Marriage and Hair

You’re wondering how these two topics tie together. Well, believe me they do. Hair has been the binding material of our marriage, believe it or not — teaching us patience, self-sacrifice, and drain-declogging.

Ok, so maybe it hasn’t played as crucial as a role as that. But I had to have some kind of tie-in for these two topics I’m posting about today.

 August 2 was our 3rd anniversary. It seems so crazy to me when I think it was three whole years ago that we got all dressed up and said our vows and began a journey together as husband and wife. A lot has happened since then, but the time went by so fast. I’m so thankful for this godly man I married. Thankful for God’s grace that He shows me through Tyler. Blessings, laughter, forgiveness, conviction, love… hair. Marriage is difficult at times. It reveals to you all the little sins that you can so easily hide from everyone else, most notably selfishness. But it also gives you the opportunity to relinquish your self-centeredness and focus on the one you love — the one who loves you also. Sometimes it’s a difficult cycle of self-centeredness-conviction-forgiveness-servanthood-joy. But I hope as the years go by, the cycle will more often than not exclude self-centeredness.

But enough sappy marriage talk for now, because I have something very important to share with all of you.

*pause for effect*

I’m trying something new with my hair!

Talk about being self-centered *puh* *eyeroll*

Who does this chick think she is that we would care about her hair?

I know, I know. But I just have to tell you about this amazing beachy-wave hair-curling technique that requires no heat sources whatsoever! I started seeing posts about it on a message board that I read and the results were so cute. I figured if all of these girls could do it, maybe I can too.

You just have to have a headband and some hairspray. Basically, you start with mostly-dry hair and put the headband on your head hippie-style. Let the hair that’s held down by the headband poof up a little bit so that your hair’s not flat when you take it out. Smooth out the hair around your part so that it looks neat. Then, starting in the front, grab one strand (small for tight curls, bigger for looser curls) and wrap it over the headband and tuck it under. Then grab another strand and keep doing this until you get all the way to the back and all of the hair. Then repeat on the other side of your head. Once you get to the back from both sides, you still have some short strands hanging down. Tuck them into the wrapped hair/headband and then hairspray the beejiggers out of it! You can either sleep on it like this or wear it out if you’re brave. I think I am going to attempt to wear my hair out like this today:

Whadaya think? Not too warrior-princess-esque it it? Should I go to work like this? C’mon, people, I need to know as soon as possible before I make a spectacle of myself. Speak now or forever hold your… laughter!

An attractive larger view for you, so you can see what it looks like from the back. I can’t wait to take it out and see how my curls turned out! I just really hope I can pull off the warrior princess look today.

Here is a link to the tutorial I watched to learn how to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYxS1ohz4Ao 

The way she does it is for more classic vintage curls. But depending on how tight you do it and how much hair you use, it can turn out differently. I promise to post an update of how it looks when I take it out.

*crosses fingers*

Hopefully this will not be a waste of valuable blog-wothy material!

Happy Hairstyling!

My Wish Fulfilled

Ya know the “Dear _____” post I wrote a couple days ago? Well, when Tyler got home that night, he saw that I was just publishing my post and saw his name. Since he doesn’t read it on his own (psh, boys!), I showed it to him and he actually seemed amused by it.

*warm fuzzies for making my hubby laugh*

Little did I know…

After we put the puppy to bed (ha! ohh boy…) I went upstairs to get some water before we crashed. Tyler came up a minute after me and asked me to grab an ice cube.

“An ice cube?” I thought. “Oookayyyy.”

It’s been sweltering weather here lately, though, so I chalked it up to either being excessively hot or delierium.

I opened the freezer door to grab an ice cube and something catches my eye–

Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch!!!! Whaaa???!!!!!!!!

HOW-on-earth did he know that I was crazy-craving this???

Needless to say, my disappointment that his amusement was more for somehow psychic-ly fulfilling my wishes than because he thinks I’m funny was far outshined by my delight.

