New Adventures of New Selins

Beans and Rice? No. Beans and MEAT!

2011-08-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

How on earth do you make a blog intro exciting when you're putting up a chilli recipe...?! Whatever. Now you know what I'm blogging about. I stumbled...kinda bumped into this recipe. There are many kinds of chilli in this world and lots of people get it right. But thats all in the mouth of the taster. So, here is my rendition of chilli, which a few people have asked the recipe for.

1lb ground grass fed beef (honestly, that particular taste makes all the difference)

2 cans (or however you do your kidney beans) kidney beans

2 cans diced tomatos

1 tbsp turbinado

2 tbsp chilli powder

1 green pepper

2 medium yellow onions

Sprinkles of oregano, basil, and pepper

Some coconut oil for sauteeing veggies (the non flavorful kind of c.oil)

*My recipes that I stumble across usually don't have much for measurements of herbs and spices, but with this recipe what I did was sprinkle the herbs across the whole crock pot one at a time, and that was usually enough.

Cut up onions and peppers and sautee in the coconut oil until tender and add the ground beef. You can go as long as you want with the beef as the crockpot will finish cooking it. The purpose of this step is to get the flavor of the onions and peppers into the meat and vis versa. At this point take 1 tbsp of chilli poweder and mix in to the veggies and meat.

While you're sauteeing in one pan, add the beans and tomatos to the crock pot and add oregano, basil, pepper and turbinado. Turn on low heat and begin to cook.

By this time you can add the veggies and meat to the crock pot and cook until you're ready for dinner. If you add the meat raw to the crock pot you can let it sit all day and be ready when you come home. But, honestly this recipe takes...10 min to put together and about 1 hr to mix all the flavors and cook the beans.

AG Visits MN

2011-08-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

{My cousin, Anna Grace on the pier in Duluth. I'm loving the purple underneath. We did that the day before over at my house}

{My Dad drove us up to spend the afternoon touring the harbor area. We went on the William A Irvin, ate at Grandma's, and walked out on the pier. Lots of fun.}

{Anna Grace being native to a mid-south-western state got up the gumption to stand a spell in Lake Superior}

{Levi (middle) joined us on our walk-about of Canal Park. Here we are in front of a tugboat. Levi was a trooper the whole time.}

Ferocious Friday

2011-08-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ferocious you ask? Yes, only because the recipe I am posting has a kick to it if you add all the red pepper it asks for. But (as Reading Rainbow says), "don't take my word for it..."

Teriyaki Pork (or whatever meat you want) Stirfry (6 servings, 30 min or less)

~2/3 Cup soy sauce
~1/4 Cup packed brown sugar
~1 tbsp cornstarch - having this doesn't really make much of a difference in taste and the oil further down makes a nice texture for the sauce)
~2 tsp peeled, finely chopped fresh gingerroot
~2 garlic cloves, pressed
~1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
~1 lb boneless pork loins cut up (or you can substitute venison. The gingerroot really covers up any gamey taste. I've also used beef and it works well)
~2 Cups brown rice
~1 medium red bell pepper
~6 oz fresh snow peas
~1 bunch of green onions cut up
~1 tsp sesame oil (I usually use more than this because my Wok heats up really fast and I need the extra oil, especially with the venison)
~1 can of bamboo shoots drained.

** For the veggies I will sometimes use a frozen oriental stirfry mix.

1. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch (if desired) and whisk until blended. Add the gingerroot already chopped, the pressed garlic and pepper flakes.

2. Cut the meat into thick strips or kabob squares and add to the soy sauce mixture above. Toss to coat the meat, cover and let marinade for 15 minutes.

** When I am using venison, I will boil the meat in the marinade because Deer meat can get tough very fast. The ginger and garlic boiled into the meat will overtake any gamey flavors and you will have a much more tender and flavorful meat.

3. Cook rice, cut veggies

4. Heat 1/2 (I use more) tsp of sesame oil in Wok (what I use because the amount of veggies/rice/meat is too large for my cast iron pans) or stirfry pan. Remove meat from marinade and put into pan to cook, reserving the marinade. Stirfry for 1-2 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from skillet/pan and keep warm

**If rice is done you can add a little oil and fry the rice. This gives a great texture. Remove rice, or keep it with veggies.

5. Heat remaining oil in the same skillet/pan and add the veggies. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until crisp/tender. Return meat to skillet/pan and add the rest of the marinade. Bring it all to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until sauce is thickened.

Wild Child

2011-08-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

{This is my sister crashing the waves at South Long Lake on our family vacation this summer. My dad enjoys pulling us behind his boat and giving us as many waves as we can handle. I completely love how this photo turned out. Spectacular silhouette. Way to go, Becca!}

Selin Gusto 101

2011-07-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

To blog or sleep... That is usually the debate as blogging gets left in the dust of my everyday. But, this is a day for decompression and just taking it easy. So I'll write about an event where you can learn the most important things about the Selin clan. All the basics for this family are summed up here. We are passionate for whatever experience comes our way. Whether making it is surviving or letting loose, you'll see it done with gusto!

The reason for my relaxing day is that the three of us just got back from a four day "camping" trip in Kearney, Missouri. Since there are a total of nine siblings on Jon's side of the family, you can't really expect them all to remain in our little town in the state that some people don't even know exists. This year our goal was to find a good meeting ground to bring together as many sibling families as possible. Somewhat foolishly we choose Missouri and in the middle of July. Not our smartest move collectively, but hey! We're Selin's, we can put up with anything! So, traipse down to Missouri we did. Jon's parents and youngest sister and brother joined our happy crew in the Excursion and we rumbled on through Minnesota, Iowa and finally, Missouri.

We knew the heat index was supposed to be ridiculous, but as we plowed through state after state, we sat and watched our temperature rise higher and higher and higher... I think the top was 103. Ew. Technically it was a dry heat as our weather(dot)com phone ap said the humidity was 30%. Hah! Whatever weather people. All I know is that I was not dry when I got back from showering - and I stayed a nice slimy texture the whole rest of the night and day.

As it was so hot, I didn't even bother to get my camera out, except once in the early morning. Those pictures will follow this post eventually.

We all gathered for breakfast somewhere between 6-11am. Who knows how long it took to make the food, but it was all fantastic!!! We truly ate gourmet food the whole trip (save for the drive - no one eats good on the road).
Lunch usually happened when we were in town. All 20 of us would pile and stack into our cars and drive about 1 hour to find air conditioning for the hottest portions of each day. After an exciting time at Bass Pro Shop or the Mall we'd eventually find ourselves climbing and plopping very lethargically back into our heated cars only to beg that the air be turned up higher!

Back at our campsites we decided it was time to swim. BAD IDEA. The water - I kid you not- was nearly florescent green, and HOT. Ew x300! It was as if we were swimming in a petri dish. Gross. But, for whatever reason we splashed and played in the water for about 45 min -1 hour. It was often that for the sake of sanity we laughed at ourselves and plunged (literally) into whatever fun there was to be had.

The fun nearly ended when one of our nephews started showing signs of heat exhaustion. The 1 1/2 nurses in the family monitored his condition carefully and tried to hydrate him and pump in the electrolytes his body was lacking. In the wee-early hours of the morning, nurse 1 who happened to be the little buddy's momma felt prompted by the Lord to take his temperature. It was high and he was immediately brought to the ER. There they pumped more than a liter of liquids into his little body and discharged him. The next morning he didn't show any signs of getting better and we all encouraged them to get him out of the heat ASAP. Later on after packing up camp we all regrouped at a hotel. In the air conditioning we all felt better. We discussed how had it not been for our nephew, he and possibly others may have had a few trips to the hospital. We were so thankful for the Lord's direction!

The rest of the evening was spent in the COLD pool with CLEAR water. :-) and eating fantastic kabobs off the grill. Plenty of conversations and card games were had as well as coloring by the little people. As our trip and reunion was brought to a close, there were tearful good-byes and the promise that if we do this next year it won't be in the hottest month of summer. :-)

It was decided that everything we do, we do with gusto. We pack with gusto, we greet with gusto, we play and play hard with gusto, and we endure with gusto. The only thing we don't do with gusto is part ways. We are a tight knit family and staying close and in touch is nearly the top priority.

Water...

2011-07-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Happily Ever After

2011-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

{Happy Anniversary, Ben and Jody!!!}
family photos taken Fall 2010

Jr.

2011-06-14T21:00:00.001-07:00

Levi also loves bikes. Future rider right here!

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pictures past

2011-06-13T22:19:00.001-07:00

Levi getting sick of holiday decor shopping...

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MS 150 Year 2

2011-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

This year Jon and I both rode in the MS150 bike tour. It was so much fun!! The only sad thing is that because I was riding this year, I didn't take any pictures and my phone died... so I leave you with zero photos. :-(

Our itinerary looked something like this:

Friday
11:30am: leave the house packed up and ready to go. Our dogs stayed at my parent's house where my dad got nervous with the amount of food I left for them and bought a whole other bag and fed them half of that. Lets just say, the dogs were feeling sublime.

12:30-1pm: Dropped Levi off at my sister's house to spend the weekend playing with his girl cousins. He jumped right in to the chaos that was my three nieces plus two little friends my sister was watching. Total of 6 children all under the age of 6. Chaos.

2:00pm: Arrived at Century College in White Bear Lake to meet up with Team RMS and sign in and put our bikes on the semi. Thankfully they had a little hot dog stand where we grabbed some food while we waited for our coach bus to drive us up to Proctor.

5:00pm: Arrived at Proctor High School just outside of Duluth where we grabbed our bags and pitched our tents. It was cool and windy off the great lake. After that was done we piled on to another coach bus headed for Canal Park and went to dine at Grandma's.

6:00pm: Walking into Grandma's restaurant we were greeted by the Team Captain and another team mate and his brother in law. They were working on their alcohol level (that they'd previously started on the coach leaving Century College). I am always amazed at the amount of alcohol some people can consume and still be entirely sober the next day. Jon and I both ordered a glass of wine and I was nearly loopy after just a half a glass! After a couple rounds of appetizers and 45 minutes later we were seated. Our team captain announced that the company would be paying for the meal, so enjoy! After dinner was complete, Jon's co-worker and look-a-like, Ben, decided to tell the waitress that it was my birthday (which it was). They brought be a large piece of yummy chocolate cake that I couldn't eat because I was stuffed! So, after a table of ten men sang me "Happy Birthday!" Ben then proceeded to eat the majority of my cake. I actually was okay with this as I had all I wanted. Apparently he wanted the waitress to bring me the cake because he wanted dessert. Oh well!

10pm: We headed back to "Tent City" up on the Proctor High school football field and crawled into our tents. It took a while for me to fall asleep as I usually stay up past midnight... It was also cold, but my sleeping bag was fabulous at helping out with that. We were very thankful it wasn't rainy this year.

Saturday
5:00am: Up and adam!! We peeled off our sleeping bags and got in to our biking clothes. For those who don't do biking much, these clothes include a team jersey and padded spandex biking shorts... fun. We wrestled ourselves into our gear and jumped out of the tent to find a chilly breeze and something like 50 degrees greeting us. BRRRR! We packed up our gear and went down to the high school cafeteria for breakfast. Lots of carbs, people. Pancakes, cereal and sausage. No fruit. But, whatever. After breakfast we ran around the bike corals looking for our bikes, only to find that there was yet another bike corral. After pumping up our tires and filling our water bottles we rode up to the starting line.

7:00am: We start out our ride!!! ....mostly with hills. I wasn't impressed. After the ride was done I stated very intentionally that I'd be speaking with God about why he created hills. But, there is always an upside to anything unhappy... or should I say a downside? With every hill we climbed up, we went down. And down fast. The sad news? There were potholes about two feet in diameter spread out on the left lane of the road and at least one biker took a digger and was greeted with an ambulance.

To make a good 48 hours story shorter, the rest of the day was spent fighting muscle fatigue and a sore, sore butt. It turns out that a bigger, cushier seat is not better. Jon was a gracious man and kept himself from speeding ahead to stick with me the entire ride. He did ask if at one point he could go out ahead. I was more than happy to let him, seeing as he was holding himself back. All in all, we completed the first day of 72 miles in 7 hours. Not too shabby.

That evening as we spent time at the TeamRMS tent, the only thing really sore was our knees. Apparently Jon and I had both been trying to keep our bums off our bike seats by pushing up with our legs... this equaled knees that felt like they'd been blown out with a sledge hammer. After a few naps and 600mg of ibuprofen the stiffness and soreness disappeared. We crawled into our tent that night after a steak dinner and Bucca di Beppo's catering knowing that if we couldn't move in the morning, there was no way we were getting back on our bikes.

Sunday
5:30am: Up again, and still moving. We pretty much did the same thing as Saturday morning. As we peddled off to do the first 15 mile chunk, we knew we'd just have to set our bums down and be sore. By the end of the first stretch I was dying. I jumped on the support wagon and traveled the next 10 miles in a 15 passenger van. That was so nice!!! Jon continued on his bike. We met up at the next rest stop and I jumped back on with Jon and we pushed on to North Branch were we ate lunch.

10:00am: It was my plan to alternate the van and bike every other stop... this was abandoned as I was near throwing up 2 miles outside of North Branch. After lunch I jumped back on the van and rode the next 27 miles to the last stop which was Hugo.

12:00pm: At that point I jumped back on my bike and pushed through the last 8 miles of the tour and crossed the finish line as 1:03pm. I felt like a wimp as I kept hearing, "on your left" - meaning I was getting passed, over and over and over. I wish I could've finished the all 150 (actually 148) miles, but my body was telling me I was done before lunch.

Jon bravely peddled on and on and on and finished his race at about 3pm. He did better last year because I wasn't slowing him down. I was so happy to see him cross the line this year as last year I had just missed it. I couldn't be more proud of Jon and his ability to push through the sore butt syndrome.

All in all, we enjoyed a second year at an extremely well planned and organized bike tour. The icing on the cake for me was seeing all the people with multiple sclerosis lined up along the route and crowded at the finish line cheering us on and thanking us for raising the money and riding for funding programs to help them deal with their daily soreness and pain. At that point, everything felt totally worth it. It was all summed up in this one team name: Multiple sore a**'s for multiple sclerosis.

A Small Tribute

2011-06-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hello World.

I'm back at my blog with less to do this day than normal. I find myself playing the role of nanny for some friends as I substitute for the regular lady. It was a welcome suprise in that I've been wanting to earn some money to finance a father's day gift for my husband. I'll post more on that later. I'd like you to know, my husband goes above and beyond to give of himself every single day. Levi never has a day when the word 'Da-da' is not uttered. Levi adores his daddy and wants to do everything that 'Da-da' does.

J.R.R Tolkien puts it this way, speaking from his character Bilbo Baggins, "I've discovered it is no small thing to celebrate a simple life." So here I am to honor and celebrate, even if it's just a small tribute, my husband. I love you, Jon. With all my heart, I'm yours.

