Contributors

Transitions, Budgeting & Baby3: 2011 in a Nutshell


Happy 2012! We have been looking back on 2011 and had a great year and we can prove it with this collage :) Also, check out our highlights below! 





Blackbelt: In 2011, Matt achieved one of his life goals, to earn a blackbelt! For the past 4 years, he has studied with the independent Yakzir Maka Federation (similiar to Karv Maga) here in Bakersfield and this last Spring, he was promoted from Apprentice Instructor to Blackbelt. YEA MATT!!

Budgeting: This last year, budgeting has been a major focus for us. While we have never been big spenders, we have learned that without a plan- money gets lost. It has been a lot of work but having a budget has been so freeing. We know what we can use where, remove the guess work & even have goals. I'm proud of us!!

Comic-con: Another great blessing is that for the 3rd year in a row, Matt got to go to Comic Con in San Diego. This year, his friend Damon joined him. To watch their experience, check this out.

Countdown to Christmas: Each year, I have a lot of fun creating our own Advent Calendar to countdown to Christmas. I do this because our kids will only be kids once. Also- at least in my life- special doesn't happen until you purpose it!

Family in Bakersfield: We had some fun changes in our life in July. Becky's sister & nephew, Jenn & Peyton, made a move from NYC to Bakersfield. From July to December, they stayed in our home sharing in life and responsibilities. We love having family around to come to the girls sports games, to help out if we're in a crunch and just enjoy meals with.

Father's Day: Matt is such a great dad! He really shines in his role! In July, we had fun celebrating him. We enjoyed a game of mini golf. Then afterwards, enjoyed a steak dinner. We appreciate all you do to provide for, protect and lead us!

Featured Alumni: Too fun, in October, Matt was the featured alumni in the dotComm Newsletter, the newsletter for all Northwestern College communications students and alumni. I just so enjoyed Matt's answers and think I have the funniest, most creative husband. I just enjoy him!  To read the full newsletter, click here.

First Grade: Zoe started 1st grade this fall! Her teacher is wonderful, we couldn't be happier. Zoe is doing well in school, especially in her comprehension in reading. It's been fun to see her learning go to the next level this year.

Green Smoothies & Pain: You might know, I've had some neurological issues with an unknown cause since the birth of our first baby in 2005. And while we have journeyed trying to get it figured out, no source or reason has been found. So this year, I decided since I didn't know what it was i would take a proactive approprach to at least feel like I was working on it! Green smoothies! Many weeks, I will grab a smoothie recipe, head to the farmers market and bland my greens for the week. I do seem to have more energy and my attitude is definitely better... I am happy to continue to do Green Smoothies and feeling like I'm doing something.  greensmoothierevolution.com.

Halloween 2011: For Halloween this year, Zoe wanted to be a pillow pet. I made the costume and it actually worked out. The rest of our costumes we didn't make, but was still fun. I was Padame Skywalker (my incredible friend Jaime sewed this!), Matt was Raphael from the Ninja Turtles, Zoe was a Lady Bug Pillow Pet, and sophia was Princess Leia.

Home Owners 1 Year: February marked one year that we've been homeowners! We have had fun calculating and thinking through our different spaces and figure out how to best use them. We've painted the interior of the house-- yellow sunshine. Matt has a Dojo workout space; I have a Mom Cave craft room.  We've had a huge learning curve this first year and have made so improvements and changes.  We are loving being home owners!

Kern County Fair: It has become a yearly tradition for us to attend the Kern County Fair. Usually Matt has to work for the radio station at the fair, so the girls & I meet him. The highlights this year was the rides & petting zoo. Sophia had the time of her life on the boat ride. She was so happy and almost broke into a tantrum when she was the ride was over. But the petting zoo was even better! We spent awhile in there petting deer, llamas, goats, and a donkey... there was even a kangaroo!! The girls would've stayed there forever. My highlight was the kettle corn, mm! And Matt was excited to try the deep fried Kool-Aid... his review: not amazing, but worth trying!

Library: In July, we finally got Zoe her first library card. What took us so long, we do not know! We have had a blast this year going to the library and picking out books. Zoe's favorite is non-fiction learning books. Matt & Zoe both love the room where you can buy used books and magazines. It's been a great family tradition, est. 2011!

Long Beach: Matt & I had a great little  getaway in September to Long Beach! We were blessed with a free hotel room & decided to use it to celebrate our anniversary.  There was a good mix of the practical (we spent half the day on Saturday at a financial workshop), discovery (found a great $1 bookstore) & adventure (rode a tandem bike!!). Extra thanks to Jenn who spent time with our babes so we could get refreshed. It was lovely!

Minivan & Midwest Trip: One of the huge blessings of our year was our trip to the Midwest. Here, we saw our families and were able to pick up our new-to-us minivan. (We were gifted with a minivan and after 9 years as a one-car family, we have two cars. And just in time, too, as we are expecting our 3rd baby.) We spent time in both Wisconsin and North Dakota right over the 4th of July. We were so glad to have been able to visit our families!

Nine Years Together, Zero Regrets: August 31 marked our 9 year anniversary. Each year, we try to do something fun to celebrate our time together because life and people call for celebration! We collaborated on some fun lists together, but each posted slightly different ones on our facebook profiles. Here you can see our lists.

One Big Happy Family: Zoe had her first school musical this October. Since our families couldn't come, we made this video to share. Check it out! Her speaking part made me cry!

Planning a Celebration: We have been having fun planning and looking forward to our 10th anniversary this coming August 2012. We are doing some fun things-- for instance, we rented a castle & booked one of our favorite artists for a concert all in California's central coast wine country. It's  1/2 year off, and we're getting ready to celebrate!

Pumpkins & Pinterest: We had a lot of fun with our pumpkins this year. Zoe used a kitty stencil, Sophia painted, Matt used yoda accessories and I carved a P & drilled holes. We love the fall! And this fall was a little more "pinteresting", too because of a website called pinterest. There are tons of ideas to view and pin. This fall, I had so much researching different ideas and that's where we got many of the ideas for pumpkins. I highly recommend it-- and find us on pinterest!

Remote Control: One of the fun highlights from this year are the remote control vehicles that Grampy found for us. First, he sent Matt & Zoe two trucks. They had a blast with them & made this video. And this Christmas, Grampy gave them an awesome helicopter, too. They made a video for that, too-- Helicopter Rescue. Such a great adventure.

Saga Continues: We found out in late June our saga continues as we are expecting our 3rd child, due in early February. We have had fun along the way, from announcing the baby to not announcing the genderaccepted name suggestions, brainstorming names we wouldn't go with, then finally announcing the gender. It's been fun! Now we wait until February, only 4 weeks or so out.

Snails & Perspectives: Sophia has grown a lot in the last year! Physically, she has strated running and jumping and her language and social skills have progressed amazingly. She went from a vocab of under 50 words to now speaking in full sentences. She was sad at first when Zoe went to school this fall, but has enjoyed her days at home 1:1 with mom. Plus she enjoys the rides to & fro looking for school buses.

Sonsurf VBS: Zoe went to VBS in July and had SUCH a fabulous time. St. John's really does a great job teaching the kids about Jesus & they make it really fun. Each day has a different theme like: Wacky Hair, Sunglasses, Hats & Water. VBS has been an highlight for Zoe the past two summers. Surely we will continue the tradition. Love it!

Turning 30, Becky's Right of Passage: Although I wasn't excited to turn 30, Matt blew my mind with the celebration. He actually got many of my loved ones (from present times & past) to make a video to wish me happy birthday. It was such a special birthday and the great way to mark the start of a new decade. I am SO SO SO SO thankful for all the love in my life & simple ways people encouragement and touch my heart! So many birthday blessings, but the greatest of all is the people in my life. Read my birthday tribute here & watch my gift.

Week of Broken Teeth: On New Years Eve, Zoe fell off the bed while playing. This kind of thing happens all the time, but this time fell straight on her front teeth!! It was a teary, bloody mess. We had to wait 3 days to see a dentist and thankfully, there was no permanent damage to her teeth. Our bodies are so cool- they actually eventually healed themselves. The funny part of this whole story was the morning of zoe's appointment, I was getting Sophia up and saw her smile looked funny. Upon closer inspection, I see her two top front teeth were chipped! Although, Falls & trips happen regularly with young ones, I have no idea when or how this happened! Thankfully we had no repeats of this day anymore in 2011.

