This is Real Life

Ha! Fooled ya. I bet you thought I wasn't going to ever blog again. Man, I am so sneaky. And ya'll are so gullible.

Anyway, I have decided to do a "This-is-real-life" segment for the ole blog today. I'm not much of a blog stalker (mainly because I don't even have enough time to write MY blog, much less keep up with someone else's... geesh), but the blog entries that seem to be my favorite is when someone just tells what they did that day. I don't know why. I suppose it is just so crazy to me to think that there are BILLIONS of people out there, living their own lives, doing their own thing, dealing with their own problems, making their own memories. I just think it's kinda cool. So, I would like to go ahead a warn you that what you are about to witness is nothing short of insignificant and uninspiring... and I kinda like that. Cause this is just real life.

5:30 am - my alarm goes off

5:35 am - Clay snoozes my alarm (I'm a heavy sleeper, what can I say)

6:30 am - get up, shower, and all that jazz

For breakfast I eat:
A piece of Ezekiel bread with peanut butter and honey on it
A scrumtrulecent smoothie made by the hubs (those 7 years working at Bahama Bucks really paid off)
A big bag of vitamins. Yum-o.

Out the door around 7:20 am (5 minutes later than I should. And believe me, it makes a difference) Watch some lady in front of me hit the curb while trying to get on 121 because she's texting and driving. DON'T DO IT PEOPLE!!!!

7:59 am - get to work (whoa... that was close)

8 am - 11 ish - I want to put my head through a wall. Trying to remember the message I heard at church this weekend. "Pray about EVERYTHING... don't worry... deep breaths..."

12:00 pm - snack on some plantain chips. Oo, so delicious!

1:00 pm - LUNCH - a delicious and nutritious protein bar and a bag o' vitamins

2:30 pm - clay boards a plane for North Carolina. bleh.

4:30 pm - high tail it home to the Bizzie dog.

5:30 pm - have a greens and protein shake

6:30 pm - CAMP GLADIATOR!!! WOO HOO!!! Feeling like I might die. (forgot my water... well, crap)

7:30 pm - drop off the red box movie I've had at my house for a week. Ugh. Head to Target for a few groceries. I buy: grapes, bananas, 1 green bell pepper, 1 avocado, 1 zucchini, a box of cereal, Szechuan green beans (i dunno, it sounded good), feta cheese, and a bag of candy corn of course.

8:30 pm - get home, have another shake and half of a pbj sandwich while listening to Pandora. Mmmm...

9:00 pm - shower, take the Biz out to potty, brush my teeth and get in bed EARLY!!!

9:30 pm  - decide to blog. So much for gettin' some early shut-eye.

And that's real life people.

~ jess

Knowledge.

Almost 16 months ago, Clay and I decided we were ready to start building a family that includes human children and not just this furry black thing sitting on the floor at my feet. Obviously, that "plan" didn't exactly happen the way we thought it would. I remember the conversation that Clay and I had outside of Quiznos over sub sandwiches about how excited we were and how it would probably only be a couple months before I'd be announcing to the world we were expecting. I was thinking how great it would be if I could get pregnant before the summer was over to avoid the heat (and still look ok in a swimsuit-HA!), have the baby in the winter and have just enough time to get back in shape for the following summer!! Hilarious. Anyway, after those plans were shot, we decided that we would get "checked out" by the doctor after a year. (Besides that, Clay was in between jobs at the time and we had to wait for his new insurance to kick it).

So, I went.

I wish I understood half of what she said to me, but all I know is that she said I am not ovulating consistently. I DO understand that is an absolute must when trying to get pregnant. And between something like that and Clay's travel schedule for work, it can cause a problem. There are blood tests that will need to be run to check my hormone levels and such to determine why exactly this may be happening, which I will go back to do sometime in the next week or two. Clay is currently being interviewed for a possible position that he will not have to travel for (PRAYERS PLEASE!). So, we are making some steps forward. On some level, I have to admit, I was a bit relieved. I guess just to know SOMETHING. Anything.

Ok, so now what?

