Names

Annika has discovered that dan and I have names other than Mommy or Daddy. The other day she comes up to me and the exchange goes like this:
A- mommy, i have a name for you.
S- what is it?
A- Stephanie.
S- what about daddy? does he have a name.
A- nope

That was saturday or sunday.

monday when her and dan got home from daycare the exchange went like this:
A- Hi mommy. Your name is stephanie
S- that's right annika, good job.
A- Where's Dan?
S- he's right over there. (pointing to him)
A- oh, hi daddy.


the little things in a child's development really make my day.

Good day

Just wanted to share that I actually had a good day at work. It was nice for a change. Despite getting several inches of snow customers were in a pretty good mood, which makes my day better. Then after work I had to meet my parents to pick up Annika. We all had dinner at Qdoba. I had gotten an ugly christmas sweater at the 2nd hand store today for Young Life on Monday, so my mom pulled out an old ugly sweater and i wore my sweater to Qdoba for supper...we looked pretty stupid. It was pretty funny. My dad was pretty embarassed. Now Annika is in bed, i'm sitting here on the couch watching Friends with my cat hanging out next to me. What a good evening :)

How big God is

Did you ever stop to think about how big God is? Go check out www.crazylovebook.com an clink on the videos link and click on the Awe factor of God...and let me know what you think...Wow is all i have to say.

Agend for today

work for 10 hours.
come home and make stuffing.
clean up the kitchen.
play with my daughter.
relax.

it's going to be a long day...stuffing can take quite a while to make.

i should be looking forward to the holiday tomorrow, but it just feels like another day this year, i think a lot of that is cause i have to work on friday. these are the times that i really don't like my job.

i think dan and i are going to go see dark night at the cheap seats on saturday night. its only $3.50 a person. it should be a lot of fun.

Have a great thanksgiving!

Halloween a few weeks late

so here's finally a few Halloween pictures. I finally got them loaded onto my computer. also thinking of pics, i'm taking a photography class thru the local community college. its all online, and i've only done 1 session so far, i need to do another one tonight, but i think its going to be fun learning how to take better photos. i'll hopefully post some here as the class goes on.

My cute little lion.

Trick or treating at grandma's house.

Snow

It snowed this weekend for the first time this year. I always enjoy the snow...it's so pretty and clean and white. makes me happy and ready for christmas time. which is my favorite time of year. it's cozy and happy and it's amazing to celebrate jesus' birth.

this year for our last club of the semester, we're decorating christmas cookies again, and wearing ugly christmas sweaters...i need to go find one at goodwill sometime.

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!

Here's some cute kids clothes... http://www.grostrainstore.com

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!: "r posts is Wednesday 11/12/08. Winner will be announced Friday mo"

Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

Here's a chance to win a cute costume. I found it thru a friend's blog.
Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

Iceman Cometh

This weekend we're headed up to traverse city for dan to ride in the iceman...a 26 mile mountian bike race. it will be interesting...and cold. it's been beautiful all week, but it's supposed to be in the low 40's and rainy...i keep praying that it will be a little warmer than that. we're staying at the great wolf lodge, which should be fun, it's got a big indoor water park. i'm excited to go there, we've never been there before. Wish dan luck!

Photos

So we did some family photos this weekend with my parents...here's a sample of them. I think they turned out pretty good...i love the one of annika and i as well as the one of the three of us looking at the water.... http://www.akbphotography.blogspot.com It was definitely interesting taking pictures with a 2 year old. she did pretty good though.

Today was a crappy day at work. i'm glad it's done...a customer yelled at me for stuff i didn't do. i hate it when they do that. so anyone who is dealing with a customer service rep...please be nice to them :) more than likely they have little to know control over the situation. My job isn't worth this, but i know i need to be there for now. i do have a great manager though. she was great to me afterwards. very kind...she even gave me a hug :) sometimes it's wonderful working for a woman, versus some guy who wouldn't know what to do with someone who is crying at work...at least i didn't cry infront of the customer. at least tomorrow is another day.

