I Haven't Been Hiding

January. 

That was when I last wrote. 

It's been a whirlwind of a first quarter of a year. 

I got the flu on January 8, developed bronchitis two weeks after onset of the flu, somehow planned and pulled off our third annual Couple's Night dinner at church on February 12, then left for New York City the next day with my Valentine, Ben. 

I turned 30 during an ice storm on February 18. 

We got an offer on our house in early March and put in an offer on a house a week later. 

We had a church conference on March 13-14, then another PEP Moms meeting on March 20. We made the adorable succulent mason jars: 

Ben and I have also been taking ballroom dancing on Thursday nights for the last six weeks. It has been so much fun!

I was able to go out on a Mom's Day Out with my sister and friend, Sarah to see Cinderella and get coffee. It was so much fun!

This month, I started getting sick again, and the day before Easter, my eardrum ruptured! I'm on the mend now, and still managed to have an enjoyable Easter Sunday despite being in pain. There is not a more joyous day in my Christian life than the Sunday that we celebrate Jesus's resurrection!

This week, we got to go to the aquarium with friends and a playday with Nana. 

And now the packing has begun. My house is full of boxes- some already packed, but most are empty at the moment. I have realized something about myself that I did not know before: I do not like the smell of cardboard! 

Here's my living room:

It's been a fun first quarter of 2015, but I hope to be more intentional about personal reflection and spiritual introspection in the rest of the year. I need a good book to read that will help me grow. I'm thinking about re-reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. 

I may not write again until we get settled in the new house, but I'd like to share a new recipe that I've been working on.

Vegan Peanut Butter (PB2) Banana Walnut Muffins

2-3 ripe bananas

1/2 unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup agave nectar

2 cups flour (I prefer whole wheat pastry flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp PB2

1/4-1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350°. 

Grease a six muffin tin.

Combine wet ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Dump dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients, and combine gently without over-stirring. 

Fill each tin almost full. (These are BIG muffins!)

Bake 15-20 minutes.  

Thanks for stopping by and checking in. I promise to try and be more regular in posting. 

D.C. Re-cap

We were in D.C. all weekend with the college kids from our church. As I'm typing, we are in the van driving back home right now. :) Here's a photo of Ben and me with my sister and her husband who is the college pastor (that's how we got asked to help on the trip).

We had a really great time getting to know everyone. We did an "amazing race" on Saturday morning, and my team won! 

Team 1 rocked!

We never took any pics, but Beth (my sis) and I cooked dinner for the whole group on Saturday and Sunday nights. There were 20 people including us. That was fun (and hard!). Ben and I got to do the shopping for Sunday night at a VERY busy Whole Foods. It was pretty much a nuthouse, and I almost cried once because I couldn't find soft tortillas... But it was fun to see all their awesome food since I never get to shop there at home. 

We took along some "spiritual surveys" and encouraged everyone on the trip to approach at least one person to ask them the questions. We shared about our responses after dinner on the last night, and it was amazing. I was so proud of how bold the students were and also how they conveyed the love of Jesus in how they responded to some of the answers that they were given. It was made very clear to all of us through the surveys that there is so much confusion in the world about who Jesus is. We can put ourselves in such a bubble sometimes that we take Jesus and our knowledge of him for granted. I am fairly certain that a girl that my sister and I talked to had never even heard someone pray! But through Beth praying and calling out the different names for God/Jesus, she was able to get a glimpse of the Gospel, which hopefully was planted in her heart and will sprout when the time is right. Please pray for her heart to be opened to the reality of a real, true, loving God. Her name was Genna.

I am so glad that Ben and I got to be a part of this trip! We were encouraged; we learned through Jared's teachings based on Matthew 18; we made lots of new friends!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Friday Favorites (2/21)

Hey, hey! It's Friday! I love weekends, don't you? Since Ben works fairly long hours Monday through Friday, we relish our time together from the time he walks in the door on Friday evening until he leaves Monday morning. 

Here are some of my favorite happenings from this week:

Favorite moment: 

Going out to dinner at El Paso for my birthday with Ben and the kids. I had the tacos de carne asada. Sooo yummy!

