One Hundred Push Ups

Jon and I have started an endeavor called "One Hundred Push Ups" and this program basically trains you to do 100 push-ups in 6 - 8 weeks.

I'm actually okay if I never get to 100 but I know the training will at least tone my arms a bit! We're on week two and I'm right on track (this stage is still a little light for Jon unfortunately). Jon watches me and tells me when I do "good" push-ups. I don't think I do any truly poor push-ups (like sticking my butt up in the air or anything like that) but out of my averageness Jon likes to encourage me when my push-ups would pass the drill instructor's approval. We both did near 60 push-ups today broken up into 5 sets. I'm feeling it in my abs (which you should if you're doing drill-instructor-passing push-ups), shoulders and arms of course. Plus I've started looking up when I do them instead of watching the ground come at me all the time!

We try to do our exercises when the girls are sleeping. Last week Abi woke up as I was finishing up and she sat on me. Today she tried counting with Jon and counted "1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7! 8! 9! 10! 11! 12! 14! 14! 17! 19! 12!" Needless to say Jon lost track of how many he did :) I'll try to keep you updated on our push-up progress!

My Summer Reading Selection

I might not get to all of these (upon further review, I won't - let's be realistic) but this is the list of books I will likely choose from this summer. Let me know what you have on your list!! In no particular order...

* Bringing Up Girls - Dr. James Dobson. FOR OBVIOUS REASONS :) Four years in the making Dr. Dobson finally comes out with the partner to Bringing Up Boys.

* The Mission-Minded Family - Ann Dunagan. Developing a mind-set of leadership, calling, & destiny as well as self-sacrifice and submission to God is important to us. I want to teach my kids these attributes by living them myself and implementing in our daily family life.

* The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien. I read this in high school and would love to reacquaint myself with the story that precedes the Lord of the Rings. Especially since the movie will be coming out soon!

* How to Write & Illustrate Children's Books and Get Them Published. I've been weaseling through this for 5 years or so. I promise I'll finish it this summer!! I have so many ideas rolling around in my head and I don't want my illustrations to crash in technical faux pas.

* Eternity in Their Hearts - Don Richardson. Jon has been urging that I read this, and I think now is the time. It gives tons of stories about how the concept of the True God has existed for centuries in different cultures around the world. It's kind of the answer for the question of how someone who's never heard of Jesus can be saved.

* Mini-Skirts, Mothers, & Muslims - Christine Mallouhi. A book on how NOT to offend Muslim women :) A friend recommended it to me and it sounds intriguing, especially as we are getting closer to moving to Central Asia and living among Muslims.

* War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy. I'm sure I won't get anywhere near finished, but I want to keep a classic in the mix as much as I can. Here's to reading one chapter, falling asleep, and drooling all over Chapter Two.

Chocolate Truffle Moments

I was cleaning out my studio space and came across what I thought was an old sketch book. It turned out to be my journal from my short time with the Peace Corps. One entry in particular caught my eye; I'll call it "Chocolate Truffle Moments." You will need a little background to understand my wording. I adore chocolate truffles and all their various layers, textures, colors, and flavors. I eat them very slowly. Probably way slower than you're meant to, as in, it probably takes me between 4 and 8 bites to polish one off. In other words, I savor them in all their delectable decadence. I let each morsel melt in my mouth, and focus on the flavors as it moves over my tongue. I even sit for a moment and continue to "taste" it even after I've swallowed it. Forgive me if this is too graphic, but I wanted you to get the full context of what I'm describing. I'm not just talking about an enjoyable experience. I would use bacon or lasagna for that analogy. I'm talking about a positively scrumptious and savory moment. For that, I must use the chocolate truffle in my imagery. So with that in mind, here is the entry beginning with a "Chocolate Truffle Moment" in Central Asia upon discovering the awesomeness that is a bucket bath in a sauna.

March 9, 2005 ...I found a new love. Showers are a barbaric thing of the past for me. Everything the shower implies is everything that I dislike: hurrying and wastefulness, and even besides that, there's no meaning in a shower besides getting clean. Let me tell you what God intended: bucket baths in a sauna. The smell of warm, wet cedar and a little bit of wood-burning smoke from the fire under the metal water bowl is sweet and relaxing. The water is as warm as you want it to be and there's no crowding. You want to sit down for a while? Go ahead, and don't worry about wasting water trying to keep warm, the whole room is warm! Spread out and shave your legs! And when you're done, dump the bucket over your head and let the steam roll off you. Leave the room in a billow of heat and feel fresher and cleaner than you ever have! It was a chocolate truffle moment for me. Then I though to myself, why can't all moments be chocolate truffle moments? When I was in the States, I surely didn't find my morning routine something to be enjoyed. But maybe this was what [Oswald] Chambers meant by changing the mundane. Why should ordinary events be downplayed? Why should they be precursors to the actual event? Can't they be an event in themselves? What am I doing? If it's not a truffle to me, I need to find a way to make it one. Do it differently...change my attitude...to find joy in the mundane and even in the fire. Life is a truffle and all the things that make life what it is.

