Archive for the 'Life' Category

Steven Curtis Chapman family on Larry King Live

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by
Mommy Nurse
4 weeks ago
in Life and You've Gotta Know
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I just watched the you tube videos of the Steven Curtis Chapman family sharing their story and their faith.  If you haven’t already, I urge you to take the time to watch the videos.  Their honesty will touch your hearts, and their hope will remind you that there is hope.  It is a true testimony of God’s presence and faithfulness.  My prayers are still with them.

(Unfortunately it’s in 6 parts).

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

About Last night Larry shares his thoughts about the interview.

I think it is interesting when people say they wish they believed.

Disturbed…

Published
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Mommy Nurse
3 months ago
in Life
. 3 Comments

I was asked to join a cause on Facebook called “Hakani”. I read through the description, and was compelled to join. Lately I have felt the Lord continuing to prompt me to ‘contend for life’. If you choose to click on the link to watch the trailer, I warn you it is incredibly disturbing. (The following is copied from the cause description in Facebook).

In the month of June 2008, the Brazilian government will vote on MUWAJI’S LAW, which will RECOGNIZE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AS CITIZENS deserving basic human rights, in order to OUTLAW INFANTICIDE in Brazil.

EACH YEAR, DOZENS OF BRAZILIAN CHILDREN ARE BURIED ALIVE, suffocated with leaves, poisoned, or abandoned to die in the forest because of their gender, physical or mental disability, or other circumstance beyond their control. This systematic infanticide is carried out by indigenous tribes who believe it is necessary in order to rid their community of evil spirits.

The ritual killing of helpless children is currently allowed by the Brazilian government out of concern for the traditional customs of the tribes. However, a dedicated community of survivors and activists in Brazil and around the world are committed to changing the law and stopping the senseless killing.

A DOCUMENTARY FILM, CALLED HAKANI: BURIED ALIVE – A SURVIVORS STORY, will soon be released Online!!! It uncovers the shocking truth behind child killings in Brazil and tells the touching story of one survivor, a young girl named Hakani. Watch the trailer of the film to hear some of her story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbjRU6_Zj0U

Legislation is now pending before the National Congress of Brazil that would officially outlaw this practice and allow law enforcement officials to save countless lives.

Moments of domestication

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Mommy Nurse
3 months, 3 weeks ago
in Life and Menu Plan
. 4 Comments

There are times that I wish I did things differently, and occasionally I’ll feel motivated to just mix things up. This morning was one of those times. I had gone to bed early, and Kyle had stayed up late, so I knew he would probably sleep in a bit. I had some leftover ground turkey that I knew would need to be eaten soon, so I decided to make a breakfast quiche. I didn’t think it would be too much work, considering I knew I had a frozen pie crust. I go to pull it out, and realize that it needs to be thawed for over an hour. So I pull out my cookbook, make a pie crust, fill it with the ground turkey, cheese, eggs, milk, and add some leftover veggies I had. The recipe called to cook it for 30 minutes. I put it in the oven, and Kyle wakes up and asks what I’m making. When I respond with “quiche”, he replies “Well you’re going all out!” Which is proof that getting up early and making a big breakfast isn’t something I do very often. After 30 minutes, the quiche was nowhere near done. I leave it in the oven for 10 more minutes, hoping that it will be cooked by the time Kyle had to leave for his meeting. After a full 50 minutes in the oven, it’s still not done. Instead of getting to enjoy a nice delicious breakfast with my husband, I ended up sending him off to work with a banana and yogurt. Perhaps if I had more moments of domestication then I would have known that the quiche took an hour to bake, or maybe I would have known to just stick to the tried and true, pancakes or waffles.

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Catering 101

Published
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Mommy Nurse
3 months, 3 weeks ago
in Family and Life
. 3 Comments

So a friend of mine was getting married, and the wedding was on a tight budget. Knowing that in order for weddings to be pulled off on a tight budget, it requires help from friends and family. I told her if there was anything I could do, just let me know. Not much longer after that, her mom called one day and asked if I would help with the food. I agreed, thinking I’m sure it will be pretty simple. The bride didn’t have much of an opinion about the food, however, she did suggest a dessert bar. If the timing of the wedding were different, then I’m sure a dessert bar would be ok. Considering the wedding was at 6:30, most people probably haven’t eaten dinner and would appreciate something substantial to eat. So we compromised with a little of both. By default, my mom shared the responsibility of the food with me. Unfortunately and fortunately, neither of us like to do things half way, so we both agreed to make it as best as possible.

