for me

There are a lot of things in life that we do for others. Indeed, we were created to serve. As my mother fondly tells me (often), "the world does not revolve around you." It's true.

However, you can get so caught up in helping others and worrying about other things that in the midst of the chaos, you get lost.

While I am honored that people read my blog, that's not why I created it. I write for me. I write because it soothes my soul. I write because I like seeing the page fill up with words as the thoughts empty out of my head. I write because I want to chronicle my journey in life. I write because I want to record the people and events that have shaped me into the woman that I am. I write for me.

WFMW: No brown apples

We've all seen it. The apple that gets cut into slices and placed on a plate as a snack or an apple that gets chopped up and thrown in a fruit salad. Not nice fresh looking apples. I'm talking about those gross apples tha have turned brown. It has something to do with the apple flesh being exposed to air, it's sort of like a fruits version of getting rusty.

My mom always assured me that they still tasted just fine.

uh huh.

I was buying that one.

For the longest time I didn't know there was a way to prevent apples from turning brown. But now I do, so I'm going to share my nifty little trick.

It's extremly easy. All you need is a large bowl, water, salt, and, of course, your apples.

Take your bowl (big enough to contain all of your apple slices) and sprinkle the bottom with salt. It's not an exact science. Guestimate.

Fill the bowl with warm water, disolving the salt. Cut up your apples and throw them in the bowl. Once your done cutting and they've all been bathed in salty water, rinse and enjoy! No more yucky brown apples! I've also heard that this works for potatos, but have never actually tried myself.

For more Works for me Wednesday tips visit www.wearethatfamily.com !

the blessings of a blackout

It is amazing how much we take for granted.



Electricity, for example. How often do we walk in a room, flip a switch, and actually think about how wonderful it is that when we do that the room is illuminated. Or, when you open the door to the refirdogrator or freezer, do you contemplate how it is that that massive block remains cold?



My family experienced a blackout from noon today till about eleven o'clock tonight.



I felt like I was amish. (And that's a good thing, just in case you're wondering)



We had candles lit all over the house and after my parents went to bed all three of us kids piled into the livring room and were going to sleep on the couches and floor. Just because we could. Because there were no distractions. No computers *cough*, no tv, no xbox, no phones even because all of our phones have to be plugged in and since they had been unplugged for so long they were losing charge. Just us. Entertainign each other. And it was fabulous. We were all laying in our designated spots, just talking and laughing and chatting.



Then *snaps finger*, just like that, the spell is broken. The lights get turned on and reality sets in. The phone rings. One brother is on the phone with his girlfriend. I turn on my computer. The other is sitting on the couch. All of us in one room. All of us in our own little worlds. Sad. Really, really sad.

So, while a blackout may be annoying for days on end, it's actually a nice break for an evening. I really think the amish have something going for them. I wish they blogged.

Then again, I guess that would defeat the whole purpose, now wouldn't it.

The Perils of Working in Special Education

Working in Special Ed can be dangerous. Depending on the age of your kids and the range of their disabilities you could get seriously hurt. When working with Special Ed you can expect to experience at least one of the following, if not more;

hitting
kicking
head butting
scratching
elbowing
kneeing
biting
pinching
objects being thrown at you
hair pulled
objects stabbed into you

I have worked in a classroom setting (being paid) for less than one year. In that time I have been: kicked, hit, scratched, and head butted.

One of the aides in the classroom last year got a stapler thrown at her head. I kid you not. A stapler. By a six year old. One of the aides in the room next door has had a pencil stabbed into her. Yeah...this is the stuff you can't even make up.

This year at the school that I am working at we seem to have quite a few aggressive kids. None of them are in my room (thank you Jesus!) but we've had several of the aides bitten (and more) in one class. In another class they had to send a child home today because not only has he attacked the aides and teacher, but also several students.

