Being Fair.

That time has come again for me to apologize for not writing more often...except...I CAN'T!  

Why?  Because it would go against my New Year's Resolution.  I have just one: To be fair to myself.  Many of you know that I'm very hard on myself-- especially when it comes to my job and parenting.  So, no more, "That wasn't a very good sermon," and no more, "I don't spend enough time with Evelyn," and no more, "I haven't been a very good wife lately," and the list goes on...

This year it will be all about, "I do what I can and trust that God will use me."  

Sound good?  Will you hold me to it?

We had a beautiful Christmas, both here and in Ohio.  The Christmas Eve service at church was well-attended and, for a first run, well-executed!  You can listen to my Christmas Eve sermon here.  I believe God is truly doing something with me here in Ripon.  People are coming to church.  People want to be a part of the community.  People are contacting me for help and support and encouragement.  I only hope it will continue; that the novelty won't wear off; that I won't wear out! 

Christmas at home was wonderful too.  We are blessed by such amazing families.  Maic's siblings are all maturing into such wonderful people and they each lead such interesting lives.  Evelyn was really confused at first because she kept thinking everyone was her daddy!  But no one quite compares! 

At my parents' house, the biggest joy was seeing Evelyn and her cousin Zoey together.  Zoey is 

the best little girl and role model for Evelyn.  She is smarter than you would ever believe a two-and-a-half year old could be, and she is so well-behaved.  Sometimes she will just look at someone with the most sincere face and say, "(insert name here) you're the best!"  One time she went around the whole table, "Gramma, you're the best!...Uncle Maic, you're the best!...Daddy, you're the best!"  But the thing is, you get this sense that she really believes it!  She's such a lover. 

I do often wish we lived closer, because I miss seeing everyone on a regular basis, but it also makes trips like these so sweet and special.  Looking back, I remember I only saw my Grandma and Grandpa Smyres twice a year growing up, but they still meant the world to me, and those trips to see them made my heart explode with excitement.  I think that's how it will be for little E, too. 

Welp, I'm back to work now, and so glad I have a job to return to with anticipation and excitement.  

A Family Visit

Last week we had a great visit from Nana and Papa.  It's been kind of a nuts week here, so I haven't had time to blog in a while, but did want to share some of these beautiful photos from Nana and Papa's visit.

And, in a sentence-per-subject, what's going on in our life here:

Evelyn is learning something new every day, especially the most effective ways to get Mommy's attention.
Maic is working on his grad-school applications and literary magazine submissions and we're both hopeful and hesitant about jumping back into the student-parent life.
Church is great and I continue to love my work, but this week it has been especially challenging and I'm glad that I was able to have a weekend yesterday and today.
We are going to Milwaukee for Thanksgiving to share the feast with Maic's godmother and family.
We won't be Black Friday shopping this year, because as much as I have cherished the tradition my whole life, I can't support the commercialism anymore-- we might do a bit of Small-Business Saturday Christmas shopping, however.

And now, some photos from a Sunset trip to Green Lake during Nana and Papa's visit:

Lately...

Life has been something else lately.  I can't imagine many people get the opportunity to stay at home all day every day with their whole family for a couple months at a time.  We're having a blast, remembering that we will never get this opportunity again (God-willing; it's fun but unemployment isn't something we hope will happen again anytime soon).  We're moving to Ripon on August 27th, and my first Sunday will be September 2nd.  

I can't believe how quickly the days go by, still.  I've found myself several times almost in tears thinking about  how hard it will be for me to switch from staying home to full-time employment.  If the days go fast now, what will happen when I'm gone for most of the day?  At the same time, I am giddy-excited about starting my job.  I'm trying to come up with ideas that will make full-time employment and motherhood more balanced.  For example, I'm going to try to arrange for my workday to start later in the morning so that I can spend the mornings with Evelyn, and I want to lead a weekly afternoon Bible study in our home. 

We've been filling our days up pretty well, spending time with family and friends a lot and getting some stuff done that we might not have time for later like sorting books and repainting furniture.  We've also spent some time painting and clearing out the house we're living in so that my in-laws can rent it out when we move out.  We were clearing out the basement, and found this on one of the floor beams:  

It's a Catholic tradition-- the Blessing of the House, from the first year they lived there.  On the Feast of Epiphany each year, they use blessed chalk to write the first two numbers of the year, then the initials of each of the three kings-- Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar-- then the last two numbers of the year, then they say a prayer to bless the house for the year to come.  

We've also been preparing for Evelyn's first birthday.  We aren't having a big party-- just a few friends and family.  Below is her gift from us.  Don't tell her, but the big one is a bike seat so she can ride with us on our bikes and the top one is some cat pajamas.  She's obsessed with cats right now.  Incidentally, the last week for Evelyn has been full of milestones.  I think she is quite the talker for her age, but I don't really know what's normal.  She already says daddy (di-deeeeee), Nos (na), and mommy (which comes out, "Bob-Bob."  I kid you not), plus she meows at cats and says "Muh!" when she kisses, "Ummmmmm" when she eats, and "Oo!" when she plays peek-a-boo.  She isn't walking yet, but she will be any day now.  She just needs to realize she can let go.  

