New Blog Alert!

As many of you know I love to blog.  I have more than one blog.  The one you're currently on is what I consider to be my personal blog.  My second blog, The Traveler's Table, is one I started while living overseas.  It is dedicated to food and recipes particular to countries or regions.  I got the idea for this blog when I started seeing how different food was when you have it in the actual country it comes from.  I have now started a third blog called With My Hands which I have given the tagline "creating, restoring, and all around homemaking."  This new blog will concentrate on things that I (and we) do around the house including furniture restoration, cooking and baking,  DIY projects and will also include more things as I learn them, Lord willing, such as sewing, gardening,  and a bit of homesteading, etc.  I hope you'll stop in for a visit!

Birthday Shirt

I received this shirt as a birthday gift from mi buena amiga Yunuen.  She is from Morelia, Mexico.  We have been friends for about 5 years now and she knows how much I love Mexican food, music, houses, architecture, decorating, colors, furniture, culture, etc.  She knows I am really Mexican inside so she had this shirt made for me.  Everytime I look at it I can't help but smile!  Thanks Amiga- I will wear it with pride... or shall I say orgullo!

Birthday Weekend Extravaganza

What a wonderful Birthday weekend I had! Saturday morning we headed up to the Jerry Robinson seminar which was very interesting, informative, and at times scary. Robinson is a brilliant guy and he fears the Lord. I learned a lot and especially liked the session where Robinson explained the petro dollar system- which clarifies so many things about American politics and our foreign policy. It was also cool to meet Robinson after listening to his podcast for the last couple of years. He remembered us contacting him in the past as the couple who was "listening over in Ireland while sitting on the porch with wine and cigars"!

After the seminar we headed over to the Booya with the family. Booya is a stew that my uncle makes by cooking it for 2 days in this giant drum.  There is so much he gives all the guests ice cream pails to take booya home with them.  The booya is full of homegrown veggies, beef, pork and chicken as my uncle lives on a farm. Delicious!

 Everyone takes pictures in the oversized chair after they are stuffed full of booya.

It was Jax's first booya.

After the booya we headed back to Regan's where we had a fire pit with some friends which was also fun.  Lots of talk about the seminar, Ron Paul and the like. Then on Sunday after church my Mom started cooking the birthday feast- turkey and all the goes with it!  It was the best birthday meal I ever had.

After dinner I didn't have to do any dishes but got to snuggle up with Jax instead.  He loves me and and thinks of me as his favorite auntie.

All in all it was a great birthday.  Thanks to my loving husband and family (including my third sista Cbass)!

Birthday Spoil

Today is my birthday and I woke up to find one wrapped present in bed with me, one wrapped present in the fridge, and one more wrapped present on the TV stand.  My husband is so darn cute!  And he knows what I love most- books!  He got me these three books which I have been wanting real bad.  Thanks honey!

This is going to be a fun birthday weekend.  Tonight Matt and I will have a delicious dinner and wine and then tomorrow we will head up to the Twin Cities where we will be attending a day seminar with our favorite economist Jerry Robinson.  And I am so excited that Regan and Pete are joining us for this.  After the seminar we will be heading over to Wisconsin to my uncle Tommy's farm where he is having his annual booya.  For those of you who have never heard of a booya think giant, delicious stew.  My dad's side of the family has been having booyas every year for as long as I can remember but because I've lived away I haven't been to one for years.  I am excited to see my Uncle Tommy who my sisters promise me looks and talks just like my dad. After the booya we are having a fire back at Regan's with some friends. We will sleep over and then Sunday after church my mom is cooking me my favorite meal for my birthday which is Thanksgiving- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, green bean casserole, fresh bread, pumpking pie... YUM!

 Update: A few hours after I wrote this post I found another wrapped present in my car!  Another book from my wishlist- yippee! Thanks honey!

