Our Anniversary- 6 years

This is my favorite picture of us from our wedding...

We both look so young! And it just wasn't that long ago...

Jake was dog sick at our wedding- I left him behind in Seattle and came up to Fairbanks two weeks early to spend some time with my family and get everything ready. He got sick with this horrible headcold almost immediately and had to fly with post-nasal drip and a stuffed head.

He'd written this beautiful song for me that he sang out our wedding and he kept sniffling the whole time...

This last weekend was our sixth anniversary. Jake & I got married in 2000 on Thanksgiving weekend, which we both thought very appropriate for our wedding. Since we each individually had come to a point where we thought God intended for us to remain single, we were very thankful for each other and thought our wedding a perfect celebration for Thanksgiving.

I had so desperately wanted to be married outside, but Fairbanks in November makes that kind of a bad idea (think -25). My sister did the flowers for our wedding and used cedar swags and boughs- and the fragrance filled the entire church. Lovely. Even though I couldn't be outside, she brought the outside to me...

This year Jake take me out to a wonderful dinner and bought me a dozen roses- the first time I remember him buying me flowers since we got married. He done good!

Marriage isn't easy, but it's been worth it- Hard times, no money, no job, disagreements- I'm still glad that I got married...

God, thank you for my husband. He is one of the best gifts you've ever given me. Help me be responsible with this gift... Please help me continue growing into the wife he needs me to be...

insomnia

insomnia... You're driving me crazy-a
want to take a bullet-a
and put it in my brain...

No, I am NOT suicidal.
Do not get that from my silliness & sleep-starved brain...
I'm just TIRED and frustrated and ready to go to sleep.

It's 3:45 am here... I got so little sleep last night and will get less tonight... We're in the middle of doing a Christmas bazaar thing with our beads and I have to get up at 8 tomorrow. (I know, poor me...) Since Jake goes to work at 10 most mornings and gets off at 7 pm, we get up around ten and I don't put the girls to bed until 9 or 10 so that they get to see their daddy for some time. It's a different schedule than what most people have, but it works for us except when something like this happens and messes us all up...

Any tension or stress going on and sleep is a lost cause for me, and these bazaar things are STRESSFUL. You sit there hoping somebody, anybody will buy one thing, just enough to warrant renting the stupid table... And you're trying to look like "I'm a nice, normal, interesting person and you want to buy something I made.." And money's so tight this year, for everybody... This poor lady two tables down from us was crying as she packed up her stuff (some people are only staying for one day, we went ahead, took the deal and paid for both days) Anyway, she obviously didn't make at least table, and I think she didn't sell much... I felt so sorry for her, and I had bought a card from her earlier...

Okay, this is ridiculous. I'm getting up in 4 hours! I'm going to go and try again to get to sleep now...

Trials, Sorrows & Heaven

From my friend, Donna: "I will not disguise it,--life is replete with anxieties, perplexities, cares, toils, sufferings, and sorrows: Well, let them come. It is a state of probation and of discipline, and all things are so arranged by infinite wisdom and benevolence, that even we may become in a high degree possessors of the rich stores of quiet self-denial, of holy fortitude, of cheerful resignation, and of heaven-born benevolence. We will then travel on in the vale of mortality, in the depths of nothingness, if such be the will of our Lord, until, from exalted heights, we hear a seraphic voice saying: 'Come home to your rest.'" (Thurston, Lucy Goodale. Life and Times of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston. S.C. Andrews: 1882.)

There are days when I just long to go home... Recently, I attended the funeral for a sweet lady, Callie Thomas, Callie Underwood's Mom. (Callie is the youth director at the church we recently left) The funeral was a celebration of her life and of the fact that she is no longer in such terrible pain, but instead she is now at home in heaven... She had eight children and six of them were there- The oldest is the only one who didn't know Jesus... Such a hard time for him! I believe most people in the room were Christians and were sad for her to be gone, but happy for her to be where she is now... Not him. I'm so glad he felt at liberty to express that verbally. He said something along the lines of: "I know you all believe she's in a better place, but that's no comfort to me. She's gone and I just miss my mom..."

