Fresh New Life

We are blessed to live in an incredibly beautiful area, surrounded with green hills, and close to the countryside and vineyards. I have the privilege of seeing this every morning when I walk the kids to school:

(the building in the distance is my kids’ school, which I defended at the local school board meeting Thursday night by giving a speech about 3 reasons why closing this school would be a mistake. I normally feel completely at ease speaking in front of people, and I wasn’t nervous at all……until I got up there in front of that crowded room. I had never spoken at anything that formal before and I was still sweating by the time I got home! But thankfully, our school looks to be safe.)

Every morning on our way to school, the kids and I walk past a field where 2 beautiful white horses reside. In recent months it had become very obvious that one of the horses was pregnant, as her sides were bulging out massively above her legs. My friend Anna and I enjoyed pressing our hands into her, trying to feel the baby kick.

Because pregnancy is one of my very favorite things in this entire world, I have felt a special connection to this horse, Franny. While watching and petting her, my heart would sing out questions to her.

“Do you know? Do you know about the little life growing inside of you? Do you already love it? Do you love it so much you can hardly stand it? So much that you can’t think about anything else? Do you day dream about it? Wondering if it is a boy or a girl? Imagining yourself nuzzling it? Nursing it? Do you wonder if it will be white like you, or the color of its daddy? Do you smile and talk to it every time it kicks you? Are you so full of joy, love and gratitude that you feel like you’re floating? Are you just loving being a mama already? Are you?”

Friday morning I routinely stopped by the horses, pointing out to Andrew “Look at the horsies! What do horsies say? Nayyyyy!!!!” and as I was squinting to see Franny across the field, I suddenly spotted a white mass lying underneath her. My heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Seeing Anna walking down the hill, I screamed, “I MIGHT BE HALLUCINATING, BUT I THINK SHE HAD HER BABY!!!!!” Anna and her daughter came running and screaming towards me. As we watched a little more, the “white mass” stood up!!! But it wasn’t all white. Its white body was adorned with a jet black head, neck and tail! Watching those shaky legs wobble over to its mother, I lost it. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks, and my kids began asking me why I was crying. How do you explain it? How do you explain the miracle of fresh new life? Of seeing a pregnant horse one morning, and then seeing a beautiful, strong baby horse the next? How do you explain the wonder of being pregnant? Of being a mother? Of God’s incredible creation?

Something about pregnancy, birth and new life is so beautiful and awesome to me that it often brings me to tears.

On the way home from dropping off Harrison and Grace, I stopped to watch the newborn again. I was amazed by how big it was, only being a few hours old. If giving birth to an 8 pound baby  put me through such unspeakable pain, how in the world was Franny able to push out this baby, who already stands taller than Harrison and Grace? How did she do it? And if my babies’ kicks inside of me were sometimes uncomfortable, how did she endure being kicked by legs as long as my arms?

This time the foal wobbled over to Franny and began nursing. Ahhhhh! A mother nursing her baby. Again, my tears flowed. How beautiful the way God created mothers with the special ability to nurture and care for their infants. How beautiful that everything that baby needed was right there in its mother. I remember when my babies were born I felt so humbled knowing that I was the only one who could give them what they needed when they were hungry. That I was often the only one who could comfort them when they were crying. The special bond I had with them  filled me with intense love and thankfulness. I remember asking Nick on several occasions if he was jealous that I got to be the one to carry them inside of me, give birth to them, nurse them and comfort them? Because if he gotten to do all that and I had to stand by and watch, I would’ve been jealous. Crazy jealous. But, oddly enough, he was never jealous. Not even for a second! Actually, he normally answered the question by shaking his head emphatically with a dramatic, “NO!!!!”

I wish I had had my camera in the stroller Friday morning so I could share pictures of the new foal with you. But instead, I wanted to share with you my renewed sense of awe and wonder at God’s creativity and incredible creation.

I praise Him for new life!

Since I don’t have any pictures of the foal to share, I thought it would be fun to include a couple of my favorite maternity shots that my friend Rebecca took of me while I was pregnant with Andrew. She took these pictures on my due date, Oct.28, 5 days before my sweet boy was born. And I am so, so thankful that I have them. Looking at them brings back so many memories of that precious, incredible time of my life, and it makes me praise God for His goodness and faithfulness.

