Passover

Yesterday, like every other years since 1991 Mom's eighth grade Sunday school class was at our house to celebrate a seder dinner.  Here are some pictures:

The tables are set and ready to go

Matzah Tasch (three pocketed ceremonial Matzo bag)

Seder plate with ceremonial items (from top clockwise: roasted egg, lamb shank bone, charoset, horseradish, parsley. Center: bitter herbs)

David being a goofball while eating the roasted egg

lots of good food and fellowship around the table

Photo Friday - Valentine's day

I'm going to try and become more conscientious about blogging regularly.  One of the ways I want to do that is by having photo-Fridays...the day of he week where I post photos from the last week or some other recent event.  If I can come up with cool things to call other days of the week, I might try them out too.  Suggestions are welcome ;)
So this week, I'm going to post about Valentines Day because I have an amazing husband.  He told me ahead of time that he was going to make me dinner and that Mom was going to help him because I doubted his cooking skills.  I shouldn't have because he made me an amazing dinner.  He also told me we were going to have guests for dinner which made me a little unhappy until I figured out who the "guests" were.

Sweet Potato Heads!  Potatoes have played a major part in our relationship and we have 4 Mr./Mrs. Potato head figurines in our apartment, so this was very fitting.  The potatoes are baked and the vegetables are fresh. There were extra "parts" in a bowl for dipping.

He also made me bacon covered cranberry meatloaf.  Honestly, bacon makes everything better, and it was heart shaped.  I love my husband!

I made him heart shaped donuts with pretties on top.  The donuts were chocolate which is his favorite!

I even wrote his name on one of them!

All in all, it was a wonderful Valentines day and I have the bestest husband in the world (sorry mommy)

