Save a Life, PLEASE!

Before I go to bed, I have one favor to ask. Please follow this link: http://bit.ly/VOTE4RR and vote for Andrea from Reece's Rainbow in the People Magazine contest to give $10,000 to a charity. After having a child with down syndrome, Andrea began Reece's Rainbow to help find children in orphanages with disabilities (namely, down syndrome) adoptive families before they are instiutionalized at the age of 4!

In just a few short years she has helped hundreds of children and families come together and has literally saved these children's lives!

I have shared my love of this organization on my blog before, but now this is a chance to really help these little ones. Please, please take a few moments to vote and maybe check out the Reece's Rainbow blog and/or website to learn more about them.

My brother-in-law, Daniel, will soon be 22 and he has down syndrome. He is one of the most joyful and alive people I have ever known. I can't imagine how different his life could have been if he had born to a different family, been raised in an orphanage and then institutionalized. What happens to these children is literally a crime.

Please pray for all of God's Holy Innocents.

I wasn't told!

Both my boys have been in bed and sound asleep for hours! I, in turn, having been sitting on the couch for hours BURPING! I feel like a 12 year old boy! Of all the things I expected to happen during pregnancy the one thing that never occurred to me was that I would have ongoing indigestion that would rear its ugly head at night when I crawl into bed.

My wonderful husband had to work all weekend after a busy week and worked until nearly 10pm each night (his mornings usually began at 5:30!). Monday morning he got up at 4:30 to drive with friends an hour away to pray for 2 hours in front of an abortion clinic as part of the 40 Days for Life. He came back, worked until 10pm, worked at home until 1am and then got up at 5:30 to go to a mens Bible study at our church before starting another day of work. When he fell asleep on the living room floor at 7:30 I sent him off to bed and decided to remain in the living room (so I would not wake him with the noises coming out of me!) where I would be somewhat sound proofed.

My 12 week ob appointment was this afternoon and hearing my little angel's heart beating again was indescribable! I must say that I LOVE my ob! She is a wonderful Catholic mom herself and just made me feel so at peace about having her as my doctor just by the way she speaks about life. I was really nervous when I realized I was pregnant in a new state and had no idea if I'd find a good doctor.

I've always wanted a home birth or to at least be able to deliver at a midwifery. All but one of my sibling were delivered by Mennonite midwives at a midwifery clinic. But, living in an apartment that adjoins the apartment of young, single women that my husband is supervisor to just didn't seem like the best place to give birth.

The midwife that I called was not Catholic and actually delivers at the local general hospital. The ob that I chose is the mom of one of our counselors, spent time in the convent, is 10 minutes from my house and delivers at the Catholic hospital 15 minutes away.

The hospital itself has just redone the spacious delivery rooms with skylights and jetted tubs and you stay in the same room for delivery and recovery. If you have to be at a hospital it might as well feel more like a nice hotel, right?

My dear husband has been at all my doctors appointments. As we were waiting in the lobby he was kicking himself that he hadn't brought a backpacking magazine with him. In response I handed him a copy of Pregnancy. He didn't want it, but I made him read it anyway. Well, he found an article for dads and read that ONE article before tossing the magazine aside. He laughed as soon as he began reading because the author began by questioning why ob office never have anything for fathers to read and listed the only reading options he'd seen. Paul actually dug through the basket filled with magazines to see how accurate the authors list was. He had pretty much hit the nail on the head, but in his search Paul actually discovered a lone copy of Popular Mechanics that he carried like a security blanket until we left the office.

I don't think being referred to as my partner instead of husband by a nurse made him feel any better either. We did ride our motorcycle (for the 1st time in ages!) to the appointment, so his masculinity seemed to be immediately restored as soon as he revved the engine. :)

So that is how our day began, continued and ended. I hope your days was equally interesting.
I think I'm going to watch some of the Dick van Dyke Show on Netflix and then hopefully fall asleep!

Thank you, Lord, for good doctors, amazing husbands, miraculous babies, Dick van Dyke (the greatest tv show ever made!!) and TUMS!

Meander Down Memory Lane

I've been reading Colleen from Martin Family Moments story of how she met her husband and it took me on my own trip down memory lane. Colleen and her husband met while studying abroad in Austria with Franciscan University of Steubenville. Both my husband and I studied there as well. I had a few pictures in a file on my desktop that I thought I'd put up for fun just to give you all a small taste of some of my favorite memories.

My first glimpse of where I'd be living for the next several months. I thought I had stepped through the wardrobe and into Narnia.

