over and helped me make the stencil on Thursday afternoon. Thanks, Kelsey!

 

 The Cake (Homemade)

 I made Julian a small cake version of the same cupcakes I made for the party. I used pineapple to make it look like a yellow UNO card. I don't claim to be a fantastic (or even mediocre!) cake decorator, but it was as healthy as sweets can be, which was the goal. He was not too interested in his cake, but we got some good photos of him playing with it!

 
The Family

We are so grateful the Lord saw fit to bless us with a healthy baby boy almost one year ago. We look forward to seeing how the Lord uses Julian to further His kingdom in the years to come!

Like Mother, Like Son

Some parents put safety locks on their kitchen cabinets...

not me...









and apparently not my parents, either!

How I became engaged

Be sure to read the first two parts of our love story before reading this post!

Today marks the second anniversary of my husband asking me to be his wife. Here is how it happened...

It was a Sunday. I had come home from college for the weekend and had gone to church with Kerry and his family. After church, we headed over to his dad and stepmom's house to celebrate Easter a week early with his extended family. I thought that we would be getting engaged that weekend, but it was Sunday and I was starting to get disappointed. After all of the extended family left, Kerry asked me to go for a walk in the woods behind their house. I did not really want to go for a walk because it had recently rained and it was going to be muddy! However, Kerry convinced me and off we went. We walked for quite some time and finally came to a log where we sat to rest. I noticed a hawk, Kerry's favorite bird, flying in the distance, so I turned to point it out to him. When I turned around, he was down on one knee with the most beautiful solitaire sapphire ring in his hand. I don't remember the exact words that he said because I was crying too much, but I do remember saying an enthusiastic "YES!" and shouting for joy :) We walked back to the house to tell his dad, sister and stepmom, then headed out to catch my train back to school. It was the shortest train ride back to Moody I ever took because I was enthralled the entire way there with my beautiful new ring!

Check back in August to hear about our wedding day!

Thank you, Jesus!

The Lord blew me away in a BIG way this morning...

Kerry and I watch a little girl a few mornings a week named Emily (not her real name). Emily is eight years old. She is dropped off at our apartment around seven and one of us takes her to school around eight. She usually arrives around the time we are sitting down to eat breakfast, so she reads quietly or plays with some of the toys we have. She is intrigued by Julian and loves to pick out his diaper cover when I go to change him. She does not come from a Christian home and does not regularly attend church. She talks and sings songs about things I never even knew about until after I was married. If Julian were any older, I would be worried about the influence she had on him.

One day while we were driving to school last week, she was telling me about what she was learning in school. She mentioned some foreign countries she was learning about and asked if I had ever been outside the US. I told her that I had and shared with her the various places I had been on missions trips. She was quite impressed with this and exclaimed "I didn't know you were a missionary!". I explained to her that I am not a missionary in the sense that she was thinking, but that I am a Christian. She told me about a VBS she had been to once before and the missionaries she met there. We got to her school and that conversation was done.


When she got here this morning, we were sitting down to breakfast. We prayed and she was just walking around the living room, talking to us while we ate. She sat down on the bench by our front door and, out of the blue, said, " I can't wait to be a Christian someday." I asked her what she meant by that and she said that she couldn't wait until she had prayed enough to make her a Christian. I was close to crying, at this point, so moved by what the Lord was allowing me to participate in. I told her that the only thing she must do to be a Christian is to accept the free gift of salvation from Jesus. So, she sat on my couch and prayed to accept Jesus as her Savior.

I am so humbled and grateful that the Lord used me to help this little girl realize her need for Him in her life. This serves as a reminder to me that God can and will use ANYONE to accomplish His purposes, even a stay-at-home mommy just trying to make a little extra money for her family by watching a little girl a few times a week. Thank you, Jesus!

Babywearing

Now that Julian is almost ten months old, I am finally starting to feel like I have a handle on this mom thing. Just kidding...I still have no idea what I am doing! But, I do know that God has given me all that I need for life and godliness and that there is nothing new under the sun, so I press on and continue to rely on Him and His strength to do the job He has called me to right now. That being said, I do have one insight to share that has made the transition into motherhood much smoother for me.