         

              

Psalm 139:13-16

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Never put off till tomorrow…….

Growing up in Michigan, I’m a winter sports girl. I used to love spending hours peacefully gliding through the serene, snow covered woods on cross-country skis. After a particularly big snow storm, I remember cross-country skiing with Nick down the streets all the way to my parents’ house, just to say “hi.” And there’s nothing more invigorating than whizzing down a mountain (or big hill) on down-hill skiis, dodging moguls and spraying powder. Also, a short walk from my childhood house was Jaycee Park, where they would make an iceskating rink every winter. Almost every single day after school, my sisters and I would throw our skates over our shoulders, walk through the cemetery and through the woods to the rink, and skate all the way until dinner time. I absolutely loved the feeling of the cold air whizzing past me as I flew around and around the rink, refreshed and rejuvenated.

Although iceskating is one of my favorite pastimes, I sadly hadn’t done it since Harrison was born. It was hard to get out with  a baby (and then 2 babies) in the house, and then when we moved to California I never got the opportunity. Until last weekend.

We received a flyer from school last week advertising a school ice skating party. Skating and rentals were both completely free, and everyone was invited! I knew instantly that we were going, no doubt about it.

I was going ice skating!!!

Since neither Harrison nor Grace had skated before, I figured that they would both need one on one help the entire time, being completely supported. So I asked a 13 year old girl from our church to babysit Andrew. Almost every single Sunday she begs to babysit him, and since she lives in Vacaville near the ice skating rink, and her mom would be home, I saw this as the perfect situation.

When we got there, I instantly began enjoying myself, greeting many people that I knew from school. It was like a big party! When we got out on the ice, I breathed in the fresh, icy air and I felt so alive. I was so excited that it was difficult to fight the urge to take off on my skates, gliding around in circles at top speed. But I remembered that I was there to teach my kids to skate, so I held myself back. The lesson began and both kids absolutely blew us away! After a couple of times around holding our hands, they both asked us to let go, and  they skated without us the entire time! At one point Grace even asked me if I could get a little further away from her! Ouch.

The great part about their independence was that Nick and I took turns- one would stay by the kids, and one would go off and skate fast. I speed skated until my shins ached and I just had the biggest grin on my face. It felt so great! I even tried out some of the tricks that I learned in ice skating classes back in 4th grade, and I couldn’t believe that I could still do them after that many years! I guess it’s like learning to ride a bike. Okay, I might have been a little rusty, but I could still do them!

We had a fabulous evening and it reminded me of the importance of planning fun things to do as a family- especially activities that are new for the kids. It is so fun to teach them new things, and to see their excitement. I also think it is good for their self-confidence, learning a new skill and challenging themselves, learning that they can do it.

Another wonderful part of the evening was going back to our friends’ house to find Andrew as happy as can be. He was content all evening, and I could see that his babysitter really enjoyed him. She showed us all of the tricks and new words she had taught him, and she showed us how much he loved her guinea pig. I’m not a big fan of rodents, but I have to admit that this little guy was actually kind of cute. And seeing Andrew’s delight warmed my heart.

I’ve heard the saying, “Families who play together stay together,” and I was reminded by our evening iceskating of the truth of this statement. If life becomes nothing but completing “to do” lists- chores/work/homework,etc, I think it becomes hard to truly enjoy each other. But doing something as a family, like iceskating, caused us to laugh together, making memories.

I hope I always remember to take a break from my never ending to do list, (which is never going to be completely finished anyways, even if I were to work all night), and do something fun with my kids. Heck, we could even write THAT on our to do lists! Ann: Get out a game and play it with kids. Note to self: Sit at the table and color. Go ice skating. Go roller skating.  Go for a hike. Go to the marina and look at the boats. Go to the airport and watch the planes. Go to the park and catch crawdads in the creek. Play hide and seek. Take out just one of the kids on a “date” after husband comes home. (I just took Harrison to Jamba Juice this afternoon, and it is unbelievable how he transforms into a completely different kid when it is just the two of us. I’m able to truly see his personality and be delighted by it.) Go on a bike ride to the ice cream parlor. (Uhh, too bad there ARE no ice cream parlors around here. I really love living in Northern California, but it would be even better with a Jersey Junction within biking distance. Just sayin’.) Turn on a song you love and dance with them to it…………….I think our kids are going to remember these things more than whether or not the kitchen floor was spotless.

