Tales of Christmas Ornaments Past...

I put up my tree the other night... I love all my ornaments. They all have stories. So, this year, I decided that I'm going to start a little book with the stories and a picture of each ornament- that way, I have the memories preserved for generations.

Like... The little miniature wrench that Amos used to play with when he was a boy. He kept it in his desk and created all sorts of little play things. Hay wagons, balers, etc... (we still have a few of them!) This specific wrench was bought for $2.00 of his own money. He still loves it as much now as he did then.

Or...The Mountain Dew ornament made for me by my husband our first Christmas. He claims that I must secretly like Mountain Dew (hardly) but either way, the back says that he likes me even more than he does his soda. That's awfully hefty praise.

Or...the Bride ornament that I received from Brianna the year I got married. It was a crazy year, full of adventures and questions and it all came to an end when I married the man of my dreams. Literally.

And, of course... the little red baby pajamas that Brianna gave me the year Eric was born. I was at college when he was born and when I got the news that he had arrived, I was so excited that I was shaking. I couldn't eat for at least a day and when I called home he cooed into the phone. He must have known that I loved him to pieces... even from hundreds of miles away.

The list could go on, of course. All my lovely ornaments. It'll be a great book.

a few of my favorite things...

A Few of My Favorite Things:

-~- My niece, who is a foster-child, looking up at me with sparkling eyes and saying, “Are you in my family?” Then responding to my nod of affirmation, “I’m glad.”

-~- Cooking beans in the crock pot. One cup to two and a half cups of water, turn it on high and leave it overnight. Never again will I try to do them on the stove! (Unless, of course, I get my wood cook stove that I want so badly. Then I’ll let a pot of beans sit there all day…)

-~- Memories. I was thinking this morning about my husband and the Pringle can. I’m sure some of you have heard this story but for those who haven’t: When we were in Haiti the only kind of chips we could find were Pringles. I would often be working in the kitchen and Amos would come through and grab a handful of chips. I say grab, more like pour. Every day I would watch him dump the chips out into his hand, then put them away. Finally, after seeing this for months on end, I questioned him. “Why in the world do you dump the chips out instead of just taking a little stack? Every time you dump them, the ones on the bottom break.” He looked at me from behind the freezer door (we kept them in the freezer to avoid having houseguests) then lifted up the can of Pringles and without saying a word jammed his hand into the top a few times. I just about died laughing. It never occurred to me that his hand wouldn’t fit inside the little tube!

-~- An empty sink! About once a month I get WAY behind on dishes and they stack up and it takes me about a week to catch up. But, oh, when I have- I feel like dancing when I see that empty sink!

-~- My niece, Lydia, spending the night, talking to me from the bathtub… “Would you like a slushie? Would you like it microwaved? Don’t worry it won’t melt the ice. It’s a special microwave. Would you like peppermint pattis on the top? Lemon on the side?”

-~- After Lydia’s bath and after her hair was braided but before she ate her ice cream- she decided that she needed to be weighed. So, while Amos and Justin and TJ sat at the table, she and I wandered off to the bathroom to check her weight. “53 pounds!” She exclaimed as we walked back out to the kitchen. Amos said, “I weighed that 160 pounds ago.” Lydia replied, “I don’t weigh 160 pounds! But I think Tasha probably does.” The guys all looked at me, waiting for me to start laughing before they dared to start.

-~- TJ calling me “Mom”.

-~- A good dose of Irish whiskey before bed. (Don’t panic, I only take it when I have a cough that racks my chest and makes it hard for me to breath. I’d rather suffer through the horrible burning and awful taste than force down the disgustingly sweetened cough syrup stuff. I think it should be outlawed, there is NO way it’s any good for you.)

-~- Hadassah Grace Siegrist. (She’s just the newest. Aurora, Giselle, Elyse, Lydia, Heidi, Grace, Anna, Ramsey, Lulu, Kaitlyn and Eliza are also favorites.)

-~- The bookshelves that my husband built me in the office. Have I ever mentioned that I love him to pieces?

-~- Seeing the copper teapot that we got at an antique shop on our honeymoon steaming on the woodstove.

-~- Chocolate Chip Cookies in all kinds of strange shapes because a five year old helped make them.

-~- Children’s books for 4 cents a piece at a thrift store in Watertown. I love children’s books all most as much as I love biographies of missionaries.

So lovely.

My sister-in-law just had her baby girl. Hadassah Grace. She's so beautiful.
Jesus, may this little girl grow up to follow you with as much devotion as Queen Esther... For such a time as this, she was placed upon the earth...

Link to my post.

All my latest thoughts are on the Women of Promise blog (go here).

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Writing.

My husband and I have finally hit that crux in a relationship where one goes from knowing some parts of a person to knowing most of that person. I've decided that it just takes about 2 years, no matter how long you knew each other before hand (unless, perhaps, you disagree with me and think that it's fine to have exceptionally close [emotionally] relationships with the opposite sex before marriage). And I can't begin to tell you how fun it is!

Amos and I were talking the other morning about different dreams and I mentioned the book that I'm writing. Not the one that is almost finished (I read a few chic lit books a couple years ago and said, unfortunately, outloud, "I could write this." and then my friends insisted that I prove it. So, after rolling my eyes for a couple years, I finally buckled down and started "The Reasons" which needs about 20 thousand more words to be finished.) but the other one... I've always been fascinated by the girl I was named after, Natasha Zhanova from the book The Persecutor. And for years I've had this story swirling in my mind that involves her and that time period...

Regardless, I was telling Amos about it and he really encouraged me to finish it. In fact, he offered to help me and to make sure that I had all the time I needed. And, he said that if I finished it, he'd sell a piece of equipment so I had money in case I needed to buy copies of the book to get it published.
Now, I don't have stars in my eyes about becoming an author... but it did make me realize that I can do this. I can finish it. Not to get a book on the market but just because I love writing. And I love this story.

It makes me excited. So, my resolution for 2010 (getting an early start!) is to get a rough draft written. 100,000 words at least.

Jesus, you know that I want this because I think you've placed all of these things inside me. You inspired my name. You gave me a love for Russia and the persecuted church. If this story can bring you glory in anyway, that's all I want. Lead and guide me. I don't want to get so set on this that I miss what you're doing but I kind of feel like this is what you're doing. I love you. Help me follow.

A Day In My Life.

Amos and I have been married for just under 2 years. We recently returned from a 7 month trip to LaColline, Haiti and are now re-adjusting to life in the States. Amos works on farm tractors and I work (on-call) as a secretary for a local business. I try to keep my week mostly free to be at home since my husband works from home. This doesn't always work out the best... as you will see!

7:30AM

I wake up to my phone beeping. My usual waking time is closer to 6:30 but I haven't been feeling quite like myself lately. My mind goes over the days work... Then, I remember the phone call the night before. My dear friend, Delite, cares for five young children. Usually they are in school during the day and she is free to work at her second job, which she agreed to do this week, however, two of them are now home sick.

I decide that I had better get up and get dressed so I can see her for a few minutes before she leaves to take the other children to school. It doesn't work out quite that well because my husband pulls me back into bed with him when I go to kiss him goodbye. I giggle and promise that I will see him later as I disentangle myself and head out the door. I love my husband.

It is a long standing joke between us because I am an early bird and he is a night-owl. He'll stay up until all hours of the night working (he makes half our income after 9pm!) and I fall asleep long before he comes in. Sometimes I wake up when he gets there and other times I just snuggle into his arms and keep sleeping.

However, in the mornings, I'm up and about and he misses the warm body in the bed next to him. I'll usually be up for hours, cleaning and working in the house when I hear his pitiful call from the bedroom, "hhhhoooonnneeeyyy..." And when I come, he immediately pulls me back into bed to snuggle. Such a goof.