Favorite read:

Teachings of Jesus in Matthew on marriage and divorce. 

Favorite Workout:

I've been kinda lazy this week, but I did get 3 miles in at the gym yesterday and felt great. 

Kid-favorite:

Playing outside ALL afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! The weather has been incredible! Rush is in heaven- he's been going shirtless! 

Favorite meal:

Ham and Swiss croissant casserole (NOT healthy) with orange poppyseed spinach salad. 

Favorite blog reads:

Healthy Living: 

Brittany's post on shopping at Trader Joe's. 

Running: 

Jen's post on deciding to run a marathon 6 months post-partum. 

Parenting: 

The MOB Society's post on How Not to Raise a Godly Man (can't wait to read the free e-book). 

Faith:

Becky's post on God's provision. 

I shared earlier this week that we are going for a family hike tomorrow, and I am super excited! Hiking is possibly my favorite thing to do with Ben.

Photo from 2011- same trail that we're hiking tomorrow

Because of our plans tomorrow, I am planning to do my long run late this afternoon into this evening. I do not typically have good results when I run late in the day, but this is really my only opportunity to get it in. The marathon is just 5 weeks away!

Ben is teaching on the importance of community within the church this Sunday. I'm so proud of how is he growing as a leader/teacher. I'm learning that our spiritual gifts may not be what we would expect based on our natural personalities (post on this coming soon).

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Do you get excited for weekends?

What's your favorite family activity?

Sweet Somethings

The last few days have been really fun. We've been celebrating Valentine's Day since Friday, and started my birthday celebrations yesterday. Here's a quick re-cap:

Friday night dinner at home with my three favorite valentines. We had quiche, and I pulled out the homemade cheesecake after the kids went to bed.

Ben and I watched Pride and Prejudice. 

Saturday morning we went to the gym, and I did not do my 16 miles. I only did 8. Oh well! 

We had our close friends, Chris and Buck and their kids over for dinner and I made my mom's spinach lasagna recipe and a new recipe for cauliflower soup. It was good! Chris (my best friend and running partner) made a chocolate cake covered in strawberries for dessert. It was yummy! I made some of my brother-in-law's decaf to go with it. Yay for fresh-roasted coffee!

Sunday afternoon was when Ben had made his secret plans for our Valentine's Day. After church, his parents took our kids and we went to the Melting Pot with my sister and her husband and their newborn baby girl. We had a great time. The conversations were goofy, serious, Biblical, and fulfilling. After evening church, we put the kids to bed and I turned on the TV to watch the Olympics. I wasn't into what was on, so I flipped it over to PBS because I knew Downton Abbey was on. We have been HUGE fans of the show in the past three seasons, but we missed the first episode this season (no, we don't have DVR, nor do we have cable or satellite), so we haven't been watching it. I had just changed the channel to PBS and Ben walked in to the room. I said, "I can't take it anymore! I have to watch it even though we haven't seen any other episodes!" Ben said, let's go in the bedroom to watch it. I reminded him that we do not have any TV watching capabilities in our room except DVDs. But he persisted, and I started to get the hint. I suddenly heard the theme song playing in the bedroom, and then I knew- he had bought season 4! Yay for husbands who like Downton!!! He also gave me a sweet card and an amazing Lindt dark chocolate-cranberry-almond bar. Such a great ending to a sweet day! I love that Ben Mills so much!

Yesterday was my birthday. Ben and the kids and I went out for Mexican food last night so I had the night off from cooking and cleaning! When we got home Ben handed me a small package and some papers. I opened the papers first, and I saw that they were downloads of the soundtracks to Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music. The package was the DVD of the original TV airing of Mary Martin's Peter Pan!!! It was my childhood favorite, and Ben has been wanting to get it for me for years! I can't believe I finally own it! So sweet of him!

We are going out for breakfast with all of family to celebrate my birthday on Saturday morning, then going for a family hike. The weather is supposed to be perfect! I am really excited about being in the mountains!

Speaking of our families, I have been reflecting on how blessed Ben and I are to both have parents with marriages still in tact. I'm so grateful for this heritage. 

