Hard-Boiled Hubby

Ever since we dyed Easter eggs this weekend, my husband has been on a hard-boiled egg kick. He's like Rocky in the morning putting back a few at a time. Well now that we've run out of pink and blue decorated ones, he has taken to the kitchen to keep his egg routine on track.

You would think "hard-boiled eggs" possess a pretty self-explanatory name for how to make them, but not for my hubby wubby. He has asked about 36 questions in just the last hour of how to accomplish a hard-boiled egg. Some include:

"Babe... is this enough water? No really, look."

"Does boiling technically start when you see bubbles or when its like rolling?"

"Is it better to leave it in too long or not long enough?"

"How can tell if it has been successful?"


Lol... he just caught me writing those after asking the last question, claiming it isn't a bad question because I didn't have a good answer. Let me also say that his Droid has had a running clock taking up the entire screen for the last 20 minutes. Actually...longer than that because he learned he'd have to wait to start timing til the boiling begun. So he had to reset. Lol  I was in such a irritated mood just from watching him be so crazy about boiling an egg... but writing this down and letting him see for himself how ridiculous and meticulous and borderline OCD he is sometimes makes me laugh soo much.  Haha 

I guess the answer to his last question will be answered tomorrow morning at breakfast :)

Palm Serveday

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, BUT TO SERVE, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  - Mark 10:45

 This entire weekend our church "shut down" forcing its congregation to serve God outside of the comforts of church and sending the message that Jesus came to serve everyone, and so should we. Well I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed that I wouldn't be celebrating my favorite "holiday" in my usual way. Since I became I Christian, I've always loved Palm Sunday. There's something exciting about getting a palm branch and waiting the whole service to finally wave it around in the air dancing and shouting, "Hosanna! Hosanna to the King!" And on such an important/entertaining holiday I could usually convince my family to come along and would wack my brother over the head and tickle his ear with the palm  lol. 

But not only would I not be able to do that this year, but there would be no church services at all???

After I got over my initial disappointment, I let the message of this bold statement sink in. I was reminded that Jesus did not come to make fun traditions, He came to serve. He sacrificed all for me, and the least I can do is sacrifice some for Him and for others. He tells us that is the way to truly live - by loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength AND by loving your neighbor as yourself  (Luke 10:27).

Our church lives by the C-WoW philosophy... that is a Church Without Walls which strives to remember:

• A church is not a building; it is a people who have become the body of Christ. 

• Our goal is to become great servants of the Lord and of others.

• We are called to be a life-giving movement with a mission to serve.

So this Sunday as we remembered Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem my family was able to SERVE the community instead of secluding ourselves within the walls of our church surrounded by fellow believers and comfortable rituals.

"Hosanna" is the Hebrew for "please save us"; today I was saved of my selfishness by being forced to serve.

 

Happy Campers

For my husband and I, camping trips have usually been a time of peace, privacy, and renewal. Yet this last trip made us realize that may have just been a short-lived phase. Quiet bonding time is now swapped with slightly chaotic family time. We were pretty confident of our teamwork abilities and had gotten camping with a baby/toddler down to a science, but where did that little baby go?

Growing up, I never camped. I actually thought camping was more of an American legend that hardly existed anymore (kind of like cowboys lol). But my husband opened my eyes to very real existence of camping, and believe it or not I enjoyed it. But notice the past tense there because this last trip left us realizing things may be a changing. We should actually still be there as I'm writing this, but we are on the couch with the TV on instead. That mostly has to do with the cold rain forecast for tonight, but these issues didn't help our cause:

 
• Our site was a good quarter-mile away from the nearest bathroom... keep in mind we have a newly potty trained girl and a 6-month prego in the group! 
• The site was laid over a rock foundation which Doug had to put tiny spikes into for the tent... let's just say there was a variety of mumbling profanities filling the forest for a while.
• The temp got down under 40 degrees at night and my husband (who likes to sleep in as little as possible and didn't let this trip stop him) was curled around my big belly (in the fetal position himself)  clinging to me for survival the entire night.
• Our morning breakfast made on a propane, tabletop stove consisted of "pancakes tar tar".
• The wood we bought (which was enough for the 3 day trip we planned) was wet, enough to be growing moss! Needless to say, we had more of a lovely smoke cloud than a cozy fire.
• Romantic, peaceful time for mommy and daddy did not exist anymore because staying put and napping in a tent without a caged-in bed was practically laughable for our not-so-little girl now. 
• And to top it off just perfectly... right as the car was almost packed and we calmly decided to leave a little early to beat the rain, I was forced to wash my hands and realized I left my wedding rings in a tiny, mesh pocket in the now completely broken-down, put away, and packed up tent. My options were to tell my hubby to unpack the tent again and just accept the freak out that would come of it or go a month or two pretending I'm single.. guess which one my husband picked for me. Haha

Honestly, it was a little discouraging that our perfected trips filled with quiet love, teamwork, and relaxation might be suspended for awhile. But I reminded myself and my hubby that we could have those days back eventually, we just gotta wait twenty some odd years. <3

Biggest Loser for Believers

I have a secret ritual to confess to that I have done every Tuesday night for over 5 years... I intently watch the Biggest Loser. My husband and my college roommates will tell you this usually involves me eating simultaneously. I guess something about watching people workout makes me want to get down with some food. As hungry as the show makes me, it's also undeniably inspirational.

