Peace

Each night, as I'm laying my daughter down in her bed, I speak these words over her:

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
May He make His face to shine upon you,
and give you peace.

Her second name, middle name, Irina, means: Peace.

And so, mercy bleeds into peace. The kind that means something, the one that echoes: don't fear! don't fear!
I am closer than the air you breathe...
and over you, I breathe
peace.

**Image found on Pinterest via illbeasunbeam@tumblr.

My Prayer

Have mercy,
I pray with the rhythm
of a rosary~
each bead
the rock of my chair
as I nurse my child.
Have mercy.


Linking up again this Thursday with Imperfect Prose...

The Mercy of Sight

Over 6 years ago I returned from a 4 month journey to Kolkata, India. It was a life-changing trip, to say the least.

I didn't have a digital camera back then, so no photos to go with this post...but what I did have with me was a heart that was expanding with the possibilities of mercy. I find that I'm still carrying that heart with me.

Here's a story from those days:

And there was this baby. her hair was light with malnutrition and she slept in her older sister's arms. I touched her face and it felt warm even to my hot hands. She wouldn't wake and her sister begged for money. I wanted to grab that child and run- the longing of it, the pain of it piercing so deeply that I was brought to tears.

The next day we visited St. Thomas' Mount in Chennai (the place where Thomas of the New Testament supposedly died). A man was begging at the top of these steep steps. He said: have mercy on me. I smiled and said: maybe later.

I shivered in the India heat at my words: maybe later I would have mercy on him when I myself have been shown mercy before, after, and during this little life I've lived. The pain of his plea for mercy wrapped itself tightly around my heart and squeezed- not so that I would show him mercy, but because my very life depended on it as much as his own did.

The day afer I met this man, I read in Luke 18 where a blind man calls to Jesus: Son of David! Have mercy on me! He asks this even after he has been silenced by the crowds. Jesus turns to him and asks what he wants. He says: I want to see.

I find myself sitting on a street, in rags, unable to see. And I call to a Humble King: have mercy on me! I want to see again! I want the sight to know what matters. I want to know how to see so that I can truly love others. Give me vision so that I can see You.

Who wouldn't want to see such goodness as belongs to Him?
Who wouldn't be willing to give what is in both hands if it meant seeing Him more clearly? I pray for mercy that I might be such a woman.

And we are still caught in this place of waiting, asking for mercy.

Doamne ajuta.

Finding that while we sit and wait, we learn to see. While we lean on the cane of our insecurities and inability to trust, we find what keeps us from hope. And peace.

This is a mercy. To see what keeps us from sight.

Image taken from Pinterest, but orignally comes from: www.etsy.comlisting71605280happy-life

Mercies in Disguise

Have you heard THIS song by Laura Story?

Right now, I think it's our theme song.

And the other day I thought: I've been praying that He would have mercy on us.

What if this is His mercy?

What is this?
the waiting...the quiet...the dreaming...the longing...the hoping...

I have to believe it is.

**the print came from 517 Creations. Click to get the free printable!

The Return of: Things my Husband says that make me Laugh

The other day Bela said to me: I don't make you laugh like I used to. You don't write about it anymore.

I corrected him and said: That's not true, I just don't write them down anymore so I forget and then, well, they don't make the blog.

I mean, look at this picture!!! How can I not laugh at that face? Every time I need a laugh, I just think about this photo and I chuckle...



And then, there was the other day when we had this conversation.

Let me set it up for you.

We were getting into the car. The hot car. On a hot day. I was driving and Bela said: Can you PLEASE turn up the air conditioning?

I said: Yes, but why didn't you wear shorts? It's so hot out!!!

He said: My legs aren't hot, my head is!

HAHAHAHAH!!!

Truth is, and I'm sure you know this well, that when you're stuck in a place like we are, even the little things that make one laugh are a mercy.

Especially that photo.

Mercies new...

I love this photo of my little niece feeding my little girl.

The way they are looking at each other.

The tiny hand, unaccustomed to holding a bottle, and yet successfully giving what is needed.

Baby, trusting and believing that this other little one will care for her...will see the feeding through until the end.

Beauty exists here.

And love.

Even in those so little.

I feel like that tiny one, looking to my God, trusting and believing that He will care for us...will see this through until the end.

Because His mercies are new each day.

Beauty exists here.

And love.

