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Showing posts from 2013

Guest Post at the Marathon Training Academy

Just before Christmas, an article I wrote about new parenthood and marathon training was featured on the "Marathon Training Academy" . Here's a snippet from the post: How to Beat Training Burnout "As I signed up to run my sixth marathon, the Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon, I couldn’t anticipate how very different this race would be. This would be my inaugural marathon as a wife and new parent. My post-baby body felt near normal, but I found myself physically and mentally exhausted as I adjusted to being a mom. In the peak mileage of training, I found myself completely burnt out and questioning whether I wanted to even run the race anymore! My desire to run had somehow snuck away. What was I thinking when I signed up for another marathon? Basically, I was burnt out – big time. Click here to read the entire post! Guest posting is a great experience - I've learned so much by collaborating with other bloggers. Check it out if you have a chance! The Marathon Trai

Christmas just isn't Christmas without a blizzard.

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I hope your Christmas was full of Jesus and quality time with friends and family! We spent an awesome week with my side of the family and just made it home this afternoon. It feels good to be home, but I miss everyone already. The week involved lots of food (LEFSE!!!), family time, snowmobiling, Kinect dance parties, firewood chopping, piano playing and board games! Leo and I were both baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) and it was awesome. God has done a complete 180 with my family and it is amazing to see how He is working each day! I am so thankful to serve the Lord with my whole family. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ACTS 1:8 Family "Selfie" :) E jamming with the Uncles and Grandma! My Great Grandma's sign, "God Bless Our Home". My mom and I made lefse for Christmas. I'm a mix of all things Scandinavi

Homemade Baby Cakes

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On Monday, the clinic said E has low iron levels :( They are at 8.4 and should be 11. SO I'm on a mission to fit more cereals or meats into his food. E isn't too keen on baby cereal OR the baby meats, so I'm trying to get creative with my cooking. He loves the Gerber Lil' Crunchies and these pancakes were a hit, too! The best part is I can tear off little bits and he eats them on his own. Now that he's learning finger foods, E loves to feed himself. It's just a whole lot messier! Baby Cakes 1 egg 1 cup milk (I used thawed breastmilk) 2 Tablespoons oil 3/4 cup dry infant cereal 1/4 cup flour 1 Tablespoon sugar (I used banana baby food instead) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Heat the skillet and grease with a small amount of butter or coconut oil. Break egg into bowl and whisk. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto hot skillet. Flip pancakes when little bubbles start appearing. Cook until golden brown on each side. Le

TRUTH Day 04: Guard Your Heart

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The Bible has a lot to say about the heart! In fact, so much that I started this post before Thanksgiving and keep placing it on the back burner. There is so much information about our hearts in the Bible and keeping your heart in check is such an important aspect of spiritual growth. Like Solomon says below, EVERYTHING you do flows from your heart! Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. PROVERBS 4:23-27 The Heart God's Word isn't referring to our physical, blood-pumping organ heart, or those cute little red hearts we draw on love notes ;) The "heart" referred to in the Bible represents our intellect, emotion, and will. "Our heart dicta

You Know It's December When...

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Only 15 days left until Christmas day and I'm so excited! I love the fact that it is Christmas and the birthday of our Savior is coming soon, but there are a few characteristics of December I could do without... mainly the cold. Long stretches of below zero weather make me question why I still live up north! Running Requires Extra Motivation We've been in a cold stretch these last two weeks and I'm fighting for the motivation to continue running outside. Extreme cold is definitely a de-motivator for me. I've been opting for strength training and cardio indoors, but try to get outside to run at least two or three times per week. I ran outside one morning last week end the temp was -25°F (with windchill)! Despite dressing appropriately, my eyeballs still felt like they were going to freeze in place. Maybe I should start wearing goggles while I run ;) The neighbors would think I'm REALLY cool then! I don't really like any temperature with a "-&qu