When I first started out as an aide I would come home and tell my mom stories. She told me that I should ask for hazard pay. I'm just REALLY glad no one has bitten me yet. I think I can endure most of the other stuff...but no, I don't do biting.

Working with special education can be dangerous, and draining. That is just one side of the coin though. It can also be rewarding, and pleasant, and fun. I've said it a thousand times, I'm sure I'll say it a thousand times more. I love my job. It can be perilous in another way too. You might fall in love with your kids. When you do that, because I believe that many people do, then you risk not only your physical body but your heart. You are sad when the kids you work with misbehave. Disappointed when they regress. You feel helpless when they cannot master something, and you don't know how to help them. Frustrated when they can do something, yet refuse to. Completely and totally thrilled when they do something by themselves. Proud when they master something that they struggled so much with. It's a dangerous thing, working with special education, your heart gets involved.

WFMW: Better World Books

I love to read. I hate spending money. I love to own books.

The solution? www.betterworldbooks.com They have a bargain bin where you can get FIVE books for only FIFTEEN dollars. HELLO! How awesome is that? AND, free shipping!

Not only is it a good price, but the money that they earn with book sales goes towards helping global literacy. They also donate a whole bunch of books to organizations. It's really neat, go online and check it out!

WILMM: out of his league

Why I love my man reason #3

Today at church the pastor was talking about how he was out of his wife's league. He then went on to ask a retorical question about how many other men were out of their league with their significant others.

My boyfriend raised his hand. Not so that the whole world could see, but far enough that I could.

If that isn't the most romantic thing you've ever heard I don't know what is!!!

:)

Miraculous

I was able to be apart of something absolutely miraculous today.

My girlfriend, Marlene, was pregnant with her second baby and had asked me if I would be willing to stay with her during her labor to encourage her. I said yes, and yesterday I got the call that she was on her way to the hospital because she was afraid she might be leaking amniotic fluid.

They had her in a room just to observe her and when she went for her ultrasound they thought that the baby would be nine pounds. My friend is not very tall, 5'1, 5'2, so the nurses called her doctor and her doctor was afraid she wouldn't be able to deliver naturally like she had wanted.

Marlene decided to induce so at 5:15pm on Thursday pitocin was started. We waited. And waited. And waited. It was sort of weird because Marlene, her boyfriend Thom, and I were waiting and talking and watching a movie and at one point it felt more like a sleepover than anything.

Marlene did so great. It was crazy sitting and talking to her and then having her stop mid sentence, grit her teeth, screw up her face, and then just like that, she was fine again. This happened over and over until it was about 3am. At that point Marlene wasn't worried so much about the pain but the fact that she was tired and didn't thinks he could sleep.

So, at 3am we called in the miracle worker, aka, the person that administered the epidural. At this point I was sitting on the couch in the room facing away from Marlene. I do not do needles in your spine. No thank you. And I'm really glad I didn't because Marlene was saying "ouch" more than she was when she having her contractions! The epidural started to kick in, although it only really worked on her left side.

As soon as she was comfy I laid down on my little plastic covered mat on the floor and Thom was on the couch and we all slept. The next morning the nurse laughed and told us that we were all sleeping quite soundly because she had come in to check on Marlene and changed her IV bag and stuff several times.

At around 8 in the morning Marlene started to complain about a lot of pain on the side that didn't get numbed. She called the nurse and we thought that she would just come in and up her dosage. The nurse decided to see how far dilated she was first and we were surprised to learn that she was at ten! And just as quickly as the nurse said she was at ten she told her to start pushing. So, push she did!

It took her 15.5 hours to get dilated to ten. It took her a half of an hour to actually deliver. It was truly amazing. I was standing near her head, counting to ten for her as she bared down and pushed and then all of a sudden, there he was! It was...breathtaking. Truly an indescribable feeling. It was just like, "holy cow! There's a baby that just came out of you!"