*sigh* So this is love… hmm, hmm, mm, mmmm.

(Sorry, I watched Cinderella recently and the songs tend to stick in your head. There was one day last week whenI had ”Bibbity-bobbity-boo” playing itself over and over in my head. Boy was that a long day.)

So I sit before you today as a very happy wife who now really needs to workout sometime this week.

Hope your weekends were as good as mine!

Gaining Ground

What a day today.

I woke up around 2:00 am to discover that our power had gone out; for what reason, I do not know. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, triple-checked to make sure that my phone alarm was on and that the battery life would last another 2.5 hours, and fell back asleep to dreams of poking people with needles by candlelight.

Thank goodness I will never have to do that. It was terrifying!

*shudder*

When I woke up at 4:30 (yes, 4:30 in the morning), it was still dark and cold. Since getting up wakes Tyler up anyway, I figured now was as good a time as ever to ask him how to get the garage door open without power. He didn’t even bother telling me (he must have known I would struggle on my best day in daylight, and much more my sleepy cold stupor); he just got right up and went to take care of it for me.

I’m so thankful he’s not a cranky morning-person. You know, living with people other than your family during college makes you aware that some people are just not compatible morning-people. The chipper chatty type and the silent dead-man walking type are not an agreeable match. Tyler and I both fall somewhere in between.

Where was I going with this?

Oh, that’s right, no where, duh. That’s why they call it a “rabbit trail.”

*Ahem*

Anyway… I lit some candles, ate some cereal, then rummaged around and found some facial toner and hand sanitizer to take a little spit-bath. Just as I was going to start my makeup, a little tap-tap-tap came at the bathroom door.

“Come in.”

A arm reached into the bathroom and…

turned the light on for me! The power came back on just in time for me to take a shower and finish getting ready. Thank goodness!

The rest of my day…. well, I’ll skip the work portion of the day. We’ll just say that most of it went mostly well. It definitely beat poking people with needles by candlelight.

On my way home, I stopped at the mall and tried to use my get $15 off any purchase coupon at The Limited. I had another one of these that I used on Monday and got a shirt for $10. Today my goal was to not spend any money, though. I ended up out of luck because I couldn’t use it on accessories and their cami’s were $24.99.

24.99 for a cami??? Really?

I know, I thought the exact same thing.

So I proceded to my next errand: the grocery store. No list in hand, I managed to recall several things that were missing from our pantry last night and stumbled upon a few other items as well, stuffing them all into my little shopping basket and doing my best to haul them to the checkout.

Why are shopping baskets so darn awkward to carry? Tell me, please. And why do I ever bother to grab one when I know I am just going to end up dragging it up and down the aisles?

“Excuse me, can I get through here with my shopping basket? Thank you.”

Like that’s any more of an inconvenience than the full-sized carts. But I just don’t feel like you can take a full-sized cart through the DIY express lane without getting dirty looks.

Anyway, when I got home, I turned the T.V. on and started to get pretttty groggy as The Doctors droned on about salt and high blood pressure.

Psh, right, like salt will kill me. Salt is my life-source.

And sugar. Don’t forget sugar.

You know, I kid, right?

Good.

I woke up from my little nap when my phone rang. It was my hubby calling to tell me he was on his way home. In my foggy stupor, I said the first thing that came to mind (and probably the last thing my subconscious had heard during my little snooze).

“Let’s get Jet’s.”

Tyler: Ummm, ok. Did you want to drive all the way back here to pick it up?

“Uhhh, yeah, I mean, I don’t know, I guess that’s fine. Or we can do whatever. Or get pizza somewhere else. Or you can get Jet’s while you’re over there.”

Tyler: Well, it’s not even 4:30 yet, so I’m not really very hungry.

“Oh! Oh, right, no. Um, uh, ok, we can figure something out later when you get home.”

Tyler: (laughing at me) Ok. See you when I get home.

