I Might Move for Food...

Yesterday was so much fun with Rebecca here.

This was her first time at Guitar Hero...I love playing with beginners, it's the only time I feel like I have any skill.

Things I learned about her:

• She never wants to get married or have children. (She decided this before ever leaving Taiwan...I swear it wasn't made after spending a day at our house ;)


• I told her I won't be surprised when I get a wedding invitation and then baby announcement someday.


• She loves to talk.


• I listened to some teenage Taiwanese music, and it was good, even though I couldn't understand any of it.


• She wishes my feet were smaller so she could borrow my shoes.


• Taiwanese children are all naughty. HA! Her words, not mine.


• She is beautiful, inside and out...and today I'm praying that God gives her a glimpse of that today.


• She can cook like none other.

Rebecca preparing, it's a process...I should have paid better attention...

The finished product. Pepper steak with green peppers, cabbage fried with bacon (my kids ate a TON of this...CABBAGE?!?, rice with pork sausage in soy sauce (this was one of my favs), fried eggs with green onion (again, my picky kids couldn't get enough of it) and then the chicken...oh the chicken. She marinated it with garlic and ginger root, green onions and soy sauce and then fried it in oil. Delish.

My kids tried everything, and I seriously could not believe how much they ate and the fact that they liked all of it!

I'm no idiot, I'm pretty sure the fact that Rebecca made it and not me helped them think it could be nothing but delicious.

Having Rebecca here was SO much fun! Thank you Rebecca!

Julie (our exchange student who will be coming August 1st) let me know that she should probably be kept out of the kitchen. She's so sweet, I think she thought I'd be disappointed...but really, it makes me happy because then she's likely to be pleased with my one-dish wonders ;)

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I Have a Good Excuse...

We're on Spring Break here...and the weather has been pretty beautiful...blogging is just gonna have to wait till all the fun is over :)

Today, Rebecca, the exchange student from Taiwan is coming over for the day and then cooking us authentic Taiwanese tonight!  YUM!

I'll have pictures and stories for you tomorrow.  I'm also gonna interview her on her thoughts on how exciting it was to hang out with a stay at home mom and her three boys ;)  Good times.

Until then, I have a list of cleaning and grocery shopping and other wild and crazy things that moms do on spring break.  

 

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Speaking To Me...

One of the things that sticks out the most from Ben's seminary days is the Greek flash cards.  I forget how many years of Greek and Hebrew he was required to take...I'm pretty sure I've blocked it out ;)  Anyways, I vividly remember sitting in our first 1 bedroom apartment holding the flashcards while he rattled off what the word was...we were newlyweds...I think as time and two babies came along I was less helpful in the studying department.

I understood the purpose behind learning the Greek and Hebrew.  After all, it's the language that Scripture was first written, if we want to know what the context of a passage is,  or what certain words mean, going back to those original languages is essential...everything else is just someones interpretation of the original word.

I love that God chose those languages.  They're so completely descriptive.   I'm the type of girl who needs a very VERY understandable Bible version.  If the language is any different than what I'm used to speaking/hearing then I often miss what it's saying.   But often, everyday English is unable to be descriptive enough.  Sometimes, it misses the meaning.  

We have been doing the Beth Moore study Living Beyond Yourself.  This is my first Beth Moore study.  I was always a little apprehensive because everyone was so over the top about her that I was pretty sure she couldn't be as great as everyone said.  Wrong.  So wrong.  Her knowledge of Scripture, passion for glorifying God, and sheer humbleness, frankly...astound me.  

She knows His Word.  Often, I allow myself to just get "the gist" of a passage and call it good.   I found out quickly, that Beth is not gonna have any of that.  She digs and she digs and she takes you all over the Bible, weaving it all together.  And sometimes, she wears me out...in a good way.

This morning I was working on day 5 of Peace.  And something hit me so hard it caused me to weep...because I'd never seen it before, even though I've read or heard this passage a hundred times.  

The passage is John 18:1-11 and is the account of Jesus being arrested (fitting for Easter, no?)  I read through it first in my New Century Version and nothing stood out.  THEN, in the workbook as I was answering the questions I read what Beth had inserted.  It is part of the passage in the exact translation from Greek to English (capital letters are exactly as they appear)

 

(Jesus is talking to the soldiers)

John 18:6-8

Whom do you seek?  They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene.  Jesus said to them, I AM!  Then when He said to them I AM, they departed into the rear and fell to the ground.  Then again He asked, Whom do you seek?  And they said, Jesus the Nazarene.  Jesus answered, I told you that I AM.

Can you picture it?  60o armed soldiers came that day, to arrest Jesus.  And at the moment He said His name, who He was, the I AM, 600 soldiers fell back.    

I cry because hearing Him say His name this morning, through this Scripture spoke to me.   He is the I AM...He needs nothing added to it.  

As Easter approaches, I want to hold on so tightly to Him, to remember what He did on that cross, for me, and to look to today and tomorrow because each day He is the I AM.  The same, yesterday, today and forever.  

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It's a Love/Hate Thing...

It is finally nice outside here. Really nice. Finally! I'm actually able to remember why on earth I choose to live in this part of the country. It is days like today :)

The niceness outside has brought the sandbox back into my life. I have a love/hate relationship with the sandbox.

We have a big one out back. Ben's dad built it and each year he comes and dumps another truckload of sand in it, because *surprise* half the sand manages to disappear.

Guess where it disappears to...