The past couple of days, the main thing that has been taking up my time is that I'm making curtains and some other things for our house in Wisconsin.  We never got the chance to set up Evelyn's nursery because at first she didn't have her own room and then when we moved to Ohio it was so uncertain, we didn't do anything special with her room.  So yesterday we went and picked out fabric for curtains, a crib sheet, and a pillow to go on the glider.  I finished it all much more quickly than I expected, so now I have to figure out which room to work on next.  

She sat on my lap while I sewed for far longer than I expected.  She's seriously the most patient baby that ever existed.  

You can kind of see in this photo that she has a little bruise under her right eye.  The story either goes that she got in a fight with a 15 month old ninja, or that she fell on a laundry basket.  You choose.  

Here is the finished crib sheet and one of the sets of cafe curtains.  We didn't have a curtain rod for this photo, so yes, they're on the Swiffer.  I'm really pleased with myself for this crib sheet.  I actually used this online tutorial.  If you are crafty at all, this is a great project.  It took me less than an hour.  

Well, just wanted to catch you all up.  Life is fun, and we're so excited for what's to come!  

Approved! And an overview of the trip home

I did pass my ordination interview, which  makes me "approved for ordination pending a recognized call and graduation from Eden Seminary."  I'm quite thrilled.  The sermon and interview both went so well.  I felt very articulate and like I said the things I wanted to say.  I have no regrets, even though I cried when another young female pastor asked me how I planned to balance motherhood and ministry.  The question was bound to be asked, and my emotions were bound to get out of my control at some point.  I still responded well, though.  I'll have to rehearse the question before I go on any job interviews, because crying at an ordination interview is one thing.  Crying at a job interview is another. 

Their primary recommendation to me was to work on self-care because I am doing so much right now.  As a result, we decided to go out to B-Spot for dinner to celebrate instead of going to the potluck at the church.  It was sooo delicious.  I want to go there every night now.  

Evelyn and I fly out of Cleveland this evening, and are giddy to be reunited with Daddy.  He's the absolute best.  We're housesitting for the next week for a friend just around the corner, and we're excited to have a washer and dryer, a TV, and three chickens!  

How timely is this Words Matter prayer, with its airplane and traveling home imagery?

Well, would you like to see some photos from our trip home?  

Evelyn on her first flight!  They didn't give her a flight wing pin, though.   

Nana and Papa bought her these awesome Minnetonka Moccasins.  

She LOVED Timmy!  

\

And she HATED the new puppy, Crispin's Crispian. 

Still loves Nos!  We can't wait to live with him again!

We went to Baldwin-Wallace with Great Gramma
to see my Aunt Jill working in the book store

We had the awesome coincidence of running into Titi Midori.
She was in our wedding! 

She loves Nos! 

We visited an old friend who just had her baby, Julianna, six weeks ago. 

There are many, many more, but I'm avoiding too much of a photobomb here.  

Another thing that's awesome is that we were absolutely delighted to find out that our good friend's, Emma and Rob, had their little pipsqueak yesterday!  Her name is Ellery.  We love her so much and can't wait to meet her!!  

Welp, off for some ice cream with Gramma and Grampa, Nana, and possibly Great Gramma.  

See you in St. Louis!  

Merry Christmas!

I had all these awesome ideas for Christmas blog posts-- one for our lovely evening as a little family in a two star hotel outside of Indianapolis; one for Christmas at my parents' house which included meeting little baby Max, the baby of a close childhood friend, and a room full of presents for two beautiful little granddaughters; then one for Christmas at Maic's house on the 26th with all five of his siblings and a ham decorated like a Christmas tree; and finally one for the rest of the week, lunch with a good friend and supporter in my Ordination Process, an open house with friends in which I realized how much being a Mama has changed me, and preaching this Sunday at First Congo after getting home from the trip. 

Well friends, those entries aren't going to happen.  I am pooped, and seem to have gotten a little bit of a flu.  Evelyn has been super demanding lately as she is becoming a real baby and not just a lazy little newborn.  And, I realized, maybe you don't want to read four separate blog entries about Christmas. 

I thought Christmas would be extra special for me this year, being able to experience Mary's pain-followed-by-joy, but it turned out that I had hardly a second to really reflect on what Christmas means outside of being surrounded by family and loved ones.  We missed the Christmas Eve service, as we were travelling, and though we went to the Christmas morning service at my home church, it was overshadowed by how excited I was to see so many people I love at church and spend the afternoon with my family.  

So, in all honesty, I felt that I kind of missed the birth of Christ this year.  That certainly doesn't mean I won't find it somewhere else, hopefully soon.  

