Tasty, tasty

I feel so reassured knowing that I'm among fellow Pioneer Woman fans. Still, whether or not you're a fan, while I'm thinking about it I just wanted to make sure that I also proclaimed my love for Tasty Kitchen, the recipe collection site PW began six months or so ago (kind of like allrecipes only better, and getting even better by the day). While you don't necessarily know what you're going to get with allrecipes, Tasty Kitchen is chock full of recipes posted by people who operate their own food blogs. Of course, this isn't true of every recipe, but still, I've found it very hard to go wrong with Tasty Kitchen. The site isn't quite as easy to navigate as far as search features go, but that hasn't bothered me too much. What I particularly like about this site are the daily featured recipes. I don't always know what kinds of things I want to make on any given week, so I like to check out this feature most days to see if something strikes me. Narrowed options are good. In my case, very good.

Go forth and make quality recipes. You're not likely to be disappointed.

Obsession?

Last night, I actually had a dream about Pioneer Woman. She wasn't just in my dream, my dream was about her. And I really couldn't tell you what she was doing. It involved sketching murals and leading a crowd of people. I don't have dreams about people very often. This was very odd. I just hope this doesn't mean that my fascination is morphing into obsession. I'm really just not that kind of girl.

But, I did learn this morning that she's having another word nerd quiz tonight. Maybe my dream was just a sign that I might actually finally win one of her quizes.

Maybe?

Hey, a girl can dream.

Thank you so much for your prayers

I feel like this is probably too much information, but I know some of you would like an update. Let's keep things vague and just say that I'm certain the worst is over. Last night was miserable and particularly so because Justin had his own problems to deal with--he had been sick in bed all day and all night before. Fortunately, though, and for this I am SO grateful, I was not sick with Justin's illness on top of everything else. As far as where to go from here, I'll keep having appts to have my blood taken until there is virtually no trace of the pregnancy hormone, and then we can move on. Justin's taking another all expenses paid 75-day vacation to the sandbox exactly two weeks from now, so I'd really appreciate prayers that we can enjoy the last of our time together before he leaves too.

Thanks so much to all of you, and if there's any way I can pray for you, please let me know so I can return the favor!

Why oh why...

...do examine room clocks have ticking second hands? Especially when patients are sitting in there alone for 20 mins.

FAIL.

Praising God through the storm

This morning I want to share something very personal with you--which I didn't think I would share (at least right now), but I feel like it's very important for two reasons. The first is to pass along a heartfelt warning, offered with a prayer that someone else will be the better off for it. The second (but not least) is to glorify God and publicly thank him for his grace, of which I am so undeserving. We are all undeserving.

Well, now I must have you really wondering what I could possibly have to share that could be so personal. Just this: I'm going through a miscarriage. I was "diagnosed" last Friday but am still waiting for my body to go through the actual process. I would be 11 weeks this Friday. Now, I know that not everyone who gets pregnant immediately after going off birth control has a miscarriage. There's no scientific evidence proving a correlation; however, I know the same thing happened to at least one other friend of mine, and (I now know) that some doctors speculate that a correlation does exist. I'm sure I would have learned this if I had paid attention/done my research, but I didn't, and here I am--wondering if waiting a month would have made a difference. You can do with that information what you wish, but if that's news to just one person who reads this, then I pray it makes a difference.

Which brings me to my other reason for this post. I think the one thing that is carrying Justin and me through this time is Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." If we did not have our hope in Christ, and if we did not believe that God will use this circumstance for good--this circumstance that never would have happened if this world were not a fallen one--I know that there is NOTHING ELSE that would get us through this. Sure, we'd live to tell about it, but we would have no hope. And I can't imagine what that would be like.

Part of believing that God will work this out for good is being thankful that I can now relate and minister to others who have gone through or will go through this situation. And that's another reason I'm posting this here. I am so grateful to the women in my life who have gone through this, were open about it at that time, and have been willing to relive their experience to walk with me through mine. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It would have been so much harder to believe that I was alone. I want to be brave enough to let others who go through this much too common experience know that they are not alone.

Most of all, I want to be able to encourage others, no matter what their circumstance may be. In the midst of our hurt and our disappointment, Justin and I have joy because we know that we serve a God who is sovereign and good, and not just good but who is good to us even though we are undeserving. A God who creates life and, in this fallen world, takes it away, whether it be in the womb or at age 111. A God who sent his son to die for us and to redeem us from our sin if we will only believe and turn to him. A God who gives us eternal life with him and, I believe, with the child I never got to meet on this earth. Oh, praise God for the hope he has given us in Jesus!

Thank you for your prayers during this difficult time. I'm praying that you all are blessed with the joy of the Lord today.

This morning I'm reminded that I am not a "winner"

Oh, it's a sad start to Monday morning. It's my own fault, I suppose. Have I mentioned that I love Pioneer Woman? She's funny, she's compassionate, she posts lots of no-fail recipes, and she's an Oklahoma gal. What's not to love? Oh, and she has giveaways. A lot of GOOD giveaways. Which I do enter, but I never win. First of all because she can have 10-20,000 people enter any one giveaway. Secondly because I'm A LOSER! And I don't say that with a shred of self-contempt. I just never win anything. It's okay. I've (basically) accepted my place in the world.

Some of her giveaways involve quizzes on individual subjects. This past week she's posted a couple vocabularly quizzes, and she always tells her readers exactly what time these quizzes will take place. The first person to answer correctly wins the first place prize, and then more winners are randomly chosen to receive a lesser prize. Far fewer people enter these types of contests, too--closer to 4,000--so the odds are better. I entered the first quiz, but I didn't make an effort to be the first commenter. My theory is that it's easier to be a random winner than the first place winner. Some of those people are fast! At any rate, nothing came of that quiz. But PW posted a second quiz, and this time I enlisted Justin as my accomplice. We got online as soon as the quiz was posted and answered the questions together as fast as we accurately could. (And yes, this did involve Google. Who wants to know? Did I mention that first prize was a Kindle and the "lesser" prizes were something like $75 to Amazon? Exactly.) Fourteen minutes later, we posted our answers.

And now we come to the sad part. Sad because I am not enough of a skeptic. During the quiz all comments are hidden until the winners are announced. So last night before bed we checked to see if the winners had been posted. They hadn't just yet, but comments were slowly being revealed. I looked at the comments, and...wait for it...my comment was the very first one! And it seemed that the only comments that had been posted thus far were the ones that had all the correct answers. So hope was born. False hope. And I went to sleep.

At five o'clock this morning I woke up and my brain demanded answers. I got online. All 3500+ comments were up. Mine was number 557. Commenter #4 had been announced as the winner. Reality laughed in my face. The natural order has been restored once again.

If you're a "winner," you should definitely check out some of Pioneer Woman's giveaways. If you can't beat 'em, delight in someone else's success. Why not one of you?