Near Our Family Cabin

About a week ago my uncle saw this amazing site right near our family cabin in Danbury, Wisconsin and snapped this picture.  In all my years of living in Wisconsin/Minnesota I never saw a moose.  But I guess they're out there.  Wow!

Domestic Engineering

I got a kick out of reading this article this morning which I spotted on the Challies blog.  It brings to mind my own situation of being a homemaker... with no kids.  Moving around so much over the past couple of years I am often meeting new people and facing the dreaded, "and what do you do?" question.  In Ireland I was told by the immigration people, whose job it is to ask this question upon entrance into the country, that I was a "lady of leisure." For a while it was fun to say that but now I am looking for a better answer that yields a better result when faced with said question.  I want my answer to reveal in the most serious and gracious way possible that my situation is acceptable by God and my husband and, dare I say, even blessed as well.  Matt and I marvel from time to time how the majority of men (and women) do not value a wife at home anymore.  Not even in households with kids. It seems that all that is valued anymore is a wage. This seems to be sadly true in many Christian homes as well.

When people find out that I do not work they then immediately assume I am home with the children. When they find out we don't have children and I don't work (GASP!) they don't know what to make of me.  Am I lazy?  Do I not have any employable skills? Why on earth would I not work?  Why on earth do I sit home with no kids?  Maybe I am sitting on the couch all day watching soap operas, eating bonbons?  Strangers are thrown off by this domestic situation of mine.  And some people who aren't strangers but friends and family don't know what to make of it either.   Some even look down on it.  And some are even Christians.

I mean what kind of wife must I be?  And what kind of man must my husband be to allow such?  What goes on in this strange household?!   Well let me tell you.  My husband comes home to a clean, inviting home with a relaxing atmosphere where he can unwind from a day of stressful work.  Don't get me wrong, my husband enjoys his work but he does work in a challenging field where his mind must be fully engaged or else people die.  That being said he appreciates coming home- not to chaos or additional work- but to relax and enjoy a homemade meal.  You see I love to care for my husband and my home.  I love to cook, bake, clean, organize, make our home beautiful, and even mow the lawn!  I love to spend money wisely and find the best prices on all that we buy. I am by no means a perfect wife but I try to do whatever I can so that when my husband gets home he can just chill and we can spend time together doing things we enjoy.  Sounds ludicrous doesn't it?!  On top of my immediate household responsibilities I also have time for other things, such as attending Bible studies, reading, ministry, learning new things to benefit my household (gardening, canning, and sewing are on the horizon) and I actually have time for people.  

We are blessed by God in Matt's career. He enjoys what he does and he brings home the bacon.  I do not have to hold a job outside the home but that doesn't mean I don't bring value to our household.  I used to work outside the home in a "real job," a career I could have retired from someday.  But homemaking is what I was cutout for.  Homemaking is my vocation.  I do not miss the workplace at all and I am so thankful that I am able to stay home and care for my family and home.  Thanks  and praise be to God for this wonderful blessing.

Hungry Jax the Barnacle

Last week I got up to the cities and was finally able to see my adorable nephew, Jax.  He is 4 weeks old now and much more active than the last time I saw him.  He makes all kinds of squawks and what my sister calls "kitty sounds."  I think she just calls them that so I can think of him as a cat and not be afraid of him!  Anyway, he eats non-stop (this is how Grandpa Joe named him hungry Jax) and is awake much more now.  It was quite a feat for me to get him to go to sleep.  He likes to be held up high and given little spanks on his bottom (just like my cat Indi!) and then he'll finally go to sleep so I can snuggle with him.

A Life Changing Read

This book is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am just finishing up this book by Randy Alcorn.  I have never read anything by Alcorn and I have never read anything on heaven before.  I read this over the course of about 6 months and I am dying to read it again.  I am wondering if there is a study guide to go along with it so I can get the most of out of it.  I am also wondering what other books I can read on heaven.  

