living on this...

This picture made my Best Of 2011 list, and here's why.

I get sad when summer is over and berries and watermelon go out of season. But last winter I put together the above fruit salad and proceeded to eat it nearly every day. I was breastfeeding Ivar then and would eat an entire banana, a whole orange and whole kiwi in one sitting.

And I'm back at it again. There is something perfectly simple about this trio...tart kiwi, sweet banana, and good oranges. It's the perfect combination for me and makes me feel like I can make it to watermelon, raspberry, blueberry and strawberry season again.

an update on my thrifty father

You might remember my last visit to Mesa, when my dad came up with his own solution to fixing the existing patio furniture without having to purchase a brand new set. I am happy to report the tape is still holding, the pink is still vibrant and they make for a comfy seat.

But I have more to report. Dad has been typing up notes again too. Historically these notes have been found mostly in the guest bathroom at their house, serving as public service announcements asking guests to kindly turn on the fan before they shower and to limit their showers to five minutes in an effort to reduce moisture and to help the Harrington's save water.

And then in Mesa, I found this note on the oven:

It reads, "Caution! Oven Door Drops Like A Rock!" And it does. It is fair warning. But obviously I had to get out my camera.

And to make my life complete, he came out of the bedroom one night and said, "Hey Becca! Your dad is so cheap that when he needed a v-neck tshirt in Mesa, he just made his own!"

I told him to smile for the blog.

**My dad just called after reading this post and would like to be sure everyone understands: He was able to pay for his three kid's college educations, weddings, pay off his house in Minnesota and vacation in Arizona each year because of his thrifty ways. You would all be wise to make your v-necks and patio furniture to ensure a secure future for yourselves.

the long flight home

For as successful as the flight to Mesa was, the flight home was trouble from the start. Ivar was in desperate need of a nap and had figured out he could get quite the reaction from me if he screamed loud enough. When he screamed I would cover his mouth. Which he thought was fascinating, because it made his loud sound quiet. So the moment I removed my hand he tried it again. And again. And again.

We were blessed with an entire row on the way home, but truthfully, this was more trouble than anything. I sat in the middle and wrestled 24 pounds of baby who kept crawling from the window to the aisle and back and forth. I missed our six year old travel friend from the flight out so much. She was a tremendous diversion, I now realized. The flight attendant graciously kept reminding me that he needed to be in my lap at all times, and I smiled and nodded and said things like, "absolutely." And then continued to facilitate my son's physical adventures from one seat to the next.

I force fed him m&m's during the entire landing.

We spilled every single snack. My pants were saturated in formula before the plane even left the ground. You'll note the mix of rice puffs and wheat things on the floor in the picture, as well as one of our toys in the aisle. At some point I gave him some medicine "for his ears" to see if that might help him doze off. It did not.

So, it will be a while before we do this again. I actually had a pretty good attitude, realizing this too shall pass. And it did pass. But again, it will be a long time before I fly solo with my screaming son.

so proud

 

We had snacks at a restaurant overlooking a lake and my mom commented to me, "it sure is nice Ivar will drink from a straw." And I was shocked, because we haven't been able to get him to use a straw before. But there he was, proud as could be, drinking and laughing like he and Grandma had some funny secret that just got out.

an update

Ivar and I made it to Mesa! It was a long flight, and Ivar stayed awake for all of it, but we were lucky to sit next to a first grader and her mom. They switched my seat when I arrived at the airport and put me in the back with three other babies! Four babies in the last two rows of the airplane. And they all did pretty well. Ivar was very excited to look out the window, excited to eat all of the treats I had packed and excited each time we hit turbulence. He thought it was some lap bouncing game I was playing. We head home tomorrow, and I hope it goes as smoothly. It is downright exhausting to be the mama sometimes.

The desert is beautiful and we've enjoyed our days here with mom and dad. I have some fun pictures to share.

And finally, a quick update on Mount Carmel. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! It was a great weekend and though I can't share anything for another month or so, I can share that I came home with a happy heart. And that felt so, so good. I stayed in Lodge Room 5, and when I got there I read through the guest book and found entries from Grandma B from 2001, 2002 and 2008. Handwriting is powerful, but her voice in her writing was overwhelming. This picture turned out so dark, but it reads:

"A little bit of heaven on earth: Mount Carmel." This is my 50th year at Mt. Carmel. Mt Carmel raised our seven children and I maintain- bring your family here one week of the year and they will be Children of God. Ready to do His will- serve Him wherever they are- whatever vocation they chose. I thank all the staff for their love and care. This year we have many here from other countries. Thank you. Velma Bredberg.

