This and That

I think when i left you last i was about to cry from the holiday stress. No worries, there has been more "free" time this week than i thought there would be, and work is also slow, which helps a lot!

First-TBL....anyone?? I almost didn't make it bc it started at 8 and was a 2 hour episode. Let's remember we go to bed early. Anything past 9 is difficult.

i had my eyes closed the last 20 minutes "listening" to it, and periodically would ask Daniel if they knew who won yet. (sidenote: i've always been a sleep talker, but i'm actually waking myself up doing it a lot lately. it's confusing for me to say the least.)

anyways....yay Patrick!!! soo excited for him, he looked great. I love seeing the transformation and seeing how weight loss can completely change a persons complete physical appearance.

And by golly, there is another season starting January 4th!! and for those of you who love me...just a gentle reminder that my birthday is January 5th.  :)

SO.........

I've talked a little bit before about natural cleaning products....etc......

Here's the low-down:

I'm obsessed with Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castille soap (i buy it at Target near the make/up and Burt's Bees products). I look forward to cleaning our toilets and bathtubs now, it smells SO good! (i'm addicted to all things peppermint really.....peppermint mocha anyone?)

I made our laundry detergent, here's the recipe:

(courtesy of Rebecca)

1 cup liquid castille soap (I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint)


2 cups warm water

1/3 cup salt

1 cup baking soda

Directions:
Add salt and baking soda to warm water and mix. Pour the mixture into a one gallon container (old vinegar bottle or i used a half gallon drinking bottle and halfed the recipe.) Add your Dr. B's. Fill the rest of the container with water. Use between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup per load. You can add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
 
Also courtesy of Rebecca:
 
Toilets:
Sprinkle Baking Soda in toilet, add a small amount of Dr. Bronner's, scrub around, add vinegar (i used a spray bottle), then flush.
 
Bathtub:
I use a sponge with Dr. Bronner's and baking soda-it makes a good paste. I scrub all over the tub, then rinse. You can use vinegar as well.
 
Drain:
I sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda in the drain. Then add vinegar (about a cup). Wait a few minutes then pour boiling/really hot water down. It fizzes and i feel quite happy knowing that i've cleaned anything down the drain that might have been 'lurking.'
 
All purpose cleaner:
Right now i just use a half/half combo of vinegar and water.
 
Floors:
Half/Half vinegar and water.
 
I also use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint for our hand soap. They have other scents, but the peppermint is to die for and takes me to my happy place.
 
Confession: I cannot stop using papertowels. I know i ranted about that  a while ago, but I cannot seem to break the habit.
 
For more ideas and recipes, go here.
 
Random:
 
- Daniel surprised me with roses yesterday!
 
- When my sister and i were little we had to have our wrists x-rayed and go to the dr every 6 months bc they were concerned about how short we were
 
- we have a chance of snow on Friday
 
- There are a lot of awkward moments i want to share on this blog, but people involved read it so i can't....
 
- I've never heard a Justin Beiber song. I know who he is, but have never heard his music.
 
- I lived in Belgium when i was a kid
 
- Choosing what to wear to a wedding stresses me out.
 
- i facebook stalk people like you wouldn't believe......
 
 
love
laura
 
 

weekend rewind

ya'll know the drill...

Well, i thought this weekend was going to be laid back and relaxing. But the stress of this upcoming week and all the stuff that is going on, is enough to almost make me cry.

anyways,

When i got home on Friday night we drove to the new gym that just opened near our house.

sidenote: we quit our gym membership in September cos we were mainly running outside and never went. So to save a little money we stopped our membership.

Well, it's been cold out lately. The wind chill this morning was 5 degrees. Hello!!!! that is cold!!!!! The wind in Oklahoma can be pretty brutal and i've never experienced a windier place. You can pretty much count on the wind all the time. Well with the cold temps, wind, and it being dark by the time i get home, running has just been more of a challenge lately. And Daniel has missed all the weights.

Friday night we went to the gym, and i couldn't make up my mind if i wanted to join, so Daniel signed up and we decided to go on Saturday morning to see if i liked it.