Winter Garden: In Southern California, the growing season is different than what we were used to growing up in the midwest. There are two growing seasons here, summer and winter. This is our first year trying a winter garden. We planted a few root crops: carrot, beats & garlic. We also planted sweet peas, romaine lettuce and broccoli. Wish us luck! We're hoping for lots of yummy veggies soon.

Work: We moved out to California for Matt's job in September of '07. Four years later, we continue to be thankful for this wonderful job. He serves as the Afternoon Drive On-Air Host. To hear him, you can tune in locally (88.3) or online from 2-6 p.m. PST. He is also serving as the Production Direction and produces most of the on-air spots. And Matt's rock & hip hop show, Level 6, is now playing across the country in several cities-- including Minneapolis! I have been working for our church, Life Journey, as the Director of Creativity & Communition since August of 2008. It is a good fit for my gifts & my life's season. I especially love the creative work I get to do & using my gifts to help communication organize & keep people informed. We have also both been working together doing some freelancing, mostly copy writing & audio comedy bits through Explosure Creative.

Zoe's Broadcasting Premiere: We had nothing to do with this, but it sure made us laugh! Enjoy Zoe's unsolicitated broadcasting premiere.

Now for the waiting!!

Baby3 could be here anytime between now & February 15. Now for the waiting game!!



We have been a little slow-moving and are just begining to get a list of what we need to do to prepare. I have been feeling a little panicked and unprepared, but started preparing has helped that feeling. The ball is rolling... but we need:
  • A plan for where our girls will be when we go to the hospital
  • A properly installed carseat
  • Freezer Meals
  • A packed bag for the hospital
  • Unpack & wash what we do have (bedding, clothes, etc.)
  • Buy what we don't 
  • Search craiglist for a stroller



There's a lot we can't plan when it comes to a baby being born. But there's a lot we can & we need to get our butt in gear. But either way, it's going to be great!

Ready? Set? Go.
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Our 2011 Advent Calendar, days 4-7


We've been having fun with this year's advent calendar. (Read more about our calendar here.) We are on days 4-7 right now. 


Day 4:  A family favorite: Elf! While we watch, we made a popcorn garland. Was a cozy night with a favorite movie. :)

Day 5: This was our day to deck the halls. We decorated the inside of our house & set up the nativity.  Zoe was very excited to decorate our house for Christmas. 

Day 6: Today we joined in a tradition done around the world: Saint Nicholas Day. I love the story of St. Nicholas. He was such a cool guy!! Such a cheeful & generous giver. As part of the tradition, I filled the girls' boots with treats and a few small toys. We also watched St. Nicholas: The Story of Joyful Giving to help us learn who St. Nick was. 

Day 7: We are purposing tomorrow as our gift-making workshop. Hoping to get some fantastic heartfelt gifts completed. 



Hope you are enjoying your countdown to Christmas!!

Our 2011 Advent Calendar, days 1-3

I have had a lot of fun the last few years creating our own Advent Calendar to countdown to Christmas.

I do this because our kids will only be kids once.
Also- at least in my life- special doesn't happen until you purpose it!

So here's what our calendar looks like this year. We have a physical calendar and each day, they tear open a window to see what it says.


Bellow is our first 3 days. New this year, we are reading a chunk of Scripture each day to unfold the Christmas story. And with that, the girls will be illustrating the story. The pictures they draw will be used to tell the story of Christmas in future years (thanks to Shutterfly's photobooks). Special thanks to the blog How Sweet It is for the line-up of Scripture and images to help tell the true story of Christmas!! 

Day 1: Tonight, the girls will watch the Bakersfield Christmas Parade on TV (being a workday, we couldn't get down to downtown on time) & write a letter to Santa.
If you live in Bakersfield, find information about the Bakersfield Christmas Parade here: bcparade.com  or watch it at TV 23.


Day 2: One of our family highlights each year is the December 1st Friday Event in Downtown. There is always music and art on the sidewalks... plus mega bonus, meet the best Santa ever at Solorzano Photography AND there will be FREE Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides. 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. THIS Friday at The Historic Arts District.

Day 3: Our day at home to get the yard & tree ready. Pretty self explanatory :) 

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Matt as Featured Alumni in this Month's NWC Communications Newsletter

I have the funniest, most creative husband. I just enjoy him! He was the featured alumni in this month's dotComm newsletter, the newsletter for all Northwestern College communication students & alumni. To read the full newsletter, click here.