I'm so honored and thankful that Marlene allowed me to share in such an incredible moment of her life with her. It was something that I will never forget. I don't think words can accurately describe how amazing a birth is. It's amazing how God designed our bodies to work. It's breathtaking how God knits together a little person inside of his (or her) mother's womb. It's just...indescribable. I am so glad that I was able to witness little Travis' birth!

WFMW: Peanut butter frosting :)

If there is one thing in life I love it's peanut butter. I made a chocolate cake the other day and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I'm not a huge fan of frosting, and the kind of frosting that I will eat was not in the house and I didn't want to go to the store. That's when I remembered hearing someone talk about peanut butter frosting.

Google is my friend. :) I googled peanut butter frosting and clicked on the first website that popped up.

I followed the directions and it was DELICIOUS! Not to sweet, not so strong that it overtook the chocolate taste, not greasy, not gritty, just delightful.

Here is the recipe I used.


1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar


DIRECTIONS
Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Most of the reviews said that it was really easy to make and only a handful had any complaints. The warnings that I gleaned from the reviews were a) make SURE your butter has softened b) make sure you use butter, not margarin c) sift your powdered sugar d) go by the "use milk as needed" not "3 tbs of milk" in the directions.

I followed the directions and kept it in my mixer for quite a while, I figured it wouldn't hurt it to beat it for longer than 3 minutes. I added my sifted powder sugar a half of a cup at a time and I didn't measure the milk, just poured some in until I got a consitancy that I liked. It is SO good! Oh, and it makes A LOT. I was only frosting the top of the cake so I could have easily cut this recipe in half and still had more than enough. Although, the frosting is so good that you'll probably just want to eat it by itself!

Grace

Grace. Sometimes I can overflow with it. It is my middle name.

Tonight, is not one of those times. Usually I get along with my brother wonderfully. Not tonight. We rarely fight, but when we do it usually over one thing: the television.

I am rarely home, and when I am home I rarely have control of the tv. I have two little brothers and a neighbor who (like my boyfriend) lives at our house. The tv is usually hooked up to an xbox. If it's not hooked up to an xbox my dad is watching a football game or nascar race. My mom and I get the short end of the stick when it comes to the tv. Partially because my mom can't operate it...but that's another story in itself.

When I do get to watch I compromise and watch things that yes, I don't mind watching, but are not my first choice. I don't do this because I'm nice. I do it because otherwise I wouldn't be able to hear the show above all of my brother's groanings. I'm not kidding.

My family has an unspoken rule that if you leave the room for an extended period of time you forfeit your right to the tv. At least, that's my brother's rule for me. Funny, how it doesn't seem to work the other way around. And heaven FORBID I should TALK on my phone AND watch tv. Or, even worse, I read a book *GASP* and watch tv. Oh no, those are cardinal sins in my brother's book of rules about tv watching.

Unless he's the one doing it. You see, my brother got a call from his girlfriend and he left the room. For over ten minutes. Forfeit number one. Then he came back in and was so upset that I changed the channel. According to his rules, I should be allowed to. Then he continued to talk on the phone. Cardinal rule number 2. \

So, I did what any mature young adult would do. I continued to change the channel to my show. Then Greg just turned off the tv. So I left it off. If I didn't get to watch what I wanted to...neither did he. After a while he decided to go into his room. Not without taking one of the remotes and leaving the door to his room open so that he could sabotage any chance of me watching a show I like though.

So now, here I am at almost eleven at night not going into my room to sleep because he'll come in and turn on the tv.

And yes, I realize that this situation is completely juvenile and ridicules. But you know what, sometimes my sinful side gets the better of me and I just need to win.

WILMM: Orange rolls and straws

Why I love my man reason #2

My family is a little unorthadox. I say that because I don't know any other family that lets their daughter's boyfriend live at their house on the weekends. Mine does. You see, he lives sort of far away, not nearly as far as he used to, but far enough that the drive is cumbersome and expensive. He has a key to our house.

