Catching Up

Hi all! Just a little update on new happenings in our lives...

First... I'm the proud aunt of an adorable little baby boy! I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet!! What's wrong with me? George Robert Grange IV, aka Gray, was born on June 9 to Mary and Rob, his loving adoptive parents. Mary was privileged to be in the delivery room when they were performing the c-section and was the first one to hold him! He was born in Kansas and they now have him home and are madly in love with him! He is a handsome little guy and his Aunt Sylvie loves him!


You vegetarians out there will be sad to hear that Jeff and I have decided to eat meat again. ;) We discovered that eating a vegetarian diet doesn't help at all with weight loss; in fact, it seemed to cause a little weight gain for Jeff. We were confused about that until I mentioned it to Mary & Rob who said, well yeah, if you're not eating as much protein, then you'll be filling up on carbs... which are fattening if you eat too much. Duh! We thought we had been eating enough protein through sources like beans and fish and eggs, but I guess it just wasn't enough. So besides the weight gain thing, we just missed eating meat, and I felt like my body needed it. So, Jeff and I decided to introduce meat back into our diet. This was a while ago, and we feel good about it all. We only eat organic meat, though. I don't want to support the mainstream beef and chicken industries, considering they way they treat their animals and the junk they feed them and inject them with. And we don't eat a lot of meat... only maybe twice a week. We still have vegetarian meals and fish every week.

I'll tell you what.... taking the initiative to make sure the food we're eating is actually healthy takes more time and energy than I would have expected! I'm so glad I don't have an outside job. Just meal planning alone is pretty time-consuming, let alone grocery shopping and meal preparation. I am trying to make things from scratch to avoid preservatives and, especially, MSG and its cousins. Bread (just got a Breadman bread machine)... bread crumbs from leftover homemade bread... salsa... spice mixes... I haven't dived into making things my own applesauce or jam yet, though. One thing at a time! But even though making things from scratch and being generally healthier takes a lot of time and energy, I enjoy every minute of it! I love having the freedom to focus on things that I'm passionate about - taking care of my home and my husband. And I'm so grateful that Jeff not only is okay with my not working outside the home; he prefers it! :)

In other news.... Phil is heading off to George Mason soon. We're really proud of him and are excited for him as he takes this next step into his future. He'll have three years there, probably. He's currently looking for a place to live but hopefully will be able to line something up soon.

Jeff and I are tossing around and praying about and discussing the idea of moving to Denver at some point. We aren't making any rash decisions and will take the next twelve months or so to really look into it and see how God might lead us. There are some solid reasons we feel it may be a good and healthy thing for us to relocate to Denver, but there are also some good reasons for us to stay in Virginia. So, we need wisdom and are looking to God to lay the path before us.

That reminds me of another thing I'm grateful for: having a partner to help make these big life decisions - and not just a partner, but a wise and loving husband - a provider and protector and leader. Now don't get me wrong ~ I do make my opinions known. I'm no doormat! But Jeff is wise, and I'm learning that God's design for marriage really is the best way. There's so much safety in staying under Jeff's leadership. Yet we do make these decisions together; and I'm just grateful I don't have to make them alone.

And the shelves...... Do you remember that shelving project we started last winter? Yeah. They still aren't finished. I know, it's taking a long time - much longer than Jeff anticipated. But he continues to chip away at it, and the light at the end of the tunnel is definitely visible. They are going to be gorgeous. He's going to take a few days off sometime soon and hopefully knock it out. I'm excited to get all our books and decorative things up there! It's just going to be stunning. We might even have a bookcase-warming party when it's all done!! That was Jeff's idea. All the guests have to bring one book, new or used! Fun idea, right? :)

Oh, and I don't mind sharing this, especially because I'd love to enlist your prayers for us: Jeff and I would like to have at least one child and are praying for God to give us a baby, but in the two years we've been married I haven't gotten pregnant (obviously). We began going to a fertility clinic in Fairfax, VA, a few months back, and our test results were all basically normal. I'm currently on some mild fertility meds to just increase the chances. So... we'd greatly appreciate any prayers for a pregnancy! I know God is in control and I know his timing is perfect. I'm starting to get a little concerned, though (naturally).

Last but not least, we have (sadly) decided to leave Blue Ridge Bible Church (we will miss our dear brothers and sisters there) and instead we've begun attending St. Peter's Episcopal Church, also in Purcellville. We love it there, and we're excited to experience Christianity in a context entirely new to us (well, it's new to me anyway). We so appreciate the reverence in worship, the genuine Christ-centered love, and their doctrinal depth and integrity. It's so refreshing to broaden our horizons!

So I guess the little update turned into a big update.... :) That always seems to happen! Thanks for reading!