Our menu:

Vegetable crudite with a vegetable ranch dip

Fresh Strawberries and Grapes

Stuffed Mushrooms

Bruschetta

Spinach Artichoke dip served hot with whole grain crackers

An assortment of cheeses with an assortment of crackers

Lemon Bars

Brownie Bites

Creme Puffs

Key Lime Bites

A chocolate fountain served with pound cake, bananas, strawberries, pretzels, and marshmallows for dipping

Fruit tea and coffee



Unfortunately, Savannah woke up the day of the wedding with a fever and rash. After a quick trip to the doctor, it was back to the kitchen for the food prep.

What I learned:

People prefer heavy appetizers (the hot apps were gone, and we were left with tons of sweets)!

It’s better to designate someone to cut the cake. As the couple was cutting the cake, I was informed that we the “caterers” were to cut and serve it. Given the amount of food prep still to be done and the mountain of cleaning, it was the last thing I wanted to do. Especially because it was a fondant cake, which are especially difficult to cut. Thankfully about 1/2 way through, someone volunteered to help, so I was able to go back to the kitchen and get more stuff done.

Caterers earn every penny they get-it was a lot of work! The multiple trips to Costco, the grocery store, and the party store, then the food preparation, and don’t forget set-up and clean-up. All in all, I realized that the job would have probably been easier for a caterer. A caterer would know how much food to prepare for 75, and would have the tools/serving pieces needed to do so.

My family is AMAZING! I am so thankful for my entire family, everyone pitched in and helped. We joked that if we started a catering business, we should call it “A Family Affair”. At the reception, my entire family was working. Dad manned the drinks, Jacob and Tara manned the chocolate fountain, mom manned the main food table, and I was in the kitchen preparing whatever foods were needed. Kyle was at home with Savannah, which was a huge relief to know she was well taken care of.

I had a couple of comments “Oh, you’ll have to do my wedding”. I’m glad that we were able to bless the new couple, however, I don’t foresee “A Family Affair” as a business anytime soon. As always though, it was a learning experience that has made me more appreciative of caterers, but it has also made me more appreciative of my family, because what started out as me volunteering to take care of the food, truly did become a family affair.

sticky fingers

Published
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Mommy Nurse
5 months, 1 week ago
in Life
. 4 Comments

Do you ever have one of those days that you think you should just sit down and do nothing more, because whatever I do just isn’t turning out?  I’m having one of those days.  I bought this cool candleholder 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby to put in my fireplace for the summer.  As I take it out of the bag, it breaks. I go upstairs to get the superglue, which has conveniently glued itself to the drawer.  As I pull it off, the superglue tube breaks and pours over my fingers.  Thankfully, I had the sense to spread my fingers apart.  I raced downstairs and challenged my mom to a game of trivia…”what takes superglue off”?  She read the package and found that acetone is supposed to take it off.  I soaked my fingers in it for a good 1/2 hour, to find only dried superglue on the tips of my fingers.  Now begins the tedious process of peeling it off, hopefully while keeping the skin on.  No more projects for me today. In fact, I think I may try to even get out of making dinner tonight.  I’ve somehow managed to do that almost every night this week.  Sometimes I have it all together, and sometimes I don’t. Or as my dad says, sometimes you are the windshield, and sometimes you are the bug!

“the hassle factor” worth $20 today!

Published
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Mommy Nurse
5 months, 3 weeks ago
in Life
. 3 Comments

Monday night I decided to tackle the ever growing paperwork pile that needed to be sorted and organized. There is not a better feeling than having things organized and knowing that you are “caught up”. However, this did create a new pile, things that needed to be addressed. Slowly but surely the stack is getting smaller. One of the “needs to be addressed” items was a bill that I keep getting from Savannah’s doctor’s office for $20. I had called the doctor’s office a few times already, and thought the issue was resolved. However, finding the latest bill, confirmed that the issue had not.

