7 Quick Takes

Quick-takin' it with Jen and friends.

1. I'm not quite sure why, but this week has gone by at a rapid pace. Believe me, I'm not complaining! Maybe it's because of the long Labor Day weekend? Or maybe it's because we've been busy every night this week. Definitely been fun!

2. Tuesday was our 2nd wedding anniversary.  I made a roast in the crock pot and bought a slice of carrot cake from the store. (Brandon actually asked if I made it...then I pointed out that it was a center piece and I have no idea how I would have drawn such a perfect, cute little carrot on top)  We ate on the china we received from our wedding, exchanged small gifts (both had incorporated the traditional gift of cotton!), and then headed to a meeting for the young adult committee at church.

3. Do you have china? Do you ever use it? While registering for wedding gifts, I fell in love with our china pattern.  Being oh-so-practical, we had already decided we wouldn't register for something we wouldn't use. So, we received it from a very generous aunt and uncle of mine and now it's our intention of actually using our china for all birthdays, anniversarys, and holidays :) We do have to hand wash it, but it's so worth it--and also proudly displayed in our kitchen!

4. We had talked about taking a little weekend getaway somewhere for our anniversary, but it just seemed like a lot of work trying to figure out where we would go and if Silas would come with us or stay with someone...and then Brandon suggested we take a hot air balloon ride and I was like "um, heck-to-the-yes!" Definitely something I never imagined I'd be able to do and definitely an absolutely incredible experience!

5. Last week Ana included a little story of getting stung by a bee in her quick takes. It was in her hair. For days after, every time I felt the smallest tug of hair (and this seems to happen a lot when you have a four-month old) I was sure there must also be a bee in my hair. Talk about paranoid. 

But-I kid you not-I took out my hair from the nest on top of my head it lives in while I sleep each night, and what falls out but a dead bee!?  Oh my heavens it was so not funny. Until I realized it was dead. without wings. and then it was a little funny. As far as I know, I did not got stung. I'm really hoping it just happened to get in there while we were 4300 feet up or something? Maybe that's where bees go to die.

6. I've mentioned before how my house gets cleaned when I know people are coming over. We had friends over for dinner last night and the beginning of a young adult retreat is at our house tonight. So you know what I've been up to :)

7. This is my 50th post! Woohoo! It reminds me how much of a wee little one I still am when it comes to blogging. Kendra posted the following quote on her blog today and it explains a little bit why I even write on this here blog, so I thought I'd share:

Happy Friday, friends!

~Danielle

The one whom my soul loves

Today marks two years since we took one another as husband and wife, in sickness and health, good times and bad. And what a wonderful two years it has been!

I am blessed by Brandon's presence in my life. He encourages me to be a better person than I was yesterday, guides me to grow deeper in my faith, is understanding, hard-working, and makes me laugh daily. Although we've had our share of hard times, I'm convinced that we can experience marital bliss forever (as long as we're willing to work at it!)

The groom can't see the bride before the wedding--but it sure was amazing to hold his hand! I felt totally at peace as soon as we were able to touch.

In honor of our second anniversary, I give you two "secrets" to a happy marriage:

1) Pray together.  Being vulnerable with one another in prayer and bringing our joys and concerns to the Lord, together, has brought so many blessings to our lives!  Sometimes praying it out resolves things 100x more quickly than talking them out. It's amazing to see the relationship we each have with God and how we have grown in our faith and spirituality both individually and as a couple since we got married.

2) Drink together.  We love coffee and wine and beer.  And the absolute best conversations happen over one of these drinks. Just taking a moment to sit across a table and not be doing anything except enjoying one another's company has proven to be so special to our relationship and so beneficial to our communication.

Today we celebrate all that we've experienced together and we look forward to many more joyful years in the future.

~Danielle

7 Quick Takes

Well folks, it's that day of the week and although I told myself there was no need to post today and I should probably take a little break....little man is sleeping and this seems more appealing than the dishes.  And so I'm jumping back on that Friday bandwagon with Jen and friends...

1. Oh my goodness, it is hot.  This is what our thermometer is reading:

No lies, that is hot. and you see that arrow next to the "F" for Fahrenheit? That means it's increasing! Thanks to this handy-dandy tool, Silas and I will be enjoying our day indoors today.

2. Which is A-ok because he has been a happy camper lately and has discovered the mystery and magic of this thing called a mirror.

