i just finished my january menu

if you're wondering how this came together, this is what i did:

i got a new cookbook for christmas- full of recipes for busy women; it has lots of slow-cooker recipes & 5-ingredient dishes; i went through it & marked all the recipes that sounded do-able; next i made every day of the week a category: mon- mexican; tues-tony roma's (kid's eat free on tues) or pizza; wed-casseroles; thurs- slowcooked; fri- meat'n'taters; sat-leftovers (or whatever sounded fun to make) ; sun- soup/sandwiches; last i went back through the cookbook and stuck the recipes in the calendar;

i'm not too strict about sticking to the menu. i mean if someone invites us over i'm not going to insist on staying home to eat leftovers. but it is nice to have a guide. you could customize with your own daily categories (like italian or asian flavors) or go online for recipe ideas.

something you may not have known about me: in high school i made monthly calendars of what i would wear each day. this wasn't too challenging- i just switched up my t-shirts and flannels :); nonetheless i wanted to remove the hassle in the morning of wondering what to wear so i planned out a whole month in advance.

i'm lovin' facebook

so, the other day, i got a friend request for facebook. well, i had no idea i even had a facebook account. i guess abe thought i should have one and he had created one for me. i already had accumulated a few friends- unbeknownst to me. so when i confirmed this friend, i discovered we had a few friends in common... and i had friends in common with their friends... etc, etc, etc. i began hunting for long lost friends: friends from school, past churches, the teen mania internship, christian house, cousins. i just kept finding people that i never thought i'd hear from again- and now i could see pictures of them and their families. it is great to strengthen connections again. i even located a friend from youth group when i was in middle school. she was able to come visit me at my home- it was so great to be able to touch base again. another thought i had was that, as a stay at home mom, i don't get to experience friendship with many people outside of my small circle. but, with facebook, relationships that i cultivated years before are bearing fruit and i feel the love without ever leaving my house :)

are you done having kids yet?

in this video i discuss our decision to stop having kids and reveal a minor pet peeve of mine.

i don't have it all together

it's been awhile, hasn't it? do you have a couple of minutes? just thought i'd say 'hi'.



talk to you later!

in case you're wondering here's the words to the poem that julia recites near the end.

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894). A Child’s Garden of Verses and Underwoods. 1913.

34. The Swing

HOW do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I think it's the most wonderful thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

in early labor

it's so exciting. babies will be coming soon!

late night with deb

for all your cosmetic needs just give me a call :o)