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Totally didn’t make the quilt. I started it and then...

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:40:08 -0500

Totally didn’t make the quilt. I started it and then something happened with the bobbin and I got intimidated and bailed. Maybe I’ll take a sewing class when Dev starts school again… Anyway, we spent a wonderful week in Florida with Tommy’s family. The highlights for me were Butter Beer (at Harry Potter, Universal Studios) and the Beach (Clearwater, Gulf of Mexico) We spent 3 hours swimming in the sea, licking salt off our lips and shell searching. It was one of those rare moments in life where you feel like you were doing what you were made to do… And then wild dolphins came up and swam within 20 feet of us. Not even kidding. I am so thankful for that day and thankful for each little moment that made it so memorable.

Click here to see what Dev and I will be working on shortly. First project of summer: Swimming. Second: Veggie patch quilt!

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:08:51 -0500

Click here to see what Dev and I will be working on shortly. First project of summer: Swimming. Second: Veggie patch quilt!

I have a confession. I love Easter candy. I won’t admit...

Wed, 04 May 2011 15:53:21 -0500

I have a confession. I love Easter candy. I won’t admit exactly how many cadbury eggs I’ve consumed… but let’s just say it was a lot. When else do you throw jelly beans at the bottom of a basket and eat them for weeks - not being wrapped or packaged or anything???? This picture is of Dev after she found her final clue leading her to the Easter basket… yes it was in the egg carton in the fridge, I’m festive!

quietly loud

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:22:00 -0500

I keep searching blogs to find someone talking about miscarriage. It’s hard to find. It’s only on medical sites or on online communities where you can read about what to expect and how long recovery is said to last, but nothing on what the mom experiences.

My need for external validation is exemplified when I find myself searching with desperation to name what it is I am feeling. To read for myself that other women survive and come out on the other side of this awful, hole producing ache.

So far, I’ve been comforted by C. S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed,

“And poor C. quotes to me, ‘Do not mourn like those that have no hope.’ It astonishes me, the way we are invited to apply to ourselves words so obviously addressed to our betters. What St. Paul says can comfort only those who love God better than the dead, and the dead better than themselves. If a mother is mourning not for what she has lost but for what her dead child has lost, it is a comfort to believe that the child has not lost the end for which it was created. And it is a comfort to believe that she herself, in losing her chief or only natural happiness, has not lost a greater thing, that she may still hope to ‘glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ A comfort to the God-aimed, eternal spirit within her. But not to her motherhood. The specifically maternal happiness must be written off. Never, in any place or time, will she have her son on her knees, or bathe him, or tell him a story, or plan for his future, or see her grandchild.”

In one sense, my experience with miscarriage can be accurately depicted in the grief stages. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. And yet I’ve had to experience the shock of what it feels like acknowledging what was so far from me when I was surviving in denial. I’ve had to feel the shame that comes alongside anger and the feeling of powerlessness that is present in bargaining. I’ve had to walk with them. Wrestle in them. Experience the actual weight of the stages.

I’ve stayed to myself for some weeks, withdrawing from most contact that isn’t predictable or reverent. For the most part it’s been relatively quiet. However, my life has never felt so loud. Never have I tried to silence with such failure something so intrusively deafening.

Far as the Curse is Found

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:44:59 -0600

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

I cried I was laughing so hard. “You’re so...

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:11:50 -0500

I cried I was laughing so hard. “You’re so rude”

This is Dev at her baptism this year - quite a monumental moment...

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:36:43 -0500

This is Dev at her baptism this year - quite a monumental moment for our little family. I’m amazed that her little heart is filled with such a faith and acceptance that extends not only to God but to others as well.

Basil and Esme eat the birthday bone

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:14:23 -0500

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Basil and Esme eat the birthday bone

Esme turned one this past week!

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:06:00 -0500

Happy Birthday Esme!

Birthday Girl sitting pretty

Dev made a card

Opening presents

Birthday Bone and Decorations

Esme turned one this past week!

(Camping Labor Day Weekend) We went fishing, ate cobbler and...

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:36:42 -0500

(Camping Labor Day Weekend) We went fishing, ate cobbler and took naps on our hammock. We’re going camping again in 2 weeks!!

We got a puppy!!!!!!!! He is the light of my life. The yin to my...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:34:58 -0500

We got a puppy!!!!!!!! He is the light of my life. The yin to my yang… More pics to follow.

OFFICIAL HOME REMODEL POST #1 When we...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:18:00 -0500