At this time of the year I start thinking about my dad.. He died two years ago around the beginning of December. For some reason this year's anniversary (the second year) of his death is much more difficult for my mom... I've got to be honest and say that my dad was not the best dad. He was a wonderful daddy- very good at playing around and being silly and my favorite memories of him are pretty much all surrounding vacations, trips and camping; but he wasn't around when things got hard and wasn't involved in the day to day reality of raising my sister and me. He didn't know how to handle "negative emotions" and would pretty much just yell at us and split if he got mad... He wasn't involved in any disciplining type stuff and because of his job was gone for months on end. I still miss him. And knowing that he is in heaven and that God has perfected him and that when I see him in heaven finally we will both be able to let go of all the angst and anger and just love each other the way God wants us to- Well, it makes me miss him more. I never got what I needed from him while I was alive, but I know that one day we will have the relationship that God wanted us to have when I join him in heaven... Makes me want to go home... Not the only reason to want to be in heaven, but a good one...

The Sound of Music

I got to see a play finally! Jake & I went to see "The Sound of Music" here in town. Yay! It wasn't fantastic, but hey, it was a PLAY.

There are only a few groups in town that do theatre- FLOT (Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre), FDA (Fairbanks Drama Association) and FST (Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre, which only does summer shows)- well, plus the University. In fact, the last play we saw was up there- "The Taming of the Shrew". One of my very favorite Shakespeare's- okay, that's a little like saying, "my favorite kind of chocolate". Stupid, I just like chocolate. Almost ALL chocolate. I just like Shakespeare. Almost ALL of them. I actually thought they did a very good job, except for Kate's guy... What's his name... Can't remember... Petruchio?? Anyway, he was AWFUL. I could not believe that she would fall in love with him. I couldn't believe she would change for him... It was so AGGRAVATING! The most important part of the play, and they didn't get it!!! He was very shallow, very flat, very unbelievable... Maybe he was the only actor they had. I don't know. Maybe he and the actor playing Kate hated each other... I don't know! Anyway, there was nothing believable about their relationship...

Okay, back to "Sound of Music". I auditioned for this back in September and did a TERRIBLE job on the singing part. Really bad. For some stupid reason I thought, "I know these songs, I'll be fine". Duh! The version we listened to so much growing up was the Julie Andrews version. Very different than the song they wanted me to sing. I did terrible! If I'd been directing it, I wouldn't have cast me as the part I wanted, which was Maria, of course. (Mind you, I kicked butt on the acting part, but here in Fairbanks they cast according to singing, not acting.) They offered me one of the nuns, and I was like, "Are you kidding? I don't have TIME for that!" Jake was going to help me with the kids, and mom was gonna help me, but my girls need me. I would have made the time if I'd been offered a really good part... Maybe I should have taken it. I don't know. Anyway, I decided not to take it...

So, we got to see it, and I enjoyed it. It's such a good tight story that I figured they would at least do okay. I'd give it a B. (for community theater- don't get me wrong, I LIKE community theatre, but I've gotten to see professional actors on stage and it just doesn't compare, you know?) I thought they did a good job. In general, their acting was a little stiff and wooden, but I've seen MUCH worse, and they didn't do any mugging, not even the kids, which drives me crazy... The stage changes were ATROCIOUSLY long- Jake & I could complete entire conversations while they changed the sets... And some of their choices could have just been better, not bad really, just not as good as they could've been...

Their Maria had a BEAUTIFUL voice. My gracious me. It was lovely, so smooth... Very little acting expression in it, mind you. Very much a SINGING performance. But her voice was superb. Her acting was another matter.... Oh, goodness. It was atrocious. Very cardboard. She would put her arms out like she was carrying firewood and lift her arms up from the shoulders when she wanted to emphasize something... You know what I mean. The stick figure acting style. Oh, and she would put one hand on her heart when she said "I" or "me"... But her singing... Definitely why they gave her the part- a shame somebody wasn't around to teach her some decent acting...

Their captain did fine- the part's rather flat to begin with, but he didn't really do much with it. Nice voice. Kind of mumbly, deep and rolling... I kept hoping that some spark or something would show up between him and Maria, but I just never saw it...

Their Max and Elsa were wonderful! It was delightful to see such good acting, plus they did all their songs and both of them had wonderful singing voices. Both were superb and a joy to watch.

The kids did really excellent on everything (acting, singing, dancing) except for "The Sound of Music"... you know what I mean- this great harmony stuff, plus the echo "Ah-ah-ah-ah"... Sad that they do that song so many times in the play!! At least two, I think three, and they SUCKED at it. Pretty sad. Everything else with them was very fun.