Chipotle

I found out this week that Chipotle is FINALLY coming to Grand Rapids. I don't know when, but they put the sign in front of the building...and windows are going in it too :) It is my favorite restaurant...gotta love fast food mexican food...but its definitely a step up from taco bell.

Annika had her first day every yesterday with out a nap. and boy are we paying for it today. she's been on the grumpy side today and nothing is right. But at least she's taking a good nap.

Letting others serve

so on Sunday, pastor jeff said something to the effect of when we're unwilling to ask for help we're robbing someone else of the opportunity to serve. It was just one of those things about his preaching that keeps us going back there.

I'm always trying to think of ways that I can help others and serve others, but how can I let someone else help me? how can I create an opportunity for someone else? i don't know the answers, but as I pray about the questions, I'm sure the answers will come to me.

We had our first real club of the year for Young Life last night. It was a lot of fun. we had 5 kids, which isn't a lot, but it was good. For our club talks this year, we put out a box for kids to put questions of things that they want to hear us talk about. and hopefully we'll get some good talk ideas out of it.

on the lighter side, we got a new (free) hutch last week and i moved all my christmas dishes into that from our other china cabinet (also free). i'm going to move the old cabinet into my office (which i will be cleaning in about 10 minutes) and put my extra fabric and quilting supplies into it. it will be nice to get a little more organized.

Potty Training

Annika is 2 now, and its time to start potty training soon...and I have no clue as to where to begin. Anyone know of any good resources for this kind of thing?

We had her 2 year check up today. it went well. she's 27 lbs and 35 inches tall...55th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. i feel like she just keeps getting taller and skinnier too. i have a feeling that she's going to be tall like her mom and dad.

where were you?

7 years ago i was in my cubicle at work when we had heard that the first tower had gone down. we all went downstairs to the fitness center in the building in time to see the 2nd one go down. it was probably one of the erie-est time's of my life. for several days there were no plane's flying over the city. i hadn't realized before then how normal it was to see planes in the air there.

4 years ago today. i got married to my amazing husband. he meets my needs in so many ways. i love him so much.

2 years ago today we had a 5 day old baby. we were excited to take some time to go to arby's for lunch while dan's mom watched her.

today. we go to work as normal. there's less on the tv about 9-11 than 5 years ago. it just becomes another day in history. a tragic day...but a day none the less. while it seemed like such a huge deal at the time, 9-11 becomes just another day in history. it reminds me of how big this world is and how big God is. i don't know why he lets things happen, but i do know that He loves me and i want to bring all the glory to him.

that's what it is all about...bringing glory to God. knowing that he is in control and that I don't have to be. trusting him with my entire life. and finding God in everything and every situation.

Tuesday

There's something to be said for having a day off in the middle of the week and hanging out with your daughter all day. We're going to the dentist this afternoon, and hopefully annika will be good and behave and not be too antsy...it's my appointment, not hers.

I've been feeling very disenchanted with life lately. especially with my job. it's rough to go every day, knowing that this isn't what God created you to do, and knowing that there's more to life than looking forward to the weekends. We were camping over Labor day weekend with a group of friends, and several of them are teachers. They had just had the whole summer off and were just going back to school a couple days later, and were already counting down the days till next summer. It really bothered me. I don't want to become the type of person who just longs for their next day off, yet here i am looking forward to next Sunday.

I know that the Lord will provide me something else when I need it. In the meantime I keep searching for where I'm supposed to fit in to life in this world. and praying for the right opportunity. and applying for jobs that will fit my personality better. and allow me to spend more time with annika.
on the up side, i am now the parent of a 2 year old, who talks all day long and tires me out...but she sure does bring joy to my life.

More to life than this...

Dan and I had an amazing time on our trip this past week. The accommodations were beautiful and we had a ball participating in camp 'stuff'. We definitely missed annika, but were so busy we didn't have time to dwell on it. both dan and I love christian camping, and were both left with the thought that there's more to life than what we've been doing for the past year or so. I enjoy my job, but there's more I could be doing to share the Kingdom of God with others. So we definitely have a lot to think about in the next few months or however long. And even more to pray about. I can say that our past week was life changing and now its time to do something about it.