So much in my Bible studying lately has been about marriage. I definitely believe that when coincidences happen, they are not just that- it is something God is trying to get my attention on!

In BSF, we are in Matthew 19; and I shared that Ben's lesson last week in Sunday morning Bible study was on our marriage to Christ and how earthly marriage is meant to be a reflection of it. A couple of things have really struck a chord with me:

• How serious God is about how much he hates divorce.
• How our union with Christ is so much more important than anything else, even our earthly marriages. 
• How marriage is not just something you do once. It's something you choose to do every day. 

I would love for any of you to share any insight or Biblical/spiritual knowledge that you have on these points. 

I hope you're all having a great week!

I want to know:

What's your favorite musical?

What was your favorite childhood movie?

Fabric-covered foam balls

Several months ago, I had pinned a photo of some really cute fabric-covered balls. But alas, the photo was just that- a photo. It had no instructions. But I thought, how hard can that really be?!

I had some fabric scraps from some pillow covers that I made a few years ago, and I had an empty basket that I had stumbled upon in an antique store. I decided to try making them, so I went to my craft store to find some foam balls- got 'em. I picked up two grapevine balls as well for a little more texture. I was ready to craft!

Here's what you need:

desired number of foam balls (I purchased 6. Yes, I still have one more to make. :))
2 or 3 colorful, coordinating fabrics
scissors
craft glue
measuring tape

Measure around your ball. (I think mine were about 7" circumference.)
Cut strips of fabric about 1" thick (they do not have to be exact) and slightly longer than your circumference measurement. (It took around 12 strips of fabric to cover.)

To attach the fabric to the balls, there are a couple of different ways you could do it. Here's what I did: using squeezable craft glue, I dispensed the glue onto the individual fabric strips in a curvy pattern, thinly, then wrapped the fabric around the ball one strip at a time.

You could probably put craft glue all over the ball and then wrap the strips around.

Little tidbit: try not to start each strip at the same point or the ends of your fabric will be too obvious.

Let them dry completely before putting in your display container. And, voila!

You could totally do this as a seasonal decoration using themed fabrics or colors of whatever season you choose.

Fun & easy!

Family Weekly Calendar

I recently created a weekly calendar for our family to help keep me more organized. It's a standard 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. I have a space at the top for our weekly memory verse, and seven columns each with three rows: one for activities & appointments, one for to-do's, and one for meal planning. I keep it on my refrigerator next to a running grocery list. I hope to create a grocery list to match my calendar as well. Just click on this picture to see the larger version. If you would like to use this calendar, leave a comment, and I will email you the Publisher file so that you can make it yours!

I have a couple other craft/DIY projects that I hope to share with you soon. Enjoy!

My Guy

Ben was out of town most of last week. I don't like when he is gone, but it gave me the chance to make his homemade Father's Day gift without the risk of him seeing it. He loved it!

I am so thankful that Ben is the father of my children. Knowing that I never have to worry about what examples he is setting for them is such a comfort & blessing. May I take a moment to brag? I could list a million things that Ben does for our children that I know will have a positive eternal impact, but here are a few of my favorites:

He prays with them and for them, and now Rush is starting to pray too.
He sings Bible songs with them. Rush knows the books of the Bible because they enjoy singing together so much!
He gives them hugs and kisses freely.
He loves me in front of them so that Rush will know his role and Lottie will know what to look for.

In case you can't tell, I am so proud of my husband. We celebrated our 7th anniversary on Sunday. Without going into too much detail, I will simply say this has been the hardest year, but the BEST year! God has changed our view of what life is really about and it has altered our relationship with Him and with each other. Every day we are learning how to better love each other; how to encourage each other, how to lovingly suggest changes, how to talk about our thoughts, feelings & weaknesses. Our marriage had always been "good," and we thought we were living the "right" way, but here's what Oswald Chambers says about settling for "good and right" in life:

"Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best."

Here's a picture from our wedding:

I want to live my BEST for the Lord and for my husband! I can't do it in my own strength. But if I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit (achieved through study, prayer, repentance, etc.) and my husband is too, then together, we will strengthen each other as individuals and become stronger as a couple, as we strive to do our BEST for His glory.

