Our Story

A friend eagerly shares the good news, and I smile back, squeezing Daniel's hand under the table, willing to show only the happiness. I'll cry later.

It's been three years. Three years of doctor visits, surgery, medication. Three years of crying, hoping, praying. I am still not pregnant.

Our church has has times for people to get up and tell about what God has been doing in the past year(s) in their life, and several times people have shared a similar story. But it's always after God has granted them a child. Or children. What about the people still in the mess and pain?

Two years ago, we knew something was wrong. It had been a year and I wasn't pregnant. I made an appointment with the doctor, and told our parents; it was a few days before Mother's Day. During a routine test, the doctor discovered some scar tissue that was preventing pregnancy. Surgery was scheduled two weeks before Thanksgiving. I woke up from surgery to learn that my tubes were blocked; I would never have children except through in-vitro (that's the really expensive one where they remove eggs, fertilize them, then a few days later implant them). We weren't going to be able to afford that for years.

The only thing that sustained me during those bleak months were old hymns: Pensive Doubting Fearful Heart, I Asked the Lord, and O Heart Bereaved and Lonely played on repeat. We also started an envelope for saving for IVF. God would graciously and randomly provide unexpected money for that envelope.

Last spring, we went to another doctor for a second opinion. The same test was performed, and my tubes were clear! Something else showed up on the screen, so another surgery was scheduled to remove what turned out to be a polyp and a fibroid.

Currently, I am on medication to regulate my hormones and make me ovulate.

In these past three years, we have learned to long more desperately for Heaven, where all tears will be wiped away and all things made new. We have received peace in the middle of fear. We have known God to be close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18) and to be "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort...so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God" (2 Cor1:3-4)



Psalm 113:9

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!

Choose Your Own Adventure Muffins

This recipe is my Mom's muffin recipe. Daniel enjoys changing the muffins every time we make them.One of his favorites is cranberry orange: a variation we created. Add cranberries, and use orange juice or orange tea as the liquid, or just add mandarin oranges. I like to make them whole wheat by using whole wheat pastry flour from Whole Foods

Best-Ever Muffins

2 c flour

½ c sugar

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 egg, well-beaten

1 c liquid

1/3 c cooking oil

Stir together dry ingredients. Stir together wet ingredients,; add all at once to dry. Stir just until moistened. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12.

Berry: Fold in 1 c fresh or frozen blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, or strawberries to batter.

Banana: Stir in 1 c chopped banana.

Bishop’s Delight: substitute orange juice for the milk. Add 2 t orange peel, ½ c chocolate chips, ¼ c raisins, ¼ c halved marachino cherries, ¼ c chopped walnuts.

Ginger: Reduce sugar to 2 T. Add 1/3 c molasses, 1 t ginger, and 1 t cinnamon. Use boiling water for the liquid.

Lemonade: Reduce milk to ¼ cup; add ¾ c lemonade concentrate.

Peach or Apricot: Whirl undrained, canned peaches or apricots in blender. Use for liquid. Add 1 T lemon juice and ¼ t almond extract.

Orange Ginger: Use juice from one 11-oz can mandarin oranges. Stir in orange segments. Add 1 t orange peel and ¼ c finely chopped crystallized ginger

Changes

Last week I bought a kiln! And no, I'm not replacing the oven with it, nor is it going on the back porch. My in-laws graciously offered to house it for me {sorry all you fellow apartment dwellers who dream of kiln ownership}. I also gave notice at my art teaching position for August. After three years of working there, the bittersweetness of leaving is starting to sink in. But, I am going into business as a "real" artist! Already I've gotten a couple of commissions! I am really excited!

Favorite New Bags from Brahmin

{Disclosure: I am a part of Vogue Influencers on Facebook. Sometimes I get products to test and review. I did get a Brahmin bag in the past, but not recently. Its my favorite purse!}

Apron Farbic Choices

 There were four fabrics I found. The colors are pretty accurate except for the bottom one, so I included another photo, below, that better shows the color of the bottom fabric.