Have a fun day and I hope that you get to have at least one joy and laughter filled-silly moment today in which you truly enjoy your family!

I’m going to end with a quote from one of Nick’s birthday card which I loved enough to save:

“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do day after tomorrow just as well.” -Mark Twain

Fabulous Spring Cleaning

My cousin used to tell me about how she would do “spring cleaning” every year, and honestly, I thought she was completely insane. What???? You clean out everything??? In your whole, entire house??? I was convinced that I simply didn’t have the time to do it.  It turns out that the real problem was that I just didn’t know where to begin. The thought was too overwhelming.

But last year, after organizing one room, I was on a roll and decided to give the whole “spring cleaning” craziness thing a try. And I LOVED it!! I can’t even explain the feeling of opening up every closet and drawer in the house and seeing everything organized and in its place!

This year I am doing it again, and I got even more organized.  I’m so excited about it that I decided to share my process with you, in case the task has ever seemed too daunting to you. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!

My first step was sitting at my computer and making a list. (It turned out to be 5 pages long!) I did it on my computer instead of hand writing it so I can save it and print it out every year. Each section has one room of the house as the title, followed by every little tiny task that I want to do in that room. As I was making the list, I walked through each room and looked around for ideas.  So for example, I wrote:

DINING ROOM

*Take china out of curio and wipe down shelves and dishes

*Clean glass in curio doors

*Wipe down top of curio

*Have Nick move curio and wipe down behind

*Wipe down walls

*Wash windows

*Move couch from wall and wipe down behind

*Move rocking chair from wall and wipe down behind

etc, etc

It might seem overkill to you to break everything down into such small tasks, but for me this is essential to my success. In my life with 3 young kids, I never have huge chunks of time to clean, so if my task for the day was “Spring Clean the Kitchen,” I would think, “Oh, I don’t have time for that,” and I would never do it. However, if I have 10 minutes before I have to pick up Grace, and Andrew is still napping, I can look at my list and see “Top shelf in pantry,” and think, “Oh, I totally have time for that!” and quickly do it. I just printed out the list a couple of weeks ago, and I already have a ton of things crossed off! I keep the list in a visible place in my kitchen, and I love crossing off each task as I do it. I’ve even been putting a smiley face after each accomplished item, and somehow it makes me giddy when I look at the list and see all of these smiley faces. Now I think I understand why teachers put stickers on kids’ papers!:)

One thing that I have found helpful while spring cleaning is to have a trash can and a paper shopping bag by my side during each task. In the paper shopping bag I place anything that I want to donate. A huge part of spring cleaning for me is getting rid of stuff that we no longer need. It feels so wonderful!

Another huge part of it for me is finding better ways of organizing/storing things. For example, right now before writing this post my goal was to be able to cross off “Top of Fridge.” I took off my play dough basket and the kids’ magnets that they play with, wiped down the surface and put away things that shouldn’t be there, like pennies, broken magnets, etc. There was a big zip lock bag full of letter magnets and I suddenly realized how tacky it looked to have a big zip lock bag on the top of my fridge, but I really wanted them there to quick take down for Andrew to play with while I’m making dinner. So I looked in a cabinet and found 2 cute little glass jars with lids, filled them with the magnets, and the top of the fridge looks so much tidier! During spring cleaning I spend a lot of time switching things around, re-thinking things and finding better homes for items.

When I first started making my lists a few weeks ago, I decided that I would reward myself with something special when everything is completed. I knew that I would be more motivated to work hard and fast if I would get something at the end. (What a thing to admit!:) ) I then thought of the fun, bright orange scarf I had seen and loved at World Market. It was the perfect light weight material for Spring and Summer, and the orange would give me the pop of color I crave. Yes, that would be the perfect reward. But then, I started worrying that it would be gone, and all of my hard work would be for nothing (ha ha:) ), so I went to World Market that day, planning to buy it and store it on a shelf in its bag until every single task was crossed off. But the beautiful orange scarves were all gone!!! I’ve been on the lookout ever since for another reward, but I have not yet found something worthy. It has to be good if I’m doing all of this hard work!:)

I’m really, really enjoying Spring Cleaning this year. I love feeling like I have a plan, and I love seeing my house being slowly transformed. Now if I could find a way to keep it that way all year long!