Okay, so my little running career started on the treadmill. And when i transitioned outside it was hard, but eventually got easier. I was planning on running 8 on Saturday, so was thinking i might be able to do 10 on a treadmill, since i remember it being easier.

The running was fine. The insane boredom i felt after running half a mile was killer. I BARELY ran 4 miles. I thought i was going to die from the boredom. So running outside it is for me!! i'll just have to layer :)

I went and got my haircut at a new (to me) place on Saturday. It was ok. I probably won't go back. I'm glad i tried a new place, but i'm going to stick with my girl in Dallas...less stress.

Saturday was also our date day/night. We went to see the new Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was amazing!!!!!!!!! There were biblical themes throughout the movie that you just can't deny. It not only brought conviction but encouragement as well. I like it better than the second one, and possibly better than the first. It seriously was that good.

I also just love going to the movies. But Daniel and I have tried to be really intentional about things that we allow on our tv, in our home, and what we let come before our eyes. Because of that it's so rare we watch new movies. I loved this because it truly is a clean movie that is funny, has adventure, and just great entertainment. I recommend for sure!!!! I loved being able to leave the movie saying how great it was, without having to say "yeah, except for that sex scene, or the language, or that one part..."

We ran into several friends while at the movies, which i always give Daniel a hard time about. Ever since living in Oklahoma we can't go anywhere without running into people we know. I'm convinced that Oklahoma only has a population of 500 people. ha!!

We went to a new (to us) restaurant for dinner. It was one of the best italian places!!! Sadly, i completely forgot i had my camera so i couldn't document the yumminess that was. But trust me.....yummy cheese bread, tortellini, and lasagna rolls.....SO SO good!!! We'd both heard amazing things about this place, and were so glad it didn't disappoint! Then we drove around to look at Christmas lights, then drove way across town so i could have the world's best chai (so not kidding about that) and get cupcakes.

sadly, we were too full last night to eat them, so we just ate them this afternoon!

After church today,we met Daniel's fam for lunch, went grocery shopping, and are getting ready for church tonight.

here's the schedule for the week:

Monday: dinner with church friends

Tuesday: Bulgogi (we didn't have to make it this weekend), and TBL finale!!!!! (i will be uber mad if Elizabeth gets in final 3)

Wednesday: Bulgogi leftovers and church to wrap and deliver Christmas baskets

Thursday: work Christmas party

Friday: Chicken something....and lots of errands

Saturday: errands, family Christmas dinner

Sunday: church, our student party

 

I'm overwhelmed because we have so many things that need to get done this week along with out regular activities....Christmas shopping, white elephant gifts, Christmas gifts, ingredients for our christmas party, trying to find time for at least 1 run this week......

But i'm trying to get organized and enjoy the activities we're doing, and not just get thru them. I love christmas and want to try and "be" where i am instead of looking ahead to the next event.

That was our weekend in a not so tiny nutshell.

hope everyone is relaxed and enjoying the Christmas season!!!!

love

laura

 

 

THANK YOU

You guys rock!!!!!

Thank you so much for your responses to this post. I was so excited to hear that many of you already do this and give in such amazing ways! It literally gave me chills to read how ya'll have and will be giving. I am praying that Father uses these gifts to reach those that we can't.

I loved hearing about the ducks being bought and educational supplies for chidlren! It thrills me that a few families will be receiving help and love this year in what might seem like a small way to us, but is crucial for them.

Seriously, thank you for reaching out to people across the world in ways that can be life changing and/or life saving.

love

laura

Brrrrrrrr....rabbit!

Ok, so after reading TPG this morning about how great she ROCKED her marathon....i was uber motivated to run. We were already planning on running tonight, and after checking the weather, i would need that extra motivation!!

I walked in the house tonight and told Daniel to suit up!! We were going to run. No, it didn't matter if there was a 30 % chance of snow, or that the wind chill was 31 (even though i'm convinced it was colder.)

I might have been overly cheerful about the run. I might have annoyed Daniel. It might have been sleeting when we ran......

It wasn't like we were dashing ice patches or anything......