OFFICIAL HOME REMODEL POST #1

When we bought our house last july, one of if not the main reason, besides us actually liking it and the price, was that it was livable right off the bat. We could move our stuff in one day, and start our lives the next. No major things that didnt work or large holes in the floor, roof, etc. One of the fun parts that I have half enjoyed, is being able to redo and update the whole house. The benefit of this is that we can totally make this house our own, but in doing so, we are not necessarily on a time contraint to do it all at once. So slowly but steadily, over the last 12 months, we have taken on certain projects around the house to update it. Although we have done several things already, the project I will focus on today is our kitchen. The kitchen is pretty small, and without a seperate dining room, we are forced to have our eating table in there. We also have no pantry for food. To remedy the no pantry issue, we had to use one of the cabinets in our kitchen as a panrty. By doing that, we lost space to put all our new dishes we got from crate and barrel as wedding gifts. So to remedy that, we bought a china cabinet from IKEA off craigs list. We then upgraded that china cabinet with another one from IKEA to match our kitchen table which we bought back in march. Basically what im trying to say is, theres no room in our kitchen. Another issue with our kitchen was the dishwasher. The thing is, we didnt have one. (well, technically we did. it was me) This catches us all up to the holiday weekend of July 4th when my in laws find a great deal on a brand new fridge, and being the loving parents they are, offer us there moderately used old one. Of course we accept. How could we, and by we I mean my lovely wife, turn down a fridge that has an automatic ice maker! You see, Julie loves ice in her drinks, and the fridge we had, did not make ice at all. So an automatic ice maker had the potential to make her dreams come true at the least, and at the most, solve world hunger. So I rush the measurements and turns out, our new fridge doesnt fit in our kitchen. Its 3 inches too wide. Problem? sort of. You see, we had already bought a new countertop and it was sitting in our basement. We had a new dishwasher sitting in our garage. I take some more measurements, this time more precisely, and it looks like if we install all of those things, we can make room for our fridge. Immediately the kitchen remodel jumped to the top of our list. This all brings us to Saturday. For almost a month now, we have this huge black refridgerator sitting out in our already to small kitchen, plugged in, working and in use, minus julies precious ice maker. My dad and I tore our the old counter top, ripped a cabinet underneath the counter to make room for the dishwasher, installed a garbage disposal, redid the pvc plumbing underneath the sink, put in a new countertop, and then ripped out another cabinet to make room for the fridge. It now fits, and although it isnt completely done, we have a dishwasher that works (a.k.a. my new best friend) and a fridge that makes its own ice (a.k.a. julies best friend). We still have to put a new cabinet up and redo the backsplash. Somewhere in the 12 1/2 hours my dad and I spent working saturday, I took an hour long break to the ER to have my finger super glued. I sliced it on the bottom edge of the sink precisely 1 minute after my dad leaves for the hardware store. This took two days and only three trips to Lowes. Enjoy the pictures. More to come soon.

Tommy

So Chicago version 2.0 was better than the last trip. (although...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:47:27 -0500

So Chicago version 2.0 was better than the last trip. (although as long as we were still breathing upon the return home, it was better by default) Ive promised Julie that I would write down all the events from our last trip before we forgot all the juicy details. Maybe I will put it up on our blog when its finished. It was a complete disaster. Anyways, this time was better. We went with my family. We went to the Cubs vs. Cardinals game, which we lost 7-6. Boo. Walked around Evanston and did some window shopping, and then stopped by IKEA on the way home and did some real shopping. We will post pictures of all our new stuff once its actually put up in our house.

Tommy

Here’s to Family Trip to Chicago #2! May it be better than...

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:53:50 -0500

Here’s to Family Trip to Chicago #2! May it be better than the last one :)

Here is the process of an ikea item. Besides the new (to us)...

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:51:02 -0500

Ikea instructions!

Work zone/messy kitchen

Finished product!

My favorite cup :)

Here is the process of an ikea item. Besides the new (to us) refrigerator, it’s my new favorite thing in the kitchen.

Deven hated attending dance practices all year long - but the...

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:44:01 -0500

Deven hated attending dance practices all year long - but the big payoff for all her hard work was well worth it. She told me she didn’t like the practices, but she would do it if it meant getting to go to the rehearsal and the recital. Dev was sitting on the steps coming out from her dance studio, donning a feather head piece and neon green gloves. Don’t you love little kid dance costumes?

Click this to recommend us

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:30:00 -0500

Click this to recommend us

First Family Camping Trip

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:15:48 -0500

So this past weekend, Julie, Deven and I, along with julies extended family, went on a camping trip to Hawn State Park. We got left around 3:30 friday and after nearly 2 1/2 hours, an hour of that in traffic, we succesfully made it to the park. My brother in law matt went down early that morning and set up most of the camp site. I had never been to this park before, so it was an exciting new experience. It had spacious camp sites with incredibly tall trees. And the trees made for excellent shade from the sun, since it was 95 degrees and humid the whole weekend. The hardest part was getting used to my shirt being drenched in sweat from around noon until sundown everyday. Julie and I took showers before bed to try and cool off. We played ladder golf, rode our bikes, took a short hike and swam in the creek, and played wiffle ball for fun. All in all it was a great weekend. Good food. Good company. It was Devens first official camping trip and when we were packing up on Sunday, she said “Why are we taking the tent down!” Can we set it up when we get home?” She loved it. I cant wait to go again with my girls. They make it fun.

Tommy

A year ago today our lives changed. Sometimes it’s been...

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:48:00 -0500

A year ago today our lives changed. Sometimes it’s been for the better, sometimes it’s been for worse. I knew going into marriage it would be a lot like being a parent in that it was the greatest thing I’d ever do and yet also the hardest and most difficult. All the books I’ve read trying to prepare for this has helped, and yet it’s been the actual relationship itself that has shaped me, changed me. My marriage isn’t like the movies, it’s better. Because it’s real. I have a husband who’s willing to stand by me and let me make mistakes, and he’s willing to admit he makes them too. A year ago today I was standing across Tommy making cross-eyes, trying to make him laugh during his vows. I’m glad I have someone else to walk with during the best and worst of my life. Today I’m glad I got in this with him.

Happy Anniversary. I love you

So Deven has been sick all weekend and Julie decided to do...

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:02:40 -0500

So Deven has been sick all weekend and Julie decided to do something real nice for her and make her a delicious and beautiful dinner in bed.(picture 1) Julie hopped in the shower while i was making dinner for us. I tried to out do her beautiful presentation with this masterpiece.(picture 2) A surprise candle lit dinner for two. Voila!