The Big Remodel

2011-05-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

As the story begins...
Once upon a time there was a house that had an uneven floor. This was not the only imperfection these floors were given. They had not been sanded for at least 100+ years or had a new coat of poly (*gasp!*). To make a HUGE/LONG story very short and simple: one project led to another which finally ended up with our floors being ripped out all the way to my refrigerator. Here is Jon putting in the new(er) maple floors. We required so much new(er) flooring that we couldn't just purchase it from a normal box store. Most stores don't carry Maple flooring. And, we wanted to find flooring that would be a similar match to our 100+ year old floors. We found it on craigslist. We had about 200 square feet purchased. I uploaded a picture of the piles and piles of maple slats, but it got deleted.

Spring Official

2011-05-17T13:49:00.001-07:00

{and now for the big...} HELLO!!!!

I took a mandatory (however unplanned) vacation from my blog in order to pass my finals. But, here I am and I intend to update the world on the internal affairs of our home (yet to be named- but our estate needs a title...).

First of all, its *finally* spring! Can you believe it? Its been a tumultuous season weather wise. I'm convinced of a few things. 1. The weatherman was being optimistic - every single time and the weather just wanted to contradict him. 2. God was having a hard time letting go of winter. Over all it was very rainy, drippy, cold, snowy, sunny, fresh, damp, on and on and on...
But, now its finally spring and we have our near 70 degree days welcoming us with lots of sunshine.

Levi is a busy body. He has learned to climb which has put me in the mood for shopping Craigslist for a jungle gym or climbing cube (whatever they call those Little Tikes things). We noticed he wasn't sleeping so well at night and was grumpy most times when he woke up. We set out to search for a new mattress and found upon bringing the new one home, his old mattress was squished down to nothing. We got it and I think it had seen better days - but we are so thankful that we had it! Levi has been sleeping very well and greets us with happy shouts instead of grumpy ones. Yay!

The newest words spilling from my son's mouth include "no." That's it. Not really, but that is the majority of his chosen vocabulary right now. Most times I find it funny, other times it has to be curbed with a "yes, mama/papa." His (other) words are starting to sound more and more like English. This is helpful. For instance in the car on the ride home from Lowe's, Levi was telling us all about how much his tummy hurt (hunger) and we had a good understanding without watching his gestures from the backseat. "Guk" or "Gak" now has a meaning. Duck. Levi *knows* what ducks are and calls them "Guks".

Mr. Busy Body also LOVES the outdoors. He can't get enough of it, even when its yucky out. He usually goes right for his sandbox (in previous picture posts) or beelines for daddy's lawn tractor (also in previous pictures posts). His world of exploration is an enjoyment for me. I love to watch him develop thoughts and explore (even if by the end of the afternoon I want to crash). Recently I was studying for my exams when Jon and Levi returned from a trip to town. Jon called through the house and I stated my presence from the living room. Jon told Levi (who was busy picking a dandelion) where I was and immediately Levi grabbed a fistful of dandelion heads and ran inside to the edge of the stairs and threw the dandelions at me. I loved it! Levi is learning very well from his daddy (who gave no prompting for the sweet act).

Jon finds himself busy with all the upkeep and remodeling of our house (of which we just passed the one year anniversary of ownership). He has been installing french doors and raising the floors, installing new flooring and reworking the platform walls. I'm amazed at his talent. He has an eye to see how things must be done and occasionally calls upon the professionals when he becomes stumped (not very often). He's also been working diligently at his job. He's now in a different department at his request and has switched to different hours in order to have a three day weekend every week. He is in the middle of his third year at this company and continually the Lord has granted favor for Jon. I'm thankful!

Me? Well, up until a week ago I was busy with final exams. Now that the semester is over I find myself catching up on all the extras that were left in the wake of my textbooks and classes. I'm thankful to have passed with decent grades and for that matter, to have passed at all. I think every nursing student has felt that gratefulness at one point or another.

I've been enjoying doing research of my own choosing this past week. I love history, so I've been digging into that. Also, just keeping up with our 5 cats and 2 dogs and Levi. My grandparents are en route to MN soon and it will be fun to spend time with them.

Well, this is a book, but its the extent of our update for now. Yay!

Spring from Levi's World

2011-04-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Latest Levi story:

A while back we had kittens. Levi isn't particularly gentle with dolls, or stuffed bears or anything that isn't alive, but when it comes to these kittens, he is extremely gentle... in as gentle as a twenty month old can be. Often he will ask to go into the extra bathroom and go look at the kittens. He will run up to the bathtub (where they hang out) and will start pointing and asking me what they are. Before I go on, you need to know that Levi will often tuck in his doll my mom gave him last Christmas and will give it a dolly blanket and tuck it in and then throw it across the room. One time I took one of the kittens out and brought it into Levi's room. He imediately came over and patted the kitten and went and got his favorite blanket and tucked the kitten in and stayed completely gentle the whole time. It was very sweet.

Latest Levi words:

"Gak" - no meaning precisely... and he picked it up from my niece (same age)
"Noo" - It actually has the proper meaning and application. :)
"Wow"
"Bah" - Bottle. Yes. We still give him a bottle. He drinks raw milk out of it and so... I really don't care if he drinks it from a bottle or sippy cup. He likes it for his bedtime. And yes, they say thats a bad thing... but has no sugar. Not quite as bad a formula or juice. I'm hoping his teeth agree.
"Go" - He loves to go these days. Loves to be outside and ride in the car. I've heard that toddlers love going places, but I think part of it is Levi's love of doing and going.

I have the most joyful and fun explorer there is. He has his moments like any other kiddo, but his hunger for learning and doing is awesome and I just think and pray that is how his spirit is after God. I continually pray for him to be a lover and seeker of the truth and for the Lord to give him discernment, and I am thankful that I can stand on the word and truth of the Lord and know that Levi can too!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-19T21:36:00.001-07:00

{ Just too cute not to post. I love his calm kiddo looks. They are so precious to me. }

{ We all enjoy the tractor tire sandbox with nice sand. Lots of fun. }

{ I imagine my little daydreamer is wondering what God is like.}

{Clothes pins mean laundry. Clothes pins on the line mean that it's warm enough for laundry outside. Laundry outside means fresh-outside-smelling linens. That has to be good!}

{This has to be close to my very favorite picture right now. I just hate how blurry it is.}

Simple

2011-04-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Levi: 20 mo. No words. I'm tired. :)

Monday's Update

2011-04-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I wrote ( ...or posted pictures that will not go away no matter if I delete the entire post...) we've been busy. Can you tell? So for now, since I have a test around the corner and a chicken to take out of the oven soon, I'll keep this to a few simple points. 1. Spring Well, really more weather in general. I'm not sure if you can call the weather "Spring". Its more or less bipolar. Or, if you will, traditional March and April. But really, who is able to wear sandals in February? All I can say is that it was warm enough. March came in like a lamb and went out like a lion. Snow, rain, sun, rain, sun, snow, rain, snow... you get it. The first part of April was all rain. Jon reminded me that "April showers bring May flowers." Lets hope that is true. 2. Family Life The last weekend in March, Jon and I went to a couples retreat with our church. We had some fun times and Levi stayed with my sister and her family. He also had a blast. Apparently he did everything in sight. For about two seconds each. He's a doer and go getter. We all came back from the weekend a little sleep deprived and we were promptly greeted with strep throat. Jon and I thought Levi was teething, so did think much of it. However when Jon came home Thursday night sick, and a sore throat with white spots on the tonsils Friday morning, I sent him in. Later on I took Levi in and both boys tested positive. I went in this morning - nothing. Free and clear. Yay. 3. Remodeling. Need I say more? Our house is a disaster zone. Again. The sweet part in all this is that we are accomplishing things we intended to when we originally moved in. So yay. I'll hopefully post pictures of the finished product, until then, you'll just be in suspense. The end. ps. Blogger, I hate you.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

In keeping with the theme of being green this week, I added some classic photos of Ireland. They make me think of drippy, foggy, spring days... like the one we had this morning. :)

Theological Tuesday

2011-03-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

In keeping with the theme of "green", I thought I would post on my devotional today. It was very refreshing to me. The color green is a sign of new life in the spring time and a sign that refreshing water has come and brought what was seemingly dead to life.

Recently I've been really disturbed in my heart about the Emergent church. I know there are many different interpretations of that, but mostly I'm upset about the ones that question the deity of God and all that is within scripture. So, some of my highlights stem from that.

I was reading through Psalm 17 and here are the things that stuck out to me.

17:3 (second half)-5
"I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. by the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent. My steps have held to your paths' my feet have not slipped."

My whole point with posting this portion is just that I want to be one who follows the Word of the Lord. I want to hold true to His gospel and his ways. I want to follow the narrow way and understand Him to the fullest of the capacity he has given me. I know when this is my goal my mind will be guarded for I will know the truth and be set free. I will have the peace of Christ knowing He is my firm foundation. His truth- scripture- will apply to every detail of my life. That is what tells me His Word is living and active. God inspired his Word to be written through people who lived in a completely different time. By that I mean, culture and language and education were all different. And yet, the Word was applicable then and its applicable now. Guiding and directing us with joy and love. That's a mystery all itself and completely profound. It speaks to an everlasting God. One who was, is, and is yet to come. One who says, "I am the same yesterday, today, and forever." Praise, God for his faithfulness to his creation!

17:8
"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

I heard a sermon a while back on the father heart of God. In that sermon the speaker talked about the apple of God's eye. How the apple of ones eye is what it is fixed upon. When something or someone is the center of our focus, it is usually something or someone we love. When David says "Keep me as the apple of your eye." it is as if he is saying to God, "I know you have been watching me. I know your eye is trained on me, in your love. Keep me there. Let me stay in your affection, let me stay in your gaze. Protect me and hide me from anything that would remove me from the center of your affection." David knows the heart of the Father. He knows the love of the Lord towards his children. And he pleads with God to keep him in that place. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:24-25). Its as if David says, "Lord, you know whats in me and if its sinful, you can't be near it, so clean me out so that I can have relationship with you and again be in your gaze." That is what I desire too. And, that desire is alone very convicting.

17:14-15
"You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children. And I- in righteousness will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness."

The riches, the plenty, the wealth we store up for our children (that we pass on) is the gospel. The wealth of knowing the Lord, of seeing his face and being satisfied with Him. What richness that we are given to pass on! I also see this passage as the Lord caring physically for us. He will provide for us and our children, and our children's children. We are His delight and the ones his heart loves, the ones he cherishes. Will he not provide for his people? * At this point I could almost see some of you bringing up the argument that says, "what about the people in China facing tribulation, or more so, the people in Haiti and Japan?" I don't know how to reconcile this. But, I do know that under tribulation, when we have nothing to eat, and nothing to call our own; our earthly riches have vanished, we have the hope of glory. The hope of eternity with Christ. The richness of his love in us. The fullness of our satisfaction in him, and the truth that he will care for us even in tribulation.

Irish Green: Post 2

2011-03-14T12:02:00.001-07:00

Roughly tranlsated: Ireland Forever.

"Yay!"

Picture(s) of the Week

2011-03-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

{Ranger- yes we've kept the name so far. Nothing else fits well enough for a permanent name change.}

{Apollo. I just think this picture is too cute!}

{Sir Handsome-Banana-Face. He eats only bananas and animal crackers by the fistful. Otherwise he prefers a fork. }

{We opened the last bottle of wine from our Honeymoon. We went to Castillo Di Amerosa and purchased two bottles of dessert wine. Yum! We had hoped to save this bottle for our 5 year anniversary, but dessert wine usually doesn't age well and we were warned by many people in the know that this might be a fine honeymoon vinegar. It even had a real cork and all was well. We were very pleased! }

{Yum. Truly, yum. This is bruchetta. Basil, mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. It doesn't get much better than this, folks.}

Luck or Blessing?

2011-03-12T11:26:00.001-08:00

I love St. Patricks day. I mean, I really love getting in to it. I don't dye my hair, and I don't drink excessive amounts of beer, but I love to be festive about the whole thing. I think it all started with my name being "Erin" which of course means "Ireland". According to my dad, we have some Scotch-Irish in us, but as always, blood lines can be debated and get so jumbled through the generations that its just safe to say the only Irish I have in me is my name. {I could go in to a whole spiel on names and how they are birthrights, but will save that for another day.}

Getting back to my original thought: To begin prepping the "holiday" -{which isn't a holiday at all} spirit, I thought I'd post The Color Green by Rich Mullins. By far one of my very favorite songs praising the Lord for his creation. I'm starting to get all sorts of chills about how the Lord will use Ireland and the blessing that can come from there. There is definitely a God ordained creativity in the Irish.

Enjoy the link. :)

Selin Christmas 2010

2011-03-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

I just uploaded a bunch of photos to picasa and realized I haven't posted anything on Christmas. So, here is a bit of it. Better late then never, right?

Since I'm fighting with blogger right now, the pictures are as follows:
{Audri and Jody}
{Amber}
{Levi, Jon, Emilee, and Mom Selin}

{Dad Selin reading the Christmas story. It keeps all the kiddos in suspense and puts the focus of our celebration rightly focused on Christ.}

My Beloved

2011-03-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

{This is what the Lord speaks to us, its his very heart towards us.}

Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

2011-03-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

All in the same thought I feel swept away and captured, and yet not at all entitled to write this entry. But, I've been captured and spoken to. I've been told who I am and who I love. I've been given a sight that is far too beautiful to behold. I've been drawn in with unspeakable power into an understanding.

The love is one that can only be expressed in the original script... for nothing else will do justice to every ounce of what I pray you will understand.

In the best words possible, Jesus the bridegroom has spoken to us,

"How beautiful you are my darling. Oh, how beautiful!
All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes...
How delightful is your love, my sister my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine,"

He speaks to us in the most intimate of ways. He calls us sister - an understanding, a knowledge of who we are. He has known us from the beginning of our lives. Next he calls us bride. Bride. That alone communicates an immense desire. One of intimacy, of desperation of affection, of commitment to us, an intention.

And, all I can do is love him back. I am swept away by His affection of a pure burning love. There can't be any denying it. He says he loves me. He uses the Song of Solomon to bring to light his passion towards us, his creation. He is carried by his emotion. Although he be a God of order and intense justice, his is moved by our gaze at him. He is moved within the very core of who he is by the very thing he created. Scripture says we are created in the image of God, and God is love... we were created in the image of love itself. His heart is carried away by "one glance of your eyes"
He says " my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the moutainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."

Beginning of March

2011-03-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

{These are the icicles off my parent's roof. The snow melted on the tin roof and slid down and made some really stunning pictures against the sunset.}

Okay, updating starts now. :)

Where the heck did the first six days of March go?! I'm already at midterms in school with Spring break happening next week! Yikes. I guess we'll just have to savor the days, and the last suspected snowfall, which the weather guru's are calling the "Typical March Snow"... whatever that means. It was pretty neat last night when light and fluffy flakes came gliding down.

Speaking of Midterms: Mine went well. We actually don't have a midterm per say, but rather three separate tests throughout the semester with a cumulative final in May. However, our second test did fall last week. I was very happy to receive news of and A and B on both tests. Hooray!
On that note, school is going well. I've been enjoying a slowed pace. Relationships with new classmates are improving and I am still able to keep in contact with my previous peers.

Jon and I are gearing up to do a cycling marathon in May called the Ironman. We've really enjoyed "nerding out" over cycling. Its become a hobby if you will. Since the Ironman is less than two months away, we will be kicking into higher gear to start training. P90X, stationary cycling, and some spring rides will have to do the trick. Along with our cycling, we've also started to enjoy rock climbing. We've only gone once so far indoors at REI, but we loved it. Since we purchased a membership we may go climbing as many times as we like. Yay!

