An Attempt at Putting a Crazy Event Into Words

We've all had those moments I'm sure. Those moments that you will remember for a lifetime. Those moments when you realize life will never ever be what it has been. Those moments when you can't believe, understand, or even get a grip on what is happening. Moments when you cry tears for the loss of how your life has been with tears of joy for all that is to come.

Our lives forever changed on April 26th, 2012, when we unexpectedly found out that we were "expecting". SURPRISE!!!!!

Words could not explain what a surprise it was. When Noah and I together looked at that pregnancy test that exclaimed in giant letters "Pregnant" a flood of shock ran through our bodies. "WHAT? No way! This can not be?!?"

And then the flood of tears filled with fear, happiness, fear, joy, more fear, and every other emotion that one could feel, flowed for what seemed hours as I sat there on the tub and Noah stood near me with the "deer caught in the headlights" look.

We had been thinking that we may begin trying to get pregnant in August. Knowing us however, that would have been pushed to months later since that was exactly what we did when we originally said we'd start trying last February. God just must have known what we would do and thought, "Enough you two...it's time for you two to 'getter done' and have a baby already!"

Now, a few months later, we are coming to terms with the adventure that lies ahead of us. What an adventure it will be!

Today marks the beginning of week fourteen and the end of the first trimester! Whahooo! The nausea has passed and I'm looking forward to having some energy again here in a few weeks. We are really looking forward to week twenty when we will find out if it's a girl or boy. Whatever our lil' peanut is, we are excited to meet them and to invite them on this adventure that Noah and I have started.

There has been another blessing among all of this. We found out we were pregnant two days after my sister Emily found out her and Dustin are pregnant! Our due dates sit two days apart; her's December 30th and mine's January 1st! How cool is that! We are so excited to be able to do this together and it's comforting to have my sister pregnant with me. Oh what fun we will have!!!

So look forward to hearing all that Noah and I will be experiencing together in this thing called pregnancy. I have no doubt there will great stuff to write and read ahead!

A Bit of Creating Together

Noah and I have become gardeners!!!

Now if you know me at all you'd find that I'm not much of a gardener. I've tried...oh, have I tried, but it seems that every time I've tried I've only come up with a bunch of shriveled up plants. They're touchy things those plants and if you are not there to give them the right amount of sunlight, water, and fertilizer at the right time, you could be doomed.

I'm going to try again though. And who knows, maybe Noah will have the green thumb in the family. If nothing else, creating our garden and planting together was a blast.

LOL.... except for the part where we were trying to constantly tell each other what to do and how to do it, as if some how we were the "gardening expert" that the other needed to listen to. Man oh man, you would have thought both of us had grown up on a farm, planting and gardening every day. We both seemed to know a lot that day about growing the perfect tomato. It must be the Scandinavian in me and the German in him. Uff...we can butt heads sometimes. :)

There was of course a little bit of snubbing over who was right. It didn't take long for us to realize that neither one of us were experts, that we needed to put our pride aside, and just hope that we end up doing our best. Wow....gardening sounds a lot like raising kids. This may be a good test for us!


So stay tuned. This summer we hope a have a plethora of tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, watermelon, lettuce, cilantro, basil, dill...I think that's all. Uff-da. I hope we didn't over-do ourselves.

We hope to have enough to share with all of you!!!

It should be an eventful summer!

A Visit From Poison Ivy

The other night, Noah was itching a spot on his wrist like crazy.
"I think I got bit by a spider!"

As he continued to itch a second spot showed up about an hour later.
"Man, there's another bite!"

Soon there was a third red spot a little further up his arm.
"Noah, I'm not sure those are spider bites. It looks like it may be poison ivy."
"No, it couldn't be." he said.

The next morning, Noah dashes into the bathroom with his boxers in a bunch.
"Is this what I think it is?" he asked me in a very worried tone.
"Yes, Noah. That is poison ivy."

It had spread overnight to a much more "delicate" area.

I stood there not knowing what to say. I'm so glad that within a few seconds he was able to laugh about it because there was no way I was going to be able to hold it back for very long. It was pretty funny.

So this weekend, we've been nursing his sores. The poor guy.
These are the humble moments we get to experience together as husband and wife.
I'm loving every minute of it!!

The Great Egg Hunt!!

This year's egg hunt did not disapoint, both the kiddos and the adults! The most memorable part of the day was when we found out that Brock (my cousins oldest) burried the eggs that he was in charge of hidding for the adult hunt. The best part is that the adult eggs contained cash, lotto tickets, and pocket shots.

We all had quite the laugh!
Here are a few pictures hightlighting the day!

	I don't remember egg hunts ever being this easy as a kid!!
	I love this picture of Elaina checking out Brianna's loot.

	We loved being able to spend some time with grandpa! Wow! Ninty-three Easters for him!!! He looks great!

It was such a fun Easter with the family! We are so blessed to have such a great family that has a good time together. Can't wait until next year!!

Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse Cups

Oh yes, yes I did just make the best dessert ever!!! Not to be boastful or anything, but I was pretty proud of this one! It is a bit time intensive, but it is so worth it!

Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse Filled Chocolate Cups
•12 oz  chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
•8 muffin liners
•1  lb. strawberries
•1 Tbsp lemon juice
•8 ounces white chocolate finely, chopped (I just used the Baker’s squares and broke them in half)
•1 1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
•2 cups whipping cream, divided
•2 Tbsp powdered sugar
•red food coloring
Makes 12+ cups



1. Place the muffin liners inside a muffin tin.

2. Place the 12 oz of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.  Microwave in 20 second intervals until melted and smooth.