TRUTH Day 03: Love

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Biblical love is very different from "love" the way the world sees it. Over our Thanksgiving trip last week, I saw a true example of biblical love and it was beautiful. The story is a bit lengthy, but hang in there. I wish I could have had pictures to go along with this story because I still see it clearly in my mind. It is a picture of true sacrificial love and a person laying down their life for another. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. JOHN 15:13 We headed to the Carousel in MT on Wednesday last week so all of the cousins could go for rides. Fortunately it was indoors; it was a bit too chilly for an outdoor Carousel in my opinion! This place was full of kids, parents, and really good ice cream. Lots of laughing, smiles, and all kinds of cute family moments. It was like the county fair, but all year long! E went for two rides on the Carousel and that was enough for us. I tried to get him to nap while we watched the other k

Thanksgiving in Pictures

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Happy belated Thanksgiving! It's been a while since I've posted because we've been on our first long family vacation out to Montana, covering ~1,946 miles round-trip. We had a great time with family and friends and stayed with Leo's sister and brother-in-law the whole week. I am so thankful for all that God has blessed us with and for the safe travels on our road-trip! Even in the tough times, we have so much to thank the Lord for. I am most thankful for God's patience and that He sent His Son for us instead of giving us what we really deserve (Hell). Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. Psalm 95:2-3 So much went on I can't even think where to start, so here's a bunch of pictures to tell the story! (WARNING: I had wayyy too much fun with the photo filters on Leo's phone/camera.) We ate at the delicious Cracker Barrel, one of Leo's favorite

TRUTH Day 02: Worry

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Worrying is something I do way too much and Jesus has a lot to say about that! "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your he

TRUTH Day 01: Wisdom

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I'm starting a 30-Day TRUTH Challenge today. The purpose of this challenge is to go further into the only actual truth in this world - God's Word. For 30 not-necessarily-consecutive days, I am going to take a piece of Scripture and dig further into it, study it, research, or just write about what God has laid on my heart! My goal is to learn more about the Lord and the Bible, to develop a deeper understanding of God's Word, and ultimately to allow the Holy Spirit to work in me through this challenge. This was important for me to write about on the blog because I want to start the challenge AND finish it! I get really excited about ideas like this, but when it's a long term goal, sometimes I can forget the mission :) If you have some insight on the Scripture I'm studying or any thoughts, please share! Have you ever done a challenge of any sort before? How long was it and did you finish it out? TRUTH Challenge Day 01 The fear of the Lord is the beginnin

8 Months

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Well, Eli slept through the night for the first time last week! Now he's been sleeping every night since! Okay, not quite. We're back to the old routine - up 2 to 3 times a night again. I was so excited for about... one day. Meh, sleep is overrated, right? Mr. Eli turned 8 months on Sunday and his personality is sure starting to show through! Eli's Favorite Things Army crawling and rolling has Eli on the move and usually towards trouble. He's fascinated with the wood for the living room fireplace. Growling, random babbling, giggling, and high-pitch squeals are his means of communication. Clawing parental faces is one of his favorite past times. It looks so innocent, "oh, he just wants to pet us!", and then BAM! out come the nails. He's a good eater. Nursing, baby food, whatever - he just likes food, especially bananas. Splashing in the bathtub is a new discover for him. I always have his cow and pig toys in the bath with him, but he would ra

Modern-Day Idolatry

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In my Gideon bible study this week, I read a devotional that lead to another heart check - it covered the topic of idolatry. That seems like such an ancient, old-school concept but it is still running rampant through the world. In today's culture, we sugar coat idolatry by calling it an "obsession", "habit", "craving", "issue", etc. Those words sound so much cuter! So, what exactly is an idol? Idol = anything in the visible, created realm that begins to operate in a role that should be reserved for God. The Truth About Idolatry It's hard not to think about my two handsome dudes all the time. Even loved ones can become an idol! With whatever it is in your life that you worship, nothing will ever completely satisfy you other than a relationship with the Lord our God! Our human nature always wants more, more, more! For me? There is no such thing as "enough" running, coffee, food, or acceptance to fill the God-shaped w