Also, they missed a wonderful opportunity- You know when the Nazi's take over? Well, they didn't really do anything in the play to emphasize that... No flags. No soldiers... They brought out two soldiers during the competition (plus Herr Zeller & the admiral)... But, that was it. So sad. And they had about 25 nuns... During the first part, when the nuns sing the alleluia there were enough of them to almost surround the entire audience. Maybe no guys auditioned?? I don't know. I wish they'd just put some flags up or something...

Okay, I had almost as much fun critiquing it as I did seeing it! :) Now that's silly. Oh, well.
Good day, Good day, Good day! I got to see a play! As my husband would say, "Woo-hoo!"

Jake's Collage

Jake created this collage for his office when he was hired as the secretary for our last church. That would be right around September of 2005, so a little more than a year ago.

I love it... It captures a specific time in our lives, and I love the memories it invokes. Deborah had turned two that May and we had just returned from our huge family vacation down to Washington and Oregon.

(Now that was INSANE: a driving vacation through Canada with a 2 year old and a 7 month-pregnant woman. It took us about a week each way to drive through Canada. I was required to stop every hour to run around the car and Deborah would go insane if we didn't stop other places on top of that...)

Warning: I am about 6 months pregnant in almost every picture of me here- in fact, the lower right hand picture of me in black shorts was taken at 8 months and right before I was induced. The top left hand corner photo was shot right after Abigail was born- The doctor had just handed her to me and Jake and I are looking at her for the first time. The middle picture of the baby is Abigail just a day or so after she was born, and, following that diagonal line, the next picture over is of Deborah holding her baby sister on the first day after we got home from the hospital...

We had no idea what a sleep wrecker we had just brought home! I swear to you, the last good night's sleep I really had was in the hospital. In the Fairbanks maternity wing there's a night room with a night nurse who will take care of the newborns, and oh, what a gift that was! I sent Abigail to the night room both nights I stayed in the hospital and the only thing that woke me up was needing my pain medication! It was wonderful. Since I'd already had one baby I knew what I was in for when I got home with Abigail... Unless you've had a newborn wake you up every two or three hours to eat you've never experienced sleep deprivation... While it doesn't last for long, it is murder on sleep during that entire time. You get to where you don't know whether you're coming or going...

She has finally (within the last month) switched to going to sleep around 11 pm and not waking up until around 9:30 am. Since Jake goes to work most mornings at 10 am, this is a schedule that works pretty well for us. Her older sister still sleeps more than the baby! It's funny to me that my 3 year old requires about 12 hours of sleep, and Abigail goes to bed about an hour after her big sister and wakes up about an hour before her!! Funny's probably not a good word for it... Maddening is a much better word for it.

Celebrate!

Well, I have now complete 100 posts. As my husband says, "Woo-hoo!"
I feel like celebrating.

I've achieved my goal, too. When I started I wanted to try and post about three times a week. Every acting class I've ever had required a journal, and my professors expected 3-5 entries a week. I thought that was a good goal for something I was hoping would encourage me to write and be more consistent with my writing. (Since having kids my journaling has gone down the toilet... I have very little free time, but having a goal and thinking of it as homework has made the difference I hoped it would)

Well, eight months breaks down to about 12 posts a month or about three posts a week. So- Ha! I did it. I achieved one definite goal in the last 8 months! I posted about three times a week! (sometimes more and sometimes less, but it worked out.) For 8 months. (which is a long time- almost enough months for another baby, and no, I'm not pregnant again. Thank you, God.) Good job, Becca!!

Abigail & I

I took this picture of Abigail & myself- For some odd reason or other I really love this picture...
She's in the middle of laughing and I was almost laughing as I tried to balance her and the camera.

Me & My girls

Beth took this while the girls and I were playing "This is the way the farmer rides..." and I happened to look up at her. The girls were laughing & giggling and we were having fun!

Me

Jake took this, plus about 15 others... ;)
Aah! My nose! Aah! My hair!

Snow in November

This was taken the first week of november... So not much different than the Snow in October picture.

COLD

I ran out last night at about 10 pm to get some groceries. The reader board at FM read -25 F... What am I doing here???? Not only was it just plain COLD, there was a chilly breeze. Now this morning I've got wind burn on my cheeks (I look like a kewpie doll! You know the kind, with the big red circles on their cheeks...) and my hands are cracking and bleeding again... Okay, so I'm whining... I don't care!

I was supposed to be at rehearsal right now, but our car was choking and dying and choking and dying and throwing fits about the cold. I got down to the light at the end of our road and it died really good (wouldn't start up again... threw me about a tad bit, so I sat and waited a couple minutes, started it and kept my foot on the gas while it choked and screamed and complained till it got warmed up enough for me to just GET HOME... ) I guess it's whining, too... When your car is dying at -20ish, you don't go anywhere. 'Cuz if it decides to die some place, you get to walk in -20 to somewhere where somebody will help you...