It wasn't really about gardening (the last post, I mean)

My last post wasn't really about gardening, so I hope the title didn't scare anyone away.

What I was really trying to write about, find my way to, was mercy.

And here I am again, learning mercy.

A primary definition of mercy is to show compassion or leniency.
It's also a blessing as a divine favor.
Or compassion shown to those in distress.

Augustine said that mercy is: "ever ancient, ever new."

And the Bible's authors back up these understandings of mercy:

Psalm 40:11: LORD, don't hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.

Lamentations 3:22&23: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

We can't find work.
We being, primarily, my husband.

In this economy, that isn't a surprise.
But such understanding doesn't make the burden any lighter.
Or the toll it takes on one's spirit or self worth easier.

We knew, when we decided to move to the states from Romania, that this would not be an easy road to walk.

But, we had walked difficult roads before.

And, having worked among our friends who were poor, we thought we understood mercy.

I'm not sure we knew, though, how much we would need it.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she said that she'd been talking to her husband about this sort of a slump they found themselves in...just a general malaise that they were feeling.

She said she thought a lot of it had to do with the struggle just to make ends meet and that we, our generation, didn't really know what that meant until now.

And that can be depressing.

Feeling the noose of no extra money is a tight place to be.

It made me think of the 'extras' that we do have...maybe even tiny pieces of mercy, benevolence, compassion that make what can be bought with money worthless.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't love a job. I'm not even saying that it wouldn't be nice to have our own place or buy a second car or a new outfit.

I'm just realizing that true mercies are what truly make life worth living.

Today, these are my mercies as I see them:

~a cool evening breeze in summmer.
~dreaming
~mountains still standing tall and glorious.
~groves of orange trees
~my husband's hand
~my baby's sigh
~my sister's call
~dinner with friends
~remembering: He is closer than the air I breathe.

My next several posts will be about mercy and peace in the midst of so much living.

Gardening continued

Several weeks ago I posted about the garden we were beginning by planting tiny starts. If you missed that post, click HERE

It is with deep regret that I now post the failure of our garden.




In fact, it is not only a failure, but a graveyard.





I have to say, that those little pots full of nothing feel a little like our lives right now.

That isn't to say that we haven't been incredibly blessed. Every day we look into the face of our baby girl and are reminded of what JOY is.

But look at this photo:

Once upon a time tomato plant grew here. One morning, Bela went out to water it. That afternoon, it was completely gone. Nothing left but the little stand that was holding it high.

A gopher ripped it (if one can rip from beneath something)completely gone. As if it had never existed.


And I had to say: this too, God?

We can't keep even one measly tomato plant?

What is one supposed to do when seeds are planted in faith, watered in love, anticipated with joy...and then,

a graveyard.

What is hope supposed to do?

With all the hope that is in me, right now, I'm begging for mercy.

Because a couple of those little seeds did make it. Tenacious, they clung to life in the California heat.



And one tomato plant hasn't disappeared. It's even bearing fruit.


Mercy.

It seems that it's what hangs on when hope hasn't disappeared.

U2 or With or Without You, Ron Rapp

Almost a week ago Bela and I went to see U2 (the 360 tour)with John and JoAnna (my sister and her hubby).

First, I want to say that the first U2 concert I ever attended was due to the fact that JoAnna didn't give up trying to get tickets. I was a sophomore in high school (1988, Joshua Tree tour) and JoAnna was in 8th grade. My parents said we could go to the concert but we weren't allowed to stay out all night waiting in line for tickets. So, the moment Ticketmaster opened on that Saturday morning I was on the phone...listening to a busy signal. For hours.

Until I finally gave up.

And then Jo, the scrawny red-headed, freckle-faced, 8th grader she was, picked up the phone and dialed...quickly then yelling: I got through!

We bought our tickets and went that November 17. Sat in the nosebleed at the Collesium, was first introduced to the scent of Mary-Jane, and cried when Larry came on the big screen. It was the thrill of our short lives.

So going with Jo again, this her second U2concert, was great.

And Bela's first.




It wasn't the greatest time I've seen them...I mean, it was quite a show and the stage was amazing. But I think my favorite time seeing them EVER was in Vancouver, BC about 10 years ago. Here's the play list from that show: Elevation Tour

It was worship that night.

Still, a couple things will always stand out about this concert for me, and they are these:

Being held by Bela through most the concert because it was kindof cold...and it was close to our second anniversary. And we love each other.