I read this just before I stepped into my first meeting of the weekend and felt so grounded, surrounded, empowered and strong. And as God does, he faithfully filled every moment of our time together and guided our hearts, united our vision and made clear the decisions to be made. He's always faithful.

mom and ivar's big adventure

Ivar and I are teaming up to enjoy a 3 1/2 hour flight to Mesa, Arizona today. You should probably pray for us. I am trying to psych myself up a bit. I put together a bag of tricks and even packed a few treat bags and ear plugs for the poor people who booked the seats on each side of us. Ivar and I are going to be kicking it together in a middle seat. Sounds awesome, doesn't it?!!

My bag of tricks contains mostly food, an old alarm clock, a weigh watchers points plus calculator, the trusty cell phone, a mini magnadoodle and a red ball with a jingle bell inside. Think it's going to last 3 1/2 hours? I don't either. But it might help us through some hard moments. Here's to hoping for a happy baby, or a sleepy baby or a calm baby, or just nice people on our right and on our left.

Mom made this sweet valentine and sent it last week. Cause we're leaving on a jet plane!

prayers for Mount Carmel

Well, I've talked a whole lot about this special place. Mount Carmel Family Bible Camp is my favorite place on earth. As Grandma B used to say, "it's a little piece of heaven, right here on earth." And that's how I've always felt.

I have spent a whole lot of time this past year serving on the Search Committee for the new Executive Director. Mount Carmel has been blessed by the preaching and teaching of Sonja and Johan Hinderlie for the past nearly 30 years so this is a huge deal. The place will feel different with new leadership. The camp will operate a bit differently, new faces are sure to join the scene. But Mount Carmel is first and foremost God's camp and that will never change. The freedom that only Jesus Christ can bring is proclaimed here with boldness and belief. And that will never change.

I am also on the board for this camp, and yesterday and today the board has been interviewing the three finalists. Tonight we will gather to select the new Executive Director.

It's a big hairy deal. I have lost sleep over this one. I have handed the whole load back over to God nearly every Sunday morning during worship, only to try to take it back all week long. It's been a tremendous learning experience for me and I am really proud of the process we put together in narrowing our candidate pool down. Lots and lots of hours went into this most important work.

And now it comes down to this. We have three great candidates. We'll meet them in person and get a feel for their leadership, passionate faith, ability to manage, fundraise and market. We'll get a feel for their charisma, joy and hopefulness in spreading the good news in 2012.

I would love your prayers. Right now. Pray that the board might be of one mind, that the Holy Spirit would come and make our decision clear, that the person God is calling to lead Mount Carmel would be chosen and ready to serve with gladness.

This picture is of me and my cousin Dan kneeling in the prayer chapel. (The tiny building pictured above) I love this shot. It seems to me we were unaware anyone was behind us with a camera.

And the lovely lady below is also me, sporting a tie dyed shirt, hand stenciled shorts, pig tales and matching plastic hair clips. I remember walking back and forth on that line of rocks for ages. The lake is on my right and I can think of no more beautiful and inspired place for me.

a good addiction

Have you ever noticed how addictive creativity is? My friend Rachel just wrote about it after learning how to knit. When you learn something brand new, something you never, ever thought you could do, it’s not like you just learned how to do that one new thing. You learned that you can still learn. And that there are few things that feel more empowering than learning something new, adding a hobby to your everyday, adding a new skill to your list of gifts.

I remember this so specifically after I took my first jessicasprague.com class on photoshop elements. I learned a lot about fonts and photo cropping and color adjusting, but what I really learned was that there are few greater highs than the joy of accomplishing a new trade and how contagious this high is. Suddenly I was empowered to try a whole lot of new things and it felt so good.

The best part is that it doesn’t have to be a huge, new skill. Hearts and Crafts week was evidence of this. Tiny little paper and scissors projects got my creativity pumping again. Those little projects somehow multiplied and now I’ve got some really fun projects that I can’t stop dreaming about.

So go and make some play dough. Get your camera out and take pictures all day long documenting the ordinary. Stop by Archivers and gather up some pink and red paper and heart sparkle stickers. Bake some cookies. Get out your old guitar. Plan a party.