One of the things I really like about Fairbanks is that if you're having car trouble in the winter, somebody will generally stop and check to see if you're okay... Not this morning. I must have looked like I had the situation under control. Ha!!! I'm just lucky I made it back here okay.

We're On-Line!

Beth & I have begun posting to our beading site! You can find our jewelry at: http://2sistersbeadwork.blogspot.com/ There isn't much there right now, but we will continue to add pictures as we accomplish photography and design work. Next weekend (November 25th & 26th) we will be at the Civic Center in Pioneer Park for their annual Christmas Bazaar. Come join us if you're in Fairbanks, Alaska!

Woo-Hoo! We have a beading web-site!

Collective "Oh!"

Thought this was fun, and that I should share-

My husband, Jake, works at Fred Meyer in the sports equipment section (for those down south, it's kind of an upscale Walmart, or like Kroger's plus all the Walmart stuff, too...). Sidenote: He's had about 10 or 12 jobs since we got married, (secretary at 2 different places, Radio Shack, foster care, janitor, pharmacy, worship guy for three churches, driver for a food company, Dairy Queen Asst. Manager, you name it and he's probably tried it...) and this is his FAVORITE job- he loves working at FM. He's got a great manager, good hours, he sells guns and knives, gets to interact with people, and isn't stuck behind a desk all day.

Anyway, yesterday they had a brown out (most of the lights out, but they've got their own generator), then quite suddenly there was a complete blackout. This huge warehouse building went completely black.

Jake said there was an audible gasp across the entire store, customers and employees- you could hear every person in the entire building inhale in surprise. About 100 people gasping at the same moment is apparently fairly loud... Then came the surprised screaming of several babies and young children...

The lights came back in about 20 seconds, but it was a fairly long 20 seconds...

October Books- Some of them

This is LATE- When we switched over to my Mom's computer I lost all of my files... So Jake's in the process of trying to help me find them. I'd kept a record of all my October books there, and now I can't get to them... Wuh-lah! So, here's the stuff I read AFTER the big switch-a-roo. I'm missing some dang good books. I'm hoping to find 'em, but who knows. I finally decided to just put up what I had rather than keep waiting and waiting...
***

Soul Survivor: How my Faith survived the Church by Philip Yancey A+
I love Yancey’s stuff. I’ve read what I can hold of, and have come to the conclusion that I should just buy it when I can- I always end up wanting to re-read them. This one profiles 13 people whose faith & life choices helped Yancey in his faith quest. This one includes more of Yancey’s life, struggles and doubts than the other books I’ve read by him- I discovered an echo of my own doubts, struggles and questions... He profiles Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Paul Brand (Nobel Peace Prize Leprosy doctor), Mahatma Ghandi (not a Christian, but one who studied Jesus’ teaching), Dostoevsky, Tolstoy… and many others. Excellent book. The kind of book I'd recommend to anybody.
Paths Not Taken by Simon R. Green B+
I enjoy the Nightside stories quite a bit… PI stories with a mystery holding the entire world together, strange twilight-zoney world, supernatural creatures, urban fantasy, mythology, sci-fi plus a wonderful macabre dry humor. Since our library doesn’t own all of them I haven’t been able to read every single one but they work as individual adventures. However, I know I’m missing part of the story arc… And that they’re going to culminate in something and I’m going to wish I got it all… They’re a quick read, but a lot of fun. Definitely worth the time.
The Dark Sleep by P.N. Elrod B-
The fifth in the Vampire Files, detective stories in post-prohibition Chicago- surprise plot twists, macabre humor, and supernatural action. I liked this- out of my normal reading style. I picked it up at the library and ended up checking it out even though I’ve never read any of them before. It worked on it's own, 'cuz he's good at slipping in explanations of what has happened before. I'll probably read more of these... I was looking for a good supernatural story and I found one.
No Easy Answers
A short story compilation of “Coming of Age” stories- Each story is about a teenager handling a difficult moral situation. Some of them are excellent and some are just so-so. I like good YA fiction, and these were all written by known authors- Myers, etc…
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong C+
A werewolf tale from the point of view of “the only female werewolf”. Good. Interesting to see how much she lies to herself- the reader is aware of undercurrents in her choices that she is completely blind to through most of the book- She does seem to get it at the end, though...