In the spring, once the snow melted, we took pictures in the field overlooking school. Little did I know at the time that the friend who hoisted e on his shoulder for this picture would become my brother-in-law in just a few years!

Wahoo!!! I love joyful, happy memories!!!

You, Me and Baby make...4?!?!

Colleen, you're good at this game! :) 

Paul took his dream job working as a program director for a Catholic camp that offers year-around retreats and outdoor education. We packed up and moved North. I arrived at Camp, exhausted, on Friday night. Sunday morning (August 1st) we realized that I was pregnant! A lot of joyful tears were spilled that day. 

God is so good! In June God gave us Lil' Man and in July He gave us a miracle baby. The day we discovered that I was pregnant was also the day our new insurance began and Paul's job was starting the next day! God provides so well! I was thrilled that my mom was with us, helping us move, so we were able to tell her minutes after we found out. She was such a blessing because she stayed a little longer than planned to help me with Lil' Man since I was exhausted.

Exhaustion quickly moved into the realm of non-stop morning sickness and I rapidly lost eight pounds because I was unable to keep anything down. It has been an interesting experience going from being a brand new mom of a two year old to being pregnant and having two little ones demanding from me in very different ways. Its good practice, but it is a unique situation.

Being so sick made me feel at first like I just had a never ending case of food poisoning. We went in for an ultrasound when I was just over 6 weeks and the baby was so tiny. It didn't truly hit me until we heard the baby's heart pounding 156 beats per minute that this really wasn't food poisoning it was my own sweet baby making his or her presence known. That was when I REALLY began to cry!  

Our little jellybean is at 12 weeks now and I go back to see the doctor tomorrow. My morning sickness has eased up, but it is by no means gone yet. I have been so sick and busy that I haven't had a chance to blog or email or do hardly anything else, but I have been wanting to. Hopefully, as I feel better I will be able to do more.

I have a lot to share about our new town, the new job and our current adventures. Being so sick leaves me stuck in the house most of the time and anything that reconnects me with adults is such a blessing!

It is great to reconnect with my friends in the blogging world. I missed you all! :)

My little Peach

Life has been wild this summer! So many changes, so much excitement and, as always, so little time!

Paul, Lil' Man and I enjoyed a wonderful couple of months at home in Tennessee. Our family gathered for our annual family reunion, we made trips to the river for kayaking and swimming, friends from all our came to visit and we celebrated my 30th birthday (ahem, I mean the first anniversary of my 29th!)!

The farm was so beautiful this summer. Paul made me the coolest tire swing known to man. I spent hours eating ice pops in my hammock while snuggling with Lil' Man. We rode our horses and chased the baby pigs when they made their escape. We rested.

My sisters were inspired to have a family gathering at our local u-pick orchard. Paul, Lil' Man and I came home with 20 lbs. of fresh, sweet peaches! I made peach ice cream and cobbler. I had planned canning peach butter, but I was short on both time and energy and ended up freezing bags of sliced peaches.

Two of my younger cousins spent about a month with us. Paul created a tent town and we all camped by the spring that runs through our woods. I read Nancy Drew to the girls by the campfire as we ate s'more made with reese's peanut butter cups. In the morning, all of the kids played in the misty stream. It was all very dreamy.

Paul and I took Lil' Man to the drive-in to see Toy Story 3. We rolled out a play mat so he could play with his little cars and Mr. Potato Head while the adults enjoyed the movie.

Time flew by and before we knew it, Paul and I were rushing around the house packing for our move to Wisconsin. I hate packing. I hate the process of moving. I survived!

We left Tennessee and drove through unbearable heat to Illinois. I was driving alone with the baby in a car that was packed well beyond capacity and very much without air conditioning! Paul was leading the way on the motorcycle and pulling a trailer with our kayaks and mountain bikes. People kept pointing as he drove by!

After we made it into Illinois, the sky burst open and poured rain. I was in the middle of changing a very stinky diaper in the grass on the side of a hill. Paul stood over the baby trying to keep him dry, but it didn't work very well. We were a sight!!!

That evening we made it to a dear friend's house. I told Paul I could go no further, for now, so he left the next day to get our house set up while my friend and I visited and our small people played.

By the time I made it to Wisconsin, Paul and my mom ( who had driven out from Ohio), had moved in all our furniture, had Lil' Man's crib and toys waiting and had made my life 10,000 times easier! We spent the next day unpacking dishes and exploring our new town. Paul was excited to begin his new job and we were thrilled to get to know our new community, but God had one last crazy surprise in store for us here in Wisconsin...!

