As I am typing this post, Liza is sitting on the arm of our coach making farting noises with Daddy.  She’s got the best Daddy and loves playing with him.  Liza has very much developed her own will and it is pretty fun to what she is interested in… like her toy basket.  We will put her in the living room to play for a little bit and she heads over to her toy basket to get more toys.  Her other interests are cords, door stoppers and the random things that are in the carpet that should have been vacuumed up last week.   She is very active and very curious.

Her milestones:

• Crawling – it has moved past the scoot/ army crawl and into the up-on-the-hands-and-knees crawl.  Her motivation for learning to crawl was so that she could be in the same room as mommy at all times.
• Pulling up- she is now pulling up so that we can pick her up
• Teeth – she has two bottom teeth. Her teething experience hasn’t been too bad so far.

Her personality:

• Happy baby – she is still a very happy kiddo and laughs a lot
• Chatty – she wakes up babbling and it seems like we put her to sleep babbling
• Active – it is rare that this kid is still
• Loves people – she gets passed around so much at church and always seems to enjoy it

We love this little girl so much and are so grateful that God has given her to us to raise and train.  We are blessed.

Click here to see more of her 7 month pictures!

I finally narrowed down my list of books I want to read.  There were lots and lots that I wanted to read but I knew that if I put too many, I will get discouraged and never finish them.  I am finding that I am a person who needs clear goals and planning in order to accomplish things.  Some people can stay focused and be diligent without goals and planning but I happen to not be one of those people.  I quickly get caught up doing a million other things or pondering a million other thoughts or maybe dreaming up a million other ideas.   Mark and I joke a lot about my head getting stuck in the clouds.   It’s true.  It’s the reason I lose keys, cell phones, wallets, Liza’s shoes and a variety of other things. Also the reason I am usually late – daydreaming in the shower.

All of that to say, the reason I posted my book list as a page on the blog was for some sort of accountability and so that I have clear goals.  Also, I will probably post a little about what I am reading.  I stole this idea from the Passionate Homemaking blog; she did it last year and it worked well for her so I am going to give a shot and see how it goes.

Thanks for your suggestions, they were very helpful and gave me more books for the next year!

This video is done by Mary Kassian who wrote The Feminist Mistake, a book which is definitely on my book list for this year.   I can’t wait to read it! She says that the leader of the feminist movement asked the right question: Where can women find fulfillment joy and peace?

I am reading a book called Created to be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl.   When I first received this book (about a year), I wasn’t too excited about reading it because the lady who wrote the book looks like she came out of the 18th century.   The woman who gave it to me told me it was very helpful to her as a wife and this woman didn’t look like she came out of the 18th century but I still wasn’t sold on it.  Let’s be honest, most people my age, in my generation probably would have thought the same thing.  Sometimes my generation is too concerned with being culturally relevant and we forget that lots and lots of wisdom can be found from older folks.  So I am writing this post to tell you that lots and lots of wisdom can be found in this book.

The chapter I read this week was about having a merry heart.  The gist of it is that really no one wants to come home to a crab.  She doesn’t say it quite like that but I think that is what she was getting at.  She told a story about a woman who worked at a hardware out in the country.  This woman was plump and as the author puts it ugly but somehow everyday there were a couple of men standing around chatting with her.  The reason for this was she was always smiling and joking around with them.  The author’s husband even called her a “cute little lady.”  One day the author and her husband were at the store and saw this same lady.  She was mad ather daughter for grabbing some candy.  The author’s husband said “Haven’t we seen that lady before?”  The author told him it was the hardware store lady but her husband didn’t believe her.  Then he realized she was right and was pretty disappointed.

My beautiful sister and her lovely smile! yes she's single but you have to meet my approval!

This story cracks me up but it is so true.   A smile makes people beautiful and attractive.  My sister is so beautiful because of her smile – she gets lots of compliments on it!  Mark loves to come home to Liza because she always smiles at him and does lots of silly things that make him happy.   Me, on the other hand, not so much.  Mark can come and I can explain to him how I think the whole world is going to fall a part – I am an expert on being a pessimist.  I was quite challenged by this chapter and very thankful that I read it.  This week I have been practicing having a merry heart and can see a difference with Mark and I.  We have had so much more fun and been quite silly – tonight we are making gingerbread houses.   This is not to say that we haven’t had serious talks or minor conflict but our house has been filled with more joy!

A few quotes that I like:

“Women spend billions of dollars every year to make themselves more attractive, but the most effective beauty aid is free – a joyful smile.”

” No man has ever crawled out from under his wife’s criticism to be a better man – no matter how justified her condemnation.”

“God’s will is for a wife to have a merry heart, a cheerful countenance, and a glow that will refresh the most stressed and tired husband on the planet.”

” A woman holds her man with the fragile threads of adoration, thankfulness, delight and just plain fun.”

Verses that have encouraged me:

“A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13

“older women teach younger women to be kind… ” Titus 2:3-5

P.S. Lauren – I hope you aren’t too embarrassed! If you are, I can edit the caption

So, I am hoping to read more this next year and I figure if it is going to get done then I might need to a plan a little for it.  Planning really goes against most of who I am but I do it because it is good for my soul.  So I am looking for some book recommendations.