Levi just hurdled another round of teething. This time his suffering was rewarded with four...(ahem)..FOUR teeth! They happened to be his "eye" teeth and "stomach" teeth. I had no clue about these names, until my MIL informed me as to their meaning. Over the past week, Levi did the whole drooling, fever, runny nose, teething thing in addition to what I thought was a sinus infection and the stomach bug. Ha! Little did I know that the cakey,runny, goopy eyes are from those darn upper canines and the pukey, sicky, feeling is from those lower teeth. Good grief. At least he got all the symptoms out of the way in one fell swoop. Way to go, Buddy!

Pets. Yes, we have more than a few. The dogs are getting big. But, not so big as their mom whom I saw yesterday. She is ... HUGE!! Ah, well. We've also decided to change "Ranger's" name. Something about naming your own pet makes them yours. He has not made himself so much ours as Apollo has, so the naming has commenced for a second time. So far we've thought of Hector (Greek hero), Zeus (following the Greek god idea), Helo, Rocky, Duke, Buck, Major, Sarge, Knicklebrick, Trumpkin, Kody, Kodiac, Bear, Bjorn (pr. "Bay-orn"), and Cyan. The one's that stuck the most were Bear, Major and Sarge. Jon really liked Hector... but man, that's just not an attractive name... at all. So, we're still thinking.
On another note, our female feline is due at any moment. We don't know how many kittens to expect... but I'm hoping for two. Bindi (the mama) and Buzz were the only two of their litter, so maybe genetics will be in my favor? Anyone want a cat?

Levi, Scoubs, Happy

2011-03-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

Those are just a few of his nic-names and since non of you know that, I figure its time to update everyone on Levi's accomplishments and his overall cuteness. I'm finally loading pictures, so there are tons to choose from. But, what you see above is Levi trying on Daddy's hat. He loves to do what Jon does. This includes: xbox-ing, wearing his hat, and cleaning his ears with q-tips. Its pretty funny. Sometimes I'm amazed at what Levi picks up when no one is watching.

Levi has a few favorite toys. These include his four wheeler, his motorized truck (Jon will wind it up and send it flying while Levi watches in amazement), play place balls, and any stick-like object. He's always on an adventure and loves to discover anything he hasn't already. My sister in law, Allison said it perfectly: Levi is a joyful explorer.

Levi's new words are: "Da!" (yes) {with or without a head nod}, "gah-di-gah-di-gah" (for anything he wants), "Ma-ma?" (when he's asking for me to get him something, or wants to be held), "Her-a-go" (here you go), "Da-goh" (You're welcome), "Gi-tee" (Kitty). And lots and lots of babble that we can only assume is everything he hears us saying. He is picking up a lot lately and we really enjoy guessing and saying back to him what we think he says.

Levi really enjoys Apollo and Ranger (our dogs, if you haven't been following our posts on Facebook). I think currently they love him more right now. But, the three of them run around the couches and play on the floor. This picture was taken when we had just brought the boys home, so... 7 weeks old.

Some Favorites

2011-03-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

{My gift from Jon}

{So simple and precious}

{Outside in great sunshine!}

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

Spring is playing Peek-a-boo.

2011-02-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

I'm dying to see green.
We've all been cooped up far too long. This winter didn't afford much going out to play in the snow as Levi is a bit young to navigate the mountains of snow and we don't have a sled. In fact, I'd be surprised if he would've even stayed on one.
So now that the snow is slowly melting away, and we're inbound for a week of 40 degree temperatures we'll be trekking outside a bit more. The dogs are going stir crazy as there is so much to be explored. They would freeze their little paws off frequently over the really chilly-gawd-awful-below-zero-with-windchill days. The puddles and dirt are all they think about. I fear for my white couches. But with the power of oxiclean at my side, I know all will be okay. Haha!
Anyway, enjoy feasting your eyes on the green, green, green. Yum!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

2011-01-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

Not really girls in white dresses, blue satin sashes, snow flakes...but the snowy white winters melting in to spring sound impecably nice...

My song would contain: **Apologies. I won't be intentionally rhyming

~Nourishing Traditions. This requires some explanation in that a good portion of people... um, more like the majority of the western world, don't have a clue what this is. I'm happy to say its a cook book that bucks the ideals of the government endorsed, food company funded food pyramid. This book recomends a shift in nutritional principles back to a more raw, natural and completely unprocessed. The thing I like best about this book by Sally Fallon is that it doesn't just give you the information and recipe's but actually intructs you in how to go about doing all this. It gives menu suggestions, tools you may want to have on hand, and meal plans for a party. I find that very helpful in that the whole paradigm can be very overwhelming. But, lets just say, I know we'll all feel a TON better and not a TON heavier. :)

~Late Nights. No, really. I do. I've become more and more aware that I thrive in the evening. Which makes me excited about this next semester since my classes will be at night. I look foward to the time after Levi is in bed when I can do whatever. Mostly "whatever" happens to be browsing the internet, but occasionally my time is spent cooking, cleaning, reading, and always comforting my favorite baby when he wakes up. There is the rare occasion when I go to bed some time before midnight. Otherwise you'll see our beety eyes begin to close in the early morning hours.

~Ginormous computer monitors. Ahem! I mean...TV. Yes, that's right. We connect our PC tower to our 42 inch TV. With wireless access via keyboard and mouse, I do my late night browsing on my living room couch. I'm sure any body could learn to hook all the cables up and eventually by trial and error find the right holes for each end... but I have a good deal of techy ignorance and those things just don't come as easy to me as they do my husband. Not to mention even coming up with idea.

~Puppies. All puppies are cute. But, we're only getting one. My sister in law's Pyrenees/Labrador had 9 puppies and we're going to be the proud owners of one. He's more the fluffy kind as Pyrenees tend to be mountain dogs and require more fur. The majority of the littler favor the Labrador short hair as the Sire was also Lab. We're pretty sure we want to call our pup Apollo, but seeing as we're less enamored with BattleStar Galactica then before, we may change the name. Nerds. I know. We chose "Apollo" as he demonstrated, even at 4 weeks, to us that he was the alpha male. We eventually want two dogs on the property and we'd like our first one to be more the "leader" if you will. I can't go into all the rationale for the pick of pup as it seems foreign to some... but most anything we do, especially adding a canine to our home requires much thought and choice since they become close to the family.

~Independent/Do-it-yourselfer's. Recently we've been thinking about how to be agriculturally independent. This includes food, gas, and tools. Jon has many ideas for creating some kind of technology that will assist in cutting the costs of driving way down. Jon is also tapping into an old hobby of making swords. He, I think, is a blacksmith at heart and loves to be inventive and creative. This art enables him to do just that. We possess some maple trees on the property and have been researching how to tap them for sap in order to make maple syrup. I can't wait. The trees are close to the house so tapping them won't involve a long hike in the woods. A few other adventurous ideas include a vineyard, wine making, and getting a couple chickens and a cow. I also have a friend who at one point was a Master Gardner. I'm going to be chatting with her about the best ways to grow a garden. I'm really excited for what this summer might hold.

~ Family. I've been enjoying conversations with my parents and sister (and her family) as well as my in laws. I would say I'm closer to these two groups of people (including my immediate two guys) than anyone else I know. Levi is also becoming quite funny. A while back we (I) were (was) given a baby grand piano (!) and as we are restoring it, Levi loves to pound the keys. But, really... its not so much pounding as it is intentional plinking. Anyway, he will ask to sit on the bench to play. One day I sat next to him and played a little ditty of my own. Half way through Levi turns to me picks my fingers off the keys and rebukes me with "Nooo, nooo." I laugh, wait a bit and continue playing. Again he does the same with a chorus of "nooo, nooo, nooo." So, I wait, and begin to play again. This time he slaps my arm and sternly says, "Nooo! Nooo!" So, I stop playing all together and he happily carries on playing his little tune and screaching on and on. (Hows that for a funny story? :)

Without an Anchor

2011-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

My friends are all blogging and I feel an insatiable urge to follow suite. Though, when it comes to the bloggy world, I rarely update based on a funny story, insightful situation or fabulous photo. There is one thing in my life that is always worth sharing though, and it is frequently the sequelae of a spiritual move in my life.

The Lord in his complete faithfulness is moving. Teaching if you will. Always. There is immense blessing in choosing to accept the instruction and move to a new season. But, if you resist those lessons of abundant life he will continue to give a new lesson of the same topic until you are familiar with the content. That to me is one demonstration of his faithful character.

That said, I will write of my lessons learned. No. That's not right. I will write of the lessons I'm holding on to and the ways he's growing my spirit of dependence on Him, the challenges I've been face with, and the hidden blessings arising from such dependence. In no way am I reluctant to learn, but yet battle a level of that which I am faced with. He faithfully pulls me through, and I learn something new. (How's that for a rhyme?)

The lesson book opens with the battles of nursing school. I found it easy to be arrogant and heedless to the warnings and quippings of my classmates. I was confident that this semester would bring few challenges as I had previously taken the same class and content and overcome. This was my mistake. I was not prepared and faced an uphill battle after the first and second tests. I was given a word from a faithful prayer warrior that I hung on to throughout the semester. I had asked for prayer for a test and I was met with failure, but a word that though I failed everything would be alright.

As I pressed on and struggled to maintain a passing grade at the very last I failed the course by4 points on one exam and 1 point on the other. I felt such relief and peace. I knew I'd have to repeat the semester over. This was disappointing but in my spirit I knew it would be okay! I felt a deep sense of thankfulness as I signed up for the same classes. A prayer had even been answered! I have asked the Lord many times to even out our schedule (as Jon works 2nd shift), and low and behold(!) the Lord changed mine.

I was put into the evening program and I was given a new instructor to finish the program (I'd been dreading the day program's instructor as she is a very intense personality, though a fabulous instructor). I will be able to relearn the content I missed in my arrogance, and I will become a better nurse because of it. I knew I wasn't ready to move on into material over my head when I hadn't yet mastered the current literature. I count this a blessing and I know the three of us here will benefit from more time together and a decreased stress level.

Through it all, I've been relieved, glad, disappointed, joyful, moody, sad, thrilled, etc. The list could go on. The Lord has opened my eyes to see that this is a season where I am learning to be a "Peter". He has me getting out of the boat (something new and unexpected) onto a stormful raging sea( redoing this semester and the RN program in general) where I am asked to walk faithfully with my eyes on Him trusting everything will be fine. Wow! Is He ever faithful to teach us! He has faithfully given me scripture where the Holy Spirit emphasizes the lesson to be learned and reaffirms His purposes.

At the very most I am inexplicably grateful that even though funny stories come and go without a blog to relive them, I am always able to share the Lord at work in my life.

A Not Very Silent Night...

2010-12-23T18:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas! My heart is filled with wonder and extreme thankfulness this season as we turn to worship our Savior. For whatever reason, this Christmas feels much different. I am in awe of the Lord. One night I looked at my house and thought " Jesus, you get the biggest birthday bash, ever!"Not only has all the decor been stirring my heart, but more the Christmas carols. The traditional hymns sing of a wondrous Christ before whom we bow and just how glorious his purpose of coming is. I have felt since the start of the season a spirit of worship throughout the music.

**I hope you don't mind me not updating you on our family, as that is what the majority of my posts include on my blog.**

I decided to google O Holy Night and on wikipedia I found a couple versions of the song. One in the original translation from French to English, and then the version we often hear. I found them both to be quite convicting and blatantly expressive towards the truth of this season.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!
Oh night divine, O night when Christ was born;
Oh night divine, O night, O night divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, before Him lowly bed!

Truly he taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And is His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all withing us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim!

Be blessed this Christmas and I pray you encounter the Lord in his glory, for this time: celebrating the birth of Christ, has been set aside from the foundations of the earth to bring glory to God!

With all the love of Christ,
Erin (for us all)

December 2009

2010-12-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Aprox. a year ago. Look at those chubby legs! What a difference!

Tis The Season...

2010-12-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

There is a calm that settles over a home when the small ones are tucked in, candles are burning and holiday music is playing on itunes. Along with those things, food is stewing, laundry is in progress and homework is mostly done (though, can it ever be "done"?). The snow has settled in a picturesque blanket over the town. What amazes me more is that it has stuck, even on the trees. I don't hear anyone complaining, and the we've all gotten used to winter driving.

Since the onset of the Christmas spirit, I've been more on top of things this year, though our house is still not decorated - the decorations are not even at our house! Presents are at the front of my mind. I'm trying to get a "head start" on gifts this year. I usually wait until the week before to frantically search every store. This time around, however, I've been scouring Craigslist. Amazingly I've found some good deals and the items I was hoping to get. One problem with that strategy: you can bring it home as soon as you find it. So, shopping is drug out over weeks. Ick. I like to have it done immediately. Is this a method of cultivating patience?

For now, though, I must ride out the last two and a half weeks of school and be a tenacious studier. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak a few breaks in there and start and finish the stockings I hope to make, and see and buy the presents I intend to give. Is it too much to hope for baking cookies too on top of the usual cleaning and caring for the house and all inside?

Fantastic Friday!

2010-11-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

Levi (15 mo.) driving Papa's "tractor"

Fummers Top 10

2010-11-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Oh my! I actually get to write a new post. We still don't have Internet at our house that is computer based. We have it on our HTC Evo's, but that doesn't allow me to write a blog. I tried.

Well, here is our summer and fall Top 10 list (fall + summer = fummer)

10. Our house is still being updated, but is finally a place we can actually call home. There is still a lot of cosmetic things to do, trim, carpet, finishing some walls, painting, etc. But, nothing we can't live without for the time being.

9. With regards to our house, we found out this past summer that we would need to replace the furnace. So, we waited patiently for our stimulus money to roll through our door and as soon as it did we called in our order. Not one day too soon, either. We'd had beautiful weather, a few cold nights... and the weather turned almost as soon as we flipped the on switch for our new hum-dinger of a furnace. Its shinny. :)

8. We went on our big vacation of the year to North Carolina to visit Jon's brother, Jesse and his family. It was a 30 hour drive with a 6 hour pit stop at a hotel. Indiana is lacking in hotels not full of smoke.... but that's a rant all its own. Anyway, we stayed at their apartment for a few days and then turned south to the second of the Carolina's and visited the ocean and some historic sites near Fort Sumter. That night we camped at a KOA with the fire ants (which didn't bite too hard), and alligators. In MN there are signs that state you should not feed the bears. Right? Well, the Carolina's state you should not feed the alligators. Thanks, a lot! I didn't know they weren't cuddly. We didn't get to see any, but I'm thankful for that. Also, we hunted for a less expensive beach on a state campground site and found something resembling a fishing pier with a campground for serious fishermen. We were able to watch a man catch some big crabs. We also saw an army of little hermit crabs. They are funny. They do their marches together and salute at the same time. I could've watched them all day. Next up, we headed off to a nicer, more populated, less smelly beach. The men crashed in the waves while the women folk kept a watchful eye on the children. But, we took turns.... Jesse and Becca took a mini date in the waves and then switched with Jon and I. It was glorious and Levi loved the beach. As the tide came in Jon and I were in the water and both felt a Jelly fish brush by us. The lightening tentacles latched on to my non-hairy leg though. I was left with quite the mark and lots of itching and burning. No... no one peed on me. Though I asked. Even my niece Savannah said very innocently that "she didn't have to go". I resorted to a pee filled diaper. But apparently, vinegar is the solution that does the best job. None of that was to be found. Bummer.