So in an effort to wake myself up a little better I pulled the computer out. Got on my blog and clicked “Add New Post.” As I stared into oblivion, my fingers wandered around the mouse pad and ended up stumbling upon a pet adoption website for available pets very close to where we are living right now. And guess what I found?

This adorable border collie mix puppy who is 12 weeks old, loves people and other dogs, has already had vaccinations and been neutered and is calm but playful.

Isn’t he cute? Can’t you just picture us running together every day?

When Tyler got home, I gave him my best doe-eyed expression and beckoned him over to the computer to show him the pictures.

And guess what?

He told me I could think about it!

He said we’d need to get an invisible fence and that it would have to be my decision, because he wouldn’t be the primary one taking care of it.

But I think his heart melted a little.

Not sure it it was me or the dog that did it. But… wow… now I really have to think about this.

Am I a dog-person? Do I really want to be committed to a dog for the next 12-18 years? How much does a dog cost per month? How do you train it to be a good dog, because I definitely am not going to want a dog that’s hyper and undisciplined?

C’mon guys, I need answers! Now!!!

*sigh* Well, we’ve at least gained ground. A lot of ground, really. I did NOT think Tyler would go for this at all. I more just wanted to bug him, because, well, it’s fun. And he usually does a good job of talking me out of wanting things that I will end up regretting.

Wait, is he using some kind of reverse-psychology? Because I’m kind of semi-panicing about making this decision now.

!!!

I think I had better do a little research. But isn’t he just so sweet? I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it!!!

Name that movie.

Now where is that Jett’s pizza? I’m starvin, Marvin.

Homemade Spaghetti O’s: The Sequel

Rather than be beaten down by my latest kitchen catastrophe, tonight I made a second attempt at making Homemade Spaghetti-O’s. Every sequel is better than the original, right? So my attempt today had to turn out better than my first.

You will be happy to know that it went much better this time (If you missed this post and didn’t notice the aftershock effects that originated from my kitchen, you can read my account here).

So… HERE is how to make Homemade Spaghetti’O's without causing self-induced trauma (adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook).

First, combine 8 oz ground turkey, 2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil (2 tsp dry basil), 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/4 cup grated parmesean, and 3 Tbsp dried breadcrumbs. And a bit of salt and pepper, to taste.

Kidding. Please don’t taste the raw meat.  Ick.

Pinch the meat into little bitty meatballs, put them on a plate or in a pan, cover and put them in the fridge while you whip everything else up.

Heat a couple tablespoons olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.

While that’s heating, coarsly chop 1 onion and 1 medium carrot:

Refill your fancy olive oil bottle.

Clean up the olive oil you dribbled all over your fancy bottle and counter.

*sigh*

Remove the battery from the smoke detector. Temporarily.

Dump veggies into smoking oil and cook until softened and onions start to brown, about 5 minutes.

One lump or two?

Two??? C’mon, people, this is hearty Italian Spaghetti-O’s we’re making! At least four cloves, please!

Thank you!

Cook for another minute, then add 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (juice and all) and 2 1/2 cups chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium-low, cover, and let cook for another 15-20 minutes so that carrots can further soften.

Now, here is where it got messy for me last time. Hot liquid. Full Blender. Empty stomach that couldn’t wait for it to cool.

This time, I planned ahead.

Let the liquid cool for a little bit. Just enough so that it won’t burn you if a mini-catastrophe might occur.

Assemble all of the clean towels in your household. Just in case.

Hunt down the most patient person you know. In my case, Tyler.

Have them blend it for you:

1/3 at a time, stating on low speed (DO NOT PULSE!), removing the middle plastic top thing-y so that some of the steam can escape in order to prevent pressure build-up.

Cheer and fist-bump your blending-buddy for successfully blending your Spaghetti-O’s without any explosions!!!

Or, if this experience was more akin to my first attempt at making Spaghetti-O’s, comfort your patient husband or friend and kindly counsel them through the trauma while you clean the mess up for them.

