Emma Creek Classic 5k....

This past Saturday, a group of us participated in the Emma Creek Classic 5k Walk, Jog, or Run (we chose the "walk"). The race takes place in a town very near our own. Our group consisted of Jess, Trisha, Abby, Anne, Mary (my mom), and me. Also, Luke rode along and slept in the stroller.

The Emma Creek Classic is one of the largest women's fitness events in the state of Kansas. I've done it a number of times, and actually, two years ago, Jess and I jogged the race. This year, however, we decided we better stick to the walking. Neither of us thought we were trained properly to jog or run it.

It was EXTREMELY windy that morning, and it actually felt a bit chilly. It ended up being a stormy weekend (see previous post). Fortunately, the storms held off during the race :)

Here's the group of us (minus my mom as she took the photo) before the race began.



Here's a photo that I took of Trisha and Abby. Don't they both look so very cheery before a race?



Before too long, the race began. At first, because there are so many women of all ages in this race, it is a bit difficult to "weave" through everyone. Here's a photo of the many people ahead of us -- already on the street. We know we're fast, BUT we decided to be nice and let the runners go ahead of us :) (O.K., so there was a bit of sarcasm there).



After we got spread out a bit, I snuck ahead to get a photo of everybody walking. My mom took over pushing Luke in the stroller for a bit. In this particular photo, he was starting to get drowsy and very relaxed.



The race kept going. I didn't say this earlier, but in case you didn't know, 5k equals out to be 3.1 miles.

Here are a couple more shots from the race -- mainly of all of the people.





After walking almost 50 minutes, we finally approached the finish line. This photo is a little blurry, but it's actually a shot of the finish line.



Now, here's a photo of Anne. There is a small story to this -- Jess and I pretty much stayed ahead for the majority of the race, with my mom right near us. Anne, Abby, and Trisha walked behind us. Jess and I did talk very briefly about how we have the shortest legs, but we managed to stay ahead of our long-legged counterparts. How does that work?

Anyways, as we were approaching the finish line, Anne decided to go on ahead of us. One would have thought that she walked ahead of us the entire time. But, she didn't fool us. Jess and I know that we did stay ahead of her throughout the race.



We did finish, all in one piece. Here are the official results....

Anne: 51 min. 28 sec.
Jess: 51 min. 29 sec.
Me: 51 min. 29 sec.
Mary (my mom): 51 min. 30 sec.
Trisha: 51 min. 30 sec.
Abby: 51 min. 30 sec.

We were all very pleased to find out after we completed the race that a woman from our church, Helena, actually WON the race overall. Her time was 21 min. 3 sec. Go Helena!!!!!

You might remember in a previous post (probably 6 weeks ago or so) that our jogging stroller has a GPS on it -- compliments of Marc. Well, I used this GPS during this race to keep track of our time. Obviously, I didn't start the timer exactly when the race began because our official results are a few seconds off from the GPS. I think I like the GPS time better! It made us look just a few seconds faster.



Here is an "after photo" of our group (again, minus my mom since she took the photo). Notice that Luke was still sleeping. That's what he did through 1/2 of the race. How nice of him!



This race does have a WONDERFUL spread of food at the end for you to replenish your energy on. I had a hard time getting a decent photo with all of the people, but you get the drift.



Overall, I had a wonderful time, and I hope the rest of the ladies I walked with had a great time as well. And Jess, we'll have to actually run it again next year.

Jess did make a great suggestion. So listen up all of you Young Married women from Grace. Jess and I would like to form a "Young Married Women's" Team for this race (also including Debby and Sarah W.). We're both fairly certain we could possibly have the largest team and win that competition (I think we'd get recognized during the ceremony at the end). So, start training now. We wouldn't all have to run it. It would be perfectly fine for some to simply walk it or jog it. So, next March, be on alert for Jess and/or myself to make the announcement in Sunday School, complete with entry forms in hand :)

Why did we do this race? I could think of several reasons. First, it's fun to do things with girl friends. Having girl friends is a bond that's indescribeable, in my opinion. Second, it's fellowship with other believers. Third, it's great exercise. I realize I don't always do everything correct when it comes to taking care of myself, eating right, exercising, and maintaining proper weight. But, more and more, as I get older, I'm realizing the importance of it. Paul reminds us in I Corinthians of the importance of maintaining our bodies. I would like to share the verses.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with you body. I Corinthians 6:19-20

Ouch! Those are some great verses that I should post in my house as well as memorize. I know I can DO MUCH BETTER in that arena of my life.

A Nice Stormy Evening....

Part of living in Kansas is tornadoes. Yep, we have them. It's a fact of life.