I went through Quicken to confirm that we had, in fact, paid a co-pay every time. I pulled the EOB’s and figured out that we were being charged 2 co-payments for the same visit. Of course the doctor’s office says it’s the insurance company’s fault, and the insurance company says it’s the doctor’s office fault. After SEVERAL calls between the two, the issue is still not resolved. I almost wish the amount was bigger, since it’s turning into such an issue. I feel a bit silly calling to complain about $20. Now it’s not so much about the amount of money, but just the principal of getting charged incorrectly. Don’t I give enough money to both the insurance company and the doctor’s office? I’m sure my time invested isn’t worth $20, but it’s an issue of principal. Hopefully, somebody will decide they are tired of hearing from me and resolve it!

It’s things like this that seem to make life more complicated than it should be. My dad calls it the “hassle factor”. Building a house creates a lot of hassle factors, mostly when subs don’t do their job correctly. Whether you are building a house, managing a home, or running a business, the hassle factor is just part of the process. I guess the sooner I concede to this as “part of life”, the less it will bother me. I hope you have lots of grace for all the hassle factors in your life today!

Freedom!

Published
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Mommy Nurse
5 months, 4 weeks ago
in Life
. 5 Comments

Last night, Kyle and I found out that President Bush was going to be in Nashville, speaking at the NRB convention. Kyle already had a pass, and our friend who told us about it had to fly home, so she wasn’t going to be using her pass.  This totally excited me.  I’m not one to get giddy about things, but I was giddy.

I know a lot of people don’t like President George W. Bush, but I do,  always have, and always will.  I don’t agree with everything he has done, but I don’t think I would or anyone would agree with everything ANY president does.   I’ve prayed for President Bush so much over the years, that I’m sure my prayers have contributed to my admiration for him.  I feel like he is a man that truly seeks the Lord, and has had to make some of the most difficult decisions any President in history has had to face.

How often does one get to be in the same room as such a powerful man?  And then get to hear him speak too!  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a babysitter last minute, so what did we do?  We took her with us!  Years from now we will get to tell her that she went  to her first presidential address at 7 months old.  Hopefully, it won’t be her last.  We got there at 8:15, and they started letting people in at 8:45.  The line was slow, and of course we were in the slowest of all lines! We made it to our seats at 10:00.  They had a comedian that was really entertaining and then a classical guitarist, Christopher Parkin play while we waited for the President’s arrival.  Around 10:45, we were told that Air Force One had landed.   Official looking people (secret service) started swarming the area. The excitement in the room grew.  Then they announced, “the President of the United States”, and suddenly there he was, standing on stage.  The crowd roared with applause.  Of course, while waiting, Savannah fell asleep and the crowd’s applause woke her up.  Kyle recognized my enthusiasm for being there and volunteered to be caretaker.  He stepped to the back, and held her the entire time.  Ironically, the opposite of our fears were true.  We were afraid that we would have the crying baby that would be disruptive, instead we had the laughing one.  For some reason, she thought everything was funny.  Eventually, Kyle had to step out of the room with her, but he got to hear the majority of it.  After his speech, he greeted some of the people who were in the front, and I maneuvered my way as close as I could get (within about 10 feet) stepped up onto a chair, and started clicking pictures.  I didn’t have my great camera with me, but at least I got some pictures.  Being so close brought tears to my eyes.  It was probably a good thing that I didn’t get to meet him, because I honestly don’t know that I would have been able to say anything.

My favorite quote he said today, “Freedom is not America’s gift to the world, it’s God’s gift to humanity.”

He closed thanking us for our prayers, and said that being President has been a joyous experience.  For being one that has prayed for him, this was encouraging. the-president.jpg

Need a good cry?

Published
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Mommy Nurse
6 months, 2 weeks ago
in Life
. 1 Comment

My friend, Laura, posted about this video. I encourage everyone to watch it. I’m not much of a country music fan, but this video is a reminder to us all, we are at war. Typically, when a country is at war, the people have daily reminders because of its affects. Most of us, do not have these daily reminders, so it is easy to forget about what our country is going through. Regardless of your opinion on whether or not we should be at war, the truth is we are. We must not forget about those who have given their lives for our freedom, but also those they have left behind, who will have daily reminders of this war for the rest of their lives.