I don't really know. More waiting. I think after that visit I have really settled in for the long haul. I have several patients that come in the office that did not have their first child til their late 30's or even early 40's!! One girl struggled with infertility for 12 years. 12 YEARS!!! The OBGYN offered different options beyond the blood tests, from Clomid to in vitro. She wasn't pushy at all, but simply putting those options on the table for me to think about, while assuring me that they have been extremely successful with a lot of their infertility cases. I don't know what I'll do. All I can say is that right now I still want to wait. I am all for modern medicine and I think it can be a great tool, but for whatever reason I feel like it's not time for that yet. The Lord keeps reminding me of so many women in the Bible who waited, just like me. Elizabeth, Hannah, Sarah... all waited. Even when some of them lost hope, He STILL granted them the desires of their heart and brought them a child. That's crazy love. So, anyway... that's the latest. Not the worst news. It is what it is.

This weekend I will have the honor of participating in a prayer vigil for some pretty special kids in Africa. We have two different organizations from our church that are going to bat for these children in every way imaginable. An orphanage in Rwanda and a children's home in Ghana. In one of Jesus' parables (Matthew 25:23) He talks about being a good steward with whatever the Lord has given you so that He can say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!" I keep hearing the Lord say,

"Here, I need you to do this for this child"
"I want you to pray for these kids"
"I want you to love this one right now"
"There is so much to do before it is your time. Be patient Beloved."

I love that He ends with, "Let's celebrate." I love that. We are SO looking forward to the celebration, and in the meantime we will do our best to be good stewards with what He's put in front of us for the moment. Day by day. Whatever that means.

Thanks for listening.

~ jess

Homemade Granola Bars

If you have a hard time finding the motivation to cook, I feel ya. So, I decided to make a Marshall's run to pick up a few new items to spruce up the ole dinner-makin' scene.

A couple new Calphalon knives (awesome. love them) - $9.99 & $15.99
Bamboo cutting boards - 2 pack $9.99
Cuisinart food processor (ok, ok, i didn't get this at Marshall's. I got it for Christmas, but it's SO AWESOME!!)

It's amazing what getting new knives can do for your i-don't-wanna-fix-dinner blues. Now all I wanna do is find stuff to cut up. And so, I've been doing a lot more cooking these days. Looking up recipes on foodnetwork.com and trying all sorts of new things.

The greatest discovery, as of late, has been homemade granola bars. DE-LISH!! I took this recipe and made it my own, but this will give you the general idea. Try it. You'll love it. Your family will love it. And you will feel awesome about your culinary skills.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup bran cereal
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup walnut pieces
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped stemmed dried figs
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Place the oats, cereal, flour, walnuts, figs, dry milk, cinnamon and ginger in a food processor; coarsely chop.
Add the honey and eggs; pulse until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to the pan; spread evenly with your fingers. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then cut into 16 bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months.
Photograph by Kana Okada

Per bar: Calories 149; Fat 6 g (Saturated 1 g); Cholesterol 27 mg; Sodium 31 mg; Carbohydrate 22 g; Fiber 4 g; Protein 5 g

Oh, and you're welcome.

love,
jess

p.s. got a good recipe??? Share the wealth!!!! Let's see what you got!!!

Loved.

I love those moments when you suddenly get a bird's eye view of your life and see just how blessed you are. Last night would have to be one of those nights. We celebrated Colin Bachelor's 40th birthday at La Hacienda Ranch (best. fajitas. ever) with a large group of pretty amazing people. We were both honored and humbled to be invited.

Several of our friends who were in attendance last night are getting on a plane as I type this to head to Rwanda with the organization His Chase. It's such an incredible story how this all came to be and I would encourage you to check it out. I am wishing I was on that plane headed to the other side of the world to love on some kiddos, but I am here. Here for a purpose. I know that. I went to Ghana, Africa in March of 2010 and never came back. You never really come back after something like that. And when people ask we when I'm going again, I always tell them the same thing, "as soon as God tells me to go and gives me the means to go."

