Life after baby

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it's been June since I last updated. A lot has happened in the past 4 months - namely I had a baby! Evelynn Kay Anderson arrived on September 3, at 6:13p.m. in the evening and was 7 lb. 7 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. Looking at this little girl, I still can't believe she fit in my tummy for the past 9 months! It truly is a miracle how God forms a baby.

Am I ever glad that the labor and delivery is over! We had planned to go into the hospital that morning at 7 a.m. to be induced, since Evelynn was nearly 2 weeks overdue. My doctor surprised me two days before, telling me I was already dilated to 2 cm (I had no idea!) That early Thursday morning, I began to have contractions - ugh. Finally I had enough and was getting nervous, so we headed to the hospital at 2:30 a.m. They hooked me up to a very small dose of Pitocin and told me to get some sleep (ha!)

I have to say, no matter how much you read about labor, you just are not prepared for what contractions feel like. I tried very hard to breathe through them, and relax, but it was really a struggle - they hurt! I had so hoped to have a natural childbirth, but by that early afternoon, I was absolutely miserable. After no sleep the night before, I would have a contraction, then fall asleep, causing the nurse to catch me so I didn't fall over, then I would be right back into another contraction. Our labor nurse was completely wonderful and was ready to support me either way that I wanted to go, but after much deliberating, I decided to have an epidural. I know there is a lot of controversy over epidurals but I have to say, the anesthesiologist put me at ease and I really feel it was the right decision for me. Relief was almost immediate, and I feel asleep for over an hour.

By the time I woke up, I was already dilated to 10 cm and we were ready to start pushing. And push I did! It took nearly 3 hours to get this little one out - and for good reason - she came out with her hand pressed against her head, making it that much more difficult! Our doctor was so wonderful and encouraging and before I knew it, Evie was out and the doctor plopped on my stomach and Dan cut her cord. Evelynn was here! She was absolutely beautiful and completely awake for hours after she was born, already watching faces. It was completely surreal to hold this little girl and know I was now a mom!

Four weeks later, and things are going well. We had some pretty rough times starting out breastfeeding (cracks, bleeding, and soreness- ouch) but about 3 weeks things got so very very much better. Now, I am enjoying being mom to this little one besides being so exhausted I can barely function. I've always been one to love my 8 hours of sleep, but alas, babies are not exactly considerate.

I have to admit, having a baby in the house is not a piece of cake. It can be lonely hanging out at home all day by myself, and with Dan working full time and going to school, right now I feel like I barely have a husband or even a relationship. It's hard. We're already dreaming of the day we can take a vacation, or at least just go on a date. As a good friend of us observed, there should be baby counseling but people having a baby for the first time, just like there is pre-marital counseling!

Every day I look at Evie though and thank the Lord for this little miracle. Parenting is not easy but wow, it is amazing!

Stephanie

A major update

Here I am today at week 29:

Time goes so fast! Evelynn Kay Anderson will be here in less than 3 months (Lord willing, after September 1st when we have insurance!) Yes, that's right, the ultrasound revealed that we are having a little girl. YAHOO! That was our secret hope but we were okay with either. The ultrasound tech was confident and apparently got a pretty good view of what he needed to see. The best part? We got to see her in 3D, which was so incredible. I can't wait to hold my little girl.

God answered my prayers abundantly and everything looked great with the ultrasound as they went through and checked everything. Also, all of my extra blood tests they ran on me came back completely normal, so I won't be needing to go back to the specialist at all, which was a MAJOR relief. God continues to challenge me and Dan to trust Him with all of the details.

