All 3 Of Us

Jake and I are very excited to announce that we're bringing a little baby Paurus into the world. Due date is January 20th and I'm about 13 weeks along. Coming into the second trimester and hoping for the blessing of increased energy and decreased nauseousness. I can't complain though, compared to some people I had a very easy first trimester with no throwing up at all! 

This was how I told Jake the news. Those cheap pregnancy tests don't exactly make you feel very sure. We later had our hopes confirmed at a doctors appointment. I had my first visit with one of the midwife's at the birth center last week. It was so exciting to hear the heartbeat and to be told that all was looking normal and fine. We're expectant and eager to learn. It's a beautiful thing to have someone knit together inside of you (Psalm 139). 

Psalm 127:3-5 Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. 

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. 

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. 

They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. 

Here and Now!

We didn't really do too much for the 4th of July this year. I got to hang out with some friends (more like over 30 people!) at a spontaneous brunch gathering while Jake worked a half day. After Jake got home we created a little assembly line to finish stuffing envelopes for our support letter and then went to a friends to watch fire works and of course slack line.

 My patriotic-ly dressed husband :)

 Slacking with a sparkler in each hand

The moon stole the show

2 random points about music. First of all, Josh Garrels, probably Jake and my favorite musician, just released an EP that he had been secretly working on. It's funky, fresh, and flavorful, everything that Josh Garrels does best. We love his music and it has played a huge role in my life over the last 5 years. Jake was the first one to show him to me, back in July 2007, and I was instantly hooked. Every album that he has come out with since then has some how perfectly aligned with what I'm going through spiritually. He boldly testifies to Jesus in a creative, heartfelt, and genuine way. His musical talent is not easily matched and he does all his producing himself. Anyways, there was my little plug for our favorite singer/songwriter/beatboxer JG. 

Second music thought, a few posts back I mentioned that I'm really into bluegrass lately. I just wanted to expound a bit on that statement. Bluegrass is beautiful. A few fiddles, a banjo or two, a deep standing bass, maybe an accordion, raspy vocals, and a plain old jug. What a lovely blend! One day I was in the mood to listen to the Carolina Chocolate drops, a band with a modern take on bluegrass, and decided to plug them into pandora. Of course with Pandora you get a little bit of everything from that genre and boy oh boy have I heard a mix! The music itself stays pretty similar, but the content is as varied as can be. We've got your 'whiskey, cornbread, and the pretty little lady that broke my heart', songs contrasted to the soulful spiritual songs about God and the Promised Land, and the just plain silly songs about "shaky pudding." I'm not an advocate of all of those messages, but still enjoy the bluesy jigs that carry them. The ones about Jesus are so refreshing and a treat to hear. So there, that's my two cents about music, in case anyone wondered at all. :)

Blooming

Since my nannying job came to a close at the beginning of June, I've been doing smaller part time jobs to keep me occupied. I started working for Home Helpers again, but so far I only have one client. (Turns out that my one and only client was one of my grandma's dearest friends for years. When I told her my maiden name she exclaimed, "Surely you're not one of Elva's!?!" It's definitely a small world when you're living in Lancaster County). But one of my favorite odd jobs is getting to help my mentor with her flower shop. She has a small flower garden outside of her shop, or barn, where you can cut your own flowers to your liking. She also has a larger garden across the street where she keeps flowers for all the weddings and other events that she does. Sometimes I weed in the gardens, sometimes I actually get to help with arrangements, but every time I have a blast. I love being around all the beautiful blooms and fragrances and using some creative juices to piece them all together. And of course it's so sweet to have fellowship with my beloved mentor and friend. Her and her husband (Jake's boss) have been such a blessing to us.

Another perk of working for her is getting to take home left over flowers here and there. One Friday I got to take home so many that almost every room in our apartment had some. Later that night a picnic that we had planned with some friends got rained out so we had it at our place. I felt so prepared with all of those lovely little flowers everywhere.

Fruitful

How sad is it that the last update on our garden all the pictures showed was a big brown plot of land!?! Things have come along way and our garden has exploded! The zucchini plants alone are like conquerors bent on conquest, taking over as much space as their big fat leaves can stretch. My dad takes such good care of it and my mom is a dedicated harvester. She goes out at 6 a.m. to beat the heat every day! Here's a few shots to give you a taste of our fruitfulness.

 I love watching the skinny little vines, that seem to have minds of their own, stretch out and wrap around the wire cages. I truly see the hand of God at work in how a tiny little seed can bring forth so much life!

With all our veggies I've been doing my best to figure out how to use them. I decided to try out my mom's trusty zucchini bread recipe with a tiny twist. We put half of the batch into my donut pan!

Sad to say, I have no pictures of the finished product, but it was very tasty. Next time I'm going to make a glaze for the donuts, at my husband's request, and maybe add some nuts or raisins. Who would have thought something so tasty could come from something so stringy and slimy?

The Atlantic

Jadah has never seen the Atlantic ocean. That had to be remedied, and I felt I should be the friend to take on the task. So, the other day we packed into my Rav4 and headed east. We made a pit stop at Trader Joes on the way and boy oh boy were we excited. Just today we ate the last of the TJ's granola that I bought and I almost cried. Why is their food so good and their stores so far away?? We loaded our empty cooler with all our delicacies and went to the coast. We enjoyed fine weather, sun bathing, a refreshing swim in the tumbling waves, and some tasty italian ice from the board walk. Jadah was satisfied with the Atlantic, but her heart is still for the west coast. My attempt to convert her failed, but I don't blame her, it's so lovely on the other side of the continent.

This was by far the most unique picnic spread I've ever seen but it was perfect for a Jadah+Lindy outing. Figs, beats, carrots, hummus, and sushi!! Yum! It was a tasty lunch enhanced by some Trader Joe's finds, of course. 

Follow Along

Yep, it's been a while again. I have some good excuses and some bad excuses for why this blog has been so silent, but either way, here I am. One reason I'd like to share with you all is best depicted in picture form.

2 lap tops, a printer, paper cutter, labels, labels, and more labels, envelopes, address books, lists of names, multiple trips to buy more printer ink, and fried rice. What does all that add up to? Fundraising. After many hours we finally finished our first wave of fundraising letters as we move toward going on Mission staff at Gateway House of Prayer by October. It's been hectic, but it feels so good to have it done. Just this morning I took our big box of letters to the post office, so now we just pray that God moves on people's hearts to partner with us and in the mean time trust Him to provide our daily bread.

Now, on to my update. I realized recently that this blog has become my journal. Ever since I did the internship at Gateway, my journaling has seriously suffered. I haven't made time for it and I have a feeling in the future I'm going to regret that decision. I love to look back and see what happened in my life, how I grew, the lessons I learned, the revelation I received from God, and all the other silly little details in between. So, even though my impulse is to do one general blog to catch all the readers up to speed, I've decided to be a little more thorough. For the sake of me, a year from now, I'm going to take the time to write several posts about different events that have happened lately.


So, sit back, listen to some bluegrass (I've been soo into bluegrass lately!) and catch up!