Wednesday v.3

Apologies for not blogging last night!

1) For anyone wondering what the tv show on our tv was - it was "Perfect Strangers" - my all time favorite sitcom. We laugh and laugh and laugh.

2) The story about the fans! Making pizza on Friday evening, we accidentally over-oiled the pizza stones and that fell on the bottom of the stove and burned there. Smoke came out of the stove, so after the fire alarm went off, we opened the windows and turned the fans on the room! The next morning I decided to make volcano pancake (yummy!) and low-and-behold, smoke came out of the oven again! The fans came back on and the fire alarm did NOT go off! (yay Emily and Sara!) So I decided to put the stove on a clean setting - we set up the fans AGAIN and once the oil had completely burned off the stove, all was again well. Emily got alot of experience in positioning fans so that the smoke stays away from fire alarms and goes towards the windows. It was a wonderful collaborative experience.

3) We leave tomorrow for a family reunion in South Carolina! We will try to update the blog as often as possible!

Monday blues

Tonight Jon and I did our budget, which is neither of our favorite things, although we absolutely know how important it is. Thus why we take the time to do it, even when we're so tired and frustrated by numbers and technology.

It's a worthwhile endeavor, to be sure. Our next goal is to balance it once a week, so there are no surprises at the end of the month!

Books are ORGANIZED!

My dear cousin Emily came this past weekend to help us organize our books! Here are some pictures of the weekend:

 Jon remind us all to "Read Responsibly"! (it's a librarian comic book. It's really funny)

 "Wow Sara! What interesting books we have! All over the floor....

 and couch....

 and coffee table....

 Books Books everywhere! - We pulled them all of the shelves so we can organize them by subject matter. The fan pointing towards the window is another story all together (to be told soon). Also, if anyone can identify the TV show on our screen, I will blog on the subject of your choice!

 Books not on the floor - but on the SHELVES! In categories! We can find them!

 "My cousins are crazy, and I love them" -[my guess at what Emily was thinking. She is truly amazing! This would have been much less fun without her!]

"Wow Sara - it is so much easier to look at our books on the shelves, rather than on the floor!"

Miracle Workers

Today Mom, Jess, Emily, and Timmy came to the rescue of my cupboards! Here are pictures before they arrived:

 Under the kitchen sink! This was where alot of the cleaning and kitchen supplies are....

Clearly - under the bathroom sink wasn't in much better condition!

They came and they conquered. Look what I have now!:

 We were able to use the space under the kitchen sink (this cupboard is next to the sink) to store a lot of cleaning supplies. Then we hung the saran wrap and baggies from the door, and bought more shelving to make better use of the space! Used baggies now go in the drawer, and we have extended shelf space.

Wow! Simply adding another layer to this space helped ALOT. We are now able to use the entire depth of the sink to store bathroom supplies!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! We're excited to be able to find the supplies we need, without having to dig!

Emily and I are working hard now to get all our books in order. Wait till you see the results! (oh the suspense....)

Cleaning out my disk space

So my computer is getting progressively slower, so I decided to clean off my computer some! Problem is, I didn't know where to start.

I found this program:
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/

It is free, runs on macs (there is more robust software for windows) and give you a pie chart of where most of your data is. And of course, the option to drill down in the folders, etc, etc.

I found out my biggest data problem is with my music! I wouldn't have started there, as I rarely use my music and podcasts - I would have started with email, where I'm a heavy end-user.

After cleaning out the podcasts and some other data, I now have 6GB free! And it didn't take that long at all.

Good stuff.

Our ping-pong ball system!

So I received a request from a blog reader to explain our pingpong ball system! I had mentioned it once, but forgot to mention that we have since then implemented it :) [Thanks Laura!]

So first, I'm realizing that life comes basically 3 different types of chores [and I'm sure another slew when kids come!] The chores are:
1) Those that need done every day (dishes, dinner, making the bed, etc.)
2) Those that need done approximately two weeks (vacuuming, wiping down floors, laundry, bathroom, working out the budget, etc.)
3) The pesky ones that demand alot of time and are done once! (taxes, thank-you cards, etc.)

So Jon and I seem to have a very good handle on #1 and a decent handle on #3, however we were finding that #2 was getting done only when we have guests around. Unfortunately this results in Jon having to keep up with my frenetic cleaning pace the day before guests arive, while also attempting to keep me sane. This is not fair to him, and I don't particularly enjoy it either, so I was pondering on a solution. Then one day, while reading Woman's Day at the gym, I came across this idea targeted at getting kids to do their chores. They suggested writing chores on ping-pong balls, then the child picks one out of the hat (bag, bowl, whatever), and then has to do it in 15 minutes. Sounds like fun! I realized it might be a good way for Jon and I to track #2 type of chores, get them done at a reasonable pace, and then have less prep time for when guests come.