These are people who have allowed themselves to be crippled, in the dark, and practically hopeless. Through miraculous transformation they are able to dance with a newfound hope that radiates throughout their bodies.

As a believer, the Biggest Loser reminds me of two truths:  

complete transformation is possible and your body is a temple. 

• "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." -Philippians 3:19  

 Contestants on the Biggest Loser have allowed their god to be their stomach and have landed in a shameful pit of destruction.  And it is so easy for anyone to get here! Maybe not necessarily with food, but with all sorts of earthly things that we obsess over (alcohol, money, drugs, sex, power, etc.) Only through Christ and His power in us can control over these things be accomplished and true transformation of our "lowly bodies"  occur.

• "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received  from God? You are not your own, you were bought at price. Therefore, honor God with you body." -1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

While Paul precedes this verse in reference to sexuality, the bottom line is your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit! How amazing is that?? And clearly the greatest way to dishonor your temple is to treat it like junk. Ignoring your body or feeding it with constant crap are certainly ways you can disrespect the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord lives in your body, don't you want it to be pleasing to him?

In the end, my obsession with weigh-ins, Bob & Jillian, challenges, and the like isn't as terrible as my husband's groaning each Tuesday implies. While I may enjoy some ice cream while viewing, The Biggest Loser does remind me of my own personal transformation and the sacredness of my temple.

Easter is...

I decided to take Baileigh to have breakfast with the "Easter Bunny" this morning, but before we went I attempted to explain to my sponge-minded daughter  that Easter isn't actually about a big rabbit at all. So with the help of an entertaining Veggie Tales movie we watched in our pjs this morning, I told her that Easter is about Jesus and God's love; the candy-filled eggs and the like are just a fun way to celebrate. 

She seemed to get it for a bit, and then got wrapped up in the show which was about a girl who wants to put on a spectacular easter musical featuring a giant robot bunny and an American Idol star in order to impress and inspire people. By the end, she is able to learn for herself how to truly serve people and what Easter is really about. It was a great little movie ending in a gospel tune that had Baileigh and I up dancing and clapping.

When the movie was over I turned to her and said, "So, Easter is really about....?" 

"ROBOT BUNNIES!"  

she said proudly with her arms thrown up in the air. 

Oh, well. Breakfast was good and I still have a few more weeks left I guess. :)

Cutting Weight vs. Putting Some On

So my husband is a wrestler... not Stone Cold Steve Austin style, but a real, full-time freestyle wrestler. The U.S. Open kicks off in Cleveland tomorrow. This is an awesome opportunity for my husband and I am so incredibly proud of his hard work, but with wrestling comes weight cutting.

Now I grew up in a wrestling family. I watched my brother wrestle from age 6 into high school, my dad and his brother both wrestled, and now my husband is at the highest competing level of the sport. I'm no stranger to it and I enjoy it. I even sympathize, schedule accordingly, and walk around on eggshells during competition weeks because my husband usually has to drop anywhere from 15 to 25 lbs. Any other time this is all fine for me ... BUT NOT WHEN I'M PREGNANT!

Before his last competition I was dying for a cookie or just something sweet, but we keep those temptations out of the house when its weight cutting time. So I gently told him I was craving something sweet and would go get it on my own and not eat it in front of him if he would just watch our daughter for a bit. He agreed and I thought to myself what a sweet, understanding, dehydrated husband I have ! <3

So I went to the grocery store bakery and found something beyond my greatest expectations... a soft chocolate chip cookie practically the size of my hand covered in vanilla frosting with sprinkles! Jackpot. The only downside was you could only buy them in packages of five... but I excitedly bought them anyway and retreated to my car where I downed one in the parking lot ( which btw can really make you feel like you have issues, but at least I can blame them on my husband).  So after getting back home I wiped off the crumbs from my jacket and tucked the rest of the package into the pantry. Well wouldn't you know, seconds later my husband spots them with his hawk eyes or hound nose or something and bursts into a fit.

"What is this?? You brought them into the house?!? There's like five of them here! You can't be bringing in five freakin cookies like this!"