Bela saying he couldn't believe he was there. And just sharing that experience together.



Watching Jo dance by herself since our seats weren't together, but then when no one came to sit next to us, Jo and John moved down to us. And then we danced and sang together.

Having this conversation with a slighty tippy Irish woman in the bathroom:

Her: I'm sitting behind you and, have you heard of Adele?
Me: Yes.
Her: Well, you look like her.
Me: Can't say that I'd know what she looks like.
Her: Well, I saw you and thought: she's Irish.
Me: I'm not.
Her: Well, I am.
The End

But this topped it all:

We arrived early to the venue (Angel Stadium) and so had time to walk around. On one particular stroll, we rounded a corner and saw: Ron Rapp.

Ron is an old friend of our parent's. He used to come to our house every Sunday evening. We've known him a long time...just haven't seen him in awhile.

So, he came into my line of vision and I called: Ron Rapp!

And JoAnna called: With or Without You, Ron Rapp!

And Ron Rapp said: yep.

And we were smiling and standing around him, nodding our heads and he said: And you are?

He didn't recognize us.

So we told him who we were and all laughed and then ran into him a couple more times. The pictures of the concert are actually from him.

But hours and days later, Jo and I were laughing over this encounter...and especially her yelling: With or Without You, Ron Rapp!

I'm laughing as I write it right now.

So that's U2 for me.

Except this.

I really missed my baby.

And I realized how much life has changed for me since I last saw U2.

I still love them. A Lot.

They're still my band. Maybe even THE band for me.

Just cuz of history and stuff.

But that baby of mine...

She's got my heart and my mind like almost nothing ever before.

I sat at the concert and thought: I'm Sophie's mom.

And just the thought brought such beauty to me.

So, With or Without U2,

She's the baby for me.



He's the guy for me.



And she's the U2 going, with or without you Ron Rapp, sister for me.

Our Second Wedding Anniversary: worship

At the end of a day

Spent fixing a broken car in 100 degree heat,

After hearing that yet another job wasn't going to happen,

And cleaning numerous dirty diapers, from one little girl.

Therefore, ordering cloth diapers because, well, diapers are expensive.

Then spending a few dollars at our favorite store: What a Bargain!

and sipping coffee from a 'new to us' place,

We showered, and combed, and clothed.

And while I wasn't able to paint my toes as I would have wished

I did shave my legs,

and fed my baby,

and climbed into a car with my love

to drive to Taco Tuesday and eat our share of $1.50

pork, chicken and beef encased in tortillas.

For dessert, frozen yogurt

and a walk

and a talk

about our year.

Naming the amazing amount of hard things

Praising the incredible amount of good things

and figuring out what we want to do better,

who we want to BE better.

And at the end I knew

that chipped toe-nail polish
broken cars
employment dead-ends
and dirty diapers
can only culminate in joy
when you join hands with another
and say: we are grateful.

These are our lives of worship.

Linking up again this Thursday with Imperfect Prose...

**Sophie at 3 months, taken on our second wedding anniversary.

A Dedication

This a long over-due update. On April 17 we dedicated ourselves as parents before God to raising our little Sophie. It was a precious time of recognizing all that we've been given and realizing that truly, while she is our gift, she's ours for just a little while. And even now, she is His.

After the dedication we headed to a park and had a little picnic with close friends and family who have been a part of our journey and who, we hope, also dedicated themselves that day to being part of Sophie's life.

We missed those who weren't with us...who love our baby and who, we know, are committed to her. This includes our Word Made Flesh family in Galati, Bicu and Bica in Galati, Catalin, Teri, Liam and Gavin in Omaha, my sisters Jamie (in Houston) and Elisabeth (in Portland) and their families, and also our sweet friends in Seattle, Portland, Omaha, Kentucky, and Indiana (you know who you are!). Your prayers and love were manifested that day in the face of Sophie.

Calendar Miscellaney

First of all, I'm not sure that 'miscellaney' is a word and if it is, whether I spelled it correctly or not. I think it is, but I couldn't find it in the dictionary. However, I believe it works and so just roll with me on this one.

I have a calendar called: Thoughts for the Journey by a group that once existed called Journey into Freedom. They were big into social justice and serving the poor.

Daily I'm supposed to flip a page a read a quote and truly, most the time the quotes are quite inspiring.