But for now, as I wait upon the Lord, I will rest in the knowledge that He will take care of us and give us what we need.

On not such a serious note...i am purely exhausted and am resting this afternoon. I slept like crap last night due to a ever so wonderful bat in the house...it had been about 2 years since we had had one, and i hate them with a passion.

Castaway

so we leave on vacation tomorrow night. we're spending the night at their house and driving to Castaway Club in Minnesota. I'm very excited to go. I haven't been to castaway in 14 years and dan has never been there. it should be a great trip.

we're leaving annika with steve and molly (dan's brother and sister in law) and we'll miss her, but i think a little break will be good. i'm sure we'll be racing out to the campground to pick her up on wednesday.

i realized tonight that her vocabulary has grown in leaps and bounds in the past few weeks. it seems like daily that she puts more and more together. it's so rewarding to watch that development.

can't wait to post about our trip...

Anniversary

So today marks the completion of my 3rd year working for the bank. am i excited about it...eeh. i've got mixed feelings. i started out at 14 hours a week, which was nice. went up to 20 hours a week to get benefits...stayed there for a couple of years, and then back down to 14 ish...and since april i've been full time. it's definately not where i envisioned myself three years ago. i'm afraid it's going to be the career that i just fall backward into cause nothing else came along. i think of the many people that i've met that started as a part time teller "just for a few years" 30 years ago and are now in different roles.

it's also the anniversary of dan and I's first date...5 years ago...which is crazy.

and it's my mom's birthday. happy birthday camilla.

Priorities

So tonight we talked about priorities at bible study...it was an interesting discussion. there were 3 things the chapter talked about...one is that as women we sometimes believe that we can do it all which we really got into who's priorities are we following ours? other peoples? or God's? It really got me thinking about my priorities in life and who's i'm putting first. Sometimes when i really take the time (like i need to) to talk to God more regularly, and listen to him, it seems that I actually put God's priorities first...that's when life seems to have more purpose and peace.

another part of the discussion also went with this was talking about taking time to spend regular time with Jesus thru reading my bible and prayer. It really tied in well with the first part.

The 3rd part was interesting. the author talked about the priority of staying home with your kids. this was definitely more controversial. I totally got her point, but think she took a really extreme stance and didn't make it well. it was an interesting conversation.

i'm left this evening with lots of thoughts about my priorities. what i'm putting first in my life and my overall life mission/goals/purpose. am i putting God's 'to do' list first? or mine? who's are you putting first?

tired

today was just one of those days were I've been tired all day long. i'm very glad that i have tomorrow off. This is my third week in a row working a saturday, and i'm not enjoying it. yeah, i do get a day off during the week, but i end up working till 6:15 every night. i can't wait for next week with a 'normal' schedule.
i'm doing a women's bible study this summer with some of the ladies from my small group. we're reading a book called lies women believe...it's not too bad so far. i'm looking forward to the discussion tomorrow night. this week's chapter was about lies we believe about ourselves. i'll post more after we have discussion tomorrow night.

So last night was our 4th and final swimming lesson. Annika loved every single one. And mom and dad had a ball too. She did great with going under water and kicking and swimming to the side of the pool. It was a fun experience to have with my little one.

Chaos

I really don't have much to talk about in this little blog, so I'll probably just ramble on for a few paragraphs every few days or so. I'm hoping that this will work something like an accountability thing for me. I need to get better about sharing with others how God works in my life, so that's what the hope of this is for me.

Saturday night at church Brady preached about how God continuously brings us thru chaos into order, and ultimately into His kingdom. This had me thinking about the chaos in my life and where chaos repeats over and over again. I really thought a lot about my job and career and where God wants me. I feel like I continually enter a pattern of being happy for a while and then it turns to chaos...either something will change, or my attitude changes. I recognize this pattern, and I'm trying to change it. What I took from the sermon this weekend was working harder at turning to God to bring order to my chaos.