So we decided whoever does not make dinner that night does a chore! We have enough ping-pong balls for two weeks worth of chores (about 10). If we get them all done at the end of the two weeks, then we can eat our weekend ice-cream (we eat ice-cream on the weekends so not to eat it all during the week - now we turned it into a rewards :o). So far, this system is fun! And it keeps me from thinking "Oh, I need to remember to vaccum the home, and dust, and do laundry, and the budget..." and whenever that thought comes up I just have to think "that will get done in time, it's on a ping-pong ball!" So it takes care of house clutter and mind-clutter. A win-win! We both are dedicated to the system, so I think it will serve us well!

Here are pictures:

 What are these beautiful bags doing hanging on the lamp stand? They are the homes of the ping-pong balls. The one hung higher is the one with chores we need to do, the one hung lower are with those we have done :o)

 Sara reaching in to find what chore she has "won"!

 Surprise! Is the "chose your own house-hold chore - or clean your desk".

 Here is an example of a normal one: "Empty Trash in all rooms"

Okay - the chore is all done! Bye-bye chore....

Tuesday v.2

I have remarkably uncreative ideas when it comes to naming blogs! I will start versioning them on such days like today.

Here are the good things going on in the Jerdan home:

1) Our ping-pong ball chore bag is a hit! We are both doing our chores and having much more fun doing it. Jon is particularly brilliant at remembering to do the chore of the evening - I'm catching on to my own system!

2) We now have postage! (Thanks Jon!) Thank-you cards should soon be merrily out the door. Always remember - CVS sells postage too! (I kept waiting for the post office to be open)

3) My cousin Emily is coming over for the weekend! And we will organize (and emboss) Jon and I's book collection! I can't wait!

4) I'm hoping to learn how to make good Indian food - as it always smells so yummy and tastes so good. If you have any ideas, let me know!

That's it :o)

Promised pictures of thank-you cards!

Here is our visual documentary of the thank-you cards (which we will hopefully have in the mail by the end of the week...)

Here is a table in our living room all set up with thank-you card goodness: address book, gift list, return address labels, labels, and pens!

Here is the guide for how to write a thank you card!
1) Greet the person you are sending the card too (don't write "Just a note to say..." because that is obvious)
2) Express gratitude
3) Discuss how you have used the gift (for cash gifts we generally used the phrase "thank you for your generosity! It has been so helpful in setting up our home and future" - or something to that extent. For those of you who sent us financial gifts - sorry to spoil the surprise of how we thanked you!).
4) Allude to the past, so a shared memory or experience, and then allude to the future - looking forward to seeing them again, even if on Facebook, etc. The guide I got this from stated "you are in our thoughts and we hope you are well" to be good for the cards where you don't know quite what to say. 5) Finally thank them again and sign off! We found this model helpful and gave our cards a structure to grow off of!

Here are the results! No more labels, except those where no gift was recorded - we just printed off all the wedding address labels and double checked to make sure we got them all! And a pile of 90+ cards - if you look closely you can see the front of our card!

Through writing all these cards, we are overwhelmed by all the loving gifts that make our current life possible. Everything we do in this home, from eating, to sleeping, cleaning, and simply enjoying our home, is always made possible by a gift from our family and friends. It is truely overwhelming and I'm learning that I simply can never repay it all. We are filled with the utmost gratitude for it all. 

Thank you cards DONE!

So tonight we finished writing all the thank-you cards! Now we just have to put postage on them and find a few stray addresses...

We have photos documenting the evening, however due to technical difficulties will have to wait until tomorrow to display them :/

See you then!

Relaxing Saturday

Today was a happily relaxing Saturday! Woke up and spoke with our financial advisor, and then I (Sara) was beginning to feel ill, so I went back to sleep and Jon went to play soccer. I woke up, spoke with a friend for awhile, cleaned the house, and awaited Jon's return as a happy sweaty man bearing some needed groceries. Upon his return we made lunch, watched Psych (the last show of the 3rd season- scary!) and decided we needed a nap. This made it a 2 nap day for me, which was welcome after last nights exhaustedness. Then we awoke and added new compost to our worm bin! Unfortunately worms do not like the light, so I was only able to spot two of them poking around in the dirt. It looks like they are doing a pretty good job taking care of the ruffage, so we'll see how they do next time we look in on it - probably in about two weeks or so. Then dinner, another show, cleaning up, and blogging.

