My secret is that...

....We sold our house!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited!

We are going to look for our new house this week, probably tomorrow. (just got a call, definitely tomorrow)

God is SO good to us!

I will post a long description of how He has blessed us and worked so many miracles so far!!! It is thrilling to be able to testify to God's greatness in a concrete way in my life right now!

But right now I am cruising through the MLS listings our agent has sent us so that we can be up there tomorrow (Tuesday) to look for homes.

I would be so incredibly grateful if you would pray for us during this, that:
1. Our house would stay in escrow (in California it can fall out of escrow in the first 17 days with no fault).
2. That we would find a house big enough for our family now and in the future.
3. That the house would be in our price range.
4. That we would not settle for a house that is not the perfect one God has for us, and that He would make His choice for us clear.
5. That my MIL and Miss Pear would do just fine together while we are gone all day tomorrow (we will be back in time for supper).
6. That the lady buying our house would be blessed by it, and all the prayer, praise and Bible reading that has happened here! We really have prayed that whoever buys it would love it like we have.

Thank you so much for praying for me and being so understanding when I have whined about all this - you guys are so good to me!

Secret part 2

I am so sorry, I thought I would have all my answers today to post what my secret is, but there is one thing I cannot do until tomorrow morning to confirm. Believe me when I say that I honestly thought I would be telling you everything today or I would not have teased you yesterday! (And today too apparently!)

I am praying like crazy that the Lord would smooth a path before us!

Mr Pear got back from his trip safely.

News tomorrow -- I promise!

Secret

It has been a crazy day, and I almost have news, I just need to nail down a couple more things before I tell you but...

.....I have a secret.....

....I will give you one hint - it does NOT involve babies.

Checking in...

...I just wanted to check in and see what was new around here. I cruised through the bloglines and was going to shut down and read, but my mind started tripping over itself - too many thoughts roaming around, so I thought I would blog to get it all out...

Mr. Pear left at 4AM Wednesday morning, and the shuttle was here early. He got to the airport at 4:15 only to find out that United does not open their check in until 5 (so why did they say be there that early???) and then his flight was late, and they knew it would be late because they cannot take off before 6:30 AM due to a noise ordinance, but still scheduled a 6 AM flight. Yeah, we were confused too.

Wednesday saw me driving the troops to the outlet stores, with a short stop to drop stuff off at a friends. My MIL did great shopping knocking out birthday gifts, baby gifts (Mr. Pear's brother and his wife are expecting June2, but baby will be early), lots of stuff for Miss Pear. My good find for the day was a Gap sweat shirt for Miss Pear in purple - regular $15 on for $5.50 and then got the worst service ever in two stores so we left and came home, just in time for Burger King lunch.

Our front door handle is broken apparently. While were out an agent was to show our home, but she could not open the door. So I had to schedule the repair guy, but he cannot come until next Wednesday. We can all get the door to work, but it is sticky, so we would have to repair it out of the physical inspection one day (Please Lord, make it soon!), so now is as good a time as any!

This morning we did the Babies R Us, Target and Toys R Us run because my sister-in-law needed baby stuff, and what she wants she gets! She is in her third trimester, and far be it from me to deny her anything! We got everything on her list! Mine too, but my list is not as important!

We were going to do Costco tomorrow morning, but our real estate agent needs to pop in during the morning, so we did that this afternoon.

After all those errands we are tired!

So tomorrow we are taking it easy. We are going to catch up on house stuff that got put off while we were running errands on days we had the car! We are going to wash a small mountain of laundry, and bake cookies...yum!

Mr. Pear's sales conference is going well, and is apparently a lot of fun. They booked out the entire Hard Rock Cafe for the night, so I am jealous! I am glad it is going well, it makes it so much easier for all of us!

And of course, now for the Miss Pear story. My MIL was playing with Miss Pear this morning, and here is what I heard:

MP: two!
MIL:...4...6...8...
MP: ten!

Ummm, she is 23 months, and usually stops counting after 3. We have never counted in twos with her.....