He comes over on Thursday night after his last class for the week and then leaves on Monday morning. I think that our couch has his body permanantly imprinted on it.

My boyfriend is wonderful. He gets along with my family great, and I love that. He plays video games with my brothers, cooks food for my family, and plays with my dog more in one day than I do in the time that he is gone (and yes, I do play with my dog).

I opened up the fridge tonight and saw that my boyfriend had left me a present. Orange Rolls. Ya'll, if you have not picked up a package of orange rolls at your local grocery store you must. They are divine. My boyfriend does stuff like this for me quite often. Last week I got sunflowers (my favorite!). One week he bought me straws. I LOVE drinking through a straw. And he knows that. So he left me some. :)

I love him. He's a keeper. :)

The Persecuted Church

I live in the United States of America. I attend a church every Sunday with a congregation of over 2,000 believers. I am a part of a Bible study on Friday nights that meet, without fear, in someone's home. I own more than one Bible. I can do all of these things without fear of fines, charges, being killed, having my house destoryed, or my family taken from me.

I am blessed.

I read a blog (wearethatfamily.com) that has been blessed with being able to befriend a family from Uzbekistan. They are part of the persecuted church. They take risks, real life defining risks, simply by calling themselves "christian."

As I read Kristin's blog entries aboiut her and her dear friends it brought me to tears. These people who live for Jesus and have undying faith put me to shame. Oh, sure, I believe that Jesus can do all things. At least in theory. But could I move to America with 200 dollars in my pocket not knowing anyone and be able to say that Jesus would provide. Would I be able put my trust completly in God and be able to say that "God always shows up on time, He is never late"? I'm not so sure.

We take so much for granted being able to live in America. My friend just got back from a mission trip in Kenya and the poverty that he spoke about is just mind blowing. We are so rich. And yet, it is through that richness and that safety that we take God for granted. There's a quote by Martin Luther that I think really emphasizes this. It states, "If the devil were wise enough and would stand by in silence and let the gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm. For when there is no battle for the gospel it rusts and finds no cause and no occasion to show it's vigor and power. Therefore, nothing better can befall the gospel that the world should fight it with force and cunning."

It is imperative that we do not sit in our air conditioned homes of America and forget the brothers and sisters in Christ around the world that risk their lives for our Jesus. As a body it is our responsibility to pray for, support, encourage, and educate others that christians DIE simply because they are christians.

If you would like to follow the story of Igor and Katarina here is the link: http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2008/08/when-god-steps-in.html

WFMW: Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets are my friend. I don't usually use them in the dryer though (because I've found that they don't make my clothes smell as good as my detergent can). These are some of the uses I have discovered for dryer sheets.

1. Pack them with your clothes in a suitcase, it makes your clothes smell good! :)

2. Likewise, if you have summer or winter sheets that you put away for a a season you can fold them up with the sheets so that they don't smell musty when it's time to use them.

3. Staticy clothes are no match to dryer sheets if you just take one and rub it all over your clothes.

I'm sure there are lots of other uses but those are some of the ones that I have found.

Easy, simple, and fairly cheap!

Check out www.wearethatfamily.com for more works for me Wednesday ideas!

Desert Song

This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
And weakness or trial or pain
There is faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me lord through the flames

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and he is here

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on his promise I'll stand

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and he is here

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
All of my life
In every season
You are still God

I have reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
All of my life
In every season

You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have reason to worship
All of my life
In every season

You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and he is here

And this is my prayer in the harvest
And favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I received I will sow

Deut 24:5

Tonight I opened my Bible (something I haven't done at ALL like I should be...) and started to read in Deuteronomy. I was reading through chapter 23 then moved on to chapter 24. As I was reading chapter 24 a particular verse caught my eye and really stuck out to me.

Verse 5 of Deuteronomy chapter 24 reads, "When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to the wife whom he has taken."