I preached on Sunday about the divinity of Christ, relating to the Song of Simeon in Luke 2:22-40.  I felt good about the sermon, even though it existed only in outline form until 12:30 a.m. that morning.  

It looks like I will be doing my Ordination interview in the middle of March.  I'm glad to have a deadline and hope it will give me a little kick to get my paper written.  When I met with Fran, an old friend and one of my biggest cheerleaders, and someone who happens to be on the ordination committee, we talked about what churches are open in the Western Reserve Association (Northeast Ohio).  I'm feeling really excited about a few options.  Of course, I won't know if they'll be interested in me until I get that interview done and my profile put together! 

So, in short form, what were those four separate Christmas entries gonna look like?

We opened presents as a family at a Super 8 Motel.  Evelyn got lots of stuff,
including this vintage Noah's Ark fabric I intend to embroider and use as
a wall hanging someday when she has a nursery. 

Pat and I holding our offspring.  Max is 3 weeks old!
I can't tell you how weird it is for Pat, myself, AND my brother to have
little babies.  We used to play street hockey with dead moles in the driveway.  

The Zo-ster, 19 months old, was less impressed with her baby cousin this time.
She eventually found a photo of Evelyn at Great-Grammas, and decided
she liked the photo better.  It didn't cry.  So she showered it with toys. 

Evelyn and two of her uncles and Daddy, watching the "Sexy Sax Man" on Youtube. 

The Christmas Tree ham.  Eddie dreamed it up.  Rosemary, peppers,
caramel corn, and pineapple.  It was actually quite delicious. 

Evelyn sleeping with Bunster, aka Darla, an invention and Christmas gift
by her Aunt Charis.  How clever is my family???

I mentioned earlier that the Open House we invited our friends to to meet Evelyn and hang out was a very bizarre experience.  I really thought I would never change and would always be able to hang out with my friends just like before.  I always figured I'd have Evelyn on my hip, but she would love my friends and they would love her.  Well, I learned this weekend that 1. Evelyn doesn't like more than 3 or 4 people in one room.  She gets really upset and overwhelmed and 2. That no matter how hard I try, I cannot calm a baby and hang out with my friends the same way as always at the same time.  It felt so weird.  I hope my friends understand.  I love them all so much.  

Finally, the trip home and a little break really recharged me to work on my ordination paper.  I am so excited to move closer to family and really start living my career.  At the same time, I am loving where I am in life-- at First Congo, in my tiny apartment with my husband and baby, and studying at Eden.  Life is good.  God is good.  

1000 Pageviews!

I have officially reached 1000 pageviews here at "Become Pastor Mom."  How fun!  Thanks for your support, everyone.  I love sharing my story.  

So, guess what??  I turned in my thesis proposal!!  This is a huge deal for me.  In a minute or two, I'll create another page up there ^ next to the tabs about Maic, Evelyn, and I about my thesis so that I don't have to constantly repeat it and so that if you have absolutely no interest, you can choose not to click on the tab.  

I'll find out in a week or two whether or not it's accepted and then I can continue writing.  

This weekend, we had a visit from Nana and Aunt Clare, Maic's mom and sister.  It was a pretty laid back visit.  

Nana is working on this amazing quilt replica of the Goodnight Moon room for Evelyn.  She's using mostly recycled materials and most of it is hand-appliqued.  The paintings on the wall are hand-painted in fabric paint.  

So that made it even more exciting that when we were at the Way of Lights at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine, Nana and Evelyn discovered a Goodnight Moon tree.  

And after seeing the trees, Evelyn found herself hungry (famished, even) and that's when she made this face. We're framing this photo to bring out every Christmas. 

Also this weekend, we had our first official "First Fridays" mom's group gathering with other moms who have taken the birth class we took.  It happens the first Friday of every month.  There were about 6 or 7 other moms (and a dad!) with babies from 2 weeks to 1 year.  We had a BLAST.  I took some photos, but don't want to put photos of other people's babies on my blog without asking, so I'll just stick with, "It was stinking adorable." 

Last night we went to the annual Yankee Swap for First Congregational.  Evelyn was super good and enjoyed getting passed around from "Grandma to Grandma."  They take it very seriously and ask for homemade gifts to be swapped.  I crocheted some mug cozies or, as they were referred to at the swap, "Oh, it's a mug with a sweater!"  There were blueberry gooey butter cakes, fudge, and a handmade scarf.  But, what I wanted was this: 

It's a wooden monkey toy.  It flips over the stick and does a headstand.

Maic wouldn't stop making fun of me, but okay--whatever--I like it.  He got some homemade peppermint bark.  

Other than all of that, the Second Edition of Homemade Christmas is in full swing.  We're knitting, felting, drilling, supply-searching, etc.  It's going pretty okay.  Some people are impossible, however.  I can't post any pictures til after Christmas or else I will ruin the surprises!