Reviewing 2012

I'm BAAAACK!

After a much needed three month hiatus (from blogging only, the rest of my lift has still been extremely busy), I am excited to get back to writing!

With a new year comes new dreams, goals, and focus.  There is something so invigorating about fresh starts. 

But there is something really fun about looking back and reminiscing as well. Cheering at the successes, laughing at the foolishness and learning from the trials.

Here is a look back at my Top 10 Highlights from 2012:

10. Trip to the Grand Caymans
Phil and I went with his company in February for a President's Trip and it was a wonderful, relaxing time (you can read about here).

9. MOPS
In January 2012 I joined a MOPS group (mothers of pre-schoolers learn more about it here).  It is a Christian ministry that connects moms with other moms and feeds them spiritually and socially.  Starting in the summer I joined Steering (leadership) as the MOPPETS (the children's ministry) curriculum coordinator.  It has been a ton of work, and yet so rewarding!

MOPS Steering Christmas Party

8. Christmas with Phil's Family
All of Phil's siblings came home for Christmas and it was amazing to have everyone together.  Pat and Lindsey (Phil's sister and brother-in-law) came home from Arizona and Tony and Rowena (Phil's brother and now soon-to-be-sister-in-law) visited from Australia!

Having fun watching YouTube videos:)

7. California Visit
Over the Thanksgiving Break, Phil and I took the girls to California to visit my family.  It is always great to go home and spend time with my family, and with the addition of their hot tub...look out!

The park with Grandpa

6. Vacation in Cabo
The could sort of be connected to our California Visit, but Phil and I left the girls in California with my parents and he and I went to Cabo for 4 days on our own vacation.  It was so great to get away, just the two of us, and reconnect!

5. Female Fest
The Fourth Annual Female Fest took place in Idyllwild, California this year in October, and I was so thrilled to go.  It is a weekend when all of Phil's aunts and female cousins get together for fellowship and laughter...but what happens at Female Fest, stays at Female Fest:)

4. My Family's Visit to Indiana
This summer after Aven was born, my whole family (minus Travis and Danielle for very good reasons) came to visit us in Indiana.  We had a fantastic time hanging out at the pool, eating out, going to the zoo and the Indiana State Fair.  It was a wonderful time with memories I will cherish.

Catching a ride from Uncle Kyle

3. Running the Indy Monumental 1/2 Marathon
November 3, Aven was 1 day shy of 4 months and my girlfriend Stacie and I ran a 1/2 marathon in 1:55:22.  I am proud to say I finished it (although it wasn't my prettiest race) and we did it in under 2 hours, so I'm happy.

2. Starting my Etsy Shop, Bundle Up Buddy
On a whim I opened an Etsy shop called Bundle Up Buddy on November 12.  I had NO IDEA the amount of interest I would receive and the amount of joy, pride and fulfillment I would have over this little endeavour.  Who knew I had entrepreneurial spirit!  Here is my shop, browse around if you'd like.

1. Aven Rhyse Van Gelder's Birth
There are three days in my life which tie as my all time best days EVER.  The day I married my best friend, the day Emrie was born and now the day Aven was born.  July 2, 2012 was a glorious day, when our family grew from 3 to 4, when Phil and I became parents of GIRLS and when a Big Sister was made!  All three of us were instantly head-over-heels with our little bundle of joy (along with a lot of extended family)!!! To read more about Aven's birth click here.

Amazing photo taken at the hospital by my friend, the talented Jennifer Dowd

Three Honorable Mentions are technically things that happened this year, but I haven't yet been able to experience them in their full glory as I will next year:

3. Gaining my first niece from Phil's sister, Lindsey and brother-in-law, Pat...ETA March 26!

There you can see that cute little pregnant belly:)

2. Gaining a Sister-In-Law, Rowena...Wedding date TBD, but most likely, October 2013 and SHE ALREADY HAS THE DRESS!

She said YES to the dress...(and, NO, this is not it!, nor is that the bridesmaid's dress;)

1. My First Nephew, Broderick (Brody) Anthony Albini, Born November 20, 2012.  Read all about him on his Momma's blog Albini Photography

I mean, honestly, is he not just THE CUTEST!!!