First World Thanks

The last summer, we were introduced to a concept called "First World Problems." It is all about the crazy inconveniences and problems we have in the first world how they come along based on our luxuries, not our true problems. To get a greater picture on the concept, watch this video:

 

We love having an attitude of thanks for the most basic levels of luxury,  because when you look at it in this perspective, we are more blessed than much of the world. We are thankful for:

  • Life 
  • Access to clean water & the variety of food
  • Shelter & warmth
  • Family & friends
  • A place to worship without persecution
  • More changes of clothes than there are days of the week
  • Health & access to great healthcare
  • A great country & relative safety
  • And so much more... we are blessed!! We are thankful! 
Below is our Thanks Tree. We eat took at least 5 leaves and wrote what we were thankful for. We were all thankful for different things, but top of the list was relationships. Happiness isn't real unless shared! Relationships, beyond our most basic needs of food and water, are our greatest gifts.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!! May your "thanks" continue into each day of the year! 



Parenting: Beautiful Heart Charts

 You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, it's said. One thing that has worked well for us as parents is charting. And one of our most successful charts is the Beautiful Heart chart.



This is Zoe about to redeem one of her Beautiful Heart charts. :)These charts are our way to recognize behavior that goes beyond actions, but is the result of a beautiful heart. We like to reward generous loving, (sharing, thinking of others), servanthood (doing a task or chore that isn't yours), etc. But the thing is, there is no formula. The things we recognize should be abnormal and a stretch and something to be recognized.

We keep it simple, just use paper we have around the house & stickers. When we run out of stickers, we color in a circle. The chart itself doesn't need to be fancy, the concept is still caught.

The good thing about it not being a formula is that your motivation for good cannot be greed. It has to be genuine. We do our best to really look at the heart behind the actions. When Zoe has filled up her chart, she does get to go to the store to pick out something fun.

We hope doing these charts affirm our girls' character and help them to become a quality ladies one day. And it seems to work well for us. So far, we just use the charts with Zoe, but as Sophia becomes older we will use them with her too. Zoe really likes getting affirmed in her character and of course picking a toy out is a bonus for her.
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Zoe's Broadcasting Premiere: REST TIME

Enjoy Zoe's unsolicitated broadcasting premiere. 
(The sound volume is low, so listen carefully.)


Baby Odds by Karl Stavem

Our friend Karl is GREAT!

On Friday before our gender reveal, he sent us this mathmatical analysis of baby odds to venture his guess.

We thought it was really funny, so we asked his permission to post it so others could enjoy his creative scientific work as well. :)




BABY ODDS
A BRIEF STUDY OF “THE PELISHEK PROBLEM.” OR “HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB”
BY KARL STAVEM
ONE BABY
Okay... so the odds of having a boy or girl are 50/50, right? So, when you conceived (ha, sex) Zoe, there was a 50% chance that she could have been a boy.
So what is this saying? If 100 women had babies about 50 of them would be girls, and 50 would be boys.
TWO BABIES
NOW... What are the odds of having two kids - each of them girls?
Well, conceiving (ha, sex again!) is an independent task. Meaning it doesn't matter what happened before, each time you conceive (do it) the odds are still 50%.
SO... to find the probability of two independent events occurring in sequence, find the probability of each event occurring separately, and then multiply the probabilities. In math words... when two events, Z and S, are independent, the probability of both occurring is:
P (Z and S) P (Z) P (S)
So, the probability of Zoe, Z, being a girl:
p[Z] (.5);
Probability, of Sophia Justice, S, being a girl:
p[S] (.5);
Probability of both of them being girls:
p[Z and S] p[Z] p[S]
0.25
Printed by Mathematica for Students