Lil' Man & The Name Game!

Paul and I have been debating over what to name our Goldwing since Easter and we had finally just gave up trying to call it anything other than "the bike". That was until Lil' Man came along!

I don't know if during his "past life" he knew someone with a Screaming Eagle or what, but he calls every motorcycle "Eagle". So, "the bike" is officially "the eagle" now. Just thought I'd share in case anyone was still wondering what name we had settled on!

Have a beautiful weekend. God bless America!

You, Me and the Baby Makes 3!

Well, dear friends, many have you have read my post over the past year about Paul and I struggling with being unable to get pregnant. We know that God will gives us a baby of our own in His time, but it has still been a very emotional and difficult road. It's always hard when you know that God has a perfect plan, but you really want a hint as to what that plan is, well, our Dear Lord has finally given us a hint!

For the next six months, Paul and I are blessed to have the opportunity to foster an angel whom we shall be refering to as Lil' Man!   Isn't he precious??? He's won't be two until autumn, but he is a big smart boy with

a lot to say.  We know that it will be hard to only have him directly in our lives for such a short time, but every minute with Lil'Man is a joy and a blessing. We know that God will bring us peace when we need it most! Paul and I are just so amazed by the miracle that this small child is.

We found out on the our wedding anniversary that he would be coming to live with us. It was such a gift to receive that news, because we were hoping I might be pregnant at the time and then discovered that I wasn't. In the end, God had given us an anniversary baby! He just came in a different (easier!) way!!!

Every day has been amazingly joyful, fun and exhausting! I love finding trails of Cheerios around the house and hearing my name called early in the morning. I love seeing him reach up out of his crib for either Paul or myself.

Every day I am discovering new ways that I am in awe of my husband and his natural paternal instincts. Ladies, I hate to brag, but I married a baby rockstar!!!! Lil' Man spends part of most days playing with a plastic screwdriver right next to Paul as he fixs all the many things on his Honey-do List. They are the cutest guys I've ever known!

I apologize for the gushing and the exclamation points, but this girl is walking on sunshine and it feels great! I am still walking the walk with my other sisters who haven't been able to get pregnant yet, but I feel more peace knowing that this is all part of God's plan.  I am hopeful God will give us another baby to love when he takes Lil' Man out of our life.  I am still  praying all the time for all the children who are alone and need love, for the parents who are struggling and for all of us who want a baby in our arms! As JPII said, "Be Not Afraid!" and I might add, because God answers all prayers!

I tried and tried, but could not flip this picture! I had to post it anyway.

God bless you, my friends! Thanks for letting me share my joy with you!

Bucket List- ICE CREAM!!!!

Soooooo, we were visiting Paul's best friend in MI last week. Her mother was telling us that her Bucket List included trying all of Baskin Robbins flavors! How fun is that? She has finally decided to check that off her list.

Her goal is to spend time with her grandchildren trying the different flavors. If she took all 9 grandchildren on each trip and bought them each a cone of a flavor per day/week or some such thing, then her husband has decided that they would have to take out a mortgage on the house to buy that many cones. Sounds like a complex word problem for a homeschool student to muddle over, doesn't it? The next problem to solve would be to determine how much excercise would be required to burn off samples of all 31 flavors!

Last I heard, the plan was to share cones. Either way sounds tasty to me!

Hop on over HERE to drool over all the yummy classic flavors!

18 wheels to 2 wheels- A Wild Ride!

Made you think that I'd stopped blogging since we aren't trucking, didn't I??? Well, sorry, but that is sooo not true! :) We have been civilians for all of 10 days, but that has not stopped us from Livin' La Vida Loca! I'll quickly share the bullets version of our last 10 days:

Saturday May 15th- First day home from trucking. 6am Paul and I got up to head to the Springfest conference in Shelbyville, TN. In attendance were the son of St. Gianna Molla, the Papal Nuncio and many others. Not in attendance was ME! I got up to go and I was so sick that I went straight back to bed. Blah! That is where I spent most of the day.

Sunday- Family and friends from far and wide came to celebrate the baptism of my nephew, Lil Dude. It was a beautiful, all-day extravaganza. We had a cook-out at my brother and sister-in-laws. Long, but wonderful day.

Monday- Worked on cleaning up the flood damage in the basement. All. Day. Long!

Tuesday- Still cleaning up the basement and getting new carpeting for the basement.

