Faithful to My Heart

I know it's silly.  I know it's irrational.  But it's still what I laid awake thinking about last night.

My child is lying sick in a hospital bed - she's 18 months old and had surgery yesterday.  I should have been thinking about doctors and antibiotics and stitches and gauze.  But all I could think about was her Easter basket.

Katelyn's Story

Click the pic of my baby girl to be taken to the story of what's going on with Katelyn right now.  Thank you all for your many prayers and sweet thoughts - it's really been overwhelming!  We love you!

My Heart Hurts for This Belief

2011 Goals, Personal & Otherwise

Since I believe firmly that my personal (aka "inner") life is directly related to my professional (aka "outer") life, the following goals blur the lines between work and home.  But I know me, and if I don't find a way to articulate these things, I will inevitably forget what I have set out to this semester / year.  So, in all their relentlessly honest glory, here are my goals for 2011:

• Work out a minimum of 5 times a week
• Read a successive chapter of Celebration of Discipline during the first week of each new month and work to incorporate that discipline into my life during the remainder of that month
• Write a minimum of 1 blog on some aspect of Christianity / faith / religion each week, to be posted here and at sfaxa.org
• Implement and stick to an envelope system of budgeting for our family
• Discover and make steps towards becoming a person who consistently honors the people in my life
• Discover and make steps towards becoming a grateful person

Well, there you have it.  Obviously, if you read the wording carefully on the last two, you will see that I don't know exactly how to DO those.  But I am excited in my life right now to be developing plans to move forward.  No matter how small the step is, as long as you make it, you're making progress, right?  That's my hope, anyway!  That God will honor my feeble attempts to grow in His grace.  I trust that He will make up what I lack if I just give Him what I have!

Quilting: an Apologetic

I have been quilting again. In the last two weeks I have made two toddler quilts, one for a dear friend who is expecting her first child (a boy) in January and one for my DD (pics and progress to come soon).  I have also spent a good deal of time researching and learning online. I have come across several blogs of quilters who have been amazed and inspired me!

All of this has me thinking: I LOVE quilting! For a lot of reasons, really. But largely I love the taking of something utilitarian (a blanket, to keep us warm, to cuddle and snuggle with, to provide comfort to my little girl) and making it beautiful. I love that I am leaving a piece of myself in this world for as long as thread and fabric hold together... and not just anything, but something meaningful and beautiful. Hopefully, at least. Haha.

To take the ordinary and make it beautiful.

What is this search for beauty? Why do I have this desire in me to make the things (and people) around me beautiful?

To My Daughter: 2.5 Hours that Changed My Life

The Story of Your Birthday:

Caution:  Graphic details included - read at your own risk.  :)

There I was asleep on my couch, enjoying a much needed afternoon nap on my birthday when everything changed. It was my 29th birthday; not really a big deal, except it was my last without children. But I hadn't been feeling well courtesy of a head and flailing arms in my right rib cage, so we skipped any festivities and I opted for a quiet day in front of the TV. As usual I fell asleep during the movie. I had just started to rouse towards the end of the movie (I can't remember which one it was) when I felt the strangest sensation. I was half a second from telling Derrick about it when I realized with a violent shock that my water was breaking!

The Last 2.5 Months...

Wow!  I've been on quite a blogging break!  Let's see... in the last 2.5 months...

1.  We bought a new house!  Praise the Lord!  We have been wanting to buy a house for the last 4 years and it was never possible.  But we are now the proud owners (or will be in 29 years and 9 months) of this little house.  It's actually not so little - she measures right at 2000 square feet and has a nice sized, fenced back yard for the baby to play in.  We spent a week cleaning the inside and out before finally moving all our stuff.  We have been living here the last two months and are loving every minute in our new home!

2.  Our little girl turned ONE!  I cannot believe that it has already been a year since Katelyn was born.  And almost two years since I found out I was pregnant.  Insane how fast time flies!  Because we are fortunate enough to have lots of family, friends, and students who love us and our little girl, Katelyn got to have two parties - one with family and one with Chi Alpha.  She really enjoyed both, but I think her favorite part was the cake!  It took her about 5 minutes to figure out how to eat it, but once she did, she tunneled out a huge hole in her smash cake!  It's on video somewhere and when I find it, I will post the video so everyone can see how cute she was!  Luckily, it doesn't seem that sugar affects her too much because she slept great that night.

3.  I finally went to see an orthopedist about my left knee.  It's gotten progressively worse over the last 3 years to the point that I cannot make a trip to the grocery store without ending in pain.  Now that I've done the doctor's visit, I am kicking myself for not going sooner!  He is fairly confident we can fix it without surgery, which was a huge relief to me.  I have "Patella Alta," which means that my kneecap sits about an inch or so higher than normal and it slips out of place with every step I take.  It's done this my whole life, but something somewhere along the way has made it start hurting.  I am on a dose of anti-inflammatories, wearing a flexible knee brace when I'm active, and starting a new exercise routine to help strengthen my legs.  He wanted me to start biking, so I convinced Derrick to buy a recumbent bike for the house!!!  He set it up today and I get to start working with it soon.

I haven't done much sewing or crafting, other than for Katelyn's party, for which I went all out!  Again, pics to follow at some point.  We left all my craft supplies at the old house for a month or so while we got everything else settled and finally moved it all about two weeks ago.  I'm glad to have it back and have finally gotten caught up on back orders for Soft Straps.  I have missed my sewing machine!

Well, that's about it for now - better get up and ready to do my "bike ride" for today.  Peace out!