Finding out that all my blood tests were normal made our first anniversary weekend all the sweeter. Dan and I headed over to Sisters, Oregon to hike, shop, and stay at the Long Hollow Ranch, a bed and breakfast. It was a fabulous weekend, and the weather was so beautiful. If you know anything about me and my love of horses, it'll make sense that I can't wait to go back to the ranch next year so we can take a trail ride (which I didn't particularly want to risk at that time, being 7 months pregnant). They have 550 acres, which back up to 10,000 acres of BLM Land, so there's lots of space to explore. Here's a view of the ranch:

And the 100+ year old building we stayed in:

The next weekend Dan and I had the privilege in being in Jon and Rachel Bever's wedding. We were a 3-for-2 deal with baby Evelynn on board. It was a great wedding and the church provided a fabulous meal for their reception. God bless organized brides - they make everything so much better!



That's an update on our lives... I am looking forward to seeing what else God has in store for us this summer!

Stephanie

Busy May

I've always loved summer months, but May is fast becoming one of my favorite months. It's hard to believe, but in 2 weeks Dan and I will celebrate our first anniversary! We are going to head over to lovely Sisters, Oregon that weekend - a place we both really like but haven't had much opportunity to explore. It really is incredible how fast time has gone now that we're married. A year ago I was anticipating my wedding... now I am anticipating a baby!

Speaking of baby, this coming Monday is our ultrasound. I am both extremely excited and in typical Stephanie fashion, also a bit nervous. After we have the ultrasound, we are seeing the "high risk" OB-GYN about the false positive on one of my blood tests. I'm praying that the ultrasound is pure FUN for us and that the cost of the whole appointment doesn't kill us (I can't WAIT until we have insurance...) I hope that baby Anderson cooperates so we can see if we should be buying pink clothes or blue ones.

Also coming up this month... we're in the wedding of our friends Jon and Rachel. Yes, I will be the token pregnant bridesmaid, but it should be a lot of fun.

Pictures and news about all of these things to come...

Stephanie

Living in the here and now: an exercise in trusting God

Wow, 4 weeks go so fast, and it's time for another pregnancy picture!

There's a bit more of a tummy there, and there's definitely someone in there who's been amusing me with their little kicks. That really is such a fun part of being pregnant (at least so far, before baby is jabbing me in the ribs!)

I keep waiting to have something super exciting to post about, but to be honest, right now I feel at times like I am living in the "day to day" drudge. The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster and at times very discouraging. First I found out that one of the standard blood tests they run when you're pregnant came back as a false positive, and my OB-GYN wants me to see a specialist. Then, Dan and I found out that insurance from his new job won't kick in until he's been employed for 6 months, not 90 days. Which.... puts it at the beginning of August. We're not quite sure of all the details and if it will be starting in time to cover the cost of the hospital. I also found out today that my mom is still pretty sick with Lyme Disease. When your hormones are raging... and you're already doing the normal worrying stuff about the baby... it all feels pretty darn overwhelming.

What I'm starting to realize is that these are really good opportunities (!) to trust God. In pretty much all of these situations, I am helpless and absolutely dependent on the Lord. I have to keep reminding myself that's a good place to be! As a friend of mine has said, "It will be exciting to see what the Lord is going to do."

Leaning on His grace day by day,
Stephanie

Week 18

Here's a new picture, for week 18.



WOW, I can't believe we're almost to the halfway point. While I was home alone on Saturday I started reading my What to Expect: the First Year book. I'm not sure whether that was a good idea or not! Reading that book made me realize how very unready I feel to have a baby. Can I confess something? I am not, and never really have been, a huge "baby person." I think babies are adorable at around the 6 month stage, and I adore toddlers because they are such cute little people with personalities! But new babies seem so fragile and I wonder, will I be able to feed, change, and clothe such a tiny little person?

Thankfully, my mom told me that she had the same feelings when she had me and my sister. She wasn't a huge baby person either, but when it's your own, it all kind of just kicks in, or so I hear. I guess we'll find out about 22 weeks when we meet this precious new little person!

Stephanie

An update

I realize I've been bad at updating this blog, but hopefully in six months when I have all kinds of baby pictures, that will change! I've been holding out on a new tummy picture because instead of a definite baby bump, my stomach looks like I've been eating a few too many cookies for the last couple of months. I'll give it another week.

