Archives for April 2007

Whirlwind Weekends

April 16, 2007 by Maren 3 Comments

This past weekend, we were over and back in a whirlwind trip to the DC area. The purpose was to see a childhood friend tie the knot. We had a great time with friends who have been friends since toddling years—and our parents, more years than that. It was a great trip!

Thursday- We drove 6 hours to Morgantown, WV, spent the night.

Friday- We drove the rest of the way. Michael and I stopped in Old Alexandria to meet up with a friend from high school. We ate at the best restaurant I’ve been to in a long while! (Thanks, Charity!) Friday evening, we attended the rehearsal dinner.

Saturday- Wedding and reception.

Sunday-drove back.

It’s amazing how fast 4 days come and go, but it truly was wonderful!

Rantings from a Scrooge

April 12, 2007 by Maren 8 Comments

It’s a pretty safe assumption that you’re slightly over dramatic when you have this dialogue with your husband…

Maren: My toe hurts (have a small minor sore). Oh yeah, how’s YOUR toe (he broke it last week)?

Michael: Oh it’s very sore, and hurts terribly (has not mentioned it hurt since he broke it).

Maren: Well, then why don’t you complain?

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Stewardship & generosity—I struggle with the balance! My goal in life is to be a generous person—truly it is. It does, however, come with great difficulty and terrible mental angst since we’re on a very limited budget and have an insane goal of getting your house paid off ASAP. We’re trying to save in all areas to pay the house off as soon as we can—One way this is demonstrated is by my crazy low grocery budget, of which people laugh when they’re told of the measly amount. But, by the looks of me, I’m not starving. Now Michael—debatable, but I get fed plenty. (The last sentence is a joke…please do not send food! Haha! Michael is fine.)

Now to the generosity part—I do realize that generosity is not all about monetary items— it can be given through time, resources, assistance, etc. as well. But for now, I’m writing in reference to generosity in regards to money. I love to give gifts, but often times, the money factor will inhibits me from giving as I would like. Recently, I’ve been to the store to buy a couple of gifts. Without even working hard to hit a limit, $50 bucks was spent on random gifts that the receivers will probably end up ebaying or regifting (maybe that’s an exaggeration, but people like what they like…both of these gifts were from registeries, so hopefully this won’t be the case). I still have more gifts to buy. So, rather than happiness filling my heart with the opportunity to give, dread creeps in with thoughts of money disappearing from our extra house payment. It’s definitely a struggle!

I realized yesterday, though, that it can all be put into perspective, however, when a friend of mine is having to spend literally HUNDREDS of dollars to be in another friend’s wedding~ my recent struggle is so much smaller in comparison!

It’s just one more lesson that I’m learning: happily giving generously while simulatneously being a good steward. This Scrooge is working to find the proper balance!

You’d think I made it up…

April 2, 2007 by Maren 11 Comments

So, today, I came to work with my shirt on inside-out. Um…what is it with me? Maybe next week I should wear the whole outfit. I think this is a very clear indication that I’m getting up too late and there’s not enough time to get ready. Perhaps I should increase my 20 minute morning regimen…

On another note, during my pre-xanga days, Michael and I went to a B&B in a podunk town in Indiana. The new owners had just purchased (fully furnished), but per the sales contract allowed previously scheduled guests to keep their stays (which included us). The owners were nice and hospitable and kept mentioning how they just had to leave the metropolis they came from to ‘get away from the hustle and bustle….’ Something just wasn’t quite right. The owner kept throwing $ figures around…i’m talking hundreds of thousands… For instance, “This piano was one of 6 in the world. It’s an original made for royalty. Although it costs $400,000, we can only insure it for $250,000.” AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. We’re talking original oil paintings, antique furniture, etc. etc. etc. It wasn’t that I questioned the items he was showing us. I truly believe in their authenticity, but something about him was just not worth trusting–it was all the money figures being casually mentioned. Being the natural born skeptic that we are, when Michael and I got home Googled the man. ONLY to find out that he was being investigated for somehow rigging medical insurance cases–were talking HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS HERE. Just googled him again this week to find that he’s been indicted…I think it’s safe to say, we stayed at a B&B with a convict. Yikes.

In other news, I’m reading an excellent apologetic book called, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Having met some friends who question the truth of the Bible, we have found that when discussing biblical issues, i.e. moral absolutes, they don’t just accept, “Well the Bible says…” as the basis for them to believe foundational truths. Since they are searching out if the Bible is true in the first place, they don’t automatically accept using it as a starting point to defend a moral position. From a logical perspective, this book walks the reader from logically thinking through the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, and also the claims of Jesus. Great book to help as we share with others.

One last random thing– You know at pot lucks, there’s always ONE person who brings a gourmet-slave-all-day-in-the-kitchen-yummy-dish that makes them look like a honorable version of Martha Stewart? Meanwhile diminishing you to the level of the kid with a new Easy Bake? Well, we have one of those at our church. They brought a terrific dish (Butternut Squash Lasagna) to Thanksgiving potluck, and I instantly fell in love. I know it’s more of a fall recipe, but while it’s on my mind, just thought I’d share. I baked it on Saturday–I had some pumpkin puree left over in my freezer that I needed to use up. If you know me well, you know that I despise grocery shopping, but I am the queen of creative substituting. This recipe was no different as the substitutions abounded (no milk, amaretti cookies, mozzarella cheese or fresh basil), so we’ll just say that mine was a more healthier version, but it is definitely a favorite.

Here’s to Randomness & Happy Monday!

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