Yesterday (Saturday), this morning, this afternoon, and this evening, there were tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, and flood warnings in this state. Overall, it was just a stormy weekend.

Though I have lived in Kansas all of my life, I truly dislike severe weather. Marc LOVES to watch severe weather (has even storm-chased). However, Marc does NOT mess around with keeping Luke and me safe. Also, Marc does NOT mess around with keeping any guests in our house safe.

This evening, we had game night with our small group. It was here at our house. Severe weather was in the area when everybody started to arrive. But, we kept preparing food for dinner.

Before we even started to eat, my dad called to make sure we were watching the weather. He mentioned that the town we live in was "under the gun." I told my Dad, "Don't worry, Marc has the TV on and is watching." (All of the husbands were actually watching the TV for weather reports as well).

Soon after that, Marc said, "I think we should all go to the basement." So, that's what we did.

Before I show photos, let me explain something. Our house does not have a full basement. It's merely one room, underneath the laundry room and kitchen. We only use it for some storage, a storm shelter, and a mechanical room. I go down there the fewest amount of times as humanly possible.

So, I packed up some food for Luke (it was dinner time) as well as some formula and bottles (I wasn't sure how long we'd be down there). We all trotted downstairs and ultimately, I think, had a good time.

Here are some photos :)

First, here's a photo of me feeding Luke (sorry my arm is in the way of his face). Overall, I don't think Luke had one clue what was going on. He was very happy. This was his first trip to our basement (remember, I don't go down there unless I have to).



This next little "story" of the evening was funny if you were there and also if you know Marc --

Seth walked down into the basement and was briefly looking around this one room basement of ours. He immediately walked over to the sump pump and said, "Marc, are you brewing Pepsi down here?"

(Just to clarify -- Seth did know that it was a sump pump, but if you know Marc, that question isn't too far fetched).

But, just so you do know -- the Pepsi was safe from the storm. If our house had been hit by a tornado, please know we'd still have the Pepsi (and Diet Pepsi too, Debby).



Here's a photo of Johannah, Sam, Tim, & Seth, waiting for the storm to pass.



Finally, a photo of Marc -- listening to weather updates on his Ham Radio. He is a licensed ham operator, in case you didn't know. It was nice to hear weather updates.



Fortunately, our power never went out (I do remember having small group here at our home -- I think in Spring, 2006 -- during a storm when the power went out. We did a Bible Study by candlelight. Some of you fellow bloggers may remember that night).

I am glad we were in the basement. There was quite a storm that went through this town. Some of the damage even made the local news -- downed stoplights, downed power lines, etc.

After the storm, we went upstairs and ate some very yummy M F C M (see previous post). It was a hit with our small group! We also had some fruit from Johannah and a very yummy dessert that Sam made! We then played "Scattergories" -- girls against the guys, and the girls won, I must say!

Mark, Lisa, and Rick -- we missed you this evening. It was definitely a different sort of evening.

And, I hope you're not sick of reading yet. But, yesterday (Saturday), Marc was running in a race up near Lawrence. It was 100 km race (62 miles). There was a nice storm (with tornadoes) in the area. During the race, the tornado sirens went off. But, the runners, including Marc, kept going. Finally, a law enforcement officer came and told them they all had to get off of the trails. So, Marc was only able to complete 53 miles -- ONLY 9 MILES TO GO! Oh, he so would've made that one. But, sometimes, things like that happen. So, though he didn't complete the full 100 km race due to a major storm, he did complete 53 miles in 11 hours and 17 minutes.

M F C M....

Does the acronym in the title of this blog post pique your curiosity? It stands for Marc's Favorite Carbohydrate Meal. Yep, it's time for the sharing of another recipe.

This is a simple recipe, and it's one I came up with myself (don't expect culinary brilliance here). I will warn you, though. I don't think it's real kid friendly. Since our child is not yet eating the same food at the table as us (except for some simple things like bread), I'm merely just guessing it's not kid friendly.

I call it M F C M because as most of you know, Marc sometimes runs some long distances. A couple of nights before (as well as the night before), he likes to load up on carbohydrates. Tomorrow (Saturday), Marc will be running a long distance up in Lawrence. So, last night (Thursday), he requested that I make this meal.

So, here goes....

Ingredients Needed:



PLUS (and this is the most important ingredient)....



Olive Oil
Pasta (any shape will do)
ITALIAN SAUSAGE
Green Pepper
Red Pepper
Pepper
Olde Westport Spice Italian Garden Pasta Shake (or any other pasta seasoning you might have or like)
Onion (was not in the photo as I forgot to put it in there)

**The real beauty of this meal is that all of the chopping can be done ahead of time (I do it when Luke is napping). Then, store the chopped ingredients in a plastic bag (no extra washing of a storage container) in the refrigerator until ready. Then, this meal is VERY QUICK.

So, start by chopping peppers.



Then, chop the onion.



Lastly, cut the Italian Sausage.



Store these chopped ingredients in a big baggie if you're not finishing this meal at the moment.



10-15 minutes before you want to eat, boil water for the pasta.



While the pasta is cooking, throw the vegetables and Italian Sausage in a skillet with oil. (Obviously, the vegetables take a little longer to cook, but I just throw it all in at the same time anyways. Just use a spatula to continuously move the food around to avoid burning). We are (especially Marc) fans of pepper. So, I pepper quite a bit at this point. I personally do not salt anything. If you feel you need extra salt as well, go on ahead at this point.



After everything is cooked and the pasta is drained, stir in some olive oil to the pasta.



Then, place desired amount of pasta on the plate. Add the desired amount of vegetables and Italian Sausage on top of the pasta. Then, and this is very important, stir in the desired amount of Italian Garden Pasta Shake or other pasta seasoning.



And, voila! You have a really tasty, and very easy, meal.



Now, shame on me the other night when I made this. Marc wanted some bread to go with this (like French Bread or something). Well, I didn't have any, so there was a little bit of disappointment. You'd think that, by now, I'd know Marc's eating habits.

**We originally got "hooked on" Olde Westport Spice products several years ago at the State Fair (it's a company based in Kansas City). That's where we found this pasta seasoning.

If you'd like to order some, go to....

www.oldewestportspice.com

They'll have it there for you to order.

Genetics....

So many people take one look at Luke and say, "Whoa, Luke looks just like his daddy." That comment has been made NUMEROUS TIMES since Luke's birth.

In the last several months, however, a few people have actually said that Luke is starting to look a little more like me.

That's good because I was starting to wonder if people realized that I too had something to do with the creation of (and not to mention, the birth of) Luke.

I do admit that Luke does look like Marc, in some ways. Luke definitely has what Marc calls, "The Friesen Forehead." It's the long, very pronounced forehead that Marc has. Marc's dad, Alvin, also has this forehead. Marc's grandfather, Abraham, also had this forehead (though he passed away many years ago). Marc's uncles also have this forehead.

Luke's profile also looks like Marc, I think. I have a really cool sonogram picture of Luke's profile less than a week before he was born. Yep, it's Marc's profile -- even in the sonogram picture.

Well, Luke does frequently gets his eyes complimented. He has those nice blue eyes.

I think he gets those from me (Wink Wink). Marc would say they were from him.

Marc does, however, think that Luke's nose, mouth, and chin come from me.

Here's a photo of me when I was just a little over two years old.



Here's a couple of photos I've taken of Luke the past couple of days. These photos do show his nice eyes. You can, in my opinion, see the resemblance of my nose to his. Also, Marc thinks the chins look similar. I'm not sure about the mouth.

Excuse his messy hair in this photo :)



This next photo was taken this evening. Marc was lying on the deck after mowing. Luke just hung out with him.



How do the rest of you feel about how our genetics worked out for Luke?

Luke is Nine Months Old Today....

Yep, today he's nine months old. It's hard for us to believe. It's all gone so very fast. Here are some comparison photos!

At one month....



At three months....



At five months....



At seven months....this photo is my personal favorite.



And....voila! At nine months, today....This photo was actually the most difficult to take so far. He did NOT want to sit still for me on the chair. He was much more interested in looking around, playing with the armrest, etc.



And, just for fun....Luke has recently discovered that he really enjoys sitting up on our bed. He'll just sit there and watch us as we get ready. Here's a photo of him just the other day. We were getting ready to go and meet with our Community Life Group (small group) for the evening.

Stuff....

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

That verse was in a daily devotional book I am using right now. I've reread it a couple of times. It reminds that me that God will not let me down. It seems hard to believe sometimes, with all of the "stuff" going on around the world right now. But ultimately, He has my best in mind.

********************************************************

I haven't made a post about just Luke in awhile, so here are a couple of things.

Last weekend, we finally changed out his carseat. He was one pound away from being too heavy for the other one. His feet were sticking out, off of the other carseat, and so, he was too long. It was overdue. We had purchased a new carseat for him at the beginning of March. We just hadn't installed it yet.

He didn't seem to mind at all. The transition was very simple. Here's a photo of him in the new seat, trying to pull his red sock off of his foot -- a common, everyday occurrence.