How AWESOME is that!? Did you catch it? Go and look again. One year. God said that when a couple gets married the husband's sole purpose is to bring happiness to his wife for the entire first year of marriage.

It really touched me because that is just more and more living proof of how God "gets" women. He understands. He knows that women need to be loved on and have quality time. Can you imagine how much stronger marriages would be today if every couple that got married devoted their first year of marriage to each other? No other outside distractions, just them. Can you imagine the potential pain that was eased when God told the Israelites that they were going to be heading into battle and those young brides knew that they would not have to bid their loved one goodbye?

Marriage and kids are my two heart desires. Sometimes I ache because of having to wait.People tell me that, "You're still young", "You have time", "Don't rush things." I understand all of that, I really do, but having my heart comprehend that just doesn't happen. I think about the women that lived during the Old Testament, who may not have had to finish school before getting married, but maybe they didn't know their future husband either. Can you imagine marrying someone that your family chose for you? What a blessing it would be to have a whole year to get to know this man whom you would spend the rest of your life with. Or maybe there were mutual feelings, and then, can you imagine the bliss?

It is very hard for me to think about having to wait YEARS more until I can marry my beloved. We have been dating for over two years now but because we are both young and neither is done with college marriage is not an option. Oh, but to know that God sees that want and that long. To know that if He cared enough about old testament women and their needs enough to put a law in the book of Deuteronomy charging the Israelites to keep that entire first year of marriage set apart, how much does He in turn care about me? It brings tears to my eyes to think that God would take the time to be so personnel and so intimate with us who are so sinful and unholy.

What a wonderful God who knew that man needed a companion comparable to himself and then created Eve. What a wonderful Father who knew that marriage needed to be special and create strong ties and in turn provided human kind with the act of marriage. What an extraordinary God I serve who knew that on this Monday night I would have an aching in my soul and as I read the book of Deuteronomy He would comfort me with these assurances, "I know you are hurting, but look, I cared for these woman so many years ago, and I will care and provide for you too. Take heart my daughter. I love you. I'm your Daddy and I have the best of plans for you."

the other is gold

I love my girlfriends. I may not have an over abundance of friends but I do have two very dear friends that I have known for a long time. One since third grade and the other since the beginning of highschool. We have a lot of shared history that I cherish.

We have three very distinct personalities, which, at times, can be quite interesting but for the most part we compliment the others very well. I have the tendancy to be a little bit more shy and reserved about things and my friends help crack open that shell. In turn, I help moderate their craziness.

I love knowing that no matter what I can rely on them. If I'm having a good day, I can call and share it with them. If I'm having a bad day I can share that too. If I need to cry I have two sets of shoulders and two sets of ears to hear me vent.

I am the "good" one of the bunch. Sometimes I feel as though I can never mess up because they will somehow think differently of me. Deep in my heart I know that if I ever made a poor decision or messed up that they would be there just the same. This, I think, is the true test of a friendship. To have someone who loves you in the good and bad, the ugly and the pretty, the joy and the grief. It is a rare thing to find, and I have found it in two people.

I am also the baby of the group so I am blessed with the oppurtunity to learn from my friends. Yes, I will lead my own life, and I will suceed and fail, make good decisons, and unwise choices, but that is a part of life. I know that my friends will always probably feel their weird sense of protectivness and responsability for me and I treasure that they go out of their way to watch out for me so that my life can be made that much easier. At the end of the day, no matter good or bad, I know I can come to them.

"Good friends must not always be together; It is the feeling of oneness when distant that proves a lasting friendship." -Susan P. Schultz

"Your friends are your release -- They're who you have the most fun with, and yet when the going gets tough, those people turn around and suddenly they're not just making you laugh, they're being this rock and giving you all their advice. Even though you're so much your own person, if you dissect yourself, I guarantee you your friends are in there. Their influence is incredible. Best friends are what you need most." -author unknown

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.-- George Elliot.