I'm feeling thoroughly rested, which is wonderful, and looking forward to tomorrow!

Thoughtless Thursdays v.3 (a day late)

"May you live all the days of your life." - Jonathan Swift

(particularly exhausted today)

more on vericomposting

So, apparently the blog world is not used to vermicomposting.

at least our blog world! We've gotten some very adamantly curious reactions!

So here's how we see it: God, in his great Design, saw that when we eat fruit and vegetables, we don't eat all of it. So he designed these little worms who would be interested in eating it, and not only that, but also the waste the little worms produce will make the earth that much more richer for growing fruits and vegetables! We also don't have a yard to throw the scraps in - so vermicomposting it is!

It's fascinating, and a good plan, and we know some very generous people who basically gave us a vermicomposter! (and by vermicomposter - it is a kitty litter box layers with dirt, worms, scraps, and newspaper...)  Now that said, Jon is the only one who has opened it since being home to dump our compost into it. As our compost bin has again filled up, we'll be going through it this weekend to see how the worm folk are doing, maybe "harvest" some "tea" and "castings" (should be an interesting story).

If any generous family folk ever wonder what they want to give their worm-minded family members a family gift - this Worm Farm looks like fun!

Follow up on composting...

To answer the astute observation of a devoted blog-follower (aka, Mom Jerdan!):

Yes, the compost can live in the corner of our balcony.
Technically, however, the worms who are eating it cannot!


Yes, Jon and I's first pet is a pale full of worms. They are layered with soil, wet newspaper, and food scraps in an old kitty litter box under our sink. They have air-holes and a drainage hole for the worm "tea"- their urine. It has been about 3 weeks, so we definitely need to empty that.

We are hoping to be good worm owners! So we are not putting them out at night to freeze. As the lowest temperature they can go is about 50 degrees, they may be able to fare alright outside during the summer.

Yay life!

Tuesday

We are currently sharing a home with a bunch of fruit flies.

any advice? We are keeping things clean! We do have compost (and a sneaky vermicomposter under our sink...oh the things people give you in New Hampshire.....), but everything is covered up TIGHT. They aren't populating as quick as one would think they should. We are keeping on top of dishes, keeping things clean. Hm. We'll just have to wait them out.

Once summer hits, compost can live outside, and the fruitflies with them.

Lent

The first time I learned about Lent was during the parody song on the last name "Bauchspies"  for Aunt Cindy and Uncle Todd's wedding, when we proudly proclaimed that we "couldn't spell it anyway, so we gave it up for Lent!" and kept singing on. My childhood self thought Lent was a time where you gave up stuff you didn't want and were somehow allowed to do so! Obviously, I wasn't raised in a very liturgical household.

Since then I have come to learn either giving something up, or taking something on, to remind ourselves of everything God gave up to come down to earth, paying the penalty for our sins and creating a way for us to access Life! I have "done" Lent a few times in my adult life and always benefited from the constant reminder of my need for Grace and how ardently He gives it. This year we decided to give a little bit of something up - namely television during dessert (notice we didn't say dinner!) and take something on - namely studying ... during dessert. God's word is sweet - so it fits!

So, during Lent, we are studying the Bible or other material about God, in place of television, while snacking on our sweets, for about 20 minutes. I seriously didn't think I'd make it when we set out to read. Somewhat surprisingly, it goes by so very quickly! And I believe our minds are getting all the sharper for it - and I'm certain our hearts will as well.

So we'll see how this goes! Much respect to all those who actually gave up television or dessert! Maybe next year....

We're making progress on the thank you cards...

Remember kids: keep good records!
:-)

Good day.

Today was a good Friday for me (Sara)! It started with a chiropractor's visit to fix an issue I'm having with my lower back (turns out sitting all day isn't the healthiest thing for backs...), followed by a morning nap.

Then a couple from church took us out for lunch and we got to know each other better. It was a good time of fellowship. So good in fact that I took another nap when I got home!

A two nap day! I'm relishing them pre-children, as I know I won't see them again for another 20+ years once that starts!

After nap #2 I met with another woman from the church for some mentoring. And it was wonderful.

Coming home I successfully made Jon's pizza with a bit of oversight from him (he was working!) and then we went to movie night at our friend's place.