2 gender.nb
So there’s only a 25% that if you have two kids they will both be the same sex. Weird, right?
So, what does this mean? That if 100 women all had two babies: 25 of them would have two girls, 25 would have two boys, and 50 would have a mix of boys and girls.
THREE BABIES
So, since you are being mysterious and not letting anyone know what you’re having, I’m left to guess.
Well, it’s a coin toss as to what happened when you conceived (BOOM). So what’s the likelihood that you’ve got a girl on the way? 50%!!
I feel like we’ve covered that part. BUT...
Remember we're not looking at individual cases. We’re looking at your whole family and asking the question, “What are the odds that a family could have three children, and all of them are girls?”
The odds of the same result occurring three times in a row is pretty low.
Think about doing a coin toss three times. It seems more likely that you will have a mix of heads and tails instead of three heads with no tails. (In this example, tails are penises).
So we go back to our formula with independent tasks, and this time throw in one more variable... G for girl.
P (Z and J and G) P (Z) P (J) P (G)
So... the probability of having a girl:
p[G] (.5);
The probability of having three girls, and no boys:
p[Z and J and G] p[Z] p[J] p[G]
0.125
So, the odds of having three girls in a row is 12.5%.
So what does this mean? That if 100 women had three children each, about 13 of them would have 3 girls.
Printed by Mathematica for Students



gender.nb 3
SO WHAT’S YOUR POINT??
So... you’ve got a group of 100 women. Each of these women had three babies. Only about thirteen of the women have three girls.
Meaning there are 87 other women who have AT LEAST ONE boy.
My conclusion: You are having a boy.
It HAS to be. I mean the odds of having three children with AT LEAST ONE boy are 87.5%. But that’s just a guess...
TO THE CENSUS DATA!!!
Do census figures back up my theory?
OF COURSE:
.
See the bottom there. That means in the US 12.1% of three-children families have all girls. EVEN LESS THAN WHAT I PREDICTED. SO... you’re having a boy.
THE END ###
(By the way: If I am wrong, ignore this.)
Printed by Mathematica for Students
3-Children_Families
Ii 14.151915 Actual
12.596 Predicted

It's a....

We had a cross-country gender reveal. While our parents had cakes delivered to reveal our newest Pelishek's gender, we hosted a gender reveal party at our home.
(Click on any of the photos to view them larger.)

We had a UFC themed night.
U will C
amIright Night



Matt made an amazing UFC ring where a Barbie battled Casey Jones.
Our guests ventured a guess and wore a bow or a mustache to represent.



Here's our decor for the night. The mustaches & bows, ultrasound pics, and our blue & pink food.
Unfortunately when the photo was taken not all our food was set out. Here's what we had.
Blue: blue chips & blue hummus, blueberries, York pieces
Pink: whoppers, rasperries, baked apples, pink whipped cream


Our delightful guests!



And it's a....




GIRL!!!








TKO!!



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Halloween 2011



Princess Leia
Ladybug Pillow Pet
Raphael from the Ninja Turtles
Pregnant Padme

Pumpkin Pelisheks

Here is an update to our post about our Pelishek Pumpkin Plan. We thought our pumpkin plan was prepared, but turns out it was most definitely pending. :)

The day didn't allow us enough time to buy more spray paint, so Zoe opted out of silver spray paint and decided to do a kitty stencil instead. She was very happy with it. Maybe next year we'll have to try the paint & scratch method.

Sophia did indeed paint her pumpkin. And she was way into it, too! She covered the whole thing and made it very colorful!!

Becky stuck with her plan, too. After mod podging leaves onto her pumpkin, she carved out a "P" and drilled holes in it with her dremel tool. (highly recommend drilling... not only is it pretty, especially with light shining through, but it was a heck of a lot of fun!)

Matt, after helping Zoe carve her kitty, ran out of time to do much more than use his Yoda accents. Still, looks good!

And then to finish our Pelishek Pumpkin Plan, we created a pumpkin tower... very festive, decorative and fun!




Here's our people at the pumpkin patch. :) (Dang we have cute people!)



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Pelishek Precautionary Pumpkin Plan


I'm sure you were just sitting at home, dying to know what we will do with our pumpkins this year. Well thankfully, we are producing our plan right here, right now. Let the party begin! :) 

Here is our 2011 pumpkin-carving plan. We had fun searching  and collecting ideas and plotting how we wanted to decorate pumpkins for this fall. Watch for photos later! 

