the quotable princess bride #5

La Promenade by Renoir

"Buttercup was searching somewhere for sufficiency of courage. Evidently, she found it in his eyes."

The mushiest. Yet so true of me.

The most intense instance of this came when Ellie was on her way out. I know for a stone-carved fact that if it weren't for Jared's presence I would have given up an hour into active labor. Not because it hurt so much at the moment, but because six . . . seven . . . twelve more hours of it sounded like too much to handle. And they would have been, had I faced them alone.

I'm not sure why a companion can give you courage, but that's exactly what happened. While I lay in the hot tub, breathing slowly and relaxing every muscle in my power, Jared sat by the edge holding my hand. The knowledge that my husband was with me made each contraction seem like something I could handle. Labor wasn't going to beat me. We were going to do this thing. And we did.

for munchies: Peanut Butter Energy Bars

The only drawback to these energy bars: they really ought to be refrigerated. Too long unchilled, and they start to get soft.

Apart from that, it's all good news: quick, simple, no exotic ingredients. And of course marvelously tasty.

The original recipe calls for a few chia seeds. I've not yet surrendered to this trend. However, I have bought hook line and sinker into green smoothies, Greek yogurt, and liquid stevia, so surely a bag of chia lurks not far in my future.

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Peanut Butter Energy Bars
(based on a recipe from Gimme Some Oven)

2 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
1 cup natural peanut or almond butter
1/2 cup honey

1) Stir oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds together in large mixing bowl.
2) Stir together peanut butter and honey until smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.
3) Lightly grease a 9x9 pan with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper. Press mixture tightly into prepared pan and chill for several hours before cutting into 16 bars. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Weekend linkage // 7QT #7

Linked up with Seven Quick Takes.

1)

Jared--

Have you ever noticed that the same themes come up across all genres of music? They sing about the same things, just in different ways and with their own spin. Rap, country, r&b, pop . . .

::thinks for a while::

Well, I don't know about polka.

2)

Teeth! They are fully in and ready to gnaw everything in sight. Jared has let her sample a lot of fruit lately; she approved of the banana and mango, not so much the kiwi.

She loves to play, whether that means tickling, "flying," playing peekaboo, pretending to eat her up, or rolling around on the bed. It's pretty easy to make her laugh now. When we're silly with her, she starts smiling bigger and bigger, until she breaks out in the most adorable spasm of giggles.

How is my baby six months already?

3)

What your neighborhood listserv tells you about the demise of America, and other cheerful reflections on the state of childhood today.

Also regarding childhood, some important information on developmental hip displasia and how to choose car seats, carriers, and swaddling techniques to avoid it.

This is the cutest. J already tried giving her ice cream . . . not interested.

4)

What's the difference between women preaching and women blogging? Some helpful thoughts, in my complementarian blogger opinion.

More humorous ecclesiastical reading: accidental worship heresies. Definitely made me chuckle.

I know not any

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel

and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

“I am the first and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.

Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.

Let him declare and set it before me,

since I appointed an ancient people.

Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.

Fear not, nor be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

And you are my witnesses!

Is there a God besides me?

There is no Rock; I know not any.”

-Isaiah 44:6-8

image credit: Nickolay Khoroshkov

God made these mountains.

God also made you.

And there is nobody even close to matching Him in love or power or wisdom or beauty.

And because He loves his children, all of that matchless love and power and wisdom or beauty, it gets dumped out on us every day and throughout eternity.

Is that not the coolest thing?

the quotable princess bride #4

The Ingenue by Renoir

"I always think everything is a trap until proven otherwise . . . Which is why I'm still alive."

I don't like to describe myself as cynical. As the saying goes: I'm not cynical, just realistic.

Sometimes that is true.

When I find myself being suspicious of everyone, though, especially people in (actual or self-proclaimed) authority positions, something is probably wrong. Realism does not have to see ulterior motives behind every bush. You're a doctor? A congressman? An expert of any kind? You must be lying!

I think that critical thinking-- doubting conventional wisdom and striking out on a road less traveled-- has often served me well. I just don't want to become so "critical" that I live in fear. Let's avoid paranoia.