Next we traveled to Missouri to visit Jon's other brother, Isaac and his family. We were greeted by a huge Victorian home with lots of happy faces. We arrived at 8am and were fed a great breakfast. Isaac and his boys did some errands while we slept and waited for Allison to come home from work. The next day we took a visit to Lake of the Ozarks and went go-carting and browsing all the ugly trinket shops that attract tourists. Many great conversations were had, good walks up hills (lots of hills!!) and just a very restful time. We headed home after a week and aprox 3,000 miles on our car. It was the second biggest highlight of my summer. :)

7. School started up at the end of august. It felt completely normal to be in the swing of things again. Though I'm only 6 weeks out from the end, it seems like the semester began a few weeks ago. School isn't easy this time around, but rewarding. I've had good experiences with patients and am learning so much new material. My brain, I hope, is absorbing it like a sponge.

6. Jon has been working his regular 2nd shift with an abundance of overtime. We are so thankful. He's also been given lots of encounters to talk with some co-workers about his faith. One in particular is a Mormon backgrounded atheist. He maintains his conviction of no god, but is more open all the time. Jon and he are about the same age, and they have had some fun times together. His father is the honorary grandpa on the MS 150 posts.

5. Levi is hitting new milestone after milestone. He began walking at 13 months and is teething again this time for molars. I will post pictures soon. He's changed a great deal from the summer months. He says a variety of words. He LOVES the outdoors and has a regular fit when we have to close the door after Jon leaves for work. If he could he would explore all day out there. We dug open our tractor tire sandbox, and that was a big hit for him. He recently discovered sticks and gave me a good wack in the eye. I've got scabs underneath. Levi has been so blessed to have both sets of grandparents around and is forever saying "mpa-pa" and "mmm-a". He and my niece, Esther also get along for the most part. She loves seeing him and he gets used to her after about 5 minutes. She is all girl and he is all boy. I'll be posting Levi's first birthday post soon too.. that was really funny. He had one with the Selins and one with the Spears.

4. Jon and I went on our first long get away (distance wise) for the first time this month. We went to see Split Rock Light House lit up for its 100th birthday. Though the light house itself wasn't as impressive as we thought, we got some good pictures, and saw something that rarely happens. The lenses themselves are beautiful and the beam into Lake Superior is quite stunning. We had some great conversation on the way up and back.... 6 hours in the car. We were both totally pooped when we got back, but really enjoyed our time away.

3. The first snow has left us with about 3-5 inches on the ground in Cambridge. It fell last night through this morning. I've been commenting how MN is bipolar in regards to weather. Just last week it was 70 degrees and sunny. 70, people! But, finally we can all break out the Christmas music we've been wanting for so long. I even saw snowmobilers out today.

2. Spiritually speaking, the Lord is doing great things in our church. We've been pressing in for more of the Lord's presence both personally and corporately and have seen some real growth. Our pastor underwent a double bypass sometime this summer and has been recovering well. We also had one of our youth get a severe concussion during football. He was doing very poorly and couldn't function academically, physically etc. Our pastor called the whole family up for prayer for him, and I was able to see him two days later serving at our Pregnancy Center banquet. There his parents reported to me that he did a total 180 over the few days after church!! Praise God!!!

1. Things with my car accident are improving as well. I've hired a lawyer to assist me with the legal side of the insurance company. He is a great lawyer and I'm so thankful for the recommendations! Anyway, my real report is about my pain that was progressing all over my body. My neurologist gave me a potential diagnosis of fibromyalgia related to neuropathic pain. I mean, this pain was BAD and all over my body. Well, after that appointment my sister called me and we talked for a good long while about all the news regarding the accident, diagnosis, money, and healing. The Lord really spoke through her telling me that I was focusing too much on receiving a diagnosis to gain validation from the insurance company for my accident. Of course, this all sounds silly now, but I was very intent on having some evidence that the accident was as bad physically as it was emotionally for me. I also wanted an apology in the form of monetary compensation from them. Anyway, the Lord was really speaking through Becca telling me that I was operating in the wrong spirit and that instead of accepting a diagnosis that I needed to be asking for healing. I was open to this, but was waiting for a clear sign from God... dumb of me, because he always wants us to ask for healing. "You have not because you ask not..." So I asked, my sister prayed for me for healing emotionally, physically and spiritually. The next day I realized what the Lord had been doing and also realized that ALL MY PAIN WAS GONE! Over the 24 hours time, it all disappeared and hasn't returned in any kind of quantity. I've had back pain, but no neuropathic pain. I am SO thankful for my sister's obedience to pray and call me, and so thankful the Lord in his mercy softened my heart to hear his voice through my stubborn mind.

There is so much more, but those are the current highlights! More to come with pictures!

Fingerprints

2010-08-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today I'm enjoying a cup of nicely brewed Caribou blend while eating organic cashews for breakfast. Some days the simplicity of good things is all you need. That sounds profound, right? Our house is becoming more of a home as it takes the shape and color we've intended for it. There is still so much to be done, but to create a sense of calm in our chaos I've been cleaning and arranging what I can to lend to the idea that this is home and a space where we can find solice. I've recently been reading a book called Dwelling. In it the author challenges women to create a home where all members of her family will feel welcome. Where they can all find peace and rest, and where they can each show their creativity in the decor and design of the home. To no ones surprise this has been very helpful in giving both Jon and I a place to create a home that we both want. And, it eliminates any tension that may want to quietly wedge itself between us. Our home is quickly becoming a haven for us as we put our own finishing touches here and there.

The biggest and most recent finger print we placed on this home and property was the burial of our dog, Jake. We were so sad to see him go, but his passing made this land ours as we buried our own in it's field. It was by far one of the most peaceful moments surrounding death that I have ever experienced. Though he was just a dog, he was our dog and was completely loyal and (most of the time) obedient. As soon as I realized he wasn't long for this world I began praying that the Lord would have mercy on Jake (and myself) and let the dying process be short. He took his last few breaths in my arms while I pet him and gave him all the attention I could. During the whole process I was thanking the Lord for such an amazing dog and rejoicing in the peace that the Lord was giving both of us. A few days later we buried him between two Cedar trees that Jon found on our property. In that moment it felt as though the land had become ours and the transaction that had taken place to purchase this home was now complete. The impact of life and death is an incredible thing, and I am and was very grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in such an event.

Our Australian Shepherd, Jake. 11 yrs old.

MS 150 Post:3

2010-07-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Levi spent a great deal of time in his jogger (thanks Grandma and Grandpa K!). The night we spent at the Casino got to be very cold and wet. So, he sat while we worked to keep ourselves dry. We tried to put up our tent underneath the RMS tent to give it a chance to dry out while it was raining. No luck. The tent we were using was from my parents. I'm not sure where they got it, but it was old and tissue paper thin.

So.... we made another 26 mile run to Walmart to find a rain-worthy tent. We found a small 4 person tent for $30 and slept dry and cozy. Jon was an aching man from the ride so he joined a few others in line for a massage. With some ibuprofen (which is always in demand since there are people with multiple sclerosis (MS) doing the ride) and prayer Jon slept like a rock and amazingly wasn't sore the next morning at all!

Here is a part of the group. Some of them were very seasoned riders and sped far ahead. Here Jon was riding with Gary (L) and Rod (R). Gary is the father of one of Jon's co-workers, Ben (not pictured as he finished each day in 4 hours or less). We named Gary honorary grandpa of the weekend since he just loved talking with Levi. :)

Here he is at the finish! With 150 miles under his belt he was again ready for a second massage, some ice cream, and a nap. I drove the whole way home. The finish line was down in White Bear Lake at Century College. KS95 was there announcing and cheering for each group of riders that came in. They were filtering in throughout the whole day. We've both decided to tackle the MS 150 next year together. My parents and sister and brother-in-law have expressed interest also. It should be really fun to do the ride as a family next year whether we ride for RMS (Jon's work), General Mills (Eric's work), Mary Kay (mine), or Forest Lake School District (my dad's work)!

MS 150 Post:2

2010-07-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

This was the end of the first day. The bikers successfully rode their bikes just shy of 75 miles. Jon and his friends got to the first stop at Grand Casino Hinkley around 2pm on Saturday afternoon. The group had left the start in Proctor at 7:30am. Not too shabby!

Notice Levi's long sleeve shirt and hat? Levi and I followed Jon on Highway 61 which follows the bike path and met him at nearly every stop. Before the first stop we made a run to Walmart. The only Walmart for about 30 miles. We got raincoats and the only outfit with long sleeves they were selling for babies.

Here is an attempt at a family photo. Both Jon and I were pretty tired from the night before (and the previous 75 miles) as the wind had whipped our tent around and kept us awake, along with rain pooling where Jon's bicycle was on the tent floor. Levi slept peacefully through every bit of it.

Since there were over 3,000 people that rode in the MS 150 bike tour, they needed someplace safe to keep all the bikes. So, they devised a system of numbering each participant's bike in a corral of sorts. Once the cyclist made it to the intermediate destination they laid the bikes in rows. They were to find their bike by number and row. They also had a Rent-A-Cop or two patrolling all those expensive bikes (no joke: some of them were upwards of $8,000).

Each company that supported the riders had a tent of their own. Here is RMS's tent. There were 11 riders plus support (Levi, myself and the husband of another rider). RMS supplied all the food for their crew of people. Since this was RMS's debut year, we had a tiny little tent. Some of the other business's like General Mills (whose jersey's were full of Cherrios) and Cargil had massive tents with beer gardens and big screen Tv's and massage therapists. There was also a VIP tent for the captains of each team. KS95 also made their presence known with a WIDE variety of music. :)

MS 150 Post:1

2010-07-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

This was the morning after we arrived. Tent City had been set up the previous night on the Proctor Highschool football field. It was windy and misty from the Great Lake.

Levi chose to hand out in the car while we packed our tent and gear.And because I anticipated it would be a warm weekend, I did not pack any long sleeves for him... so this was his domain for most of the weekend until we found some warmer weather the next day.

This was aprox. 30 minutes before the big start. Jon was arranging everything on his bicycle and testing brakes, etc. He was so gracious to allow me to snap away at my hearts content. I have a dozen or so pictures of this moment.

Here he bikes off to the start. It was pretty chilly for him, but he didn't want to wear any extra gear that might make him sweaty or tired later. As it was, about 7 miles in to the ride he warmed up (or so I'm told).

A Midsummer's Update

2010-07-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here I am sitting in my (sort of) new home writing a blog. I don't think I ever really imagined this, but its a little surreal. We've nearly finished the kitchen. There are three tasks yet to be done. 1. Painting and attaching the cabinet doors, 2. Knocking down the half wall and rearranging our cabinets on one side of the kitchen (this will also include adding some Blond Maple floor boards), 3. Putting the final trim on. Our biggest push has been on the kitchen because it is the center of all the hubbub. And with a finished kitchen, cooking is made much easier. All other parts of the house need a fair amount of work yet, but I'm optimistic that a few of them will not take much longer (if we buckle down, that is).

Since the three of us have all had a few different events happening, I'll update you one at a time (see what remodeling a house has done to me? I'm organized!).

Levi: 10 months

Is quite a verbal little guy. Not too bashful, and very flirty. One of the cashiers at our local organic co-op calls Levi "Levi-Little-Jon" since he looks so much like his daddy. Speaking of his daddy... that is also Levi's favorite person. The only words coming out of his mouth now are "di-di-di!" (daddy) and "da!". There are nights when Levi wakes up after Jon is home and is eager to see Jon before he will go back to sleep. To satisfy your curiosity, Levi is not walking yet. He is close and pretty stable on his feet. He still enjoys crawling though, as it is the fastest mode of transportation.

Jon:

Is still employed at RMS and is enjoying work there. He recently rode in the MS150. A 150 mile bike ride to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research. I'm not sure he was so enraptured at the idea of giving money to research as he was to ride his new bike ( a total gift from God!) 150 miles. It was over two days and we camped along the way. Each year companies support their employees and have a tent set up at the campsites and provide food and a "party" each evening. Levi and I tagged along and had so much fun!

Erin:

Will be starting up school again in a month and a half, but until then is working on the house, teaching swimming lessons to her two nieces and nephew, selling Mary Kay cosmetics, and really enjoying having Internet at home. She also finds immense joy in thinking about the vacation she and Jon are planning to Missouri and North Carolina, and is really enjoying Jon and Levi. :)

The Patenaudes!

2010-07-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is my sister and her beautiful family standing in South Long Lake in Brainerd, MN. We had such a fun weekend with our grandparents from Colorado and our parents. Since I enjoy photography and wanted some practice with family photos, my sister agreed to a free session out doors with the beautiful weather. The kiddos were squirely (but whose aren't when it comes to sitting still and smiling??) but all in all very good practice for me... and truthfully, pretty well behaved considering.

L to R: Esther, Becca, Hope, Eric, Eva

Here's To Vacation!

2010-06-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

Cheers!

Its been so long since I've been on my blog. Not for a lack of desire, but due to our Internet provider not enabling the grid we're on to run DSL. Thanks, Qwest. Caribou has been a close friend lately. However, because I've started up a new business (NEVER thought the day would come) of being a Mary Kay "Independent Beauty Consultant" Internet has become a little more necessary. But we've been getting by.

The house is still in a organized form of chaos, but slowly coming together to look more intentional. We're enjoying a fresh coat of paint on just about everything. In my desire to exclude complaining, I will just say that I had hoped to be done by this point. All in all, we're adjusting to our new home very well.

Since I'm on vacation and don't wish to spend all my time on the Internet, which has now become a luxury, I will say a fond farewell to bloggyland and enjoy my family. :)

I hope to get Internet soon so that my time at Caribou is not solely consumed with business and emails.

Since Last Friday...

2010-05-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a good long while since I posted anything. Needless to say, we've been busy. We did close on our house and it went smoother than butter and was mildly entertaining as the attorney explained every itty-bitty-tiny-little detail (for our benefit of course). It turns out he knew Jon's grandpa as well. Random.

Since our closing last Friday we've been working on our remodeling project. The house is totally livable... if you want dirty carpet, walls, and floors. As we dug further into this "clean-up" project we discovered that a few more things need to be done. A few walls have holes that were covered by wayne's coating. Mostly, though... everything just needs a good coat of paint. It will brighten everything. Jon's mom came over today and cleaned our windows! Bless her, she loves to clean windows and I do not. I say "loves" in a broad term. She doesn't go seeking windows to clean...but they clean up nice and fast. Just to clarify.

I'm sure there will be many more days of working on this project. For the moment, I'm at our apartment where Levi can sleep in peace and I can relax a little. Seems as though there is an endless pile of stuff to do... its like weeding a hay-field. So, to nap I go. Weeding a rock pile in 80 degree weather has inspired a siesta, if you will. * and yes, I did weed a rock pile... its called landscaping the front of the house.