  • Matt is going with the old school free hand carve. I’m sure he will come with something masterful. Of course, someone’s gotta use those Yoda accessories he bought.
  • Becky modpodged leaves on her pumpkin this afternoon and will be use her dremel tool to hand drill the letter “P” into her pumpkin as well as other holes for the candle light to shine through.
  • Zoe is going to try the scratch a Design method. First, we will spray-paint the rind and let dry. Tonight, we will use a spoon handle to scratch away paint to create stars, moons, and spirals.
  • Sophia is going to go nuts with painting. She is too young to carve, so I’m just hooking her up with paints & brushes. It’s going to be colorful and beautiful.


ALL AFTER Our different DECORATING Methods we will be creating a Pumpkin Tower. To Make a tower, use a knife to make holes in the tops and bottoms of the large- and medium-size pumpkins. Insert the dowel completely through the pumpkins (largest to smallest).


We also considered these other options, (the first 2 also great for young kids): 

  • Permanent Marker FACE: freehand the features with washable markers (just wipe off and restart if you're not satisfied with the design), then finalize the sketch with a black permanent marker
  • Designs: Use painter's tape and self-adhesive paper to mark off designs (stripes and circles). Spray with glossy black and white paint.
  • Score: creating designs by scoring the skin of a pumpkin using a linoleum cutter

Winter Garden

In Southern California, the growing season is different. To us, anyways! Growing up in the Midwest, we had one growing season and it was pretty short. Here, though, there is two growing seasons, summer and winter.

This is our first year trying a winter garden. As you can see we've planted a few root crops: carrot, beats & garlic (unpictured). We also planted sweet peas, romaine lettuce and broccoli. Wish us luck! We're hoping for lots of yummy veggies starting in 8 weeks.

And we're still waiting on a few treats to ripen from our summer growing season. Our watermelon plant has two melons! MMM! Come on watermelon babies, grow!

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We're counting down...

to EVERYthing!



What do you have to look forward to this season?
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Green Smoothies and Pain

Since the birth of our first baby, I began to have some different neurological symptoms come up in my body. At first, i would see just sporadic numbness and tingling throughout my body. It was strange, but there was no pain or anything. Still I sought it out. 5 MRIs later, spinal taps, EMGs, many other tests and 6 1/2 years, they still don't know the source or cause. Shortly after the birth of our second daughter, my neurological issues got worse. A change from sporadic numbness and tingling, my hands and feet continue to grow more and more numb and lost strength. Also new this Spring, pins and needles headaches with pressure in the front. I also am extraordinarily tired each day, have cognitive delays and some other issues which may or may not be related.

And though my symptoms have progressed, I choose to not be afraid. For one, they cannot find a single thing wrong with me. Yes the way my body is communicating is saying something is going on, but through the many tests, nothing has come up irregular. But for two, I am making a choice to do something instead of sitting and waiting for my symptoms to take over me. And they still might get worse. In fact, my neurologist strongly encouraged me to consider not having any more children. There is a rule of thumb with symptoms like this and pregnancy, with 1/3 of cases symptoms get worse, 1/3 get better and 1/3 stay the same with pregnancy. And for me with each pregnancy, my symptoms have gotten worse. So, for us, choosing to welcome another baby into this word was a risk. BUT a good risk!

Anyways, here are the choices I've been making not to let the fear and pain of health concerns dictate my life:

  • Choosing life despite my symptoms (that means welcoming this baby, but also living life to the fullest every day)
  • Choosing hope (I will not give into fear, especially knowing nothing solid has been found wrong with me. I choose belief and faith)
  • Green Smoothies (For a long time, I've known things about eating well that I've chose to ignore. Not anymore. More below)


Starting last Spring when i was feeling my worst, another friend told me about how their life had changed doing Green Smoothies. I have heard this many times over, but for some reason remained skeptical. Then one day it occurred to me that nothing should be stopping me from at least trying green smoothies. It is not a scam, I'm just blending veggies... The worst it could do is that I could see no difference, but the best is that I could see some improvement.

There is a ton of evidence that you are what you eat and that what you consume does affect your body. Seems like such a simple principle but yet we think so often that it will take some complicated to eat well or we just want to continue to eat junk because we like it. I am not a health nut, i will never be a health nut... but what this has done for me is given me something I can do. And truthfully, I haven't noticed any significant difference. I do seem to have more energy and my attitude is definitely better... but it's all about choices!! You can always do something!

