Musings of a Professional Mom

Taking A Break

2011-06-23T21:41:00.000-04:00

So yeah... been a long time since I have written a blog.

I took a break.

A rather long one.

However, I will probably be over at Just Another 15 Minutes more often than not over the next few months. Or maybe I will surprise everyone and start blogging on this one again!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T11:10:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!

I hope your year will add blessings that have rivaled ours for the past year!

More Life Changes!

2010-12-10T13:44:00.001-05:00

I think this is becoming the story of our life!

In the meantime, due to circumstances totally out of my control, I am back to being a stay-at-home mom again. That part of me is dancing on the inside! I was just telling Jonathan and my sister the other day that I was really looking forward to the day when I would get to stay home with just Emily, Ethan, and run the nanny agency. I just was expecting it to start in May or June, not today!

This change, however, I am okay with. A bit stressed about losing an income, as it is our reliable income that we use to pay the bills every month, but trusting in God to maintain and grow our irregular income from the business. Plus, I am very excited to do some things for the business that I've not been able to due because I've not had the time. Almost wishing it wasn't Christmas in two weeks, but it will give me time to plan and launch a new marketing campaign.

Say a prayer for us as we transition into our new roles, especially for Emily, as she will truly miss the three boys that have become her brothers over the past several months.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

2010-12-08T22:00:00.001-05:00

I'm so ready for bed.

The day is done.

I'm tired.

A bit frustrated, though... just looked at my www.fitday.com food log for today and I'm short about 400 calories for today. Grrr...

I could lay down right now and sleep for ages. But Ethan is not yet ready! It is too early for him to eat. Well, I guess I could feed him now, but I'd be up twice tonight and not just once. I'd rather stay up another hour.

So in the meantime, I've finished creating the new writing blog. I may still be tweaking the template a bit, but you can visit Just Another 15 Minutes at http://another15minutes.blogspot.com. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Changes Coming Soon!

2010-12-08T09:00:00.006-05:00

In the very nearby future, I will be launching a new and adjacent blog to this site, focusing more on actually writing and trying to get away from the "140-characters-sums-up-my-life" slump I am in because of Facebook.

My hope is that I will start blogging (and writing) more regularly again so stay tuned!

I Love Giving Birth!

2010-12-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

No, I did not like the six hours of labor. Or the delivery. But I love this little guy:

I also like that when you only gain 15 pounds when pregnant and have a nine pound, eleven ounce baby, you go from this:

To this in less than two weeks:

I love how good I feel after having a baby! It was the same way with Emily; right back up and on my feet. It is like a total system reboot after a yucky last 4-6 weeks of the pregnancy. :-)

New Posts

2010-11-10T12:55:00.002-05:00

New posts are available at The Journey blog: http://jdrogers.blogspot.com/. Check them out!

A New Month, A New Eating Plan!

2010-10-31T19:15:00.008-04:00

Some of you know (and most of you don't) that I've spent the last month weaning of a medication that I cannot take if I am going to nurse when our little guy is born. During this time, I've been researching healthy, natural ways to "make up" for what the medicine was designed for. I've found out some interesting facts, and have a new, healthier eating plan that I started today and am going use for the next couple of weeks to see if I see a difference.

In addition, I'm tracking my food intake/activities at http://www.fitday.com/, a free site I've used in the past as a food and weight journal while I've been losing weight. I wanted to use it again to make sure I'm eating enough calories, which I know I haven't been the past few weeks. Also, it is good accountability to me with my weight management during this pregnancy, which as of last Monday, I'd only gained a bit over 11 pounds, which I (and my OB!) have been very pleased with. We shall see tomorrow how much my weight has changed over the past week.

So how has my diet changed? Well, the most drastic changes are in the morning. Shortly after I get up, I drink an "activated water". Yes, stupid title, but that's what it is called, and used to get the digestive system and metabolism flowing! Basically, eight ounces of water + the juice of half a lemon + 1 teaspoon of honey + 1 ounce pure aloe vera juice. Shake it up really, really, good and drink!

After drinking my water mixture, it is exercise time, though the exercise can take place within the first 2 hours of waking. Why? Well, my body does not produce a certain hormone very well, and normal production time of that hormone is during the first 2 hours a woman is awake. If she is to exercise during that production time (which any exercise during the day boosts the hormone), it quadruples the amount of hormone produced! Cool, huh?

In the meantime, whether it is before or after exercise (I usually like after), the other big change is breakfast. I've always had it preached to me to never drink your calories, but a high recommendation I've found is to do a liquid breakfast, which a small snack a couple hours later if needed. The point of a liquid breakfast is to help ease the strain on the digestive system, which benefits the brain during hormone production.

Most people doing this will drink a smoothie of some sort, using fruit and a whey powder or peanut butter and flax meal or wheat germ for protein. As I'm pregnant, I'm not comfortable using a protein powder, even though I've found a couple all-natural whey powders, so I went the route of peanut butter/flax meal this morning. It was very good, and I wasn't hungry at until lunch time (though being the weekend, I did eat later than I normally do, so I will see how I do tomorrow). .

Want the recipe? Keep reading! .

Peanut Butter Banana Fruit Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 banana

1/4 - 1/2 cup fruit of your choice

2 TBSP peanut butter

2 TBSP ground flax meal or wheat germ

1 tsp honey

2-4 ice cubes (optional for thickness. I find freezing the fruit the night before eliminates the need for ice and doesn't water it down).

Steps:

1. Put milk in the blender first to avoid it "freezing" or "sticking" while blending.

2. Add other ingredients (if using frozen fruit, let sit out 15-20 minutes prior to ensure the full blending, unless you like chunks of fruit).

3. Blend for 30 seconds! You can add more/less milk to get to the consistency you want. Some drink half for breakfast, and the other half for a later mid-morning snack; I personally did the whole thing for breakfast today. .

Nutritional information:

Calories: 403 (using 2% milk and 1/4 cup berries), Fat: 23.3 g, Carbohydrates: 40.4 g, Dietary Fiber: 8.3 g, Protein: 16 g

So for Day 1 of this change in the mornings has gone well (and eating smart the rest of the day), and I've actually had a lot of energy today! I plan on trying this for two weeks to see the results (if any). Most of the time, as to not bore you silly, I will be documenting this on our fitness blog, The Journey, at http://jdrogers.blogspot.com/.

Amazing Pumpkin Bread!

2010-10-02T17:44:00.006-04:00

Fall is finally arriving in Georgia - praise the Lord! These 90 degree days into late September have been nuts. Don't ask me why I had to be pregnant during one of the hottest and long-lasting summers we've ever had. But anyway, I've been craving fall stuff for awhile, and I finally found a store that was stocked with canned pumpkin, and had to buy a couple of cans. Jonathan has begging for pumpkin bread, so I broke out my recipe and made it today. If you don't mind, I think I'll share:

Amazing Pumpkin Bread
(makes 2 loaves or 3 dozen muffins)

Ingredients:
3 cups bread flour
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, very soft (not melted!)
3 eggs
1 15 oz can pure canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease either loaf pans or muffin tins.

2. In medium bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.

3. In large bowl, beat together softened butter and sugars. Add the eggs. Beat for two minutes with mixer until fluffy (do not under beat!).

4. Add the pumpkin to butter/sugar/egg bowl and mix by hand until well combined.

5. In three batches, add the dry ingredients and mix gently by hand until each batch is just incorporated (scrape the sides between each batch). If desired, gently stir in nuts. Batter will be thick and fluffy, not liquid. Do not over mix!

6. Fill each loaf pan with half the batter, or fill muffin tins half full. Bake loaves about an hour, muffins about 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean and tops are golden. Cool in pan for ten minutes, then run a knife around the sides and finish cooling on wire rack.

7. Eat and enjoy!

I'm not always one to separate the dry and wet ingredients when I bake, but it does make a difference with this recipe, and keeps it from being very dense and crumbly. In addition, mixing the dry and wet together gently keeps this light and airy. It is worth it, though, and one of my guilty pleasures in the fall. My favorite way to eat it is with a light layer of cream cheese and a delicious cup of coffee (or apple cider!).

23 Week Pictures (Shh... I'm actually 27 weeks)

2010-09-03T16:23:00.004-04:00

So I'm late with sharing pictures again - so sorry! But once again, I'll do a comparision of what I looked like with Emily at that point, and what I look like now:

With Emily, in 2008, at 23 weeks pregnant:

In 2010, with Baby Boy Rogers at 23 Weeks (yes, I wore the same shirt on purpose!):

Today, I hit 27 weeks - my due date is 3 months from today! Woohoo! Home stretch, here I come!

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

2010-07-29T19:21:00.002-04:00

So I made a grilled cheese sandwich today for lunch that was soooo good, and way healthier than the regular white-bread-american-cheese version I am used to dipping in tomato soup. In fact, I need to share it with you it was that good! To give kudos where kudos are due, it is a variation of a sandwich I saw in a Family Circle magazine (not sure what edition).

Ingredients (For one sandwich):

2 slices whole wheat bread
2 TBSP honey mustard
2 thin slices cheddar cheese
1/4 granny smith apple, sliced thin (save the rest to munch with your sandwich!)

1. Spread the inside of each slice of bread with honey mustard
2. Layer the filling - cheese, apple, and then cheese again
3. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and cook sandwich on each side until toasted brown and cheese is melted.
4. Enjoy!

Seriously, try it! Even my husband, who loathes grilled cheese, wanted seconds with this one!

18 Week Pregnancy Pictures

2010-07-24T09:33:00.002-04:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting my 18 weeks pregnancy pictures from this pregnancy. However, to compare, here is the same picture from when I was expecting Emily in 2008:

What I looked like 3 weeks ago at 18 weeks with Baby #2:

No, I really haven't started showing much! Some of that is because I haven't gained any weight with the pregnancy (I lost at the beginning, and am just now back up to my pre-pregnancy weight).

Next set of pictures in 2 weeks! :-)

Finally - A Good (And Normal) Visit!

2010-07-21T15:02:00.002-04:00

It was such a joy to finally have an OB visit that went off without a single hitch. Yeah!

So after full and partial bedrest from 15 weeks to 20 weeks (it has been a long month), I am offically back on my feet again.

No more bedrest? Check.

Can start exercising again? Check.

Get back to my normal life? Double check!

But it is not all fun and games - I do have a few limitations. Like no hard exercise: just walking, yoga, etc. No heavy lifting. Drink lots and lots of water. And rest when I am tired - that is a big one. We are praying that this past month will have been
our glitch for this pregnancy.

I only had one piece of upcoming anxiety - my sugar levels were high, again (they were at my last visit, too), but he is very pleased with my weight gain - I'm finally back up to my pre-pregnancy weight. So in two weeks I'll do a glucose fasting to check for gestational diabetes. It's 4-6 weeks early than this is usually tested, but he is seeing some early indicators. So bummer on that, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Well, I'm off to go make jello for tonight's dessert (sugar-free, of course!). Have a good day!

Potty Training Week - Day 1

2010-07-19T20:13:00.005-04:00

It's potty-training time at the Rogers' house!

It's been awhile in coming; Emily, now 2, has been ready for this for quite awhile. However, Mommy has not! Bedrest put a kink in my potty plans for her, but I decided that this week, it needed to be done.

So last night we prepped: we talked about it a lot, ready potty books before bed, and even picked out which dress and undies she wanted to wear the following day. Needless to say, we were ready to go!

Of course, the little one had to get up at six o'clock. I don't think I hardly noticed her curled up next to me until seven, but when I got up and pulled her into the bathroom, she went! And she continued to go throughout the day, sometimes with undies on and a lot of time going commando. What is it about toddlers liking nakedness?

But how many accidents, you ask? Only 3, but one of those was a near miss - we didn't quite make it and she wet on the rug in front of the potty. I even took the risk of not putting her back in a diaper for her nap (yes, I did put a liner on her bed!), and she stayed dry for her full three hour nap. If I can keep her down to just a diaper at bedtime, I will be thrilled, and so will our checkbook. :-)

Bedrest is Boring

2010-07-12T08:10:00.002-04:00

Well, I spoke too soon in my last post. A lot too soon!

What happened, do you ask?

Well, about ten minutes after I posted that last post, I started having some pregnancy-related bleeding. Since my OB's office was closed, my doctor sent me to the emergency room as I started having bad cramping with the bleeding. Our local hospital did an excellent job with me, but besides telling me that the baby was fine and they could find nothing obviously wrong with me via fetal monitoring and an ultrasound, I was sent home on bedrest for the weekend. However, Monday at my doctor's office proved a bit different. An internal ultrasound revealed that a section of the placenta had detached, which was causing the pain and bleeding. So on bedrest I stayed.

And have continued to stay, for the most part.

Can we say boring?

At least I've moved from complete bedrest to partial bedrest in the past week, and am slowly getting back on my feet again. If I do too much, it lands me back into bed with cramping, so I'm trying to take it easy. If you know me, I don't take to not doing much very well, especially when the house needs picked up or laundry needs done. But Jonathan has been an incredible husband! He has cleaned, cooked, done dishes, watched Emily, and so much more. I've been very blessed to have him home during this time! I am one lucky woman! :-)

One good that that has come out of all the monitoring at the doctor's is that we now know that we are having a little boy! Yeah! But the name is a secret until he is born! :-)

Time is Flying!

2010-06-11T10:58:00.002-04:00

I remember where I was at this point two years ago. I was as big as a whale and sick as a dog while struggling with preeclampsia at the very end of my pregnancy with Emily. In fact, by now, I was just shy of being admitted into the hospital.

Is it ironic that I'm pregnant while that little bundle of joy turns two?

We aren't planning a huge party for her - just the family and a few friends in Columbia, SC. And no, we don't live there. Emily's grandmother does. We decided to do it at her house because I just can't physically deal with the stress of tons of people coming in and crashing at our house (don't ask me how I'm going to handle 15+ people for the family reunion over the 4th of July). We'll clean it, and do the cooking, and the clean-up. My biggest thing is the cake, which I'm actually very excited about making. But it's a secret for now, but hopefully there will be pictures posted afterwards!

In the meantime, my pregnancy is slowing getting better. I still have bad days, where I'm sick an exhausted, but I'm having more good days than I used to, which is a huge plus. And we're hoping that at my end of the month ultrasound, we will know if we are having a boy or a girl, but that's only if this little one decides to cooperate. We are also praying that the small concern of having placenta previa will have righted itself by this point; my OB isn't too worried about it right now, as it usually takes care of itself.

Emily, on the other hand, has a vocabulary that is growing by leaps and bounds. She is now learning her colors and shapes, but her favorite phrase right now is "I don't want to". Can we say she is are almost two? Potty-training isn't going great, as this incredibly stubborn girl will hold it for hours and hours instead of going on the potty, so we've stopped pushing it for awhile with a fear that she's going to give herself a UTI. After her birthday, though, we hope to start up again, exspecially now that we are often finding her baby doll sitting on her potty with the toilet paper.

But speaking of Emily, she's being needy, so I need to get off the computer. I'll try to post pictures of her party after next weekend.

Updates, but not here!

2010-04-20T22:43:00.003-04:00

I don't have time for a full post on this blog today, but you can check out my update on Our Journey blog at jdrogers.blogspot.com.

Have a wonderful and blessed evening!

As the World Turns

2010-04-16T12:25:00.002-04:00

No, I have not started watching soap operas.

However, I realized today that I have not posted in ages! So here is a quick rundown on our news, which has to be fast because we are limited on our internet time.

First item of business is that I am seven weeks pregnant with Baby #2. We are due December 3rd and are very exited about the addition to our family.

Second, we have another dog - a sweet little girl who is part terrier, part daschund, part chihuahua. Her name is Siena, after the city in Italy. We have to keep up with the tradition of naming our pets after places.

Third, we are no longer working as houseparents, but are back at the farm in Georgia. It's a long story, and too much for me to post on here. We are enjoying being back (it's sooo green!), and Emily is loving being a little farm girl.

Forth, Emily is potty-training. Or trying to potty-train. Some days are better than others, but she is permanently wearing dresses for the time being. Much easier for Mommy!

That's it for now - hopefully I will be able to post again soon!

An Apple A Day

2010-03-22T05:44:00.004-04:00

I have a daughter who is love with this delectable fruit. It doesn't matter what kind - red delicious, granny smith, skin on, skin off, she asks for apples almost every hour of every day (almost). In fact, her first complete sentence was said two weeks ago in her highchair in the kitchen while munching on the aforementioned fruit. What was it?

"Mama, I love apples."

:-)

Needless to say, I was a psychotic and crazy mother for NOT buying any apples while we were down at our farm in Georgia this past weekend. Not that she didn't have a wide variety of fruit - she did! Strawberries, bananas, tangerines... she had plenty to eat with her morning cereal and afternoon snacks. But did that satisfy her fruit-love? Nooooo. Of course not!

So guess what this suckered mommy did for her daughter on the way home.

While daddy was getting gas, mommy ran into the McDonalds attached to the gas station and bought a $1 bag of apple-dippers (sans caramel) for her. Her reaction? Well... I'll let you imagine it. ;-)

I'm a hero.

A Few Candid Pictures...

2010-03-09T20:16:00.004-05:00

...that turned out to be favorites!

We did Emily's Easter pictures this weekend, and though I won't post any that will be sent to family (you have to wait until it is mailed!), I will post a few of our favorite shots. They are such pictures of Emily's personality!

Legos!

2010-02-28T15:18:00.005-05:00

Recipe Monday

2010-02-22T20:29:00.005-05:00

Muffin in a Minute

This is one of my favorite low-carb bread substitutes. You can alter the various spices to change the flavor. I like a sweeter one in the morning with cinnamon and vanilla, or a muffin that plays with your taste buds by using garlic and dill (great with cream cheese!). In the fall, I'll even add some pumpkin for a fun festive treat. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup ground flax meal
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 packet sugar substitute
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or whatever spice you are trying)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon butter

Directions:
1. Stir the dry ingredients together in a mug (some people use a bowl if they want more of a bread or bun shape instead of a muffin)
2. Add the egg and butter.
3. Microwave for one minute
4. Take out, slice, add your toppings, and eat!

I use a lot of different toppings, depending on what mood I'm in - butter, cream cheese, jelly, egg & cheese (if I'm making a breakfast sandwich). Experiment and have fun! :-)

The recipe I based my MIM on is located at: http://www.atkins.com/Recipes/ShowRecipe905/Muffin-in-a-Minute-(MIM).aspx

Recipe Monday

2010-02-15T20:51:00.005-05:00

Layered Mexican Salad

(compliments to Betty Crocker)

Jonathan and I love this salad - it's healthy and fresh and the dressing is to die for. I'm making it tomorrow for a staff meeting lunch, so I decided to share it with you!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded lettuce
1 chopped bell pepper
2 cups black bean salsa
3/4 cup whole kernel corn
1 avocado (optional)

Dressing:
3/4 tsp grated lime peel
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
3/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
1. In medium bowl, layer lettuce, bell pepper, 1 1/4 cups of the salsa, and corn. Top with remaining salsa and garnish with sliced avocado (optional).
2. In food processor or blender, process all dressing ingredients except oil. Gradually pour in oil, processing until thick. Serve on the side with the salad.

Money, Money, Money

2010-02-14T20:13:00.005-05:00

Some days, I am utterly sick of money. Sometimes I think that I would love to exist in a world without it! But as you know, that is not the world we live in.

If you've been following this blog since I began it, you would know that Jonathan and I are focused on becoming debt-free. When we got married, we wanted to be debt-free by our fifth wedding anniversary. With that date a year and a half ahead, I don't think we'll quite make that, but it will come.

Jonathan and I have spent this past week crunching numbers; we've been lack with our budget and spending over the holiday season and we're determined to get back on track. We are cutting in a few areas; for example, we are changing our cell carrier this week to save almost $100 a month. I look at where we were two years ago and man, we were struggling to pay off the debt. We just didn't know the best way to go about it. We wanted to, but were not sure how. A pastor introduced us to Dave Ramsey, and My Total Money Makeover changed our life and probably our marriage! There are days I get really tired of cutting back as much as we do, but I am excited about it again. This month is exactly two years since we started doing the steps Dave's way, and I was shocked to see this evening as I plugged in numbers that we've paid off $17,700 in debt over the past two years!!! Woohoo!! If we can pay off that much while being houseparents and then living on one income for a year... well, it is just a testimony of what God can accomplish. I'm rejuvenated to keep on the path... it's not easy, but we look forward to the day when we owe money to no one!

Anywho, that's my post for the day - tootleloo!

It's Olympics!!!

2010-02-13T22:44:00.002-05:00

I love the Olympics.

Really, I do.

But not just any Olympics. The Winter Olympics.

Truth be told, I didn't watch a Summer Olympic until two years. But be realistic - I grew up in Colorado. I remember as a child Scott Hamilton win the gold and spent many a night pretending to be Kristi Yamaguchi "skating" in the kitchen while I was supposed to have been doing dishes. Dad even took us to see "Cool Runnings" at the movie theater, and I loved all the Mighty Duck movies. Then when I started skiing I would pretend to be racing. I LOVED all the winter sports. Still do.

I think the kids think I'm a bit crazy, but I'm determined to infect them over the next week and a half.

Recipe Monday

2010-02-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

Santa Fe Black Bean Soup

I made this as a healthy warm "comfy" soup on a rainy day, and it was awesome! Even Jonathan, who doesn't like soup, gave it a thumbs up. Give it a try!

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 scallions, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely choped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon cayene pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- dash of salt
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cans black beans, undrained
- 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/8 cup fresh chopped cilanto

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan and saute scallions, garlic, celery, cumin, peppers, and salt until vegetables are soft.
2. Add chicken broth, beans, and tomatoes - bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Transfer 2 cups of soup to the blender; blend until smooth and add back to soup. Bring back to a boil and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
4. Add lime and cilanto.
5. Serve and enjoy!

Another Month Has Come and Gone

2010-02-06T13:15:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I really need to get back in the habit of posting again! But yes, we are still alive and kicking! We've been struggling with not the best health since Christmas, from a four-day GI/stomach bug to Fifths Disease (Emily) to yucky colds we picked up in Colorado.

Colorado! Now there was the highlight of the last month. Jonathan and I took Emily halfway across of the country to see my family for the first time. In that, all my siblings, with spouses and kids, all overlapped for about 3 days of our week there. It was great for pictures!

In a nutshell, it was a good time and hopefully, we'll take a quick jaunt back to Colorado in May for my sister's highschool graduation. I went to my younger brother's, but missed my dad's and sister-in-law's, so I'm determined to make this one.

I'm going to make this short, but will post more about our trip later. Look for a renewal of blogging soon, including Recipe Mondays!

Another Year Has Come

2010-01-06T19:28:00.002-05:00

I updated Jonathan and I's "Biggest Loser Journey" blog with a personal post from me, so I'm going to post on this blog as an update. Can't have you think we dropped off of the face of the earth! We did go to the South of the US into Florida for Christmas, where we all got horrible cases of a stomach bug that we aren't 100% yet, and will be heading to Colorado in about 2 weeks, but we are still live and well!

Here's my latest post:

So we are a few days into our new year - I still can't believe it is 2010. My little girl will be 2, I will have my ten-year high school reunion, and I'll have been married for four years. But I am also praying this year will be a year of healing for me - in relationships with God, my marriage, my family but in addition, a year of healing physically. For me, a lot of that is weight-related. I proactively started living a healthier lifestyle in November and in my weigh-in yesterday, found that I've now lost a total of ten pounds. I've not lost as much over the past three weeks with the kids being out of school; I've not exercised nearly as much as I like to or want.