Yesterday we looked at ourselves for a good 15 minutes before he decided it was probably time to eat instead of chat with himself.  The funniest part was that whenever I would talk to him, he'd look at me in the mirror and then turn around and look at me behind him. and then repeat this about 4x. It's like he just couldn't understand how there were two of me.

3. Hoorah for a 3 day weekend!  I love that we're not traveling to stay overnight anywhere this weekend and that Saturday and Sunday will just be low-key days. Silas and I both decided today that we really like weekends because when Dad's home, everything just seems 100x easier.

4. It's been really on my mind lately if I need to give up facebook. Or maybe just give it up on my phone. Or maybe just tally how many times per day I use it and limit it to like..3. because is there a need to check it 30 times a day? um, no. The answering from all of the experts is a resounding "No!" and I'm not really sure how I got into this habit. I call it a habit because I click on that little app on my phone without even thinking. And what is there to see? Usually, nothing (sorry friends.) I mean, I sure do enjoy seeing pictures and hearing via 150ish characters what's happening in my friends lives, but do I need to chain myself to it so that I practically see every status update...again. NO.  Actually, upon second thought I know where this habit came from--something mindless to do while nursing small child. I think the Lord would rather have me doing something mindFUL during this time (and yes, sometimes I do consider what He would have me doing if He was in the same room with me...which I guess He actually always is...) Ok, so I've reached no solution but at least have it written down that it's an issue.

5. Did you know that weedeater's are like $150+? Ya, me neither. because Brandon has been saying that ours won't start anymore so I said, "Just go buy one then." and he got all excited.  And then he asked if I knew how much they were.  The answer is nope. I was thinking like $50? But at least our yard won't look like it has sideburns anymore.

6. It's still really hot.

7. Tuesday is our anniversary and upon Brandon's suggestion we're taking a hot air balloon ride! I'm so stinking excited!!

Okay, little man has awoken and is complaining to be removed from his swing.  Happy long weekend!!

~Danielle

Five Favorites (vol. 5)

Linking up with the fabulous Hallie for five favs.

This here blog has been a little bit lacking with picture updates of the small child in my life.  So here are my favorite photos and happenings of Mr. Silas as-of-late.

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A little less than two weeks ago we celebrated Brandon's birthday on the very same day as a surprise birthday party for my grandma.  Don't worry, the birthday boy woke up to freshly baked rhubarb pie, had an ice cream cake later, and his very own party hat to wear all day (all thanks to my wonderful mom!) In his words, the best birthday gift he had was sharing the day with his son.  (awww!)

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Silas is always sweet, but aren't babies just the sweetest when they're sleeping? Whenever he wakes up he has a great big smile for his momma--pretty much a day-maker. 

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He's getting to be quite the handful at a whopping 17.8 lbs!  He likes to grab onto our arms and neck and face whenever possible and has a mighty strong grip! Paired with those fingernails which seem to grow faster than dandelions, I have quite a few places where he's left a mark. Battle scars... Also, his hair is falling out a little bit and is seemingly being replaced with very light-colored hair. Hence appearing as though he has a mohawk in the above photo.

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Great-gramps has been in the hospital since last week after quadruple bypass heart surgery.  We sure have been thinking about and praying for him a lot!  We did a little photo shoot of Si-guy with this sign so that gramps could have a photo of him in the room.  It took a lot of effort to keep Silas from eating the sign (as evidenced by the crinkles in it), because obviously paper is the new milk.  We had him propped up in the corner of this chair, but he pulled himself forward and held himself up with that front hand--sitting on his own for the first time.  

Another first is that later this same day he laughed more than a chuckle for the first time when Aunt Allison was holding him.  Melted my heart into a puddle of love.  I sat there reveling at all that cuteness!

-5-

Actually everything is the new milk because we can officially say that little man is teething.  After helping dad win this card game by about a bajillion, Silas grabbed the box of cards and chomped on that a little bit. We're experiencing lottsss of drool, like enough to raise the Mississippi, and a runny nose and him trying to use momma's finger as a teething ring.  Poor guy. I'm pretty sure this is just the beginning of a very long road of teething. But I suppose we want the boy to have teeth.

Well that's all for now, hope you enjoyed catching up with the cutest member of our household.

~Danielle 

"Hi there": The Story of How We Met

In less than a week I've been married to my handsome husband for two wonderful years.  Every story has a beginning and I'd like to share ours here.