Jared: Squirrel Whisperer

Let me tell ya'll a little story.

One upon a time, on a street that was very residential a squirrel found her way and made it her home. On this street was a house with a yard. In the yard was a beautiful Chinese Elm tree, the most beautiful of all the trees available. In that tree she built a nest. Carefully, lovingly, for her future babies.

The future came and 3 darling little versions of herself emerged. Where the mommy goes after the birth of her babies no one knows, but we do know this, that the babies were old enough to eat solid food, yet still quite clumsy, and very curious.

In the house of the yard where the tree was, a boy lived. A fifteen year old boy. Now this boy, that we will call Jared, because, well, that's his name, saw the baby squirrels frolicking in the tree branches. So he did what any rational being would do, he started talking to them. Not in regular human speech, no, he...chattered. Like a squirrel. And apparently the baby squirrels spoke the same dialect as Jared because they started descending the tree, taking the branches that come down and getting close to him and watching him.

Now, of the three siblings, Shag was the bravest of them all. And, after hours of sitting under the tree chattering to the squirrels Jared started to reap the benefits of his patience and perseverance. Shag crawled down and Jared extended his hand with a peanut in it. And Shag promptly bit Jared's finger.

Unfortunately, Jared's older sister was not yet home from school to take pictures of this momentous event. However, she did take pictures once she arrived home.

The squirrel whisperer. Notice the gloves. That's because squirrels bite.

This is a squirrel feeder. It's nailed directly to the tree in which the squirrels live. On it are some peanuts, oats, pieces of kiwi and grapes. Oh, and the blue thing? A peanut butter lid containing water.

This is Shag. He's a weresquirrel.

WFMW: Probably won't work for you

I had had something completely different to write about for today but I will just have to use that later.

Do you know what works for me; I mean really works for me?

My job. I love my job. I honestly cannot think of anything that I would rather do for the rest of my life (besides be a mommy and wife). This posses a problem seeing as my job is not a career and I'm going to college to get a career. It makes it sort of hard to pick a major when everything that you find pales in comparison to what you are already doing.

I am a one on one aide to an amazing little boy with autism. I wake up every day wanting to go to work. I spend time outside of work trying to figure out ways to help him grow and learn. I spent my summer wondering how he was doing and what progress he was making. Last year I was given the wonderful (and difficult) task of being his one on one for the entire day. This is not the norm so I was really lucky.

This year I am the morning aide and he has an afternoon aide. I must admit...I was not thrilled at having to share him. I do not share others easily to begin with and you have to understand that hours and hours of kicking, screaming, scratching, and head butting was endured so that he would learn the various things that he learned last year. I was afraid that I would get an aide that either a) thought that they could start changing routines and schedules even though we had worked so hard for them to be established and were finally seeing some progress or b) just wouldn't care and would let him do whatever he wanted.

It would have been SO, SO easy for me to have gone into this school year with a very distant and cold attitude towards the person who would be working with him, because, of course, they wouldn't care nearly as much about him as I do. But, I didn't. I stopped myself and re-evaluated my emotions and my intentions. I was not in control of the situation and having a bad attitude would not help anything. I vowed to greet the person warmly, share with him or her whatever it was that we had worked on and try my best to make sure that my interest was for _________'s best school year and not my own childish feelings.

What do you know? The afternoon aide is awesome! She's brand new to working with special needs kids, but not new to working with kids. She's inquisitive and actually wants to learn how we deal with ________ and what is expected of her. I'm so glad that he has an afternoon aide who cares. I'm also really excited to have someone to confer with and exchange knowledge. It will be nice to have someone to talk to about problems, worries, and successes, and progress who understands where I am coming from.

I love my job. I would do this forever if I could. I plan on doing it for quite a while, perhaps even after I graduate. To be able to work with this specific child for a long time would be so rewarding, because even in the few short months I worked with him last year he has grown tremendously. My job works for me!!!