Spring Mantel

Welcome Spring!

Finished!

The art project for a friend is finished, and hanging in her husband's office!

The original idea had been to pull apart a pallet, but after trying a crow bar and a rotary saw and then hearing about the health dangers of pallets, I decided to go with a weathered piece of plywood from my in-laws. Friends of Daniel's gladly cut into strips and assembled it for me in return for some cookies {having a pretty girl watch didn't hurt!}. In order to get the weathered look to paint, I mixed gesso with fabric medium. In the shadows, I carefully painted black then wiped it away in order to get the right effect. To get the peely texture, I glopped petroleum jelly in areas before painting; wiping it away after the paint dried.

Progress

The one on the left was made in my first potters wheel class four years ago. The one on the right was made last week.

Book Baby Shower

 Onsie Cake

 Cupcakes with a bookworm

 Instead of a game, we made barrettes for the baby

Tulle skirt on the table

Everyone brought a book to the shower for their gift. We used bookworms and The Very Hungry Caterpillar as our inspiration for the decor.  The mother-to-be is very crafty, so instead of playing games, we all made barrettes for the baby. To make it easier for non-crafty ladies, there were buttons and pre-made flowers and bows to glue onto barrettes.

Sock Cupcakes

Sock cupcakes made for a friends baby shower. Everyone thought they were cupcakes to eat! They were so easy to make. I used a pack of white toddler socks and a pack of assorted color toddler socks.

How to Quiet the Home

Some good advice here at  the Nester on quieting the home. Not audible noise {my home needs a little more noise}, but visual noise {and that is loud here}.

An excerpt:

• Remove every thing smaller than a football and place it on some surface in another room {the breakfast or dining room table will do}
• Remove baskets, magazines, plants, pillows, every thing but furniture, lamps, rugs and big art
• Notice any huge “holes” or areas that are too quiet and cold and fill them in with a purposeful item or 3 if you must

Follow this link for the rest of the post.

Tornado Sirens

What do we do during a tornado? I clean the bathroom and Daniel pulls the piano bench up to the counter to continue writing his paper!

Our Fish has a TARDIS

A TARDIS for our fish tank! It broke before going in the kiln and is missing a few details, so I will be remaking it, but I have the general idea down now.

365 Days of Clean Update

Daniel and I are still enjoying this. I usually ask him what he is going to get rid of for the day when he gets home from work and before we sit down for dinner. It hasn't been a whole month yet, since we started in late February, but I know Daniel and I are starting to wonder if we will run out of things to get rid of. Daniel, perhaps, since he owns less stuff then I and he wouldn't dare get rid of a home decor thing without asking me. But I as I reminded us both, we keep bringing things in so there will always be something to get rid of!

I have found that this exercise has been helpful in getting rid of the hard things or the things we have been dithering about or just never made the decision to get rid of it. And while a rule was trash didn't count, I defined trash as things that were obviously trash, that didn't require any thought. There are things on the list that sound like trash or should have been trash but either were never thrown out or required some letting go.

In February we got rid of:

Batteries {sounds like trash, but they were big and needed to be taken to a place to recycle, so when that was done it could be written down}

An unfinished teapot

Fake Baileys {nasty stuff! Had been sitting around for a year because no one wanted to deal with it}

Pink Cami

A textbook that had no re-sale value
Wine cozy
Half and Half mini cups {sitting on the counter for a week, so Daniel took them to work where he needed them}
Coupon books missing the coupons we would actually use
Blue bowtie {Daniel had tried to get rid of it a while back, but I rescued it to re-purpose it and never liked the way it looked}
Business Chronicle
Headband that hurt
Fake beaded fruit {I did save three pears that were pretty. I put them in my Christmas box}

Dollar Store Crafting

A bowl and a candlestick from the thrift store hot glued together. If I wanted it permanent, then I would have used liquid nails.

Happy Leap Day

In Progress

An in-progress shot of a project for a friend.

Little Blue Pitcher

Mug with Chalkboard Label

My favorite blue glaze with chalkboard glaze label