This leads me to share the verse that I am memorizing this week:

"The end of all things is near.  Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:7-8 

On a much less serious note:
We had our first PEP Moms steering committee meeting last week. Well, it was our first with our new committee and me as the director (yikes!).  I prayed a lot before the meeting that things would go well; that our committee would be completed (we had a couple of vacancies), that the conversation would go smoothly, and that we could leave feeling like we got something accomplished. The meeting went very well; it was basically a brainstorming session on speakers and topics for our upcoming year (September-April) and ideas for summer activities and outings.


Some of the summer activities include playdates at our church playground, free movie day at the theater, Safety City in Knoxville, and a few other possibilities. We try to do things that are free/low-cost and group-friendly. Do you have any ideas for us?

Good Company & Week in a Nutshell, plus 2 recipes!

This past week has been a blur! Ben was out of town Monday night for work and Tuesday we found out that we would possibly have some visitors from the College at Southeastern. I taught a yoga class on Wednesday morning, and Thursday we had our weekly playgroup at the park (more on playgroups in a another post). We also played outside with the neighbors in most all of our free-time each day. Dinner was easy this week since I participated in my first freezer group swap last Friday. Groceries were just the staples; so managing the Restaurant Mills was a breeze.


So, the visitors did come on Thursday night. It was a group of four girls (3 students & 1 wife of a seminary student plus their baby girl) from the college/Open Door Baptist Church in Raleigh, where my sister and brother-in-law are in ministry. The girls were in town to support a friend who is from our area whose dad passed away earlier in the week. I was blessed watching them make the sacrifice to travel quite a long way on their first day of summer vacation to be here for a sister-in-Christ. They really just wanted to "love on" their friend- and they did. I was also impressed by how seriously these girls took the responsibility of taking care of fellow believers. I am sure that it was a blessing to this girl to know how much she is cared for by her friends.


This got me thinking about how much we need each other as a community. Coincidentally (I know there are no coincidences), I read the chapter in "How People Change" (check out my reading list on the homepage) about community this week. The authors write about how we avoid meaningful relationships because they require a lot of work; that many Christians try to work through life alone, but that is not what God has intended for us. Of course, our individual relationships with Christ are of utmost importance, but when we are in CLOSE community with fellow believers, we are singularly sharpened. James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective." "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another:" Proverbs 27:17 is another reminder from the Bible of how much we need each other.


This subject of community has been on my mind since last fall. It started when I had a conversation with my sister about how tight they are with their "Care Group." I want to study more about community within the church body. It is clear that God is putting the subject at my fingertips: even my pastor's sermon was on the importance fellowship (with Christ & with others) this Sunday! (The sermon should be up sometime this week, but you can check out some others in the meantime!) I hope to post more soon about my thoughts on community.

Our Weekend!
It seems like our weekends have been so busy lately with the marathon in Nashville & Ben's 30th birthday then Mother's Day. So I had really been looking forward to this weekend since our only plan was to go to the National Park to Elkmont Campground on Saturday for lunch with some great friends.


Friday evening we ended up going on a DATE!!! The BBQ & Bluegrass event was happening, so we went and walked around downtown, got some BBQ, a funnel cake & homemade strawberry ice cream (I need to run a marathon). It was nice to have some time out without the kids. It seems our only alone time lately is in our living room after both kids are in bed. But I'll take that over nothing!

The picnic at Elkmont was awesome! I was nervous about the kids not getting naps, but it all worked out fine. The weather was perfect; the fellowship was great and so was the food!

The kids fell asleep in the car on the way back, and we took the scenic route home- such a pretty drive! Ben mowed the yard when we got back home while I got the kids ready for bed. Once we got the kids to bed we ate our pizza and watched "Top Gun" via Netflix! I hadn't seen that movie in years, and it still cracks me up! It was a fun date-at-home. I also made one of our date-at-home staples: homemade chocolate chip cookies.

1 stick of butter @ room temperature, 3/8 cup packed dark brown sugar, 3/8 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 large egg, 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4-1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional), 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix butter, sugars, vanilla & egg with mixer or wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (do not over mix). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Using a teaspoon sized regular spoon, scoop out 12 heaping spoonful portions onto baking sheet. This will use about half of the cookie dough so you can refrigerate the rest for later. Bake for about 8 minutes. Let stand on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before you gobble them up with a cold glass of milk!