Whenever we're together and get to tell this story, I've found it's told with almost the exact same words and inflections, taking turns with who gets to tell which part. Each time makes me a little bit giddy, looking over at my cute hubs as he begins the tale with a mixture of excitement and nostalgia in his eyes.

Our tale begins with an unlikely meeting. We both really shouldn't have been at the FOCUS National Conference in Orlando, Florida. It was mostly only known about among college students who studied on a campus that also had FOCUS missionaries. North Central, where I was a senior at the time, wasn't one of them. Brandon had attended Loras, a FOCUS campus, but had graduated two years earlier.  But Divine intervention is real and the Holy Spirit was all about making sure we worked out.  I was invited by my dear friend Sara, who was going with her undergrad and already knew that after graduation she was called to be a missionary.  Brandon's sister Justine attended Loras at the time and was looking forward to heading to the conference and suggested that Brandon come too.

So there we were, 2 of 6,000 people who made it to the FOCUS Conference 2010.  We both traveled via coach bus, about a 20 hour trip. We've both said that we don't really want to do that again. ever.

Excited to finally be in Orlando after a long bus ride and repping NCC!

The fated first meeting, though, how did that shake out? Well, there was a Cupid involved. During the conference there was exactly one event which had an open-bar and this event was invite only. It was titled, "So you want to be a Missionary?" and gave those currently discerning a chance to learn more about what it looked like from Curtis Martin himself (founder and CEO of FOCUS) as well as chat with current missionaries and other interested peoples. We both happened to receive an invite to this event from the same person: dear Jennie Witt. She was at Loras while Brandon was a student there, and was currently serving as Sara's Discipler, which is how I met her.

I accepted her invitation because I was genuinely interested in thinking about what life would be like as a missionary and if I was called to this ministry post-college.  Brandon accepted her invitation because of the presence of (free) alcohol.

So I attended this event on January 1st, 2010 alone, not knowing another single soul who would be in that room.  I remember being proud of myself for being willing to attend despite the intimidation factor I was feeling.  Upon entering I stood around for awhile before making my way towards the bar, because at least holding a glass of red wine made me look like I was doing something.  On my way back to where I was hanging around before, Brandon walked right up to me and said, "Hi there. Where are you from?"

Now, if he was telling this part of the story, you'd hear that he was holding a whiskey sour.  And that he had already asked a friend, Emilio, to be his "wing man." And that he looked across the room and saw that I was alone and beautiful and he was proud of himself for having the confidence to walk right up and talk to me. (again, this is what he would tell you...)

"Naperville" was my response and Brandon adds 5 octaves to my voice when it's his version.

Small-talk ensued and honestly I talked a lot with Emilio because we found out how small of a world it is--he had dated a girl whom I was good friends with who was currently dating a guy I had dated for a short time in college. Did you follow that? But I did find out that they were from Iowa and that Brandon was an engineer and had grown up on a farm. The conversation was cut short when Curtis Martin got our attention so that he could talk about being a missionary. Oh right, that's why we're here.

After the "speech" was over, everyone was to head to the main stage for another speaker followed by adoration. So Brandon, Emilio, and I said our pleasantries and wished one another well. And Emilio walked away but Brandon didn't. Instead, he asked if I wanted to walk there with him. (always a gentleman) So we walked and talked and were about a half hour early to the speaker and so we talked some more. I remember finding out about his farm cats (why were we talking about farm cats?) and that one was named "Linkermo" because they couldn't decide whether to name the poor thing "Link" or "Mo." And then Sara called to tell me where they were sitting (because you can't just find someone in a room of 6,000 people) and I asked if he wanted to sit with us. of course he did.

So we listen to the speaker, whom sometimes we're able to recall, but currently it's escaping me, and then adoration begins. Adoration = a time of silent, reflective prayer in the presence of our Lord and how beautiful is it that the very first time we hung out adoration was included?

Brandon leans over during this time of silence and whispers, "Are you going to the swing dance tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Want to meet up?"
"Sure." *smiling huge on the inside while perhaps not playing it as cool as I think on the outside*
Brandon grabs his conference booklet and scribbles his number on a corner, tears it off and gives it to me.
"See you tomorrow."

Well, that was unexpected. After he's clearly out of sight I take out my phone, enter the digits, and throw the sliver of paper into my purse.