As for me, I just got back from Michaels and bought supplies I have never used before with coupons my mother-in-law gave me. It’s so fun to be inspired!

prayers for Calvin

Baby Calvin is underwent huge surgery today. In the words of his parents on their caring bridge site, "The weight of the surgery is daunting as parents, but not for God. We ask you to pray Calvin and us."

We just got word that the surgery was successful on many fronts. Now they ask for prayers for healing and an uneventful stay while he recovers at the hospital.


I wanted to share these prayer cards I made for Calvin a few months ago. The weight of chronic anything can feel so heavy...for the parents as well as friends and family. It's too much for any one person to carry. So I made 31 cards that had 31 different pictures of Calvin with a different date of the month that the person receiving the card would then pray and show some extra support to Emily and Scott on that specific day each month. The cards read:

The 17th of every month. This is the day I commit to pray and send some extra love Calvin's way.
I can do this by:
Praying and/or fasting: Lift Calvin, Emily and Scott up in my prayers all day
A kind email: Hey, I'm praying for you today! (emily's email)
A check-in phone call: Thinking of you today. How are you? (emily's cell phone number)
Set a time to deliver a meal, make a coffee date, pass on a good magazine, lend a favorite movie, make a mix cd, give a restaurant gift card, or any sort of extra thoughtful gift.

We are walking this road with the Poeschel's and are committed to stand by them and wrap the three of them in love. Remember some months may lend themselves to doing more, others to simply do the most important thing: to pray without ceasing!

I wanted to share these in case you know someone who is carrying a load too heavy. Use the idea or the exact wording if you'd like. I like to know that 31 of us have one of these stuck to our fridge, lifting this family up to God, the only one who can actually carry such a heavy load

And the winner is...

I could have used Random Number Generator, but that's no fun. So instead I cut out all of these hearts and Ivar crumbled each one a bit to increase its odds.

And then I drew Marisa!

Hi Becca,

You don't know me and I am one of your silent followers. I actually found your blog through your cousins Darin and Kristin Jago. I was originally from Fairmont and went to church with Sarah & Kathy and their family. I found your blog and have been hooked ever since. I love reading it and find it encouraging as a mommy of 2. Lets see favorite candy is peanut butter M&M's! Thanks for all the fun and real life blogs!
Marisa

Congrats Marisa! Email me at beccagroves(at)gmail(dot)com with your address and I'll send this package of goodies your way!

I can't tell all of you how fun this giveaway was to find out who is reading. Thanks for throwing your name in the mix! I'll do this again.

Joyfully,
Becca

on marriage

(I'll draw for the winner of the greatest 800th post giveaway ever tonight! Come back by 8 central to see if you're the lucky duck winner! And if you haven't entered yet, there is still time! I just cut out paper hearts and am going to write names on them next. You have until 8. It's fun to win!)

Let's talk about marriage now.

About a week ago my husband walked into the living room and we shared the following exchange:
R: Do you know that you always leave the right cap of your contact case unscrewed?
Becca: mmmhmmm. Yes, I do that.
R: Why do you do that?
B: Well, I guess I unscrew the left side, put that contact in, screw that lid back on, unscrew the right lid, put that contact in and walk away.
R: That’s what I was afraid you were going to say. So you’re pretty much just too busy to screw on the right lid?
B: Yep. I suppose I am.
R: Maybe you could try taking a little more time and screwing that side closed too?
B: (with wide eyes) Oh my word. I am under your skin! Aren’t I?! You are annoyed with me!

(end scene)

There were seasons of our marriage where I might have had this realization that I annoy my husband and curled into a heap of tears, “He thinks I’m his little sister!” boo hoo hoo.

But for some reason that night I was completely amused. He was really bugged.
The next night we shared this conversation:

We were (well, I was. He happened to be in the living room too) watching The Bachelor. (Don’t judge. Just love it with me.) And I said to him aghast, “What on earth does the Bachelor see in that model girl?!! They never ever talk about anything and she is so terrible!”

And he explained how the bachelor will keep her around because of physical attraction, but he’ll never pick her in the end.

I said this was ridiculous. And then followed up, “Are you physically attracted to me?” (break scene. In this moment I realized the error of my question. I was five days without a shower (bathroom under construction…this was not my fault!) with greasy hair, glasses and my usual comfy mom uniform, while watching a show filled with stunning girls. Poor timing for many reasons.)