Here's the BEFORE...notice the fear in Daniel's face

The run was good.....my toe hurt a bit, but no new blister which is great news!! And this was my first time to run with a hat...i def recommend it for cold (freezing!) runs.

I really miss the routine of running. I didn't think i would. I thought i would enjoy the freedom of not training and just doing whatever i wanted. But with no training schedule to follow right now, it's easy to give up a run and do something else, instead of making it a priority.

Despite the toe pain and slight drizzle, we kept our normal pace and felt SO good afterwards.

AFTER:

woo hoo!!!

love

laura

weekend rewind

Friday night we celebrated Daniel's birthday to make up for when he was sick on Monday.

We went to one of his fave's, BJ's. One thing i love about eating with Daniel is we have really similar tastes, so we can get different meals and both eat off one another's. I almost always want was he has instead of whatever i order.

Lucky for me, he's more selfless than i am and doesn't mind sharing with others :)

It was a really fun night, and i loved celebrating Daniel and his birthday!!!

Saturday, still no running, bc i want to make sure i fully heal before heading out again. (don't underestimate the power of a toe blister....if it's painful walking, chances are running won't be my friend).

We slept in......okay i was out of bed by 7. but still, that's sleeping in for us!!! We had a lovely home cooked breakfast  and laid around a lot. I went to Mardel's to look for a new Bible study. I just finished several months in Acts, and loved it. I felt like i was reading an intriguing story waiting to see what happened next. It didn't matter that i had studied it before, it was fresh and new to me this time, for which i'm grateful.

I'm SOOO picky when it comes to studies. I want them to be extremely deep and be focused on the Word. Give me the Greek! I have a hard time doing a study if the cover looks like i would've read it when i was 14. I'm sure the authors and content are wonderful, but i want a study that is borderline above my head so i feel challenged instead of talked down to.

okay, stepping down off the soap box.

I got a book about contentment, because everything in my life screams at me that i'm anything but: my attitude, my thoughts, my judgments.....I'm excited to start it tomorrow.

I made a version of Zuppa Tuscana for dinner and it was perfect, bc the wind chill was about 20 on Saturday.

Then we bundled in our blanket of comfort and settled in to watch the big game. Yes, the Big 12 championship....Boomer!!!.

It was SOOOO intense, the first half was pretty awful and we were down 17-0 at one point. We came back and won 23-20. go us.

This morning we went to church pretty excited. We went to a leadership meeting this afternoon and heard about a new direction the church is taking our morning classes. It's going to be something new for our church, and we're pretty pumped to be involved.

I just took these little treasures out of the oven, and i can assure you i'll be running this week, ha!

This next week is shaping up to look pretty good....date day on Saturday to see the new Narnia movie. I can hardly wait!!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and if you have snow, rest assured that i'm insanely jealous of you right now. i can't wait for our first ice day!!

just for kicks here is our menu for the week:

Mon/Tues-Stuffed Shells

Wed-Daniel's cooking (fish?)

Thurs/Fri-homemade pizza

Sat- Bulgogi

love

laura

Perspective

I was doing an errand at work today, and while walking, looked down and realized something.

I was wearing nice clothes, a nice warm coat, and the biggest complaint in my life right now is that i have a blister on my toe that has kept me from running.

I was honestly going to blog tonight about my toe blister.

And then i gained a little perspective.

There are (i would guess) millions of people living in poverty. Some are on the other side of town and using their ovens to heat their house in below freezing temperatures.

Some are in a small village dying of starvation or unclean water.

I recently read Radical, by David Platt. I recommend it for sure. But i don't recommend reading it in one sitting, putting it down, and saying "that was a great book!"

No, i would suggest reading it slowly, putting it down to ingest not what DP is telling you to do, but the Biblical principles and commands that you suddenly realize you've been missing/ignoring for years.

One thing that stuck out to me in the book is what he said about sacrifical giving. It's not giving away clothes that you're never going to wear again anyways. Sacrificial giving is giving when it hurts.

I read this right after i had given away about 3 trash bags of clothes. I was feeling pretty good thinking of all the great clothes and shoes i gave away to people who needed them more than i did.