About an hour later, on the way back to my hotel room, I text him so that he has my number, nice meeting you, etc. I check my phone about every 5 minutes until I go to sleep. No response. I wake up the next morning to no response. Around noon and still nothing, so I text again, inquiring about when/where he'd like to meet for swing dancing. And then it's six-freaking-o'clock and I'm like "what a jerk-face" and I'm looking for something in my purse when I come across the little sliver of paper with numbers quickly scribbled across it and think to make sure I entered his number correctly.

doh.

So I text the correct number about a half hour before the dance is set to begin and get a response within 3 minutes. When Brandon's telling the story he's really generous about this part and doesn't make me feel as dumb as I did on that day. But he does reveal that he was feeling a little letdown when he hadn't heard from me.

So we meet at the doors and I still remember that I was wearing a cream skirt and a blue shirt. He told me I looked "very nice." His sister was watching and remembers we matched--he was wearing a similarly colored blue shirt.

He had never swing danced before and that's what my friends and I did on many Sunday evenings in high school, so I balanced teaching him while still allowing him to lead. Oh, the foreshadowing.

And then at 11 o'clock he had to run off like Cinderella because his bus was leaving early and driving through the night instead of staying through the end of the conference. On the way out he asked if he could call me and I said that I'd like that but explained that I was kinda, sorta dating someone at the moment. (gasp! I know, right?) When Brandon tells this part he's sure to mention that we hadn't been dating long (only about 2 weeks) and that he was a jerk anyway.

So short story long, he texts me his whole way home and then calls me on the following Wednesday and we chat for an hour, during which he asks if he could see me the following Sunday! I reminded him that we lived 3 hours away from one another, but he didn't seem to mind. So we planned on going to Mass and out to lunch. I promptly hung up the phone and called my mom and squealed a little bit. And then I called the guy I was dating and told him that I thought we were going in different directions (I sure was!) and he told me to have a nice life...Well, I sure am--thank you!

That "first date" was low-key and wonderful and we went to mass and to lunch and walked on the Riverwalk (where I would later say "yes") and played cards for hours. We've always used the day we met, January 1st, as our anniversary date and you could say that the rest is history! How grateful I am for the invitation to that invite-only event.

Our very first picture together, taken the following Sunday, when Brandon came to see me again :)

Stay tuned for a few reminiscent wedding pics! ;)

~Danielle 

When others succeed--or how to live vicariously through them.

How incredible is it to watch someone succeed? Especially after they have given it their all and gone through many challenges before enjoying the sweet taste of success. Completing a degree, running a marathon, landing that job...there's a joy that comes with meeting a goal after enduring the challenges that popped up on the way.

Take my dear friend Andrea and her dad Lucky, for example.  Now, I've been honored to call Andrea one of my closest friends since meeting her in fall of 2006.  She, Margaret, and I are what you may deem "inseparable" in college.  The three of us were kinda an unlikely trio, as we're all pretty different personality-wise, but our common bond of loving life and laughing allowed us to be three peas-in-a-pod. I am certain that college would not have been as much fun, and I may not have done as well, if it wasn't for their presence in my life.

Andrea (known as "Louie") and her dad were recently chosen for Bear Grylls "Get Out Alive" television show, touted as the ultimate survival test.  Over 8 episodes, the contestants went through a series of extremely intense challenges in the wilderness of New Zealand to see if they had what it takes to survive in an emergency situation.  Like, seriously outrageous stuff.  Climbing mountains, traversing glaciers, eating maggots, drinking your own urine kind of intense. 

You now understand how different Andrea and I really are. She's tough in the classiest way possible.  I sat on the couch biting my nails and cowering, my stomach twisting in knots as I watched her overcome her fears and literally conquer mountains with a smile on her face. Because she's definitely afraid of heights and still managed to scale a mountain, jump out of a helicopter, cross a crevice on a single rope. I'm wondering how difficult that must have been for her, how demanding of a situation she found herself staring into, and the mental courage it must have taken to overcome these challenges. As Bear said over and over--"The wild is revealing"--and what was revealed of this team was dynamic and incredible and found the good in the worst of times.

And what else is incredible is how simply watching these contestants go through struggles, through genuine hardship in an effort to, in this case, stay alive, can be refreshingly inspiring for those who watch it.  We as viewers put ourselves in their shoes. We imagine what it must have been like to be there alongside them and attempt to survive--and then we realize we cannot imagine going through what they did. We as viewers watched 8 episodes detailing the mental and physical challenges they faced over roughly a months time, we rooted for their success, for them to come out as the team who ultimately survives. My news feed blew up yesterday as fellow Cardinals rejoiced with Lucky and Louie, celebrating their amazing success because, spoiler alert: They came out on top, as the winners of the entire season.  Those of us who know this team were screaming and crying and high-fiving and rejoicing from our couches all around the US.