Wednesday- We got the travel itch already! We spent the day driving down to Atlanta to buy a trailer for our motorcycle. Beautiful day. Baaaad traffic! 

Thursday- Drove back home to Tennessee from Atlanta. Spent 3 hours at home and then left to drive the motorcycle up to Wisconsin. We made it as far as Nashville before getting caught in a downpour. We parked under an overpass and went to see a movie. Praise God, the rain had stopped by the time we came out. Unfortunately, we were so behind schedule that we had to ride until 3 am. Brrrr!

Friday- Spent the day riding in and out of the rain. Made it to Wisconsin Dells in the evening and had a very nice time at a camp up there. I had never really seen Wisconsin before and I enjoyed it.

Saturday- Toured the tourist area and drove out to Devil's Lake State Park which was very beautiful. We bought Slurpies, ice cream and pizza. Took a ferry across a lake. Found a beautiful stone church named St. Joseph's in Baraboo where we visited Jesus :-) We drove down to Indiana and went to Indiana Dunes State Park to camp for the evening. We made S'Mores before bed. It was a nice and relaxing day.

Sunday- Drove out to Michigan for the going away party of our best man who has joined the Marines. It was a lovely cookout and we really enjoyed catching up with our dear friends. We spent the night at my husband's best friend's house and had a Lost party to watch the finale- which we LOVED! Such great times.

Monday- Our Two Year Wedding Anniversary!!!!!! We went out to lunch with friends. Had a cook-out with more friends and then enjoyed some down time at a local park where we watched lots of baby geese and ducklings. Sooo cute! We had some fun news that I will probably share on here soon- keep us in your prayers.

Today- Spending the day being completely lazy!!!! Such bliss.

That, my friends, is the run down of our living a "normal non-trucking life." There will be much more adventure to come, but I wanted to take a quick moment to catch people up on our new life. God bless, friends!

Exciting and Emotional

Paul and I are pulling in to the trucking terminal right now to turn in our truck. We will no longer be trucking and it's a little bit emotional for me. We've lived in a truck ever since we got married- two years next week!

We are excited to start doing the marketing for the books and trading in our 18 wheels for a two wheeled motorcycle. But, being a woman, change is emotional for me. Pray that we follow God's leading, do His will and that God will bless our newest adventures.

I have to go clean the truck- PRAY FOR US, PLEASE!

What the flood dragged in

We usually experience one decent flood per year on our farm. Once the flood waters have disipated there is always something fun and fascinating to see. People are displaced from their homes and so are animals. While home I saw a pink salamander and a large rubbery-looking black salamander. While walking my dogs, I found this cute lil'guy. Surprisingly the dogs didn't eve notice it!

Awww, he's cute!

It looks like a long green noodle!

And then there was this fine fellow, who was walking smack down the middle of our driveway- an entire field (maybe 3 or 4 hundred feet) away from water!

Now that you've seen this guy you have to check out this Crawfish Boil Recipe and Pictures ! I don't think I could eat this guy- he's just too much fun. And sooo fiesty! Like a small yappy dog, he didn't realize he wasn't big. He was ready to pick a fight with anyone he could get close to!

Paul and I drove through Mississippi and Louisiana last week. I had never been in the Deep South before we began trucking, but I have really enjoyed traveling through that area. I always enjoy driving through the swamp on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.

 Here's some of what Wikipedia had to say about it, "The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge is actually two parallel bridges in the US state of Louisiana between Baton Rouge and Lafayette , LA which carries Interstate 10 over the Atchafalaya Basin. With a total length of 96,095 feet (29,290 m) or 18.2 miles, it is the tenth longest bridge in the world by total length." and "The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The Atchafalaya is unique among basins because it has a growing delta system with nearly stable wetlands."

Calling Baton Rouge

In honor of our going off the road, enjoy this youtube video of Garth Brook's Callin Baton Rouge. Its our favorite trucking song!

Splish-splash!!!

I have been scolded for not posting pictures of our farm during the huge flood a week and a half ago, so I figured I had better post them quickly before I get into too much trouble!

When it first began raining we were all enjoying the craziness of it. The water was coming down so heavily that I could ony see a feet away when looking out the windows of the house. The rest of the family wanted to go down to the spring on our property to play in the water, so I stayed with my new nephew, Lil' Dude, while his parents and the rest of the "younger set" went off to play!

Lil' Dude didn't mind the rain coming down outside!

They came home cold and muddy, so they "showered" under the downspout before going in the house and enjoying hot showers.