He’s All Boy

When I picked up Harrison from school today, I noticed that the knees of his nice school jeans were bright green. My eyes then traveled to the knees of the little boy I babysit. What do you know! Same bright green! For some reason, their matching grass stained knees struck me as really funny, and I began to laugh. I saw my friend in the parking lot, and when I shared my observation with her, she pointed to her 2nd grade son’s knees. Yup, green too. A lady I don’t even know overheard our conversation and pointed out to us that her son’s knees were green as well! We all shared a good laugh and my friend said that they might as well just make boys’ jeans to have green knees! We then all noticed that every girl near us had completely clean knees! Every last one of them!

As I was driving home, I was thinking about what those grass stained knees show about the way God created boys. About the desire He gave them to be the fastest runner (I could name to you right now all of the top runners in Harrison’s class in order! According to his calculations, he is now in 2nd place:) ), to show off their strength (when Harrison sees his best buddies, the first thing they do is start wrestling), to be brave, to be tough.

On Saturday, the same friend that I saw in the parking lot stopped by my house and as always, our 2 boys immediately began climbing the tree in our side yard like 2 little bear cubs. Later Nick told me that a lady stopped her car and sweetly informed him, “Excuse me, Sir, did you know that your 2 babies are very high up in that tree?” Sure enough, they were a few feet from the top. Of our VERY tall Redwood. Nonchalantly, Nick blew it off by saying, “Oh, yah, I know they’re up there. They’re fine.”

Today on the phone I told my friend about this lady’s concern for our sons’ well-being, and she exclaimed, “That is what is wrong with this world today! People see boys higher than 6 feet up in a tree and they freak out! When did our society stop letting boys be boys? This is just detrimental!” A world full of wimpy, passive men would be detrimental, indeed.

So that means that for a decade (or maybe 2?) I’ll have to deal with pits dug in my backyard with shovels, grass stained knees, competitive races and bike tricks that make my palms sweat and my heart race. I have to admit that it has taken me awhile to accept these things. I grew up with only sisters so I’m just not used to this stuff! We played with dolls! We dressed up in our mom’s old bridesmaid dresses! At first seeing Harrison just above my head in our Olive Tree scared me to death. But Nick has done a good job teaching me that boys need to do these things. “It’s just what they do.”

I was a proud mama yesterday. A really sweet, lovely little girl from Harrison’s class is having a special birthday party during Spring Break at a ranch where the kids get to ride horse back on a trail ride. She only got to invite her 4 best friends, so she invited 3 other sweet girls from the class and………HARRISON!!! I couldn’t believe it! This sweet girl picked my rough and tumble son! It made me so proud of him to know that even though he can be competitive and wild, that he also must be kind and gentle to the girls at school for him to get such an invitation.

My prayer for my sons is that all throughout their lives they use the gifts of strength, speed and courage God has blessed them with to further His Kingdom, while treating people with kindness, gentleness and love.

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY TODAY!!!!!!

Good morning, everyone! I just realized that I should share something VERY important with you! Did you know that today is National Pancake Day???? And more importantly, did you know that IHOP is giving a short stack of buttermilk pancakes to anyone who comes in this morning????

Last year I read about this on Give Me Neither, and I thought I’d check it out. Harrison’s kindergarten started later last year, so I went with Harrison and Grace, carrying tiny baby Andrew in his carseat carrier. Where has the time gone??? If I went this year, that “tiny baby” would be sitting in a highchair, wolfing down 3 pancakes! (Whenever my friend sees him eat, she predicts that he’s going to be 6’5.)

Sure enough, it was completely free! They brought out pancakes on paper plates, and they were delicious! It was our first time at an IHOP, and the kids and I enjoyed trying all of the different kinds of syrup- blueberry, strawberry, yum! On the way out, they did have an opportunity to donate to a childrens charity, but it wasn’t mandatory.

