My first year in Urban Ministry Completed!

Well, today was our last day of inservice at Holy Family Lutheran School.  I have to admit -It was a pretty hard school year for me and I am so thankful to the Lord that I was able to make it!

Here are a few pictures of my kids towards the end of the year.

These first three are of the kids making necklaces for their moms for mother's day.

These next ones are of my kids and their science fair projects.

Crazily enough - I signed my contract for next year. They asked me to come back and teach 4th grade.  Which means that I will have the same kids - I had to really think hard about it because they are quite the handful. But my principal thought I did a good job with them and wanted me to stick with them for one more year.  

My due date is December 9th, so my last day of teaching (theoretically) will be December 5th and I will return March 16th to finish out the year.  This way, I can keep my insurance throughout the pregnancy. Please pray with Tim and I that we will find someone we can trust from church or Trinity that could watch the little one for those last 10 weeks that I finish up the school year (as Tim will most likely be working full time by then and finishing up his MDiv).

Thanks so much!

I am working at summer camp this year for the school. I will be working for 7 weeks 8am-4pm Monday - Friday. We are thankful for the Lord's provision over the summer months :o)

Happy Summer everyone!

Celebration in the downtown Chicago!

So Tim planned a trip into the city for our 5 year anniversary. Here is a shot of our hotel.


It was so quaint


We had to laugh because the room smelled like Old Spice - it was almost like that was their air freshener :o) It was a gorgeous room though!This was the lobby - I wanted to just hang out and read, but there wasn't time.
That night we went to the Pritzker Pavillion and watched Northwestern University play for us. It was fabulous!

The night was perfect - 60-70 degrees and just so relaxing!

I loved this close up - they have concerts all summer long - we look forward to hitting some more.


After the concert, we headed to Geja's cafe. It was so much fun!
It was so cozy and romantic!
They started with the fruit, bread and cheese
And then went to a small salad
Then came the Meat and veggies! It was actually really good. Although I purposely overcooked every piece - just in case!
We got to roast our marshamallows over the chocolate
Some great fruit!


Mmmmm - chocolate!!!The next morning, we woke up (late) and stopped by "The Original Pancake House" which is well known here. It was pretty amazing!



Tim got the house specialty - the "Apple Pancake" It as massive! He only finished about half. But it sure was good!
That afternoon, we headed to University of Chicago - Beautiful School!
Then we spent time jsut walking the magnificent mile and hanging out in Millenium park.

We had a wonderful time together - we probably walked 5 + miles, but it was worth it. It was nice just to see the parts of the city we hadn't seen before. And of course it was such a blessing just being together and relaxing!

The best 5 years of my life!

This was actually the night we got engaged  - I don't really have any wedding pictures on our computer (i'll have to work on that). But today is our 5 year anniversary! I can hardly believe it. Tim has just flown by! I love being married to my best friend. We have had a blast just living our lives together.  We had a wonderful four years in Virginia Beach where we made so many friends at Central Seminary and Greenbrier Christian Academy. We bought our first home, got a few years teaching under our belts, sold our first home... and then headed to Chicago. We have been here less then a year - there has been a lot of transition, but it didn't seem hard because I had my companion by my side!  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!   

He was so sweet that he planned a little get away for us in downtown Chicago. We are heading into the city tomorrow morning after church, watching a concert at the pritzker pavillion, having dinner at Geja's cafe, staying the night at the Whitehall Hotel, and then just checking out the city the rest of the day on Monday.  I am sooo looking forward to it! I am so impressed that he made the time to plan this for us with as busy as he has been.  I love him so much and I am so looking forward to some time away with him.

Shrimp Stew

I was in the grocery store the other day, and there was this chef serving soup.  I tried it and about died it was so good!  He had cards with the recipe and I quickly grabbed one and then proceeded to hurry around the store to find the ingredients.  I made it for Tim the next day, and he LOVED it! So I wanted to post the recipe :o) 
* 2 T Canola Oil

* 1/4 cup each : Onion, Celery, and Carrots(chopped small)

* 1/4 cup Blackstone Chardonnay Wine

* 2 bottles (8oz.) Clam Juice

* 1 Can Fire roasted diced tomatoes (undrained)

* 1 T Creole Seasoning

* 2 Pounds large shrimp (raw, peeled, deveined) ( I only used one pound)

* 2 T basil

1. Heat a large tock pot over medium - high heat for one minute.

Add oil and vegetables and saute for 3 minutes. Add wine, clam juice, and canned tomatoes, and Creole seasoning, stir to combine.

2. Place lid on pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Remove the lid and add raw shrimp and basil. Simmer for 4 minutes, stirring often. Serve immediately with crusty bread and Blackstone Chardonnay.

We loved it and I hope you do too!