Pour the blended mixture back into your freshly cleaned pot, bring to a simmer at medium heat and dump in meatballs and 1 cup of ditalini.

Or, if you prefer, alphabet pasta.

Which I do prefer, thank you very much.

Cook for 12 minutes, covered over medium heat, until pasta is al dente and meatballs are cooked through.

Finish with salt and pepper, a little brown sugar for some sweetness, parmesean, and a little basil, if so desired.

Make your husband suffer from hunger while you fiddle around with the camera to try to get some pretty food-pictures.

Scold your husband for leaving his watch and cell phone on the table right where you needed to take food-pictures. Darn hunger. Next time I’ll get started a little earlier so I can notice things like clutter in the background.

Apologize for scolding him and thank him profusely for helping out and for being SO patient during the 3 hours it took to make the Spaghetti-O’s, photograph them, and blog about them (Kidding, I didn’t really scold him or make him wait while I blogged about it. But taking pictures definitely did slow the process down a bit. How does the Pioneer Woman do it???).

*sigh*

And finallly, let the nostalgia sink in as you melt into your favorite cozy chair and savor the sweet flavors from your favorite childhood food. Mmmm.

And that, my friends, is how homemade Spaghetti O’s should be.

Dayenu Thanksgiving

Back in April I wrote a post about a segment from a book I was reading at the time called The Year of Living Like Jesus by Ed Dobson. Today, with it being Thanksgiving, I wanted to revisit this concept of Dayenu.

Dayenu is one of the traditional Jewish Passover prayers. It describes the great acts that God did in freeing Israel from their Egyptian captivity, and at the end of each verse exclaims Dayenu (p. 97), which means, “That alone would have been enough; for that alone are we grateful.” It conveys thankfulness, contentment, and faith… knowing that God is good and what He has already provided is more than enough for us.

What a beautiful and all-encompassing word that expresses true thankfulness. So often we focus on asking things of God, but showing little thought and gratitude for what He has already done for us. We say, “Thank you for this food, and please give me _____.” God wants us to make requests known to Him and he delights in fulfilling them. But He is so loving, so gracious, and so generous that he is worthy of far more than just our requests. We could never truly express the abundant and authentic gratitude worthy for him. But I think Dayenu is the closest we can come, even in its simplicity.   

You sacrificed Your life to redeem me from the death I deserved because of my sin.

Dayenu.

You chose to adopt me into Your family, in spite of my unworthiness.

 Dayenu.

You have given me a wonderful, loving family that has nurtured me and helped anchor me as I have grown and matured.

Dayenu.

You have provided me with health and home.

Dayenu.

You have given me friends who have encouraged me and laughed with me and loved me and challenged me to love You more.

Dayenu.

You have shown me deeper love than I could have imagined through Tyler — which is still only a fraction of the love You have for me.

 Dayenu.

You answered our prayers by providing Tyler with a teaching job earlier this year.

Dayenu.

You have been my comfort in times of grief, my strength in times of desperation, my contentment in times of waiting, my love in times of loneliness, my joy in times of disappointment, and my companion in times of celebration.

Dayenu.

Dayenu is a concept that infuses so much richness to life. It is not just about what we are thankful for, but really learning how to be thankful for those things. It is meaningful on such a day as today and at Passover… but would truly change our lives if we lived it out daily.

All of these blessings alone were enough, Lord, and for these alone am I truly grateful.  Dayenu.

My Testimony

Like many Sundays at church, this Sunday I found myself sitting in the pew and reflecting on all that God has done for me. The sermon was about how God is still at work today, transforming people’s lives and performing miracles for which science has no explanation.  Throughout ages, there have been people who believe in God, yet do not see that He is still at work today. They believe in heaven, but have no relationship with the One who made a way for them to go to heaven.

The sermon was not to undermine the power of the Bible, but to compel people to share their stories of how God has transformed their lives here and now, in the 21^st century. To be a living testimony that God still cares and is actively transforming lives.