 

It has been a great BLESSED 2012!!!

Sayonara (for now)

Hey, remember when I used to blog? Me either:)

It has been over a month since I last posted something, and it isn't because I have nothing to write about anymore.  On the contrary, I have LOTS of stuff I could write about, but the problem is I AM TOO BUSY DOING IT!!!

Honestly, when I finally became more intentional about my job as a stay-at-home mom (read this post) I found that the extra 20 or 30 minutes a day I was spending on writing were being put to use in different ways.  Not to mention Emrie dropped down to 1 nap a day (which has done WONDERS for her sleeping through the night).  Oh yeah, and I added a second kid to the mix (although she is so easy sometimes I forget about her).

Not only are my girls and playdates (for us moms of course) keeping me busy, but I am doing a TON of stuff for MOPS, hosting house guests, hosting small group, training for the half marathon, getting ready to travel to California in both October and November, Cabo in November, not to mention the holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Phil's birthday, Emrie's birthday and our anniversary all in December!

Now that most of my family have iPhones, I find that I am keeping them updated through Instagram and FaceTime, so the blog is a little less necessary. 

While I still enjoy writing (even if no one likes reading it:), right now is a time in my life when I feel I need to say Sayonara for a little while. 

I don't know exactly how long I'll sign off for, but at least through the end of the year.

So until 2013...

Vineger, My New Best Friend

Pinterest has all kinds of cleaning tips and tricks.  Not sure all of them work, but it is worth a shot, especially since I clearly had nothing better.  I recently tried a couple of tricks to see if they worked.

EXPERIMENT #1

 

 

This is my favorite experiment and it comes from The Thrifty Home. I have a MAJOR issue with hard water at our house.  I solved the issue of the milky white dishes with the hard water scum on them when my girlfriend, Kasie, told me about LemonShine...LOVE IT!!! But I still have issues with hard water on my faucets and sometimes on my counters.

 

Process: Soak paper towels in vinegar and wrap around faucets. wait an hour and wipe off. Cleaning power of Vinegar!

 

My Verdict: Two thumbs WAY up!!! Vinegar will now be my favorite cleaning solution, and it's cheap, who doesn't love that!!!

 

Here are my actual before and after pictures...When I do it again, I will wipe a little better.

 

Before

 

After

 

 

EXPERIMENT #2

 

 

This pin was from a website called My Thirty Spot and she has some good ideas for cleaning there.  I did this to all my towels after my family had left {everyone noticed they had a slight mildew smell when they were wet from drying off}.

 

Process: Wash your towels in hot water with a cup of vinegar, then run again in hot water with a half-cup of baking soda {I actually just put the vinegar in instead of detergent and threw the baking soda in on top of the towels and ran it in the same wash so we didn't did a second cycle} . 

 

My verdict: Thumbs up...my towels smell MUCH better, well, they just don't really have any smell now which is just the way I like them!

EXPERIMENT #3

 

This pin came from a website called Crunchy Betty.  My kitchen sink smelled, and when I pulled out the black rubber thing, I realized it was because a few nights ago when we had stir fry, I had let too much of the noodles and some veggies go down and they were stuck in the garbage disposal.  After cleaning them out...SICK...I tried this trick.

Process: Start by running hot water through your garbage disposal for a minute. Pour about 1/4 c. baking soda into the drain. Flip the garbage disposal on for 2 seconds, just to whirl the baking soda inside, and then leave it alone for 10-15 minutes. Follow with 1 c. of vinegar. Watch the bubbles erupt out of your drain. Rinse through one last time with very hot water and run your garbage disposal for 5 seconds.

My verdict: Thumbs up!  I can't be 100% certain that the smell wouldn't have gone away simply by getting all the gunk out of there, but once I was done, there was no smell left!

EXPERIMENT #4

 

 

We have this great hand crank ice cream maker that we got as a wedding gift {there is a lot of sentimental background behind this gift and it is really special to me}.  After not having used it for 2 years {moves and whatnot} we pulled this out a couple of weeks ago to make ice cream it was COVERED in rust.  It still worked, but it was just kind of gross looking.  I wanted to try to get to rust off.