Last night our community group from church went indoor rock climbing. I had never done this before, and was skeptical whether it would be fun or not (I could just picture me making a fool of myself!) But it turned out to be a lot of fun. It's actually kind of a work out to do! And the best part? With your harness, you can't actually fall when you slip, just kind of hang there. Not sure I'm ready to embrace actual rock climbing, though. Real rocks don't have colored hand holds.

So I've been asked what my pregnancy symptoms are, and for those who are curious, I thought I'd give the run down here.

Morning sickness or dizziness? Nope. (Hallelujah!)

Cravings? Not really anything that I HAVE to have, but right now my favorite things to munch are peanut butter, cheese sticks, and cottage cheese. Must be a protein thing. And for some reason, pizza always sounds amazingly good to me.

Frequent bathroom breaks? Not so bad at this point. We'll give it a few months, when baby starts dancing jigs on top of my insides.

Hot flashes? YES. It's all the hormones, which sometimes keep me up at night. I feel like I'm going through menopause. I love summer, but my mom always told me how uncomfortable it was being nine months pregnant in August with me. Payback, I guess.

Forgetfulness? Absolutely. Pregnancy brain is frustrating for someone who's always been uber organized and on top of things. A couple of months ago, I left my purse somewhere and then my coat at another place, all in one day. Dan thought I was losing it. I'm not denying that he was right.

All in all, I can't complain. I'm thankful for a pretty easy pregnancy, so far!

Stephanie

A bloodless but not painless experience!

I can't think of anything too entirely original to post about tonight, so I will complain about my medical experiences the past week! :) First the fun stuff. Dan and I had our first prenatal appointment on Monday, which went great. I love my doctor, and decided right away I was good with her delivering our baby! I guess that's a good sign. We got to hear the little one's heartbeat - wow to say the least. It was so quiet and fast, but it definitely confirmed that there is something going on in there!

Unfortunately though, I had to have my blood drawn, yuck. I know, it's a normal part of life, but my veins just don't seem to cooperate. The nurse at the doctor's office tried valiantly two days last week to get something out of me, but it was just not happening. So they sent me off to the lab, where, as the nurse put it, "They'll get you in one try." Oh my, I wish that had been true. They led me to the room where they draw blood, and it was freezing cold. The first phlebotomist tried three times and each time he made a sound like, "Oooh." Not good! So they had me come back the next day to try with a different phlebotomist. Two ladies tried on me, and thankfully, one got a little bit out - only enough to run one of the tests, though. I guess I have small veins to start with, and in a room that's kept pretty cool, they had no plans of showing themselves. (Hearing one of the phlebotomists say, "Oh, the needle is the same size as your vein" is not a good sign.) I guess I will just have to bring a heated blanket next time, or run a marathon before hand, one or the other! I joked that I was so full of holes that if I drank water, I'd spring a leak.

Well, I keep telling myself I wanted to start documenting what my baby belly looks like, and at the beginning of month 4, I just got around to having Dan take a picture. My stomach is funny - some days it's flat, some days not so much. Good bye flat stomach, I'll see you at the end of this year, I hope!

Stephanie

Stranger than fiction

I was just thinking the other day how sometimes it's so easy to get the "grass is greener on the other side" syndrome and start thinking that everyone's life looks so much easier than my own. I've often thought lately that my own life seems "stranger than fiction." At times it feels like so many things in my life have just been so odd—like my older sister's handicap, my dad's unemployment, my mom's chronic illness, my medical trip to New Mexico, an unplanned pregnancy. I look around at the people around me and think, "Why does no one else seem to be struggling with such strange things in life?"

What a limited perspective! I forget that no one's life is exactly smooth sailing. Suffering and hard times touch everyone, from the richest celebrities to the poorest people on the streets. It's a plain old fact of our humanness. When I look at the people around me, it's easy to miss the pain, the struggles, the hurts that they carry everyday from both the past and the present. No one's immune to difficulties.