Baby Baylor - 9 weeks

Well, here are our first pictures of little peanut.  They didn't scan super well, so it is hard to see, but we could see little arm and leg buds swimming around the screen.
The technician said that the little one wouldn't hold still - just kept squirming across the screen.  It was so special - even though he/she is sooo little - it was so nice to see that he/she is healthy.  We saw and heard the heartbeat. Everything is great.  And there is only ONE (which since I am a twin, was good for us to know :o)  

My due date was changed to December 9th.  

We are just so thankful for the Lord's grace and goodness.  

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to take a moment and wish all of those mothers and mothers-to-be a HAPPY day!

Tim woke me up before church and gave me a very sweet "First Mother's Day" card. I didn't even think he had time to remember with the end of the semester coming on Friday.

And then he took me out to T.G.I.Fridays. It was nice just to spend time with him. He is such a sweetheart!

I hope the rest of you moms were spoiled today (and got to take a NAP!)

Have a great day with your family!

Burnt Ham

So I decided to make a ham the other day.  I have only made one in almost five years of marriage (and that one didn't turn out so hot).  Well, I found this recipe on the internet. It's kind of weird, but it sounded good. It consisted of butter, brown sugar, coke, and pineapple. 

 Anyways, the directions were to cover the ham with all said ingredients and then bake for 3 hours at 450 degrees. I mean, I have to admit, it seemed like a pretty hight temp for that long, but who am I to disagree with a recipe.  So I put it in the oven and set the timer.  Well, after 3 hours the buzzer went off. I was on my way home from the grocery store when tim called me and said, "honey, the ham..." I said, "what about it?" He said, "it looks bad, really bad!"

I kind of blew it off and told him to turn the oven off. I was home in a few minutes, and I could not believe how bad it really looked!  It was charcoal!  I tapped on it with a knife... and it made a loud cracking noise!  

Bummer, I thought - another ham in the garbage!

But then I talked to my sweet mother and she said that I should try to cut into it anyways to see what was inside. So after several minutes of carving away at the charcoal helmet, I broke through to -- beautiful pink ham!  It was amazing! It actually tasted sweet and juicy!  So we went ahead and ate on it for the next few days.  Craziness.... any good ham recipes out there?

Pictures of Baby Logan

We had the privilege of seeing Scott, Lindsay, and little David James last night. He is a cutie! We promised them we would post pics for everyone, since they don't have internet access at the hospital.

David James Logan is Here!

The c-section went well and Lindsay and baby are happy and healthy. She gave birth to a BOY - 5 lbs 14 oz and 18 inches long. 

They will probably be in the hospital until about Thursday. Pray now that she gets the sleep she needs to recover. She didn't sleep last night as she worked. And she only slept a few hours this morning before her appt. 

I'm sure they will try to get some pics up soon.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. I am sure they appreciate it!

Baby Logan is coming!

Well, Lindsay and Scott asked me to post on behalf of them today. She is not officially due until May 15th, but Lins went in for a routine ultrasound this morning. The doctor confirmed that the baby was breeched still. He check to see how she was doing and she was already dialated! So they scheduled an emergency c-section for 4pm TODAY!

So if you are reading this, please pray for Lindsay and a safe surgery. Baby Logan will be here today!

The News is Out!

Well, as you know, Tim went to T4G this week, and he was looking forward to telling all the guys the news. So even though I was hoping to wait a little longer to spread the news far and wide - it seems it is officially out! I am pregnant! I am about 6 weeks along. My first major appointment is next Thursday. If we are fortunate, we may be able to see the heartbeat!

I have been feeling ok - I mean of course tired and a little nauseous. But I suppose that is to be expected.

This cookie is how I surprised Tim with the news one day after work!

He was so pumped - and rather proud of himself to say the least :o)

I was super excited too. We are so thankful to the Lord's grace in giving us this great gift!

Is your hubby at T4G?

Well, I have found that many of my friend's husbands are at Together for the Gospel this week in Louisville Kentucky.  I know that they are having a blast with guys like Piper, MacArthur, Dever, Mohler, Mahaney, and Sproul speaking.  I know for Tim is has been especially looking forward to seeing the guys from VA beach that he hasn't seen since last summer.  

So are you one of the many women alone this week while their husband is in Kentucky?  Well, if so, you are not alone.  I WISH that all of us girls could have gotten together -  in like - Bermuda or something :o)  Maybe next year girls - let's plan it!

I think it is hardest when I head to bed. I'm just not good at sleeping alone. Hmmm... he'll be home soon....

Until then, I am just trying to stay busy. I have been doing homework, grading papers, going ot class, watching tv, surfing the internet, and tomorrow night i'll be going out with Lindsay. 

How about you, what do you do to pass the time when your hubby is away?