Process: Aluminum foil dipped in water takes off rust! But when that didn't totally work, I decided to try my new favorite cleaning product...VINEGAR! To my dismay, it helped a tiny tiny wee bit, but not enough to make the rust come off.

My Verdict: One thumb sideways.  I know that rust came off because it was running down the sink and all over my hands, but it didn't look like it came off, as it is still rust colored.  I am not too disappointed since it at least still functions.

Here are my before and after pictures:

Before

After

 After

 All the rust going down the drain

The long and short of it is...I LOVE VINEGAR FOR CLEANING!!!

Homemaker Makeover

Nothing feels better than a clean house {okay I can think of about 30 things off the top of my head that are better, but you get the point}.  Although there are only four of us one of which doesn't move yet and another isn't home all day, we still manage to make quiet a mess somehow.  I need a system to keep order around here so I don't feel overwhelmed and go crazy.

Operation restore order starts now with:
1.Weekly chore schedule
2.Deep-Clean schedule

Weekly chores are as follows:
Monday: Sweep and mop
Tuesday: Vacuum
Wednesday: Laundry
Thursday: Sweep and mop
Friday: Bathrooms
Dishes and straightening up are daily

Deep cleaning will be done by going through each of these three lists (one, two, three) and talking one task a day until they are done.

Another HUGE area of homemaking that I wish to improve is meal planning.  I don't enjoy cooking because I am never prepared.  I also end up wasting a lot of money because I don't always have a list, let alone a game plan for when I go grocery shopping.

I will meal plan for the week at a time on Sundays. I am only doing a week at a time because we eat a lot of produce and it goes bad after about a week. Grocery trips will be Monday morning and food prep for the week will be Monday afternoons.

I am really excited to know that we will save money this way and it will be easier to eat healthy when there is a game plan.

Play It Up

Before I was a mom there were a ton of things I said I wouldn't do; use a binkie or eat junk food just to name a few.  And certainly not WATCH T.V.  But since Aven's arrival {okay maybe a little before} I have been using t.v. as a babysitter.  I'll admit it.  I am not proud of it, but sometimes you just need to serve and if Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bought me 30 minutes, then by all means I was doing it.

Then one episode turned into two {because I was in the middle of mopping the kitchen and didn't need any extra 'help' to get it done}.  Then two turned into three {because after I was done mopping, I just wanted to rest for a little bit}.

I knew it had become a problem when Emrie would start acting bored or cranky and my first thought was to turn on a cartoon.  I knew it was an even BIGGER problem when Emrie would wake up from her nap and the first thing she would say was "BUBBA" {for Bubble Guppies}.  Something had to change, and that is when I began reflecting on my parenting practices in general.

As a teacher I was extremely organized.  Every day had a routine and every activity had a procedure.  Of course, as every teacher knows, I had an arsenal of "I'm through, what do I do" activities up my sleeve. 

If motherhood is my career, why have I not been taking it as seriously and being as intentional as I was when I was teaching.  These are my own kids, don't they deserve the same amount of thought {if not more} than my students.

To combat my T.V. babysitter urge, I am implementing a few new ideas:

1. This weekend I will be making "Busy Bags"
2. Bible Story of the Week
3. Read an hour a day

Busy Bags are fun, simple and cheap activities that are pre-assembled in baggies with age appropriate activities for toddlers.  Activities can be things like matching games, sorting games, or fine motor skill games.  There are tons of ideas on Pinterest for busy bags and I will share the ones I have assembled next week.  These will be great go-to activities when we are "bored" or even to throw in the diaper bag when we are out and about.

Emrie is certainly of the age {although kids are never too young to start this} to begin hearing Bible Stories.  Each week we will focus on one story from the Bible and learn about it all week.  There are tons of resources online for almost any Bible story and the Family Christian Book Store also has tons of great resources.

Reading for ONE hour a day sounded daunting at first, but then I realized we were already doing at least 30 minutes a day anyway and if you break it up, it is really simple.  Attaching reading to sleeping is the easiest way for me to get in the full time.  15 minutes on either side of sleeping is all we need to get our hour in.  When Emrie wakes up in the morning we can read for 15 minutes while she eats breakfast {or I'm feeding the baby}, then 15 minutes after each of her 2 naps during the day, then 15 more minutes with Daddy before she goes to bed at night. DONE!