Last night I was reading one of my devotional books from Joni Eareckson Tada, who quite frankly, is one of my heroes as well as one of my favorite authors. This particular devotional book is called 31 Days toward Overcoming Adversity. As I read this passage, God's simple truth hit me over the head:

The sufferings we encounter in life—even the garden-variety sort of daily trails—are meant to help us partake of Christ. For when we enter the fellowship of His sufferings, God strips us of our "self-help" mindset. We are forced to our knees and driven to lean on His grace. Then—and, it seems, only then—can God impart His Son's character to us. In so doing, we are "made like Him."

Rather than complaining about the struggles and hard things that God brings into my life, I should be seeing them as gifts from God, opportunities to become more like Him and share in fellowship with Him. After all, Scripture tells me to "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."

Lord knows that I need a fresh perspective every day, every minute, every second. But rather than acting the part of the martyr, I hope to remember that "in every situation, God is doing a thousand things that you cannot see and you cannot know."

Stephanie

(Just for fun, here's Dan and me at White Sands, New Mexico. It was so beautiful! And no, it's not a beach, just miles of perfectly white sand dunes.)

Footnotes from a crazy trip

Where to even begin? Dan and I are here in sunny New Mexico! We flew in yesterday with the purpose of seeing the doctor who my mom saw a couple months ago. We wanted to be tested to make sure we weren't carrying any Lyme Disease bacteria, since both my parents tested positive. I know it sounds crazy, but this doctor has seen whole families carrying Lyme Disease. Apparently, the mainstream medical community's view and understanding of the disease is fairly limited.

So today, we were able to see him, and he did some testing. I could only hope and pray that he would find nothing... and thankfully, most of that prayer was answered. He did discover that I have something called mycoplasm (a bacterial parasite), some yeast overgrowth, bacteria, and unfortunately, a touch of the spirochetes that cause Lyme Disease, apparently a recent acquirement. Dan, on the other hand, had no spriochetes (yay) but a pretty overwhelming amount of mycoplasm. It was so yucky to see on the microscope! The good news is, the doctor has had success treating of all of this. I am hopeful that clearing this yuckiness out of my body and detoxing will relieve some of my excema syptoms that have been so NOT fun.

Anyway, that is a short update on what is up with us. Life has been so overwhelming at times. On the bright side, we get an entire day tomorrow to go site seeing and enjoy some vacation-ish stuff. Since it's hard to take vacations these days, we want to make the most of this time.

We would appreciate your prayers!

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." ...LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure... Psalm 16

Stephanie

Invitation production line

Yesterday Dan and I got to hang out with our good friends Jon and Rachel (who are getting married May 30!), her sister Darcey, and my roommate from college, Bekah. We had a good reason to hang out: we had wedding invitations to crank out, 150 of them to be exact.


I think they turned out really pretty! Rachel's color choices are really unique: red, orangey-gold, gray, and black, and she found some beautiful patterned papers that pulled them all together nicely. She picked out several of them, so all of the invitations have varied papers on them wrapped around the middle.


I didn't know if could get them all done, but we did it, production-line style! Here we are with the finished product.

Stephanie

Misfit

Anyone remember the island of misfit toys from the classic Rudolph the Red nose Rain deer movie? (Which, by the way, I did not get to see this Christmas. It was not Christmas when I was a kid until I had watched this movie as well as Frosty the Snowman.)

I'm naming my post in honor of those toys. Last night Dan and I went clothes shopping because I had a Christmas present to return and therefore credit to use up at a store. It honestly was kind of funny because Dan walked away with two pairs of pants from the experience and I could find... nothing.

Here's my problem. I'm a misfit. I wander over to the Juniors department and see screen shirts, funny colored jeans, and oddly ruffled miniskirts. Don't get me wrong. There's some cute clothes in the Juniors department, but I've decided that since I'm 22, it's time to step it up.