Deborah & Abigail

My girls.

Musings on Halloween, Continued

A friend of mine sent me an email about "Musings on Halloween". I thought he had some cool things to say- about how the roots of something do not negate the validity of the change brought to them (his example: St. Augustine's pagan roots do not negate the validity of his transformation to Christianity or the value of his Christian writings on theology), and how amazing Halloween is as an example of hospitality, kindness to strangers, and reaching out to children. And that the church could take some lessons from Halloween on how to reach out to kids and other people in their neighborhood... This is part of my response to him, plus some other thoughts...
* * *

I believe that taking something old & dead and bringing new life & meaning to it is what salvation is about. To take something such as a pagan holiday or a song by Nirvana and find the deeper spiritual meaning & Christian truth within it... To then transform it and use it to bring glory to God- that is what Jesus does when He makes a life new. The image of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. The old Easter was a pagan holiday celebrating the pagan god Orester's mythical regeneration/rebirth and the returning of Spring. Now it is known as the time when Christians remember an actual miracle, something that really happened- Jesus' resurrection, and we celebrate at that time because we took a lie and said, "that didn't happen, but look at what REALLY happened!"

I think it is hard for some people to accept that God guides each individual to different faith walks- that right now He is restricting what I read, but that that is not true for someone else. That right now He is requiring one of my friends to home school her kids, but that that is not what He is expecting of every parent... Yes, I believe there are some things he requires of every Christian, or that would be wise for every Christian to do, such as- avoid pornography, do not dress in a sexually enticing manner, avoid lewd conduct and speech, don't steal, don't kill, don't covet your neighbor's wife... However, I believe He is bringing each of us on a different path to a point where we each look like Christ- that to Him, right now, some areas of sin in my life are not what He's focused on in my faith walk, instead He's focused on the reading thing...

My experience/opinion is that when some people get a bee in their bonnet (specifically referring to the Halloween thing right now) they think it's "evil" for ALL and must be eradicated, when I think that maybe for them, right now, it is something "evil" and that they should personally avoid it, but that it is not something God's all that worried about in general... I don't know. I'll probably know in heaven, but I don't right now.

I admit I am ANGRY at my old pastor right now for a lot of very valid reasons and that I was hurt for my friends who had been busily planning a fun time for kids and then got told from the pulpit one week before the event that he wouldn't let them have the party... He did it poorly, and has been very callous repeatedly to a lot of people that he says he cares about... And it seems that I, who have been asked to leave the church, care much more for the body and the kids than he does... I do not understand God! There are times when He just doesn't make any sense to me at all... I would do things so differently if I were in charge. (Aren't you glad I'm not? I am!) I know that one day I'll understand all the stuff that was going on in the background, but right now I'm pretty clueless...

Spirit Quotes

I'm in the middle of reading Philip Yancey's "Reaching for the Invisibile God". Excellent book.
Here's a quote from pg. 152-

J.I. Packer chides the church: 'With a perversity as pathetic as it is impoverishing, we have become preoccupied today with the extraordinary, sporadic, non-universal ministries of the Spirit to the neglect of the ordinary, general ones. Thus, we show a great deal more interest in the gifts of healing and tongues- gifts which, as Paul pointed out, not all Christians are meant to partake anyway- than in the spirit's ordinary work of giving peace, joy, hope, and love, through the shedding abroad in our hearts of knowledge of the love of God.'

And another quote from the same page:
"The Spirit cannot be kept like a personal pet, living in a small compartment somewhere inside us to be brought out at will. The living presence of God inside us should permeate everything we see and do... The Spirit does not act on us so much as with us, as a part of us- a God of the process, not a God of the gaps."

Musings on Halloween

THANK YOU
First, I'd like to thank the Woolery's for the lovely butterfly costume. Deborah danced around all night pretending to fly. She had so much fun dressing up, and she loved getting to wear wings. She was adorable! Thank you.

FAVORITE GROUP
I stayed home with Deborah (Jake was at work at FM) and answered the door to give out candy, and my favorite group this year was composed of: one very tall teenage boy dressed as a soldier in camouflage and obviously in charge of the rest; three middle age boys (7th-9th graders)- one in a cape & some kind of superhero, one dressed as a student from Hogwarts, and the other was something scarey; and finally, (the best part) two little ones- a tiny little girl (2 or 3 years old) dressed as a tiger-striped cat, and a little boy (4 or 5) dressed in something red, either a power ranger or a samurai. I loved the way the older kid made sure everybody got candy, that the little ones were in front, and that everybody said thank you...