Thankful

Throughout the month of November many of my friends have been posting daily "thankful" statuses on facebook or on their blogs, listing a different thing that they are thankful for every day, in no particular order. I was not that on top of things and didn't participate in the 30 days of thankfulness this year, so now I've decided to make a more cumulative posting of things that I am thankful for in no particular order.
1. I am thankful for my husband David.  He is super supportive and loving and I would not have gotten through these last few months without him by my side.
2. I am thankful for the beautiful hoar-frost outside my window this morning.  It's our first hoar-frost of the winter and it reminds of why I like winter.
3. My parents.  They have been super gracious about letting David and I live in the apartment attached to their house and finding work that we can do around the house so that we don't have to pay rent in a monetary fashion every month.  Without their generosity we would not be able to live in Canada.
4. I am thankful that David got accepted to Tyndale.  This will hopefully allow him to get a student visa and may streamline the immigration process.
5. I am thankful for my computer.  It allows me to stay connected with the outside world even when I can't get out. It even allows me to do some Christmas shopping online.
6. My team of doctors.  For the most part, they believe in me and aren't going to give up on me any time soon. Sometimes they even have answers for me as to what is wrong with me and know how to fix it.
7. Beans and rice.  On a limited budget we eat a lot of beans and rice.  I'm thankful that they are such a versatile dish and we can season them in many, many different ways.
8. Free health care.  With my health concerns, even in the past few months, I have been to the hospital/doctor many times. If we were living somewhere where we didn't have free health care, we would be bankrupt by now. Instead, the financial costs of my hospitalizations were something that we didn't have to worry about.
9. Facebook.  Yes, sometimes facebook can be addicting and I can waste too much time on it, but it allows me to stay connected with people I care about, stalk those who happen to cross my newsfeed, and even brings me occasional interesting news articles.
10. Advent. I love Advent.  Not as much as I like Lent and Easter, but still a lot.  I like the season of waiting and hoping and preparing.  I like the constant reminder of Advent that we are living in the "already, not yet" time.  Christ has already come once, but he has not yet come the second time.
11. My brothers.  Even though they can be annoying sometimes and don't always do what they know they are supposed to, they often do help out when I need them to do something that I either can't do or am simply too lazy to do myself, like blowing up my big exercise ball so I can bounce on it or move heavy boxes for me. On very rare occasions they'll even help without being asked.
12. Books.  Since I am not taking classes right now I'm enjoying a reprieve from academic reading and enjoying pleasure reading for the first time in many years. Reading books allows me to escape into a world of fantasy and fiction, even if just for a short time.
13. The public library.  Without the library I would not have access to hundreds of books for free. David and I go to the library every other week or so.
14. My parents' cars.  Because my parents are awesome they let us borrow their vehicles regularly. This allows David to take me to various appointments, grocery shopping, etc.
15. Modern medicine.  Even though I dislike taking drugs, I take a lot of them every day, just to keep me on an even keel, prevent seizure, help me sleep, keep my digestive system from having spasms, and make up for the vitamins and minerals that I don't get from food (ie: calcium).  And then there are my emergency medications such as my epi-pen that have saved my life more than once.
16. Traditions.  Traditions help keep some semblance of continuity and sameness, while allowing for variation.  Since this is David's and my first Christmas as married couple, we are developing some of our own traditions such as our beautiful Advent calendar that I picked up at Operation Christmas Child and giving our gifts on Dec. 6 instead of Dec. 25, and holding on to some older traditions from my family such as hanging brass ornaments in the window.
17.  A warm, dry place to live.  So many people in the world don't have that and David and I are blessed with ample room that is warm and dry.
19.  Church.  Even though I don't always see eye-to-eye with the institution of the church as set up by mankind, I am thankful for the Church as a whole - the body of believers that are the Church universal.
20. In the same vein as number 19, I am thankful that I am free to attend church without risk of prosecution.  I don't always make it to church as often as I'd like (mornings are sometimes rough for me and if I'm too tired I stay home), but I'm thankful that I have the option.
21.  Friends near and far. I don't mean just the "hi! How are you doing?" "Fine and you?" type friends, but the friends that let me be painfully real and honest and vulnerable with them and who do the same with me, even if it is only over facebook.
22. Alpacas.  Even though I sometimes don't want to get out of bed to take care of them in the morning my life would not be the same without these furry, wonderful creatures. Especially the babies.  They are always up to some sort of mischief or another.
23. Indoor swimming pools.  I love swimming.  If I had been born a fish I don't think I would have objected. Indoor pools let me swim year round.  I just wish there was one closer than an hour away!
24. Emma.  Emma is a horse that lives nearby that I am allowed to ride whenever I please. The only condition is that I brush her before and after. She provides much relaxation to me.
25. Easter.  Easter is my favorite holiday of all.  I start counting down for Easter as soon as Easter is done. I love the gospel of Easter so much!

That's all for tonight.  I'm getting sleepy and my fingers are hitting the wrong keys more often than the right ones...

Back to Wedding Pictures

A shot of the front

Exchanging rings

The very first awkward kiss

Pouring the sand for the unity candle

...and coming....

Gracie Jo carrying in the unity candle

Jude stealing the show.  He's cute and he knows it. 

Papa walking me down the aisle.

David and I at the altar...breathe in, breathe out....

And they just keep coming....

Reuben "escorting" Grandma down the aisle

Grandpa carrying his jar of sand in for the unity candle

Paul carrying his jar in

My mom with our family candle

David's mom with his family candle.

Even more wedding photos...

And some more...

A very fast change of my earrings since the right ones got left at home and someone had to run back and get them. 

yummy cake.  Actually I can only personally vouch for the taste of the little one with blue flowers, but I'm sure the other was good too. 

Sister Ashley playing the piano.  The music there is Isaac's music, not her's.  She's just that amazing and I was honored to have her play at the wedding.

Would you like a bulletin???  Levi and Silas were my (junior) ushers. 

More Wedding pictures

Here's more wedding photos

I am making faces at Katie.  I'm not sure what is going on with my veil/hair

This is Katie.  I was making faces at her to make her smile.

Gracie-Jo was my junior bridesmaid.  She's adorable. 

Jude was our ring bearer.  He pretty much stole the show with he cuteness.  My friend Mariah W. made the pillow for us.

Married (with photos)

My last post was a week before I got married.  The last 4 weeks have been incredible.  So many changes, so much happiness.   The wedding and reception went off with only a few minor hitches...the pastor forgot to tell us when we could kiss and we kinda just looked at each other going "is this the part where we kiss?" and the person who was supposed to unlock the reception site never showed up so my dad just cut the gate open. The weather was wonderful and everyone had a great time.
Our honeymoon was great too, but that's a whole 'nother story for another time.  What everyone really wants to see is wedding pictures....

Wedding bands

The boys and Sarah Elizabeth (and Talia) hard at work in the caboose making supper

Getting my veil arranged

Set up for a wedding

Seizure and Wedding News

Just because I haven't posted in awhile doesn't mean that things haven't been happening.  It actually means that too much has been happening and I haven't had time to sit down and write!
We haven't had any more babies since the pictures I've already posted, but should have some soon.  Reglisse is already at 360 days, and Atarah isn't far behind her.  They are both first timers though, so it's hard to say for sure.  I'll post pictures as soon as those babies get to the outside!
And now for some pictures of another sort.  I captured these just before dinner tonight.

201 days without a seizure.  We have started tapering me off of one of my seizure medications and so far I'm doing great without it.  It will be a long slow taper and there are no promises that it will work, but for now, I'm optimistic.  Prayer point for this: that I continue to remain seizure free and that the taper goes well with no  adverse side effects. 

And the wedding is 2 months away.  2 months.  AHHHH!  that scream is both excitement, nerves, and everything else.  Prayer point for this:  David is still not able to get here due to some visa issues.  Prayers that that clears up would be great.

And that's all for now.  It's bed time. 

Answered Prayer

A while back I wrote about how seemingly insignificant actions can have profound impacts on people, beyond what you can easily tell.  Today someone acted in a seemingly insignificant way and became an answer to prayer.
I was having a rough day.  I was having a go round with "sunburn syndrome", a condition in which it feels like my entire body is sunburnt, even though it is not.   I don't know why it happens to me, but it does and I hate it. ( It's very uncomfortable.  It's also sometimes called allodynia, for those of you who are curious).  I'd spend most the day on pain meds and benadryl (pain meds to take the edge off, benadryl to try and sleep it off), and was generally not feeling great.  The thought of going to the freezer to get something out for supper sound unimaginably painful.  I was wishing I could just order pizza or take out or something; anything that involved me not having to cook or open the freezer (cold is more painful that hot when I have sunburn syndrome). I was kinda down on myself and not even sure if I was even going to eat.
I left the house to deliver some mail to a neighbor that had erroneously been delivered to me.  As I was walking back I saw one of the neighborhood kiddos.  She waved at me and I waved back.  I followed her into the backyard and he mother invited me in for dinner. They were having the international students over to get to know them better.  She said right away that there was no pressure with the food (she wasn't expecting me and feeding me is just hard in general), but I was welcome to come visit.  I agreed and came in.  Sitting with other people is no more painful than sitting alone.  We went through the food and found some rice and fruit that I could eat, so I ate and I visited and played with the kiddos.  Afterwards, while I was helping clean up I told my friend she had been an answer to prayer.  She hadn't even known it.
G-d is good like that.
Now it's time to brave the shower and go to bed.
Good night all!

Rejoicing and Lifting up

As with many things in life there is often and upside and a downside.  Sometimes they are completely unrelated.
First for the upside and super-duper happy news:
As of August 6, 2011 it will have been 100 days since I had a seizure. This is cause for great celebration. As Psalm 30:2 say, the LORD is the one who brings healing. I invite you to come celebrate with me and others.