So a good, good day. And, remarkably, I'm tired after all the fun fellowship, even with the napping :o)

Thoughtless Thursdays v.2

I remembered thoughtless Thursdays! here's the quote:

"When you are born the world rejoices while you cry, but, live life in such a way that when you will die the world will cry while you will rejoice"
— An old saying

In the light of the recent controversies over Rob Bell's new book (apparently coming out at the end of the month - maybe more thoughts on that later. maybe.) I've been challenged to think about the life-hereafter, and if Christ is truely the only way (Bell seems to say otherwise in the few blurps coming out from the book- we'll see what the book actually says!)

Christ himself stated he was the only way (John 10:28, 14:6, & 17:3, to name a few I've come across in reading John, and Mark 10:21); it is hard for me to consider any other alternative, as considering another alternative means giving up the only Truth there is, that is the Truth of Christ as Savior & Redeemer told through Scripture. Now I have no idea how to answer the question about "billions" of people going to hell - I simply don't - other than that the sense of deep justice that we have comes from God himself- therefore everything that happens on the other side of life must be both absolute justice and absolute Grace through Christ. (yes, citation needed!)

We'll have to keep the blogosophere (aka. our family members who read this blog diligently!) updated on our thoughts, convictions, and beliefs as the conversation continues.

Those are my thoughts on the matter now!

Our wonderful financal counselor - Derec

Recently we have been reflecting on the blessing of our financial counselor, Derec, whom was introduced to use by our wonderful wonderful siblings, Heather & Sam, who met him while Sam was in flight school. We have never met in person and do the financial counseling over Skype. He is able to share his computer screen with us and we follow along.

He is a holistic financial counselor who  is 100% passionate about helping young people start out with a solid financial foundation, both in terms of the actual funds in the bank and the financial knowledge in our heads. He has spent so much effort educating us on all the different financial options we have, the documents we need to have in order now that we are married, life insurance, how to pay off loans, how much to save, and has done all this instruction with an amazing amount of patience. In many cases he works at no charge, as his income is made off of commissions.

He has been a particularly tremendous blessing in terms of making sure we are on the right track with Jon's business. It is always so comforting to hear from someone who has a very open view of our finances - "Yes, you are on the right track. Now have you thought about this?" and then we learn more!

Now granted, there are many times when we leave financial counseling with our heads spinning - budgeting for instance!- however we are both significantly more confident in our ability to handle our finances both now and into the future.

Fat Tuesday

This post is not about Fat Tuesday, but since it is "Fat Tuesday" it seemed like a good title for this post!

Life here at the Jerdan household has officially hit a pleasant rhythm, and I'm loving it. I think we have found our stride when it comes to the chores of life, such as the groceries, cooking, cleaning, budgeting, working, and all that. Each evening has a rhythm that begins with dinner and chores, then we watch a show or two to unwind, and finally we end up in the office in the evening with me "blogging" and Jon reading. Naturally we end up going to sleep at the end, after reading and prayer.

It is really nice finding this stride. I secretly worry I'll get bored or stuck in wifedom, however now that we have a decent stride going (and I have a husband, I think we can begin figuring out where we're going! I'm mostly speaking in terms of what we can do within the church and our community as we have yet to find a place to serve and I get antsy when not involved in something noble. Or at least something noble sounding.

However God's timing is beginning to make sense. How could we aid others while we're still figuring out what we have to offer and how to meet our needs? That's what I'm thinking. We'll see.

Friends on Saturday

On Saturday we had friends visit! It was Jon's friend Austin whom he met in college (another missionary kid!) and his fiance Teresa. We had had dinner with them before when they were still dating, so it was fun to see them so happily in love and engaged! They are both just busting with love and that was refreshing to see.

It was also exciting for me because we brought out the new china for the visit. It sounds petty and shallow, but there is something to be said about using one's own new dishes on which to entertain guests! We made Aunt Cindy's yummy rolls and bought a rotisserie chicken which is on sale at the local grocery store on Fridays. We put the different condiments in our fancy condiment tray (a gift from Aunt Cindy... I'm noticing a trend), and Jon made a delicious salad.

We then ate and chatted and it was wonderful. They are both enthusiastic and passionate extroverts, which is good for Jon and me to be around, as we are both pretty introverted!

Inadvertently we found the advantage to having guests is that we get our house all cleaned up! How refreshing :o)

Sunday!

So, first apologies for the lack of posts over the past two days! Life got ahead of me and I am still catching up. So here is a preview of things to come:

1) Great visit with friends on Saturday!
2) Church sermon on Sunday (today) that Jon and I both enjoyed.
3) Small group: What we are learning and experiencing.
4) Our enjoyment of our financial counselor, Derec.
5) New structure during Lent - which includes blogging BEFORE 11pm when I have energy :o)

So that will take us to Monday!