That reminds me: since supper was so easy this week, I got to make one of Ben's favorite treats on Friday: homemade banana bread.

1 stick of butter (I always bake with unsalted, but salted would be fine), 2 ripe bananas, 1 tsp. vanilla, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour (self rising can be used; eliminate the baking powder & salt), 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (almonds or pecans would work too) (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter & mash bananas & vanilla into the butter. Add the sugar and eggs, mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt & nuts. Do not over stir! Pour into greased loaf pan; bake for 40-45 minutes. You may need to put the pan close to the top rack of the oven the 15 minutes or so. Just check it!

We made it to church on time for Bible Study for the first time in a while! I think it was a relief for Ben since he is always rushing off to help teach in 3rd grade. Church was great, as always, and we came home after the service was over- something we rarely do. It was nice to be home for the afternoon on a Sunday. I TOOK A NAP! And on that note, I think I'll stop rambling...

Any of you have a great small group that you love? Please share!

Love to you all who have taken the time to catch up with our family!

Baby Blog- Keeping my heart in the right place... plus a few of myfavorite things!

So, Ben and I now have 2 children: Rush is 2 1/2 and Lottie is 4 months today. It has been very interesting to see the differences in the two babies; particularly in how they find their "routine." Rush was a very easy baby as far as predictability went. He is still a very predictable toddler; from when he will eat to when he will "go" to when he will fall asleep. Lottie, on the other hand, has her own ideas about things. You can't really know how long she will sleep at night (varies from 8-11 hours), how long she will feed (still only breastfeeding; solids soon!), or when she will nap (if she does at all)! Needless to say, it has been a challenge for me. I thought all babies would go by the book like Rush did.

 "On Becoming Babywise" is a widely known book that I read before Rush was born and reviewed many times during the first year of his life. The general idea of the book is to establish a daytime routine of feeding time, awake time, nap time so that nighttime sleep is encouraged. Dr. Ezzo has done years of research and has found that this daytime pattern helps babies sleep better at night. I believe it, because everyone that I know that has followed his suggestions has their baby sleeping through the night fairly early on. I do not do everything exactly as Dr. Ezzo suggests, but I am a firm believer in the eat-wake-sleep routine.

Back to Lottie... this little gal came into our world as a sleeping beauty. She slept for the first two weeks of her life! She had some nighttime fussiness like a lot of newborns, but nothing too major. Suddenly, at about 7 weeks she started having trouble napping. I could get her to fall asleep in my arms, but then she would wake up screaming a few minutes after I put her in her bassinet or crib. To make a LONG story short, I decided one day to see what would happen if I put her on her tummy (gasp!). She took three 1 1/2-2 hour naps that first day! HALLELUJAH! She hasn't been diagnosed, but I think she has "silent reflux."

There are still days when she doesn't nap well, but I have had to just go with it. I could write an entire post on how her lack of napping affected me. Boy, did I let my heart get in the wrong place those days. I was so stressed out, unproductive, mean to Rush and exhausted. One day, during a frantic phone call to Ben {I don't know why I try to make him my holy spirit sometimes, but that's a whole entire other post!} he said, "You just have to remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18." I knew that verse; it was one we had memorized together. I started bawling. First, because he called me out and I was ashamed, and second, because I was so thankful that God has blessed me with such an amazing husband. I sometimes still get cranky and lose my temper when Rush won't stay in his bed or when Lottie won't stay asleep without me holding her. But I try to make that verse my mantra:"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

Do any of you have circumstances that arise that turn your heart away from Jesus's? How do you turn it back to the right place?

Some of my favorite baby products:
Moby Wrap
Schwinn Turismo Double Jogger
BumGenius! Cloth Diapers
Sophie the giraffe
"God Made Me" DVD (and others)

Some of my favorite Mommy Products:
Glamourmom nursing camisole
Motherhood Sleep Bra (I wear it all the time, not just for sleeping)