Home from Iowa

We arrived safely Sunday home from our wonderful time in Iowa. As expected, a great time was had by all, and finally getting to meet Samuel was WONDERFUL. He was so sweet and precious that I could barely stand it. Even though he had a little cold, he still managed to be more or less his usual happy, smiley, and charming self. It was also good to see Andrew and Melanie, and watch them be parents. On Saturday, all of us drove to a little town called Pella, visited with Mark, Cara, and baby Ella Grace, and ate some delicious Dutch letters from an actual dutch bakery. So here are some pics:

Jeff and the Daniel Wilkes "holster hold"

Here is Sam, ready to go outside into the COLD Iowa weather:

Here I am, holding the sleeping Samuel in a way he really seemed to enjoy this weekend. And everyone who hasn't seen it can notice my new haircut:

And here he is doing his favorite activity:
And here is my brother, actually looking like real doctor!! (And squinting because of the bright sun)

Baby Sam!!!!

In less than 24 hours, we leave to meet Baby Sam!! I am over-excited and may not sleep too well tonight, just thinking about it!! So I leave you with a few photos of what we have to look forward to:

And just so Jackson doesn't feel left out:

Sabbath

Sometimes, a hymn really hits you right where you are.

Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right

1. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Holy His will abideth.
I will be still whate’er He does,
And follow where He guideth.
He is my God,
Though dark my road.
He holds me that I shall not fall
Wherefore to Him I leave it all

2. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
He never will deceive me
He leads me by the proper path,
I know He will not leave me
I take, content,
What He hath sent
His hand can turn my griefs away
And patiently I wait His day

3. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Though now this cup in drinking
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it all unshrinking
My God is true,
Each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart
And pain and sorrow shall depart

4. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Here shall my stand be taken
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken
My Father’s care
Is round me there
He holds me that I shall not fall
And so to Him I leave it all

Friendly Advice

So, if you were thinking, "Hmm...it might be a nice night to go to the movie." And then upon looking at various trailers, decide, "Maybe The Good Shepherd would be a good movie to see. There are spies....maybe it will be like James Bond. Let's go see that."

STOP RIGHT THERE.

Save the money. Go get ice cream instead. Or take a walk. Even a cold walk. Cleaning? Sounds good. You could even stay home and catch up on some reading (Berkhof, anyone?) but DO NOT go see the movie.

It will be a waste of time and money. And confusing. And somewhat disturbing.

At least we had a good dinner at Moe's.

Back Home

Yesterday, I got back home after a trip to Indiana for an interview (hopefully my last) and a visit with Austin. I had a great time. I was even mistaken for Austin's younger sister, who had to come to visit the college and think about coming there. :) It is a nice campus, but I've already done college, thankyouverymuch. Elise, Austin's girlfriend, let me stay with her in her nice, on-campus apartment. I ate in the cafeteria. I got my hair cut for $15. (!!!) It snowed a little and we got to do some sledding on this excellent hill. It is good to be home, though, especially when I come home and Jeff has been a busy bee. He completely straightened up our office, including throwing stuff away and making sure all our books have a place on the shelf, and aren't just stacked in messy stacks. He also organized my own personal shelf where I store various medical school books. And he installed (using a new cordless drill he got for Christmas) a pretty metal flowerbox on our porch we got from Ikea many, many months ago. He even made some cookies for Bible study. (Which he then just ate for dinner. I knew it was time to come back when he was eating cookies for dinner.)

And now begins the praying and discussions about where we will go next year. Y'all can please be praying for us as we make this decision. I have to turn in my rank list on February 21, so we have to decide by then. It is exciting and scary to think about moving, and we are trying to trust God in all this. But Jeff still hasn't found a job, and it's looking like we're going to have to turn in our rank list without a job for him, so we're going to have to base our decision on where we think the best chances are, and also consider what programs I liked.

So pray, pray, pray.

My name is Jeff. I have a Moleskine.

Every so often I buy a product because I know that owning said product will make me into a new and better kind of person. I just know that if I own this new thing, that it will change who I am, it will define me, and allow me to re-present my persona to the world. I will be smarter, funnier, handsomer (as if this were possible!), etc.

The truth is, I like to think that I am above such consumerism. But I'm not. A well marketed product can still tug at my heart strings if the marketing is aimed at my particular niche. And boy, was this ever aimed at my niche.

As of this weekend, I own a Moleskine. Check it out. I feel smarter and hipper already. In your confusion you may think that a Moleskine is simply a plain black notebook with a rubber band around it. No, no, how wrong you would be. You see, according to the marketing flyer that came with my Moleskine, this is the legendary journal that was carried by Picasso, and Hemingway. My friend CW also carries one. Now, I don't really want to be crazy like Picasso, and I hope my writing is a bit more... interesting that Hemingway. Although I would like to be more like CW. I think carrying this notebook will make me more like them. In the future the marketing flyer will also say it was carried by Tell.

I got the ruled notebook, in the pocket size. It fits well in my pocket. Now whenever I am out, and I have a Moleskine-worthy thought, I can quickly jot it down. Although, I have noticed that now I spend less time thinking, and more time analyzing my thoughts to decide which ones are Moleskine-worthy. When I become famous I don't want people looking through my Moleskine and realizing I just had all these mediocre thoughts.

Carrying a Moleskine puts you in an elite class of people. I feel like I should be more picky about the coffee I drink, and possibly more interested in sketching things.

All this happiness and self esteem for only $9.95, quite a bargain!

Obituary to my cell phone

Silver Cell Phone #2, you came into my life at a good time. Silver Cell Phone #1 had been driving me crazy with its inability to tell me who was calling, it's occasional, but regular lapses of screen power, and regularity in cutting me off. But in you came, with your lovely and functional caller ID, your sleek design, and even better, your camera that enabled me to have a picture of my honey pop up whenever he called. You had some good games on you, and though I rarely played them, I was glad that they were there. You had some great ringtones. The Smurfs theme song played whenever Jeff called, a nice way to brighten my day. When friends called, there was a sort of rock/rap sounding ringtone that cheerfully informed me people I liked wanted to talk to me. I used your chirping birds as a way to wake up whenever I had to sleep at the hospital.

But alas, your life has been cut short. Cut cruelly short by the tepid but treacherous waters inside the toilet bowl. You met your doom as you so suddenly slipped from a warm pocket into those perilous waters. Despite a very rapid rescue attempt, the waters proved too much for you.

Sleep well, Silver Cell Phone #2. You had a good life. And we will miss you.

Colorado!!!

Jeff and I had a great time in Colorado. THere is something about snow that brings out the four-year-old in me. We did lots of sledding, walking in snow, and even got to ski for a day. And I did get my wish for a white Christmas. It actually snowed for most of the evening on Christmas Eve, so we even had some new snow for Christmas. Here are some photos highlights:

Of sledding:
Here is Maggie, trying to find a snowball Jeff threw for her.

Skiing:


I think before this trip I had only built one snowman in my entire life. Here is the one Jeff and I built.

And here is the view out the front door on Christmas morning!!

Other presents

For Dave (Jeff's brother and father to Jackson) Jeff and I had some of our photos of Jackson printed and then we put them into frames. So here are the pics we gave them, which I thought were great photos of Jackson, but we didn't actually post earlier since we wanted them to be a surprise.



And if you can believe it, he just keeps getting cuter. It seems we have some serious cute genes running in this family.

A few Christmas gifts.

Finally, finally I can post some of the things I've been working on these last few weeks and months now that they have been received by their various recipients.
First, the cutest: it seems to me that every baby needs a stuffed hippo to call their own. Two hippos were made using this pattern I found in a library book.

And my friend Kim gave me this idea after she made me some placemats for my birthday. These were made for Hannah, mom to nephew Jackson.
These hats I made for Jackson and Samuel from an old sweater of my brother's that I felted.
And here is a picture of Jackson actually wearing the hat.
For my mom, Melanie, my mother-in-law, Elise (my brother Austin's very nice girlfriend), and a few others, I made bags like this:

There were different sizes and different materials, but I thought all the bags looked really cute, and there were also matching tissue holders to go along with the bags. (I also got lots of practice putting in zippers, so it was a learning experience.)

I really enjoyed Christmas this year, since I was able to give away so many presents that I had actually made. I've never had that experience before, but hopefully now that I'm learning how to sew, I can keep making gifts for people. There is something deeply satisfying about using your time and talents and producing something that other people can enjoy.

Home again...

We had a great Christmas in Colorado, which involved lots of snow, food, and a very cute nephew. More to come later.