Archives for February 2011

Culmination Week

February 28, 2011 by Amy 4 Comments

Wow, so many things happening this week. I feel like I’m getting bowled over with everything. Nothing fancy today, just some updates.

#1 – I want to blog more about this since I haven’t mentioned it but I just finished up 10 days of a Daniel Fast this weekend. I did it for both spiritual and physical reasons. I’ve never done a fast quite like this and let me tell you, it has been amazing in so many ways.

#2 – This week I finish reading the Bible in 90 Days. I’ve loved it just as much as the first time. I can not recommend it enough.

#3 – I GOT THE JOB. It took forever to get approvals but I got the offer on my job this morning and pending drug tests, fingerprinting, etc I should be working full time by the end of the month. There are going to be changes around here. And no, I’m not sure all for the better. Definitely some sacrifices. However, lots of wins too. Yay!

#4 – We found out this morning we have our closing for our financing on the addition on Thursday. Hoping to break ground next week!

Wow, those are huge! All happening in the same week! Crazy right? I mean, this job thing has been in the works for 8 months, we’ve been holding out on the house for weeks and now it’s all happening within days of each other!

In other random news, Emma caught a stomach bug so she is home with me today. We’re a little tired from being up so much and I think that is adding to what feels like the craziness going on today.

Hope you’re having a great Monday!

American Idol Top 24

February 25, 2011 by Amy 1 Comment

Wow, what a season. I remember in other season getting to the Top 12 even and saying we could slash it down to Top 5 easy. All of this Top 24 is better than most of the Top 12 in other seasons. But if I could pick a Top 10 right now, this would be it. And it’s more based on who I think will do well in the competition versus whose flat out talent I prefer. There is NO WAY to pick an early winner. With as many changes they go through throughout the season, I just don’t think anyone could call that. But what a season it will be!

Homemade Hummus

February 24, 2011 by Amy 6 Comments

Who knew making hummus was so easy? I guess I didn’t. And with an ingredient like Tahini, it scared me off a bit! I had NO CLUE what it was and in fact, when I was at the store this morning I had to Google a picture just so I would have a clue where to look. When I read it was ground sesame seeds, I headed for the spice/baking aisle. No dice. A clerk pointed me to where they have the almond butter and Nutella with the peanut butter. And ouch, at $8.95 for a bottle, I was really doubting whether it would be worth it.

I picked out this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa. As the comments suggest, it’s strong on the garlic, but it’s just what I love. I haven’t done a side by side cost comparison but I’m guessing it’s a pretty big savings as you could actually get 8 batches from the one jar of Tahini. And there are NO chemicals in this one! It made quite a bit and with a few carrot sticks, it made for a nice snack or even quick lunch.

I’m looking forward to trying different spices. Have you ever made hummus? Have any recipes I should try?

The Appraisal

February 24, 2011 by Amy 6 Comments

Sooo…the appraiser turned around the appraisal in a few short hours yesterday. The bank called last night with some bad news. Not devastating but bad. The house appraised about 18K short of what they were expecting and they can only lend us 11K below what we requested. They will give us what they can and anything over that will have to be covered out of pocket. Now. Thank goodness for our emergency fund and savings and we have some cash available but we don’t want to spend that much. The good news is we know we can get some materials at a lower cost and Scott can do some of the work. We think we’ll be close but yeah, we’re going to be on a tight budget for the whole ride. I had hoped to sail through without a worry but thinking about it, I think it’s good that it’s going to force us to be wise with our money. We all know I like a good deal so I’m going to have to do some serious deal hunting without sacrificing the plans since that’s what got the appraisal even where it is. Which means…we’re getting the fireplace. So excited about that!

So next steps are to order the title search and then close, probably next week! Eek!

North Rock Hill Church – The 5 Before

February 23, 2011 by Amy 8 Comments

Sooo…it’s clear it’d be better if I memorized the lines so I wouldn’t read and could smile a little more since I wasn’t concentrating. But overall, first time ever doing something like this? I’m happy. Yay for new things!