DISTURBING TREND NOTED
I jumped off Jon Polk's site and found this very funny, very sad story from a guy with three daughters who took them to buy costumes. I wish I could remember this guy's name, but I just can't... He noticed that most of the costumes for girls followed a trend: slut vampire, slut princess, slut witch... I have to say there is a LOT of truth to that, particularly after answering the door all night, and I'd like to add my own observations to the trend: slut fairy, slut cheerleader, and the ever-popular slut prostitute with pimp boyfriend accessory (I'm not lying... they were with another girl who was dressed as a witch, but the two of them were obviously some kind of pair).

OUR CHURCH, OR RATHER OUR NO-LONGER CHURCH
We found out that our old church no longer will be doing a Harvest party/Halloween alternative because of our lovely new pastor's convictions. We still have contact with some of the members, who were/are dear friends... Our church has offered a Halloween alternative party for a couple of years and it's been a great outreach to our military post. In fact, I know of one family who joined the church because they came with friends to the Harvest thing and then ended up visiting the church that Sunday... So, the hospitality committee was busily planning and organizing the party when our new pastor preached a sermon about "why we will never offer a fall festival event".... And the hospitality committee called everybody that Sunday and pulled the plug on their plans... Pretty sad since it was such a great outreach event... Reflective of this new pastor and his beliefs and also reflective of why we've left the church.

I've got to say to everybody who gets all up in arms about Halloween and it's pagan origins: "CATCH A CLUE!!" Almost all of our Christian holidays have pagan origins!! If you're going to complain about one holiday, why on earth are you not forgoing all of the holidays????!! When Constantine converted over to Catholicism and performed entire army baptisms (mass sprinklings) and forced so many people to become Christians one of the things he did/ or the local priests did/ or somebody did (I actually don't know if it was the people who changed these holidays over or the guys in charge, I just know it really happened) to make Christianity more acceptable to everybody was just adopting over most of the pagan holidays... Wholesale they took over all these holidays and all of their trappings and made them Christian holidays. They made Yule-tide (sound familiar?) into Christ-mas and adopted the tree and wreaths, Easter was adopted as Christ's resurrection day because it was the day the old god was regenerated and the baby animals and eggs were symbols of his return... For more information on these holidays, check out this site: http://www.geocities.com/lavenderwater37/holidays.htm
So, if you're gonna get all upset about Halloween, I'd think you'd want to give up at least Christmas and Easter as well. Some of our other holidays have pagan origins, too...

Anyway, I'm just sad they'll no longer be offering a party where kids can dress up and have fun. While I don't like some Halloween costumes, (notice the slut comments earlier) I LOVE dressing up, and going to parties, and eating candy... We always went to the parties at our church or at school, and though I never really went trick-or-treating, but this was always a fun holiday for me. I know there is a spiritual world all around us that we can't see... I'm just not sure it's any closer on one day of the year than it is on any other day... At least not for a Christian who has Jesus living inside him...

Long Time, No Post

I haven't really posted in a while. You might not have even noticed, but I have. We've got two things going on- First, we've switched our main computer over to my Mom's, so I'm missing tons of stuff. Second, Beth & I are madly in the process of putting together a blog with our beadwork on it. We've got a name and we've started to put the thing together: twosistersbeadwork. Right now, there is nothing there. I repeat, DON'T LOOK FOR IT- It's empty. We're building a lightbox, and taking pictures and working on the thing... So, I've got thoughts and plans and stuff I want to write over here, but no time... Will write soon!

Allergies

So, we finally did an allergy test on Abigail to pinpoint the stuff she really is allergic to... And she's allergic to NOTHING. Randomly weird. The doctor said that means she probably has food "sensitivities". Lovely. We were looking for some answers and really feel like we got nowhere. He also said that this could make stuff more difficult to pin down, and that sensitivities might eventually turn into allergies or they could just go away... How very frustrating! The sensitivities thing could mean that her body lacks the enzymes to digest something (like lactose intolerence) or it could mean it just sets the balance of her digestive system off. Well, I'm more willing to just let her try new stuff now. We'll still have to go slow, but not as crazy slow as we've been going. And I'm not freaked out about the major things- wheat, eggs, peanuts... I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about food, and feeding my family- a major portion of my day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks... Planning, preparing, eating... I really don't want to feed my kids stuff that makes them sick...