In my spirit:
- Contemplating God’s justice in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
- Praying for us, “that our God may make [us] worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in [us], and [we] in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)
- Praying for our missionaries, “that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored” and “that [they] may be delivered from wicked and evil men” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)
In the living room:
- I decided to try something new with my workouts this week – doing HIIT for different body parts instead of my previous 12 reps of various exercises divided by marching in place – and it is KILLING me.
- More specifically, this leg workout almost killed me. It recommended 1 minute of each exercise, so I did so with a 30 second “rest” (marching) period after each minute of exercise – and got to the fifth exercise before I couldn’t breathe and my legs were too jelly to keep my balance. I’ll be trying 20 second “on” and 10 second “off” intervals next time – and will take my inhaler before I start. This one appears to be a workout you need to work yourself into!
In the kitchen:
- We had leftover Spaghetti with Szechuan Chicken and Peanut Sauce earlier this week – I found the recipe in the Good Housekeeping Budget Dinners cookbook, and it’s a definite keeper. I found several decent recipes in that particular cookbook.
- We’ve been eating and loving this lasagna soup – I used sausage instead of ground pork and farfalle (bow tie pasta) instead of broken lasagna noodles. I’ve done this before but hadn’t noticed how salty it is (probably because of the sausage – ALDIs sausage is quite salty); next time, I’ll skip the salt.
- I was busy drafting an email yesterday afternoon and lost track of time – was just messaging Daniel to ask him if I should make dinner late or have him pick something up when the power went out, deciding it for us. The power wasn’t out terribly long (20 minutes, maybe?), but the pizza I didn’t make was delicious :-)
In the nursery:
- Remember how I said Tirzah Mae can’t move forward? She seems determined to prove me wrong by army crawling almost everywhere.
- I’ve been noticing how extroverted Tirzah Mae seems. She just lights up when we go out in public and when the world showers attention on her.
In the craft room:
- I made Tirzah Mae a simple glitter bottle this morning after she spent a while rolling my Nalgene across the floor. So far, her favorite thing to do with it is to knock it off the ledge of the bathtub into my bathwater.
In the library:
aka “Books added to TBR list”
- Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones (added based on Sharon’s review)
- The Brainy Bunch by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding (added based on Amy’s review)
- Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams (added based on Jennifer’s review at 5M4B)
In the garden:
- It looked like I was going to have beans, but while they flowered, they haven’t set on pods. Bummer.
- On the other hand, my tomatoes are setting on nicely and I’m starting to see little cucumbers.
- It’s been cool/rainy enough between hot spells that my broccoli is still putting on side shoots (although they do bolt rather quickly.) I might be able to carry these same plants all the way through fall.
On the land:
- The trailer is off our land – so we’re ready to start digging as soon as permits are pulled!
- We’ve just about got the septic permit and our builder is pulling the rest of the permits – which means we’ll probably be set to break ground first week in August (Ay-yi!)
On the web:
- Common-Sense Screentime – Interesting thoughts about the dangers of “replacing yourself with an object”
- Antidepressant use linked to birth defects – I’m thankful the antidepressant I’ve been on off-and-on over the past ten years or so is one of the safe ones; but this is another reminder that it’s worthwhile for women who are capable of conceiving to talk with their doctor’s about risks and benefits of the drugs they’re taking.
- Managing Your Facebook News Feed – I’m hopeful this will help me actually see what I want to see – my family and friends’ status updates!
- Sing to the Lord a Simple Song – I’ve often thought this about the simple Scripture choruses I grew up singing in the 80s and early 90s. Simple melodies, short lyrics, straight from the Scripture. (HT: Tim Challies)
- Breastmilk differs based on baby’s sex – Just another example of how fearfully and wonderfully we are made (HT: The Common Room)
- The secret marriage lesson I learned in the grocery store aisle – A sweet story about considering “we” instead of “me”. You really should read it.
Hurray for the trailer off the land and building preliminaries progressing!
The glitter bottle is a neat idea.
Neat hearing about Tirzah Mae.