But it didn't hurt at all.

It didn't cost me anything.

Daniel and I have been praying about what this looks like for us. Since we still have debt, any money we would give away, takes away from paying off the debt. I'm assuming if we were debt free extra money given would be taken away from entertainment or new clothes.

We want to find the balance of being good stewards of what we do have, paying off our debt, yet still looking for opportunities that we can give in a way that still costs us. Not because if it hurts that means it's better. But we are blessed for a reason. and i doubt God has given most of us the income He did so that we could be comfortable.

Think about your current household income......could you live on half of it? could you live on a lot less?

I'm not by nature a very generous person, i have my moments, but it's not always on my radar. Daniel is naturally generous. He recently did something that still shocks me. He gave away something that cost. That hurt.

My point.....

I am a huge fan of World Vision. They have a gift catalog on their website that i'm obsessed with.

$35 provides $385 of life saving medicines.

$18 provides 3 ducks for a family that can use the income from the ducks for medicines and school tuition.

$50 can help children with disabiltiies receive the care they need.

There are SO many other opportunities and ways to give through their site. I love that by giving 'small' amounts your gift is able to multiply to do much more than what seems possible.

I'm not buying Christmas presents for my parents this years.

A, They don't need anything

B. Anything they want we can't afford :)

We're going to be donating a gift in my parents name instead. I could give my parents small gifts that don't have any real value, OR give in a way that will provide shelter for a sexually exploited young girl, or care for an orphan; the possibilities are endless.

I would encourage you to look thru their gift catalog and find a way you can give. They not only have cash donations, but actual items like purses and jewelry made my girls/women who use the income to stay out of prostitution.

If you end of doing this, please leave me a comment or email me. It would make my day! Let me know how you decided to help and what your gift is providing, whether it's a goat for a family or a home for an orphan.

love
laura

They say it's your Birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So...quick recap.....

Daniel's birthday was this past Monday. We celebrated with family and a few friends on Sunday night at his parents house. The food was a plenty with hot dogs, hamburgers, hot links (i still don't really know what those are), quac, nachos, jello fruit salad (made by the birthday boy himself!), and a chocolate eclair for dessert. We didn't go hungry i can assure you!

   

Ummmm did i think to take any pictures??? Right as Daniel was blowing his candles out, i remembered that i even OWNED a camera!

Here are a few i took after most of the festivities.....

He got his long awaited Nook Color. He's been drooling over this for a while......for my sake, i'm glad he got it :) And yes, if you haven't noticed...he is practically bald. He was trimming his hair on Friday, and went to touch it up and forgot to switch blades/guards? and ended up shaving a good chunk off. So he had to cut it all that short.  We finally started speaking again this morning. I prefer my man with hair.....

Daniel and Jason admiring the Nook.....

Daniel has an obsession with knives. He has quite the collection, and i don't really know what most of them do. So, I got him a knife for his birthday- pictured below with Christian.

It's like an awkward family photo.....but we were so glad Christian, Diane, and Jason could make it!!! They're great friends that we're grateful for.

I was planning on redeeming myself by taking lots of pics on Monday night when Daniel and I went out to dinner. However, I walked in the door Monday night and Daniel was SICK. Probably the sickest i've ever seen him since we've known each other.
We decided it would be much cooler to spend his birthday at Urgent Care and skip food for several hours. It was quite the unforgettable birthday let me tell you....

I felt SO bad because birthday's are a HUGE HUGE HUGE deal to me, and i hated that he felt so miserable and couldn't even enjoy his day.

Fast forward to today, and he's feeling much better. Still not great, but i can understand him when he talks, and he isn't constantly shivering like a hypothermia victim.

The plan is to re-do his big birthday dinner this weekend.

I had this amazing birthday post written in my head on Monday that i was going to do.....but i can't really put to words the glamour and fun that happens at Urgent Care. on your birthday. on a Monday night. in below freezing weather. without food.

All that to say.......Daniel, I hope your birthday next year is better than you could ever dream or imagine!
I love you so much and am so glad you are in my life! I hope you know how loved and appreicated you are by all those around you!

 

love
laura