I think this moment was doubly significant since up to this point, I hadn't washed my hair in over two weeks. NONE THE LESS. I am aware that as a mom, things get pretty mundane. Or at the very least, monotonous. But when did I stop being fascinated with my surroundings, enraptured with God's creation and the beauty of life? When did I stop...laughing? When did I stop taking in the breathless vistas of every corner turned? When did I stop relishing the moments past, savoring the moments present, and anticipating the moments to come? I have become BORING and BORED. I realize that as one approaches 30 and you find yourself married with two kids and car payments, you have to make room in your head for all that "responsible stuff." But golly-gosh-darnit, who let all the helium out of my balloons? Oh, it was me.

Well no more!! I am awakening to the fact that I don't have to just GET BY. I am completely allowing for those "survival" seasons, like those first months after having a baby, or the death of a loved one, or a big move. I know what it's like to repeat to myself, "Just survive today." But that is not and should not be the majority of my days. By God's grace I can live with passion again, and it's not because I'm expecting wild and crazy things to happen to me each day. It's because I'm resolving to appreciate, learn, and enjoy. (Just like the cute & tiny Brenda in this picture)

Be on the look out for more Chocolate Truffle Moments to come, and start taking notice of the not-so-mundane around you.

Brenda's Many Faces of the NFC Championship Game...

As a tribute to my beloved Vikings...here is just a snapshot of the many faces I made during the game tonight.

"HOLD ONTO THE STINKING BALL ADRIAN PETERSON!!!!! YOU KNUCKLEHEAD!!!"

"OOOOO that HAD to hurt...don't break our fragile quarterback!"

"Hooray! We did something good!"

"But now we've done something very, very bad!"

"Are you serious...ANOTHER turn over?"

"A glimmer of hope?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOWCOULDYOUTHROWANINTERCEPTIONBRETTFAVRE I'M GONNA POOP ON YOUR PILLOW!!!"

"PASS INTERFERENCE AGAIN?! STOP IT DEFENSE! STOP IT!"

"We're gonna lose this game. And I don't like it. Not one bit."

"Good-bye Super Bowl"

I tip my hat to the 2009 Vikings, and will repeat my mantra for 2010: there's always next year. There's always next year.

New Adventures in the Life of Brenda #13: A Trip to Aldi's

I noticed I had this post drafted but never published. So I finished it for your reading enjoyment. So, yeah...enjoy :)

After 3 days of scraping by without milk, bread, fruit, eggs, noodles, meat, or (most devastating) MAC N CHEESE, I finally wrote up a grocery list and committed myself to getting groceries no matter the cost. We were in Chanhassen for the morning & early afternoon visiting with family so I decided that when Abigail woke from her nap we'd leave and I'd pick up groceries on the way home. Thus begins my tale of woe.

It can be a long 20 minute drive back to Minneapolis from Chanhassen, especially if your baby decides to serenade you with her rendition of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (which is what I might assume a cat on a hot tin roof would sound like). It is excruciatingly slow if your baby is screaming as you creep along the Crosstown at a snail's pace in the midst of an endless snake of brake lights. As I inched through Edina passing exit after exit, I began to plan out alternate routes to Cub - anything to get off the highway. I got off on Penn and while waiting at the stop light, I had an epiphany. I looked to my right and there, in stately majesty, was a Lund's. I sighed. I knew I would probably spend ten to twenty bucks more by stopping here than at Cub, but Lund's was HERE and Cub was not. So I turned toward the overpriced (but at least they bag your groceries for you) grocery store. As I was driving toward it, I saw that just south of it was an Aldi's. Hmm, I thought, I've been meaning to check out an Aldi's and see what all the fuss is about. And by fuss, I mean my Aunt Marie lecturing me in her kitchen while she waved a green pepper and a paring knife around in my face. It was also the store we were told to recommend to the refugees when I volunteered with World Relief. So I pulled into the Aldi's parking lot and took in my first impression of the place. It looked smaller than I was expecting, and didn't look very organized. But that makes sense; organization and flashy signs cost money. This is one way to keep the costs down. So I unbuckled Abi and lifted Lucie's carseat out of the carrier and we walked to the store.

Oh, the carts are outside. I'm going to have to wear gloves to push this thing! It's freezing out here! I thought to myself as I plopped Lucie's bucket seat into the front basket. I pulled on the handle only to rattle and disturb my entire row of carts. It was then that I realized that the carts were locked together, and the only way to unlock your cart was to pay 25 cents. This might not seem like a big deal, but for someone who pays for every purchase with plastic (yes, even to buy stamps!) it's hard to find actual money in my wallet. In fact I could find no moneys in my wallet.

I unlatched Lucie from the basket and herded Abi back to the car. Thoughts ran through my mind of just packing them up and leaving, but I was here, I should at least dig through the car for a quarter. Lo and behold we found one under the driver's seat. Who's judging my messy car now?! I inserted my quarter, unlocked my cart, and took my brood inside where we were at least flooded with a wave of warmth.