10 Things About My Life - Right Now

2010-05-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

10: Levi has a cold as of two days ago. Poor little guy has the drippiest nose and the reddest eyes. Do you think a baby can get allergies? Jon thought perhaps so. It doesn't seem that Levi is teething (yet again!), so I'm a little puzzled. The mystery has yet to be solved as to what caused this cold. I think, though, I might be obsessing about it. Moving on.

9: I have taken one final and have a few more to go. I studied for one night and got a C. Not too shabby.

8: Here, I'll give you my own personal nursing diagnosis: Procrastination related to intense irritation at school, lack of interest as manifested by blogging, facebooking, cleaning (not really), cooking, shopping, movie watching, petting Jake, and napping.

7: I have one motivation. Pass this semester. Grade, you say? What grade? I almost don't care. Little story for you. I bought my stethoscope at the beginning of the semester. An expensive one. I also had it engraved with my name so that it wouldn't be lost (the good ol' docs like to run off with them occasionally). THAT my friends, is my motivation. I spent buco dinero on this equipment that is marked with my name. I better get to use it.

6. I am finding lots of joy in walking around our neighborhood and enjoying the apple blossoms. They smell divine!

5. A good childhood friend of mine is getting married this Sunday. I'm ecstatic and can't wait to witness this event. Both of her sisters are also married and I was MIA for both of their weddings. It will not be so with this one.

4. Along with Levi's cold comes a huge lack of sleep. He's beyond tired and has a hard time drifting off. Poor little guy! Not sure what to do next.

3. Our house now has a "SOLD" sign on it. Meaning, its ours! We're very excited, a little nervous, and becoming more and more optimistic by the hour.

2. I keep finding wood ticks in our house. YUCK! I really don't like those little creatures. Especially after my youngest brother-in-law contracted Lyme's disease. I'd rather not see another creature with 6-8 legs ever again. But, as always, distance makes the heart grow fonder. Do you think that's true in this case?

1. We close on our house a mere two hours after I take my final exam. Wow! God is AWESOME!

Almost 2 Years Ago

2010-05-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite pictures of our wedding. I know we're really small in it; for some reason its on my top 10. :)

Pre-Jon's Golden Birthday- Post

2010-05-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

This is Jon's birthday cake (yummmm!). For his golden birthday, I wanted to make him a cake. He asked for a chocolate cake with a sweet fruity frosting... I was totally baffled and asked him what he meant. He didn't know. I asked his mom what he meant. She didn't know. Finally we figured that he wanted something with chocolate and something with fruit. Okay. It can be done. What I came out with was a chocolate cake with part of the sides cut out and filled with raspberry pie filling. On top it was chocolate whipped creme frosting swirled with the leftover raspberry filling. I will post the frosting and cake recipe at some point, soon... and all the variations I did. Regardless, the cake came out really good and very rich. :) Happy Birthday, Jon!!!

Levi's Adventures continued...

2010-04-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is just too cute not to post. * in-love-mother alert*

Levi's New Adventures

2010-04-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

He started crawling about 2 weeks ago, and promptly decided it was time to pull himself up on things including our TV stand, couches, chair legs and his busy zoo block. He has had a few tip-overs, but is happy and fine.

Sr. Photo Shoot

2010-04-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

One of Emilee Selin's senior pictures
4/14/2010
Copyright BirdsEye Photography

Jake

2010-04-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

....and this is Jake our purebred Autralian Shepherd. He's about 11 years old. He is Jon's dog and recently came to live with us after Christmas. He wasn't doing so well with the cold and was too lonely in the basement at the farm. So, after four baths and a haircut he was welcomed to the city. He does really well here. Recently, though, he took a little trip down mainstreet towards highway 65. I found him after someone called the vet number on his dog tags. He had made it a good 4 miles away from home. Silly dog. He hasn't left the yard on his own since. Though Jake is truly Jon's dog, he has become increasingly fond of following me all over the house and will stand between me and anyone he considers a threat. Jake is very loyal; not totally in love with Levi but has been known to growel at other dogs attempting to sniff the baby. We like our dog and will probably try to find another Australian Shepherd puppy someday that Jake can train up with the loyalty and obedience that he has.

Picture of the Week

2010-04-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is my little guy on the move! He is going all over now. Most of the time he does this sort of, seal flop to get around, but has recently started moving his arms and legs opposite one another. Levi doesn't like baby food, but enjoys eating freshly steamed (and mushed) fruits and veggies. His clothing sizes are all over the board lately. Anything between six and twelve months will fit him. Levi's new favorite things are squeaking, wiggeling his behind, squawking (believe me, there is a difference between his sqeaks and squawks), and using the American Sign Language sign for "Yes" (although he has no idea what it means, and I don't know where he picked it up.). He has become very full of personality and a joy to be around!

Stewardship...whats that?

2010-04-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've decided our diet needs revamping. With one of us working forty plus hours a week, the second going to school full time plus managing a home, and the third consuming his day in play, sleep and eat, we're rather busy. We've often delegated our nutrition to fast-food America. I've seen no benefits monetarily, health wise, or in spiritual aspects (cultivating the fruit of the Spirit). Not that a burger here and there is a bad thing, but really, 2 times a week is 2 times too many.

I started this total overhaul when I watched the documentary Food Inc. Please understand that I've become no fanatic, but a soul whose conscience has been deeply pricked. I not only am abhorred by the nutrition value of fast food (and most of what is contained with in the four walls of the grocery store), but mostly I am upset by how we've maintained our resources. Yes, lets go green because its good for the environment, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm no tree hugger, and really not a lover of chickens, pigs and cows either. But, I cannot abide by the treatment those animals are given. Not to mention the workers on the farms and in the processing warehouses.

We have been given all these resources (and we employ people like ourselves) by our merciful God. His creation is important to him and therefore should be important to us. He has given us all things so that we may praise him in all things, including our diet. How our diet is maintained: raising animals, employing people, cultivating the soil... should praise him. This comes down to how we spend our money at the grocery store, the way we prepare our food, and whom we buy it from.

I'm not sure how all these convictions will come to fruition in my household. I know that change usually happens slowly, and I know that all of the implementation I would like to make will come as time and money allow. Until then, for the glory of God and the benefit of my family I will try to make the changes in our diet that will ensure on my part that I am a better steward of the resources the Lord has given me.

Please, let me know how you've attempted to do honor God with your meals, budget, etc. Please also know that I am as guilty as anyone for the way I've turned a blind eye to my practices for the sake of not wanting to feel guilty. This is something on my heart, and please don't feel condemned by my post, but rather encouraged that I'm in the trenches of overhauling our menu in a way that will help my family to become good stewards.

* I know there are scriptures that elude to this principle as well; I do not have them off the top of my head but hope to find them and post them here.

Easter Weekend in short...

2010-04-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I'm awful at remembering to post picture of Jake and Levi. And yet again, I'm going to write a post with no intention of putting any up. It's 10:15pm monday and I'm pooped! This is a very (very) rare thing for the people within these four walls. But Easter found us and we welcomed the sugar high and are now paying for it with droopy eyelids. We had a wonderful Easter; perhaps a bit busy.

Friday and Saturday were peppered with visits to the Ponderosa (Jon's parent's place). They were enjoyable, but merrited late nights. Sunday rolled around and with excitement for the holiday pryed open our lead-ridden-eyelids and popped out of bed. My parent's joined us for Easter at our church along with a family friend from my childhood (who happens to make the best carmel rolls -ever!). Later we enjoyed a really good lunch that my mom had prepared with french silk pie following - from scratch might I add. :) We missed an egg (candy) hunt following lunch, but instead went to the norther portions of MN to see my dad's side of the family.

Today we spent some time with my mom's sister and her husband from CO. We also made up for the Easter egg hunt by severely depleating the egg hunt reserves. I loved every bit of it! My mom, sister, and aunt worked faithfully on our wedding quilt. It became a tradition to made each one in our family getting married a quilt. They typically arrive about 3-4 years after the wedding ceremony, but the quilt's beauty makes up for the time. :)

Told you we were busy!

Pictures of the outragiously funny tea-party to come... (and I'm serious about those pictures!)

Sprinkles aren't just for Cup-cakes

2010-03-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

There are good days and bad days. Some are mixed with good and bad sprinkeling each moment of that day. Last Thursday was one of those days where something bad had sprinkelings of good outcomes. To keep it simple I'll write it out based on the bad and good...

Bad: Major car accident that Levi and I were a part of. We were nearly hit in a head-on collision when a driver in on coming traffic decided to take a turn right into my driver's side corner windshield. Air bags deployed, glass shattered all around, I screamed, and was thrown around like a rag doll. Levi was quiet for all the spinning and slidding and let out a loud scream when we had finaly stopped. I mad sure I was alive and immediatly looked behind me to see Levi mid-scream and smoke and dust all around him. I blew on his face to keep him from inhaling any smoke and to make sure he wouldn't pass out. He didn't pass out and started crying. He had no scrapes, and no injuries per say.

We were helped out of the car and across the road to wait for emergency personel. EMT's arrived and began assessing my blood nose and arms, checking Levi's vitals and giving me a neck brace. They check him out as okay, and because of my neck pain put me on a backboard and transferred us to the ER via ambulance (cool 'lil hospital on wheels). Once there, the hospital staff did numerous assessments to make sure we cleared with no physical/mental trauma. CT scans were ordered and returned normal. We were eventually discharged with no serious injuries.
Bad: We're home now and a little achey and dizzy, bruised and somewhat sore.

Good: WE'RE OKAY!
Good: I did convince the ER staff to avoid giving me an IV for pain medication and convinced the doc that I didn't really need stitches, just a really good bandaid and some super glue. :)
Good: The collision was not my fault, therefore my parent's (whose car I was driving) will get an insurance settlement and our ER bills will be covered.
Good: During the whole time of processing this event, I've been regaining focus on the Lord and his sovereignty over our lives. How, no matter how hard I prepare, or what carseats I get, the Lord is ultimately in control.

Thanks to those praying and have prayed. The Lord is our great protector. If you really feel like seeing the mooshed car, you can look at my pictures on Facebook... I don't feel the need to post them here, unless you would like me to.

Picture of the Week

2010-03-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is my current favorite of Levi. Ah, I love his adorable eyes!

Levi!

2010-02-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

Levi at Como Zoo for the first time!

Picture of the Week

2010-02-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

The four origional Selin women. :)

(L-R: April with Aurelia on her hip, Marilee, Amber, Emilee)

Picture of the Week

2010-02-19T21:52:00.000-08:00

No funny title

2010-02-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

I've made it to the end of week 6 of this semester. Officially the newness has worn off and now I'm in the trenches of homework, sleep deprivation and a very messy house. Thankfully my family is doing very well and school seems not to be suffering. The only one who continuously craves on-going attention in this house is Jake (dog) , and well, sadly seems to get the least.

Levi is hitting milestones left and right. He is now fully sitting up, working on his second tooth, and nearly crawling. He, like myself as a baby, has decided rolling over is for someone else. Not only is he passive about the whole idea, the action itself brings him to tears of anger. No joke! He just doesn't like it, and I don't have any idea why. My mom told me recently that I was the same way (minus the tears?). Levi has started joining us for meals with an interest in putting whatever is in front of him in his mouth about the time we do the same. I doubt breastfeeding will satisfy his pallet exclusively past 6 or 7 months. We'll see.

As for the house? Just about no news. Our realtors keep asking us if we'd like to look at more properties. We said yes. We found 2 or 3 we like and will be investigating them this weekend. Not likely that they will compare to the current offer we have out, but we might as well try while the bank sits their shiney tooshies on our offer. Can we say annoying?!

It's beginning to look a lot like spring... finally! Just when it started to actually appear white in this region of the country, I got sick of the cold. Drat. But, maybe Sunday will bring about some snowmobiling as my brother-in-law from Sweden loves the sport and we have a "sled". So, snow... you may stick around a while longer.

Otherwise, not much new. Jon is actively ... and I mean actively, employed at RMS - for which I will forever remain thankful. In that regard, no news is good news.

I will soon have more pictures to post for everyone of Levi and Jake, but for now,

Ciao from the backs of my eyelids.

When it rains- it pours!

2010-02-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

Life has down poured upon us, and we are thriving and alive (though my lack of words on this blog may state otherwise)! School has been going very well. Admittedly, things started out easy and I thought, "Gee, what a breeze!" Gee. I was wrong. Though I'm loving the material that becomes more fascinating with every hour, the end of this week caught up with me and I'm pooped. One thing that can be said for nursing school is the amount of "busy" work there is. This is a snap shot of my week.

Monday: No school, but read the chapter for Tuesday.
Tuesday: School 8-3. Review whatever you learned and/or read the chapter for Thursday.
Wednesday: No school. Catch up from Monday and Tuesday like a mad woman and/or read the chapter/study for Thursday and Friday.
Thursday: School 8-10, 1-3. Review quiz for Friday, catch up on chapters for Friday.
Friday: School 8-10, 1-3. Breathe. And think about getting a head start on next week. Which, won't happen because of dishes and diapers.
Saturday-Sunday: Take a few deep, fresh, breaths and plunge into studying for whatever test or assessment is coming my way.

Wow! Somehow I do manage to keep Levi fed, dry and happy, Jon fed and happy, walk Jake, and keep myself fed and sane. I'm so blessed to have Jon by my side encouraging me all the way. If it were not for him, I think I'd be a wrecking ball. He faithfully takes Levi to his various aunts and grandmas for daycare and then buzzes down to work where he spends 8 hours attending to the task of bread winning. I'm so blessed (did I already say that?).

God has been so faithful to me when I become overwhelmed. He puts scripture into my mind that I can recite over and over. There is so much I could say. To summarize- he's caring for my sanity.

I'll add a few pictures to finish this up since you've seen a bit of my week. Not all these pictures are recent happenings.

Random shot. :)

My Mom doing the "Road to Bethlehem". A Christmas tradition that takes us through the Bible following the birth of Christ and the prophesies that led to it. Very cool. All the grandchildren like it so far.

Jon on Christmas Eve at my parent's house. He looks good in blue, don't ya think?!

Levi got the Johnny Jump up from my parents and the toy from my sister for Christmas. He loves them both!

Levi is so close to crawling- though this picture doesn't show it, he's been on his tippy-toes recently.

Photo Shoot of the Week

2010-01-29T19:46:00.000-08:00

Cutest hands ever!
Smiles!

"Look, Mom! Over there!"

Looka' dat belly!

This smile is my FAVORITE!

Christmas in Colorado

2010-01-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is my dad taking a trip down the tubing run. Well, it was more of a steap hill.
Cousins Courtney and Drew went down the hill together. This is a calm picture of what wound up to be Courtney hanging on to Drew and trying frantically to steer the tube so as not crash over the very small, but potent, bump at the bottom.

My mom and dad were being really goofy. Mom sitting on dad, dad tickeling (my very ticklish) mom.... etc. It was great!

There were plenty of things to do, some of which included crafts for the little people. Here is my niece Eva with my cousin Katherine Rachel.

Aunt Mary jumped right in with the kiddos doing crafts. I think this is the best picture of her!!!

There was no lack of sunshine on the backside of Pikes Peak. Grandpa and Uncle Steve chatted it up while soaking in the mountain rays.

My sister snuggling her two younger ones. Eva was MIA...probably chasing around with my younger cousins, Drew, Katherine Jane, and James.