"But babe, I said I wouldn't eat them in front of you and I'd get them myself. That was the deal," I said calmly.

"Frosting???? They have frosting!?! Well, now I'm gonna have to have one!" he yelled with sincerity.

Thankfully we all compromised by splitting one between him and my daughter, while I hide the package somewhere else.

But now it's a competition week again... and my husband is at "work" at 8 pm relieving himself of some lbs. Before he left I asked very nicely, "Would you be mad if I asked you to bring back some Rita's?" After all, I had to stay home with our daughter who is in bed and thought I'd give my craving a try.

Let's just say it ended with a bunch of question marks and exclamation points again. But before he walked out the door, I got the last word...

"I'm pregnant with your child, and you're just hungry!!"  

(By the way, I am so dead when he finally gets home tonight 

and reads this. I love you, babe!)

Potty Talk

Today I caught my almost 3-year-old daughter trying to straddle the toilet  (facing the tank). When I asked my very independent daughter what on earth she was doing she simply said,  

"I do like Daddy does."

So then I generally explained that only boys stand up and girls sit down and thats why we have separate bathrooms because we go potty differently (that's the best that came to me). While saying this, I couldn't help but remember my middle school health teacher who made us go around the classroom, one student at a time, and say "penis" and "vagina" out loud without giggling. Of course, it was far from successful. I still had a hard time just typing them lol. But then she frankly explained to us young, recently pupertized kids  "that's what they are called, get used to it, and be ready to tell your kids those two words the first time they ask".

Well as of now my daughter has a "pish-pish" and our on-the-way son will probably have a "wee wee". Maybe it's just me, but my daughter asks a lot of questions and shares her findings with the world, so I really don't think there is much need to go into anymore detail than "girls sit down, you're a girl, now sit down!" I'll leave the real words to be learned in health class.  :)

God KNOWS You

"Jesus Loves You" is a phrase popularized by bumper stickers, songs, t-shirts and the like. Another poster-worthy slogan is from John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..."

And while this is so very true, it's important to realize that He doesn't just love you with a general, overlying kind of love. He loves the "the world", but He loves it person by person by person (and I could keep going with that approximately 6.8 billion times). And because His love is individual, it comes with intimacy. Not just for you to have with the Creator of the Universe, but for Him with you as well.

How awesome is it that God makes it perfectly clear that he knows who we are? How much easier is it to have a relationship with someone who knows everything about you versus a stranger? God says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..." (Jeremiah 1:5)

Go ahead and grab a thesaurus and look up the word KNOW. According to Websters, if God "knows" you, then these things are also true:

• God appreciates you.
• God comprehends what you are going through.
• God distinguishes you from everyone else.
• God grasps who you really are.
• God notices you!

All of these synonyms for the word know just blow my mind because it shows exactly how God loves "the world " and that is very, very personally.

Even if you don't know God right now, thank Him for taking the time to KNOW YOU. After all, relationships can only happen if someone does the initiating ( for example, my now husband decided to message me on Facebook one day LOL). But you can be glad that the awkard "get to know you"  phase has already been done for you!

Galatians 4:9 says "Now that you know God - or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to your previous ways?" Knowing that God really knows you should be enough to blow you away and change your life. It's a great place to start and an amazing thing to be reminded of.

Google and I Celebrate Ice Cream Sundaes

As Google has so cutely displayed, today is the 119th Anniversary of the Ice Cream Sundae. The most recognized story goes something like this.... In Ithaca, NY on Sunday, April 3, 1892 a local reverend visited a pharmacy after services and ordered some plain old vanilla ice cream. The owner decided to make the dish a little special for the reverend and added some syrup and cherries on top.

THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED!!!

The reverend then decided to name the specialty after the Lord's day that it was invented on and so he pronounced it  to be a "Cherry Sunday". So on this lovely Sunday 119 years later, I plan to celebrate by going to church (in a different college town however) and then ordering a mint chocolate chip hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top (my beloved usual).

Happy Sunday and happy sundaes!!!

Do I have to...

I just broke through the half-way point of my second pregnancy - woo hoo!! We are expecting a little boy this summer and have an almost 3 year old daughter.

With my first pregnancy I taught group fitness classes right through my third trimester and I plan on doing the same this time around. At least this way I'm forced to show up at the gym on time and move around a bit. When I get there on my own, however, it becomes quite tempting to stroll on the treadmill at a lovely 2.6 while watching Rachael Ray for barely 20 minutes and then calling it a day. But after gaining nearly 75 lbs with my first bundle of joy (credited to my love of hot fudge sundaes and my complete loss of self-control for nine months), I am constantly reminding myself that exercising, not faking it, is best for me AND my baby.


Check out my article on what you CAN, CAN'T, SHOULD, & SHOULDN'T do at the gym when you're expecting.