It will be a rather informal (I don't do formal well) come and go type event from about 5pm-10pm. I'll have yummy baked goods, maybe some cheese and crackers, and a veggie tray and maybe some fruit of some sort out for snacking (we'll see how adventuresome I feeling this week). I'll probably also have some juice, tea (lots of tea, I like tea) and water available. If you'd like to bring something to share, please feel free, but it is not required by any means (no alcoholic beverages please).
I hope at some point to have a fire and maybe some marshmallows and s'more type stuff stuff out as well.
Feel free to bring spouses, significant others, children, etc as you feel is appropriate. And bring a lawn chair. That would be very useful.
I know some of you that I'm inviting can't come because you are in different states/countries/etc, but I still wanted you to feel invited. And if you can come, that would be amazing!! If I forgot to invite you and you see this, feel free to invite yourself. My brain has been known to forget people before (never intentionally!).
So, come celebrate with me :)
If you don't know where my back yard is, message me and I'll fill you in. I don't want to post the address here where anyone can see it because I don't want creepers at the celebration because that would be creepy.


Now for the downside/prayer request that is completely unrelated:
My dad is sick.  He has some sort of flesh eating bacteria or something and it's making him really really sick.  This kind of infection can be deadly if it isn't treated soon enough.  Thankfully, Mommy and Papa found it in time and he's on IV antibiotics.   Please pray for him and for my family.  He doesn't like being sick (no one does) and it could be awhile before he is well enough to go back to work.   Please pray that the doctors have wisdom in treating him and that he has patience as he heals.  Please also pray for a quite healing.  We serve a G-d of healing as evidenced by the post above.  I have confidence in that. 

It is good to go to the house of the Lord...

I love the Church.  Not necessarily individual church buildings or gatherings, but the Church Universal. That's probably a good thing since I'm in seminary and heading towards a career serving the Church in some capacity.
Sometimes things happen at churches that are extra special, like baptisms.  I love baptisms.  On Sunday we had a number of baptisms at First, and they weren't all infants!  (RCA tradition says that infants are baptized. Non-infant baptism usually indicates a new believer). As usual I took some pictures that I'm going to share.  The pictures are a little blurry/grainy, but I did my best.  And to make this particular baptism Sunday even more special, people in India were involved too!

  Two new families joined our church this morning and were welcomed into membership.

These two families presented their infants for baptism.  For some reason none of the elders were real excited about teaching this particular baptismal  class.  On the left, both parents hold Ph.D's in Biblical Studies/Theology and are professors at the seminary. Below, both parents hold the title "Reverend".  Not at all intimidating!

Reuben Alagar (above) and Nathaniel Thomas (right) are welcomed into the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism.

Reuben's paternal grandparents couldn't make the journey from India to be part of their grandson's baptism, but thanks to the wonders of technology they were brought in via Skype to watch the baptism.  The entire service was being streamed so that they could feel as if they were there, even though they were in India.

After the infants were baptized, a young person (kneeling on the right) was baptized.  It always excites me so much when a young person is baptized.  I mean, all baptisms excite me, but when it is a young person or an adult, I know they have made a decision for themselves and that makes me happy.

After the baptisms were finished, a young person made her profession of faith.  She is kneeling by the fount (on the left).  Members of the congregation were invited to come lay hands on her and pray for her as the Pastor and her best friend (who invited her to church!) offered out-loud prayers for her.  I love to see the body of Christ coming together in this way.  Young and old, everyone is there committing to this young person to continue to disciple her and guide her.

After all the baptisms were finished and we had welcomed all of our new members, Reuben's grandfather prayed for us.  I have no idea what he said since he prayed in his heart language, but it was beautiful.  Later that evening I preached on the topic of the body of Christ and this was a beautiful picture: believers around the world coming together to celebrate the sacraments, even though they are separated by many, many, many, miles.

After everything was said and done, I got some good Nathaniel cuddle time in. He was very content just to sit and lounge in my arms, looking around at the people at his baptism party. He was most content when I kept moving and bouncing him a bit.  (His legs really weren't purple...It's just a weird reflection from my shirt.  Honest, I was not cutting off any circulation!)

Psalm 30

Some days a picture is worth a thousand words.  Today is one of them.