I have been thinking wrong about heaven my whole life.  I can't believe what God has in store for us!  This definitely changes the way I look at life, maybe the way I look at everything...

Learning Skills 101: Learning How to Learn

I have been listening to some great lectures on "The Life of the Mind" given by Presbyterian minister Kenneth Samples.  This is an eight part class he taught using Mortimer Adlers's book "How to Read a Book."  This class is right up my alley and I am hoping to get Adler's book soon so I can read it and further sharpen my reading skills.  If you love reading and learning I highly recommend this class which can be downloaded for free here  The Life of the Mind by Kenneth Samples

Class lectures are as follows:

Intelligent Reading - Introduction"

Intelligent Reading - The Academic 10 Commandments"

Intelligent Reading - The Renaissance Christian"

Intelligent Reading - IDEAS"

Intelligent Reading - Introduction to Logic"

Intelligent Reading - What Makes a Good Argument"

Intelligent Reading - Three Types of Arguments: Deductive, Inductive, and Abductive"

Intelligent Reading - Logical Fallacies"

Matt at Work

First Visitors!

Today I received my first visitors to our new house.  Jax came down with his mom and aunties.  They brought me a beautiful housewarming basket of wine, cheese, raviolis, chocolate goodies and coffee mugs. We had lunch and hung out for a while.  I don't know how its possible but Jax is even cuter than the last time I saw him!  Indi was very interested in him when he was snoozing on the futon. I had to guard him from her as Cbass was convinced that Indi thought he was a baby kitten and that she wanted to drag him away by the scruff of his neck up into her cat tree so she could nurse him and clean him...

Thanks for coming ladies and for bringing Jax and the goodies!

He's Here!

Thursday morning Jax fled the womb for the world.  Weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces mom was glad to get him out!  He is so precious I can't stop petting him!  He and mom are doing well.  Praise the Lord!

35 Miles Closer to Tucson

As many of you know the Midwest (and much of the rest of the country) is undergoing a freak heat wave.  We were lucky enough to be moving in the middle of it this passed weekend.  Saturday afternoon we arrived in Rochester to unload our moving truck in 100+ degrees.  I heard on the news this morning that yesterday's temp was 115 when you factor in the heat index- SICK!  Let me state for the record that Arizona's heat IS A DRY HEAT and much more bearable than this Midwest summer!  

Despite the heat we are settling into our new house and area very well.  Rochester is around 120,000 people which seems po-dunk next to the Twin Cities, which boasts a population of over 2 million, but I really like this town.  It has most everything you need and nothing is very far away.  Matt has traded in a 25 mile drive (one way) to work for a 3 mile drive.  Our new home sits in the southwest side of the city with many stores close by and countryside not much further away.  This town is very manageable and the area is very pretty with many hills and trees.  I think I could get used to here...

Levi the Twin's Catcher

Living far away from my family for the past 12 years I have missed most everything having to do with my nephews and niece. Fortunately we were here for baseball season this year and got to see most of my nephew Levi's games. Towards the end of the season he started playing catcher and he is so darn cute in his catcher's uniform! Here are some pics from the championship tournament from this passed weekend.

Our Next Project

Summer Nights at the River

My sister Regan lives by the St. Croix River and she often takes her kids to the beach to swim.  This is the spot where she and I baptized each other about 10 years ago after we became Christians.  Tonight we went to this beach for an evening BBQ with Regan's family and my other sister Jamie and a couple friends, the Bransons and Jane.  Matt grilled us up some burgers while the kids swam and buried themselves in sand. Good times!

Baby Lundstrom En Route!

We recently had a shower for my sister Regan who is pregnant with child #4.  She surprised me in a great way with the news of the baby the week I moved up here by taking me out "shopping" for the afternoon but really she took me to her ultrasound appointment.  When she told me where we were I screamed in the car!  As many of you know I don't want kids myself but I am totally excited about my sis having another baby!  He is due to arrive July 21st.