Wheaton Acadamy Interview 2

Well, Tim heard back from Wheaton today. They are going a different direction with the candidate they are choosing. Thank you all for your prayers. We greatly appreciate it!
I think Tim is pretty sad and a little scared about finding a full-time job this fall. But I know the Lord will provide. He always has.

I am actually just relieved that we know one way or another. Now we can look into other jobs more fully.

Please continue to pray as we seek the Lord and His will for our lives.

Have you been tagged?

*Well, I will be honest, I haven't been tagged myself. I just read this "survey" on suz's blog, and thought it would be fun to post. I couldn't think of anything to post on anyways.
So here it is.

Four jobs I've had:
1) Breakfast Waitress (The Waffle Shop and Shoney's)
2) Camp Counsellor (Pioneer Village)
3) Jewelry Designer
4) Teacher

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1) It's a Wonderful Life
2) A Christmas Carol
3) Miracle on 31st Street
4) The Star Wars Series

Four places I've lived:
1) Worcestor, MA
2) State College, PA
3) Chesapeak, VA
4) Chicago, IL

Four TV Shows I watch:
1) LOST
2) Seinfeld
3) American Idol
4) King of Queens

Four places I've been:
1) Jamaica
2) Kansas
3) Northwoods of Wisconsin(sad that it even makes the list!)
4) Florida Keys

Four people who email me regularly:
1) My Dad
2) My Boss
3) Facebook
4) My Professors

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Lobster
2) Dark Chocolate
3) Coffee
4) Pasta

Four places I would like to visit:
1) Europe
2) Mexico
3) California
4) China

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1) Chicago in the Summer
2) Making more friends at church
3) Vacationing in Duck, NC
4) Spending more time with Tim

Four friends I'm tagging:
1) Lindsay
2) Katie
3) Dawn
4) Jess

Wheaton Acadamy Interview

As, I mentioned in my last post, Tim had an interview with Wheaton Academy. The process actually started back in February. Tim filled out the initial application and sent it in. At that point, he had no idea how competitive and complicated the process would end up being.

Once Wheaton Academy reviewed is initial application, they gave him the go ahead to fill out the FULL application - which ended up being like 14 pages of essays about doctrine and teaching practices! It took him forever to fill out.

So after that was sent in -end of February, We waited to hear back. Finally we heard back that they wanted to see him for the first round of inteviews. That interview took place last Wednesday, March 26th. The interview lasted almost 2 hours! He thought that it went well as far as he could tell. But while he was at the interview, he found out that more there were over 60 applicants for this one position! Only 15 had been chosen to come in for the first interview. Only 5 will be called back for the 2nd round of the interview process, and out of those 5 only 1 will be CHOSEN!

Isn't that just crazy?! We had no idea that it was that competitive. IF he gets called back, we will most likely know by the end of April, he will have to go back for a FULL day at the school. He would teach a few classes, eat lunch with the kids, and spend some time with the other Bible faculty members.

After that day, IF he all goes well, he would be called back again.
The position is to teach Systematic Theology and World Views to high schoolers full-time. If the Lord would work this out, he would certainly love the opportunity. It would mean that we would have to move a little bit south. But we are not making any plans yet. I have every confidence that the Lord knows what is best for us. And He will certainly open this door or close it according to His Sovereign plan.

Thank you for your love and prayers. We will keep you updated!

Props to my Husband

It's been an exciting and yet difficult time of our lives moving to Chicago. Since September, Tim has been taking about 15 graduate credits at TEDS. He has loved every minute of it - which has encouraged me greatly! He started in the fall simply focusing on seminary full time. The way that Trinity works is that anything over 10 credits is free... so at $630 a credit hour, he was saving us money by not working and going to school full time!

After a while, we realized that our budget couldn't handle Tim not working, so he sweetly offered to get a part-time job to help pay the bills. In February he started working at Starbucks. So now he is a full-time student, part-time Barista, and a full-time husband! He is so busy and so tired, but he rarely complains.

On an average day, he wakes up at 3:30am - gets ready for the day and drives to Starbucks to open at 4:30am. He works until about 8:30am (some days until 12 or 1 if he doesn't have an early class). Then he heads straight from work up to TEDS to attend classes. Some days he is there until almost 6pm. He heads home, eats dinner, and then usually helps me clean up before he gets to some reading for writing. He has been trying to get to bed around 10pm, but that hasn't always been happening (if he has something pressing due).

On top of that,he went to Colorado for a week to preach to his old students from GCA. Then last weekend he spent the weekend in Iowa to preach at a camp for Ben Eilers.

Today is interviewing at Wheaton Academy to teach High School Bible in Fall 2008.

I am just incredibly blessed and thankful to have a husband that is so industrious. And yet as busy as he is, he has made it a priority to spend time with me - he always deals with my emotional ups and downs so well (even if he does have a paper due the next morning). He has been incredible in helping me get used to grad school as well. He helps me think through my papers and projects and gives great advice.