I know I should be happy about that ten pounds - it's 1/9 of my goal to a healthy weight. However, it makes me a bit nervous and I don't feel like it's a major achievement. I can drop 10 pounds fairly easily and this time, I did it in about a month. But I've been fluxing ten over and under the 225 mark for the last year and a half. In some ways I don't feel like my weight loss journey begins until I get to 200; that is what I had gotten down to before I got pregnant with Emily. But from past experience, when I lose about 25-30 pounds, I then start feeling better about myself and get sloppy. Then the weight will creep back on plus some. I want this to be a lifestyle change for me but I am apprehensive right now and am reluctant to celebrate.

I know that probably felt like a chunk of "What?" right in the middle of this blog, but you can go back and read more at jdrogers.blogspot.com. I'll try to post more on both of them soon.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near

2009-12-17T09:31:00.003-05:00

We are in full swing Operation Christmas right now; we have a room that is filling with gifts, stockings are up, both trees are decorated, and we have made and eaten our weight in Christmas cookies! And no, I've not had time to upload any additional pictures, but they will come soon, I promise.

I don't have a lot of time to post right now, but will try to later this week.

Merry Christmas!

New Post!

2009-12-08T22:22:00.002-05:00

New update on our personal Biggest Loser Journey blog - check it out at:

http://jdrogers.blogspot.com/

Work Never Ends

2009-11-28T19:34:00.002-05:00

So we are supposed to be off of work from our job, but we come to Georgia to the farm once a month. Needless to say, there is always work to do here! This weekend's project is to get the underpinning on our house installed and as of Saturday night, we are about halfway done, but should finish it tomorrow. It took us a bit to get going, but once we did is came pretty quick. Emily loved it - she got to play outside and explore for a couple of hours; she ended up sitting in a "nest" she made of dirt and acorns with the farm cat. It's our prayer and hope that our home will be up and running (and at least some grass for landscaping!) by our fourth of July family reunion. It is a beautiful home on the inside, but the outside needs some work!

Anyway, just a short update for now. Thanksgiving has been nice, and life is busy around the holidays, but we are taking time for each other (or trying, at least!). My jaw is slowly healing after the wisdom-tooth removal, and we finally bought our plane tickets to go home to Colorado in January. I'm sooo looking forward to that; it's been two years this Christmas since we've been home. But I said this would be short, so I'll end it now.

:-)

It's Hard to Get A Clear Picture with An Active Toddler (i.e. she moves a LOT and is faster than the camera)

2009-11-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's Here!

2009-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

My very cool new phone has arrived (sorry to anyone who has tried to get in touch with me since Friday - my old phone finally died after 2+ years of wonderful service).

Behold, the Verizon LG enV3:

It's very cool with lots of fun gadgets, though I miss my old Razor.

However, I think Jonathan and Emily want to play with it more than I do! :-)

A Trip to the Waterfall

2009-11-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, Jonathan and I took our girls on a hike to Station Cove Falls near Walhalla, SC. It's a 60 foot stepped waterfall that can only be accessed via a hike through a gorgeous Appalachian cove forest. It was a beautiful day and we, and the kiddos loved it (though they were very tired on the way back!). We've discovered that there are about 20 waterfalls to hike to in our county, and hope to visit more soon. Next time, I just need to bring the hiking backpack for Emily!

Tattle, Tattle

2009-11-15T13:53:00.005-05:00

I have to laugh some days at Emily. She's a bit of a goody-two-shoes, if you ask me, but Jonathan says she gets that from her mommy. However, I see a rebellious streak in her which I'm sure I'm going to see more of in the future. For example, after the millionth time of Emily grabbing something she wasn't supposed to:

Emily: "Mine?"

Me: "Emily, if you touch that again, mommy is going to give you a swat".

Emily: "Nuh-uh" (of course in a sassy tone)

Me: "Oh really? You wanna bet?"

Needless to say, she didn't touch it again until I was in the shower and Daddy was watching her (and of course, he didn't know about the exchange she and I went through). But to her credit, she tattles on him, too. Yesterday I was resting in bed while they played in the living room when I heard her exclaim "Daddy!", and come tearing into my room, babbling all the way about what Daddy had done. He followed her with a laugh to explain that he "ate" her toy horse, and of course, she had to run to tell me about how bad her daddy was.

I love toddlers - their minds are so interesting! She's learned that she's cute, and when you tell her "no" to something, she'll come lay her head on your leg, look up at you with her big blue eyes, put on her biggest smile, and ask again. In which you have to tell her "no", again, which half of the time leads to more manipulation, or tears. Only rarely do I ever get a "yes ma'am" (the baby sign for yes is what she is instructed to say) and she goes on her way.

A Pain in the Teeth

2009-11-05T21:41:00.002-05:00

Or tooth, in my case.

Which is making for pain in my whole mouth. And sinuses. And ear.

Word to the wise: if a dentist ever tells you that a tooth is ever going to need to eventually be removed, go ahead and get it done. I knew a year ago that I had one wisdom tooth that didn't come in quite right that was going to need extracted. But at that time, I was pregnant, so I put it off. Then I was nursing, so I put it off again. Then I was working full time. I always had an excuse.

I don't anymore.

It's been bugging me for a couple of months - no severe pain, but cold drinks and chewed anything sweet on that side sent me up the wall. But at 2:47 this morning, apparently my tooth decided that it would not take my procrastination any longer. I have a decent pain threshold, but good grief! So I finally went to dentist this morning - I honestly didn't think it was that tooth - I thought I had a cavity in a different molar. But no, it's that stupid wisdom I was warned about a year and a half ago. But now, it's fractured in two place and is abscessed and very infected (when he gives you an Rx for an antibiotic that you are to take 4x a day for 12 days with 2 refills, it's bad). The dentist didn't how I'd been walking around with it for so long. However, they can't remove it until the infection is gone - they do extractions on Mondays, and don't know if I will be ready for it be then, so it may be the Monday after before it comes out.

*sigh*

That's a long time to walk around with a bad tooth. But I guess another week won't kill the time I already have been, especially now that I have good painkillers that I can take at night. :-)

Sweet dreams, everyone!

Pray Request

2009-10-29T17:06:00.007-04:00

We have a huge test tomorrow for certification purposes, and though I'm starting to feel comfortable with the material, Jonathan is really struggling, as it's been a challenge for him in these all-day training sessions with his back as injured as it is and that he's starting to get the crud that I'm fighting.

Please pray we do well, especially in the verbal segment and the written assessment (not worried about the matching or True/False, but the part where you have to list verbatim the answer to the questions), and that we would have the strength to get the studying done that we need to tonight while we still feel so under-the-weather.

In the meantime, here's our little monkey:

She's grown up a bunch since her first Halloween last year:

How the time flies!

Outside Girl

2009-10-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Her new favorite toy:

Ickiness

2009-10-27T21:49:00.003-04:00

I'm so glad it's our week where we only work Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

I'm sick.

Emily's sick.

Jonathan's back is out.

But I'm sipping Theraflu, Emmy is slathered in Vick's Vapor Rub, and Jonathan is icing his back. Yet I'm trying to look on the bright side; neither Emily or I have run a fever, but are just congested with sore throats and a cough. Jonathan's back x-ray came back clear, and he has just badly sprained and bruised muscles.

Jonathan's back is slowly improving, though he goes back into the chiropractor tomorrow. And I get an adjustment, too, this time! Maybe my tailbone can finally start improving - I thought it would improve after I had Emily, but it's only gotten worse. And my lower back/hip/feet pain has started back up since we've been back in a children's home, and my only thought for that is that I'm on my feet so much more during the day than when I was managing in insurance!

Anywho, daily notes are done, Biggest Loser is over, we're praying the roof won't leak with all this flooding, and I'm going to bed.

Adios!

Recipe Monday

2009-10-12T20:08:00.008-04:00

Santa Fe Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough (make your own or buy it)
1 lb ground sausage
1 red bell pepper, chopped
16 oz mild chunky salsa
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
12 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz each of sour cream & ranch dressing, mixed

Directions for Fast, Yummy Pizza Dough (compliments of my sister):

Combine 2 cups warm water with 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 packets of yeast - let sit for 10 minutes. Add to six cups flour, mix, and knead. Let rise for 20 minutes. For this pizza recipe, I like to add a packet of ranch dressing mix; for regular pizza, I add Italian spices.

Directions for Santa Fe Pizza:

1. Spread pizza crust onto two sprayed pizza pans.

2. Cook and drain sausage. Add peppers and saute for 3 minutes.

3. Combine the salsa, chili powder, and cumin in separate bowl.

4. Divide equally on both crusts: salsa mixture, sausage and peppers, beans, then cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until cheese is melted and browned (if using a pre-bought crust, follow its baking directions).

5. Top (or dip) with the cool ranch dip and enjoy!

*************

This was a hit with my husband and all nine kids. I was a little nervous that it might be too spicy, but the cumin in the salsa, as well as the dip, cools it down nicely. We had fresh cantaloupe and a salad to make it into a great meal. It got two thumbs up in my house!

She's Getting Bigger Every Day

2009-10-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

When did she get old enough to be in her own class at Awanas? *sigh* My sweet little Puggle...

New Family Additions!

2009-10-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

So I’ve been a bit behind on updating on the two newest and most handsome gentlemen to the family. May I introduce you first to Issac Matthew, son of Nathan & Valerie,

and Ian Jon, son of Jason & Melissa,

both born within one week of each other the last week of September, and both weighting over nine pounds.

Congratulations!

A New Season Approaches

2009-10-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

I love spending our time back in the upstate of South Carolina again. We see the mountains on the horizon every day, a cool breeze on our faces when we walk outside, the smell of pine needles, and a definite change in seasons, one of the things I miss most about Colorado.

Fall is almost here.

It's the crisp air in the morning.

It's Jonathan putting up the fall decorations in the house.

Or the pumpkin patch at school.

But more than a new season of our climate coming, I sense a new season in my life.

God is working. Churning. Stirring a pot I have frustratedly thought dead or at least very dormant in my life. A time of change, and truly, a time of growth. I can't go into detail today, but will update you as my heart is ready for it. Fall is a time for cutting back and pruning in our yard, and in my life as well.

How is this new season bringing on change in your life?

It's Coming

2009-10-03T13:14:00.000-04:00

Posting on a regular basis will commence shortly.

:-)

I'll try, at least.

In the meantime, a picture of my sponsor:

Where Have I Been?

2009-09-08T09:53:00.000-04:00

So I always start my posts saying "I'm sorry for not posting on a regular basis"... where here it is again! But maybe the correct way to start is by saying what we've been doing for the last month!

My last post was just prior to going down to my corporate office in Tampa, FL. That was an eye-opening trip for me, as the company was interviewing branch managers for future potential general managers. And to be honest, it was exciting and there is a lot of potential there. However, it really got me thinking and evaluating what I really wanted in life, and what my family needs. Jonathan and I had only agreed that me working fulltime out of the home was only to be short-term, especially while he was staying at home with Emily, and if you know me, I am very against the daycare route. And truthfully, though I expected it to get easier to go to work every morning as Emily got older, it got more and more difficult every day. At the beginning of the summer, we had started praying that God would show us which way to go - Jonathan and I were both struggling, individually and in our marriage, and we knew that we needed to a change. He was not happy staying home with Emily, and I was not happy working fulltime. This started a job search for him, but found little response in the Augusta area. So we continued to trust God to get us through this time.

Right after I got back from Tampa, we got two surprise e-mails, both from children's homes we had contacted in the past that had pulled our resumes back out of their stacks, as we have the qualifications and experience they needed for their new houseparent openings. We talked with both of them, and did a face-to-face interview with one of them, and then started doing a little bit of research on our own. Very soon, we found that the very first children's home we had ever interviewed at was looking for houseparents for the same house we'd been interested in two and a half years ago. Though we'd been offered the position, we didn't take it - at that time, it was for highschool girls, and I was not ready that. We both agreed that we needed more training and experience.

So we e-mailed this home, Collins Children's Home & Family Ministries, in Seneca, SC (about 30 minutes from where we were in Anderson, SC, at Calvary Home for Children), and they called us back the very same day. The house was not for highschool girls anymore, but for girls age 2 - 12. Two weeks ago, we interviewed with them, and a week ago, they offered us the position. We talked about it, prayed about it, and sought advice from friends and family. We had already decided to take a couple of weeks in the Columbia/Lexington area of SC for Jonathan to job search short-term - there seemed to be more options in this area than were we were. But as we looked at the future, going to Collins as houseparents lined up almost perfectly with our individual and combined goals for ourselves, our marriage, and our family. It was also ironic to look at what Jonathan had said about Collins two and a half years ago (as we found in as we dug through our e-mails): "We do feel this will be a ministry [i.e. ministry in children's homes] for both Debbie and I to be in for sometime. Whether it be for many years at the home we are currently at, or another one, or it be with Collins Children's Home in years to come. We will keep you and Collins Children's Home in the back of our minds when time comes again for the Lord to move us."

So we accepted, and we go up to Seneca tomorrow.

We will keep our home in Waynesboro, as well - we get a decent amount of time off and one of our biggest frustrations in the past was that we had nothing to call our own, and no place to go on our time off. It's also nice to have some security elsewhere as well when your job provides your home. So that is our latest update and we will keep your posted on this new change, but hopefully last big change in awhile, in our life!

--Debbie

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

2009-08-01T10:34:00.000-04:00

Crazy day - I found out yesterday that I'm wanted at our corporate office in Clearwater, FL. Within an hour, tickets were booked, and I fly out tomorrow at noon. Will be back Monday at midnight.

Oy vey!

Busy day for us! Apparently Emily is going to do all the cooking for me today.

Now No One Can Confuse Me For A Boy

2009-07-26T19:22:00.000-04:00

A Hard Day

2009-07-21T12:27:00.000-04:00

Shot day again today for Emily.

I hate this part of parenthood.

:-(

It's time to curb my work hours

2009-07-15T21:50:00.001-04:00

It must be time to check my hours at work when I come home and ask my daughter what she wants for supper.

"Out!" she squealed, jumping up and down in my arms.

:-S

I need to take over my kitchen again, apparently.

PS Btw, I have cooked the last two nights in row... :-p

How The Summer Flies!

2009-06-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe we are in the last week of June! Where has the time flown by? Emily had her first birthday:

This is what she looked like a year ago today - we used this picture for her birth announcements:

She was such a cute newborn... but she is embracing her new found freedom as a toddler (though no, she isn't walking yet)! She has decided to make every diaper change and clothes change an act of war. I hate it - I used to love bath time and post-bath time with her; it's my time to unwind with her after I've been at work all day, but I am started to dread it now. I'm hoping she'll eventually grown out of it...

Anywho, we've still waiting on the move. We found out yesterday it will be another two weeks before they can get the power on (we need the inspector to come out and do it, but alas, he's out of town for two weeks... blasted small towns... there is no one else to do it). Once we have power, we expect to spend a week getting it ready cosmetically (it's much easier to paint when nothing is in it!), and then move. So, we're probably looking at the end of July/beginning of August now... sigh... I can't wait until we have our own space again. And our stuff! It's been sitting in storage for over two years now, as we have been living in furnished houses - it will be like Christmas again!

Well, I need to go get the sun room cleaned - adios!

--Debbie

Whatz Up!?!

2009-05-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

Recipe Monday

2009-05-18T22:09:00.000-04:00

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes*

Ingredients


	8 average graham cracker(s), mashed into crumbs
	2 tbsp reduced-calorie margarine, melted
	4 oz fat-free cream cheese
	4 oz light cream cheese
	2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
	2 large egg white(s)
	1 tsp vanilla extract
	1/3 cup(s) sugar
	20 oz light fruit pie filling, cherry, warmed

Instructions

Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Combine graham cracker crumbs and margarine; mix well.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each liner and press down gently. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

Beat cream cheeses until fluffy and add lemon juice, egg whites, vanilla extract and sugar; beat until smooth.

Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into crumb cups. Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes (cheesecake will still be wobbly, and will set as it cools). Cool.

Top each cheese cake with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling.

*Recipe compliments of weightwatchers.com

Mother's Day Recap

2009-05-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's Wednesday, and my first Mother's Day was three days ago, though Jonathan celebrated it over the course of all last week.

First, I got flowers on Thursday:

Then a dinner date Friday night (always a pleasure not to have to cook!).

On Sunday I was allowed to sleep in until 10:30 AM (which is unheard of in our house!), and then went to a cookout at a colleague's house. It was fun, and Emily got in her swimsuit for the first time this summer, and "played" (i.e. crawled around on her towel on the concrete far away from the wet grass) with another little boy in the sprinklers. In fact, she got her first kiss - two of them, to be accurate. We're going to have our hands full with this one! But of course, we didn't have the camera. *sigh* Next time, we will be armed, so be prepared! :-)

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Mother Day! In fact, if you have a memorable story, post it below!

Monday's Recipe

2009-05-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

I'm enjoying cooking again, and especially since we are back on Weight Watchers, am going for very healthy, but yet still very tasty, foods. Anyway, I've decided to make Monday my recipe day. Feel free to comment, or even post your own variations!

Grilled Chicken with Black Bean Corn "Salsa"

Serves 4 (approx 480 calories a serving)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup black beans (rinse if canned)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp lime juice
3 cups cooked brown rice

1. Season chicken breasts (salt and pepper, or if you want more of a "kick", use a different seasoning. My favorite seasoning at the moment is McCormick's Grill Mates Steak Rub), and grill until done.

2. While chicken is grilling, mix remaining ingredients and put in fridge until chicken is done.

3. Dish salsa onto the chicken and serve with rice. Enjoy!

(not my picture, but this is very close...)

Now, Jonathan and I often like to chop up our chicken, and roll up the chicken and black bean corn salsa in a tortilla wrap for a burrito effect. Old Mission has several great wraps, including their original, sun-dried tomato basil, spinach herb, garden vegetable, and whole wheat. Also, it's great dish for leftovers! The salsa tastes even better after it has sat for awhile.

Picture Day!

2009-05-09T23:06:00.000-04:00

For me, at least! I desperately needed a picture taken for work for two reasons - one for my business cards and second for a picture on the wall for our branch leader/manager section. But, I was not at the last conference where they took pictures, so I needed to have one taken, send it into the publishing company, and Lord willing, they can use it.

So it took us about an hour - we got lots of good pictures, but my stupid glasses caught a glare, no matter where we were, indoor or out. So we took them off, and this is picture Jonathan and I both choose as the best one for the day:

I have a bit of hair in my eye (the wind was blowing), but good grief, it was the best one that came out. I sure hope they can use it!

Anywho, I'm heading to bed - we have a full day tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day to every mom out there!

--Debbie

PS I've posted again on our joint blog that is following our weight-loss journey; check it out at http://jdrogers.blogspot.com/.

Another Day, Another Dollar...

2009-05-07T21:03:00.000-04:00

....no wait! Not for me today - I stayed home from work with Emily as she seems to have a bug: fever, and all the nasty stuff Mommy's have to go through with a sick one that seem a bit TMI to put on the blog. My plan was to work this afternoon, but after she finally went down for a nap at 2:00 pm, I was tired that I went down for a nap, too. For two and a half hours. I never, EVER sleep like that, not even after Emily was a newborn. Jonathan was shocked. But I'm working Saturday, so it's not that I lost a day this week. But her fever broke, some of her appetite back, and she currently seems to be sleeping restfully, and I just pray that it lasts through the night!

Anywho, no major news for us, though the land clearing is done, finally, after a lot of rain and the logging trucks getting stuck, numerous times, though I managed to keep our zippy Nitska-Nissan going up and down our now demolished driveway (you are not allowed to ask about my mud incident from the month of April, though!). Not much will be done next week, but I think the week after will be a big one, with the well and septic going in.

The only other news is that Jonathan and I are back on Weight Watchers. We had unofficially stopped this fall when we moved here and had horrid Internet service, thus our online WW as pretty useless. But we both need it, and I've seen myself settle into some fairly horrid eating habits since the move to the other office: I drink coffee all day, and usually don't eat until I get home, and then end out waaaay overeating. So I'm trying to get back into the habit of eating regularly again, and dropping down to one cup of coffee a day (two if I have an evening training or appointment).

But Jonathan just picked up a movie for us, so I must go. Curious Case of Benjamin of Button, here we come!

*************

When a little somebody is not sick... :-p

2009-04-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

The month of April has not been my most favorite month in the past year. It's been very busy! Shall I list it out?

1. Transferred to a new office (same company) on April 1st.

2. Cooked Easter Eve meal and Easter dinner for 20 people and had to deal with all the family drama there.

3. Emmy had to get shots again this month. :-(

4. Spent 4 days in Charlotte, NC, for training for my move to our other office.

5. We did take a day trip to Savannah, GA, on the first Saturday of April. It was fun, but we did get rained out.

6. Have tried to adapt to a new routine. My days start much, much earlier, which has made my time with Emily a bit shorter every day. Jonathan loves it though, as Emily sleeps in more, so she is more rested and cheery in the morning.

7. We've had very little time for just the three of us, with people in and out of the house. Hopefully, that will change coming up here in May, as we get things lined up for our own living arrangements.

We are praying for a wonderful May, and an awesome finish to the work week for me (I need it for office production and so does our checkbook!). I'm trying to balance work and family and taking care of myself, so we'll evaluate as the new month begins.

Be blessed! :-)

Easy Quick Breakfast

2009-04-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, as a very busy working mommy, I'm always on the look-out for easy and quick meals. Here's a new one I did today for us:

Bacon Egg "Cups"

Ingredients:
4 eggs
4 slices turkey bacon
1/2 pound sausage or 4 links of sausage, cooked and crumbled
shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Line bottom of four muffin cups with loose sausage so that it covers the bottom of each one and pat down.

3. Wrap bacon around inside "wall" of each cup.

4. Crack an egg in each bacon "cup".

5. Sprinkle each with cheese.

6. Bake 20 minutes until cooked and golden brown.

Enjoy! :-)

The Twilight Saga & My Thoughts

2009-04-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

I was recently introduced to new series of books and read through them to see what all the hype was about swirling around them. This is not really a review, but my thoughts that I've compiled regarding the four books by Stephanie Meyer, "Twilight", "New Moon", "Eclipse", and "Breaking Dawn".

*spoiler warning* I will mention some spoilers, so if you don't want to know how it ends, you might want to stop reading now.

In a nutshell, Belle, our heroine, falls in love with Edward, who happens to be a "vegetarian" vampire, who feeds off of animals and denies his lust for human blood, as does the rest of his coven-family. The books center around their relationship, and Belle's relationship with Jacob, her best friend, who becomes a shape shifter werewolf, the only true enemy a vampire has. Eventually, Belle yearns to become a vampire herself, so she will never have to be separated from Edward, her soul-mate. Edward is reluctant, as he believes to turn her will take her soul, but demands that if she insists, that she become his wife first. They do marry, and get shockingly pregnant, a huge surprise becomes vampires can't conceive together, but apparently vampires and humans can. The pregnancy kills Belle, but Edward turns her into a vampire before her heart stops beating, and thus, she becomes immortal with him. Their daughter becomes a figure that brings unity to humans, vampires (vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike), as well as the werewolfs, and thus the saga ends with Bella, Edward, and their daughter living immortally happily-ever-after.

*Note* This is not the type of book I usually read. I love the fantasy genre, but have never been drawn the romanticism of vampires, so this was a step-out for me to read this series.

Thought #1: One of the huge positives I see with these series has to do with Belle and Edward's relationship; it is flawed. They fight and argue, miscommunicate (a lot), give and take, and also wait until their wedding to consummate their relationship, though their honeymoon was not a dreamy fantasy - it was filled with conflict. Nowadays, you don't see a lot of abstinence and self-control in mainstream America, especially pointed at teens (however, I think they could have saved themselves some heartache in that area while they were dating by avoiding some temptations all together, but that is just my two cents on that). In addition, I think the author builds up the sexual aspect a lot for a series aimed at teenage girls, and is setting them up for disappointment in real life. Goodness, I wish I had fireworks with my first kiss, instead of the reality of awkwardness most people experience! :-p But Edward and Belle's physical relationship is a high-note, as Edward resists Belle again and again (both as a vampire and as a man), as much as she pushes and tempts him.

Thought #2: Is the other end of the spectrum with Edward and Belle's relationship. Belle routinely lies and tries to hide her relationship from her father, and is amazed at herself at how the lying and manipulation becomes easier throughout the series. Edward finally forces her hand and she has to let him know about them, but he never knows the whole truth until the very end. In the end, however, everything is hunky-dory with them, once he has turned her. It ends very happily-ever-after, and in my option, a little too perfect.

Thought #3: The vampires are very glorified in this series (obviously), and this bothers me some. The myth of vampires is rooted in the belief that they are evil, souless, and doomed. The "Twilight Saga" portrays them as immortal good beings, as Edward's coven/family denies their human bloodlust. Throughout the book Edward is compared to angelic beings, and even a couple times, Belle thinks of him as an immortal god. I was struck that in the scene where Edward shows Belle why he skips school on sunny days - they are in a mountainous meadow and he steps into the sunlight for her, and shows her that his skin is like sparkling diamonds in the sunlight. Anyone else get the jolt of a comparison of Jesus' transfiguration? And that leads me to...

Thought #4: There is is subtle religious doctrine evident throughout the books. In a sense, one could almost come Belle to Mary. Self-sacrificing, pure of heart, immune to the supernatural talents of the vampires, she becomes miraculously pregnant with an immortal half-human, half-vampire child, when all thought vampires could not bear children. Then in a violent birth, she dies, and Edward "resurrects" her, into her perfect immortal form, where she and her husband and daughter live out their afterlife in our time. On a similar note, their daughter, Renesemee, is a savior-figure to the various races affected in these books. I know Ms. Meyers was a graduate of Brigham Young University, and though I'm no expert on Mormonism, I do know a few main points and see the influence in the writings, whether she made it intentional or not.

So, what was my option?

They were a fun read; I couldn't hardly put them down as I wanted to see what happened next. Book Three, "Eclipse", was probably my least favorite, as the plot wandered all over the place and mostly focused on the relationship problems Belle and Edward were having.

Yet if Emily was 13, would I let her read them? Nope. And not for the religious standpoints - my hope for Emily is that she will be well-taught in the truth to recognize what is and isn't. No, my objection is that there is too much undercurrent sexuality, and the disillusion of relationships. Not every man (and exspecially teenage boys) as self-controlled as Edward is portrayed, and won't stop and flee when the temptations come. Belle is the one who is aggressive with Edward in this area, and hates the idea of marriage. In fact, she felt horribly trapped when Edward gave his ultimatum- no marriage, no sex, and was resentful towards him for saying that and sticking to it. Not the role model I want my daughter to have.

Would I recommend this series to others? Perhaps, but there are better fantasy series out there. Of course, Tolkien is a favorite, but for newer material, Christopher Panolini's "Inheritance Cycle" comes to mind first - the writing and story lines are much, much better.

I may write a formal critique later. I actually am reading through them again, slowly, to explore some of my first initial thoughts of the books, instead of reading to see what happens next. In the meantime, if you are die hard Twilight fan, don't crucify me for my observations.

He Is Risen...

2009-04-13T07:55:00.000-04:00

...yet why the not-so-quiet discord in my heart?

Not my favorite Easter this year, but it's hard to put my finger on it.

Some of it is disgust of the commercialism of holiday, everything from the focus on big Easter dinners to the Easter bunny to Jesus action figures (we turned down the one Emily was given).

Some of it was family stuff - drama and feeling like an outsider on one end to be incredibly homesick and withdrawn on the other.

And I guess the rest of it is personal. I'm discontent with my own relationship with Christ, that I've allowed mediocrity and "acting religious" to creep in. I could blame a variety of things - our environment in the Bible belt probably being the biggest one I could point to, but in reality, it's me and I have to be accountable for my own actions (or lack-thereof). *sigh* So I struggle with self-blame, again. I hate being a perfectionist; I hate feeling like a failure. I already beat myself up when my performance at work isn't up the standard I've set for myself, or when I missed my first milestone of Emily's when she pulled herself up to her feet earlier this week or when Jonathan and I go to bed angry at each again. I hate that I am only human and can't do it all on my own.

However, what would my need for Christ and His resurrection be if I could do everything on my own?

Zilch.

There's always a reason for everything, and maybe all the building up of the last few weeks is pointing to that - I can't. I simply can't. I will not be the perfect wife. I will not be the world's best mother. I will not always be one of the top producers for our company.

I hope I find freedom in that.

Savannah or Bust!

2009-04-05T04:38:00.001-04:00

So I'm sick again.

At first I thought it was allergies, but I think it's just a very bad cold. Saturday was probably the worst day of it, so I'm hoping I'm on the mend, especially since we are going to Savannah today! :-) Jonathan, Emily, and I need the little mini day vacation; we like to go to the beach in the spring before all the tourists arrive. And as I haven't spend much time in Savannah before, Jonathan's arranged for us to take a scenic trip on a River Boat on the Savannah River, which should be pretty cool. I'm sure we'll be posting pictures this week.

Sorry to keep it short and sweet, but I need to go back to bed. I'm finally feeling tired again.

Adios!

Caution: More Changes Ahead!!

2009-03-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

I've posted in the past that I can never seem to get more than one aspect in my life to go in the right direction. If work is going well, I'm fighting with Jonathan. If my family relationships are going well, I'm having struggles with my job. Needless to say, the latter is happening for the past couple of weeks. Stress, stress, stress, and I'm ready for it to be done.

To keep a long story short, we are merging with an existing office here in Augusta. When we became AmeriLife United back in November, we were in a unique situation with a new ALU office starting in a city with an established office of the AmeriLife corporation. As of last week, ALU is now simply absorbed into AmeriLife, and our office is being assimilated into the more established office here, with our current branch manager taking over the Savannah office, as the manager there is retiring. Truth be told, I think it will be a good thing for all of us. I will be going over in an management position, which is nice, and I had a really good conversation with our new branch manager today. As far as I know, the official transition will be around the first of April, so I will continue to deal with some office stress over the next two weeks. *sigh* So I'm just going to put my head down, train my agents, and write my heart out this week. :-)

In the meantime, we have a new member of the family: an eight-week old puppy we've fondly named Dallas. Though we consider him Emily's puppy, she's not exactly the one taking care of him! He's a sweetie, but a lot of work. I feel like Emily is a month old again. Argh! What were we thinking?

Posing takes such hard work...

Hmm... are those your toys or mine?

Dear God, pleeeeeease let this puppy stop yapping all the time!!

I Don't Think I Have A Stomach Any More

2009-02-19T20:42:00.000-05:00

I'm sick.

Icky, yicky, yucky sick.

Didn't work today. In fact, I just simply turned my cell phone off and alternately slept on the couch or in bed.

I want to work tomorrow, but we have to see how the night goes. I'm utterly exhausted and feel like I've been run over by a truck. In some ways, I really want to work tomorrow, though I know if I work while running at 50%, I'll be that way for 3-4 days. If I wait an extra day to kick, I know I'll be full steam by Saturday, and can work, and work well, then.

*sigh*

This was not the week to get slammed with a stomach/intestinal virus. I just hope Jonathan and Emily don't get it.

In other news, pray for Jonathan's grandfather. He had another heart attack today; his second episode in two weeks. He's home, and resting, and we're praying for a full recovery.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Working from Home I Know

2009-02-12T09:17:00.000-05:00

Well, in reality, I rarely work from home, but as Emily is running a fever (and unusually cranky for her 2nd day in a row), I'm home this morning making appointments and recruiting. But I am enjoying the guilty pleasures of playing with her until ten, as I usually don't like making calls before then.

Not much to report here, though I did deeply appreciate the comments left. It is hard being a working Mom, especially in the evangelical world, and it's been a huge adjustment on our marriage. I think things are starting to look up for us though, or at least look better! :-)

Well, this must be quick, so adios!

And Life Goes On...

2009-02-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

So, I got a promotion at work today.

Very nice; I'm happy about it and looking forward to being able to use my management background.

Then Jonathan and I had a fight.

*sigh*

I just can't seem to get my life going in the right direction in any two areas of my life at the same time.

Is it me?

New Words

2009-02-08T17:17:00.000-05:00

Me: Say "Mommy"

Emily: "DaDa"

Me: "Mommy"

Emily: "DaDa"

Jonathan: "Emily, where's Mommy?"

Emily: "MaMaMa"

Apparently, my name now has three syllables.

Our word count? Hey, Hi, Bye-Bye, DaDa, MaMaMa, and Baby Dinosaur (i.e. growl and try to bite Daddy's nose). We're trying to get the waving bye-bye down...

Batter My Heart

2009-01-31T13:20:00.000-05:00

"Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to'another due,
Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,'untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you'enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me."

--John Donne

Phooey.

2009-01-26T22:04:00.000-05:00

That about sums up today.

Icky, Sicky, Yicky...

2009-01-25T19:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, yicky isn't a word, but I needed something that rhymed. Yep, all of us are going through a stomach bug; Emily was first on Friday with a low fever and lots of gross diapers, then me Saturday evening/all night, and Jonathan today. So no church, and no small group this week, which was horribly disappointing. Lots of sleeping, though, which is wonderful!

But man, I haven't been that sick in ages - we're talking before I was pregnant with Emily, probably when we were living in North Carolina two years ago. You know that I'm-so-sick-I-want-to-sleep-on-the-bathroom-floor type of sick? Yep, you guessed it. Awwwwful.

So glad I'm on the other end of it - I have a full day tomorrow with work. It should be a good sales day, but with a staff meeting thrown into the middle of the day, it makes me have to run all over town. And since we didn't go into town today, we have to do our weekly shopping trip tomorrow after I get off work, so a late night for us! But hopefully, I'll get back up to blogging regularly again - it's just been a stressful couple of weeks.

How Do You Keep Them From Getting Older?

2009-01-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

Cheerios.

Sippy Cups.

*sigh*

My little girl is growing up! We're now 7 months and counting...

Long Time No Post...

2009-01-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

Holy cow! Has it really been almost two weeks since I've done a post? Good grief - what have I been doing?

Well work, I guess, mostly. That's a big one.

Using most of my time at home to spend with Jonathan and Emily. That's an even higher priority.

We're getting more involved in our church, too, and have joined a Bible study/small group. That takes more time out of my week, too, but both Jonathan and I are truly enjoying it, and yes, it's been good for a marriage, too. Probably a good thing, because it's a marriage enrichment study! :-D

But the news for the day - SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so none of it stuck, but it was beautiful for about four hours. Dirt cold, though - we never did get about freezing. I ended up not working, though - I dislike having to do a commute with people who don't know anything about driving on ice.

Emily enjoyed her day, though, so I'll leave you with a picture of her, in a butterfly outfit from her aunt and cousin:

Healthy Lasagna

2009-01-07T19:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, I tried a new recipe the other night, a twist on my traditional Italian lasagna. Usually, I go all out - 5 different cheese, all whole milk, homemade sauce, lots of noodles, etc.

Really can't do that with us on our diets.

So I tried a twist on it; instead of my homemade sauce with all the stuff added in, including some red wine, I used a Classico sauce (low sugar in it), part-skim ricotta cheese with a bit of light sour cream added, and turkey sausage (or ground meatless sausage). However, the biggest twist was the noodle substitute: cabbage.

Yep, you read it right. Cabbage. Not gobs and gobs of it, but separate leaves laid across the pan like you would regular lasagna noodles. As it cooks, the cabbage just soaks up the juices of the dish, and you would never know - the texture is actually pretty similar.

Just food for thought for you! :-)

Back in the Grind

2009-01-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Not necessary speaking of the coffee grind, though I did drink more of that than I usually do. Nope, I was back to work yesterday, finally. I've only worked 3 days in the past two weeks due to the holidays, Emily's viral infection, and Jonathan's eye injury.

I don't know if Jonathan was too thrilled that I went back to work (he at least had mixed feelings) - taking care of Emily while still getting over his eye injury can be a bit challenging for him. Thankfully, Jonathan's mom is coming into town next week to help out and that will be a huge blessing. Yet, money needs to be made to cover the new medical bills, as well as pay our current bills, so high ho, high ho, it's back to work I go.

In general, yesterday good day. I spent five hours in our information kiosk at Walmart and enjoyed the conversation and the leads. However, I got preached to, twice. Don't get me wrong - I'm a Christian and all about sharing my faith, but oh my goodness! It was soooo offensive, even to me. If I already didn't have my faith and beliefs, I would not look at Christianity after my run-ins today. It's so sad to me that Christians are often the reason than Christianity often leaves such a bad taste in other people's months. Makes one think about how I appear to others.

Anyway, it was a good start to what looks like a good week; I'm enjoying working as an agent now, which I've been doing since "the divorce", as we've started calling the takeover that led to the creation of a new company, which I now work for. The hours can be a bit longer sometimes, but the growth is great, so I can't complain. Never thought my background in linguistics and Bible translation would give me the aptitude for insurance and sales! :-)

But speaking of work, I've got a 9:00 AM appointment, so I must go.

Have a great day, y'all!

The Journey

2009-01-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

As I've posted here before, and as many of you well know, struggling with my weight has been more than a decade-long journey. Add my recent pregnancy, and I'm the highest I've ever been.

Ugh.

Truth be told, I hate dieting. I hate starving myself and being so hungry I'm nauseous. But I need something, anything; a program to help guide and motivate me. That's why when I discovered Atkins a year-and-a-half ago, I loved it. And the weight came off. 35 pounds in four months. Then I got pregnant and gained 45. I've only lost half of that baby weight.

But Jonathan does Weight Watchers and loves it. Hmm.... problem there. The principles of Atkins and Weight Watchers don't exactly mesh, so that means cooking two dinners for us.

I hate that.

In addition, I hate counting points. I hate counting calories. I hate counting carbs. I'm too stinkin' busy for it.

So I started doing research and I've found one that I can use, but still cook a supper that works for both of us. Low-fat and calorie for Jonathan, lower carb for me. Hello, South Beach!! And so far, so good - it's been a week, and we're both truly enjoying it, and I'll be posting more about that later.

To help track our weight-loss progress, Jonathan has created a new blog called "The Journey" for the two of us that you are welcome to visit it at http://jdrogers.blogspot.com/. Please leave comments and encouragement - losing the amount of weight we both need to lose takes a long time and a lot of commitment. But we didn't put it on overnight, so it won't come off overnight, so please continue to follow with us!

She's Coming For Me

2009-01-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that babies are cute.

Cuddly.

Cheek pinch-able.

Little toes to nibble on and play "This Little Piggy".

Absolutely Adorable.

Now don't get me wrong, my Emily is all of those. Except for in the mornings. Not first thing in the morning, mind you, but those last three minutes before I walk out of the door, and then it is watch out!

The ugly spit-up monster morphs my little girl into an infant version of the pea-green soup head-spinning character from the Exorcist. Spews. Everywhere. And this new infant of mine is especially attracted to my suit jackets; you know, the ones that have to be dry-cleaned?

Am I the only mommy who gets dressed in her last 30 seconds at home and does not put on her suit jacket until she's at the car?

Recovery

2009-01-02T21:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay, but here's the update on Jonathan. If you didn't know he needed an updated posted, well, here is what has been going on!

For a quick recap, Jonathan developed a large abrasion on the cornea of his left eye on Wednesday. We saw our local eye doctor for treatment, but had to go back Thursday when his pain became more severe. He immediately sent us up to MCG Hospital in Augusta for Jonathan to see a specialist, as his cornea had become ulcerated and infected. After most of the day there, and a painful outpatient procedure to clean the infection out of his eye, we came home for the night, but have continued to spend at least half our days there since.

Today, though, Jonathan saw a cornea specialist and surgeon, as the healing of his cornea was becoming a concern, first due to the size of the tear and that the beginning healing was not lying down smoothly against his eye, and secondly, the potential scar tissue that would come as it healed. We know now that he has recurrent erosion syndrome with his cornea and this most recent abrasion was not the first, thus there were several layers of tissue on his cornea. So this afternoon he had another surgery to completely remove all the tissue on the surface on his eye, most of which was already damaged, so the cornea has a "clean slate" to heal onto, as well as some work done on his tear duct to help keep his eye moist during this healing process. He has a bandage contact he has to wear for the next three months as his eye completely heals and as it does, we should see an improvement in his vision. Thankfully, they don't foresee any lasting damage to his eyesight, as the abrasion and infection did not go deeper than the surface of his eye and they've removed the layers of badly and partially healed cells that would cause the scar tissue.

So where does this put us now? Our most pressing concern is still infection, but that should greatly diminish over the next 48 hours, and pain management, but we have that under control for now. Jonathan seems to respond very well to Percocet, maybe a little too well! ;-) So our weekend is one of rest for him, and then Monday morning, we have a post-op appointment scheduled and we're hoping to see a huge improvement then.

I'll continue to post updates as I have them. It's been a long couple of weeks for us with Emily's virual infection and RSV scare, death in the family, and now this, so please know we are deeply appreciative of your continued thoughts and prayers.

A Spin on the Usual Story...

2008-12-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

This is a must-read:

http://dayngrzone.blogspot.com/2008/12/three-wise-men-real-story.html

Enjoy!

:-)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:37:00.000-05:00

More pictures will come later, but Emily loved opening gifts at Bella's house.

Had several really good gifts, but my favorite so far is my new sewing machine. Well, it's not new - my MIL got a new one for her birthday, so she gave me hers, so it's new to me!

:-D

Projects, here we come!

I'll post more after tomorrow, as well as Emily's six-month pictures with her Pooh Bear.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Life is Getting Back on Track

2008-12-13T08:13:00.001-05:00

For those of you who know, I have been working for an insurance company (the local office of a national company) since we moved here early this fall. It's been a bit of a crazy ride. To make a long story short, at the beginning of November there was a corporate buy-out of the national company, and the existing CEO and the rest of the V.P.'s and directors, down to all the regional branch managers (including my boss) resigned. When this happened, they established a new corporation with a much larger and more established national company and are now under the wing of this company.

At that time, I had three options in front of me. Stay with UIG, the company I was originally working for, go with my boss and manager to the new company, as I was one of eight asked to go over with them, or go a completely different route. I chose to go with the new company, and though at has been a hard and very busy month of transition, I am glad I did. And I finally (finally!) got my paycheck yesterday - things have gotten a bit tight while we've waited for the new payroll to get set up, and our emergency savings had gotten depleted with the birth of Emily and our move to Georiga. But I think things are looking up again. Killing our debt again, here we come!!! :-)

But I'm enjoying a weekend off right now - it's the first one I haven't worked in about three weeks. And Emily is sooo snuggly today in her new Pooh Bear flannel footie P.J.'s, so I'm going to spend time with her. I'll post again soon!

Good Day, Bad Moment

2008-12-08T22:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, much better day at work today; last week was just horrid.

It was a pretty good day until I was 2nd in line to make a right hand turn, at a light with a green arrow for our lane to turn right. However, after the guy in front of me started to roll forward (and thus, I started moving forward), someone ran a red light. Mr. Silver BMW in front of me slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the Mr. Stupid Driver Who Must Have Been Color Blind And Could Have Caused A Very Bad Accident thus causing me to slam on my brakes.

But poor Nitska, our lovely Nissan Sentra. She can only stop so fast. And this time, not fast enough.

So yep, my first ever accident. However, I only scratched Mr. Silver BMW, and as the driver informed me it was just a company car and not to worry about exchanging insurance information.

As for Nitska? She is fine, just minus one of these:

Yep, her poor deer whistle snapped off; Mr. Husband fussed at me for not picking it up off of the road (I was a bit distracted, you know?).

So, I'm okay, the car's okay, and Jonathan has forbade me from doing anything in the car but driving. Probably a good thing I'm not driving to Atlanta tomorrow for our conference (a group of us are car-pooling together). But I have to leave here at about 5:15 in the morning for it. Ugh.

So I need to go. To bed.

Will post later! :-)

I think (and hope) our search is done!

2008-12-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

What search is that, you ask?

Why, it's the biggest, most yucky, very marriage-challenge search we've had in quite a while.

Yep, finding a new home church.

It's funny how two people very accustomed to working in fulltime ministry would struggle soooo much with finding a church home. But in a word, it makes sense. We've never gotten to choose our own church - they have always come with our jobs. So yep, Jonathan & I have had a challenge as we've weighted the pros and cons of church shopping.

But I think we finally found one we agree upon.

We've visited their "daughter church" before, and though we both really liked aspects of it, it wasn't the one for us. But today we went to their planting church, and we both really felt that this is a church we can stay in for a long; I can totally see Emily growing up in this church (did I say I really like their children's ministry?). So yeah, I think we've finally our new church home.

:-)

Yeah!

Big weight off our shoulders.

Check it out at www.vineyardaugusta.org.

Wow! It's a post!

2008-12-05T23:14:00.001-05:00

Okay, okay, I haven't blogged in ages.

Whoops.

It's not intentional.

It's not even really an accident.

But after years of blogging, I've found I don't have a lot to say lately. There is Jonathan, Emily, and work.

And that's about it.

I don't want to be one of those mommies whose whole life is wrapped up in their child, but she is typically one of the highlights of my day.

Isn't she a cutie? :-)

I'll try to post more often. But until then, adios!

Back from the (almost) dead again...

2008-09-23T09:41:00.000-04:00

My apologies if you've tried to get in touch with me over the past week; last Thursday I started to develop a mommy-related infection that was very painful; by Friday it was full-blown and I was downright miserable. I've been on some pretty strong antibiotics three times a day, and will continue them for another week, but at least I'm able to nurse Emily again. A note to new mommy friends who are BFeeding - keep a few days worth of milk in your freezer! You will probably never have to use it, but on the off-chance you get sick for a few days, and can't nurse, you won't have to switch over to formula! My aunt recommended this to me while I was preggers and I'm so glad I followed her advice. Emily's been getting a bottle once a day since she was six weeks old (though I never feed her it), and so she swapped back and forth really well. But in milestone news, she has rolled over a couple times now - I can't believe how big she is getting!

It's going to be a short post today; my energy is still pretty low. If you've called or e-mailed, I will do my best to get back to you in the day or two.

--Debbie

Hands, Tounges, & Drool

2008-09-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's not the most appealing title in the world, but it's my world right now! Over the last week she has discovered all three:

So I don't have a picture of her drooling, but trust me, she does! We go through several bibs and shirts a day! Put I love that she is reaching out for everything now, especially when she reaches out to touch my face when I'm playing with her. I can't believe how much she is growing up - she's just shy of 12 1/2 pounds now and we'll be starting cereal with her in about a month.

We're trying to get her on a consistent schedule (i.e. get up at the same time every morning so she eats at about the same times every day), because I'm getting ready to go back to work. Yep, I finally got a job, and I think it will work very well for us. I am now a Medicare eligibility specialist for United Insurance Group. The office set-up is very similar to the insurance company I worked for in Tennessee. It has very flexible hours, which is what I was looking for; I am in the office on Tuesdays and Fridays, and as it is a performance based job, not a per hour job, if my work for the day is done at three, I'm done at three. The other benefits are that it's a job that has room for growth and meets our financial needs as well as the fact that my job stays at my job. The past several years I've worked in the non-profit sector, and they were very emotional-connected jobs. Anyway, I'm excited. :-) Jonathan is gearing up to be "super-Daddy", as he'll be home with her when he's not at the school district. He's looking forward to it - as well as teaching part time, and improving the farm part time, he's going to finish his last year of school. If he can finish his bachelor's, he can get his teaching certification.

So that's kind of where we are, for those of you who've been wanting updates. I do need to run, though, and hit the shower before Emily wakes up from her nap.

Adios!

Life Moves On...

2008-09-06T10:46:00.000-04:00

We are continuing to settle in well - Jonathan's orientation with the school district is done and he should be fully in the system at the beginning of next week, so he'll be in the classroom soon. In the meantime, he's happily working his other job - working for our grandparents on the farm. They were down this week and we had a great time, and man, they have a lot of projects! It's been a couple of years since someone has done a big clean-up on the farm, so right now Jonathan is doing lots of cleaning; once it's cleaned up and thus, easily maintainable. the projects can begin!

In the meantime, I'm continuing to job hunt. There's one in Waynesboro that I really, really would love to have: it's a site coordinator position with Burke Community Partnership, whose mission is "to champion the collaboration of resources to improve results for children, families, and the community." It's right up my alley; I have all the qualifications, yet am not over-qualified for it, which is one area I'm struggling with right now as I job shop. Yes, I'm going to have to work, and I've gone round and this round this with various family and friends. It was always my hope and dream and goal to stay home with my kids; however, until we get our debt off of our backs, we can't afford for me not to work. One of the pluses of this position - it has flexible hours. The other position I'd love to be in is at the American Cancer Society in Augusta. If you don't remember, I worked at the Columbia ACS office right after Jonathan and I got married. The Augusta office has an opening and I have a good shot at it, but they are in a hiring freeze right now - non-profit organizations across the board right now are struggling. In the meantime, I've loved the time at home right now, and Emily has enjoyed it, too! She likes to help bring the laundry in off the clothes line:

And of course, has plenty of playtime:

Chillin' out at The Pond for a family picnic:

Exploring the farm with Mommy & Daddy:

In fact, it makes her so tuckered out she fell asleep halfway through her last feeding:

Hmm... I love our life...

:-)

In the meantime, I'm stretching her schedule. She'll go a solid ten hours at night now, so I'm trying to stretch her 2 1/2 - 3 hour feeding schedule to a 3 1/2 hour schedule, with the hope that she'll go four hours by the time she's four months old. She's doing good with the 3 1/2 hours - she'll be up for an hour and a half to two hours, then will nap until the next feeding time. I've also started backing her bedtime up, so by the time she's four months, she'll be going down for bed around eight. So far, she's adjusting like a champ! And speaking of which, it's time for her to have lunch, so I must adieu!

Georgia REALLY Bugs Me Today

2008-09-01T16:16:00.001-04:00

Can we say "Eww!" and "Very Cool!" all at the same time?

Georgia Bugs Me

2008-08-30T10:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, it is not as if I am new to living on a farm; I grew up on one, for goodness sakes! But good grief, a farm in the plains of Colorado and a farm in humid Georgia are two different things. Want an example?

The two mammoth spiders living in the mailbox (or I should say were living in the mailbox)...
The "palmetto bug" (2 points for you if you know what a palmetto bug really is) running over the top of my foot while cooking dinner...
The brown recluse spider taking a bath in the bathtub (now totally crushed and floating in the septic tank)...
The wasps and hornet nests that are everywhere! The back porch, the picnic table in the back yard, etc. It is very entertaining watching my husband do the wasp-killing dance, complete with spray-can and fly-swatter...

...and that is just the start! But Jonathan picked up bug-killing-juice to exterminate the house and that has helped over the past couple of days. Hopefully the house will be mostly bug-free by the time Bella (Jonathan's mom) and Mama & Papa arrive later this weekend.

But in other news, I've lost three pounds! Yeah! I guess I'll keep up with Weight Watchers for awhile. :-) It may not seem like such a big deal, but I was encouraged.

I'm off to go wash the dishes before it's time for Emily's "second breakfast"; I think she's part hobbit - she eats all the time and she's short and stout! :-)

Home Sweet Home

2008-08-29T09:49:00.000-04:00

Thought y'all might like an update! :-)

Our move to Georgia went well, though it's been raining cats and dogs since we left South Carolina. In some ways it was symbolic; it started pouring just as we were pulling out of Calvary - I guess we were being washed clean. :-D

Anyway, we are currently staying at Jonathan's grandparents farmhouse for the next few months as we get settled and our feet underneath us. Jonathan had his orientation at the school district, and he's also looking forward to starting the work around the farm, too (as soon as it dries out a little). I had so much fun setting up Emily's room; though we couldn't do too much (it is not our house), I have more freedom here than I did at Calvary and it feels more like home here than it ever did there. It's nice to run my own home again; it's been awhile. Mentally, it still feels like we're on vacation and that I'll be going home to my eight kiddos again soon, so I guess it will take awhile to adjust. I've heard things are a little chaotic there, which grieves our hearts for the kids, but we are going through the process of emotionally seperating ourselves. It's hard when we are still getting e-mails from teachers and what not, but that shouldn't happen much more as we pass them on to the director at Calvary. It's an adjustment for us.

That's the main update right now - not too much going on except for unpacking! The kiddies love being farm cats and Carolina wishes she could roam free, too. Jonathan's mom and grandparents will be here for Labor Day and it will be nice to see the family again.

That's all for now!

--Debbie

New Things Are Coming!

2008-08-21T14:43:00.000-04:00

We are on the homestretch now - Moving Day is four days away. Thankfully, we don't have too much stuff, as we live in a furnished house and are moving into the furnished farmhouse; our only furniture right now is Emily's crib and changing table. But I guess this means I'm going to have to change the name of my blog; I'm not going to be a professional mommy in the truest sense of the word here very soon. I'm open for name suggestions! :-)

But in the spirit of change, I decided or desperately-needed-since-I-hadn't-had-a-trim-since-April to get a haircut. Here is what I had:

Here's what I have now:

I like it; Jonathan isn't crazy about it (mostly the bangs - he's never seen me in bangs before). I just wanted something new and different, and something that flattered me more as I'm still carrying half of the baby weight and it shows in my face. And it was just getting flat out too long. I still want to get blond highlights in it, but that is going to be saved for my reward for reaching my future goal weight.

I've also just started Weight Watchers, now that I've been cleared by my OB to start gradual weight-loss and more vigorous exercise, and so far, I'm enjoying it. I like that it isn't restrictive on the types of food you eat (though obviously, the healthier you eat, the more you can eat), and it's one of the few programs I can do while still nursing. I do much better on a "program", saying that I'm going to eat less sugar or what not never lasts for too long. For instance, I do great on low-carb, and it's been very effective in the past, but I can't do a weight-loss phase of low-carb while I'm still feeding Emily. So I'm at least going to try it for awhile; Jonathan has done WW and really does like it. Going to the gym again has been great, too; I'd missed it the past few months. I can't wait to start playing tennis with Jonathan again. In fact, Waynesboro just finished building a new tennis complex at their city courts, and we are itching to get down there and try it. Now we just need to buy this:

Or something similar to that for little Miss Emily so she can go bike riding with us. So yep, my weight-loss journey is on! I kind of wish I'd had a few more months to lose weight before I'd gotten pregnant with her. I'd lost 35 pounds before I'd got pregnant with her (and with 40 more to go); now after having her, I have sixty to go to reach my goal weight. It'll probably take a year or so, but that's ok. It didn't come on overnight and won't just fall off overnight either!

Well, that's about it today - time to make snacks for the kiddos! :-)

--Debbie

2008-08-21T08:14:00.001-04:00

Emily is 2 months old!

Favorite Picture of the Week

2008-08-17T07:59:00.000-04:00

No caption needed.

:-)

A New (Sick) Day

2008-08-16T08:56:00.001-04:00

I hate to wake up on Saturday mornings to sick kids. Even worse is waking up with a sick husband. But put them together and it is yucky!!

Yep, Emily had her first sick visit to the doctor this morning (I am truly thankful that our pediatrician is open on Saturday mornings); nothing major, but with six other kids in the house, I was not going to let a yucky, matty eye go without some attention. She technically has a blocked tear-duct, but since her eye is already filling with green goo, she has an eye ointment to prevent pinkeye.

But it was nice to have a weight-check - she is exactly 11 1/2 pounds. Not that I needed a weight check; she has her two-month check-up on Monday. At least she's gaining good! But Jonathan is sick in bed with stomach issues, so I'll try to keep the house quiet this morning. I've got to run to Walmart anyway, and I'll take the kiddos with me there, and maybe to the library. I might even take them to the YMCA; it is cooler today, and Emily won't boil in the heat.

However, I was not thrilled to see the following this week, even though it is cute:

I shouldn't be surprised - I sucked my finger for years...

In totally other news, in case you didn't know, Jonathan and I are leaving Calvary Home. He is going to be working for the school district in Burke County, Georgia, and helping with his grandparent's farm. This is where the majority of our family lives, and we'd eventually like to build on the land Jonathan will receive from his grandparents. We've wanted to be down there eventually; this is a little sooner than we had planned! However, we feel that we've come full cycle with our kiddos at Calvary and that God is leading us in a new direction.

That's about it for now - I need to get feed Emily. Oh, and she kicked me off her blog and did a post of her own this morning. ;-) You can view it at:

http://pictures-of-emily.blogspot.com/

I'll try to post more later!

Another Page is Turning

2008-07-25T07:08:00.000-04:00

If you attended our wedding, you might remember Bebo Norman's "A Page is Turned" was performed while Jonathan and I washed each other's feet during the ceremony. The lyrics speak of a young boy and young girl who first find salvation and a 2nd chance in Christ, and then God brings them together. Anyway, we love the song, and it tells our story very well.

However, as much as the original version is great, I'm thinking though that he needs to write another verse, the one we are currently going through of falling in love with our daughter. I cannot believe how one so little can clench so hard on the heartstrings. And she is getting so big! The day after my mom left, she started "talking" to anything that she watches - she coos at her mobile, her crib gym, her toys in her bouncy seat, and even herself in the mirror on the changing table. It is so cute! And we're starting to see more and more toothy little grins, but of course, we can't get her to do it for the camera yet.

She is starting to get better at nap taking, too, which is a huge blessing for me. When she turned a month old, I introduced a pacifier. Now if you know me, I'm not crazy about that, but we've learned that Emily sleeps light during the day, and with the pacifier, instead of startling herself awake and crying, she startles, sucks, and goes back to sleep for the remainder of her nap. Also, I made a naptime routine for her - swaddle her up, read her a story, rock for a minute or two while I hum her lullaby, and then lay her down. She's drowsy at this point, but not sleeping, and 95% of the time, drifts off into dreamland without a fuss.

We are still fighting her evening fussy time, and it has gotten really bad during the past two or three days. I think a lot of that is the food I'm eating now; one of the changes we came back on duty to is that we have a menu set for us and the food bought for us, so it isn't quite as healthy as I was eating during pregnancy and during our maternity leave. I do the best I can, and I've pulled hard from the garden (but I've pretty much wiped it out by now - it was a big garden, but with little amounts of 11 different veggies, strawberries, and herbs), but the extra processed foods and not as many fresh veggies makes her pretty gassy. I finally got Little Tummys Gripe Water for her yesterday and that helps if she takes some right before she eats. She actually had a great night last night and that was the first in a couple of nights, so I'm encouraged.

On news other than the baby (yep, you can say thank you now!), it's been a challenging three weeks or so. Some things changed while we were off duty with Emily, and we're adjusting to a momentarily bumpy ride on the campus, and I think I'm struggling with some baby blues as well. Of course, having three of our kids leave in one week didn't help that at all. I'm also not handling stress as well as I could before Emily was born, so I get overwhelmed, and I just don't function great when I hit that point.

But if it has done anything, it's deepening my relationship with Christ. I'd been struggling for quite some time on desiring Him; not feeling like I'm spending time with Him because I'm supposed to or am obligated to, but wanting to be with Him because I crave it and get joy out of it. I don't know if it was pregnancy hormones or what, but the past almost year or so has been a struggle in that area for me. It's been a lonely struggle as well. As you well know (warning: prepare for a soapbox), Christians aren't supposed to be unhappy in the relationship with God; it's like we aren't normal human beings who go through the gamut of feelings. We sit in the pews Sunday after Sunday and fake it, always having a smile and the reply of "I'm fine" or "We're blessed" week after week when everything is very not fine, but of course, one never says that, especially when one works in a ministry field. It's funny, though; when I worked for a church, and it was probably just the church I worked in, I could be honest about that. I had struggles, and people knew I did, and didn't blow it off with a "well, you just need to pray more or study your Bible harder". Truth be told, I wanted more and always have wanted and craved and fought for a dynamic relationship with Christ. If we really are Christians, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit is so powerful that it has the power to rise one from the dead; He did it with Jesus, and He has done it for millions who were utterly dead in themselves and their sin. Why don't we live that? What would the church be like today if we touched that? Instead of diseased, decayed, and dying, there might be a breath of life!