So I head over to the misses' department. It doesn't go much better there. The clothes just don't seem to fit my body, and many of them are edging dangerously close to the middle-aged look.

What's a girl to do?

Head to Ross Dress for Less. That's my solution. Tucked in the endless racks of clothes, I can usually end up finding a cute shirt or two that doesn't scream "I'm 14."

Anyone else experienced this?

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

Stephanie

P.S. Cindy your family picture is adorable! I love it! Thanks for sending me one. :)

Snow Day

Hasn't this weather been kinda crazy? I've gone between loving the snow and hating the cold temperatures and the ice. Brrr!

Stephanie

Crafty

The name of my post reflects some stuff I've been doing lately, not a personality trait! I'm amazed almost 3 weeks have gone by since my post on me and Dan - anybody else feel like we're hurdling toward Christmas? I found a quote recently (for something at work actually), and I thought it was a great reminder I really needed:

Although our society has muddied the message of Christmas through consumerism, myths and empty traditions, we should not let these distract us from appreciating the real meaning of Christmas. Let us take advantage of this opportunity to remember Him, worship Him and faithfully witness of Him. - John MacArthur

On a completely different note, and on to why I named my post, Dan and I are excited to be in the wedding of our friends Jon and Rachel who are getting married next Memorial Day weekend (copy cats!) Rachel graciously allowed me the honor of helping with her wedding invitations, and since I really do love making cards, I had a good time with this.

Here's the winner (never mind the messed-up wording, it's a work in progress):

Her choice of colors and patterns was super fun, so I'm excited to help her put them together in January!

My other project recently was making a pair of Christmas stockings for me and Dan. Everywhere we went in the stores, all we could find were shiny, gaudy, flashy stockings, and we really do like country looking decorations - so we decided to make some (famous last words). Last Saturday at my parents house I spent a tedious four hours putting them together (sewing and me aren't close friends). But they turned out so cute! (I did find a hole in one today, oops, gotta fix that.)



Remembering Him this season,
Stephanie

Six months and counting

Today is November 24, and that means that officially Dan and I have been married for six months. I was told by a newly married friend that time goes fast when you're married, and wow, was she right. I'm afraid of waking up one day and finding that I'm forty! I think life is better right now than it has ever been, and I don't want to miss a minute of it. Married life is SO much better than dating!

I'm going to attempt to write a short tribute to the last six months. Since it's now 5:50 in the morning, I'm not sure whether it will turn out way too mushy or just plain ridiculous. Read at your own risk!

Favorite wedding day moment: It's a toss up, so I'll pick three. First, seeing him for the first time, me in my wedding dress, him looking oh-so-handsome in his tux. Second, saying my vows to Dan and seeing his reaction. Fun stuff. Third, our kiss after the vows. Dan pulled out all the stops and performed a swoop-your-woman-up-in-your-arms-and-smooth-her number, I think much to our pastor's amusement or horror, I'm not sure which. It was great.

Worst wedding moment: There's not much to work with here, but I'll say our rehearsal. It was a zoo and made me think that our wedding might turn out to be a freak show (it wasn't.) We were both frustrated because everyone had opinions about everything, and we were even told we couldn't run (walk briskly?) back down the aisle when we were pronounced husband and wife. We did anyway once we were married. :)

Best married traditions: Mugs of hot cocoa on Saturday mornings. Yum. The off-to-work kisses in the morning and the honey-I'm-home kisses at night. Friday night dates, which sometimes are as simple as going to work out together or watching a movie at home and eating popcorn. The point is being together, not how fancy the date is.

What we're most thankful for in the past six months: Our church. Honestly, I don't know what we would have done without Cornerstone. We've met so many awesome people and have wholeheartedly enjoyed getting plugged in there. God is so good.

Most annoying habits discovered: When you've dated for 3 1/2 years, we had hoped there wouldn't be too many surprises in store as far as this goes. I did discover pretty early on that Dan apparently took pains to remove each and every sock from his foot inside out and left them that way to go through the wash. Solution: he realized his socks were never clean going through the washer like that, and mended his ways. Dan discovered fairly early on that I had the charming habit of squeezing the toothpaste from the top instead of the bottom (I know, classically annoying, huh?) Solution: separate toothpaste tubes. I guess also qualify for more annoying habits, mainly rolling onto his side of the bed at night and pushing him to the very edge, and stealing all the covers.

Worst married moment: It's probably every Tuesday, when we get up at 5 a.m. to get Dan to work by 6 a.m. We just don't talk while we're getting ready. My body is always very clever and helpful on Monday nights and makes sure I sleep the worst on these nights. So making a sandwich in the morning becomes a colossal challenge (although I think Dan tried to put a box of cereal in the refrigerator one morning, so I suppose I'm not alone). I have to be honest and say there have been no dramatic fights. Sure, we have our moments when we get frustrated with each other, but I can't come up with any real winners to share here. We'd like to keep it that way.

Most dramatic married moment: Okay, I'll share something that's rather personal on here. Last month there were a couple weeks where it seemed like a very good possibility that I might be pregnant. It feels silly to share that on a blog, but I share it because I have never been more thankful for my husband or more proud of what the Lord is doing in his life. He showed far more maturity and wisdom and faith than I did in responding to that new thought, and he was a rock for me. And no, it turns out we are NOT expecting, but I think the Lord never wastes an experience on our lives and never fails to use them to show us something new about ourselves.

Thanks, Dan, for a great past six months. I know that despite whatever challenges they may bring, the next six months, and the future beyond, will be a joy and a blessing simply because we are together.

Stephanie

Hope for the first time in a long time

Well, it seems that the Lord is up to some pretty awesome stuff in my family's lives these days. As most of you who read this probably know, for about the past four years, my mom has been fighting what we thought was MS. My dad and I have watched it slowly drain her of her strength, her energy, and really her ability to enjoy life like she used to. The mom of my childhood was always super involved, visiting my sister, volunteering at my school, cooking yummy meals, helping with my dad's business. Now unable to drive and hardly able to walk, her life has been very different.

I had really gotten to the point where I had accepted that this was the way the Lord was working in her life, and knew there was a very good possibility she would never get better. She had been pursuing treatment from a naturaopath, but it seemed to the rest of us that the doctor didn't know exactly what he was dealing with and her "treatments" really weren't helping her get any better.

But two weeks ago... a break through. My mom met some people at her doctor's office who packed up for New Mexico to get a second opinion. They had heard of a doctor there who specialized in treating Lyme Disease, which is often misdiagnosed as MS. Through their eyes, my mom got to learn about him and what he does. Apparently he himself was cured from Lyme Disease, and he has helped many, many people.

Modern medicine sees Lyme as a bacteria that is treated with antibiotics, but this stuff really is nasty. Once it's in your body, it has no intention of leaving, and from what I understand, antibiotics kill a lot of it, but not all of it. This doctor's treatment is different. While he acknowledges it's a bacteria, he treats it more as the virulent parasite it is.

So in the matter of a few days, my parents packed their bags and hopped on a plane for New Mexico. I was cautiously hopeful. But on Friday I got a call that the doctor had tested her blood using a special microscope, and yes, she was positive for Lyme Disease. She also had a lot of other nasties since her body is so compromised.

I can't even tell you how amazing it was to have a solid diagnosis. Basically this stuff has been eating my mom's nutrition and her muscles. So on Monday, she began a 7-day IV treatment that makes the Lyme expose itself and then kills it. She will have to go back in 2 months to be tested, but 90% of the doctor's patients are better after the first treatment.

His advice? Go home and REST and EAT. My mom has been doing a very strict diet designed for the food allergies and MS she supposedly had. What a joy it was to talk to her on the phone and hear that she was eating steak, breakfast sandwiches, hamburgers and fish! Finally she gets to live again!

The slightly troubling news is that Lyme is more contagious than many people realize (most people think you can ONLY get it by a tick bite.) My dad does show positive for having it, so he will be treated as well. Thankfully his immune system is strong enough that it has not affected him.

In all of this, I am grateful to the Lord beyond words. While I know that my mom's recovery could be very, very slow, I also know that this news has rekindled hope in my family. I am thankful that our God is the Lord of suffering AND the Lord of healing. He meets each one of us where we are at and sustains for us the journey. Praise the Lord!

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
Psalm 147:3-4

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.
Psalm 103:2-4

Stephanie

Fall, Lovely Fall

Well, it's about time that I updated and delivered on my promise of pictures. I was just thinking yesterday that I wished I had a camera with me when I was out driving. I always think to take pictures when I go somewhere unique, but sometimes I forgot to take pictures of the everyday things around me. I really can't remember a prettier Oregon fall than we've had this year - the trees are colors are so vibrant and stunning and the sun has been out every day. It was strange talking to Stephanie in Alaska the other day and hearing that it is in the 20s and snowing there! Sorry Steph, you just need to come visit. :)

Alrighty, back to the trip...

So the day after we arrived in Chicago, we went to the lovely town of Wheaton and visited two museums on the Wheaton College campus. One of them was called the Wade Center, and it was a "mini museum" with a collection of items about C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and a few other writers. This oak wardrobe was handmade by C.S. Lewis's grandfather, and resided in Lewis's childhood home. His brother said that it was the inspiration for the wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Though as my brother-in-law wisely pointed out, Lucy would have had to crawl into this wardrobe!

Just absolutely loved this painting of Aslan.

The campus of Wheaton. My only complaint was that because we were in a rush after visiting the museums, we had to eat in their cafeteria. Quite honestly it brought back some very painful memories for me of days when I couldn't find anything to eat in my school's cafeteria but tortilla chips and carrots and a handful of shredded cheese. I think subsisted on that stuff for four years! Thankfully, their food was better than Corban's.

The group of ladies I went with. They were so much fun. I joked before the trip that it was like going on a trip with seven mothers, but really it was more like going with seven great friends. I'm so blessed to work with them all and to learn from their wisdom!

Here's our group with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, whose ministry for women, Revive Our Hearts, put on the conference. She was a dear! And of course, she was as amazing in person as she was on stage sharing from her heart.

We got to try frozen custard from Culver's, which we had heard raving reviews about. I greatly enjoyed it, since ice cream in most forms is a close friend of mine, but it still didn't compare to Tillamook's Udderly Chocolate ice cream... which was waiting for me at home.

And speaking of home... it was really good to be back. Hope you've enjoyed the pictures... I would love to hear how you all are doing!

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:10

Stephanie

A Weekend to Remember

Well, I am back in the lovely land of the Pacific NW after my jaunt to Chicago to attend the True Woman 08 Conference. It's really hard to know how to sum up 4 really amazing days in a blog post short enough that anyone would actually read it, so I'll just hit the highlights. I think one of my co-workers put it so well when she said, "I was so empty before I left, and now I feel so full."

First of all, the conference was amazing, and it was HUGE. As in 6,300 women in one room. I think Dan's exact words when I told him that were, "That's WAY too many women"!

While it's true that the amount of estrogen in the conference center was off the chart, there was nothing fluffy or wimpy about this conference. Every speaker has something very profound to say - including John Piper, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Janet Parshall, and Joni Eareckson Tada.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite thoughts and quotes that I was privileged to hear.

“In every situation God is always doing a thousand different things you cannot see and do not know.” - John Piper.

"Stop listening to yourself; talk to yourself." - Karen Loritts

"Can you accept His will for your life, even if it's not what you want?" - Janet Parshall

"I want to be a jewel that does not cringe when God chooses to give me a good scrubbing every now and then. My soul can stand a good scrubbing." - Joni Eareckson Tada

"Don't waste your suffering." - Joni Eareckson Tada

"Don't judge the outcome of the battle by the way things look right now." - Nancy Leigh DeMoss

My "touchstone" moment was definitely Friday night when they showed the video message from Joni Eareckson Tada (if you don't know much about Joni, you have to read her books. She is an amazing woman of God.) Joni is a quadriplegic, but she has been experiencing some very difficult pain in her bones and wasn't able to be there in person. Her message was so very, very powerful - about how the Lord uses suffering in our lives. If you have the time, I'd very much recommend listening to her message on audio.
Next time I will share some pictures from the trip!

Because of His grace,
S.

Off to Chicago...

So I realize that so far I am not doing so good at keeping up with this blogging thing! But since I am sitting here waiting for my ride to the airport and I rarely have extra time, I thought I would write a short update.

I am truly blessed because this week I am off to Chicago with the rest of the staff at my office! We are going to Nancy Leigh Demoss' True Woman 08 Conference. It should be really awesome - I have never heard John Piper speak and am looking forward to that. Also, it's embarrassing, but I've never been back that far east before, and you can bet I'm going to have a window seat on the airplane, and hopefully I'll be able to see something.

I'll update on how it was, and include pictures, when I get back.

In the mean time, I have to steal something off of my boss' blog. Do ya'll know about Brian Regan? He is just plain hilarious, and a pretty clean comedian too, which makes him all the funnier. Dan and I have one of his stand up routines on ITunes and we can practically recite half the lines from it, we love it so much. Anyway, this video is quite entertaining, so enjoy!



Stephanie

Wedding Pictures Tour

I thought it would be fun to post of my few wedding pictures from our big day. Hey, I figure my parents payed enough for our photographer that we want to get our use out of the pictures! In all seriousness, I just enjoy sharing photos from that day, so for those who care, enjoy. :)

On another note... I had a flip calendar that someone gave me as a gift earlier this year. Each day I flip the calendar and read a quote about everybody's favorite topic - love. Some of them are way too Shakespeare-y or mushy for my taste, but occasionally there's some really thought-provoking ones. Yesterday's that got me thinking was: "To love someone means to see them as God intended them" - Feodor Dostoyevski

I realized that was a very beautiful way of expressing how I want to see each person in my day- as the Lord would have me see them - fully created in His image and precious in His sight, in complete need of His truth and grace. How would that change how I treat them, talk about them, think about them?

Okay, enough contemplating. I'll leave you to enjoy pictures!

My handsome groom, the reason for the whole day!

Fun dessert table our caterer did for us. I had asked her to do some desserts and fruit, but I had no idea it would all turn out like this! I think the fruit bouquets were my favorite.

The view from the balcony during the ceremony.

Some people think it's strange we don't have heads in this photo, but I really like this focus on our hands.

Lovely bridesmaids. Each girl got to choose a slightly different variation on her dress, and I thought they turned out really cute.

Kissing daddy, I really like this one!

Hope ya'll are having a good weekend!

Stephanie

Infamous Motherhood Stories

Okay, Stephanie V. inspired me with her strange yet funny blog post, so I am posting a link to something along the same lines. The fun thing about blogs is that you can have some insight into the lives of people that you really don't know all that well, but who have great stories to tell. The daughter of my boss, Randy Alcorn, is one such person. I've been a faithful follower of her blog for a while now just because she is so FUNNY. This infamous story from a while back involves her two small children, the bathtub, and excess fruit consumption. Get my drift? (The small child in this particular picture is not one of hers; that happens to be my husband at age 1, and I posted it, well, because it's cute.)

Anyway, I read this story, and it made me cry with laughter and decide I'm not quite ready YET to be a mother. (Cindy, do you have any infamous motherhood stories yet???? So good to hear from you by the way. Miss you, and congrats on baby number 2!)

So if you have a minute, check out Angie's blog: http://dastump.blogspot.com/2007/01/finallya-new-post.html

Stephanie