Self check-outs, taxes and appraisals

February 23, 2011 by Amy 2 Comments

Last night I spent some concentrated time with the girls. We all went to Lexi’s Tae Kwon Do class to see her. And let me tell you, that girl melts my heart. Emma kept asking, “Mommy why are you laughing?” It’s hard to explain that you’re so proud that your joy bubbleth over into laughter! She got two stripes last night!

Emma and I left about 15 minutes into her class to do some grocery shopping alone. As we were going to check out, Emma kept begging to do the self check-out but I could feel my busy-body self saying No, we don’t have time. And then I remembered that part of Emma’s love language is time so I turned the cart around and we self-checked out $60 of groceries, many of which were vegetables. It took plain-forever but Emma had a blast. As we were walking out she held my arm and told me how much she loved it and how we had done it together. I also took the girls to the mall and Target after dinner just to look for some little things to use their chore money on. And guess what? There was no pouting, whining, eye-rolling last night. And I don’t think it was because they got to spend money (all $1 of it), I think it’s because I heard her plea to do something with me and did it. Maybe part of my answer from yesterday is just to slow down. Even though Emma can do most anything by herself, she still wants me to do it with her and sometimes for her.

This morning was a busy morning! I spent the early morning with school drop-off and then tax returns! I am ecstatic to say we are getting a refund this year.

The house is getting cleaned this morning which always makes the day better! We’re hosting small group tonight so I’m happy to have little to do before they get here.

And finally, our appraisal is got done today! He said the bank wanted it by Friday so I’m really hoping we can get the financing wrapped up this week and start next week! With all this great weather we are itching to get started!

Parenting an Older Child

February 22, 2011 by Amy 5 Comments

The last few weeks I feel like we’re turning some kind of corner in parenting. I’m starting to see rolling eyes, sighing, “fine”s, pouting, talk about boys and friends and stuff I just don’t like. They don’t respond to just a look and you have to work through many more heart issues. I want to be clear that overall my girls are happy, well-behaved and a joy to be around. It’s just when the hard times come, I feel out of my league. Older parents, please help. Do you have books, sites, DVDs, or just good ‘ol advice for us?

Sunday Highlights: Addictions

February 21, 2011 by Amy 4 Comments

I haven’t done these in a while. Not sure why. No one has complained that they are missing but still, I want to share yesterday’s. We are in between series and yesterday was from our Journey Group Pastor. To be honest, he wasn’t very clear on what exact question he was answering but it turned out to be on addictions.

I struggle with addictions. I just have this thing where if I love something, I don’t know how else to love it but all the way. And sometimes, love hurts. Yes it does. It hurts a lot of things including my relationship with Christ because I being replacing Him with those things. I took lots of notes and just wanted to share them. I know these notes are difficult to follow sometimes without hearing it but maybe you can get enough to see if it’s something you need to go listen to.

Our past does not dictate our next steps.

We have strong compulsions to obey God; our spirit is willing but our body is weak.

Good intentions are not good enough to overcome life-affecting habits and hang-ups.

God invites us to change our character and identity. Religion says let me “do”. Relationship changes who you are.

Myths about addictions:

1. It’s a destination. Christ invites us to go on a journey, changing our character so that our actions change to match the inside.

2. You can use all your strength to overcome your addictions. But behavior modification does not work. I believe it was here he talked about where Christ says if you sweep out a demon and do not replace it with Christ, then seven more come in. If we have these addictions and then do not replace them with good habits, it’s only going to get worse.

3. I can be this on my own. You are in denial about how bad your addiction is. Only God can change you from the inside out.

We walked away with the question, what is your addiction right now? What needs swept out of your life so that you can grow on your journey with Christ? We all have addictions. It comes in many forms; alcohol, drugs, porn, a relationship, TV, food, sports. Whatever it is, we have to surrender it. Remember, our past does not dictate our next step. Just do the next right thing!