I don't know what I would do without him. The Lord has blessed me greatly to have such a husband - he is my best friend!

Things that my 3rd Graders say daily:

1. "Mrs. Baylor - he's breathin' his nasty old breath on me!"
2. "I'm gonna use it on myself!" (Go to the bathroom in their pants)
3. "Oooohhh he just treated you!" ( Made fun of you badly)
4. "He just kicked me!"
5. "He just hit me!"
6. "Mrs. Baylor, he be talkin' bout my mama!"
7. "Mrs. Baylor, he said my whoooolleee generation!" (i still do not know what this one means!)
8. "She's dancin' all nasty like!" (yes, a little dirty dancing)

There will be more to come...

Scared out of my wits!

Ok, so last Friday night, I went out with some of my friends from work. We went to a little place near where I teach. The logo is above, which in light of the story I am about to tell, is very ironic :o)

If you don't remember, I work on the west side of downtown Chicago. It is not a great area to say the least. But it was still light, so I thought that it wouldn't be a big deal.
I left there at about 8:00pm and left with a friend to go to a diner close by to get some breakfast for dinner. Well, it was about 9:00pm when I left to go home. I was really silly and forgot to get directions to the highway. Well, I had a map, so I looked at it, but ...I went the wrong way (anyone who knows me, knows that is not uncommon :o) So I basically went into a worse part of town.

Well, I am driving down North Avenue minding my own business, when a cop car (or the po-po as my students say) slid to a slanted stop in front of my, cutting off the road. The officers jumped out of their car and drew their guns, pointing into a crowd of people (away from me fortunately). Before I knew it there was glass breaking, people shouting, and guns shooting! I could not believe my eyes!

I was less than 20 feet from all of this! I was so nervous! I thought for sure I was going to be one of those innocent bistander's that is in the local news for getting shot!
I called Tim right away and he told me to keep driving slowly until I could get past all of the craziness.So as I drove by I saw people in handcuffs, yelling, and mulling about. Just as I got past the area, 5 more cars/SUV's swarmed the area. I got out of there as quickly as I could, my heart racing! Tim had a map and navigated me out of the area! PTL!

Before I knew it I was home safely in my own house! AAAhhhh I have never been so scared in my life.

Ok, so now Sarah Branine, Katie Zakes, um I mean Barker, and I have all had some close and crazy encounters! This is starting to get weird!

A Few Lessons learned:

1. Do not stay in west Chicago much after dark (especially by yourself)
2. Get directions BEFORE you leave somewhere (especially downtown)
3. Have your husband by your a tom - tom ;o)

Another week come and gone

Well, it has been a very busy with Tim starting Starbucks, our car in the shop and my kids getting a little stir-crazy with all of this snow and cold weather.  But I have really enjoyed having Tim back and we are starting to get back into the swing of things again.

Wednesday night I went to Suzanne and Ryan Dobbertin's house for dinner (tim couldn't make it with his work schedule).  We had a great time catching up and remembering old times.  I am so glad that she is in the Chicago area and hopefully we can stay in better touch now.  Her son Gavin is soooo cute!  And she is such a good mommy!  I had a wonderful time with them.  

Then came the weekend....Finally! The weekends are always nice, because we usually sleep in Saturday mornings and then go out Saturday nights. Last night, we hung out with the Logan's. The guys watched a big basketball game (no idea which one:o) and Lindsay and I went out to Babies R Us to check out things for her registry. We had such a nice time!  After almost 2 hours of walking around the store, we found this great reclining rocker.  I just had to get a pic of her.... she looked so cute!

I have been going to church early, because I have been doing nursery during the 8am service.  It has been a really neat experience getting to know a lot of families and their children... and of course it give me my "Baby Fix " -- so Tim is glad for that ;o) Then Tim meets me at church at 9:30am and we go to our 20 something sunday school class.  We have loved this time!  Not only is it a great time to get to know couples our age, but it is also such a good time of study in the word.  After that, we go to the 11am church service.  

We just love our paster Colin Smith so much.  he has been such a blessing to us in these last 6 months.  Today there was a guest speaker, but his message was very encouraging to both Tim and I.  The basic proposition was  that God does not bless you or use you because you have a certain level of potential or usability. He blesses you because he wants to accomplish his work through you. But it really has nothing to do with YOU and your abilities.  

What a blessing!

I hope you all have a wonderful week in the Lord !  

"Crank Dat" Written by Soulja Boy, performed by my third grade class

ok, so my kids always sing this song and do the dance... it's kind of a rap song. It always makes me laugh, so I had to share it with you! They are so silly :)

Here are the lyrics to the chorus in case you can't understand them.

Soulja Boy up in it (OH!)
Watch Me Crank It
Watch Me Roll
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy,
That Super Man Dat (OH!)
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )