A Puppy

It's time for Blue's Clues! Every day that Elliot and I go get the mail, we sing the "Here's the Mail" song from Blue's Clues (yes, we even wag our tales). My mom and Emily got some great new pjs for Elliot, but I forgot them at her house today, so I wanted him to have something warm to wear to bed and this was the only long sleeved item in the bottom of his pajama drawer. If I would have waited any longer it would have been to small.

When he put it on...I about died! Evan came in and almost fell over laughing. Elliot just thought we were weird and played in his room forever. He.is.so.cute!!!

I'm Falling in Love...

...with the book of Galatians! 1 Peter has been one of my favorite books in the Bible for a long time, but over the past several months, I keep getting drawn into Galatians. If you haven't read it, it's a book about grace and freedom. Paul wants to make it perfectly clear what the purpose of the Law is and it's utterly ridiculous ways that it is used by Christians. I find it so interesting that while we rebel against the Law in so many ways, we don't really want to let it go. And even if we do let the specifics of Old Testament law go, we create a new Law in our heads and hearts that we feel we need to live by to gain an advanced standing with God...to make Him like us more, to earn His approval, to somehow show that we are worthy of His love, or to pay Him back for what he's done for us. We seek perfection, when we've already been made perfect. We seek righteousness by following a set of rules, rather than by displaying grace and love, when we've already been washed with His blood and can approach the throne of the Almighty God with confidence. We seek to level the playing field, to back a debt, that we simply cannot pay back, because if we could, Christ died without cause or reason. Here's how Eugene Peterson transliterates Paul's words in The Message:

You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!

Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.

Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law."

The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: "The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them."

Galatians 3:1-8, 10-12

God's love for us is limitless. It does not get bigger or smaller based on what we do or do not do. As a father loves his children, he wants the best for us and lays out clearly what that best is - the ways to be most alive, most radiant, most free, until we fully are because we see Him face to face! The ending behavioral result may not look much different to an unskilled observer, but there are worlds of difference between a slave to the law and a free man who lives in gratitude to his gracious and loving Redeemer.

I'm a Weirdo...

...but I think that's okay. About a year and a half ago, when my friend Kayla was trying to discretely apply some coconut oil that I gave her to a cold sore, a co-worker asked her what she was doing and she said that I told her that it would make her cold sore go away. The co-worker was skeptical, especially when Kayla mentioned that I grind my own flour too.

I still grind my own flour. I use coconut oil a WIDE array of household and beauty projects. I love tea! I'm learning more and more about herbs and essential oils and using them prolifically. I've abandoned tampons and pads and embraced the Diva Cup with excitement. I'm about to embark on a task of making my own essential oils and grinding soap nuts into a powder. Yes, that's right, I use a berry that grows on trees to do my laundry. To top it all off, I am now known for making my own deodorant. Yep!...I'm a weirdo. A green-making-my-footprint-smaller-patchouli-smelling-headband-wearing-tea-drinking-garden-growing hippie.

But don't be to quick to make assumptions about what that means. I'm trying to take what I learn and act on it in small ways, as much as I can. However, there are striking inconsistencies. For example, my husband was introducing me yesterday as "somewhat of a health nut" --- while I was eating a huge double-cheeseburger and fries with a cup of ketchup. I use thyme oil to disinfect and soap nuts to wash my clothes, but I print off paper like there's an unlimited supply constantly coming out of my ear. I guess I'm just trying to come to grips with this dissonance. Maybe some of you can help. Because I'm completely fine with it, and I'm loving life!

Here's the deal. I'm kind of just an aspiring weirdo, maybe I just haven't reached full maturity in it yet. Regardless of my developmental progress, I'm enjoying this journey and I'm thankful for those of you that are traveling its bumpy road with me - even with its potholes of inconsistency. So thanks for your love, grace, and support!

Spa Water on the Go!

I LOVE going to the spa! Seriously...every birthday, Christmas, anniversary, whatever, Evan asks me what I want, and every time I have some various items and/or a trip to the spa. I love the robes, the slippers, the smells, the complimentary showers and steam rooms, the little cookies, AND of course, the spa water.

While I will never be able to completely recreate going their on my own (since part of the point is being pampered by someone else), there are some things that I enjoy intentionally incorporating into my life that just make me smile and feel pretty and help me breathe a little more easily. One of these things is my healthy new Spa Water On-the-Go!

Just try it...

• Take a re-usable water bottle (we have these great Voss water bottles, compliments of my friend Lynette's wedding)
• Add a sprig of fresh rosemary, a two or three very thin slices of cucumber and a thin slice of lemon

It's pretty and tastes great! Enjoy!

Cuteness by Elliot

I wanted to share some recent pictures of our son with you. They make me smile and he just delights my heart!

He really likes his juice boxes now that he can drink out of a straw!

Trying to feed himself with a "spoon"...yeah, still working on that one.

The cabinets are one of his favorite places to hide.

Playing his new piano!

FREE SoapNuts Giveaway!

FREE Soap Nuts giveaway today at Passionate Homemaking! Enter there to win and check out Lindsey's website for a bunch of other great advice and fun tidbits. You can enter HERE!

Rentals, Rain, and Robbery

WHAT A WEEKEND! Friday started out wonderfully with the in-laws bringing a second rental U-Haul up to help get the rest of our items from the apartment. Mama had purposed in her heart that they would not be leaving the apartment until everything was out of it. By the end of the day, I think her heart was wishing it had kept its mouth shut, because it took from 9:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night to get everything out and unloaded at our new house. We are SO grateful for their help though! Now, I just have to purpose in MY heart to attack the garage this week.

Next, I had a lovely morning on Saturday with Elliot as we painted a pot for the garden and some wood for a project that I'm working on. Then Ev unpacked some boxes and we headed down to Noblesville for The Beatles Tribute at Symphony on the Prairie. We had a yummy dinner at the Gilmore's and Mimi was there too, whom we were delighted to see. Then we headed out, it sprinkled and spat rain, we listened to the first half of the concert and Elliot and I danced. :) Then it started spitting quite a bit more rain so we decided to leave.

We spent the night in Noblesville and awoke from a great night's sleep anticipating a tasty, organic brunch at Traders Point Creamery. I went to put the baby bag in our car and noticed something was a little different. Where our GPS/Stereo unit had been there were a bunch of cut up wires sticking every which way...it seriously took my brain way to long to figure out that we had been ROBBED!!! We got robbed! It was crazy.

So we filed a police report and signed up for this identity theft insurance called LifeLock later that day to make us feel a little safer. We decided to continue to our brunch which was SO fun. Elliot got to pet some cows and see chickens and the brunch was definitely delicious.

Then we gathered things up to head out and pick up our new dryer (because the other one that we got a few weeks ago isn't working), and to get Elliot a new pair of shoes (because the other ones that we got a few weeks ago don't fit anymore). We found a great sale at The Childrens Place, got a couple pairs of shoes and came home to hook up the dryer.

We went to Ivanhoes and then came home, where Evan dropped Elliot and I off so he could head out to pick up a couple items for the new dryer.....He then came in about five minutes later with THE look on his face. Ev doesn't get this look often, but when he does you know he's had it. Our car ignition was suddenly not working.

Yep! C'est la vie!

There is a season for everything! Beautiful brunches, loving family, juvenile robberies, and raining concerts. I am convinced that I would not want to venture through any of these seasons without my loving groom by my side.

And at times like this we both just echo the epicly wise Carrie Underwood and say, "Jesus Take the Wheel!"