Now whenever a person visits a new grocery store, they must allow time for the search. Because you're not going to know where anything is. But at least you usually know what you're watching for. Noodles = green Creamette boxes, Mac N Cheese = blue Kraft boxes, etc, or if you're into the generics, you'll at least know your Market Pantry box of spaghetti will be next to the green Creamette box. However, I was unaware that Aldi's brands were ALL ALDI'S BRANDS. There were no green or blue boxes to guide me. I had to read every. Single. Label. And there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the layout of the store. Let's see, I'm looking for pork n beans. This aisle has mops, tortillas, hula hoops, canned soups, dish towels, and fruit juice in it. I guess it could be in this aisle...

Then it turned out that they didn't even have everything I needed! You mean I'm still going to have to go to Cub so I can get taco seasoning?! I was starting to get at tad peeved. I stood there in line, my peevishness in its infancy stages as I waited to check out. Then I noticed something. That lady just put all her food back in the cart after checking out. She's going to have a tough time getting all that food in and out of her car! I puzzled to myself. Then it hit me: there were no bags for the groceries.

WHAT KIND OF KANGAROO OUTFIT ARE THEY RUNNING HERE?!?!?!

Peevishness maturing...into adolescent stage...I searched for a logical explanation. Of course, well, it makes...sense...to cut cost a company should charge the consumer for ones bags...but it seems so...so...COMMUNIST.

Then it was my turn to check out. I lowered my pride and paid for 6 bags for my groceries. I have failed to mention that aiding in the escalation of my emotions was my infant who was probably cooked to medium-rare in her car seat (mostly red with anger) and my toddler who closed up shop on obedience for the day somewhere in the hand soap and cookie aisle. Who could blame them?! I had just spent an hour in the grocery store moving at a snail's pace at their cranky "I WANT DINNER!" hour.

But Aldi's wasn't done. There was one last surprise that they were holding out on. One final straw for this camel's back.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the man said as he handed me back my Visa. "We don't take credit cards."

I stared at the man blankly. In a moment, my mind screamed, "You don't take credit cards? Where are we?! The Turkish Bazaar? Even booths at the State Fair let me use a credit card! Heck! I paid for Girl Scout cookies with plastic! You mean to tell me that a chain grocery store in the 21st Century does NOT take credit cards?!?!?!" But the moment passed and my face remained blank as my little heart surrendered, waving a tiny white flag before the cashier. Of course they wouldn't accept credit cards. Of course they wouldn't.

I almost dragged my children dejectedly out of the grocery store sans groceries after an hour of shopping, but then - AHA! I remembered. By a miracle of God and because of his supreme mercy (no joke, I would have melted into a pile of goo if God had not shown His mercy on me in that moment) I reached into my diaper bag and what should I find but a dust-covered, cobweb-filled check book. Do I ever carry my checkbook with me? Never. How did it get in my diaper bag? I'll never know. But it was there nonetheless, almost glowing with an aura of victory.

"What's the date today?" I asked the cashier with a look that said who has the upper hand now?!

I rolled my bought & paid for groceries out to my car, stuffed my little screamers into their car seats, returned the cart, got my quarter back and promptly stuffed it under my seat where it belonged. I looked up at the glowing sign and made a solemn oath: I will never shop at Aldi's again. Shaking my angry fist, I added just for emphasis: NEVAH!

An Innocent Prayer

Abi prays before every meal and before bed. And she will often just stop playing and pray sometimes. One of those times occurred this evening as we were eating. She put her spoon down and folded her hands and said, "Mama, pray?" So I followed suit and she began. I'll just put a list of all the things and people she prayed for:

* dinner. plus the fact that she wanted more cranberries.
* Mama
* Daddy
* Lucie
* Abi's house
* Daddy's work and Daddy's school
* Uncle Tristan
* Aunt Michelle
* Uncle Brian
* Grandma
* Grandpa
* Uncle Jay
* Uncle Matt
* Aunt Julie
* Nana
* Papa
* Aryn
* Anna Joy
* Goat and
* Elmo Puppet (I think she prayed that no one would take Elmo Puppet)

Sorry if you didn't make the list!

Navitity Tradition

My first Christmas at the Gill's, I noticed that my mother-in-law's nativity set had a few more participants than the usual baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men, and angels. As I looked I noticed that there were little figures from all over the world gathered around the manger. (Anyone who knows my in-laws knows that they are not the stay at home types, and they've been to countless countries.) Wooden figures from Russia, little dolls from Germany, a Maltese knight, a dainty Chinese girl, and I think even Bart Simpson showed up in the nativity that year.

Cynthia commented that every knee would one day bow to the King of Kings. I saw her nativity not as an event that transpired 2000 years ago, but as an event that is happening in the present and will happen again someday in the future. People from all over the world bring their honor to Christ as the shepherds did. People from all over the world bring gifts to Jesus as the wise men did. Like the "Little Drummer Boy" who had nothing to give but playing his drum for Jesus, I have nothing to give but my few talents and my life in service.

So now we collect little figurines from the corners of the earth to represent the peoples who honor and WILL honor our Lord Jesus Christ with us. I can't wait to show Abigail all the countries represented in our Nativity and explain how people all over the world love Jesus!

(As a side note, I wanted this particular image in my post. I remembered it was called "Adoration of the Magi" by Fabriano. I'm pretty pumped that I was able to recall something from my Art History major...)