Yup, I was shocked too! But in that delighted mom way!

Book Review: We Have Seen the Lord!

This year for Lent Mr. Pear and I decided to read

We Have Seen the Lord! The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

to each other each evening. We have loved William Barclay for a very long time, frequently turning to his

The New Daily Study Bible, 17 Volumes: New Testament

to explain complicated passages of the New Testament.

The format for each day is a scripture reading (included in the book) and then exposition of the passage.

We knew that We Have Seen the Lord would be good, but we did not anticipate how good it would actually be. Reading this leading up to and after Easter (we fell behind but did not want to quit!) illuminated many things for us, and helped us to understand the gospel accounts much better. God used this book to make us think, to teach us, and to speak to our hearts. We already know that this will be our regular read each Lent now.

What I really appreciated was his ability to bring a new light to passages I knew well.

For example, looking at Luke 22:31-38, 54-62, he has one quote I simply have to share from page 112

Jesus did not speak to Peter in anger but looked at him in sorrow. Peter could have stood it if Jesus had turned and reviled him; but that voiceless, grief-laden look went to his heart like a sword and opened a fountain of tears....The penalty of sin is to face, not the anger of Jesus, but the heartbreak in His eyes.

Barclay always slows me down and makes me look at each piece of scripture, and for that I am always blessed.

I think when our next read aloud will come from his commentary series that I already mentioned because the format is the same - a passage of scripture and then exposition, and each volume is so wonderful!

Definitely 5 pears!

5 Pears - Fabulous! Too good for words! What do you mean you haven't read this one yet! Go, immediately, and get a copy! This book must be in your library! I would lend you mind, but I cannot part with it! Besides, I think I will start rereading it tonight!

4 Pears - Excellent - I loved this book, definitely worth picking up or borrowing from a friend or getting from a library - a must read!

3 Pears - Good - I liked it, it would be a good book to get from your library or to borrow from a friend, probably not one to invest precious book money in though.

2 Pears - Not bad - it would be okay if I were stranded in an airport or on a deserted island and this was all I could find to read.

1 Pear - Awful! Do not waste your time or money on this one! How did this get published?

WFMW - Carpet Cleaning Cheat

I would like to tell you that my carpets never get stained, and look as pristine as they day they were laid down. But you would know I was not being completely honest because I am a mom-mom of a 22 month old. So we get little stains on our carpet.

I prefer not to use the harsh chemicals if I do not have to, and don't want to wash our carpets for just one little stain.

So I cheat.

Here is how:

Get a wet, white-ish rag.

Put a small dollop of clear or white hand soap (like soft soap) and work into the rag a little bit so that it lathers just a little bit.

Scrub stain with corner of rag that has soap.

Once it appears that the stain is gone, rub with a non-soapy part of the rag.

Let dry.

If stain persists, repeat.

If stain appears to be gone, vacuum over the spot so that it does no look like you scrubbed.

And you are done!

The stains may return over time, so just repeat as needed.

Head on over to Shannon's for really great tips in Works for me Wednesday!

Fun

We are having a great visit. Miss Pear has her Maymay wrapped around her little finger, it is kind of funny. She says out, and out they go. She says book and books are read. I was a bit worried about her being shy seeing as they have not seen each other since December, but everything is great.

And I am getting annoying little projects done that I cannot do with Miss Pear - like cleaning out under the sinks, so this is good!

Well, I must dash, while Miss Pear is sleeping, my MIL and I are going to drink tea and cross stitch!

A Lady's Education

The Walled Garden has a post about ladies continuing our education, part 2, and part 3 about not stopping the learning process because now we are staying home as wives and possibly moms as well.

I found this article very interesting, even though I highly value formal education at the university level which I think I disagree with the author about, but before I comment on it, let me say one clarifying thing, and then share a little bit about myself with you that I have not until now.

Clarifying thing: It is clearly God's will for my life for me to stay home with Miss Pear, so I am writing from that perspective. In no way would I presume to dictate what the Lord is doing in someone else's life. This tends to be a touchy issue, and I don't want anyone to think I am saying this is the way all women should do it because I am not. The only thing I think all women (and men too for that matter) should do is seek the Lord and His will, and follow Him obediently and faithfully.

Now, on to the point of this!

I grew up in the family business of a rural hotel. My chores around the "house" were actually hotel work because our living quarters were attached to the hotel. By the time I graduated from high school there was not a job in the hotel I could not do. Plan out the work schedules??? No problem. Place the supply orders and argue with the meat supplier about the steaks??? Piece of cake. Manage the staff???? Easy peasy!

I went to university and earned an honors business degree. My degree specializes in Operations Research and Operations Management, which is a fancy way to say I am trained to manage supply chain operations and a manufacturing floor and be continually seeking to improve. I am a planner by training and by God's design.

While I can understand that college is not for everyone, it certainly was God's plan for me, as was seminary, but I will get to that....

I finished my formal education and managed my family business for a year, preparing it to be run by managers. Then trained the managers. Once that was complete I began my career as a production planner where I scheduled the work for 11 different work stations.

Then I got engaged, and planned a wedding to take place in 7 weeks and 6 days so that we have 3 weeks to the day between our wedding and an international move from central Canada to Southern California. Not so hard considering that Mr. Pear is a planner too - both by training and by God's design.

Once here, I began a career in the High Tech industry first as a production planner, and then as a material planner, and finally as the liaison between materials and operations.

And then I quit. I hated my job and I was miserable. Mr. Pear's father had died, my first father who made it clear I would never meet his standard and I was a continual disappointment died, my grandfather (who was also perpetually disappointed with me) was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and my aunt was diagnosed with bone cancer. One Friday I sat at my desk and felt my brain fragment. I could not do it. I talked with my husband all weekend about it, and on Monday I gave two week's notice. All I left behind, or "gave up" were ferocious tension headaches, stress, frustration, and irritation.

That was three blissful years ago.

In the mean time, I spent my time thusly:

First I had started working on seminary classes before I quit my job, so I finished my graduate certificate in Christian ministry, even taking Greek. Although taking Greek in my last trimester of pregnancy was probably not my best idea. This was something God clearly called me to do, and blessed me tremendously because of it! I did not grow up in a strong Christian family, there were large gaps in my knowledge that the Lord is graciously filling. This experience both educated me and equipped me to continue my education on my own.

Second, I gave birth to Miss Pear! The highlight! And learned how to be a mom! And of course my education as a mom is ongoing!

I learned lots about babies, and am now learning about toddlers - my teacher is Miss Pear.

I have been working at furthering my quilting skills - something I learned after I was married.

I have continued to work on polishing up my sewing and cross stitching skills - crafts I have been working on since I was 9.

I have continued my cooking and baking experimenting, perfecting pie crusts - finally! And foraying into using the freezer for more than raw ingredients and left overs! Having meals ready to go in the freezer has been a tremendous blessing. And I love to cook and bake!

I have learned to knit.

I have used the time to read extensively.

I have used the time to study my Bible with the tools seminary and BSF blessed me with.

I have begun to teach Miss Pear.

I have been teaching myself to coupon clip and shop the sales better to save money.

I have been satisfying my curiosity by reading about whatever I am curious about.

It has become clear to me that while my formal education has blessed me tremendously, it is my informal education that has the biggest impact on me.

Learning is lifelong. It does not end because formal education ends. Formal education helps us learn to learn, and we keep on!

My formal education honed my planning skills, and I now use that to bless my family. Anyone who has seen me plan my menu and shopping trips will attest to this! But it is my informal education that is taking my planning skills and helping me to use them to bear fruit for my family.

And yes, I do use spreadsheets to track things and organize holidays....

Oh, and just an aside in reference to the article in walled garden - I have read all of Jane Austen's books - for an Honors literature class, and then again for my own enjoyment!