3. Using a food safe brush, like a pastry brush, paint the inside on the muffin liner with melted chocolate. While painting the inside, it helps to go around the sides first and the center of the cup last.  Place the muffin liners in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

4. Paint another coating of chocolate inside the muffin liner.  Chill in the fridge. Repeat if necessary. Keep in the fridge until ready to fill them with the mousse.

5. Set aside 6 of the best looking strawberries.  Clean and hull the remaining strawberries then cut them in half.

6. Place the prepare strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
7. Using a fine sieve or nylon bag, press the puree through the sieve into a bowl.  This is to remove the seeds.  You want to have 3/4 a cup of puree.  Once you have 3/4 cup puree, stir in the 1 Tbsp lemon juice.  Set aside.

8. Place white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.  Microwave in 20 second intervals until melted and smooth.  Set aside.

9. Place 1/4 cup cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin.  Let sit for 5 minutes.
10. In a small sauce pan, heat 1/4  cup of the cream with the powdered sugar to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the gelatin and stir until dissolved.
11. Remove from the heat and add the melted chocolate.  Stir until well blended.  Then whisk in the 3/4 cup strawberry puree.  At this point you can add a few drops of red food coloring to get a nice pink color if needed.

12. Whip remaining whip cream with a hand mixer.  Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture and whisk together until smooth.

13. Next, add the chocolate mixture to the remaining whipped cream and lightly fold in using a silicone spatula. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

14. Remove the chocolate cups from the fridge and carefully remove the cupcake liners.  Pipe the refrigerated mousse into the cups.  Cut remaining 6 strawberries in half (leaving the stems on) and place 1/2 on top of the mousse in each chocolate cup.

Orange Chicken "Delight"

What a delight it was!!!! I came home from a long day at work and one of my latest wishes had come true. Noah had decided to have dinner waiting for me when I got home! It was truly delightful.

What did he cook you ask? Well, he decided to cook Orange Chicken! "Wow," I stated. "That is quite the task! Where did you find the recipe?"

"I didn't use a recipe. I just made it up." THAT is how awesome my husband is! Cooking has never been one of his strongest suits. A majority of the meals that he has made come out of a box...and I'm not being mean when I say that. He openly admits this fact. For some reason, however,  with all of  his "extensive" cooking experience, he can just "make up" recipes!! For this particular meal, he decided to peel an orange, put it in a casserole dish with a few frozen chicken breasts, and sprinkle it with a touch of rosemary.

Looks pretty tasty, doesn't it?

Noah's proud moment!!

I will admit, it was interesting, but to me, it was the best meal EVER. Not because it tasted like orange chicken that you would get at a classy restaurant, but because he put so much heart and creativity into it! The best part is that Noah and I had a good laugh together. I praised him for his great attempt at orange chicken and his statement was, "Yea...I think next time I may try using an actual recipe."

My hope is that as we continue on in life that we may always be attempting to make the other smile. Having dinner ready to go on the table that night was the highlight of my day!

The Letdowns of BINGO

Recently, one of the things that we've enjoyed doing with friends is going out to restaurants that offer the wonderful game of BINGO. You relax, have a great food, great company, great conversation, and of course play BINGO and hopefully win a round that will pay for your tab. It's a great way to spend time with friends and catch up.

We enjoyed one such adventure not too long ago at "Lucky 13's" in Bloomington. The food was great. The place was packed and everyone was having a great time. They play a total of about 15 rounds of BINGO on Sunday afternoons. Each round, the winning BINGO receives $100. I was pretty excited because most restaurants offer a $20 prize each round, which for me is amazing! Winning $5 is amazing to me. The fact that it was a $100 prize was very, very, exciting!!

On this particular round, we were playing the "arrow" round which means your winning BINGO has to form an "arrow point" facing any direction. As each number was called it seemed like Noah and I were getting closer and closer to winning this round. I'd look over at his card. He'd look over at mine and we would nearly shriek with excitement. You know that feeling right? When you only have a few numbers left. Then finally, when you only need one number and you mention that fact to everyone that you are sitting with.
"I only need one more!!!"

As we are sitting at the table, whispering that last number that we need to our selves...."B10...B10....B10" it happens. "O77" the announcer calls. A second later, someone yells, "BINGO" and everyone else in the room lets out the "bummed out sigh" at the same time. Darn it!!!

So, we disappointedly pile our used BINGO cards on the table with their pretty, colorful dots and we imagine what we would have done with the $100 if we would have won. As we are chatting, something grabs my attention on Noah's last BINGO card and as I take a closer look at the card, I ask, "Are you kidding me??"

There it was. Noah's WINNING BINGO CARD!!!! He had the winning BINGO half way through the round and he didn't even notice it!!! Seriously, how could he have missed that? Uggghhhhh. It of course was too late for him to go up and claim his prize. Someone else had already done that. Noah just hung his head in dismay. I couldn't be frustrated with the poor guy for too long.

In the end, we of course just have to laugh at it. I had to learn to swallow my frustration (I know it's just a hundred bucks, but to me that's a lot of money), suck it up, and laugh it off. It just wasn't meant to be.

Maybe next time. If this is what we have to be most disappointed in right now...well, I'd say we are doing alright.