And, they game on, and on, and on, and on, and on.... you get it.

We had a skit night and Dad looped his son-in-laws into one. They made fun of the Dever Donkey's (I mean, Broncos). There is an every going rivalry between my dad and Grandpa - just for kicks.

My cousin, James, sitting at his daddy's feet. I thought this was too cute!

This is my jolly Uncle Steve. I believe here he was pretending to be a skiier going off some big jump. Priceless!

Levi did this a lot of the time. He was feelin' rather punky so laying on the floor was nice for him. Oh, and Anna, a friend of mine sent this cute onesie for Levi! Isn't is adorable?!

This is my Grandma, a trooper at 80. She hosted a great bunch of us at her house before and after our trip to Golden Bell!

I thought I'd sneak in a picture of my glasses. They make me look smart, no? Funny thing is, I haven't worn them yet during school!

This is testement to my grandma's spunky, people loving nature. Aunt Mary offered a bright big smile too!

Picture of the Week

2010-01-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is Elijah my nephew. He is Isaac (Jon's brother) and Allison's eldest son. I love this picture that Jon's sister took of him. I think it exeplifies Elijah's happy spirit. I love this kiddo. He was so great with Levi and so attentive. He was also very observant and let me know what he thought about my little guy. "Elijah, I think Levi misses you. He loves it when we copy you by saying "ah-boo, ah-boo!"

Some of things I'll do this week...

2010-01-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

.... start school, enjoy doing lots of dishes (if only...),

fold all the laundry drying all over my house,

buy more books (and go broke),

enjoy the smiles of a little 4month old boy,

welcome my husband home from work every night,

think and pray about my passions,

journal, drink some coffee (hopefully not out of necessity),

visit my in-laws and nieces/nephews,

thaw (and eat) meals I pre-made,

drive my car in the freezing cold,

get up at 6am (please let me be in bed before 1am!),

study,

attend a wedding,

see old friends,

pray for our dog Jake (he was given a dose of Ibuprofen, supposed to be nearly lethal for dogs- but he's appearing rather chipper lately),

hopefully hear about our home,

enjoy the peace and joy of the Lord spreading through our home,

and function as a wife and mother.

Hooray!

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree, somehow I don't feel lacking...

2010-01-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to a piping hot shower when the computer called my name. For a while I've been noticing my bloggy space has been on the same post for...- well since before Christmas. Not so good. Needless to say, around here we've either been busy or sick. Before we left for Colorado to visit my Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins we spent a great week with Jon's family. In the middle of such we got sick. Despite our runny noses and congested lungs we had a wonderful time with my family in a lodge faceing the backside of Pikes Peak.

This Christmas has been a little unusual for me. First of all, it flew by, didn't feel like Christmas (due to lack of snow for a really long time before hand), and we didn't decorate. There were plans in the making to put up a tree (since we're not broke this year) and make homemade family stockings. Somehow, those fell through the cracks of life. Oh well. I'm glad there is next year; maybe we'll have a house of our own with the huge living room to put a Christmas tree in *slightly neurotic smile*.

ps- I adore Christmastime.

Levi's First Christmas

2009-12-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Levi,

Merry first Christmas! Your dad and I are so happy that you're going to be a part of our Christmas's forever!

My sweet little Levers (that's your nic-name) this Christmas is really busy. This is the year we go to Colorado to see Grandpa and Grandma Whatsy and spend time with all of mommy's cousins. Auntie Becca, Uncle Eric, Eva, Hope and Esther are going too. Before we go there is lots of packing to do, and I have to get used to packing everything you will need. You are so important to your dad and I, so we make sure we bring your toys and favorite blankets.

The past couple of days we have spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa Selin and all your aunts and uncles and cousins. Auntie April and Auntie Becca's families haven't come for Christmas yet, but we will celebrate with them in February. Tomorrow we'll celebrate Jesus while Uncle Isaac and Auntie Alli are here. Just for the record, your cousins Elijah and Ethan LOVE you and you think they're pretty cool too!

No matter how busy Christmas is or where we spend that day, Daddy and I always want you to remember that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus. He was born just like you and was a baby just like you are now. I pray that you will always know the comfort of his presence in your life and that he loves you very much.

Merry Christmas, Levi Justice Selin.

Love,
Mommy

Picture of the Week

2009-12-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

I believe this was at 2 months old.
I love Levi!

Christmas Letter 2009

2009-12-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I've never posted our Christmas letter here before, but just like my sister does, it seems fitting as I cannot put all our stories on a picture card.

It's hard to recall this past year. Last January seems so long ago. I'll start with last Christmas Eve. Jon and I found out that morning that we were pregnant. This Christmas we are blessed to celebrate with our son, Levi Justice Selin. He was born September 2nd and weighed in at 7lbs 8oz. He has been nothing but a joy since. He is now almost 4 months old. How time flies. He is growing fast and hitting all the normal mile markers. His first tooth is prepping itself to entry and I must say, Levi is handling this quite well. He loves to watch his hands and give a long, loud "ahh-Hiiiiiiiii". We're thrilled.

In the past year Jon and I have moved three times. We left Crown College in June and stayed with my parent's while waiting for a house offer to come through. Since then we've moved to two different apartments and put offers on four other homes. All to the glory of God, he is instilling patience, flexibility, and contentedness in us through this process. We are currently waiting for this current house to come through, and we are confident that it will.

After leaving Crown College where I was accepted into the nursing program, I applied to the nursing program at the college in Cambridge. We chose to leave Crown because Levi was due to come the very day the courses started. I will now be starting classes on January 11th for the nursing program here in town. I'm very excited despite the changes this will bring to our life. With Jon's work still requiring him to work during the afternoon into the early morning, I will try to maintain that same schedule with Levi while going to school so that we might have some family time. I'll keep you posted on that outcome.

We are thankful that Jon's job remains steady in this ever changing economy. Not only is it stable, but the Lord has given Jon favor with his employers and has been rewarded accordingly. He continues to work in the medical department at RMS in Fridley, MN. There he makes bone screws and other items that assist in the prosthetic departments.

Other changes in our extended family include the addition of two new baby girls. Esther Hanson (my sister's youngest daughter) and Maewyn Enerel (Jon's oldest sister's youngest daughter). We are so thankful for fast and healthy deliveries. There is a third baby on the way and we are excited for Jon's brother's addition to their family.

We are thankful for our Lord's birth to be celebrated this season, and we are increasingly thankful for all his has done and is actively doing in our home. His faithfulness is our testimony, his love is our truth, and his will is for his glory and our good. We are rejoicing in Jesus and all of who he is. We wish you a joy filled Christmas and new year with the peace of Christ in your homes.

Filled with his joy,

Jonathan, Erin & Levi Selin

Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul...

2009-12-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." ~Ephesians 6:12

"May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edgeds sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the Lord." ~Psalm 149: 6-9

"But this is what the Lord says: "Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind willknow that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." ~ Isaiah 49:25-26

The Lord has been showing me recently his protection over Jon, Levi, and myself. That he is our defender. He is the one who goes before us in war against our enemies. When battles come, it is not the people we are to battle with, but it is the evil one who comes against us. We do not battle with earthly weapons, we battle with praise. We battle with truth. We battle with righteousness, we battle with peace. We use the armor of the Lord and the weapons HE has given us.

Jon and I have been up against battles in our lives, but I've never felt so much dissapointment as we have faced this past year in regards to our living situations. We fully expected to be in a home by this Christmas. One we own. But, the Lord has made it clear that where we are is good. It is strange though, to see homes we put offers on back on the market. Obviously, those houses were just not for us.

I've had several dreams about a certain house. In each dream we've owned the home, or signed on it, or something to do with owning this house. This last dream, the Lord gave me a scripture to go with the dream. That is Isaiah 49. He has said he will be the one to fight for us, to contend with those who come against us. This past summer, the Lord gave us the same word.

"Thank you, Lord for what you will do on our behalf. I thank you that you love and fight for us. Keep our hearts seeking you and your purposes and keep us sharp for whatever battle lies ahead. Keep praise on our lips and in our hearts, and bring us closer to your heart."

Picture of the Week

2009-12-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

Heres a picture of my cutie pie! This is Levi at 3 months.

Rhinosorous Yams, Spotted Yams, Pink Yams...

2009-12-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

The past whole weekend I've been recovering from a general yuckiness due to the vaccination I received on Friday, but today in particular I feel a bit slobbish (is that a word? Makes me think of something from Lord of the Rings). Anyway, in order to un-slob-ify myself I'm going to attempt some holiday baking, laundry, dishes, etc. I will also attempt to find something to do with 14 yams (which this time are actually sweet potato's; I've heard they're interchangeable. Anyone care to set me straight? ) that got left alone at the family Christmas. Sad for the yams- but now we get to eat them. Yum! Any favorite recipes out there for?

Oh, and I suppose I should clarify my title...
When I was younger my mom would bring me into town for some of the classes I took at the high school here. Because we thought the drive was long- probably because we didn't talk a whole lot- we would listen to stories on tape. One of the stories was the trilogy of the Swan Princess. Apparently there is much, much more to the story than what Disney has depicted. Anyway, the Princess was a little girl who was captured and sent to work under the kitchen in the castle. Her job was to sort the yams. There were...Rhinoceros Yams, Spotted Yams, Pink Yams, Blue Yams...etc. Lots of yams. So. There you go. :)

Early Morning Update

2009-12-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

Since I've done a lot of talking about my personal heart repairs, I think it's time I update you on typical daily life around the Selin house. Not that heart issues aren't typical, but I'm talking about the 'other' new things happening around here.

Jon is still working at his job, and it's steady, PTL! We are very thankful. There were a few rough patches where the company decided to do some cut backs. There were many people laid off (you can pray they'll find jobs if it comes to mind), but not one person from Jon's department took a hit. Jon said it reminded him of Psalm 91 (I won't write it out, its a little long for that). Even in the midst of this laying off he was given a large raise! We are thankful he has found favor with his employers. Jon also had the pleasure of rewarding himself with an early Christmas present. A large...HUGE... screen TV. He was very (very) excited and almost had a hard time walking out of the store with it.

Obviously it wasn't too hard...

I think he even enjoyed setting it up...he's a man who loves his technology.

Here is the finished product!

Anyway...

Levi has been talking so much lately. He now keeps us up every morning. As soon as he's awake for the day he just chats away. Well, it's actually more like screamo-chat. But, whatever. It's very sweet and can be extremely funny when we're not trying to get sleep. Levi is doing a great job falling asleep on his own these days. We're really proud of him! He has also started to put himself on his knees as if he were to begin crawling. His arms are the only part of his body that don't cooperate. He looks pretty silly as he wiggles around with his tushy in the air. I've now officially taken out all his 6 month clothing! He is wearing some 12 month pajama pants, too. He is very tall for his age- I think. He'll be just like his daddy! He is not yet enjoying our new big TV.

As for myself, I got my first official immunization (other than the tetanus booster, without pertussis) today. I have been feeling commonly miserable with aches, pains, grogginess, hoarse throat, and a damaged ego to boot. No, the ego part isn't so bad, but I'll admit, I was pretty proud to not have had immunizations since I was 3 months old. Since some of you may be curious I'll give you a 10 word history. I had anaphlactic shock as a baby from pertussis. Okay, 9 words. But from that point on my mom chose not to vaccinate me, and I'm okay with that. Now if I were to be given the Tdap immunization (tetanus + pertussis) I essentially could die. So that has been some of my reason for filling out objection forms for school and work. The reason for giving in this time was that the clinical sites for school demanded I have them or I would forfeit the clinicals. Tough. But, I did praying and research and in the end had peace about it. Speaking of school, things are rolling along nicely. All I have to do now is wait for class to start, buy my books and pay more tuition. For those of you interested I have classes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm starting to look forward to it!

Freedom!!!

2009-12-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Again, I'm rejoicing in the Lord's goodness to me and my family. A few days ago, I believe Sunday night, the Lord began yet another healing work in my life. This time it was not physical, but emotional.

Jon and I began talking once he was home from work. Out of no where I realized my struggles within myself were coming from a few childhood experiences I had. Though these experiences were never meant to hurt, but rather release, I still closed myself off to anything remotely related to that topic at hand. I never could have known that the wall I had been building slowly, but steadily, could impacted me so much later in my life.

A while back I began crying out to the Lord to show me why there was a barrier erected in that particular area of my life. I thought it was perhaps something I caused, or just needed to make a determination to get through. Perhaps the bane of all women and wives. I received no answer for a very long time, though I pestered God through my journal entries and disappointed prayers. I would often beg Jon to shed some spiritual insight on this area of my life where we were both heavily disappointed.

The Lord has been steadily working in my heart removing things in the way of freedom, joy and intimacy with him. I can't remember if I wrote about this dream earlier. But the Holy Spirit revealed to me in a dream that he was intending to rid me of insecurities (it was about that clear in the dream - word for word) if I would let him.

Slowly and surely the Lord has been doing this in my life. But, just as someone had prophesied over Jon and I earlier, the Lord completely broke down this wall of shame, bondage, and hopelessness. With a great gust of the Holy Spirit, the Lord leveled my great barrier!

Praise the Lord! He has delivered me into joy and freedom that I have never experienced. A joy to be myself, to enjoy everything I was made for, to be the exuberant woman he made me to be. This release has not only fallen on me, but brought a dynamic of freedom to Jon as well, and I believe overwhelming relief and thankfulness to his heart. The Lord has ministered to Jon's love language in a way I never could have.

I'm in the process of receiving the best Christmas present ever! In his faithfulness the Lord has started a work that I know he'll complete in my life. He won't abandon me to live as a prisoner of this world and the sinful reaction of my flesh. He has granted me freedom and released me to live a kingdom life here on earth- as it should be!

Praise the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me will praise his holy name!

The Lord Gives!

2009-12-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

The Lord is continuing to do awesome works! A couple of days ago I tuned in to the IHOP webcast to follow the Student Awakening meetings live. I was asking the Lord to heal my back from the constant aches I've had. I don't even remember when they started, but I believe it was before Jon and I were married and were only accentuated with pregnancy. I remember at one point during that night I just thrust my hands out towards the Lord asking him if he could just heal me. Later on that night one of the school leaders was talking and saying that the Lord was healing backs. It was exactly then that I believe the Lord healed my back. I knew it was for me; my answer from God. I haven't had any backaches since, except for the normal morning stretch. I even rebuked that and it went away immediately! Yeah, God!!!

Later the next day as I was in the shower, I asked the Lord what he wanted from me since he healed my back. He answered me this: "Nothing. I give freely. All I ask for is your faith." Wow! He loves to heal!

The Lord is continuing to encourage my heart, to strengthen my faith and remind me that I've always been on his mind. He is renewing my joy and my purpose in Him. A very dear friend of mine told me that the Lord has given me a portion of faith that when it becomes dark will be a beacon to lead others back to the Lord; to light the way to the Cross, so to speak. Awesome! The Lord gets all the glory because I know that I cannot muster up that kind of faith!

Picture of the Week

2009-12-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Levi and his cousin, Hope. She is so endearing towards him and narrates his expressions to me. She always says an immediate "Hi, Yevi!" when she spots him. I find this so sweet!