My testimony – my most significant experience with God – all started when my uncle, a bachelor and an alcoholic, visited my family during Christmas over 10 years ago.  At the time I had started reading the Left Behind books and decided to give him the first book for Christmas. I was anxious about the gift, because I knew my uncle was not a Christian. But an avid reader, he finished the book before his trip was through.  I had no idea that God would use my gift to light a spark in Him that would eventually draw my uncle into a relationship with Jesus.

Fast forward several years… my uncle was sober and facing a life threatening diagnosis: lung cancer.  My parents offered for him to move in with us so that he could be with family and receive the support he needed as he underwent treatment.  It was a difficult time for all of us, but he pulled through it and went into remission. During that time, I saw him grow and understand his faith at an exponential rate. My relationship with him became deeper than that of a mere uncle as well. I liketo call him my grand-brother, because he really was more like a much-older brother to me.

My junior year of college – a short 4 years ago – the cancer came back. Our family spent 5-6 days a week going to and from the hospital (a good 40 minute drive) for his twice-a-day treatments. We were exhausted, and I could only imagine how much more exhausted he was. Friends and extended family brought meals or offered to drive. Our whole church family responded with such compassion, and we were all so moved by such self-less love. God truly used those people as His “hands and feet”, helping and providing for us in our deepest need.

 At the beginning of my second semester that year, it was tormentous to leave home. Although I longed for the distraction that friends and classes would bring, I feared what might happen while I was away. His prognosis was bad. He was not going to pull through. Emotionally exhausted, I found strength  and encouragement from my friends and their prayers and reminders that God was in control. Fairly newly formed friendships, I struggled against burdening them with such heavy loads. But God knew I would need them, and they were more than willing to be there for me.

In February of 2007, my uncle passed away. And although he had no offspring, he still left a legacy. A man once hardened by the despair of war and worldliness, he left this world known for his generosity, tender heart, knowledge of the Bible, and good-humor.

This may sound like it is more of my uncle’s testimony than my own. But my testimony is because of his. During the months following his death, I struggled with deeper grief and greater joy than I have ever experienced in my life. Deep grief, because I missed him and found the permanence of his loss to this world so difficult to bear. Deep joy because I began to really understand what it means to “trust Christ as your Savior.” My uncle trusted Christ to redeem him from his sin and to welcome him into His presence when he died. It is one thing to pray “Lord, I trust you as my Savior,” and quite another to depend on your absolute need to trust him as your Savior in the face of death.

I have not faced death the way my uncle has. But I was there holding his hand when he passed away, and I can tell you that my faith was first shaken and then solidified. Every hymn and worship song came to mean so much more to me.

“Great is Thy faithfulness…” even through trials.

“Every blessing You pour out, I turn back to praise; When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say ‘Blessed be Your name’…”

“Mercy there was great and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty – at Calvary!”

“Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; He to rescue me from danger, interposed his prescious blood.”

And the song that to me captures every important point of the gospel and moves me to tears of gratefulness to my God for the hope and life and strength I have in Him:

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
’til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

From what I can tell, most of the people reading this are probably Christians as well. So what about you? What is God doing in your life or what has He done that has challenged you to trust Him more or caused you to better understand His deep love for you?

Wherever we are in our faith, I pray we will all continually come to a deeper understanding of what it really means to trust in Christ as our Savior.

Another Hairy Day

Recently something has come to my attention… something I have been dreading, aware of the inevitable fate looming in the distance, unsure of just how distant that fate was and how much longer I had before I would have to face reality.

Friends, it has come to my attention that the shower drain is stopped up.

And we all know what that means.

Yeesh!

And on top of that, the vaccuum cleaner brush has a tightly woven hair-coating too. Ick!

So as soon as I am done here, I must rummage around for a wire hangar and (with my brute strength) form it into a shower de-clogging tool and purge the nasty hair monster from our drain!!! Whaaa haa haa haaaaa!!!

Ok, so maybe I am slightly embelishing the true rush of excitement pulsing through my veins.

Or dramatically embelishing. I’ll let you figure it out.

Yes, indeed, my life is glamorous, let me tell ya.

Why, just the other day, my dear hubby recommended that I wear a shower cap when I’m inside so that I don’t shed so much. Apparently he was shocked that my hair could embed itself into the threading of our big comfy chair.

I dunno how it did it. I promise I don’t sit around all zen-like, trying to invent ways to become one with our home. I mean, our apartment’s nice and all. But I really don’t feel the need to bond with it.

And while I would appreciate not having to wipe the bathroom counter off every time I go in the bathroom and not having to pick hairs out of the clean laundry and I would really REALLY appreciate not having to saw off the thick  coating of hair that gets wrapped around the vaccuum brush, I would still have to wash my hair and thus clean out the shower drain. So all things being considered, wearing a shower cap is just not worth it to me.

And I really think Tyler would get kind of sick of it too. I mean, shower caps can be kinda noisy and not the least bit attractive (please forgive me if I am offending anyone).

So I decided to take the plunge and cut my hair off!

Okay, not really “off.” But I would say I got a good 8 inches cut! I actually didn’t intend on going that short. But you know how haircuts go. They just never look like the picture do they?

But I actually like it. And, hey, I think my hair is probably 1/3 shorter now, so that means 1/3 less hair to shed, right?

And 1/3 more time before the next time I need to unclog the shower drain and saw the hair off of the vaccuum brush. Right???

I don’t hear a very affirmative response from you, thank you very much.

Ho-hum… guess I better just get to it then.

Friends, if this is the last time you hear from me, you will know I struck down and defeated by the Hairy Shower Monster and the Fuzzy Vaccum Fiend. But just know that I will not go down without a fight.

To the death!!!

Fun with Frodo

*muffled giggles*

*whispering* You’ll never guess what I just did!!!

The idea came to me immediately when my mom called to ask me to run an errand for her.

Mom: Hey, do you think you might possibly be able to pick up a cardboard cutout of Frodo from the theater sometime this week?

Me: Um… what????

Mom: You know, Frodo. I have a cardboard cutout on hold at the theater. For Casey.

Me: Ohhhh. Yeah, sure I can do that.

Meanwhile, I think to myself, “Hmmm… how can I use this to get back at my husband for all the times he has startled me?”

Waaa-haa-haaa

So I picked Frodo up from the theater after work (A sentence I never thought I would say. Or type.) and he hung out in my car until Tyler got done with his workout and jumped into the shower. As soon as I heard the water running, I ran out to my car to bring Frodo inside. Then I tested out hiding places for him.

The closet?

Hmm… this could be funny.

By the bed?

Not surprising enough.

The refridgerator nook?

I like it! It looks like he’s guarding the food. And he’s tucked away in this little corner so that you don’t really see him until you get right up close.

Hee hee…

I was feeling pretty good about myself up until the point where I sat down here and began to write this post. Then I remembered that I needed to put the meat I had defrosted back into the refridgerator. So I quickly scampered out to the kitchen and–

WAAAA??!!!!!

Oh, Frodo, you scared me!!! For a minute I thought a creepy kid was raiding our fridge and threatening me with a knife!

Wow, this was a good spot for him. I’m surprised my head didn’t hit the ceiling with how high I jumped. 

Oh, oh… Tyler’s done with his shower and headed out to the kitchen… wait… wait… here it comes….!!!

Tyler: Why is Frodo in our kitchen?

Really? That’s it? No jumping or pounding heartbeat or terror stricken scream?

Nope.

Well… that was anticlimactic.

My sneaky plan backfired. As I finish writing this post, I have now been startled by Frodo 4 times. And although I’m starting to get used to him, I think his stay here has been long enough. It’s time for him to continue his journey. Good thing I see my mom this weekend.

It’s been swell, Frodo, but there are far greater things in the world for you than to loiter around our humble dwelling with your scary sword and icky feet.