I hope I’ve inspired you to go on a fun little outing this morning with your kids. (Or with a friend or hubby while the kids are in school!) I would recommend calling your local IHOP first, though, just to make sure they’re participating.

Have a great day!

Love, Annie:)

Where do they come up with these things?!

As Harrison was getting ready for bed last night, he showed a sudden interest in adoption. He had a lot of questions for me…..

Do you have to pay money to adopt?

Who do you give the money to? To the kid you’re adopting?

Do I know anyone who was adopted?, etc, etc.

He finally announced that he is going to adopt a boy when he’s a dad. I told him that it is wonderful that he cares about kids without parents and that I am excited for him.

As I was tucking him in, he asked me if everyone who is adopted is a baby. I told him that a lot of people adopt babies, but sometimes older kids are adopted too. After thinking about it, he told me that he’s going to adopt a boy who is older than college age. Stifling a laugh, I asked him, “Why?”

“So then I don’t have to pay for him to go to Calvin College.”

I have no idea where this came from, but Nick and I got a good laugh out of it.

I wanted to ask him, “Then, what’s the point? If you’re not willing to raise him, train him, spend money on him, and sacrifice for him, then what is the point?” It made me think about how yes, raising kids costs money. Yes, raising kids takes time. A lot of it. (When I came downstairs from tucking in Grace tonight at 8pm, I felt exhausted and I realized that I had been with kids for  14 1/2 hours straight, as Andrew has been waking up at 5:30 every morning lately. And at 8pm I still wasn’t done, as Harrison wasn’t even in bed yet!) But if we weren’t willing to spend money on our kids, feeding them well, clothing them, providing them with health care, educating them……and if we weren’t willing to sacrifice our time, training, correcting, protecting, encouraging, teaching and loving…..then, what would be the point? What good would we be doing?

I’ve heard that the most worthwhile things in life aren’t easy. I guess that is why God  arranged for us to start raising our kids when they’re babies and not when they’re college age and already independent.

But yes, that does sound pretty easy.

PS: I wanted to let you know that my party Friday night was a huge success and I should be ready to share it with you tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Extremely Excited Mama!! RECIPE for Butter Bundt Cake

Remember when I mentioned that I’ve been busy planning for a really cool event that I’m hosting tomorrow night? Well, I just wanted to assure that everything is coming together beautifully. Nick and I have spent the evening setting up and I’ve been freaking out at his creativity and brilliant ideas. I’m still going to keep the details a secret, but lets just say that its going to be awesome and I can’t wait to share it with you! I just wish all my girls from MI to VA to CO to NY to Israel could come!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the Butter Bundt Cake I made for the party. Seriously, can anything with “Butter” in the title be anything but fabulous? I made this recipe last summer and it was moist, rich, sweet, and well, buttery. Enjoy!!

BUTTER BUNDT CAKE

3 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 c. butter 2 c. sugar 4 eggs 1 c. buttermilk 1 tsp. vanilla   Combine flour, powder, soda and salt and set aside. Cream butter and sugar well. Add eggs to creamed mixture, one at a time, beating well after each. Combine buttermilk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk to creamed mixture, alternately beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Bake at 325 degrees for 60t o 65 minutes. Take out of oven and pierce with a skewer and add the following glaze.   BUTTER BUNDT GLAZE:   1/2 c. butter 1 c. sugar 1/4 c. water 1 tbsp. vanilla   Combine first three ingredients, heat until butter melts. Add vanilla. Pour over cake while still in pan, allow to stand in pan for 15 minutes, invert pan and place cake on a tray. NOTE: I followed these directions and my glaze ended up being on the bottom of the cake. I didn’t like the look of the plain top, so I made a little more of the glaze and drizzled it on top and dusted it with powdered sugar. What I think I did last time and what I would recommend is to take the cake out of the pan first and then poking the holes on top and drizzling the glaze over the cake while it is on your plate.

 

 

 

Remembering His Abundant Goodness

Recently in my post “All for Him” I mentioned to you that on my way to New York City in January I spend some time prayerfully seeking God’s direction for this new year and making goals. (For some reason I prefer the term “New Years Goal” over “New Years Resolution.”)