Not only is this absolutely incredible for this well-deserving team; it also has the capacity to give us hope. We need to allow ourselves to use other's success as inspiration. We can live vicariously through this amazing display of heart, apply their immeasurable courage to our own intense hardship and the fears we currently face in our lives. Maybe it's the fear of public speaking or apologizing to someone you know you've hurt.  Maybe it's the fear that you'll fall flat on your face as you attempt to juggle the demands of life. You're battling a decision that needs to be made and are unsure how you can mentally deal with it's ramifications. You're afraid of what could happen or what might be said if you follow your passion, because it's super illogical and counter-intuitive and not many people choose that path. But not many people decide to go through the most grueling and demanding challenges a whole world away and be taped to be aired on national television either. 

Be assured that even if you're not in the wilderness, everyone deals with situations where they're not sure if they'll get out alive.  And just like we feel a sense of accomplishment and pride when the team we're rooting for is victorious after clearly seeing their struggles, we need to be able to recognize our own challenges in life and rejoice in overcoming them.

Life is not always pretty, and sometimes I look around and it seems like no one else is struggling. Success is easy to point out in other's lives, isn't it? Recognizing the strife it took to get to that place is not. Only by overcoming difficulties, though, can success possibly be so glorious. Lucky and Louie, their ability to stand up to the extremely difficult tasks and smile through them, or at least after them, made success so worth it. So why are we so quick to hide our own challenges in life? Pride, perhaps.  I've been contemplating this since reading Anne's post over at Modern Mrs. Darcy.  She so eloquently points out, "There’s no shame in the struggle: the struggle is what makes it great. The struggle is what makes it glorious."  

So don't be so quick to wish away struggle, live knowing that struggle itself is the stepping stone to success. "The wild is revealing." The hard, the frustrating, the disappointing, the fear inducing, the everyday grime of life...is revealing.  Embrace the struggle, push yourself to grow from it--because you're worth it.  And because accomplishment feels pretty incredible when you turn around and see the mountain you've climbed to get there.

~Danielle 

What's for Dinner?

7 Quickity-Quick Takes on this last weekday for 2 whole days.

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My grandpa is in the ICU currently recovering from quadruple bypass open heart surgery on Tuesday. Things are going a little bit rough right now.  I feel as though I've been in a constant state of prayer for a few days.  Would you join me in lifting up the most delightful, friendly, wonderful man you'll ever meet?  My family greatly appreciates it :)

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Your house always gets a nice little once-over when you're having guests, doesn't it?  We love having people over, mostly for the interesting conversations and hilarious stories...but tidying up pre-guests doesn't hurt either.

-3-
Does anyone else ever always make a meal for the first time when they're having guests? It's a pretty risky endeavor, as whatever recipe I follow could end up being the worst ever and I could potentially poison everyone, or at least gag them over an awful meal.  But google hasn't led my astray thus far so I guess I'll continue to play "Recipe Roulette" until I can tell everyone is lying through their teeth and actually hate whatever is put in front of them.

-4-
Tonight's dinner is simmering delightfully in the crock pot, emitting smells of wonderfulness.  I followed this recipe entitled "To Die for Crock Pot Roast."  Now that I think about it, I shouldn't have made something with death in the title for the first time to feed to people I have yet to meet...

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I also made Raspberry Pretzel Jello for dessert.  Natasha's blog post sure made it look easy and delicious. The making part was true, I'm hoping the eating part is as well.

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I am uber impressed with food bloggers ability to take so many pictures as they are cooking/baking food. And each step looks more beautiful than the last! What I want to know is their process of taking pictures and posting them...I need someone awesome to have a similar step-by-step post that reveals the process of what device they use to capture said photos, how they set up the lighting, do they send the photos to themselves or use a cord to grab the photos, is there a host site involved....Because my process of posting photos to this blog is 32 steps too long and there's got to be another way! oh, the drama.

"It's what's for dinner."

"...and dessert..."

You see, I'll do the whole picture thing, it just adds 10 minutes to my life.


-7-
Now you know what we're eating tonight.  Which I believe means I can link up to lil ol' Clan Donaldson (even though it was theme Thursday.  Friday's the new Thursday though, right?)

Check out more quick 7's over at Conversion Diary!