 While there are many things that are absolutely necessary to purchase (or receive as gifts!) before having a baby, there are several that you may think are necessary that, in reality, are just nice to have or even completely unnecessary. I am not going to in depth on baby gear here, but, if you would like to know what I think is necessary, nice and a complete waste of money (and space!), feel free to ask and I would love to talk abou it! There is, however, one item (or three!) that I use every day, multiple times a day, and will talk about with anyone willing to listen:

My baby carriers.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I started doing all sorts of research. I knew some things that I wanted to do right off the bat (cloth diapers, natural birth and breastfeeding), but others I learned about as I began my research. Babywearing was one of those things that I knew nothing about prior to pregnancy, but I became increasingly intrigued by it as I read more. Kerry and I took a class at Once Upon A Sling in Bloomington and I was hooked!

I started out with a hybrid wrap that I used with Julian beginning the day he was born. I used this exclusively until Julian was about five months old. I loved this wrap, especially in the summer, as it was lightweight and easy to use. I wore Julian everywhere in my wrap. He went to weddings (and slept through them!), on hikes, to church, grocery shopping, baseball games and even to the state fair. I was able in the first few weeks of having him to still clean the house, make dinner and do laundry all without having to put him down. The benefit of this baby carrier is the ability to tie it on before leaving the house and pop baby in and out without unwrapping for diaper changes and feedings. It is versatile and very pretty, although not exceptionally user-friendly right away. I watched several videos, looked at the instruction booklet and called Anna at OUAS several times before I felt confident enough to wear Julian in the wrap outside of the house. Although I have not tried this, you can also wear baby on your hip and on on your back with this carrier. Side note: Some moms are able to breastfeed in their carriers, but I never felt comfortable (comfort wise, not exposure wise) doing this. It sure would be nice, though!

I was given a mei tai for my birthday, so I started using that carrier in addition to my wrap in September. You must put the baby in this carrier as you tie it on, so it does not lend itself to the ease of use as much as the wrap does. However, this carrier is made of heavier material than the wrap, so I found myself gravitating towards this carrier as the weather turned cold. This carrier also folds up nicely and, for me, fits well in the diaper bag. I wear Julian everywhere in this carrier as well, most notably all day long while we explored Chicago with friends in October. If I could do things over, I would chose a mei tai with a hood because of the ability to protect nap times with the sleeping hood, especially when doing a back carry. I believe I can purchase a separate hood for the mei tai that I have, but it would be infinitely better to purchase one with a hood already attached. I have used this carrier for both front and back carries and love it for either one.

 
My mom won my third carrier in a facebook giveaway (thanks, mom!) and it is a soft structured carrier. You need ample space to get baby in the carrier and I find it to be bulky, so I have not used it outside of the house by myself yet. I think the space issue will change as Julian gets older. It is my favorite carrier for back carries as it has a baby insert where you snap the baby in before putting the carrier on your back. This alleviates my worry about Julian squirming out of my grasp while I get him on my back. I use this carrier almost exclusively now when I need to get housework done and Julian wants to be held. He loves to ride on my back while I vacuum or do the dishes.


I LOVE babywearing for several reasons, but the biggest benefit to me is how free it makes me feel! I can do anything I need to around the house or out of the house and have my baby close to me. Housework does not suffer and neither does baby! 

Of Valentines Day and A Crying Baby

For those that know me well, you are aware that today is my FAVORITE holiday. I absolutely love Valentine's Day! It takes me a while to decorate for Christmas, and even then, I usually just get our little tree up and take it down as soon as Christmas Day is over. And I replace it with Valentine's Day decorations, of course! We have decorative towels for the kitchen and bathroom, door hangers and window clings. I even have a Valentine's giraffe, complete with little red hearts for his spots. It is a big deal around here. Thankfully, I married a wonderful man who indulges my love for this day.