One verse I came across during that time was

“I will express the memory of your abundant goodness.” Psalm 145

I thought to myself, “How can I express the memory of God’s abundant goodness if I’m not REMEMBERING His abundant goodness?”

While babysitting in college, the mom had forgotten her keys, and when she came back in to retrieve them she told me that women’s memories get worse after childbirth and I didn’t really believed her……until it happened to me. I used to have an amazing memory- now I scare myself by the things I forget. One of my friends said that when she delivered her baby, she also delivered her brain, and I feel the same way. But I’ve delivered my brain 3 times now. Not cool.

To give you a little glimpse of the problem, the other day I asked for help out after my weekly shopping trip to Trader Joe’s. I was carrying my wiggly toddler who decided he didn’t want to sit in the cart, while a kind man pushed my load of groceries. We’re walking up and down the aisles and I’m getting embarrassed and feeling a little awkward. Why can’t I find my van??? What is going on here? What is wrong with me? Am I at the right store? On the right planet? Finally I laugh and say aloud, “This is so weird! I know I parked right around here, but for some reason I just can’t find my blue mini van.” Grace pipes up in her sweet 5 year old voice, “But, MOMMY!!! You didn’t drive the VAN! You drove the JETTA!!” Oops. Sure enough, there was Nick’s silver Jetta right there in front of me. Post-Pregnancy Brain strikes again.

Anyways, so after reading that verse, I made it one of my goals for this year to record the things I am thankful for. For years I’ve kept a prayer journal, in which I’ve written out prayers to the Lord. In addition to that one, I bought a new notebook (of course I had to get a pretty one. How can I write what I’m thankful for in an ugly notebook??) and have placed it in my night stand. Over the past month and a half I’ve made it a habit most nights  before going to bed to quick jot down a few blessings from that day. Things like

*an encouraging e-mail I received

*a moment in which I could see character development in one my kids

*a fun, peaceful moment with my kids, like playing catch with Harrison or painting with Grace

*a great conversation with Nick

*beauty I saw in creation

*an answer to prayer

Some nights tons of things pop into my head, and I’m writing furiously. But I’m not gonna lie. Some nights its not as easy. But if I force myself to think hard, I can always think of at least something. And doing so helps me to go to bed with a grateful heart.

Another benefit I have found from it is because I start each sentence with “Thank-you for……….” it helps me to take any credit or pride I may have been feeling from any of those situations and to turn them into praise to the One to whom praise is due.

Hopefully writing down these examples of God’s abundant goodness will help me to remember them, despite my “post-pregnancy brain,” giving me opportunity someday to share them as a testimony to His beautiful love.

I was so excited when I found this notebook! It is bound nicely so the pages won’t fall out and it has some of my favorite colors. And the quote, “Show me a day when the world wasn’t new” seemed perfect for a thankfulness journal. I couldn’t find a price for it, so I asked the cashier if she could tell me how much it was, and when it rung up for just over $2 (clearance!!! wooo hooo!!!) I told her I’d take it. Her response? “You’d be ridiculous not to!”

I also loved the print on the inside cover!

Oh- I wanted to warn you- I may be a little quiet on the Blog-Front this week. No, I’m not lost in the Trader Joe’s parking lot, wondering which planet I’m on. I’m actually very busy planning for a special, fun event I am hosting at my house Friday night. I am super, SUPER excited about it (AHHHHHHH!!!!!!) and I can’t wait to share with you the details when it is all done! I’m thinking that a few of you might receive a little inspiration from it!

RECIPE: my favorite salad

While in college, God blessed me with a friend that you would absolutely love. To give you a little picture of what she’s like, at the end of the year our floor voted her as the “most colorful person.” She is fun, hilarious, full of crazy stories, artistic, creative and so full of life.

She is also a wonderful cook, and throughout college she often would make me salad, and I now use her recipe almost every single day. I seriously crave it and the thought of it makes my mouth water. So no matter what we’re having for dinner, this salad almost always accompanies it. Here’s my rendition of my colorful friend’s salad:

*Wash baby spinach and put it in a bowl. (I always make separate small bowls for each person, as I don’t like left over salad.) (And I like baby spinach better than the regular stuff.)

*Add any vegetables to it that you want. I often use tomatoes and cucumber, but sometimes I only have the spinach so I just use that. But you could use anything you like- peppers, onion, etc. You could also use strawberries, dried cranberries, pear slices, etc.

*Drizzle olive oil over the top. (lately I’ve been using grapeseed oil instead.)

*Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on top.

* (I think she taught me to add salt and pepper at this point, but I rarely do.)

*Mix it up well with 2 forks.

*Put a generous spoonful of feta cheese on top

enjoy!!!

Somewhere All Bright and New

My sophomore year at Calvin I spent a semester studying in Spain. During that time I had the amazing experience of spending 4 whole weeks traveling through Europe, 2 of them mostly by myself. I hadn’t intended to travel alone and at first was really nervous about it, but it ended up being an awesome step in building my faith. I saw it as, “Okay, God, its just you and me,” and I really felt His presence, guidance and protection throughout those 2 weeks in incredible ways. I, of course, had no travel plan, so I would hop on a train, pray about where I should go next, and I would get off in random towns and start looking for a hostel to sleep in, praying that God would lead me where He wanted me. It was crazy. Insane. But beautiful. I met wonderful people and I have great memories of biking through the countryside in the Netherlands amongst the windmills, making up songs and singing them out loud, rollerblading along the French Riviera, hiking in Switzerland with a big loaf of bread, a chunk of brie and a huge bar of Swiss chocolate, touring the Anne Frank house, riding on a dinner boat cruise down the beautiful Rhine River in Germany, staying in the home of people I had just met, climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower, etc. I could spend a few weeks just telling you stories from my travels. And some of them you might not even believe.

I found that getting off the train in new places, hearing different languages, trying new foods, observing new cultures, seeing beauty all around me…….made me feel alive.

And as a mom, I find that one thing that helps me maintain my colorfulness is to go to different places on a regular basis.

For some odd reason, Nick didn’t like the idea of me taking off every month to travel to a different country, so I’ve had to make do with what’s around me. Driving 3 hours to Carmel By the Sea every year for my birthday, taking the BART into SanFrancisco for the day, driving to Sonoma through the breathtaking vineyards, going to Walnut Creek or Davis…..even just bringing the kids downtown Vacaville or Fairfield to get a treat from a local bakery and walk around, looking at the cute little shops and beautiful old houses. I find that doing this is good for my soul. Being in new places inspires me and excites me.

So last Monday, when my kids didn’t have school, I felt that familiar urge to go somewhere. Last minute tickets to Argentina were too high and my ever practical husband didn’t think I would be back on time to get the kids to school the next morning, so I had to settle for Benicia. After a decadent breakfast of thick homemade waffles, Grace, Andrew and I left Nick and Harrison happily building a Lego table in the garage, and we had the most lovely little “vacation”.

Benicia is a charming little town on the bay, not far from our house. They have a wonderful, thriving little downtown full of antique and vintage shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. And something about being by water just DOES something for me. It allows me to breathe a little deeper. Think a little clearer. Feel God’s beauty and presence all around me.

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful day and a few of the things I saw that inspired my color-beauty lovingness.

 

Are you feeling a need to be inspired?

Pick a town or area you’ve never been to, haven’t been to for awhile, or just one that you love. Grand Haven, South Haven, GasLight Village, East Town, Downtown Holland, Downtown Ada, Saint Joe. Pack up your stroller, sandwiches and fruit, lots of water, and books for the kids. And call it a vacation! Get yourself a yummy coffe, find something fun for the kids to do, like watching ducks in a pond, making up names for boats in the marina, throwing rocks into the water, finding a gift for someone in a thrift shop, playing in a new park, riding bikes or scooters on a new path. Find them a special treat- maybe a doughnut or cookie at a local bakery or frozen yogurt.

And look for God’s beauty all around you.

Its there.

And when you get back home, you’ll realize its there, too. Sometimes you just need to get refreshed to see it.

PS: The title of this post comes from one of my very favorite songs, Wild Flowers by Tom Petty. It is one of my theme songs.