An Experience of Grace

2009-11-29T19:48:00.000-08:00

This song essentially sums up my heart today. I wish I could write out the sermon in church.It was... powerful. About comparing Mary (of "Mary and Martha) to the church. Good stuff. Anway. I edited the song below a bit, but I did post the copywrite belonging to someone else. Please don't fine me song people. :)

Wonderful, merciful Savior
Precious Redeemer and Friend
Who would have thought that a Lamb
Could rescue the souls of men

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost the way

You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for

Almighty, infinite Father
Faithfully loving Your own
Here in our weakness You find us
Falling before Your throne
Oh, we're falling before Your throne

© 1989 Word Music / ASCAP / Dayspring Music / BMI / All rights reserved

Lots of People and Food.

2009-11-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

Yay, Keean with a pickle!
Canned Cranberries waiting to be mushed.

Bill Barr. Sweet and happy the whole day. :)

The other three cooks. Amber, Jody, and Cheryl. It tasted fabulous ladies! Well done!

Emilee with the girls, Audri and Kaylee.

The table set for the feast.

The millions of pies for 14 people. I think we ate 4 whole ones.

The REALLY great sweet potatos (or in this case, Yams).

Turkey dinner: thought this was a little ironic... they turkey in the background? Yeah. :)

Cheryl, Jody, and the girls playing Sorry on Thanksgiving.

We had a great Thanksgiving! It was a great day spent with family and extended family.

Oh, the deep Love...

2009-11-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

My words are not all set in my head as I write this post, but the Lord is doing something big right now- not just in my own heart but in hundreds of lives. His Holy Spirit is sweeping across our nation and healing physically, emotionally, and bringing people unto himself!!
I have no idea how to write this post, but I am EXCITED! Earlier this November the Lord began to stir in me a desire to be with him. The desire captivated me and I tried to ignore it, all the while knowing it was a deep cry in my soul to spend time soaking in the Lord. This desire has continued, but more recently the Lord is making it very clear to me that he desires to heal the parts of my heart that were broken in high school by insecurities. Places where I rejected the work of the Holy Spirit because I thought if these areas were exposed it was not a good thing. The Lord in his love, however, is touching those places and helping me be open to his prodding. He is working in me through dreams and interpretation. I'm filled with desire for the Lord and joy as he heals and exposes my heart to himself. My soul is coming into contact with His glory and he is reviving me!! Praise the Lord!

For those of you who attended our wedding, our pastor compared Jon and I to horses. It was quite funny. Jon was compared to a pacer and I was likened to a thoroughbred. A horse like that is one who runs fast- out ahead, bolts fast. In a recent conversation the Lord revealed to me that I can run as fast as I want to in my relationship with him and he will always be ahead of me. Though I may need to slow down in my relationship with my husband because he is finite (in his own words) so that he can lead, I never, NEVER have to do that with God!!! I can run with abandon after him and never stop and its OKAY!!! I'm thrilled with the release that the Lord reminded me he has given.

Below is an excerpt from a poem I wrote for a poetry class assignment. I really believe the Lord gave me parts of this poem from his heart. What was supposed to be difficult flowed with such ease, that I can only know it was the Holy Spirit.

This love from One alone. This love so full

of beauty, fierce as rain, as mums in birth.

Of man the warrior soul: no give, no room

to fail, yet grace and room to err; it not

a choice to fall but simply man inside.

The one outside invited in comes,

revives, renews, and heals. The perfect One

who loves beyond what man may comprehend

and this will never fail, or die. The mind

has always known of One that's greater still

than he, created like the One of love.

The love of One I again do speak, for it

of importance this love is such. The will

to love, the will to care, the grace

that surrender does bring, was always there.

To earn? For pain? A las is not the way

the Love did come. Your heart, the sorrow came,

your mind - resemblance gone of past, of fresh

the things, the thoughts of heart, of mind will be.

The need to worry gone. The need to strive

has ceased. In flawless grace you now will live.

The battle too great, but this has passed by.

The journey to begin will last your whole

life through. A life of ease? I guarantee

not. Of faith, hope, and love the One can give.

These you will have as long as you live.

This love I have, and seen. In times of fear

has He come to rescue me, the soul in

pain. For this love is care. Compassion full,

cannot it break, of iron made. No. More

miraculous is love than that. No foe

can rob, nor break the love of He the groom.

News Reel

2009-11-21T22:05:00.001-08:00

I'm distracting myself. From what? My son's crying and whimpering. Sounds harsh, I know. But, I'm settled on the idea that before I go back to school he will have a routine bedtime and he will know how to help himself fall asleep. From what I've heard, the 10 minute tragedy of this whole idea is that your child will end up crying themselves to sleep the first few times until they figure out they're still safe. Those minutes seem like endless ages when you sit on the couch and listen.

See... I'm distracting myself. Levi just woke up whimpering for the third time...I hope I'm not a mean parent.

In all reality, he doesn't cry beyond like 1 minute. I've given myself 5-10 before I'll go in and get him. I wasn't really planning on starting this tonight, but I think I'll give it a go. Especially since he's SO tired. I have to say, though, Levi is doing much better than I anticipated.

In other news Jon has picked up the annual obsession called Hunting. He's out right now with 2 of his brothers and our dads. After the intensive harvest season was over for our area with no deer, Jon's ears perked up to the sound of party hunting up north where hunting season is still going. Since three out of the five men hadn't filled their tags, they were doubly anxious to go up and shoot something. Even my dad whose already shot and butchered 2 deer this season was extremely excited to go. I got a call from Jon a few hours ago, and I guess it's been quiet. Good luck, men!

My days lately have been filled with many, many thoughts about school and the holidays. As Jon says, I appear to be calm and collected in regards to school, but really, I've realized I'm scared. Nursing school has seemed to be something on my horizon for a long time- granted entry looming just at the tip as something barely attainable to anyone. I felt confident I would know how to handle any rejection I might face (shows how confident I was at getting into the program, eh?), not acceptance. Now that I'm in, I'm not quite sure what to think or if this is all a good idea. I've written about this a few times...mostly because it's truly what I'm thinking about right now.

As always, I'm anticipating the Holidays. My favorite is Christmas, and Thanksgiving appears a month in advance as the last hurdle before launching into full Christmas mode. No, that is not all Thanksgiving means to me, but it pops up as if to say, "Almost! Almost time!!" I don't get so juiced about buying presents or going shopping, but more about making our home festive and inviting and warm. One of my very favorite things is to just sit and look at our home once the decorations are up. It's one of the most heartwarming times of my year. Last year I launched into full Christmas mode as the new wife eager to establish some traditions on a very tight budget. I was a bit homesick and enjoying my husband's recovery time from his appendectomy. We bought a few Christmas-y things and decorated the apartment. I think I'll always remember that first Christmas.

Didn't mean to blog all on Christmas... but I like it.

As the Fog Lifts

2009-11-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

It seems there is a lot on my mind this morning. I'm sitting on our wood floor typing away to the sound of my son making those little waking up noises. I've never been one to say a prayer starting my day off. You know, how some people put their feet on the floor and immediately hand over their day? Or, so, some people say we ought to do? This morning was one of those times for me. On the outside I appear to remain relatively calm, but since the day I was informed of the nursing program orientation, my insides have been anything but still. To put it more clearly: I've been a nervous wreck. I set my alarm a whole hour and a half earlier before my arrival time. What if Levi woke up and I had to nurse him? My mind was racing with all the possibilities of what could make me late, or worse, miss the mandatory orientation all together! I made sure I would have time to stop and pick up coffee, any forms from my health care provider, and get dressed with reasonable sanity intact. I was 15 minutes early. But, the first thing I did after hitting the snooze button a few times was put my feet on the floor and put my worries in someone elses hands. I'm glad I did, because everything ran smooth and every problem fixed.

I feel a sort of serenity, a quiet peace in being the only one up. This is rare for me since I'm a night owl and have no desire most days to joint the morning doves. No thanks, I like my lazy mornings... sleeping in, waking up very gradually...coffee to eventually lift the morning fog. If the day is dreary in the morning, all the better! I used to be a go, go, go personality. But, I'm starting to realize the time I have to sit and think in the quietness is a gift. I can process my thoughts and truly be not so grizzly-ish when everyone opens their sleepy eyes.

Since I had the orientation early this morning I have the privilege of being up before Jon and Levi. I'm thinking about how much I enjoy the lack of chaos in my life. About the next semester and what that holds for me and my small family. Hoping I'll have enough of myself for both family and school. I'm thinking about the nomadic season of life we seem to be in and wondering for how long we will stay in our current "camp". Though I feel as if I've had a distant relationship with God the past week... more the idea of not seeing a family member for a time, I'm comforted to know he hasn't changed. I've bounced all over the board, emotionally speaking, but he's remained the same. Faithful.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

Grace.

2009-10-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how am I ever going to go back to school? I love being a stay at home mom. I love having my eye on Levi all the time. He's sleeping right now in the bedroom, fighting a bit of a bug, and all I want to do is lay by him and make sure he's safe and well. The pace of my days is usually slow going and relaxed. When our home routine (which is small, folks, but does exist) gets upset by a busy day doing errands or going places, everything becomes out of whack for the next two days or so before we're back on a quasi-normal sleep schedule. Maybe school will actually provide something to structure our days around, but I'm anticipating will be anything but relaxed.
Currently this is the dilemma in my mind. I am confident God will work our everything out perfectly; pardon my uneasy mind. I received a letter last week from the nursing department informing me (and everyone else) of the upcoming orientation. There, they will tell us which of the "cohorts" we are in. To make room for the ever-increasing demand for student slots, they divided my class into three sections or cohorts. I've heard rumor flying around that there may be a weekend class, evening class and a day class. Though I don't know if this is true or not, it makes some sense. I'm most curious to see in which cohort I end up. The other catch to this is that Jon has the opportunity to work the weekend shift, or 5th shift. 36 hours of work for 40 hours of pay, plus shift differential. He would have 12 hour shifts for three days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Depending on which cohort I am a part of we may agree that it would be better for Jon to work 5th shift.
All this to say, January to May is going to be a period of adjustment in our lives. I've considered giving up school to stay home and work part time as a nursing assistant. But, I think so far, that would be unwise if I intend to finish this program. Which I do. It's only for two years, actually less if you subtract summers. A grand total of 15 months. I can do that. A very busy 15 months, though. I digress...
I'm thankful that scripture says "God's grace is sufficient..." I'm counting on his grace in our family. With being a wife, mother, and full time student to a very demanding program, I'm going to need every drop I can get. I'm praying it will be a time where I can really draw closer to the heart of God despite all the conquests for my time. I'm going to delight in the time I have now to relax, and try to take in every moment with Jon and Levi. I have much (and much more) to be thankful for.

So Big!

2009-10-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

Levi has been growing so much lately. He's doing lots of eating and smiling! Not as much sleeping, though he's really tired. A few times he almost went to sleep entirely on his own at bed time. I was hoping for that to remain a pattern, but at 7+ weeks who can hope for that?

The picture below was taken tonight while he was in a really smiley mood. Unfortunately it lasted up until we got the camera out. Levi loves it when we pound on his stomach with his own fists and talk in a really high little voice.

Levi has his moments of fussiness, but ever since I've cut out almost all caffeine, he's been doing much better and consequently, so have I. I'm not sure for my part whether my body is just adjusting, or if the caffeine actually slowed me down.

There is not much to post on, that I can think of. This will have to remain a short blog. But, I had to post another picture of Levi. :)

Sweet dreams or nightmares?

2009-10-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm lost in cuteness. Levi has been sitting in his bouncer seat while I putter around the apartment putting away today's purchases and picking up the bedroom. Before I sat down to check the daily blog postings he seemed to be in a good mood, so I took advantage of the self-entertaining he was doing and plopped down on the couch. I looked over to take a peek at him and found he had put himself to sleep. I love it when he does that. So, I went back to reading. Next thing I hear are all sorts of little coo's and squeaks. I peek at him again, to find him talking to himself in his sleep. He's totally snoozin', folks, and very sweetly chatting away. Oh, I love these moments!

Best Picture, Ever!

2009-10-12T13:24:00.001-07:00

News, news, glorious news...

2009-10-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

WE've got a few updates for all of you!
First, the house search has continued for the past...um...many months. I haven't written about it because, frankly, it's been a little discouraging. Jon and I have submitted 5 offers of 5 different properties and have been out-bid. The house we originally started out with, the one I wrote about, slipped through our fingers as it went into foreclosure at the end of July. We were then told by our realtor that it would go back on the market in about one month. Not the case as we later found out. It had come back on within one week. Three weeks after it had been sold, the listing company put up a for sale sign in the yard. We IMMEDIATELY jumped on it like a pack of hyenas; and got a call back saying it was sold. We were bummed, but took it in stride. Later on, through out this process the same house came back on the market, this time re-done and without mold. However, the owner was asking much more than we were even qualified for and eventually did negotiate with us, but it was still too high for us. At this point we became majorly bummed out. This was after losing three other offers on homes. Recently, in the past week, we've seen a few houses and put in offers on two. They're both short-sales (very deceiving term) and so we've needed to wait to hear a response. The first one was more of an investment home that we didn't love, but would've been okay with, and it was a great price. So we went a head and signed a purchase agreement. Two days later another home came on the market. This home is slightly more expensive and has a decent amount of land to accompany a moderately sized home (in dire need of TLC). To put the cherry on top, it comes with a good sized pole-barn to Jon's enthusiastic delight. We took about 25 minutes to survey the home the first day it was ever on the market; jumped in our car and went and made an offer. That was Friday. Saturday we got a call telling us our offer had been accepted by the sellers! Now we're waiting on the bank. Waiting is the name of the game with short-sales, but we're praying for favor with the bank and a quick response on their part. I know the Lord has been leading us through this long process and we've learned many things that I think we needed to before purchasing a home- one we could both be happy with. Plus we've got a few extra pictures for you.

Right below, Jon is monkeying with an amplifier for his sound system. Something I secretly think he really likes to do. Beneath that is the first snow of this year. It's not even the middle of October, folks. I'm amazed. That is a picture right out my front door. We are in a shady spot, so the snow stuck around a little longer than everywhere else.

Secondly, Levi is growing like a bean! So, I've taken some new pictures. He's found out how to smile at things and enjoys doing so in front of curtains. I know he likes windows, but even when it's dark and the curtains are drawn he smiles (or is at least fixated) at them. Right now he's going through a growth spurt at 5+ weeks. He's almost a month and a half and just keeps learning and growing and eating a lot! He can also hold up his head when he has his tummy time. He does really well with that.

Beauty for Ashes

2009-10-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

"The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

I often need to be reminded of this. It's been extremely gloomy around this part of the state, weather-wise. Cold, rain, and yuck. I love it! In sweat-shirt, jeans and tennis-shoe weather I thrive. I like the sound of rain and the feeling of moisture in the air. I've never been a soul to love the desert- in any part of my life. Saturation and high humidity are things I enjoy (minus the humidity with heat). Even so, with all my liking for yucky weather, things can start to appear dull and grey. As I look into my kitchen where both floor and wall are the same color as the refrigerator I must learn to see something beautiful. I can see my jade plant on top of the refrigerator, and though there is a lack of sunshine, and few windows, I can still see the green. It tells me things are alive and well. This picture shows me that even though this plant is a desert plant (ironically in need of watering at the moment) it is still green and it has retained it's water.