This is the fourth Valentine's Day we have spent together and he has worked to make each one special.

2009
We were living in Chicago, going to school at Moody and had been officially dating for a little over two weeks. Since the 14th fell on a Saturday, Kerry planned a whole day long date for us in the city, beginning with a visit to the Shedd Aquarium. We had lunch at Corner Bakery on Michigan Avenue, took a walk through Millennium Park, went to see a movie at the huge theater in downtown and finished up the day with dinner at the Turkish restaurant where we had our first date a few weeks before.

2010
I was finishing up my last semester at Moody and Kerry was living in Peoria, working for the post office. The 14th was a Sunday, so I came home from school for the weekend. Kerry took me ice skating and out for coffee on Saturday afternoon and we made homemade pizza together at my parents house that evening.

2011
Our first married Valentine's Day! We were living in Peoria Heights and I was 6 months pregnant with Julian. My parents had given us a gift certificate for a bed and breakfast outside of Springfield for Christmas. We decided to use it the weekend before Valentine's Day, since the 14th was a Monday and we would be working and going to school. We left early Saturday morning and drove down to Springfield. We ate a picnic lunch at Subway (it was warm out!), visited the Lincoln Museum and went out to dinner in the tiny town where the B&B was. I brought homemade sugar cookies along and we decorated them with the owners of the B&B and just relaxed and enjoyed time away together.

2012
Our first Valentine's Day with a baby! We are still living in Peoria Heights and Julian is 9 months old. I made what were supposed to be heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but they did not keep their shape when they baked...they still tasted great, though! We exchanged cards at breakfast. Kerry planned a surprise for lunch, so we took Julian over to my parent's house for a few hours. We went to Thirty-Thirty for coffee, then headed to Chili's for lunch. Unfortunately, Julian was not having a good day, so we cut our lunch short, took our food to go and picked up Julian. Parenting is all about being adaptable! Julian fell asleep on the way home, so Kerry and I had a Valentine's Day picnic on our living room floor while Julian slept in his car seat. I would not trade the joy of being Julian's mommy for an uninterrupted Valentine's date any day!

How I started dating my husband

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day that my husband and I began dating. Be sure to check out the story of how we met before reading this installment in the Our Love Story series!

Now for the story...

Between the time we met in November and the time Kerry moved to Chicago to begin his graduate studies in early January, we exchanged hundreds (seriously, hundreds...I have them all printed out and in my keepsake box!) of messages via facebook. I am not sure why we chose this method of communication, but, we did, and I am glad to have those "get-to-know-you" conversations preserved for all time. We had established a good foundation for our friendship through these myriad messages, and I was looking forward to finally living close enough to each other where we could have face-to-face conversation on a regular basis.

Naturally, since I was the only person Kerry knew at Moody, we spent lots of time together. We rode the L to Target with several of my friends, I introduced him to my favorite coffee shop, showed him around campus and shared a chocolate cake shake at a Chicago must-see with him. We played chess in the student center late on a Saturday night and went to church together. I still was not sure where our relationship was going, whether we were spending so much time together because I was a familiar face or because he was interested in pursuing me further. My mind was put to rest regarding this when he asked me to go to dinner with him at Efes, a beautiful authentic Turkish restaurant in the Lakeview neighborhood, after church on January 18th. I claim this as our first date. After dinner, where I had come prepared to pay for my meal since I still was not sure where our relationship was headed, I came back to my dorm room and told my roommate that I had just shared dinner with the man I was going to marry.