In addition to these three things, I have also started making a list that I have hung in the playroom of activities that we can do instead of watching T.V.  They are really simple, but it is nice to have a list written down so I don't have to think on the spot.  Having all the supplies organized and available is key also, because if it is complicated to prepare, you won't do it.

Here is the beginning of my list, suggestions are ALWAYS welcomed:

Play Ideas:
Play dough
Magnet words
Chalk
Coloring
Painting
Dress up
Trains
Bikes
Play Ball

Field Trip Ideas:
Park
Pool/Splash pad
Convalescent  Home
Zoo
Children's Museum
Nature Walk
Library

Faith Without Deeds

I am a Christian.  That means I am a Christ follower.  Being a Christ follower indicates that I have a relationship with Christ and when you have a relationship with someone you want to get to know them better.  When you get to know them better you love them more deeply and as a result you want to share that love with others.

My life doesn't always reflect Christ, but I want to change that.  Will I still make mistakes? ABSOLUTELY! But I want to strive to be "Holy as Jesus is Holy" (1 Peter 1:16 ).

There are three major commitments that I am making to strengthen my relationship with Jesus so I can be a brighter light in the world for Him:

1. Taking the fall "Hello Mornings" challenge
2. Attending and Volunteering with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)
3. Volunteering in the children's ministry at church

The first commitment is to grow my personal relationship with Christ and the second two commitments are volunteer opportunities.  I truly believe that volunteering and serving both in and out of the church is crucial to your growth as a Christian.  James 2:26 says that faith without deeds is dead, but it is important to not just always be doing, but also to recharge by connecting with Christ who is our fuel and source of life.

Hello Mornings is an online (Facebook or Twitter) group Bible study.  The challenge is to get up before your kids do and greet the day with God.  The challenge lasts three months and we will be studying 1 Peter.  I am excited to commit to my quiet time and to have 14 other women (all strangers as of now from all across the country) as my accountability partners in this endeavour.

Last spring I was a member of MOPS and got so much out of it. Not only did I connect with other wonderful Christian moms, but I heard truly life changing messages. So this year I have decided to volunteer on the 'steering' committee (the leadership group) as the MOPPETS (the preschoolers part of MOPS) curriculum coordinator. While all of us moms are learning how to parent better our kiddos are learning Bible lessons. This is a great way for me to serve other moms and their children and give something back to an organization that has given me so much.

Last Sunday our church did a major volunteer push weekend.  This could not have come at a better time for me. For a year now I have been torn about serving in the kids ministry.  Although my degrees are in education, I don't always love working with little kids, but we have little kids and I don't feel like it is fair to take advantage of our great kid's program without giving back.  Plus, investing in the lives of children will plant seeds for eternity and I want to lead by example and show my girls how important it is to serve.

Run the Race

'Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!' 1 Corinthians 9:24

Any of you who have had a baby know that it is REALLY hard work to get back in shape.  I'll admit that after my first baby I didn't have nearly as much trouble as I have had this time {I know, I know...it has only been 6 weeks...give it time}. 

I see this time in my life as the perfect opportunity to do a couple of things; work really hard on my fitness and clean up my eating habits {I want to be healthy and strong, and of course if skinny happens along the way I won't complain}.  For years I have been blessed with a strong metabolism and I have been able to get away with eating, well, junk, while exerting minimal physical effort {I know, lucky duck}.  Not the case anymore.  Apparently age and a couple of kids will do that to ya.

Along with getting healthy for myself, I want to show my girls that taking care of your body is really important because you only get one!

In order to accomplish my goal of losing the rest of my baby weight and establishing healthy eating habits, I have signed up to run a half marathon on November 3rd, just 12 weeks away.

I have enlisted the help of my awesome friend, Stacie, who will run it with me and be my accountability partner.  Unfortunately she lives in Ohio so we can't actually train together, but I don't want to let her down on race day, so that is motivation enough for me to stick to my training.