When I stop and look at even the most bland things, there is still beauty and life when I take the time to see it. The way I see things can be distorted, but when I choose to take on a new perspective, or a new attitude, or just repent (literal meaning; to rethink) then I can find beauty and life wherever I look. My life, my day-to-day can and will look so much more appealing when I choose to look at it in terms of what I've been given versus what I do not have. Any dreary, gloomy situation will look so much better when I have chosen to look for the beautiful things.

For Every Season...

2009-09-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

It being 12:39am means I should be sleeping, despite our night schedule. Levi is sleeping; all the more reason for me to be zonked. For whatever reason, though, I feel compelled to blog. I, the same as my sister-in-law Allison, have discovered that some things in life remain constant, but the majority are ever changing.
The place I find this to be the most true (currently) is with Levi. His little body is still trying to figure out what a schedule is and until it comes to agreement with itself will not stay consistent (at least not so far). *side note: in his sweet little voice (while sleeping) said, "yuppp". How appropriate. * As if his own body adjusting to this big world weren't enough, all sorts of outside forces come into play in helping him learn, grow, and change. A few days ago I brutally realized that what I do (or eat and drink) affect my little son more than I could've imagined. In the rush of a crazy day I stopped by Caribou for my ever favorite white mocha. Not thinking about the timing of it all, I downed it around 3 or 4pm. No problem. Later that night when my child was screaming on a caffeine high I thought back to my stupid actions earlier in the afternoon. Approximately six or so hours later what I had ingested had made it to the local dairy: my breasts. What was once a schedule kept for a few days has gone out the window (my guess is until the caffeine has worn off ).
Change is a slogan we've heard quite a lot in the past year. I'm starting to think that though I like change, somethings I'm grateful never do. I'm actually a big sucker for change. I like to change my hair color, style, length, etc. I like to change my furniture arrangement. I LOVE the changing seasons. I like new things, new adventures. Predictability hasn't been something I love in all areas of my life. However, I'm coming to think that if every bit of my life were unpredictable, I'd go nuts.

More of My Merry Men

2009-09-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Enough M's for ya? I just couldn't resist putting up more pictures of my favorite individuals of the male species... yes, they are a species unto themselves. No matter how much respect I have for my husband or how much love my heart can't contain... he is still strange and seeminly this foreign being that I've forever tied myself to with a covenant that cannot be broken. Annnnd, we've created another one of these- and he's just so darn cute! Now for pictures after this little rabbit trail... I caught the rabbit, right (Jon says no...)?

Hope is 2!!!

2009-09-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday, Hopers!

Here is Eva trying to keep Hope from blowing out her candles too early. What would Hope do without a sister whose been around this block 4 times?!

After our serenade of "happy birthday", Hope enthusiastically cheered "Yay!!!"

We were all thrilled with her ability to puff out all two of her candles. Good job, Hope. No boyfriends to date!

In the last two pictures, Eva raised her hand asking for a turn to blow out candles too and then very happily helped Hope blow out her second round.

My sister wanted a picture of Hope with Levi, so we indulged her. I'm not sure how Levi felt about this. It appears as though he's trying to stick out his tounge at Hope. Too cute!

Mr. Selin & Our Little Sir

2009-09-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

This only happens occasionally-lately he's not been this relaxed

His thinking pose...wonder what he was dreaming about (i love his sweet skin here; it looks so soft!)

Blurry picture, but I love it! My guys sacked out together.

"More cheese, Gromit!"

It Speaks for Itself

2009-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Over the past two weeks this very thought comes to mind. Though I have to say I'm not totally falling apart over here when it comes to knowing what my little boy wants. Usually its the boob. And the boob works. Too bad Jon doesn't have boobs. He, however, is the master calmer. He can put Levi to sleep like non other.

ps: does anybody have any good ideas for dealing with a gassy boy?

Levi's Beginning

2009-09-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

I've been avoiding posting on here for some time now. Not really sure how to compose this blog or how to begin. I've been wanting to write something about Levi's birth-story for a while; where to begin? I've been processing the ups and downs of birth for the past week and have come to the conclusion there are more ups than downs, but you would not have heard me say that a week ago yesterday. In retrospect the birth was amazing and went, for the most part, how we wanted it to. But hindsight, in this case, is not 20/20 - I'm totally biased towards thinking it was completely amazing. The sweet part? Scripture says that's how it is supposed to be.

"A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world."

John 16:21

I would have to say in my case this is totally true. I've heard the same from other women as well. But, I'll get on with it and share Levi's little story with you.

I started with cooking a turkey the night before and getting all "nesty". Both our neighbor and Jon knew something was up- I, of course, didn't. Next morning (Tuesday) at about 8am I started with some regular contractions. At 11am we drove to the hospital where my midwife proceeded to tell me I was only dilated 2.5cm. Ugh! She discharged us and told us we'd have a baby today, but to come back later. Jon wanted to do some errands around town, which I was in no mood for, but happily went along for the ride. I labored for about 1.5 hours in the car while Jon worked with his brother on some wheel bearings for our other car, all the while praying through my contractions and thanking God for each one and praying for Levi to stay calm (1st favorite part).

When they were done we figured we'd go back to our apartment so I could change into some cooler cloths. By the time we got there my contractions were back to back without any relief in between. Me in tears, we got my t-shirt and zoomed back to the hospital where my midwife promptly admitted me. Back labor then progressed for 12 hours (or so). With only 2 hours of sleep the night before I was worn out 5 hours in and started begging for some drugs to let me sleep and take the edge off. So, I got Nubain (2nd favorite part). Hallelujah, that stuff is amazing! Never having had anything of the sort in my body before, I got a little loopy, but was able to sleep in between contractions.

I didn't know what to expect out of labor. I expected some pain, I expected it to be long, and I expected I'd be worn out (a little). What I didn't expect was insane back labor. Those of you who haven't had it- don't wish for it, it's awful! At first the midwife suspected the baby was positioned towards my back, but when he came out he was "straight as an arrow" we realized it had more to do with my holding tension in my lower back. Ye-ow!

Transition was probably the worst and one of the best parts. I had my second dose of Nubain at this point, but because I was so far along in labor it did nothing to ease the pain, just let me sit in my own little world in between - no sleep. At this point it was REALLY cool because I was able to pray through the first part of the contraction and at the peak breath "ha-le-lu-jah" and just praise God (3rd favorite part)! What is the most difficult part for some, was beautiful to me.

After that, I started pushing at 8cm (not supposed to do that!). They told me to take it easy on the pushing...not happening when you have a watermelon being crammed through an opening the size of a lemon by three sets of strong muscles. That meant, I tore. Sad day, but in one large push I got both head and shoulders out. I think my midwife's words were, "Stop pushing! Never mind, he's here!" (4th, and best part ever!).

So, there you have it. Levi Justice was born at 1:02am on Wednesday, September 2. Completely perfect and so cute. I remember looking at him in my arms and asking him "Where did you come from? Who are you?" As if I didn't know! Later after I was all stitched up, my midwife came over and told me "For the record, you asked me for an epidural 4 times and a c-section once." Second to Jon she was our biggest advocate for keeping our birth plan the way we wanted it. She didn't refuse me the Nubain, but kept putting off answering yes or no to an epidural, and gave me a strong "No!" to any c-section.

Speaking of Jon- he's the best guy in the whole world!!! He never left my side (expect to use the bathroom once) and though he was exhausted he never left to nap- even though he considered it when I had the Nubain. He kept me breathing in the right patterns and praying for me through my contractions while I pulled and yanked on his arms, almost bit him, and screamed louder than I've ever screamed in my entire life- for 30 minutes! Every day he keeps telling me I'm a pro at mothering and comforts my baby blues away. He never stopped telling me that I could make it through every contraction and let me push and pull on him as hard as I needed. I don't know how any woman goes through labor without a husband. Truly, I don't. I couldn't have done any of it without him (thank God, I wasn't asked to). Here's to you, Babe!

Labor and delivery is the hardest thing I've ever had to do (physically speaking). At the very end there were a few complications one of which happened when I lost a lot of blood and was given Pitosin to stop the bleeding (which I hear they don't start on and IV unless there is a great quantity lost). But, the Lord was on our side when on Monday night/Tuesday morning gave three people dreams about our birth which prompted people to pray for us. One of them said after the dream she was filled with the Holy Spirit and experienced the presence of God in major way and began to intercede for us and gathered others to do the same.

I have no way to close this post, other than to say that I would not trade any part of Levi's birth for an easier one. The Lord was on our side and comforted me and blessed us with a healthy boy and out of everything gave Jon and I a deeper love for one another and the beginning of a beautiful quiver of arrows!

Coming Soon...

2009-09-05T00:14:00.000-07:00

Our biggest adventure yet will be documented on here soon...just need a few more pictures, and my post-pardom self doesn't want to get up and move around much...

However, who can resist taking pictures of their new son? So, this post will be happening shortly along with some of the less gory details of our birth story.

:)

Something More to Being Pregnant

2009-08-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

There are some amazing things about pregnancy. A while back I was told that pregnant women are more sensitive. This is not simply hormonal, but spiritual as well (don't get me wrong, I'm not more "enlightened" than the rest of the world), because we are created in the image of God. Since He is three-in-one, as in the Trinity, we are also three-in-one. Obviously, we are not "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit", but we have a spirit, a physical being, and what the "father" would be (soul?).This means, all of who he is, we are. He is love; we are made of love. He is light; we are made of light (in more than just a spiritual sense- go beyond that to the study of Physics and photons and electrons!! God is a phenomenon!). This takes a little thought to develop, but just as Mary (Jesus' mother) was filled with the Holy Spirit when she was pregnant with Jesus, so we are filled with the Holy Spirit (always, and) when pregnant. After Elizabeth, her cousin prophesied over her, she was given a song from the Lord. I believe that during the time of creating life within our bodies, the Lord gives us special revelation of himself and who he is. He draws us near to his heart because (of all times in our life) we need that comfort and revelation from the one who can truly comfort deeply. He alone can give us the security and confidence we need to carry and (in every sense of the word) bear a child.
As I was praying the other night for a love for Levi, one that can sustain him (and me) as long as he needs to be inside me, and beyond, the Lord gave me some revelation on this level. Since this is already a long blog, I will wait to write what I journaled the other night as the Lord revealed a glimpse of his love as a father, and his love as creation. I'm amazed at the profoundness of the Lord, and yet his deep simplicity. These snippets of part of who God is makes me desire to go back to my pen and paper everyday and wait on the Lord for more of who he is!

From the Depths

2009-08-25T14:04:00.001-07:00

There is a buzz going around town lately as the local college resumes its fall courses. I'm glad for once to not be a part of this rabble as I have been for so many years past. I do miss the academics, but currently I have more pressing thoughts on my mind. In some ways I'm amazed that I would ever say that I miss the learning... but it is true. I do enjoy planting seeds of knowledge on my brain ever full of black dirt. Because I am not enrolled in any classes this fall, but waiting for next spring, there is a lack of certain structure that college allows for. Part of the idea of no structure disturbs me. Perhaps I'm more of a scheduled person than I thought. I know for certain that though I am spontaneous (to an intoxicating level), I do crave security in the idea that there is a plan for the day. It may be that God knows my need for my security should be in his plans for my day and not my own. I've been reminded that I've been given this fall to enjoy the wonders of my new small family, to take delight in the joys of my husband and small child (still in the womb). I am given this time to enjoy the beauty of a world He created specifically for me; my family, the transitions we make, the words he kindly speaks to my anxious heart, the beauty of the plants I've cared for and cultivated (both actual greenery, and the soul he's cultivated in me).
I realize I've been given the ability to role with the punches; whatever comes my way with some grace and ease. It is also in this place that I struggle and where I can make any small hill a mountain of great proportions. The faith that God has given me for trusting his will for my life can also seem so shattered when something doesn't turn out how I expected. This circumstance in no way disproves the Lord's faithfulness to me or a lack of concern for my heart. Instead it gives me room to grow in trust and faith that though mountains of thought and superficial steel crumble he's never left me and my life is completely intact in his hand. I just need to catch a glimpse of those hands that hold me, and not reject them.

All the things I never...

2009-08-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be great if I could blog and show everyone pictures of my new little baby boy? And, to top that, I bet that previous sentence has a few of you scrolling down to find pictures. Am I right? No baby yet. Sorry. This little boy of ours seems perfectly content to stay inside mom for now. Is mom perfectly content with this? Well...

...Never before have I used up 4 plus bottles of tums, gotten up every 1.5 hours to pee and had to wait about 30 minutes to fall asleep, been unbelievably thankful for a bathroom located about 10 feet from my bed, had to shop online for bras (and never been so peeved that bra designers happen to be men)

...Never before have I had millions (more than one can count, anyway) of stretchmarks all over, been so eager to have so much gosh awful pain come my way, thought about whether bibs and binkies are a good idea or not, read so much literature on breastfeeding, tried to make an eyeball guesstimate as to how far along other pregnant women in the grocery store are, worried about which spiders are poisonous in regards to which ones I MUST eliminate from our home with regards to a small child

...Never before have I thought about decorating a nursery (why not? I don't know, I just haven't), been concerned with cleaning products on the bottom shelf in the bathroom, loathed the idea of plastic bottles, been so consistently nauseated in my entire life (for good reason, though :) ), and finally... I've never been so excited to meet such a little person who has been with me for his whole life!

New Adventures of New Selins

Beans and Rice? No. Beans and MEAT!

AG Visits MN

Ferocious Friday

Wild Child

Selin Gusto 101

Water...

Archives

Happily Ever After

Jr.

pictures past

MS 150 Year 2

A Small Tribute

The Big Remodel

Spring Official

Spring from Levi's World

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Simple

Monday's Update

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Theological Tuesday

Irish Green: Post 2

Picture(s) of the Week

Luck or Blessing?

Selin Christmas 2010

My Beloved

Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

Beginning of March

Levi, Scoubs, Happy

Some Favorites

Wordless Wednesday

Spring is playing Peek-a-boo.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Without an Anchor

A Not Very Silent Night...

December 2009

Tis The Season...

Fantastic Friday!

Fummers Top 10

Fingerprints

MS 150 Post:3

MS 150 Post:2

MS 150 Post:1

A Midsummer's Update

The Patenaudes!

Here's To Vacation!

Since Last Friday...

10 Things About My Life - Right Now

Almost 2 Years Ago

Pre-Jon's Golden Birthday- Post

Levi's Adventures continued...

Levi's New Adventures

Sr. Photo Shoot

Jake

Picture of the Week

Stewardship...whats that?

Easter Weekend in short...

Sprinkles aren't just for Cup-cakes

Picture of the Week

Levi!

Picture of the Week

Picture of the Week

No funny title

When it rains- it pours!

Photo Shoot of the Week

Christmas in Colorado

Picture of the Week

Some of things I'll do this week...

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree, somehow I don't feel lacking...

Levi's First Christmas

Picture of the Week

Christmas Letter 2009

Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul...

Picture of the Week

Rhinosorous Yams, Spotted Yams, Pink Yams...

Early Morning Update

Freedom!!!

The Lord Gives!

Picture of the Week

An Experience of Grace