That next week was busy for both of us, so we did not see each other much. We went out for cake shakes again one time that week, and I was sure that Kerry was going to ask me to be his girlfriend while we were there, but, much to my disappointment, he did not. We went to church together on Sunday and went our separate ways once we got back to campus. Monday, which was Kerry's longest day of classes, came around and I was not expecting to see him since he had such a busy day. I had gone to dinner and was sitting in my room, probably working on a paper or reading one of the many, many books I read while in college, when my phone rang. It was Kerry and he wanted to know if I would accompany him to the grocery store. I did not think anything of this because he had had an emergency appendectomy over Christmas break and was under a weight lifting restriction. I figured he just needed someone to carry his groceries home, something I had done for him already. So, we began the mile or so walk to the grocery store in the bitter January cold and I was just chattering away, per usual. I had gathered by this time that Kerry was a man of few words, but that night he was silent. I talked the whole way to the grocery store and was actually starting to run out of things to say! He grabbed my gloved hand in the parking lot of the Jewel on Clark St. in downtown Chicago and said, "I have been wanting to ask, but just couldn't get the courage up...will you be my girlfriend?". I, of course, said yes and we continued on into the grocery store to get the things he needed. Although Kerry will admit to being slightly embarrassed by the fact that he asked me to be his girlfriend in the parking lot of a grocery store, I think it was adorable and perfectly suited to his personality. And, in case we ever forget that important event, I saved the receipt from that shopping trip and it graces the front cover of our dating scrapbook!

Check back in March to read the story of our engagement!

How I met my husband

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day that my husband and I met. Although we officially met on November 22nd of 2008, the story starts a few years before that...

Junior High Bible quizzing champions 2004

 August 2004: Kerry was with his youth group from Eureka Bible Church at Critical Mass, a youth convention/quiz-off for the youth from the FEC churches all over the US. I was participating in the Bible quiz competition that year and Kerry was there to watch quizzing and to attend the youth convention. He remembers seeing me on stage accepting the trophy in the above picture on behalf of my team.


September 2006: I, along with a few friends from my high school, went to a concert at the University of Illinois. One of the girls who came with our group had an older brother who went to the University of Illinois and lived at Koinonia, the Christian cooperative house at U of I. This is where Kerry went to school and lived, as well. We got to campus a little early for the concert, so we stopped by Koinonia to see my friend's brother. At this point, I still did not know who Kerry was, but he knew of me from the Bible quiz competition in 2004. He remembers passing me on the stairs at Koinonia.

November 22nd, 2008: I was in the middle of my second semester at Moody Bible Institute. Kerry was in his last semester at the University of Illinois. We were both in Archbold, Ohio for the fall Bible quizzing competition. We had, separate from each other, decided to sign up to quiz master for the competition that weekend. My friend Erin and I rode up on a bus with Grace church from Morton and stayed with a local Archbold couple Friday night. Saturday morning there was a quiz masters meeting at 8 am at the church. Erin and I got there and sat in the front row, ready to get our instructions. I knew going into the weekend that I was paired up with Kerry Storms, but I still did not know who that was. Bruce, the head of the quiz program, led the group of us in prayer and told us to split up into odd and even quiz readers to go over our quiz questions for the day. This was great, except for the fact that I had forgotten my questions. So, Bruce pointed me in the direction of Kerry and I ever so sweetly asked him if I could have his even quizzes, since he was reading the odd ones. He obliged, and we split off with the other even and odd readers. What a great first impression... After going over our questions, we got together with the person we were quiz mastering with and our timer. Our trio in room B was Kerry, my friend Erin and me. We got settled in and Kerry and I asked the obligatory get-to-know-you questions. We ended up finding out that we had quite a bit in common and that he was coming to Moody in January for graduate school. This gave us plenty to talk about for the eight or so hours we were quiz mastering, but I felt like I would have talked that much with anyone that I was with for that long, so I did not think anything of it. Now that I really know Kerry, looking back I know that him talking that much with someone he just met (or really with anyone!) is WAY out of character. We finished up our quiz duties and moved to the sanctuary for the final match. We sat with the groups we came with, so Kerry was on one side of the sanctuary and I was on the other. About halfway through the quiz, I remember Erin leaning over and remarking that Kerry was staring at me. I slowly turned towards the side of the sanctuary where he was sitting and, sure enough, caught him staring at me! After the final quiz was over, he sought me out to say goodbye since his group was leaving to head home. Little did I know how the Lord was working that day in Archbold to bring my husband and I together!

Check back and in January I will tell the story of how my husband and I started dating.