Penny the Pumpkin

So I have this tradition of naming my pumpkins each year. Tonight I finally made time to carve what came to be named "Penny".

Meet Penny!



Amanda got pretty creative with her pumpkin and used a stencil. It turned out super cute!



And of course we lit them up and put them outside right away! However, its a little too windy still for them to stay lit.
But they still look neat! Amanda's is the "adult" pumpkin and mine is the one that looks like a child carved it ha ha



Now, its time for bed. Another long day ahead of me tomorrow...nannying from 8:30-5:30 then heading straight to class until 10:15...ugh. Gotta love Hermeneutics! At least my exegesis paper is finished :) PRAISE THE LORD! Too bad I have another one due next week.... Also, praise the Lord for reading and research weeks! Without which I have NO IDEA how I would ever get everything done. Well, nighty night!

The House Began to Pitch!

Can you say Wizard of Oz?? Definitely thought we were going to blow away last night! I was nannying and the kids were pretty scared when bed time rolled around...of course. Jaden actually woke up screaming hysterically, and Zoe, well she started bed time crying. And then I remembered Zoe's love of the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy. So I told her we could pretend to be Dorothy. And everything was going to be fine. After making this analogy, I thought to myself, "Shoot! That was a scary thing, the house blowing away and killing someone!" But, for some reason, Zoe found this analogy encouraging. And before I knew it, I had 2 little "munchkins" sawing logs despite the hurricane powered winds! :)

Exewhaaaaatt????

Exegesis. An explanation or critical interpretation. In this case, it was an exegesis, or critical interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. Taking into account all historical and cultural context. I honestly had never read the whole book of 1 Corinthians, and this was necessary for doing the exegesis of this passage. Soooo.... I read the whole book of 1 Corinthians today!! And officially spent around 9 hours studying this passage today to write my exegesis paper for my Hermeneutics class!!! I hunkered down just before 9am this morning, with a stack of books, a cup of coffee, and of course the Bible!



My books and, of course, coffee!!!! :)



Where I spent my day...

I have my summary sentence and my defense. And DEFINITELY learned a TON about the Corinthians and Paul!!! It was interesting, but almost made studying the Bible too much work. Seriously. If that is how we should read the Bible, I don't really know if it's realistic to read it every day....or even enjoy it.... But I'm proud of my final product!! Just need to check out some commentaries and see how my summary compares. Hopefully it's close!

And a BIG thank you to my grandma for talking through the scripture with me!!! I really lack insight into the scriptures...or maybe I just don't know as much as I thought and my grandma is super knowledgable. I'm very lucky to have her in my life! Love you grandma! <3

All Things Wonderful...

The weekend is already over and its seems like it just begun! I had been looking forward to this weekend for about a month now, and while it was wonderful, it wasn't really all that I was expecting it to be and it definitely went too fast! This weekend was my annual Mother-Daughter Weekend with my mom! :) The 2nd annual get together for us and this year we decided to go to Women of Faith at the Xcel Energy Center. Most of the speakers were very interesting and inspirational, and yes, even FUNNY! But it was much more focused on story telling, than actually relating anything to scripture, which was a little disappointing to me and not what I am used to at a conference. It also was very geared towards moms, so if it weren't for the fact that I have now been a nanny for almost a year, I wouldn't have been able to relate very much. I think out of all the speakers, Anita Renfroe was my FAVORITE!!! She was absolutely hilarious and has some great parodies about life! Luckily enough, she is on Youtube! Momsense and Love Story are probably my favorites, but Wrinkle Ladies isn't bad either!





We also had GREAT seats! 4th row from the stage!!! And we got to see Steven Curtis Chapman! That was pretty exciting for me. And hearing about his family's life story was also very interesting. It gave me a lot of insight and appreciation for a lot of his songs. I think I want his "Cinderella" song played for my father daughter dance at my wedding...hopefully someday! And "I'll Be Here" might be a nice first dance song! ha ha



Soooo close to the stage!



Steven Curtis Chapman singing "Cinderella'



Steven and his wife, Mary Beth, singing a "rap" song!! It was funny!!



One last pic of Steven singing



As mom and I were leaving the Xcel on Friday night, there was a line at the elevator so I said .... "Let's just take the stairs" These were the stairs..and we needed to go up several flights, however, we couldn't find the parking garage by taking the stairs and almost got locked in a stairway!!!



Mom and I Saturday morning. Leaving for the conference 30 minutes late...but we were still on time :)

The conference wasn't too bad. I did enjoy it. But I wouldn't say that it's a MUST go to. Now TCX...that is a must! I just wish I could have spent more actual time hanging out with my mom. Even just sitting around the house with her doing her lesson plans and me working on homework. I miss that. At least I'll get to go home for awhile in a few weeks for Thanksgiving. And oh, I can't wait for the month off at Christmas!!! Only 365 more days until our next Mother-Daughter Weekend! :) Can't wait!



Love you mom!

Creeper? Maybe....

Top Ten Reasons to go to the apple orchard:

1. Honey Crisp Apples...enough said :)



2. People watching

3. Cute little children. Now the question is...is it creepy to enjoy watching other people's children?? hmmm I must get me my own so that I can join in all of the fun "children's" activities at places like the apple orchard and not get weird looks... ha ha

4. Fall weather and fresh air

5. Time with friends! AKA Nicole Frost




6. Procrastination...putting off homework to enjoy the season :)

7. Pumpkins...for carving, seeds, and other goodies!

8. Yummy snacks which probably aren't all that good for you - Caramel Apple bar and Pumpkin Muffin




9. To learn all of the crazy things you can do with apples! Can you say apple salsa and apple brats? Yep. That's right.

10. Picture taking opportunities! Sooo fun!







Now...time to read 3 chapters about Hermeneutics and then dinner with Brittany! :) Bring on the craziness of the week!

Satisfying Saturday :)

I have realized that in a lot of ways I live for the weekend! All things good and great are the weekend! Since starting grad school, my goal was to do all my homework during the week (just like I did in undergrad). Needless to say....that hasn't really been working out for me. Hence, I find myself sitting at a coffee shop with books and computer in front of me in need of writing yet another paper. Despite this, I have found that I truly enjoy such "work filled" Saturdays. Who would have thought that work could be fun!? I mean, I love my job as a nanny and many days I forget that its my job, even to the point that I feel guilty when I get paid!

Anyway, I am rambling.... so what is so great about a work-filled Saturday? Well, let me tell you :)

1. Sleeping just the right amount, even if I did set my alarm
2. Seeing an albino squirrel when I walked out the door of my building this morning (either that or someone's white ferret is lose!)
3. Accidentally ending up at Target while looking for a Starbucks and then finding "that" purse that I have been looking for for FOREVER! Might I add that I haven't bought a new purse since my freshman year of college...so in almost 4 years!! I think it was time
4. Finally resorting to go to the Caribou that I know already and then getting 50% off my coffee because I had pink! Yay for having a pink wallet! It was a breast cancer special for the day. Lucky me
5. Writing a paper on my family's heritage and learning that I'm not just "American"! I actually have a culture! I'm basically Scandinavian!! My family fits the description so closely it makes me laugh!!
6. Meeting my best friend from college to share dinner at Olive Garden and see the new movie "Life as we know it" It looks cute!

Now....if the cute little grandma's having their weekly get together next to me would stop talking so loudly that the whole coffee shop could participate in their conversation....hmmm ha ha

Funday Sunday! :)

I have decided that I am a fan of "picture" blogging. Pictures tell stories and often are very clear as to another person's perspective....However, I am not that talented of a photographer. But I love taking photos just the same :) ...stay tuned for the fun pictures to come documenting my day!

So I have coined today Funday Sunday! Here is why:
1. Went to church with my friend Brittany from Seminary and her 2 friends who were visiting from Iowa...Laura and Laura!
2. Worship was great (and lead by my favorite worship leader- who I "know" and would love to know better! ha ha)
3.The sermon was great as well! We have been doing a series called "Why Me" which is basically about where God is in the trials and pain of life
4. Enjoyed a yummy brunch after church with Brittany, Laura and Laura
5. Studied at Fort Snelling State Park
6. Enjoyed some roomie time with Amanda (finally) as we drove to the park and studied together



Pretty fall leaves...my favorite color for leaves!



Amanda taking photos on the beautiful fall path at the park



Me and my roomie, Amanda



Our study spot - where we had to fight off both ants and mosquitos... ugh



Fort Snelling State Park is quite close to the airport....so airplanes would frequently fly over head and make us feel like they were coming straight at us. Here you can see the "Delta" airport sign from where we were sitting. The noises didnt quite fit with the scenery...oh well.

Studying in the park was a nice change of pace and scenery. However, the bathrooms were already closed for the winter, the bugs were carrying us away, and our tummies were growling...so our trip had to come to an end. Now...time for a yummy dinner of spaghetti and then more reading :) Fun, Fun, Fun! And then off to another week of work and class!

Sleeping In .... ZZZzzzzzz

IT'S SATURDAY!!!! :) Officially my new favorite day of the week. No obligations and plenty of relaxation. Well, and homework. But either way, as I was getting ready for bed last night and relishing in the fact that I could sleep in as long as I wanted, I started to think - "but will I really sleep in?" Some times I'm just not good at "sleeping in" and won't sleep past 8/9am. AND THEN I started thinking "Well, what really defines "sleeping in"? And then I realized "Shoot. Hermeneutics must REALLY be getting to me if I am thinking this intensely about sleeping in on a Saturday ha ha Oh interpretation, subjectivity and objectivity. Well, at least I can say I must really be learning something in seminary! And even applying it to my every day life! Needless to say, it's Saturday and I officially "slept in" and didn't get out of bed until 10:30 am :) Life is good! Had a very relaxing morning and am now in major need of starting homework! ASAP! And don't ya know...I have Hermeneutics homework for my goal for the day :) Happy Saturday!

Sniffle, Sniffle

The weekend is almost here again and I'm finally just writing about last weekend! This "balance" thing really isn't working out for me....it has been more of a balancing act really! ha ha

Last weekend I was able to enjoy life as a "mommy" or should I say nanny! I spent almost 72 hours straight with my nanny kids!! It was loads of fun, but super exhausting...especially since I got sick :( Jaden was sick already on Friday and Zoe has been fighting the sniffles herself. So between playing non-stop with the kids and crawling into bed with Zoe when she would wake up in the wee hours of the morning for no apparent reason, I inevitably ended up with a terrible cold myself. However, I think I have already improved quite a bit! But it has been seeming to suck the energy out of me this week! Anyway, here are some fun photos to sum up the weekend :)



Zoe putting the cookies on the tray....she had them all lined up on the edge in a straight row...it was so cute! ha ha



Zoe after I showed her how to put the cookies on the tray :)



Sprinkle, sprinkle



Are they done yet????



Playing "The Princess Game" AKA Pretty, Pretty Princess



The Princesses :) Zoe won the game of course



And finally, every princess needs her fingernails painted :)

At this point, my camera battery died :( Which means I didn't get any pictures of Zoe collecting leaves for her leaf rubbing pictures, or painting, or playing "movie theatre" (Zoe's favorite activity of the weekend which I improvised after I got sick ha ha). And Jaden really was present all weekend! He is just much less photogenic sometimes ha ha. Harder to photograph him basically. Although he did help eat the cookies, collect the leaves, paint pictures, and played "movie theatre" with us :)

All in all it was a fuuuunnnn weekend! Love the kids and it was weird to leave them!! Now....back to school for me. I feel like all i do is read, read, read, and then read some more! At least it is all fairly interesting. And I like to read. I don't think I have ever read this much in my entire life though! ha ha Well, I guess it's time that I did then!

I was supposed to be heading up to northern Wisconsin this weekend with my dad and brother, but after getting sick (and behind on homework from nannying all last weekend), I don't think that will be happening. I will just have to enjoy the fall colors right here in good ole' St. Paul! It just isn't the same though.... Well...back to reading and then time for bed for me! Gotta make Chandelle a healthy girl :)