I know! Scary, right? :-)

That night I was alone at my house when I went to check the basement and discovered a river running through it! I was in such a panic that I didn't even have time to take pictures...can you imagine???  I baled out water with a 5 gallon bucket and managed to clean up the mess. At one point I was running up the basement steps to pour a bucket out on the lawn and I stepped off the concrete into about a foot of water. I hadn't expected it to be so deep! I lost my balance and went sliding through water and mud. I've had finer moments. Like a little kid needing their parent, all I wanted to do was cry for my husband to come save me. I survived on my own and did manage to handle the situation even better than I thought I could.Two of my couches will probably have to be tossed since they had been sitting in the "river," but Praise God, that seems to be the worst of it.

A friend tried to drive up my drive way and had a wall of water splash up over the windshield of her van and flooded the interior. She never did make it. I could have pulled out the kayak and paddled over to my brother's house (NO, I am not exaggerating!),but I was too scared of the basement flooding again to leave the house unattended.

Once the sun came out, the water started going down and there was no longer a moat around my house I wadded over to visit my sister-in-law. I borrowed her camera and took some picture of the fields and trails under more than 10 feet of water in some places! My driveway and the field below it were literally a lake.

 

The horses seemed happy to come down from higher ground so they could say hello! 

Many of our friends (Mary!) have gone horseback riding down this trail and enjoyed a bonfire in the clearing. The water in this clearing is about 12 feet deep!

Welcome to the lake at Andrews Spring Farm!

Lord, I know I prayed that the rains would fall soft upon my fields, but this seems a bit extreme!

The dogs had fun playing fetch in their very own lake in the very own yard.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our tour of the lake, ehem, FARM. We hope you enjoyed the tour and learned a lot. Please be sure to stop and visit us next time you are in the area and want to do a little fishing!

Le Petit Dejeuner a la Truck!

Even truckers need to start the day off right with a good breakfast. Paul and I usually start our day off with a bowl of cereal and Classic Almond Breeze milk, a bowl of instant oatmeal, Eggo waffles or bagels and yogurt. 

When we have a little extra time in the morning we try to get creative by having pancakes- I buy small packets of Bisquick and and save single serving packets of syrup from Mickey D's to keep things simple and to save space.  Or we make fried egg sandwiches. YUM!

This is another one of those meals that can get messy in a truck, but is sooo worth it!

We toast onion bagels or english muffins and butter them lightly before adding a little Miracle Whip (we did a taste test and decided that, between Mayo & Miracle Whip, the "Zip" gave just the right kick!).

Fry up a couple of eggs and add a few slices of cheddar or sprinkle on the shredded stuff.

We keep a package of precooked, microwavable bacon around just for this meal and for tomato avocado sandwiches that we enjoy at lunch time. Add some slices of the bacon and tomato to your egg sandwich with a little salt and pepper and enjoy a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, my friends!

Even Snoop-dog loves them!

Another favorite (and faster!) le petit dejeuner is vanilla chai and yogurt topped with granola and fresh berries. 

Until recently, we had a hot pot that plugged into the cigarette lighter and I could boil up water for tea while sitting in my seat. Sadly, the element went out so now I have to crawl in the back and use the microwave, but a cup of tea is always worth a little extra work and the risk of being splashed by hot water!

Hey, Good Lookin'! What ya got cookin'?

I am home from California. I've survived the flooding at home in Tennessee. I am finally back in the truck with my husband! Ahh, truck sweet truck!

I have so much to blog about, but I'm not really in the mood for all the lengthy stuff right now, so I thought I would continue my expose on the "Secret Life of Truckers."


People always ask if we eat nothing but fast food all the time. When I answer "No!" and try to explain what cooking is like in the truck, people tend to look a little confused. A picture tells a thousand words, so I snapped a shot of my hubby making his specialty "Tuna Quesadillas."

Here is what this type of meal involves when it is made in a truck:

- Opening and draining cans of tuna. It sounds easy, but it can get messy in a truck. If it spills and ends up on the bed and it will smell like fish until we can get to a washer and dryer. Fun, right?!?!

- Rolling down the windows and turning on the fan to vent any fumes out of the truck.
- Setting up and lighting our single burner propane stove.

- Fry tortillas, add tuna and cheese until "melty" (Paul's word!), remove, roll and enjoy!

- Clean up cooking area, frying pan and plates with wet wipes.

That is how it is done folks! Hope you enjoyed this very random tutorial!