Anyway, I'll hop off my soapbox now before I get myself into trouble. One of the best books I read during this past year, and would highly recommend it, was When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy by John Piper. He is very honest and it was very refreshing for me. In the meantime, I feel like I'm starting to come out it, which is a huge relief and joy for me. I know God has us go through our seasons for a reason, and so I'm trusting in that.

I'd keep blogging, but Emily is crying, so I need to get going.

--Debbie

Just A Quick Post

2008-07-23T22:16:00.000-04:00

I've updated Emily's pictorial saga at http://www.pictures-of-emily.blogspot.com/, so check it out! :-)

In the meantime, keep us (Jonathan and I) in your prayers. We're just going through a lot right now and are seeking the Prince of Peace throughout this storm.

--Debbie

Opps! I fell over! :-)

Maybe the postings will pick up?

2008-07-14T08:26:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've been lax about posting updates in the past couple of weeks; my apologies there!

Jonathan and I finished our last two weeks of maternity leave and are now back in the house with all our kiddos. They have adjusted back to us well, and they love Emily! She, on the other hand, hasn't been so sure about all of them! :-) But after a couple of days she seemed to settle into her new room and crib. And she is getting sooo big! I can't believe she'll be a month old this week! To see her latest pictures, go to http://pictures-of-emily.blogspot.com/

We had a good break while we were off duty, though; we went up to Cold Mountain for two nights just to get away - the first vacation Jonathan and I have had since our honeymoon. The we went to Georgia for a weekend at the farm and to see the immediate family. Emily got to meet all her cousins on Jonthan's side:

In the meantime, Jonathan and I are happy to back in our own bed (and I had sorely missed our bathtub!), and are busy planning for the future. My mom comes into town on Thursday and we are very much looking forward to seeing her. But I'm off to take a shower while Emily is happy and content and entertained by her daddy, so adios!

Pictures Have Been Updated!

2008-06-25T14:39:00.000-04:00

Check out Emily's One-Week Pictures at:

http://pictures-of-emily.blogspot.com/

Growing Up, Day by Day

2008-06-24T15:55:00.000-04:00

Wow - I cannot believe our little one will be one week old tomorrow! The week has gone by fast - of course, having spent part of it in the hospital probably helps to make it that way!

We are starting to settle into a routine; Emily eats about every 2 1/2-3 hours, stays awake for an hour or so, and then naps for an hour or so before getting up to eat again. She's growing great and gaining back her birth weight; her weight-in at the pediatricians yesterday had her at 7 lbs, 10 oz, up six ounces from when she left the hospital. That was a huge answer to prayer for us, as for her first couple-three days I had to pump and then feed her with a syringe (she likes to roll her tongue back in her mouth which made nursing very difficult). But in the past couple of days she has really seemed to click with this nursing thing, which makes life much easier for me!

We took her up to the house yesterday to meet the kids and all but one instantly fell in love with her. One of the three year-olds got extremely jealous, would not have anything to do with me or Emily, and got all baby'ish on Jonathan's lap (thumb-sucking, etc). When I passed Emily to Jonathan so I could get something from our bedroom, she had a huge tantrum and fell to pieces. Other than that, Emily is quite a hit with the others, though they still are a bit confused how she got out of my tummy. :-)

In the meantime, I'm starting to feel much better; I still don't get much sleep, either at night or during the day, so I'm still tired and yep, I'm still on painkillers. But we are really enjoying our time at the relief apartment; it is very peaceful here.

I think that is about it for now - oh, I've created a photo blog for Emily at http://pictures-of-emily.blogspot.com/. It will be updated probably once a week or so, so after you check it today, be sure to check it tomorrow for her one-week photo!

Our Birthing Story

2008-06-23T22:21:00.000-04:00

Ok, so since people have been asking, here is our birth story!

This past Monday morning, the 16th, we headed into our OB for our 38 week check-up and a non-stress test. I had started to dilate a little bit and my blood pressure was fine, but the NST indicated that the baby's heartbeat kept dropping. After an hour on the fetal monitor, our doctor told us to go ahead and head to the hospital for fetal monitoring for the rest of the day and night, and to start some 24-hour lab work. So we did, and we waited.

And waited.

The baby's fetal monitoring was fine at the hospital, and by Tuesday afternoon, my blood pressure stabilized enough for me to go off the medication I'd been on for it. Tuesday night our OB came by to let us know our lab results and that he wanted to go ahead and induce me, for a couple of reasons. First of all, she was measuring big via our ultrasound, but most importantly, I was doing well in the hospital and he didn't want to see me go home and go back to where I had been physically.

So that night I was given a gel internally that would help my body get more ready for labor (cytotec), ideally that I would start dilating more or at best, go into labor naturally. Come six o’clock in the morning, I was started on a very low dose of pitocin. Within fifteen minutes or so, the contractions started. They were mild for the first couple of hours, more like cramps than contractions. Our doula, Fran, arrived at about eight, and got settled in with us for the long haul to delivery.

Thus this is how our day started and progressed; I was having contractions about every two minutes, but they were manageable. I spent some time rocking on a birthing ball, or sitting upright in the labor/delivery bed (I was not allowed to walk or do anything of that nature to help baby drop more naturally). We saw some progress at 1:30 in the afternoon when my water broke, and labor got a lot harder after that. At one point, I did get a shot of a narcotic to help take the edge off, and to let me rest a bit between the contractions.

When the doctor came by to check me at six p.m., I was very hopeful that we were near delivery. I was super disappointed to find that I was only 2 cm dilated at that point, and also a little nervous. I knew if we didn’t make some progress in the next couple of hours, we would be looking at a c-section. Instead, I was given one more chance and the medication turned way up. Within an hour I was at 5 cm, but physically, I was falling apart and just could not stay on top of the contractions, especially as they were now coming a minute and a half apart. So yes, though I had wanted a natural birth without an epi, I asked for one at this point; I knew there was no way I would have any strength left to push if I had to endure these type of contractions for much longer.

We had to wait for the epidural though – it was eight o’clock before the anesthesiologist came in and I though I was fully dilated, I still wanted and needed it. I had the urge to push, but was so wiped out and could not handle the contractions any more. I have since found out that Jonathan and my doula were started to get worried about me; I was not handling it well, throwing up and shaking violently. I am not and never was a screamer, or even a moaner, but when I started to cry and sob that I couldn’t do this any more, Jonathan knew I needed something at that point. So in went the epidural – it was torture to stay curled in a ball for four minutes when contractions were tearing me apart, but it was worth it in the end.

Though I was ready to push by the time the epi kicked in, I decided not to and just wait and rest for awhile, which we did for about forty-five minutes. In the meantime, the nurses and techs turned our LDPR (Labor, Delivery, Postpartum Recovery) Room into a sterile birthing environment and broke the bed down for delivery. At 8:45 I started pushing and with seven or so pushing sets later, little Emily was born at 8:58. I was immediately allowed to hold her, and did so for a few minutes before the nurses took her over to the baby warmer and started on their procedures while the doctor stitched me up. I’d torn in two places, so the stitches took a little while, but everyone was very calmed and laid back. Emily scored an 8/9 on the apgar scale, and is such a pretty newborn; I fully expected the red, wrinkled baby, but she was a cutey! We didn’t get to bed until about one a.m., when the nurses were all finished with her and me, and our room cleaned up. We were one tired, but happy, family!

I'm so depressed...

2008-06-17T19:48:00.000-04:00

I'm sooo tired of being in the hospital!!!!!!!!!

We are going on a day and a half of sitting here doing nothing. My labwork was finished about seven hours ago, so now we are just waiting for the results to come back and the doctor to visit us and let us know what is going on.

It's a bummer, though; my next door neighbor just had her baby (she came in about lunch); argh!!!! I'm jealous; Jonathan has becoming very... very... um... moody and negative about it. He swears Dr. Roesch is going to send us home when he comes by tonight, especially since my blood pressure issue has basically reversed itself since late yesterday afternoon. However, my new night nurse just came in and informed us that the doctor should be here in about an hour, and yep, they talked about induction. :-D I don't know if she was supposed to tell us that, and we aren't officially going to start calling the cavalry yet, but it was a breath of fresh air for us.

But anyway, we'll update as we know more!

--Debbie

My First Night in a Hospital

2008-06-16T22:09:00.000-04:00

I've never had to spend the night in a hospital before; even when I had my tonsils out at the age of five, I didn't have to spend the night. But let me back up - some of you don't even know I'm in the hospital!

We went into the OB this morning for my 38 week exam and a NST (non-stress test; they hook me up to the fetal monitor for 30-45 minutes and see how baby and I are doing). I had some protein show up on my dipstick, my BP was okay at 130/80, and great news! I have started dilating some on my own. However, during my NST, the baby's heartbeat kept dropping. Needless to say, we were sent home to get our bags and check into the hospital, so we did! The timing worked out well; we started our maternity leave this morning, though we weren't expecting to go the hospital today.

Anyway, baby and I are doing well; we had an ultrasound and she seems perfectly healthy and my fluid levels are fine. Better yet is that I am having small contractions that have been fairly regular; nothing like what we will have when we start active labor, but enough to help continue the beginning dilation process. We are also doing another set of 24 hour labwork, which will be done and back early tomorrow afternoon. From what we are hearing from the doctor and nurses, though, is that I probably will NOT be sent home; I will probably be induced, but my OB wants to see the lab results before he makes the decision. The only issue today, which is crazy of all days, is that my blood pressure keeps dropping, which is nuts! It's never been as low as it has been this evening. So I'm off of the meds unless I jump back up into hypertension range.

So that's the latest update of the moment - we'll keep you posted! :-)

Musings of a Professional Mom

Taking A Break

Happy New Year

More Life Changes!

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Changes Coming Soon!

I Love Giving Birth!

New Posts

A New Month, A New Eating Plan!

Amazing Pumpkin Bread!

23 Week Pictures (Shh... I'm actually 27 weeks)

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

18 Week Pregnancy Pictures

Finally - A Good (And Normal) Visit!

Potty Training Week - Day 1

Bedrest is Boring

Time is Flying!

Updates, but not here!

As the World Turns

An Apple A Day

A Few Candid Pictures...

Legos!

Recipe Monday

Recipe Monday

Money, Money, Money

It's Olympics!!!

Recipe Monday

Another Month Has Come and Gone

Another Year Has Come

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near

New Post!

Work Never Ends

It's Hard to Get A Clear Picture with An Active Toddler (i.e. she moves a LOT and is faster than the camera)

It's Here!

A Trip to the Waterfall

Tattle, Tattle

A Pain in the Teeth

Pray Request

Outside Girl

Ickiness

Recipe Monday

She's Getting Bigger Every Day

New Family Additions!

A New Season Approaches

*It's Coming*

Where Have I Been?

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

Now No One Can Confuse Me For A Boy

A Hard Day

It's time to curb my work hours

How The Summer Flies!

Whatz Up!?!

Recipe Monday

Mother's Day Recap

Monday's Recipe

Picture Day!

Another Day, Another Dollar...

Easy Quick Breakfast

The Twilight Saga & My Thoughts

He Is Risen...

Savannah or Bust!

Caution: More Changes Ahead!!

I Don't Think I Have A Stomach Any More

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Working from Home I Know

And Life Goes On...

New Words

Batter My Heart

Phooey.

Icky, Sicky, Yicky...

How Do You Keep Them From Getting Older?

Long Time No Post...

Healthy Lasagna

Back in the Grind

The Journey

She's Coming For Me

Recovery

A Spin on the Usual Story...

Merry Christmas!

Life is Getting Back on Track

Good Day, Bad Moment

It's Coming