This last weekend we scored a great deal on a bunk bed/dresser set for W’s room!

It has always been our plan to eventually find some sort of loft bunk bed set for him, but we hadn’t been thinking it would happen for another few years. However, M’s dad is a volunteer driver for Bridging (a great organization), and during a pick-up at a consignment shop the other day he spotted this amazing deal for us! So we headed to the consignment shop first thing Saturday morning, and…SURPRISE! W got his bunk bed set a bit earlier than planned.

Here are some pictures of his newly re-furbished room:

(*this last photo is the view from “inside” W’s bed. He was a little nervous at first to have all these “scary eyes” looking down on him…so we somehow convinced him to think of them as “silly eyes” instead. ).

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On a separate note, I want to thank all of you who offered such kind encouragement on my last post! My goal in posting was simply to share a piece of what freaks me out about stepping out of that ol’ “comfort zone” and see if any of you ever struggle with that, too…but I was so blessed and surprised to get so much encouragement in response. Thank you. As of today, the invitations are in hand and I have plans to bundle the kids up and deliver them sometime tomorrow…here we go!

I’m not generally what you would call outgoing. Sure, I enjoy meeting new people and I warm up fairly quickly when making new friends — I’m just not big on approaching them FIRST. It kind of freaks me out. OK, it REALLY freaks me out. Holy fear of rejection, Batman! Looking back, I think this is why most of my closest friends over the years have been extroverts — they approached me first!

Yeah, confidence is not exactly my strong suit — the confidence to act on the spot, without a script of some sort, at least. Put me up on a stage, give me a script to recite or notes/words to sing — I’m good. Otherwise, um, no thank you. Gotta have a script. This is why I will never be in Comedy Sportz or any other improv troupe (also I’m not that funny, but I digress)…

ANYWAY, the reason this is all coming up for me is that the neighborhood Bible study I am a part of has decided to put on a little Christmas tea for the ladies on our street in a few weeks…just a time to gather together, get to know one another better, read the Christmas story and ponder the true meaning of Christmas. It will be a nice time and I’m really looking forward to it. The only thing I’m terrified about is that I’ve been asked to deliver the invitations. By hand. Door. To. Door.

AAAAAAAAK!

I’d be totally comfortable with designing the invitations…or addressing them and popping them in the mailbox…or even putting together a little e-vite…but hand delivering them? Offering my neighbors (most of whom I’ve yet to meet or don’t know very well) a warm smile, and an unscripted invitation to our gathering? I’m nearly breaking out in a sweat just thinking about it. Or hyper-ventilating a little. Or both.

It’s in those types of situations where the lies start to pour in, isn’t it. The insecurities. Suddenly I’m hyper aware of my extreme and seemingly-constant awkwardness, or how funny I might look, or how unfashionable I am. Stuff I normally wouldn’t care about suddenly is magnified and my tongue gets all tangled up.

SO….this is exactly why I told my neighbor who asked me that I’d be happy to do it. I told her it scares the living daylights out of me, but so help me I will do it.

Goodness, if people DIE for their faith, surely I could hand out a few Christmas tea invitations!

~gulp~

What about you? Have you ever resisted the urge to hide? How’d it go for ya?

The authors of 2 blogs I follow — The Pipers and Kelly’s Korner — are on a “blogger” trip in El Salvador, learning and seeing firsthand the work that Compassion International (one of my favorite organizations) is doing there. I encourage you to follow along their blogs this week as they describe their journey. I’m excited for this chance to get to look through a “window” into what is in so many ways a whole other world…

Last night I Tweeted/Facebooked that one of my “comfort movies” is “Dan in Real Life”.

…and by “comfort movie”, I mean something that I’ve seen many times, is easy to watch, pleasant, pretty clean, and doesn’t require too much emotional energy (which, for me, rules out anything TOO dramatic, sad or violent).

You know, like “comfort food”, except in movie form.

A few of my other comfort movies include: While You Were Sleeping, That Thing You Do, Pride & Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, You’ve Got Mail…and probably loads of others I’m forgetting.

(note: I didn’t say they were all GOOD movies!)

These movies feel like old friends.

What about you? What are some of your comfort movies?

6 yrs ago yesterday I sang “How Beautiful” in church.

When I got to my chair after the song, I realized I was sitting in front of the guy I’d been quietly noticing at church.

His name was M.

We talked for 2 minutes after the service.

He thought he’d messed up.

I thought I messed up.

That night I went to a party and told my friends I thought I’d messed up.

When I got home I saw I had an e-mail in my in-box.

I thought it was junk.

I almost deleted it.

~shudder~

Something inside told me not to, so I clicked it open.

It was from M.

I freaked out.

The next morning I was home sick from work but I watched “Anne of Avonlea”.

It was one of my all-time favorite romantic movies.

I watched it because I was in a romantic mood —

Somehow I knew life would never be the same.

And it wouldn’t be.

Happy Anniversary of Our First Conversation and E-Mail, Sweetie!!! I’m so glad you talked to me!!!

(note: this time of year holds many random and obscure anniversaries of our relationship. Seriously, I drive him batty by remembering each and every one.
Still, I will not stop.

The first one is probably “technically” ideal — all eyes on the camera, everyone looking nice, behaving, etc.

