I have had five this week alone and many more than that in the past few months. Please pray with me that the doctors will start to find out where my body is malfunctioning so I can make any changes that need to be made and be healthy and pain-free!

The first true cold front came in today, and the sky looked so pretty and heavy with its thick quilts of clouds. The changing of the seasons is always so refreshing and invigorating. There have been quite a few changes for us recently, too. Ashley is teaching now, and I’ve quickly learned that a teacher’s schedule is not from seven a.m. to 3:30. He leaves the house at 6:30 in the morning and is often just getting home when I do, at 6:30 in the evening, and then he has to grade and prepare tomorrow’s lessons. I don’t know how he’s managing with so little sleep; I know I couldn’t! My work has had layoffs and transfers and all kinds of stuff, but I think it’s finally settling down, and I’m happy. And with everything that’s been going on, I’m so thankful that God has been our anchor, our peace, our strength, and our bright future. And I’m really thankful He created seasons!

Amber tagged me in a post. It’s been way too long since my last post, and this is a good way for me to come back.

1. Where was I ten years ago?
I was halfway through my sophomore year at Harding University, and I had officially changed my major from biology to English. I was working as an office assistant in the admissions office and as an algebra tutor and an Upward Bound sub on the side. I also kept busy with Shantih as community-service project director and with JOY club and Honors College activities. I was dating a guy I’d eventually break up with two years later.

2. What was on my to-do list today?
Call the doctor to make sure my other doctor sent him my medical records, go to work, make dinner, watch some TV, and do an hour of freelance work.

3. What would I do if I were a billionaire? (not in any particular order) I’d quit my job, live off the interest, and move overseas immediately to do mission work. I’d start a nonprofit to help children. I’d buy some new clothes and shoes. I’d give more money to my niece’s and nephew’s college funds and treat my sisters and friends to coffees all the time. I’d adopt children from Asia, and I’d get a house. I would pay off my mom’s debt. Oh, and I would fly to visit all the family and friends I haven’t in a while. I’d give more money to church and to missionaries. I would give more gifts and invite people over to dinner more. And I’d also pay for green energy and solar energy for my house.

4. Five places I’ve lived:
Howell, Michigan; San Antonio, Texas; Searcy, Arkansas, Prague, Czech Republic; Euless, Texas

5. Bad habits:
Trying to control things, lots of things, that are not a big deal; leaving my dirty clothes on the floor in the bathroom

In true Heifer International style (that’s one of my favorite nonprofits; they train families to care for livestock, and then the families must pass on the first born of their animals to another family in the village), I would like to introduce someone else to the fun that is making your own jam. Earlier this week, I read Alisha’s blog post about this — Alisha is a missionary in Vienna — and since I live near the German Deli, where she recommended buying gelling sugar, and the German Deli is down the street from Central Market, where I had a coupon for $10 of free produce this week, I decided there was no time like the present to learn how to can. I was surprised by how easy this task was, and I finished in less than an hour. If you don’t use the German gelling sugar (you can order it online), making jam is a bit more complicated, as you then have to find the right combo of pectin, sugar, and acid for your fruit. The gelling sugar is premixed, so it is perfect for beginning canners. You just use twice as much fruit as gelling sugar. We used about 340 grams of raspberries (so 170 grams of gelling sugar, and since I have a scale, I was able to measure) to make one jar of raspberry jam. With about 350 grams of blueberries, we made one jar of blueberry jam. If you read Alisha’s post, you’ll see that she used strawberries, and since strawberries produce more natural juice, you get more jam for less berry weight with them. Also, we combined the instructions from Alisha’s post with the directions in German on the gelling sugar sack and with some other online instructions we found. What did we do differently? We stirred the fruit at a rolling boil with the gelling sugar for at least three minutes, and we turned our cans upside down for 15 minutes immediately after filling them. Read and see more about our culinary adventure here.

How did it get to be the last week of June already?! Ashley and I have been action heroes the past month, to say the least. Here’s a family update:

We’ve been happily involved with our church and have enjoyed celebrating graduations and first birthdays, hanging out with the college class (which Ashley is second-in-command of teaching, after Jessy), and participating with the congregation in selecting new elders. Oh yeah, and last week, Ashley was a sponsor for the youth Uplift trip to Harding so our youth minister could stay home with his very pregnant wife. Whew! Here’s a photo of Ashley with the graduation present some of our friends surprised him with. It came just in time, since he had only 300 megabytes left on his hard drive.