Stammtisch

Sara found a group of German speakers who occasionally meet up around a drink or light fare to speak German together! We went to join them this evening at a French café by Reston Town Center. It was a fairly pleasant atmosphere, although the side room we were in eventually got very crowded and loud. It sounded like a lot of people there were native speakers of German. We shared a table with someone else who has about our level of German, so that was non-threatening.
We should try to speak German more frequently. It can be hard to think in it for an extended period of time when we're not used to it anymore.

Thoughtless Thursdays v.1

As I am quickly realizing I have little to no thoughts of my own on Thursday nights (tonight's two thoughts: "how soon can I go to sleep"? and "does watching two TV shows make me a lazy person"? That's all folks), I'm deciding to substitute someone elses' for my own, as clearly that is a better Thursday alternative. Thoughtless Thursdays will now bring inspirational quotes I gather.

Todays' quote:

"If we don't change the direction we are headed, we will end up where we are going" - Chinese Proverb.

(Kudos to my husband, who suggested "thoughtless Thursdays" rather than "no thought Thursdays." Rolls better of the tongue)

Mexican Soup, Sick Days, and TWO YEARS!

Today I felt ill enough to warrant staying home, some odd stomach bug that took (and is taking) its dear sweet time making its way through me. So on a day like today, I like to make Aunt Cindy's mexican soup! It basically sits in a crock pot all day and becomes incredibly yummy. It's good to make right before leaving for work, or on today like today when you'd rather put in the 10 minutes at lunch to make dinner, rather than putting in the effort later in the day.  This is the 3rd time I've made it, and am very glad I did!

Here is a picture of the process - the recipe is magneted to the oven top, the soup is becoming yummier and yummier in the crock pot, and all the dishes are sitting there waiting to be done...:

Recipe is copied below. We love it.

Also today marks TWO YEARS since Jon asked me out! Together for two years - that's awesome.

Two years ago today: Jon got the courage to ask me out after sledding. Thrilling!

One year ago today: Jon took me out for a lovely dinner. We got a bottle of wine, and I gave Jon an adventure book of us I had been making for the past year. Romantic!

Today: I stayed home with stomach pain, made Jon lunch and dinner, and then after Jon finished work he accompanied me to the pharmacy to get some much needed "stomach-relief" medication.  We played a game, watched a show, and are now blogging. Much less thrilling or romantic, but oh SO much more full of wonderful memories, deep love, and JOY in each other's company. Marriage rocks.


Mexican Soup Recipe:
necessary ingredients are in bold. It is very forgiving though - I just realized I forgot the chopped up onion! Jon still says it tastes more-than-good. 

In a crockpot, put a package of boneless skinless breasts or thighs- add a jar of salsa, half or so a box of chicken broth,   a tsp, more or less,  of cumin, oregano, and garlic powder, a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it) and a chopped up onion.

Cook on low all day, or high for half a day. Add a can of black beans sometime (doesn't really matter when, but I always wait til near the end) and also add a 1/2 cup or so of frozen corn.

Before you serve, break up  the chicken in the soup with a fork- it should be very shreddable. Chopped up green onions, or cilantro if you like that is nice at the end.

For serving, pile on the sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, chopped up tomatoes or avocado, and crumbled up tortilla chips!

YUM!

This day in history

On March 2, 2009, after a quick snow storm, I asked Sara if she'd like to go sledding with me. After having some snowy fun sliding around, I told her I really liked her and asked if she'd go on a date with me. Her face completely lit up and she may have jumped in the air while standing on the ice around my car.
That was a good day.
730 days later, we are joyfully celebrating 5 months of being married to each other and still get excited about having fun together.
:-)

They do exist here!

Another thing we saw during last week's trip (I think we were on the NJ Turnpike at the time) was this:

I don't believe I've ever seen a Peugeot in the U.S. before! When I (JJ) saw that I suddenly got really psyched and jumpy while sitting in the passenger seat. I've seen (though not in a very long time) a Renault or two parked somewhere in this vast country, but never a Peugeot. It was pretty exciting to see. The Peugeot 405 (model pictured) was actually sold in the U.S. for a couple years around 1990, but French car manufacturers have not been successful at all here. Even though Peugeot has made some very decent vehicles. I had to take a picture to document this rare event.
This was the car that preceded the 406, which starred in the Luc Besson movies Taxi, Taxi 2 and Taxi 3 (by Taxi 4, they had upgraded to the 407).