We are never done learning, and I would encourage you to pick at least one thing to learn more about. If you have an interest, study it! If there is a book of the Bible that baffles you (Revelation? Prophets??), or a book you love and would like to know better ask your pastor for commentary recommendations and dig in! If there is something you always wanted to know how to do head to the library, or ask amongst your friends for someone who knows how to do this thing who might help you learn!

Women do not check our brains at the door when we return home from a career to be a stay at home wife and mother, we use all our intelligence and resources to bless our family, constantly learning more so we can grow and do better!

I love that my intelligence, my gifts, and my hard work bless my family.

Menu Plan Monday - April 21-28

Mr. Pear's mom arrived on the 21, and Mr. Pear leaves on Wednesday morning for business, not returning until Sunday, so a menu plan this week is probably just a formality, more of a list of suggestions than anything else!

So without further ado, here is my menu plan, Saturday to Saturday as that is grocery shopping day!



Saturday

Breakfast - Bagels and fruit
Lunch - Salami Sandwiches
Supper - BBQ Chicken Pizza and Salad

Sunday

Breakfast - Cereal, toast, fruit
Lunch - Salami Sandwiches
Supper - Taco Pie

Monday

Breakfast** - Bagels and Fruit
Lunch - Tuna Sandwiches
Supper - Roast Chicken, Carrots, and Quick Cheese Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday

Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Supper - BBQ Chicken buns and salad

Wednesday

Breakfast - toast and fruit
Lunch - Burger King (we are out all morning)
Supper - Spaghetti


Thursday

Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Pepper Steak Rice
Supper - Pasta and Salad

Friday

Breakfast - Toast and Cereal
Lunch - Turkey rollups
Supper - Bird's Nest Pie and Salad

Saturday

Breakfast - cereal and toast
Lunch - BLT Wraps
Supper - Macaroni Bake

Breads

Oatmeal Bread~
Sourdough Bread -- third time using this starter
3 Four Bread~


Cookies
Spicy Dad's
No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal

Loaves and Muffins
Apple Loaf ~
Banana Streusal Muffins
Orange Loaf ~

Other
Lemon Pie
Granola
Fruit Leather

~ from the More with Less Cookbook (can be found on my sidebar if you want to check it out).

* Indicates a new recipe, a review will be posted after I have made it.

** During the week it is just Miss Pear and I for lunch

Book Giveaway at Overwhelmed with Joy

Overwhelmed with Joy is having a book giveaway for two books:

Randy Alcorn's Wait Until Then and Heaven for Kids.

We explain to Miss Pear that her grandfather is with God when we look at pictures and point people out (our family lives over 2000 miles away, so we do this so she knows people), and I anticipate that eventually she is going to have questions, so I would like to have answers - these books look like a great start.

If you are interested, head on over and sign Mr. Linky and then post on your blog too!

I am off to have coffee with the girls - Miss Pear (who will be drinking milk) and my MIL. We are having so much fun!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday my sweet bloggy friends!

I am spending the day getting ready for Mr. Pear's mom to arrive tomorrow for two weeks.

So I will still be around, but probably not as much. Although I have a few posts prepared to post while we are out having fun, and I probably will not be able to resist popping in to say hi.

In real life I am actually very shy until I get to know you, and then I can pretty much talk your ear off. But for some reason, in bloggyville I am just a chatter from the the start. Who knew!

I think it helps that people actually showed up, and then returned. I am really in shock about that. I figured I would blog for about a month and have a total of 5 visitors if I was lucky, so I am really thrilled that you actually stop in to visit me! (By the way, the day I realized I had subscribers I was so shocked I almost had to post and ask who you were to make sure I had not been found out by my mom - and as far as I know, only Mr. Pear knows that I blog). Any how, all my readers are very special to me.

So for the next two weeks I am preparing some book reviews to post, I have my WFMWs all ready to go, and a post regarding an article I read that made me think. I hope to prepare a few more things before our company arrives. Just for the record, I often prepare something, and let it sit in the drafts for a while before I publish it because often I just need to sleep on it, or think about it one more time before I hit the publish button.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

I had typed this up a couple weeks ago for Freeze it Friday, but that feature was only available two out of the last five weeks, so I guess they are not doing it anymore, which is too bad because I was looking forward to what it could become and to great recipe swapping that made great freezer meals.