8:00AM

I arrive at Melvie's just in time to say goodbye to the other kids and hear Kimmy say to Delite, "Pleeeeeaasseee, can I stay home with Tasha? I was sick yesterday!" Delite laughed and kissed her forehead. "No. Now get in the car." I smile at Delite as I drop my bag on the kitchen table. It's easy to see there is no mother in this home. There are clothes everywhere and dishes piled in the sink. Well, no matter, I'm here now. Kimmy gives me a hug and kiss as she goes and the boys even manage to wave and say, "Hey, Tasha." (which is a great accomplishment for a 15 year old.) They can act pretty tough but one day they broke down and told me how nice it is when the house is clean and there is a snack ready when they get home from school. I know that I can't do it, but it made me want to go back in time and be a mother to him for the past ten years. My heart aches for these children. Don't get me wrong, though, their dad works hard and does his best by them. I'm proud of him.

My two sick, sleeping girls soon wake up and beg me to give them medicine. It takes a little bit to figure out when they had their last dose and I am soon measuring out 2 t. of grape flavored Tylenol. It looks disgusting. But, thankfully, it works. Jocelyn's fever breaks and I breath a sigh of relief. It had been rather high for a five year old. I take time to lay my hand on each of their heads and pray that God will bring them healing. They smile at me.

Four loads of laundry and two dishwasher loads later, the house is smelling and looking cleaner. The floors get swept. There is chicken and rice soup cooking and the girls are feeling well enough to watch a movie.

2:45PM

The girl's dad arrives home a bit early. He was worried about them. Once he sees they are doing better, he asks if I mind if he runs a couple errands. I tell him that's fine and he's soon gone again. I sit on the couch with Jocelyn and rub her feet. She sighs and looks at me, "I love you, Tashie." I smile back. "I love you too, Jocelyn."

3:30PM

Melvie is back and I'm packing up my stuff. He thanks me and asks if I'll be available on Wednesday if either of them are still sick. I tell him yes and head out.

I settle in the car and turn up the Bible CD that is playing. Hebrews. I love Hebrews. I smile as I listen...

I make a quick stop at the gas station, cringing as I turn over $25.02 for gasoline. The cringe because that didn't even fill my tank. Oh, well. I stop at the library to pick up a book I had ordered. They were having a sale on books, a grocery bag full for two dollars.

Needless to say, I filled a bag. There were several books on Russia that I wanted because I am in the middle of working on a book that takes place in Communist Russia.

I stop at my mother's to pick up the book, "The Persecutor." This is the auto-biography that inspired my name (Natasha) as well as the book I am working on.

I finally make it home. Amos is carrying in a half gallon of raw milk that his brother brought for us. I've been working at eating only certain foods because of PCOS and one this that has helped tremendously has been drinking raw milk. I also make yogurt and ice cream out of it. I think about making some yogurt today but then change my mind. My throat is feeling quite scratchy so instead, I opt for a long hot bath.

My husband comes in and tells me that he needs to go get some things at Jeremy's. I think about going then change my mind. They have 3 children and I don't want to get any of them sick.

Instead, I do a load of laundry and then curl up on the couch with a book.

Amos doesn't get home until late but it's okay with me. With waking up late in the morning, I suddenly remember that I haven't spent any time in the Word. I pull out my journal and smile at the last thing that is written... You, Jesus, are most important. Only you.

I spend some time thinking about and praying for the people in my life. Melvie and his five children. Brianna, my sister-in-law. Oh, how I miss her. Delite and her fiance. Danielle, who is living in Dubai. Elizabeth. Marsha, my other sister-in-law who is expecting her second child. I stop there and add, "Please, Jesus, don't let her go into labor until I am better! I really want to be there." Then I think that's a bit selfish. Then I decide that it's true! I was at the birth of all my nieces and I would hate to miss one.

I read some of Hebrews, reiterating when I heard on the Bible CD today.

10:00PM
I fall asleep thinking about how good it feels to be serving our God. He is so faithful. So wonderful. I am blessed beyond measure.