We are three lessons into our dance instruction. Our teachers (a married couple) are probably in their 80s, and the wife is a sassy little thing. The husband says the men must lead — it’s their last stand! We’ve learned basic steps of the fox trot, swing, and the rumba. Ashley likes box steps. I like not box steps. But so far, we both still have all 10 toes, so we’re pretty much set.

Ashley is job hunting, and I am hoping to keep mine. Layoffs loom, and oh how I do not want to be a victim of the pink slip. This weekend, Ashley came down with a sinus infection. I think it’s partially due to extreme stress. Just call me Dr. J.

I look forward to a day when I either (a) become much better at balancing all of life’s activities, responsibilities, budgets, etc., or (b) have fewer activities, responsibilities, budgets, etc. to balance! Sometimes I have to take a deep breath and realize that I just can’t do it all, and that that’s okay. I can manage keeping up with the necessities! To debrief and unwind from these chaotic days, we strive to squeeze in a few late-night walks each week in our local park. We found a little friend last week!

As I promised, I am announcing my big birthday present from Ashley this year. My husband is so creative! We’re taking dance lessons (YAY!), and as this is so not Ashley’s cup of tea, I do feel very loved. Like my two new bods?!

With this year’s birthday, I have reached “eternal age” of women: 29. I still remember my great aunt Dorothy telling me she was 29, when, in fact, she was in her late 50s. Thanks to everyone who has made my birthday so special this year: my family (for the fun party last weekend), Lana and Jen (who took me out), Sherri (who brought in yumminess for all of us at work to share), all those who sent cards and wrote on my Facebook wall, Janet (who sent me three gifts to open in the weeks leading up to my birthday – woohoo!), Brooke and Jess and Cody and Glenda and Grandma D. and the sisters (who all called me), Olan and Lora (for the Panera treat), and Ashley (who tackled planning my birthday this year with never-before-seen gusto and showered me with lots of presents, love, and quality time). After work on the day of my birthday, Ashley and I made enchiladas, watched some season finales, and ate pie while I opened presents. More on my big present will come later. We’d had a little celebration with my family the weekend before, where there were also pie and presents. Today, Ashley and I went to the lake that’s 20 minutes from us and had a picnic. Tonight, we went to La Hacienda Ranch for some fajita goodness. Then we finished the evening with a walk. Here are some photos of the festivities, starting in San Antonio (pre-sunburn) and finishing at La Hacienda Ranch.

I’ve pedaled my way through this Saturday at record pace! I woke up at five a.m. to get ready for the Fort Worth Tarrant County Race for the Cure. I was at the church by 6:30, and by 7:15 or so, we were all enjoying free bananas, water, tea, yogurt, Panera, and Starbucks — not to mention scarves, key chains, etc. Race for the Cure is like a free carnival that caters specifically to women; it offers a really positive, healthy atmosphere of friendship, strength, encouragement, support, and love. I’ve participated in the Arkansas race before, but today was my initiation into the Fort Worth version. I’ve enjoyed every one of my Race for the Cure experiences, and I walk to celebrate my grandma’s victory over breast cancer and to support my sisters in Christ who’ve also battled this disease, personally or in their family. Photos of our group come courtesy of Brandi. You may notice our crew has grown by the end of the race. With a 6:30 Saturday morning departure time, there were bound to be a few who overslept and had to catch up! But we all made it eventually. After I got home, Ashley and I went to the park, where we were reminded that today and tomorrow are Arbor Daze in our town. So, we went and checked out the festivities there for a while. Then we came home and watched Jeeves and Wooster, and now I am working on tallying receipts and checking our budget. Amazingly, I haven’t required a nap yet! I guess a 5K can really start the day off right! I’ll post the race photos now and Arbor Daze photos in a few days.

When I was in high school, I started to experiment with cooking. I made many not-so-tasty things in the process, but my sisters and I both approved of the creation that was distantly related to beef Stroganoff. It’s been years since I’ve had, or even thought of, that dish, but Shannon mentioned to me last week that she’s introduced her family to it and revamped it a bit. So, the meal that started with just egg noodles, hamburger meat, and swiss or mozzarella cheese has become this much-improved version:

RECIPE FOR BEEF STROGANOFF

One package egg noodles, cooked

One small can of Shitake mushrooms, sauteed

One-half pound of ground beef, seasoned with onion salt and browned

One package brown gravy mix, prepared

Grated swiss or mozzarella cheese to taste

Boil and strain noodles and then combine with meat, mushrooms, and cheese (I prefer swiss). Mix in gravy. Serve! (Shannon doesn’t use mushrooms, but she adds onions.)