As I watched all the people last night, talking, laughing, sharing life... I was just so overwhelmed with how loved I am. Not only by the people in that room, but by my God. How can He possibly love me enough to care whether or not I am surrounded by friends who love me like this? Why does He even bother?

I sure as heck don't know, but I don't really care. I am just grateful. So grateful.

Anyway, take a look around when you get a chance. It'll totally make your day. You are loved by so many... just imagine how much more by the Big Man.

Man.... I just love being loved.

Love,
jess

Giveitaway, Giveitaway, Giveitaway Now!!

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen!! It's time for another GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(crowd goes wild...)

Yet again, I will be featuring some of my favorite things for the summer. How to win???? I'm so GLAD you asked!! Tell me what your favorite things are and WHY (some of you forgot to do this last time)... and I shall choose a winner.

How will you choose a winner?

Welllllllll, it depends on the kind of mood I'm in. Get creative. Get crazy. BE HONEST. Be original. And most importantly, BEE Yourself. Ok, let's get crackin'!!

1. Origins Nude & Improved tinted moisturizer - I mean, this is THE perfect foundation-ish thing I have found. EVER. The last thing you want on a hot Texas summer day is to paint your face with an Elmer's glue type consistency of a foundation. This stuff is light, moisturizes AND... BONUS... Has SPF 15 Sunscreen built right in to help that beautiful mug of yours young lookin'.

 2. Havaianas flip-flops - These are nothing fancy and I can't really tell you why, but I love, love, LOVE these flip-flops! Simple, comfy, practical, and awesome. Yep... that's about it. (You can find these at Nordstrom Rack for about 50% off what you'd pay online, and don't worry, they come in tons of colors and styles.)

3. Jamba "freakin'" Juice - I seriously do not know how I would get through the blazing HOT summer days in Texas without the Jamba. There is nothing quite like a cold Mega Mango smoothie to quench your thirst. And it's a heckava lot better for ya than a milkshake!!

4. Julie's Organic Fudge Bars - While we're on the subject of food... these bars. are. amazing. Cold, creamy, delicious and at only 100 calories you can enjoy this treat GUILT FREE!!! These can be a little tricky to find, but oh-so-worth-it! Check out Sprouts, Whole Foods, and sometimes Kroger. They also make sorbet bars so you should definitely check those out as well (mango are my fav). SO. GOOD!

5. Forever 21 - Geez Louis, I don't know what I'd do without this place. THE perfect place to go get trendy, cute, and inexpensive clothing for the season. Be sure you have at least a couple hours to shop cause we all know this place is HUGE. It's freaking hot so I am ALL about the skirts. Check out how cute this stuff is!! LOVE!

Sweet Lace Dress -$27.80 one of the more "expensive" items.

Belted Corduroy Skirt - $22.80

Colorblock Hem Linen Blend Skirt - $15.80

Floral Burnout Tank w/ Lace Bib - $15.80... what's up with the .80 thing??

Fall Slub Cardigan - $6.80 (I think I love this because it's called a "slub" cardigan... whatever that means)

Someone make me stop!!!

Ok...

I'll stop.

So, there it is... a few of my favs. Now it's YOUR turn!! REMEMBER: The winner gets to choose one of my favorite things as their prize so GET TO TYPING!

~ j

Ask & You Shall Receive

There are simply too many things going on in my head to even begin to know what to blog about right now, but I have a few moments to myself and I haven't been here in a while. So, I'll be asking for a little bit of Grace as I allow whatever comes to mind to transfer to the keyboard.

I returned from Colombia a couple weeks ago. It was glorious. Beautiful. Different. Hot. Delicious. Sweet. Fun. Inviting. Touchy Feely. Lovely. Insightful. It's times like those you always look back on and say, "I can't believe I really did that!" Alas, another adventure the Lord has sent me on and I am grateful for the opportunity.

I'm a planner. I know I've discussed this on some level, but I really want you to hear me.

I'm. A planner.

I don't like surprises. I want to know what is going to happen, when it's going to happen and how. I want to be ready. Prepared. For whatever it is. Whatever the situation. No matter what. And when those things don't happen...

Panic.