He chose his words. “Yes. But maybe you could put those festive pajama pants away until next Christmas. It is February now.”

Again I laughed. I found his reply to actually be pretty kind and forgiving and probably the nicest thing he could have said to his ever-growing, moody wife who has been limping around for the last four months, complaining of every single smell under the sun, while sporting no make-up, slick pony tails, throw-up breath and those fancy multi colored pajama pants.

These two conversations helped me snap out of it.

I went to Target the next day I bought all new makeup. It was time to start trying. I got some maternity leggings to wear with skirts, and a cute maternity cardigan.

And best of all, and this was a complete blessing, we had planned our first Ivar-less getaway this past weekend to California. The timing was perfect. We spent three nights in San Diego on an Island with nothing but time to reconnect. We didn’t rent a car, so we walked everywhere, hand in hand, talking, remembering, making new dreams for our future. It was downright miraculous.

And I wore foundation!

And we felt the baby kicking for the first time.

And we played a new game while watching Jeopardy where you try to think of a funny answer before the smart people beep in with the right answer. Like, “The Double Tree Hotel fresh makes this tasty treat for their guests to enjoy upon arrival” my answer: “What are pulled pork sandwiches?” Or, “This 16th century poet is most known for his dark and unexpected endings.” “Who is Shel Silverstein?”

And we ate a lot. And had three picnics out on the beach at the ocean: fish tacos, omlets and hashbrowns and dippin dots.

And we ate at an awesome Italian restaurant called Bice with Groves' cousins Wendy and John, laughing far too much that the c in Bice is pronounced with a ch sound.

And we worshiped on Sunday with a small and devoted body of believers who moved me to tears multiple times and even served breakfast egg rolls during the service. (!!!)

And I moved from Little Sister status back to Wife, and more importantly, Girlfriend. We missed Ivar like crazies by the last day, but this was a good move for us. And Ivar was given unending love and affection from Mimi and Papa and the whole Groves family.

The best news: We decided that we wouldn’t have to fly out of state to have this sort of reconnect again. Our best conversations were the first night and the following day. We decided that we need to do more overnights, dropping Ivar off and the two of us heading somewhere nearby. It was necessary to be out of the house, and out of touch with the outside world, but it doesn’t require an airline ticket, a resort and a three night stay. We’re hopeful to duplicate this reconnect night once a month. It’s that important.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go put on some mascara. And change out of my new muted grey pajama pants.

heart garland

I got pretty excited about hearts and crafts last week. And I've still got some fun projects to go. This one was easy peasy...made out of Behr paint sample cards, I cut the hearts and taped them to the string. The second lightest color on there is called "bridesmaid" which makes me laugh. I remember those dresses from a few decades ago. I think they also had very puffy sleeves and large bows on the butt.

And then I taped it up to our brand new white tile that was just put up this week in our bathroom! We have one bathroom in this house and have had workers here for over a week. It's be a bit tricky, but the starbucks up the street seem fine with me using their facilities, so whatever. The bathroom looks fantastic. I'll show some before and afters next week.

And speaking of hearts... the real, pumping kind, our friends Scott and Emily were featured on Kare 11 last night telling the story of their son Calvin who was born with his heart and liver on the outside of his body. I wrote about his dedication here. Be sure to watch this video from last nights news segment. It tells the story and gives a little glimpse into the road they have traveled and the complete miracle of baby Calvin.

dance party!

Well, this giveaway has been way more fun than I could have imagined. If you're a new reader, Welcome! If you commented on Monday's post and outed yourself as a faithful reader, Thank You! Troy and Sara tweeted about my giveaway which makes me giggle like nothing else. I feel like quite the small fry to have so much new traffic coming my way!

So to celebrate all of this fun, I thought we'd throw a little dance party. Ivar is really into dancing from the knees up. He's not walking yet, so this special shuffle is pretty unique. He kills us.

It's not to late to enter the random music, books and candy giveaway! Click here to throw your name in the hat. I'll pick the lucky winner on Monday.

the big 800 and a big, whoppin' giveaway!

Wowza. Blogger changed its formatting a while back so that it included a running count of the posts you have written. And this, my friends, marks my eight hundredth blog post.

