Duck, duck, goose!

 Monday was a gorgeous sunny spring day, and Alex and I were babysitting for a friend, so we all went to the park. I hope you enjoy these pictures!

Not steak and potatoes.

 The other day I made some t-bone steaks for dinner. I didn't really have any idea what I was doing, but was so pleased with how they turned out I just had to take a picture. I didn't make potatoes to go with them though. For us it was a steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrot medley.

When I tried to get the steak out of the pan, it literally just fell apart. Yay!

A sanctuary?

 Lately I have felt like my privacy is being invaded. It's because of a situation that I never really expected to face, never thought about, and something that I'm just not quite sure how to handle. You see, Alex and I live in an apartment complex, there are 4 apartments in one building and we recently had some neighbors move in right next to us. This young couple is not married, and yet they share things that are only meant to be shared with a spouse. I hurt for them, the world has so corrupted something that is supposed to be so pure and wonderful. I can only imagine how hard they try to convince themselves that they are happy. But at the same time, the fact that they have the lifestyle they do -and that the walls are so thin that I unavoidably hear what is going on next door- has changed my safe haven. My bedroom no longer feels like an escape, a sanctuary for Alex and I to be away from prying eyes, away from stress and worry, away from the rest of the world. Now I feel like there are invaders. I know that we may end up hearing our neighbors again at any point, and I don't want to. I think it would be different if they were another young married couple, I could perhaps laugh it off in embarrassment. But they're not, and I feel like they are making a mockery of what Alex and I have tried so hard to be a good example in: sexual purity and a marriage that shows the love of Christ and His bride...
  I can't seem to express very well what I feel. I don't feel angry at these people, I don't hate them, I don't wish them anything bad. I just want so much to help them, to have some way of telling them how hurtful what they are doing is, of telling them about how wonderful and happy things could be if they would just follow the clear guidelines our Creator has given us...

Encouragement and a challenge

    

  For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
                            (2 Timothy 1:7-10 NKJV)

Pictures

I finished altering my dress! What do you think?

 

 

What I learned.

Yesterday Alex and I went and helped some friends butcher and wrap two elks. That was a lot of meat! With 5 or 6 grown men, 2 women, and 2 young girls it took us 8 hours! It was my first time ever doing anything like that and I think I learned a lot, so I decided to share.

~ I learned that blood and guts don't really bother me. Seeing a little bit of how everything works is fascinating.
~ I learned that I am enough shorter than everyone else that while their lower backs were sore and achy from bending over tables..it was my shoulder blade area that got all the twinges.
~ I learned that fresh raw meat smells nasty! I also learned that the smell seems to go away after a few hours.
~ No thank you, guys, I learned that handling big hunks of raw steak and roast does not make me want to take a big bite of it. Yucky!
~ When handling raw meat, I learned that the last thing I am craving to eat is meat..no, I wanted a milkshake or a cinnamon roll, maybe a nice, fresh, green salad. I was not thinking about steak and potatoes..
~ I learned that it still gives me butterflies in my stomach to see my Alex smile at me from across the room (or barn) and to realize that he is my husband!
~ I learned that dogs eat weird things and I'm very glad I'm not a dog.
~ I learned that some elk insides are sticky...like double sided tape.
~ I learned that I should really get a pair of muck boots.
~ I learned that one of my handfuls of ground meat cannot equal a pound if the handful of a guy with hands 3 times the size of mine equals a pound. One of us was wrong.
~ I learned that when I am with people I care about and love -even while having blood on my hands, straw and muck all over my shoes, being freezing cold, and bending over to wrap and bag seemingly never ending cuts of roast, steak, and ground meat- I can still have a good time.

Perhaps now you too have learned something new :)

Phone problems, car trouble, and a banana split.

  Today was very interesting. Alex and I planned to spend the afternoon in town browsing through antique stores and thrift shops. We got a bit of a late start and it was nearly 2 o'clock by the time we left. As we were leaving the mail was delivered, so we stopped to check our little mailbox. We had received only one thing: the cell phone bill. When Alex read it he saw that we had been charged an extra $100! Looking through the twenty pages they sent us we realized that I had been charged for every outgoing text to my dear friend Christa, who lives in Canada. I have been texting her pretty much daily for almost a year with no problem and suddenly the texts were being considered international messages and I was being charged 20 cents per outgoing text?? It didn't make sense to us so Alex called the customer service number. We discovered that they had changed their service and that unlimited texting no longer covers international text messages. "If you change your plan now we can take off what has already been charged onto your next bill. It will only be another $10 a month!" When we asked them about what was already charged they told us that Alex had been sent a text that they were changing things and therefore they could not do anything about the extra charges on the bill he just received. Huh. It seems I am starting to agree with the Sprint guy at the mall, "You know what T-mobile stands for? Terrible mobile!" We plan on switching providers as soon as we can do so without having to pay a fee to end our plan with T-mobile.


 So, to whom it may concern at T-mobile: You know those little alerts I get "This will cost you an extra fee, do you wish to continue?"  like when I try to get on the internet? That kind of alert would have been nice when you started charging money for international texts. Just a tip ;)

So, once we discovered that we would have to pay the extra charges on our phone bill -and that I should now use blackberry messenger to talk to Christa- Alex and I left for town. Almost as soon as we got off of our street his car's check engine light came on! After talking to Grandma and Mom and being told that it wasn't something we could just ignore, Alex called his mechanic. He found out that he would have to wait til Monday to be able to get it in for an appointment. So, he had another short chat with Mom and found out there was a place in town that could do an engine reading for free. After stopping by two different places and being told it was just an emission problem, Alex tightened the fuel tank cover and the light hasn't come on since! Praise the Lord it was just something small!


 Finally, around 4, we made it to the first antique shop. It was huge!! We barely even started looking around the place. There were all sorts of crazy things. Knives, jewelry, old egg beaters, desks, chairs, buttons, china, odd statues, vintage Mickey Mouse figurines, old spectacles, ladies gloves, hat pins, lamps, records...We almost got locked in because we were still looking around at closing time. All the shops downtown seem to close at the same time, so we didn't make it to more than that one. Here's just a fraction of the store:

 We had been walking around the antique shop for about a half an hour when we decided to go to the old pharmacy in town and get phosphate sodas. (I discovered that phosphates are not the same as Italian sodas...though I am still unsure of the difference) The pharmacy was really busy! They have an old fashioned soda fountain set up in the middle. A long wooden counter with spinning bar stools the whole way around it and the drinks and ice cream, and the people who make and serve them, in the middle. All the seats were filled though, so while waiting for some to open up Alex and I wandered around the store.

He does like bacon a lot..this was a bacon cookbook!

We found a shark hat..it was difficult to see out of!

  Once there were seats open Alex and I ordered our 25 cent sodas. I got banana pineapple, and Alex got cherry lime. His was better, hehe. We then decided to share a banana split too, it had been so long since either of us had had one. It started out picture perfect, but I forgot to take one until we had already started eating.

 Anyway, today ended up being rather nice, despite how it started. We came home and watched a movie, I cut Alex's hair (my first time ever cutting someone's hair!! Maybe I'll post pictures later) and just had a nice relaxing evening. Alex and I have very much enjoyed all our time together this week that he has had off from school. Tomorrow we may go help butcher some elk!