This is a problem. Especially when you are familiar with the way the Lord prefers to do things. Now, I don't know if God springs things on ME simply because He knows I'll freak out and He's giving me the opportunity not to.... OR... does He do this with everyone??? Either way, the past year has been a year of failure... on my part. Because when you plan things, according to YOUR way without really asking God's opinion on the matter, you tend to make decisions that end up taking you through a cul-de-sac of disappointment.

"If you'd ONLY wait for me. I've got blessings so big, you can't even IMAGINE THEM!"

Try to wrap your brain around that for a second......

No really...

If I was any kind of a Bible scholar, this would be the part where I quote the scripture where it says something about us not being able to fathom what He has in store for us. Feel free to help me out, if you're picking up what I'm layin' down.

So, all that planning and all that stress and all that panic... for nothing. Completely a waste of time. MY TIME! And I do NOT have time to waste because if you know anything about planners, we don't like to waste time. EFFICIENCY!! CONTROL!! QUICK!! GO!! NOW!!!!!

Sigh...

I'm tired.

"Good, maybe now I can get some work done around here. Why don't you just ask me for what you want, what you need?"

Ok, well wh..... what?? Ask??

"Yep."

I'm pullin' myself up by my own bootstraps here, Lord. I got this. I'll letcha know when I need ya.

Well, when you put it like thaaaaat it sounds silly. But let's get serious. When was the last time you asked the Lord for what you need, much less what you WANT? When? And what did you ask him for? An A on a test? Get you to work on time? Keep you safe on a trip? Heal your friend's dad? Want a baby? Want a new job?  Need a new car? Want some new silverware? Want to go on a vacation with your family? What.... what do you ask for?

I'm not really sure what the right way to go about it is, but Clay and I have some things coming up in our lives that we would love to see happen. Big changes. And by golly... we're gonna start asking for it. Every day.

Whatever blessings You have for us Lord... we want them. Teach us to be gracious receivers of Your blessings and open the floodgates of Heaven. Let it Reign.

"Alright then. Get ready.

Blessings and more blessings,
jess

La Familia de Sanchez

I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than spending it in Cartagena, Colombia with this precious family: The Sanchez family. For those of you who don't know, I arrived here on Saturday to visit a sweet friend, Schalee and her family:

Luis (papa)

Schalee (mama) far right.

Alicia (5)

Iliana (3)

Emilie (2)

While I'm not entirely sure what I am doing here, I do know that the Lord made this trip happen and He made it happen quickly. Within the last couple years, my heart has grown more and more towards missionaries. I have several family members that have either served as a missionary or ARE serving as one currently. I've seen some of the behind the scenes of what kind of life they choose to live and the hardships that come along with that. So, when the Lord told me that I was to be a "missionary for missionaries," I knew that was it.

So here I am, in Colombia. And I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'm taking pictures, shooting video, asking questions, and just spending quality time learning about how they live life here and I have come to several realizations.

1. Being in the mission field isn't about hitting people over the head with your Christianity. It's about living your Christian life in front of others, being a light in a dark place, and pouring into those that the Lord puts in your path.

2. It's hard. Really hard. Watching Luis and Schalee be leaders in their small church while raising three girls in a foreign place is, at times, unimaginable. The things they have had to learn to do to adapt and survive are things that we would never think of in the States. And yet, through all the difficulties they are always quick to count their blessings. It is a great reminder for me to be aware of even the smallest blessings in my life (i.e. air conditioning, fans, ice, warm showers).

3. They need support. MORE MORE MORE. As members of The Branch, Luis and Schalee need all the support that I feel when I am at home. It is so easy to forget about those who are serving with us around the world simply because we don't see them on a regular basis. These are the souls that need us the most in our church family. I will be coming back with lots of easy and effective ways for us to bless our missionary families.

We have so many missionaries and I hope that the Lord allows me to visit them all, however I have learned so much and am so grateful for every moment I have been able to spend here. Be sure to check back to see some pictures and video that I took while here. The Sanchez family.... get ready to hear that name a lot.

Blessings,
Jessica