Oh well.

Nonetheless I decided to go ahead and post this today as we love this quick meal!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a recipe that is really more like a series of suggestions, but it is always good!

This quantity makes approximately 1 9x13 pan or two 9x9 pans.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

1 x 12oz package of jumbo shells

1 and 1/3 lb package of ground turkey (could use ground beef)

1 green pepper, diced (or other sweet pepper of your choice)

1 onion chopped

1 envelope taco seasoning

2-4 cups shredded cheese - depending on how cheesy you like it. I have used cheddar, Mexican blends, Mozzarella and Monterey jack blend - whatever is in your freezer or on sale....

Cook shells as directed.

Cook turkey, onions, and pepper until cooked (try to not have any larger clumps of meat, the smaller the pieces, the easier the next steps are. (if using beef, drain off fat here). Add taco seasoning, mix well. Simmer off excess liquid.

Allow turkey mixture to cool slightly.

Allow shells to cool slightly. (run water over them occasionally if needed so that they do not stick).

Stuff shells with meat mixture and place in pan. If you have extra meat, either stuff shells fuller, or just spread it over top. If you do not have enough meat, steal from the other shells.

Sprinkle cheese over top.

If freezing cover with plastic wrap and then foil. Thaw completely before cooking.

Cooking instructions:

30-45 minutes covered at 350F (until hot all the way through).
10-15 minutes to slightly golden cheese.

Great with a side salad or veggies!

So funny! And adorable!

Miss Pear is so sweet. For a very long time she has been saying "ge na" for good night. But how she loves saying "bye-bye" and has started saying that at night.

So when I am putting her down in her crib she will wave to me and say "bye-bye!"

In the last week this has been extended to, "Bye-bye, see you soon!"

Accompanied by waves!

Too sweet!

Not quite the same

Last week we received three different fliers for the same grocery store. I kid you not. Two in the mail on different days, and one in the paper.

And they all had the same cover.

And they all had the same back.

And they were all completely different on the inside.

Because of Miss Pear...ummm...carefully reviewing the sales???? Okay, I will be honest, she was imitating me studying the fliers, except she was flat on her tummy on the floor reading it out loud in her little toddler words that only she understands. It was SO cute.

It was because of Miss Pear that I found out about some great deals I would not have otherwise as I would have just kept one flier.

So I am not sure if the moral of the story is to let your toddler review your fliers for you, or to just check them all, even if they look the same.

Either one works for me, so I will continue to include Miss Pear in my grocery shopping preparations....

For real Frugal Friday tips from the experts, head on over to Crystal's.

For Heather...wow

So today was the official day to show lots of love to Heather and her family to help them with the expense of going to the Mayo clinic, in addition to all of our prayers.

Boomama organized this shindig, and I happily put the button on my sidebar.

I have to be honest, I did not expect much. Maybe because I have been very discouraged with everything lately (as you can tell if you have been reading much around here - we are going to get back to cheery, I PROMISE!), and maybe because I have been thinking that as a Church we are getting really good about reaching out, but not about reaching within. I have been feeling alone in our journey, and I thought that was becoming universal within the body.

Thank you for proving me wrong.

Thank you for showing me that we in the Church can indeed reach out to those within and that we do care.

Thank you for showing me that the body of Jesus is indeed still loving and nurturing.

Thank you for showing me in a fresh way the love of Jesus.

Even though it does not benefit me in any way directly, even though I am just an observer/small participant, I want to thank everyone who participated for restoring some slipping faith I have had in my fellow believers, and for showing me that the bloggy community is rich in love, and that I am blessed to be part of it.

Thank you.

If you are wondering what prompted this little post, click here.

Thank you for doing this Boomama, you have a very big heart, the love you intended for Heather flowed far beyond her and caught me too. Thank you so much for reflecting our Savior's love so vibrantly and brightly.