I started blogging 3 1/2 years ago. It began as a travel blog, documenting a road trip Rory and I were taking throughout Canada and the western half of the United States. This was the first image I posted in my very first post. A map of our planned roadtrip:

On that six week roadtrip I began taking photoshop classes through jessicasprague.com which opened up a whole new world of digital art, fonts, online scrapbooking... and so I started posting what I was learning, documenting the important things, like how much I love the Teriyaki restaurants out west.

And classy scrapbook layouts about our cat.

And lovely layouts showcasing the best picnic location we've ever found. (and we've enjoyed a lot of beautiful picnics...)

Once we returned home, we ended up hitting the road again and lived in Nebraska for two years while I worked as a program director at a Bible Camp. The blog morphed into an easy way to stay connected to friends and family back in Minnesota. I also got very crafty while in Nebraska. Sort of found a new passion out there for fabric and paper and ribbons and crop-o-diles.

And then we came back to Minnesota and had baby Ivar. And the blog became an incredible outlet for writing about mamahood, the gift of family and frankly, any thought or rambling under the sun.

It's no secret. I love to blog. I love, love, love it. And I love even more that YOU come to read. I have a very consistent readership and for that I am so, so grateful. I love this space. I love documenting life like this and I love the back and forth that a blog provides whether you comment, drop me a line or pick up the phone. It makes life more full.

So to celebrate, I am going to do my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY!!! At least, I think it's my first ever. Have I done this before?

I am putting together a smattering of my very favorite things. Including: my two favorite cd's: Andrew Peterson's Counting Stars and Sara Groves' Invisible Empires (or, if you already have this album, which you might because my blog readers tend to be Sara listeners...you can pick from any of her cd's), haribo fruit salad gummies, the Jesus storybook bible, bridge mix, and the greatest little Q and A 5-year-journal a lucky blog reader could hope for. People, all told, this is over a $60 value. And it's stuff you're going to love. Or love to eat. And love to listen to.

Now I'm going to get gimmicky on you. I'm going to do the whole leave a comment to win thing. But I'm also going to go the route of if you tweet about this giveaway and/or mention this in your facebook status and/or your blog you may enter three more times. And finally, if you are a follower or become a follower, you get to enter one more time. Up to five times. Stop me now, people.

Recap of the five ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite kind of candy (I changed the settings! It's super easy now!!!)
2. Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post or blog
3. Update your facebook status with a link to this blog
4. Become a follower. If already following leave a comment telling me you already follow
5. Mention this giveaway on your own blog

Now, the small print. This giveaway is open to EVERYONE. Even my mom. Even Rory's mom. In fact, if either of you won, it would be quite handy not having to pay the shipping. Former employees of mine (heh) may also enter. If you were ever my Sunday school teacher, or even better...if I was ever your Sunday school teacher, you had better leave a comment. If you're brand new to this blog you can enter. If you've been here since the beginning you may enter too. If you've been silently following and never commented before I want you to leave a comment the very most. Pretty please!

I will announce the winner next Monday. You've got one week!

So that's that. 800 blog posts. It's a whole lot of words. It's a lot of thoughts, stories and ideas. So, so happy I've kept this thing up. Here's to another 800.

valentine cookies

Today's crafting took the form of baking. And for good reason. We have two guys here working on our bathroom this week. We are getting a new tub, ceiling, window, wall tile, paint color, mirror, light fixture and sink fixture. Basically everything is changing except the existing floor, toilet and sink. I could not be more excited.

All of this excitement means two things: 1) this pregnant girl can't go to the bathroom every seventeen minutes as usual. Today we went to the zoo with friends and that was a good idea for a number or reasons, but largely so I was a bit closer to the facilities. We plan on going again tomorrow. 2) Ivar adores these two men. He stands at the gate and watches them and laughs. And when they use loud tools he chuckles so loud like they're just trying to be funny for his entertainment.

Here, the guy was showing me the options for the wall tile but Ivar kept tossing him a ball over the gate, and he played and played with Ivar until I told him he would never get out of this game if he didn't just walk away.

So I made the workers some cookies this afternoon. I spotted the valentine's m&m's at Target last night and decided they were necessary. Which was a big decision because we are tightening up our budget big time and purchases like this have to later be defended as to why they were necessary. But after making these adorable cookies, I would say it's obvious why they were necessary. (I used this recipe and it's great. Pretty classic for an oatmeal and m&m cookie.)