Marriage. Homemaking. Theology. Church. Parenting. Spiritual Disciplines. Secular books. Missions. Biographies. Healthy Living.

I think those are my categories for now but really I am open to anything! Would love to hear what you have read that has been challenging, funny, encouraging, inspiring or eye opening.

I finally made one – a photography blog.  Here it is: Jenn Straznicky Photography.  I like Tumblr because it is clean, easy and simple.  They upload high resolution pictures fast and make it so simple. Enjoy!

We spent Thanksgiving with Mark’s family in Houston.  When we got there, we got to have dinner with the Till’s – they did the music at our wedding and are good friends with Mark’s parents.  We were encouraged by what the Lord had been teaching them about discipleship and loving people. Also, I got to meet up with two of my old roommates from the Cherry St. house (when I thought it was good idea to live with 11 girls – pure craziness   but oh how I love the Cherry St. girls).  Allie and Melissa are tons of fun, spunky, refreshing and very beautiful.  I love you girls! Thanks for hanging out!

The next day or two we just hung out with Mark’s family and then we had the big Thanksgiving meal.  I am always amazed at how these large meals come together and am thankful I am not the one organizing them because I most certainly would forget something and it would definitely start late.  I am just not the great at the whole planning thing. 

I wanted to just share a few quick things that I am thankful for:

1. My hubby – He is an amazing man!  The Lord has gifted him with lots of faith which encourages me and strengthens me.  I am so glad the Lord brought us together as husband and wife.  He is also a great father.  He loves Liza so much, is great at playing with her and training her.

2. My little girl – She is so little yet she brings so much joy.  I love taking care of her and playing with her.  I am grateful that she is such a content and happy baby.

3. Jesus- I am thankful He has redeemed me from life of sin through His cross.  I am thankful for the abundant life that is found in Him when I walk by faith and not by sight.  I am so thankful for the hope that I have in Him and that He is unchangeable.

4. Family – My family and Mark’s family have blessed us greatly this last year.  They have helped us move multiple times, fed us multiple times, blessed us with many material things and loved on us.   I really don’t know how we could have done what we have throughout these two years of marriage without their help.

Here are some pics:

Liza hanging out with Robert

The guys watched lots of funny Youtube videos

Liza with one of her great-grandmothers

Liza with Nana

The picture shows what Beth was up to (she is the red blur)!

The beautiful Thanksgiving table

Liza was beautiful Melissa (boys – she’s single!)

Liza with beautiful Allie (boys – she’s not single)

My handsome man!

Mark and I have enjoyed having old college friends in town.  One weekend we got to have a mini reunion with a few friends and the next weekend we got to have the Bowlings come stay with us.  The Bowlings are a very fun and energetic couple.  They went overseas with Mark while Mark and I were engaged a couple of years ago (funny thing – they went overseas 3 times together before they started dating).   Needless to say, the time spent with college friends has been refreshing and needed.   If you are headed our way, we would love for you to be our guest.  Here are some maternity pics of the Bowlings.  Allison is such a beautiful pregnant woman!  Can’t wait to meet their little girl!

I had some high hopes of beginning God honoring Thanksgiving traditions for our little family this year.   I really wanted to start a Thankful box that Mark and I (and eventually the little Straz’s) could write down things we are thankful for and scriptures that remind us of giving thanks.  Sadly enough, it didn’t happen.  I have the little box and even some other fall decor but I didn’t get it all together soon enough.  At least I will be prepared for next year!  So I was wondering what traditions do you guys do for Thanksgiving?  Also what about Christmas?  I love hearing other peoples ideas for helping their families focus more on the Lord during the holidays.  It is so easy to go about doing the normal stuff and forget that the Lord has given us these days to remember Him, His character and the Cross.

My goal for this Christmas is to begin the tradition of celebrating Advent using a Jesse tree.   A Jesse tree is a little tree that you decorate with ornaments that remind you of Christ.  There aren’t any set ornaments (or at least not that I know of) but you can make them or find them around your house.  For example, you could put a hammer (a very small toy hammer) to remind you that Jesus was a carpenter.  I am going to try to plan out one ornament for each day leading up to Christmas and scriptures that fit with that ornament.

My favorite book on traditions is Noel Piper’s book called Treasuring God in our Traditions.  I highly recommend this book.  It is so great on ideas for holidays, birthdays and every day.  It doesn’t list dos and don’ts but gives meaning and purpose to each holiday and tradition.

I would love to hear your ideas for traditions!

On Saturday, the City of College Station and a few other organizations hosted a community event called World Fest.   This was so fun!  There were tons of booths set up from different International Student organizations that gave out information about their culture or free food from their country.   A ton of families attended the event and lots of International students.

* I had to put a watermark on them because they are being entered into a contest so I didn’t want to just leave these guys out there for anyone to steal.

Here are some photos from the event: