Taking My Mind Off Things

I need to write about something that will take my mind off things, so I thought I would introduce you to our newest household appliance that we do not have room for:

It's a juicer- a really good one. Thanks to Simple Guy's reward points at work we got it for FREE! You can put anything you want in this and it will reduce it to pulp, literally. I just made a delicious apple-pear juice for myself and it was great.


Moving forward, I'll be learning how to make juices using kale, carrots, cucumber, ginger and other raw fruits and vegetables so that Simple Guy and I can start our day off right.


Maybe next time you are over at the Simpleton house I'll make you a kale-ginger-apple drink.....maybe......depends on how I am feeling that day, know what I mean?

Also, I thought I would tell you that last week I went to the Merchandise Mart sample sale and got an acrylic orange tray, frame, and organic cotton baby blanket all for $20- all that would have retailed for over $100. And Simple Guy made his own trip and picked up 8 organic cotton hats and 5 pairs of organic cotton socks for $11 and that all would have retailed for over $60. We like deals and I think we have a knack for finding them!

That's all for now......

It Hurts to Hurt

I know that someday the sharp pain of this will dull, but it's little comfort today.

This morning during worship at church we sang a song that had the phrase "empty me" in the chorus and it was so difficult to sing that because the reality is that I am already empty in the physical sense. My baby is gone- my belly is empty.

This loss is real. And there is no making sense of it; if only I could. It hurts to hurt.

If you read this and you believe in the power of prayer like I do, will you please pray that I will not lose sight of hope and that I will not become bitter. I don't want to become the kind of person who can't be happy for others in their season of joy; babies are a gift from God and should be celebrated. And I'll take any chance to celebrate these days.

Our Glory Baby

I had hoped to relaunch this blog with the exciting news that we were expecting, but there was a change of plans. We lost our sweet baby on Wednesday.

And we are heartbroken.

For an entire week we waffled between delighted disbelief, giggles, and glad anticipation of what the weeks and months to come held in store as we awaited the day we would get to meet our baby. For an entire week we felt the joy and experienced the wonderment that comes with the promise of life growing. To some, a week may seem too little time to fall in love, but it's more time than we ever needed to fall in love with our sweet baby.

And now we have a lifetime to know that our first baby is a glory baby being held in the arms of Jesus. Oh, how I wish I could have held our baby first, but my heart is at rest to know that my baby is with the One who gives life. And takes life.

This was indeed a change of plans for us, but we rest in the hope and promises of God as we look to the future. We take Him at His word that He works for the good of those who love Him. We believe His ways are better than ours.

And so I grieve with hope and the joy of knowing that for a brief time I was someone's mom; this, I know, can never be taken away.

He gives. He takes away. And we will praise Him no matter the circumstance.

"But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise YOU more and more." Psalm 71:14

A Butcher? A Baker? A Candlestick Maker?

I am having a mid, mid-life crisis. And I need your help. I mean it. I really need your help.

I have been looking for a job for nearly four months and given the fact that I am at home in my slippers and last night's pajama pants (I went to Costco in them) typing this post at 2pm on a Wednesday while sipping a homemade latte, well, I have had no success in securing employment.

My professional experience lies under the umbrella of higher education and under that are areas of specialty such as event planning, student development, and marketing.

My interests include "green" living, interior design, graphic design, writing/blogging, children's ministry, and anything orange.

So what I need you to do is to throw out ideas of things I could do or places I could look for a position based on what I shared with you and on what you know about me. Your idea could be just what I need!

So please, on behalf of the butcher

the baker

and the candles that the candlestick maker made


send me your ideas! All ideas are welcome.

Back from California

What, you didn't know I left? I know, I wanted to keep it a secret! No particular reason....maybe just for the shock value of telling you that I had gone and come back all in the span of 8 days.

I haven't much to share except a few pics of family....

This is me with my cousin Melissa's family: that's Melissa in the back right with her son Eric next to her and in the front is her husband Joe with their daughter Lauren. Oh, and that's me looking away from the sun.

This is me and Simple Guy....in case you needed me to tell you! Notice the many layers and my scarf. It was cooooold in San Diego!

And this is my precious Grandma- Simple Guy calls her Meme (pronounced "may-may"). My sister, brother and I used to call her that because we called my dad's mom Grandma and needed a different name for my mom's mom.....and Meme is a shortened way to say Grandma in French. Anyway, here she is sitting in my aunt's living room. Isn't her fur vest awesome? I told you it was cold!

I Heart the Book of Daniel

I have been studying the book of Daniel using Beth Moore's "Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy" study. Here it is:

I have been doing this in a small group for the past few months and I have to tell you that I highly recommend it to anyone looking to dig deeper in the Word with fellow sojourners.

I can recall poo-pooing a class on Daniel being offered at my alma mater (here's a little trivia for you: I have a degree in Bible- everyone at my alma mater automatically received a double major in Bible and whatever you chose to study) because I though the book was, in my sophiticated college thought, "Booooooring!"

Oh how wrong I was, friends! The book of Daniel is AMAZING! You cannot fully understand Revelations unless you study Daniel. Studying Daniel provides more insight and backdrop into other passages found in other books such as Proverbs, Isaiah, and Ezekiel.

Seriously, I heart Daniel. Now I understand why one woman who was studying this book during her pregnancy later named her son Daniel.

If you attend my church and think you might be interested in doing this study, let me know because I am considering doing it again.

"Orange" You Glad I Shared These With You?

Oh, I love orange- I really, really do. I can't tell you what started my love affair for all things orange, but whatever it was that bit me, it bit me hard. In honor of my love for all things orange, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite orange things.

This is a smaller version of my current day planner- I got mine from Marshall's for $9.99 but it retails for nearly $50. I think the company that made mine makes a good planner- check them out here.

I really like this lip balm by Alba Organics. It has SPF in it and no petroleum! You can find these and other great flavors at Whole Foods and I believe I saw them at Target.

So you probably remember my boots- my beautiful Hunter Wellies in Pumpkin. Oh friends, you have not truly walked the earth until you have done so in orange Wellies!

There are no words to describe how wonderful this perfume-in-a-stick smells- this is Musc & Patchouli. I bought my latest tube from Anthropoligie but you can find this and other scents at Amazon.com. Check out the company's site here.

Okay, so this is the deal of the century that you are looking at here. I bought this exact BCBG wool cardigan for.......drum roll please.......$7! It retailed at $210. Gotta love Marshall's! It is so much prettier in person- has gold threads through it with tiny gold bead buttons.

Let's hear it for mid-century orange vellour chairs! Whoo-hoo! We got these sweet things from Room and Board.

Opening cans is so much more fun with this KitchenAid can opener!

And I also have an orange wallet but could not find a picture on the web to show you and I was too lazy to take one myself.

Someday maybe I'll have any of these things:

Orla Keily bag

Mac notebook

KitchenAid mixer....when we move into a bigger place with more cabinet space! And if I convince Simple Guy to get it in this color and not silver or white.