Hopefully, all of our snow is gone until next winter. Who knows, though? When the weather's nice and it's not extremely windy, Luke and I go outside for walks (Luke, obviously in the jogging stroller since he's not walking yet). He's always very content in the stroller, but the other day, he was SO extremely happy about being in it. So, I captured a couple of cute photos.



This particular day, it wasn't real sunny. So, I kept his shade pulled up. He kept looking up at me and just smiling. Oh, how I love it when he does stuff like that! And yes, I nearly always attach a toy or two to his seatbelt. He seems to like that.



Quite a few months back, I made a post about Luke sucking his thumb (I'm not even real sure what month it was). For those of you who don't know, Luke has, since birth, refused a pacifier. I even tried five different kinds. Fortunately, pretty early on, he found his thumb. Though he tends to NOT use his thumb when he's cranky (I sometimes wish he would), he is VERY GOOD at using his thumb to put himself to sleep.

The other day, I went and woke him up from a nap as I wanted him to sleep later that night. I walked in and turned the light on. Usually, that wakes him up. He was so asleep that the light didn't wake him up. So, I rushed to get the camera and snap this cute photo of him asleep with his thumb in his mouth.



I won't go into the whole thumb-sucking/pacifier debate and advantages/disadvantages of either. However, at least for right now, the thumb-sucking seems to work. Plus, we never get woken up at night because he can't find his pacifier. He always finds his thumb to go back to sleep.

That's all for now. Have a fantastic weekend!

As Promised, Another Recipe....

So, on Easter weekend, I made this salad when some friends of our's (Gary and Carla) were over -- see two posts ago. I have also made this MANY times for our small group. It gets completely eaten many times. It's a recipe that comes from my mother, and it has become a definite family favorite. It's used at MANY "Koehn Gatherings."

Oriental Cabbage Salad

1/2 Head Cabbage, Chopped
1/4 C. Chopped Green Onions
1 Package Ramen Noodles, Chicken Flavor
1 small package slivered almonds

Dressing

2 Tbsp. Sugar
3 tsp. vinegar
1/2 C. Oil (I use olive oil)
Salt & Pepper
Seasoning Packet from Ramen Noodles

First, the ingredients....



**If you're wondering about the little white bowl -- it has the sugar in it.

**I cheat a bit. Rather than buying a head of cabbage, I buy the bagged cabbage. That way, I don't have to chop. My mom, however, does think that the salad seems fresher if you chop the cabbage yourself.

Next, make the dressing. Let it set in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. I use this GREAT container from "Tupperware."



**For those of you who have been around Marc much, you know that he LOVES pepper. Therefore, I use quite a bit of pepper in my dressing. I do not use any salt. Use what your tastebuds desire.

Then, toast the almonds on a cookie sheet. Set the oven to 350 degrees. Toast them for 5-10 minutes. BE CAREFUL! They burn easily. Definitely set a timer.



Now, chop the onions.



Then, put the cabbage and onions in a bowl. Store in a refrigerator until ready to use.



After the almonds are done toasting in the oven and are cooled, put them in a sealable container until ready to use. Then, break up the Ramen noodles into a sealable container until ready to use.

Broken Ramen Noodles



Almonds and Ramen Noodles in Sealable Containers



Now, right before you're serving it....dump the Ramen Noodles and Almonds into the salad (mixture of cabbage and green onions). Lastly, add the dressing, and toss. STIR THE DRESSING BEFORE ADDING TO SALAD! THE SUGAR SETTLES TO THE BOTTOM!

Here's the finished product.



**Note #1: This salad does NOT keep well. So, try to eat most of it. The Ramen Noodles get a bit soft for the next day.

**Note #2: I have made 1/2 a salad for Marc and myself. Then, I'll bake some chicken breasts to put on top of it. VERY TASTY!

Enjoy!

Now, Debby, I know you have a similar recipe, and I thought I had it in my book. I cannot find it. Perhaps you could put the recipe on your blog :)

Growing Little by Little....

WARNING! WARNING! I'm going to break the unwritten blog rule of NOT attaching any pics to this post. So, please read on anyways.

The little story I'm about to type is one I shared with our small group the last time we met. It's actually a little bit embarrassing because I feel I should probably be a bit more mature than this -- in a spiritual sense. But, this will be a "confession" of sorts for me.

Ever since I could drive and basically get around on my own, I've had one specific thing that I have virtually ZERO patience for. It happened again just a few weeks ago, but this time, I just had a different attitude.