While I have run 2 full marathons and 1 half marathon before {the half was with Stacie so we are an experienced team :)}, this might be my biggest accomplishment yet.  This time I have two kiddos that I have to schedule my training around and I must be extremely diligent with my eating as I am still nursing.

Stacie and I before the Glass City 1/2 Marathon in April 2009

The homestretch and feeling good! We finished this race in 1 hour 56 min...Not counting on that this time.  I would just like to run the whole time without stopping no matter how slow.

The training program I am using is the Hal Higdon Novice 1 program and it began yesterday.  One day down, 81 more to go!

To manage my nutrition I am using 'myfitnesspal' which is an online calorie counter that I manage through an app on my phone. It is essentially just a food journal and helps me track how many calories and what kind of calories I am eating every day {because we all know that the type of food you eat is just as important as how much of it you eat}.  This is helping me to see food as fuel and I really want to fuel myself properly.

If anyone would like to join us in this endeavour, there is always room for one more!!!

Cruise Control Override

Do you ever feel like your life is on cruise control?  I have for about the past 6 weeks {since Aven was born}...and I was okay with that.  I believe we all go through seasons of life and in some seasons it is actually healthy to set yourself on cruise control.  That is why I intentionally ALLOWED myself to be in survival mode for 6 weeks. I am a doer by nature; an 'achiever' according to my profile from Strengthfinder. Because that is my personality, I had to actually give myself permission to just 'get through the day' without feeling obligated to accomplish anything tangible or quantifiable. 

I will admit there were days when I failed miserably; going to the gym or running, taking Emrie to the park/children's museum/zoo/library/pool, volunteering for MOPS, etc.  But those are things that help me to feel fulfilled, so as long as they didn't stress me out or weren't an obligation, I permitted myself to do them:)

But now that time is over!!! It is time to override my cruise control!  Most moms only get a 6 week maternity leave before going back to work full time and since my full time job is being a homemaker, it is time to put some intentionality behind it!

Ever since I changed 'careers' to being a stay-at-home mom, I have wanted to be more intentional with my time, but I never really created a 'gameplan' {game plans are crucial for me to actually following through and they need to be measurable in order for me to find them worth while..again another character trait of mine}.

So over the course of this week I will be sharing my 'gameplan' for being more intentional in the following areas of my life: physical health, spiritual health, motherhood, homemaking.  While all these areas overlap, I have specific goals I want to accomplish in each area.

I can't wait to share some of my goals with you and share my growth during my journey!

Psalm 57:2

"I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me."

One Month Comparison

It has been fun to compare the girls in looks and personality.  So far, despite their physical resemblance, they are proving to be quite different!

Emrie was a pistol in the womb and had a slightly more stubborn delivery, where Aven hardly ever moved in utero and compliantly came out when we asked her to.

Emrie slept some during the day and was up all night {she had her days and nights confused for a couple of months}. Aven sleeps during the day AND all night {She literally sleeps for a 6 to 7 hour stretch at night, eats and goes right back to sleep}.

Emrie needed to eat every 2.5 to three hours and Aven needs to be woken up every 4 hours to eat.

Emrie cried a LOT for various reasons but Aven only cries when she is needs to poop, burp or eat.

From day one, Emrie was curious and always wanted to pull her head up to look around. Aven is content just laying there.

I adore both of my girls and their different personalities!

My Prayer

Last night I was praying over Aven before I put her to bed and my prayer went something like this,

"Dear Lord, Please enable me to be the best example I can be for Aven.  Let me show her what it means to be a woman."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt a tugging on my heart that this was not the prayer God wanted me saying for her OR for myself.  While I think He does want me to teach her to be a woman, He was shouting something more at me.

He was saying, "Teach her to be like ME.  Show her how to have MY heart. If you show her MY love and lead with MY example, she will not only learn how to be a woman, but she will learn to be a CHRIST FOLLOWER."

What a huge pill to swallow.  How I live my life will impact hers greatly.  How I guide and act toward her will give her a perception of who Christ is, whether correct or incorrect, based on my actions.

I took a deep breath before I finished my prayer, "Lord, help me to be more like you so that I can be an example to my girls of what it means to be a Christian."

Parenting is certainly NOT for the faint of heart!