Take for instance the one that came up on the day my daughter was born:
Our truth is an ancient one: That love endures and overcomes; that hatred destroys; that what is obtained by love is retained, but what is obtained by hatred proves a burden. ~American Friends Service Committee
What a great quote to have on the day you're born! May those words linger in my tiny girl's soul.

My life has been a bit chaotic lately and so for a couple months, the calendar was stuck on April 10:
Everything that happens to you has the potential to deepen you. ~John O'Donohue
I guess if the calendar had to stay on a day due to chaos, that's a good quote to hang on to.

And then, while trying to organize the chaos the other day, I decided to have the calendar be on the right day. I mean, it sits on my bedstand, so it would be nice to wake up each morning and flip to the day's date and start the morning with a word of wisdom.

Here is what June 8 says:
It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them. ~George Elliot



I've had a difficult time not worrying lately. Worry and stress. And while I don't want to downplay how these two friends (worry and stress) can drag a person's heart through the mud, I also want to say this:

That I think worry and stress also point to that for which we long. They are descriptors of that which we want most in life. And it is those longings, those wishes, that point to who we truly are and what we hunger after. Are those things good? Are they lovely?

And I think that what we long for and what we wish for hang around the door that leads to our calling. I wonder if things like stress and worry are the locks on that door that keep us from going after that which would make us thoroughly alive. I believe that worry and stress in a very unsatisfying way, satiate our hunger and so we forget that what the worry and stress were pointing to, are, after all, good and lovely.

I'll be back on another day to talk about my worries. For now, though, the quote for this day, June 10:

Don't let your business determine your priorities, but rather let your priorities determine your business. ~Craig Nyschens

Going back to work

Today at 4:15 ~ dawn still dark~
I woke and fed my daughter,
then put her back to sleep.
I showered, dressed, and made myself up
so I could go
to an 8a.m. job interview.

I have to go back to work
and this new mama heart
can hardly balance the ache of leaving
my girl with the need to provide.

I watched her sleep~
this, the first morning I won't be here to greet
her tiny face when she wakes,
her smile filling my cup.




I know a mom
who rises early
to work at a dump
sorting trash
so she can feed her family.
Her harried existence
missing early morning smiles.
And yet missing the growing of her children,
does not lack the glow of sacrifice,
that fills her children's cup.

I don't pretend that my
going to work is anything
like this woman's daily
demonstration of selflessness.
But in the moments before I left,
I pumped my love into a bottle,
a cup that will feed~
and I think I knew what it meant
to exist to love.

**the above photo is used with permission and is the working mom of whom I write.

Linking up again this Thursday with Imperfect Prose...

Proud

Is what I am of my sister JoAnna. Last Saturday she ran her first 5k.
For many this may not be extraoridnary, but for our family of non-athletes, this was a big deal. And completely inspiring.
She placed 4th for her age bracket with a time of just a bit over 33 minutes.



At the start...see her sunglass clad smile waving at you?


A photo finish!

If you frequent my blog and don't know me in my everyday life, I have 3 sisters, all younger than me, but we were all born in a little less than 5 years. They've given me 10 (ten!) nieces and nephews and some pretty great brothers-in-law. My sisters are among my closest friends, my greatest supporters, my strongest allies. Come back for stories of our harrowing childhood...a sister series you won't want to miss!

Random Updates of the Not-so-Random and Imperfect Prose

I've been trying to blog. I think about it a lot. And...
time gets away from me. Or...
all I can think about writing has to do with baby. And...
no one wants to read a ton of posts about my baby. But...
i'm afraid that I'm going to lose readers due to my lack of posts. So...
please stay with me! And...
hopefully this random update will catch you up and entise you to keep coming back.

Imperfect Prose is at the end of these Random Updates.

1. Today The Oprah Winfrey show ended. And I'm a little sad about it. Not that I was a huge follower, but I enjoyed her. Which reminds me of this time in high school when my friend Anne Marie and I had to do an English project for A.P. comp and we pretended that I was Oprah and she was....I don't remember, but I interviewed her. I wore my mom's old white faux fur coat and recorded the theme song to play...anyway, I was impressed by what I saw of her last show.

2. Which brings me to the fact that due to nursing a certain baby, I've been watching way too much T.V. WAY too much. For the first time I wish I had a Kindle.