The second one probably captures the reality of our life a bit more accurately, though:

It might be a crazy life, but it’s our life…wait, what?!

(in all seriousness, though, these pics were part of a wonderful series of pictures my sister Katie took of our family! We just got the CD of photos and I’m thrilled with them. I’ll share more later. My sissy is so darn gifted!)

]]> http://nmwally.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/2-family-pictures/feed/ 2 nmwally DSC_0223 DSC_0226 http://nmwally.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/mmmmm-black-bean-barley-burritos/ http://nmwally.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/mmmmm-black-bean-barley-burritos/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:03:08 +0000 nmwally http://nmwally.wordpress.com/?p=810 ]]>

The other night I whipped up another one of our favorite meals: Black Bean & Barley Burritos. My friend Sara brought them to us as a meal after S was born, and I immediately knew I’d need the recipe!

I like them because:

• They’re easy to make

• They don’t have a “heavy” feel to them like most burritos do. They’re filling, yet light.

• They’re healthy

• My toddler likes them (I usually just serve him a plate of the inside mixture, sans almonds)

• Most of the ingredients are dry or canned (long shelf life — I can buy extra and save for later)…and the  ones that aren’t are ingredients I’d probably have on hand anyway. So they’re a great “in a pinch” meal.

• They’re just yummy!

Try them! I know you’ll like them.

Black Bean & Barley Burritos

1/2 cup pearled barley
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced
1/3 cup chopped almonds (if you buy them raw, be sure to toast them)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
8″ tortillas (preferably whole wheat)
salsa or guac or both

1. Cook barley in a 3-quart pot w/ 2 cups water. Takes 45-50 minutes.
2. After water is absorbed and barley is ready, add black beans and cilantro.
3. Add chopped almonds — I usually pull a cup of the mixture out for my toddler BEFORE adding the almonds.
4. Add grated cheese. You can also add cheese to the tortillas as you roll them up
5. Take a tortilla and place 1/4 to 1/3 cup of mixture in the tortilla.  Roll up and place on a cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
7. Serve with salsa & sour cream over the top (they’re fairly plain without) (peach & mango salsa is my favorite!)

Today my friend Bethany is heavy on my heart. She is a precious old friend of mine — a roommate and kindred spirit at the camp we used to work at. A true woman of God. I’ve been so happy to keep in touch with her over the years. She and her husband, Dave, have been longing and praying for a baby for years. They signed up with an adoption agency, and have spent the past several months eagerly preparing for the arrival of a baby boy…showers were thrown, she left her job to stay home, Dave built a crib, the nursery was all ready to go.

On Friday the baby boy was born. Sunday afternoon, at the very last minute, the birthparents changed their mind. Bethany and Dave had one hour to spend with the baby before they had to head home.

I can’t imagine what they are going through right now, and I won’t even try.  I just know they need prayer, as does the little baby they had to leave behind. I keep thinking of more and more implications of this turn of events, and my heart just breaks for them more and more. Will you join me in praying for this precious couple?

OK, so earlier today I Tweeted/Facebooked that I had just placed my grocery order and had spent only $57 on $108 worth of groceries . Not surprisingly, I received a lot of responses, most of which boiled down to one of these two questions:

1. “How did you score such a great deal?”

2. “What do you mean you ORDERED your groceries?!”.

So I thought I’d scribble out a quick blog to explain!

For several months now I’ve been ordering my groceries from a place called Coborn’s Delivers, and I LOVE it. I simply log-in to the website, place my order, and a big yellow truck delivers it to our door the next evening. Done. No trips to the grocery store. No navigating the narrow aisles while people obliviously block the aisle with their carts as they slowly make their selections. No staring aimlessly at row after row of canned tomato products. No bagging it all up, loading it into the car, unloading it from the car, etc. (Can you tell I’m not a fan of grocery shopping?). The delivery fee is $5 — and the deliverymen don’t accept tips (which the conveniently spell out on their website!).

The prices and selection, on the whole, are comparable to what you would find in a typical grocery store (with a few exceptions). They also offer lots of incentives and special deals to watch for, and they accept regular coupons. Also, I’ve found it easier to watch my money, as I am much less likely to impulse-buy, and I can keep track of my total as it tallies up in the sidebar while I shop. If I see it getting to high, I can always adjust accordingly.

Seriously, I used to think it was kind of wimpy to order groceries (I’ll admit it!), but you know what? Since I’ve  had tiny little kids of my own, this has made my life SO much less stressful. Truly! It’s one less errand I have to run, leaving me more time to spend with my family instead of stressing out over what to feed them!  In my book, that’s a good thing.

Oh, and to those who wondered how I scored such a  great deal on my bill today, I must confess it was kind of a fluke — I’m not THAT good of a bargain finder. Coborn’s simply has some awesome coupons going this month. On top of that, I randomly discovered at check-out that I had $40 of credit coming to me from Coborn’s from a long-ago promotion! I’d totally forgotten about it. So, between the coupons and the credit, I saved me a pretty penny today.

OK, hope that answers your questions! What about you? Have you tried grocery delivery? Has it worked for you?

p.s. reading over this, I totally sound like a Coborn’s spokesperson! I promise I’m not (though if they’d like to pay me, I’m game… ).