10 years

Where has the time gone?  2002 was already 10 years ago.  Back at a time when Letterman's jackets and class rings were cool and everyone cried in their cap and gown as Vitamin C's Friends Forever graduation song played in the background.

Times have changed, people have changed, friendships have changed, but it is fun to reminisce about what it was like during those simpler times of high school.

Last Friday was Phil's South Adams High School Reunion, Class of 2002.  And although I didn't go to high school with him, it was fun for me to catch a glimpse of his high school days!

Farmer's Market

I'm not super crunchy, but I LOVE the farmer's market.  Not only does it give us something fun to do on Saturday mornings {Emrie wakes up at 6:00 am, so we need some way to kill time}, but it's also fun to see what little treasures we can find and support local businesses as well.

Recently, our favorite little treats have been the flavored honey sticks and fresh peaches.  These flowers made our day too!!!

Bite the Bullet

Remember when you were in Jr. High and on your walk home from school you would stop in CVS and buy a candy bar, a soda and a .99 cent Wet 'n Wild nail polish {okay maybe you didn't do that, but I did}!

Well, back then Wet 'n Wild nail polish chipped off in about 5 hours after application.  So naturally I stopped buying it and {much to my husband's dismay} began buying slightly nicer nail polish like OPI or essie.  Unfortunately, like most things, the nicer it is, the more expensive it is.

So the other day I was at CVS and decided to give Wet 'n Wild a shot again...and you know what...I LOVE IT!!!

Okay, it doesn't have the same topcoat shine quality as a more expensive nail polish, but for $2.99 this stuff is great AND it held up to the test of time.  I have been wearing it for 7 days now, and NO CHIPS...even my 'expensive' nail polish chips after 7 days usually.

To prove my point here is a picture of my nails seven days after application.  Maybe I was on to something back in Jr. High!

The color is aptly named Bite the Bullet!

Spoiled

We have been spoiled by friends in the past three weeks.  So many people have brought us wonderful dinners to the point that I haven't had to make a single meal, not lunch or dinner, since we brought Aven home {and for those of you who know me, you know I HATE cooking, especially lunch, so this is WONDERFUL}.

I can't begin to describe how blessed and loved I have felt every time someone brings a meal. To know the time spent shopping for and making the food, then delivering it to my house is a huge commitment and one I deeply appreciate.  And a huge thank you to my girlfriend Kasie for setting up the meal schedule.  I look forward to being able to return the favor one day.

One of my favorite meals was brought by a sweet friend and combined my love for Italian and Mexican food in one meal.  She got it off Pinterest, I snagged it from her, and now my family will be having it when they come to visit!

The recipe is called Chicken Enchilada Pasta  and you can get it from Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour.

ENJOY!!!

I get to be THE ONE!

Well hello,

Little baby.

Your eyes have never seen the sun

You should know

Little baby

That I am the lucky one

I get to be the one to hold your hand

I get to be the one.

Through birthdays and broken bones

I'll be there to watch you grow

I get to be the one.

Don't feel alone now,

Little baby.

Do you hear me singing you a song

I can't wait to show you

Little baby

How to crawl

How to walk

And how to run

How does someone so small

Hold my heart so tightly

I don't even know you

I love you completely

I get to be the one to hold your hand

I get to be the one.

Through birthdays and broken bones

I'll be there to watch you grow

I get to be the one to hold your hand

I get to be the one.

Through birthdays and broken bones

I'll be there to watch you grow

I get to be the one.

-JJ Heller

Huge thank you to my friend Tarah for photoshoping these beautiful pictures for me!!! Check her out here!

Nine Months in Review

When I was 38 weeks pregnant, I would have BEGGED for the next two weeks to fly by.  I wished I would fall asleep and wake up two weeks later with a baby in my arms. 

Today, Aven is 2 WEEKS OLD and I wonder where the past 14 days went.  I want time to slow down, or rather STOP...literally freeze in this moment.  Aven sleeping in my arms while Emrie is down for a nap.  My life feels full and complete and I could stay here forever.

But alas, time keeps ticking forward, just as it always has and when I look back at the last nine months and the changes that took place, I am reminded of how fast it all goes and I want to savor every moment here and now!

A little photo journey through the last 9 months!