Where my level of ZERO patience comes in tends to be when I'm in a convenience store, and I get behind another customer who is purchasing lottery tickets. You all know what I'm talking about. I know you do. You're waiting in line to purchase a quick beverage. Somebody buys a lottery ticket, and then, they win maybe $5. Rather than just taking the cash winnings, they must buy MORE lottery tickets. This cycle can sometimes go on quite long. Usually, I can feel my heartrate go up, and I'm sure my blood pressure rises slightly. I almost always have a disgusted look on my face. By the time I finally do get to the counter, I feel like being rude, though I'm not because it really isn't the employee's fault.

What I'm ultimately confessing here is that I really do NOT demonstrate an appropriate Christ-like attitude in that situation.

A couple of weeks ago, I was, once again, in a convenience store, merely trying to purchase a Diet Pepsi. Sure enough -- the person in front of me was purchasing lottery tickets. He won a small amount. Nope. He didn't take the cash winnings. He proceeded on to buy MORE lottery tickets. There was only one cashier working. I felt bad for the cashier as he was doing is best to move quickly as he did see the line forming.

This time, however, for whatever reason (it had to have been the Holy Spirit working inside of me), I didn't get all uptight. I'm not sure my heartrate went up at all. I truly felt sorry for the customer buying the lottery tickets. I felt sorry for him because his HOPE was in the lottery tickets. That's what he was holding on to. The statistics of "winning it big" in the lottery are so low. It's crazy to even try. Also, I personally think it's being a poor steward of the money God has provided to you to even buy them (thanks for listening to my opinion, there).

At that very moment, I was so VERY THANKFUL for the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Easter was a fabulous reminder of that hope. Though I was unable to talk about Christ with this customer at that point in time, a verse in I Peter came to mind.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. I Peter 3:15b

Someday, I know I'll be asked to an answer for the hope I have. I am fully prepared to do that. Are you prepared?

After that minor, yet amazing, event in my life, I was reading through my daily devotional book. The entry on April 3 was titled, "Little by Little." It talked about how spiritual growth can be compared to physical growth. It slowly happens over time. You don't become a Christian and then suddenly, you're a super Christian. You should always be growing in your walk with the Lord. If you stop growing, something is wrong.

That devotion made me feel so much better. I was so annoyed with myself at my lack of patience for something so simple as somebody buying lottery tickets. Now, I just want to be able to tell somebody of the hope I do have. The hope is not in lottery tickets or anything else on this earth. The hope is above.

Thanks for reading...Until next time.

The Tomb is Empty....

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me. Matthew 28:8-10

Today we celebrated Easter -- the day that Christ rose from the dead. Yes, his tomb was EMPTY!

We actually didn't celebrate Easter with family until this evening. Marc's parents came over, and we also invited our neighbor, Wayne, over. Wayne lives by himself, and his family was not able to visit for Easter. We're thankful he was able to join us for dinner. We didn't have the "traditional" Easter meal. Instead, we had lasagna, salad, bruschetta, peach pie, and ice cream. It was all very tasty.

Here's a photo of Luke's Grandma (Friesen) and Luke at the dinner table.



And, here's a photo of our dinner table with Marc's parents, Wayne, and Marc.



Quite awhile back, somebody told me that once you have a child, you really understand what God did for us -- sent His one and only son to die for our sins. Now, when I was told this, I didn't have a child. I somewhat knew what this person meant, but I also felt like even though I didn't have a child, I could still really understand what it would be to sacrifice your child.

I am now more fully understanding what this person meant. This Easter was the first Easter with Luke (Luke was merely alive in my belly last year Easter). This morning, Marc had to be at church early as he was "light man" today. So, I had some time with just Luke before church.

Several times, especially when I told him "Happy Easter" upon waking up, I had tears in my eyes. I truly can't imagine giving up my one and only son to die for others' shortcomings! What an amazing sacrifice. What an amazing day, though, that Christ did rise again. He LIVES!

Now, Easter does have its thing about little girls and pretty dresses. Boys seem to be left out on that one :) So, obviously Luke did not have an Easter dress. However, he did have an Easter shirt. Today, the shirt he wore was a debut. He hadn't worn it before. And boy, did he look cute. Here are a couple of photos!





And yes, this is the same chair we take Luke's photo on each month! You'll see another one soon, as Luke is almost 9 months old -- in another week or so.

This morning, at church, we had a wonderful service. Marc and I both really liked the music today (Thanks Adam). It was loud and glorifying. I know I could just feel Christ's presence. Besides singing "Mighty to Save" (one of my favorites), we also sang "In Christ Alone." I really took in the lyrics today. Here they are. If you don't know the song, I encourage you to go to "YouTube" and listen to it. Really read and sing the words. They're amazing!

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.