Yep.

I love the sandbox, I really do. It occupies the boys for hours. And what is cuter than three little brothers screaming at each other over who just wrecked whose bridge?!? The problem is, the sand is never really dry. Which is exactly the way my boys prefer it. Apparently it needs a little water to make it fun. I've lost count of the times I've gone outside to see the hose sticking out of the sandbox...water filled to the brim.

Dry sand would be easy. Brushes right off. Wet sand...not so much.

WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO?!?! TELL ME! Because my mud room looks like THIS:

Don't ya just love the bike INSIDE. Nice.

Today I bought this at our local CVS in the "As see on TV" section. It better work. It better work like a miracle.

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It's How We Do Things...

Question: (In the form of a run-on sentence) Is clean laundry still considered clean if it sat on the couch for two days, while children sat on it like an extra cushion, was tossed on the floor and reassembled on the couch numerous times before finally making its way to the red chair where the dog then decided to make a cushy bed out of it?

Answer: Ab-so-lute-ly.

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You Asked For It...

Since I'm unable to shut up about my iPod and the wonder if itunes I've decided to give you the names of the 15 songs I've purchased from there.

I'm sure it will be life changing for you. *cough*

Also, pretend there's a little disclaimer here for my pastor husband. It says something like... the husband of this woman is in no way responsible for her music choices(no matter how ridiculous I think they may be), she is a grown woman of God and I allow her to exercise her free will that Christ has given her. Or something like that. Ben and I have completely different musical tastes. We have some common ground, but let's just say Donnie and Marie sang it best with she's a little bit country, and he's a little bit rock and roll...except we're reversed, and I'm not even sure if that's how that song goes....whatever.

Moving on.

This has got to be the most random list of songs ever purchased from itunes.

In random order: (I've linked to the song when I could, just so you can hear it if you haven't before...you'll have to go to itunes to get the real deal)

Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle (About my first love)

Free to be Me by Francesca Battistelli (new one for me, love her voice)

By Your Side by Tenth Ave North (Makes me weep, I swear it was written for me)

You're Beautiful (radio version) by James Blunt (I've loved this song forever, Ben makes fun of it all the time...he does quite the impersonation.)

Love Story by Taylor Swift (*sigh* the video is even better)

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynrd Skynard (classic)

Spiderwebs by No Doubt (for running)

Just a Girl by No Doubt (for running)

Sweet Escape (clean version) by Gwen Stefani (for running)

Circus by Britney Spears (I could run for miles to this song, it's catchy...but the video...very bad, it's sad that she has to be half naked to promote everything)

Real World by Matchbox Twenty (I LOVE this guys voice, it's for running too)

Ice Ice Baby By Vanilla Ice (we've discussed this already :)

I Want You to Want Me (Live) by Cheap Trick (I'm a child of teenage parents in the late 70's...this was my FAVORITE song growing up...I still love it!)

Take It On the Run by REO Speedwagon (same deal, I saw them in concert with my aunt and uncle when I was little...I thought it was the best thing ever...still do ;)

See...told you. I'm weird. Now it's your turn, tell me your craziest ipod song...I might want to get it :)

My friend Beth hosted a contest to pick a name for her new camera and I WON! Prize: $15 itunes card! YAY! I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat to find out my next 15 songs ;)

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This Ones For Julie...

I'm a nester. Not kidding. With each of my boys I think I had the nursery done by the time I was 5 months pregnant. I can't help myself, something inside of me needs it to be ready.

Apparently, I do not need to actually birth a child for this to happen. Remember the post about waiting to find out if Julie would actually get to be the one? Truth be told, I'd already been dreaming of what her room would look like.

Once it was a go, I couldn't wait to ask her what colors she liked (I do, after all, need her input :) She pretty much gave me free reign...I'm sure she'll learn to reign me in once she gets here ;)

Julie's room is actually the room we kicked moved Jake out of. He's now in with his brothers. It seems to be working just fine. By August they should all be totally adjusted ;)

I have some before and after pictures for you. Because I know ya'll like to see some home improvement pics.

The pictorial tour of the new room is for Julie. Turns out, that sending numerous pics as attachments in emails to Norway is S-l-o-w from my computer. So she gets to see her room at the same time you all do...so the commentary is for her, because I'm pretty sure ya'll aren't gonna care about the size of the closet...but a girl's got to know this sort of thing, am I right? Of course I am.

Let's begin.

Jake's room before: Please note the carpet. Yeah. And the broken blinds. And the remains of several jars of miscellaneous goo that he's smeared on the walls in the three years we've lived here. Lovely.

The Process begins...

And after: The carpet was installed THIS morning :) Ben is home with Strep throat...he still managed to assemble the bed for me. Good man.

The bed and new wood blinds. The carpet is tan...it looks like a funky color in this picture, but it is not. I promise. I ordered the pillowcases from Potter Barn Teen...I couldn't resist. They inspired the green for the bed and desk.

Julie, this is the view (from the bed) of the other half of the room. There will be a desk there that will be the same green as the bed frame. The mirror (from my mom :) will be hung up too along with a shelf thingy for you to put stuff in. The picture makes the walls look splotchy, but they're not :)

The closet is near the headboard of the bed. This is the left side view of it. There won't be little boys clothes hanging in it when you arrive ;)

Middle section of closet:

Right side view.

Alright, that's all I'm showing you...the completely finished product will have to be a surprise for when you FINALLY get here!

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