3.And, while most of my time is no longer my own, I've been spending a bit of time looking for a job. And so has Bela. He's been spending way more time than me. But, we are looking for work. I'm considering posting our resumes on the blog by way of advertising our abilities. Especially his. They are supernatural. So, if you need an action-figure-super-hero-type, he's your man. He doesn't spin webs or stop speeding bullets, but, he is pretty amazing.

4. I grew up a freckled fair skinned strawberry blonde in Southern California and as a teen-ager, just wanted to be tan. While I've taken a bit better care of my skin in the last 20 years, damage has been done. During my pregnancy my OB said that I should get one of my moles checked out, which I did and the result was that this past Monday I had quite a chunk taken out of my leg to make sure that the mole wasn't malignant. Here's a photo or two of my bandage. I thought about showing the actual wound, but it freaks me out, so I can't imagine what you'd all think.




I should know in a couple weeks the result of this minor surgery.

5. Of course I couldn't do an update without spending some time talking about my baby girl. Here are a few recent photos.







As you can see, Sophie is our bitty baby. While she is long, she is also skinny and has had me worried over the last month that she isn't getting what she needs to grow. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and our really great doctor said that Sophie is on the charts, just little.

Our Pixie-Lou is super alert, loves to smile, sneezes quite a bit, and even rolled over the other day. She's only 9 weeks old! My friend thinks she'll crawl and walk early...much to my chagrin as I want her to stay little for as long as possible. Notice her stretching those skinny legs!

6. I have a new favorite lunch-time meal. Whole wheat pita, with a spread of humus on the inside, and just plain tuna. It's good.

7. We finally started our little garden. Hoping that these starts will actually start and we can plant them in the ground soon. We did get a couple tomato plants in and one of them is already bearing fruit.







Finally, this poem for Imperfect Prose. I wrote it almost 10 years ago...


The Life I Dream

Is always sunny and balmy
Perfect for working in a blossoming, fertile garden,
That once was a dark and empty void. I am
Nurturing vegetables and children,
With whom I am always round and great.
The love of my life slips into my
Mind and heart and body
Like silk. For moments each day I muse on all
That has become, hoping some
One will care to know that once
I, too, lay a dark and empty garden.

You think I don’t know there will be days I want to walk away?
Times when I’ll be grabbing the porcelain of a toilet,
Sick with pregnancy, sick with worry that I’m too old to give birth,
Moments when I’ll literally pull my own hair out
Rather than touch the child of my flesh who
Is making me lose my mind?
I know I’ll want just 2 seconds to myself, one morning to sleep past 7a.m.,
Enough time to write at least a sentence.
I’ll be glad to pack them off to school,
Meet my husband back in bed, or even
Send him off to work so I can go back to bed.
I know I’ll wish to be alone again.
And when I do, may it only last a second before my
Ever longing heart remembers to be thankful.

Reading, Listening...

Every 6 months or so I try to post what I've read and what I'm listening to. Obviously the last 2 months have been spent not reading...well, maybe some moms could still read, but I've not been able to hardly crack a book.

So, my reading list from February through mid March (February because I included my reading through January when I posted earlier).

Zadie Smith, On Beauty
Ann Marie MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees
Sally Beauman, Rebecca's Tale
Mary McGarry Morris, Songs in Ordinary Time
Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford
Marc Weissbluth, Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child (still reading)
Anita Shrieve, The Pilot's Wife

I'd found this $1 bookstore at the Inland Center Mall and it was great to buy used books so inexpensively. Sadly, their lease was up and they didn't renew, so they are no longer there.

Okay, as far as music goes, I've been working off a playlist I put together in the months since we moved from Galati...aptly, I've titled the play list Moving. You'll see that there are some artists, namely one, that I've enjoyed quite a bit in these months.

Better than a Hallelujah, Amy Grant
I Never Told You, Colbie Callat
Dancing in the Minefields, Andrew Peterson
Call Me, Edwina Hays
The House that Built Me, Miranda Lambert
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Sufjan Stevens
Down by the Water, The Decemberists
1,000 Faces, Randy Montana
Planting Trees, Andrew Peterson
'Til the end of Time, Timothy Bloom
For Me, It's You, Train
Happily Ever After, He is We
God of My Fathers, Andrew Peterson

I always love to hear what you're reading and listening to, so let me know!

To Plant a Garden

Today we bought seeds.
Already late in the season,
our plan for weeks has been
to plant a garden.

Where tiny sprouts should poke,
lies only dust.
The fruit of a dream
still wrapped in its paper package.

I've heard that many a road is paved
with good intentions~
or riddled with the potholes
of unmet desires.

The plans we make,
how we think life should be,
intentions, expectations ~ hopes, dreams.
The crops we harvest when all we really wanted was
to plant a garden.

Imperfect Prose for my first Mother's Day

Raspy breathing,
drunk on mother's milk,
threads its way through me,
anchoring on an ancient ache,
tying tight
and hauling it to the surface.

I have always wanted you~
so reads that ache.
And the coo of your voice
the kick of your leg
echo what is as old as time;
since Sarah held her promise
and Hannah gave hers back,
I have always loved you.

This body made to carry you,
These arms meant to hold you,
This heart ready to break for you~
already breaking...
with each smile
with each cry quieted in my arms.
You have made me the mother
I was from the beginning,
creating the woman I want to be.

What's in a name?

When we were choosing names for our baby we knew from the beginning that we wanted to name her after my husband's maternal grandma, Irina. And so, before Sohpie was Sophie her middle name was (and is) Irina (The 'I' sounding like a long 'E'.)

When my friend Aimee from the blog As We Wend Our Way heard that we were using the name Irina, she sent me a link about a woman named Irena Sendler who in WWII rescued thousands of Jewish children.

While Sophie is named for a great woman, I love that she also bears the name of another amazing woman who cared about justice issues and put her life on the line to live out what she believed. Irina means peace and I'm reminded of the quote: if you want peace, work for justice.

If you'd like to read a bit about Irena Sendler, check out the following links:

New York times article

Wikipedia

I hope you look up this little known woman...

Introducing...

It's been almost 6 weeks since I last posted...which means that my sweet baby is almost 6 weeks old and I haven't introduced her to the blogger world!

Allow me the extreme honor of introducing Sophie Irina. Her name means wisdom and peace. She weighed 7lb 3oz at birth and was 18 3/4 inches long. We've had a few gaining weight issues, but just last week she passed up her birth weight again!

The first week of her little life was a bit hard. She and I have different blood types and this resulted in pathological jaundice. Her billirubin levels (which have to do with the jaundice) were quite high and near to hospitalization. For these first time parents it was a stressful few days. We spent a lot of time at the lab as she had blood drawn twice a day to see what those levels were doing.

Everything came out fine, though, and she is our pride and joy.

I'm learning, albeit with my head just above water, what it means to be a mom. Still, I couldn't be more thankful.




In the time I've been away, a sweet woman named Joybird from the blog A Song Bird in His Court (click on blog name to follow) gave me a blog award. A Stylish Blog award to be specific. This is my first blog award I'm so honored that Joybird thought of me.

Now, there are a few things I'm supposed to do when given this award. I have to tell you 7 things about myself that you may not know and I have to give this award to 15 other blogs. I will do these things, but slowly...

I'll start with 7 things you may not know about me:

1. I was the 1,000,000th baby born at Kaiser Fontana. For this esteemed honor, I was given a $100 savings bond and my picture in the paper! I'm told a plaque is still up at the hospital awarding me this prize.

2. When I was 4, I stepped on a nail on purpose. Just to see what it felt like.

3. Because our baby is so tiny, I was having to wake her up in the night to feed her. So, I'd set my alarm for 3a.m...it would go off, I'd turn it off, and role over and fall back to sleep. Poor baby! And yet, she still gained 7oz last week and grew a half inch!

4. In college I loved to play floor hockey. I was even on a co-ed intramural team...still have some scars from being checked or hit with the stick. My position was defense and I was pretty good.

5. I used to write and edit for an online journal called The Other Journal. Check it out by clicking the title.

6. When I was around 4 (lots of stuff happened that year!) I thought Jesus was in my bedroom. Turned out it was only my dad.

7. I scored a 99 on the arts and literature portion of the ACT when I was a senior in high school. I scored way way lower on the math portion. Hopefully my child has her dad's brain for number and mathematical concepts.

Okay, more later...but, please know that I'm back. I'm going to try to post regularly again...but I'm still trying to figure out the whole baby schedule thing so some days, while I may have the best of intentions, little Sophie may believe otherwise.