I am happy to continue to do Green Smoothies and feeling like I'm doing something. And after baby 3 is born, I'm going to continue to seek out what is going on with my body. Pray for me, too, that my symptoms would indeed improve and not continue to progress. And if you are interested in the world of Green Smoothies, check out greensmoothierevolution.com.

Names we COULD go with... but should we?



We promise not to hold out forever on the baby's gender. :)

Since this will likely be our last addition to our family, we have been having a little more intentional fun with this pregnancy. I'm all about celebrating everyday; Since the days of pregnancy are here for their last season, I'm all about celebrating this season right here and right now.

Matt & I spent some time thinking of creative names we could (but won't) go with-- regardless of the baby's gender, whether  boy or girl, just to have a little fun.
  • Anni Moe
  • Bailey Tyranus
  • Blake Coco
  • Cameron Evan
  • Drew Artica
  • Harley Dooku
  • Jean Grey
  • Jordan Lightning
  • Katana Gluten
  • Kelly Joe
  • Kris Plotwist
  • Mathmatica Dystopia
  • Morgan Crix
  • Parker Anklesaurus
  • Pat Adi
  • Skyler Tracy

Inspiring Redcloud/ Becky's BD Song


RedCloud to me
               Oct 7 (1 day ago)
Happy 30th Becky! Very few times in my life am I inspired by someone elses idea, but the act of writing and recording that song inspired me to do my "own" birthday song! And its one of the most downloaded songs off of my new album, (mcredcloud.bandcamp.com) "birthday suit" ... I perform it at every show- so I'd like to thank YOU!
Matt was amazing for my 30th. One of the things he did was commission one of the most talented MC's out there, Redcloud, to co-write & record a song for me for my birthday. Redcloud liked the way the song turned out so much that my song actually inspired the song "Birthday Suit" on his most recent album. You can listen at the link above... but do note, it will make you blush. My version, below, still has a few blush-worthy notes, but nothing like the song on his album. My song is super fun... Matt & Redcloud included many fantastic memories. LOVE IT!!


Memories:
"said you wanted a Kitten Farm one day when you grew up"
  • Matt knows when i was a little girl, i dreamed of one day being a farmer... a kitten farmer.


"you surprise me like the corn inside y bowl of Ramen noodles"
  • When we were first married, I made dinner called "Ramen Surprise." Still one of Matt's favorites to this day. The surprise? Corn.


"Manchild is rolling inside his pendleton"
  • For matt's 30th, I commissioned Manchild, another AMAZING artist to write & record a personalized song for Matt


"since i pulled a table and two chairs out of my GMC van"
  • As friends before we started dating, I used to meet matt for lunch on break from work. One day, we just ate lunch in a parking lot. I thought it was so cute when he pulled out chairs from his van for seating. i thought he thought of everything, really he just had chairs he acquired in his van!


"like driving in New Zealand... now we're stuck at the top..."
  • In 2004, we took a missions trip to Australia & New Zealand. We ended up driving  15-passenger vans throughout New Zealand. On the first day driving, we drove to the top of a park to sight-see. It was so windy and the driving experience scary, we didn't want to drive back down EVER!!


"I'll break the law to walk behind a frozen waterfall"
  • In 2006 on a date, we had an incredible experience to see Minnehaha Falls frozen. We did hop the fence, and went behind teh frozen waterfall-- an experience we'll never forget!




Thank you Matt again for blessing me with an AMAZING birthday & many wonderful years together! 

Long Beach!

Matt & I had the joy of a little weekend away a few weeks ago. We were blessed with a free hotel room & decided to celebrate our anniversary the weekend after Becky's big 3-0. We had SUCH a sweet weekend together. There was a good mix of the practical (we spent half the day on Saturday at a financial workshop), discovery (found a great $1 bookstore) & adventure (rode a tandem bike!!). Extra thanks to Jenn who spent time with our babes so we could get refreshed. It was lovely!

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Kern County Fair 2011



It has become a yearly tradition for us to attend the Kern County Fair. Usually Matt has to work for the radio station at the fair, so the girls & I head out to the fair when Matt is already out there.