What do you want for your birthday?

Published
by
Mommy Nurse
7 months ago
in Life and Product Reviews
. 1 Comment

I know this question shouldn’t be hard, but somehow it is for me. Today however, my father-in-law said to me, “I’m on a mission…I need you to pick out something that you wouldn’t normally get for yourself, but something that you want.”

Hmmm….what would that be? I’ve been so wrapped up in Savannah, and necessities for the house, I haven’t really been thinking about stuff like that. There wasn’t a time limit, but in some ways there was, because I had a sleeping baby that would wake up at some point and wonder where her food was (remember she’s not taking a bottle anymore!) This semi-deadline was good for me. When given money I tend to hold onto it for a while until I find something that I just have to have. When shopping for something specifically, I tend to go through the whole mall and find them all, then make my decision. The criterion for this shopping excursion allowed me to focus, yet didn’t give me a lot of room to wonder if there was something somewhere else that I would prefer to have. I decided to start with my favorite stores and work my way down the list…Restoration Hardware-love the stuff, but there wasn’t anything that I really wanted, Pottery Barn-great ideas, but can’t I find this style of stuff cheaper? Williams-Sonoma–BINGO!

And the winner is: a Cuisinart bread machine

bread.jpg

Reading a fellow blogger’s post about baking bread using her machine recently inspired me! She uses this same one, and likes it. I used to have an old bread machine, but it was on its last legs before we moved, so it found a new home. Now that I’m at home more, and I’m absolutely loving my kitchen, why not bake some bread? Not to mention, my favorite bread sold at a local bakery just went up in price to $4.59 a loaf! YIKES! Now I will be able to make my own bread-and add all that healthy stuff. There really isn’t anything better than the smell of freshly baked bread, other than the taste of it! Thanks to my mother-in-law and my father-in-law! And Kyle thanks you too!

just pray

Published
by
Mommy Nurse
8 months ago
in Life
. 4 Comments

There are a few memories that the words “just pray” stick out in my mind…

I don’t necessarily remember this because I was pretty young, but I’ve enjoyed hearing my mom tell the story. Growing up, when I got in trouble I was sent to mom’s room to wait for her, given a spanking, and afterwards prayer and hugs. Being a strong willed child, this routine had become very familiar to me. One day I had done something disobedient, and my mom sent me to her room. When she arrived to give the spanking, I said, “Can we just pray?” Of course my mom couldn’t refuse. Then followed a prayer of desperation from a child not wanting to be spanked, “Lord help me!” Not wanting to mess up my understanding of God, my mom decided to bypass the spanking, so I guess my prayers worked!

The second time that comes to mind right now is more recent. When I was in preterm labor with Savannah, they had given me medicine to relax my muscles. Well this caused me to be extremely hot! Then to further try and stop the contractions they gave me another medicine that made my mind race. They hung a bag of IV fluid that had been refrigerated which made me shiver inside. All of these feelings wrapped together-made me want to crawl out of my skin! I was hot but freezing, relaxed but racing-and there was nothing that could be done about it. My mom noticed my tossing and turning, and came to the rescue, “Honey what do you need?” All I could say was, I don’t know mom, JUST PRAY! She prayed and the next thing I know I’m drifting off to sleep.

In high school, I had what the doctors thought was appendicitis. Because my mom knew the surgeon, they decided to delay surgery until the next day. In the middle of the night, I awoke with worsening pain and nausea (both signs that it really was appendicitis!) I laid back down and started to cry because I knew that they would probably have to do surgery. My mom said, “Let’s just pray”. I then fell asleep listening to my mother’s prayers. When I awoke in the morning, the pain was gone! The doctor’s couldn’t say what was wrong, they just knew that it was no longer a problem.

My heart is heavy-my grandpa is in the hospital and no one seems to know what is wrong. He suddenly lost use of his lower extremities a couple of months ago, and he is quickly becoming a mystery to the doctors at Vanderbilt. My sister-in-law found out that her brain tumor is back and is growing. So here she is facing yet another (third) surgery to remove it, time away from her boys, and all the fears and uncertainties that come with it. I find myself at a loss of knowing what to say or do, so I’m asking you for one thing…

Just pray!