The highlights this year was the rides & the petting zoo. Sophia had the time of her life on the boat ride. She was so happy and almost broke into a tantrum when she was the ride was over. But the petting zoo was even better! We spent awhile in there petting deer, llamas, goats, and a donkey... there was even a kangaroo!! The girls loved it & would've stayed there forever. My highlight was the kettle corn, mm! And Matt was excited to try the deep fried Kool-Aid... his review: not amazing, but worth trying!
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Fetal Ultrasound

Email from doctor regarding ultrasound:
09/09/2011 11:22 AM
These were all good:

" CONCLUSION: Single intrauterine pregnancy. No abnormalities are seen. Clinical and sonographic dates coincide. "

Baby Doctor, MD




Turning 30, Becky's Right of Passage :)

I was so overwhelmed at my birthday! In fact, I've been overwhelmed for like two weeks knowing it was coming. It arrived yesterday and I had to work real hard to just keep my cool. I really didn't want to turn 30. But the celebration, the encouragement, the love so helped!!!



It was such a special birthday and the great way to mark the start of a new decade. I am SO SO SO SO thankful for all the love in my life & simple ways people encouragement and touch my heart! So many birthday blessings, but the greatest of all is the people in my life.

Matt was incredible-- was able to get videos from friends from all areas of my life.


  • My family who I met when I was born :)-- my mom and sister! 
  • My friend Bridget who I met when I was 14 at Camp Onomia over a conversation over giant black ants!
  • My friends Sheena & Katie who I met as a junior in High School when God blessed me with Youth Alive. 
  • My nephew Peyton who I saw come into the world January 1999. 
  • My friend Sarah B who I met at BSC in January 2001.
  • Of course, Matt who I met also in January of 2001 at a very random gathering of people. 
  • My in-laws Jo, Rick & Rika I met in the Fall of 2001 when I started dating your son/ brother. You still haven't gotten rid of me :)  
  • My friend Sarah P, my very first friend when we moved to Minneapolis in 2002. 
  • And my friend Alissa A.-- who was Matt's friend in high school and has been a great friend of mine! 
  • My friend Alissa F., who I went to Northwestern College with-- Public Relations Majors!!
  • My daughter Zoe who I have the pleasure to mother & met in 2005.
  • My friends in Bakersfield- Jan, Erin, Barb, David, Becky, Bernie- who we meet in 2007 when we moved here!!
  • My daughter Sophia who I also have the pleasure to mother & met in 2009. 


(Alissa & Katie, sorry your videos weren't compatible, I got to see them and loved them with all my heart!!!)

I am so thankful for this gift. Thank you to everyone who participated. I'm in a season where I really needed some encouragement and it really did a number on my heart to hear from everyone in ways I've touched their lives. In addition to those who helped with the video, thank you so much to all who came to eat cake & watch the video premiere! and thank you for all who took time to call & write to wish me a happy birthday! I sure love you all!!!!! Who wants a hug??



Updated: Now Accepting Name Suggestions

We are now accepting name suggestions for our bun in the oven!

We're not indicating whether or not we're going with any of these names, but we thought it would be fun to invite suggestions and we'll make an ongoing list and update it with any additions!

All the names below have been suggested to us... And, now it's your turn! Let's hear them!



 Female Names
Male Names
Adora
Alexa
Anabelle
Anezka
Athena
Audrianna
Bay

Blaise
Bodana
Calliah


Callie
Cassidy
Charis
Ciera Hope
Clara
Constance
Dagny
Dominique

Eliska
Emily
Francesca
Isabella

Jael
Jem/ Jericha

Jera
Jolana
Joy
Katie Jo
Lauryn
Leia
Lily
Lydia

Madelyn
Malaki

Michaela
Natalie

Olivia
Padme
Petra

Quinn
Rainbow, Rainbow Bright
Samatha
Savannah

Shiley
Strawberry Shortcake

Sunshine
Thorn Desintiny
Zady
Adrienne
Alian
Anakin
Bob
Carl
Caleb Charles
Chester
Clive
Ctibor
Damian
Elias
Elijah
Greyson
Hadden
Hank
Jared
Jericho
Joel
Jorgen
Levi
Leyoda
Libor
Luke
Malachi
Mathmatica
Mannaseh
Matrix
Michael
Oliver
Owen
Rampage
Roboto
Ryker
Samuel
Silas
Skids McBurn
Skyler
Sterling
Styx Dinosaur
The Hulk
Vensa
Wyatt
Xerxes