Author Archives: jamieivey

I’m in a magazine: HOMELIFE May edition

By jamieivey on May 3, 2012

 

Back in the fall I was emailed by the publisher of a magazine and asked if I would like to write an article for them.  I nearly peed on myself as I read it because I was so honored and excited!  My first time to be asked to write for something that would be in a magazine, and they would also pay me!!!  Life couldn’t get any better.

 

My final draft was sent in January 3, and believe it or not they actually sent me a check.  I still was holding out that maybe they were just paying me to be nice for the work I put into it, but they weren’t actually going to use it.  I knew it was to be in the May issue, and I suspected I would get a copy in the mail as well.

 

Last week I opened up a package and there it was!  I couldn’t believe it.  I seriously jumped up and down and screamed.  It might have been one of the happiest moments in my life.  I had put so much work into that article and literally had nearly thrown up after I hit the “send” button to email it to them.  So much fear and worry wrapped into one moment and now here it was.  They did use it and weren’t just paying me to be nice.

 

I opened it up and there it was … MY PICTURE … I was in the “contributors” section.  I am a contributor.  Dream come true.  Loved seeing my name in print there.  Of course there I was surrounded by greatness with Jen Hatmaker and Mark Batterson – both authors and amazing people!

 

My article is about surviving the hard times in marriage.  I specifically wrote about adding a child to our family through international adoption and all the stress that can come on your marriage through that and how we coped and made it through.  I pray and hope that God will use my words for marriages all over the country to realize that in the midst of all the trials and struggles you have to cherish your marriage.  Everything around us can fall, but if Aaron and I have each other we can make it.  I hope that it will encourage one woman to not neglect her marriage because parenting/work/life is hard in this moment.

 

I told Aaron that after being married to him for eleven years and lots of albums, I finally knew what it was like to get a finished product in your hand.  I never understood the joy he would experience when he got the final track, because we had already listened to it about 1.4 million times in the recording, mixing and mastering process.  For real.  When an album of Aaron’s comes out I’ve already heard it for months.  I have not been the supportive wife in this area.  NEVER AGAIN will I downplay the joy of getting the final product in your hands.  When I held that article it was amazing.  Months ago I wrote this little piece and poured my heart into it.  To see it finally in print was a JOY for me.

 

MY FIRST PUBLISHED WORK.  You can find my article in the May issue of HOMELIFE magazine, which is a Lifeway publication, so you can find it at your local Lifeway Store (Christian bookstore), or you can order them online.  Thanks for letting me brag on myself for a moment.  That is so rude, but I hope I get a free pass for this one!

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This Place is Perfect for Kids! Austin, TX

By jamieivey on May 1, 2012

Recently Aaron and I spent a few days at a resort that is about 30 miles outside of Austin. It was truly the best of both worlds for us. We were in the “woods,” but really close to our home city. While there we met three different families from Chicago that were in Texas for Spring Break. What are the chances that three different families from the same part of Chicago who didn’t know each other would end up in the great state of Texas at the same resort?

The way we met them was through me being all up in their business. Aaron thinks I’m nosy. I call it just being aware of my surroundings! Anyhow, I overheard two of these couples talking about how they were heading into Austin for the day and they didn’t know what to do. Y’all I couldn’t keep my mouth shut then!

In the three and a half years that we’ve lived here I have said numerous times how much I love living in Austin and how I could die here because I don’t plan on ever leaving. This city has truly captured our hearts and we love all the craziness about it! We love that our kids get to live miles from a very cool downtown and that we frequently eat at lots of crazy places with our kids. I have yet to eat at a chain restaurant, except CFA, but come on, momma needs her chicken biscuits. There are so many fabulous places to eat that are truly local and I love that!

I gave them my advice.

Head to South Congress.

Park your car.

Get out and walk.

Enjoy!

It’s that simple. I don’t think you can go wrong with those instructions. You can park on South Congress and find some fabulous restaurants, trailer eateries, dessert places, funky thrift stores and a view of the bats coming out at night! It’s awesome.

Recently we packed up our kids and told them we were heading to South Congress for lunch and gave them two options. We offered them GUERO’S or HOME SLICE. Two very different restaurants, but both equally local feeling and delicious.

Majority ruled and our family ended up spending our lunch at Home Slice on South Congress. This place has truly some of the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life. We get the exact same thing every time we go, because when you find something that does you right, there’s no reason to change. One of my favorite things about Home Slice is that is combines Austin life with NY style pizza and that makes this lover of Austin and NYC very happy!

I met one of the chefs last year and he told me that each year they close down their shop and head to NYC to taste pizza and get better ideas on how to make their pizza better. Oh my I love that!

This place is perfect for kids! Immediately my kids ran to the courtyard where they spent the whole time playing ping-pong and we had to literally drag them away from it! One of my most favorite things about Austin is that people just take their kids anywhere and it all works out well! Kids fit in most places around town and we love that our family can do lots of fun stuff together that’s not adult only!

Our next stop was Amy’s ice cream and if you are visiting Austin you for sure need to get to an Amy’s ice cream during your stop here. They have such great flavors and my kids love getting the works on their ice cream! Nothing beats local ice cream!

Finally, if you’re visiting South Congress, grab your camera and your loved ones and get your picture taken in front of the sign “I love you so much!” So fun and it would be a fun family picture to document your visit to Austin!

We love family days on South Congress. Whether we eat at Home Slice, Perla’s, a trailer, Guerro’s, Vespaio (one of our favorite date spots) or South Congress Cafe, we’re going to get great food, lovely family time and lots of fun in our favorite city in America.

$100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

Travel Texas and BlogHer are sponsoring a great giveaway to one lucky reader. Please leave a comment telling me where you’d like to visit in Texas. You can request a free Texas Travel Guide from the TravelTex.com website where you can get lots of great ideas!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/1/2012-6/1/2012.

Be sure to visit the Discover Texas page on BlogHer.com where you can read about other bloggers’ adventures and find more chances to win!

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April recap & what’s up for May

By jamieivey on May 1, 2012

APRIL “year of motherhood” recap … FAMILY NIGHTS

 

I feel like my husband, Aaron, and I spend a good amount of quality family time with our kids, but for some reason I felt as though we needed a little boost to our nights.  I wanted to put a little pep in our step and bring them up a notch.

Our first family night was a LUAU FAMILY NIGHT theme and it was so much fun with the kids.  I learned that on one hand it was super easy because it’s food we would have normally eaten, and I didn’t have to buy much to make the night special.  We played limbo with a broomstick I found in the backyard, and silly straws and virgin pina colada’s don’t cost too much these days!  The kids loved it.  At one point I looked at Aaron and thought, I could do this.  I could plan something like this every week and be a really “good” mom!

 

Get the rest of the article over at INSPIRED TO ACTION ….. & see what my challenge for May is.  You are gonna want to get in on this one!

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Guest Post: Kelly Stewart talks about FAMILY NIGHTS

By jamieivey on April 30, 2012

Today’s guest post is from my friend, Kelly Stewart, who lives in Tennessee with her husband, Jason, and their four kids.  She is a great FAMILY NIGHT planner, so I wanted you to hear from a mom that does FAMILY NIGHT’S well!

 

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I am so very excited to share about family nights and how they have impacted our family over the past three years. As a family, we were accustomed to spending time with one another, but as our children, Parker, Emery and Bradley were growing, we felt a conviction that we needed to be more intentional about teaching them Scripture and what it meant to live a Christ centered life.  We wanted to be strategic and intentional about teaching them God’s Word in a fresh and fun way! We began to have family nights that were centered around a theme that involved a meal, a game, a craft and a devotional.  There are countless ideas out there and I quickly learned I did not have to come up with every idea from scratch, I just needed to take a little time to bring it all together. They have been such a huge blessing in our home and have become one of the most favorite things we do as a family. We have had Luau night, Backwards Night, Bowling Night and even Earth Day Night, and some have been better than others, but the point is that we did them!!  My husband, Jason and I, also felt led to begin a website, Family Muscle, that provides pre-planned family nights, to take away the stress of planning a themed night with your family!

Here are some easy steps to begin having a family night:
•    Set a goal of how many family nights you want to have a month:
Taking the time once a week to disconnect from the world and engage your family is essential is developing a strong foundation of trust and faith. Not every family night has to be planned to the minute! We encourage you to look at your schedules and set a goal for how many family nights you would like to have a month. We suggest at least 2 a month.
•    Pick a night:  Having a set night each week to have a family night that will become sacred for your family. Putting family nights on the calendar makes planning smoother and gives you a chance to create anticipation for your children.
•    Pick a Theme: Choosing a theme is the easy part! You can base if off of the season of the year, a holiday, what you have on hand, or even what you find on sale at a store.  We had a Luau night after finding décor at a local dollar store. Always be on the lookout for what can be easily used for a family night! If you have friends who are also having themed family nights, be willing to share your décor, also!
•    Enjoy your family! Being intentional in your family night requires some extra work, some planning and with that sometimes stress! Remember that it is about being with your family, connecting with each other over food, fun and focusing on a truth from Scripture.

I am so thankful for all the nights we have spent together as a family, making fun memories, but more importantly, studying Scripture. We have been able to tie fun games and even food into a truth from God’s Word that makes it come alive for our kids.  I highly encourage you to try it. Our children are worth every minute of planning and preparation and you will never regret the nights you spent having fun, making memories and creating an environment, in your home, where Scripture is lived out.

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Thank you Kelly!  I love her take on making family nights about studying God’s word together.  This month we had great times as family, but not every time we got to the scripture part and I love how Kelly makes this the most important part of these nights.  Intentionally studying scripture together.  Love this!  Thanks Kelly!

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Pasta Salad & Couscous Pilaf

By jamieivey on April 28, 2012

Here are two new side dishes I whipped up this weekend, that were great the first time and even better for leftovers after they are good and cold.   Oh how I love cold couscous and cold pasta salad. Also, these have nothing bad in them, so when my kids gobble them up I swell with pride at the good food they putting in their bodies!

 

 

PASTA SALAD with SOUTHWESTERN FLAVORS

ingredients: 

10-12 oz uncooked pasta — one 16 oz can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed — 1 cup corn (I used frozen) — 1 med bell pepper finely chopped — 1 cup bottled salsa — 2 tbsp EVOO — juice of lime — S&P

directions:

  1. Cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain and rinse until cool, then drain well.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a serving container.  Add the pasta and toss together.  Serve at once

Good gracious that is easy!  It’s vegan too!

 

 

QUICK COUSCOUS and BLACK BEAN PILAF

ingredients:

1 vegetable bouillon cube — 3/4 cup couscous, preferably whole grain — one 16 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed — 1/2 tsp cumin — 1 tbsp EVOO – 2 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced

directions:

  1. Combine 1.5 cups water wtih the bouillon cube in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer.  When the bouillon cube has dissolved, stir in the couscous, cover, and remove from the heat.  Let stand until the water is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
  2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and return to medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until heated through.  Cover and let stand until needed or serve at once.

 

Again, so stinking easy & also vegan!  Both of these recipes are from my vegetarian cookbook that I love!

 

I’m leaving you with this picture of Story & Veda because it has nothing to do with either of these dishes, but everything to do with the essence of cuteness.  I could eat them both up they are so cute!!!!

 

 

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Adoption Books to read to your kids.

By jamieivey on April 27, 2012

I have read some great books on adoption and have many more bookmarked to read that I thought I’d share some with you.  About two years ago I posted some adoption books that had been recommended by an adoption agency.  I still haven’t read all of them, but they are all still on my list!

 

Someone recently asked me for books that they have read with their kids and so I just went to the bookshelves and pulled out some books that we have laying around for our kids.

These are books that I read with the boys when they were younger, and a lot with Amos and Story when they first came home, but I think would still work for anyone bringing home an older child into their home.

 

A BLESSING FROM ABOVE - it’s kinda weird how this kangaroo ends up being the mommy to the cute little bluebird, but I like how the book shows how a mommy and her baby don’t have to look alike.  That’s something I’ve cherished in books that I’ve read to my kids.

 

A MOTHER FOR CHOCO by Keiko Kasza – Probably my favorite book to read to my kids about adoption.  I used to cry each time I got to the part where Mrs. Bear brings Choco back to her home to meet her other kids and none of them are bears.  They are all different animals and Choco fits right in the family!

 

MY FAMILY IS FOREVER by Nancy Carlson – Cute book about how a little girl sees all the differences between her parents and her, but knows that it’s okay because her family is forever.  Cute.

 

Three new books that I’ve added to my book collection since I wrote that post 2 years ago are BECOMING A FAMILY: PROMOTING HEALTHY ATTACHMENTS WITH YOUR ADOPTED CHILD, ADOPTED FOR LIFE, and BROWN BABIES, PINK PARENTS.

 

If you have any other kid books to recommend I’d love to see them, especially if they are for older elementary aged kids.  That’s what I would like to find these days!

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My messy desk.

By jamieivey on April 26, 2012

I find it very ironic that I’m sitting here reading a blog on organization and my desk looks like this:

 

Maybe I should quit reading how to organize and just do it.  There’s a thought for the day! 

How messy is your desk?  Worse than this?  I dare you to say yes.

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CAMPING: family night

By jamieivey on April 25, 2012

 

The camping night snuck up on me big time.  It was one of those things where you know it’s coming and you know you need to plan, but other things come up and by the time you know it, it’s here and you weren’t ready!  I literally was in the grocery store at 5pm still getting stuff for our “camp out”!

Here’s the funny thing about me doing a “camping night” for my kids.  I have NEVER  been camping!  I know, that’s crazy and unheard of, but my idea of camping is Motel 6 instead of Marriot.  Crazy.

 

Aaron made some of the most wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches on his grill that I might have ever tasted.  I imagine that if we were really camping they couldn’t possibly taste this good, but they did.

 

 

Since I was still frantically at the grocery store at 5pm I decided to pick up a little something for each of my kids to make up for my lateness to this party.  They each got a special new cup to drink out of that night.  Isn’t it funny how the little things in life mean so much to kids.  They loved these cups and you would have thought I’d given them each $100 to spend however they wanted!  Momma was happy she stopped to get them on the dollar aisle!

 

In my craziness of the day I thought we needed a tent to play/eat in.  I mean how can you have a camping night without a tent.  The only problem is that we have never camped, therefore we don’t own a tent or anything that might resemble a tent.  My friends Kim & Philip pulled through and we loved this!  I found the kids telling “scary” stories in the tent and by the end of the night they all had their sleeping bags in there acting like they were sleeping.  If I ever do this again, it will not be on a school night and I’ll see if any of these kids truly could sleep outside.  I’m betting none could, but you never know.

 

The night ended with a dessert that my kids LOVED!  I found this on someones blog and knew that this would be a great camping night dessert.  It’s called banana boats, and basically you open a banana peel, stuff it with all kinds of yummy goodness and wrap it in foil and then put on the grill and wha-la you have a dessert!  We had fun stuffing them with as much as we could get in, and then eating the gooey dessert was fun as well.  I recommend silver ware for this treat!

Camping night was a success and a failure for me.  Success because my kids had so much fun and failure because it was a drain on me more than it was fun.  I know, it’s for the kids and truly they had no clue it was a drain for me, but I realized that planning stuff is hard for me.  Not my strength.  Birthday parties around here come together the day before.  Making a cake for Jesus on Christmas day is usually thought of the day before and I realize I’m missing half of the supplies.  This is not my strength.

 

This is my friend Amy’s strength.  She loves to create experiences and themes and parties and frankly she is so good at them I want to throw up when she sends me pictures of fun things she does for her kids.  She is good.  She also enjoys it.  It’s not a drain for her, it’s a fill for her and that’s why it works for her.  Not this momma.  Look at her recent “camping” themed night for her son’s birthday party.  I’m serious here.  These are not from Pintrest, these are my real live friends pictures from her recent party.  Enjoy and be envious!

Do you see that cupcake?  Yes it is a campfire and yes the marshmallows are roasting.  Oh my goodness she is good at this stuff!  So, if you are wanting a camp night you can take both of our creations (which mine involve getting a tent and sitting in it) and run with it.  If you recreate this cupcake I would love to see a picture of it, because as much as I hate people that can whip this kind of stuff up, I truly love them!!!

 

 

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Interrupting my life.

By jamieivey on April 18, 2012

The other day I had one hour to spare in my day.  I could either take a nap, or meet my friend at her pool.  As much as I love the pool, this was a hard decision.  I mean how can you pass up an hour nap!

 

I got my bathing suit on (ugh!) and headed to the pool and was so excited to lay beside her and soak up some sun and good conversation.  We started by her talking about her new baby and how life has changed since she became a mom.  She said she was feeling like she wasn’t getting to work much, be creative, or do some of her normal stuff that she did before.  It was good to talk to her about this.  I’m 8 years into parenting and sometimes I still struggle with that.  :)

 

We were both talking about how much we loved being moms, but yes it is hard.  I had not been there five minutes and all we had talked about was how much kids changed your life when what do you know, but my phone rang.  Of course it was the school.  Of course a kid was sick.  Of course I only spent 5 minutes at the pool.

 

I laughed and told my friend that was exactly what we were talking about!  I love being a mom and I truly love how it has interrupted my life for the good!

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WEDNESDAY’S WERE PRETTY NORMAL book review and giveaway

By jamieivey on April 15, 2012

One of my worst fears in life is something happening to one of my kids, or my husband.  I’m working through these fears more this year than I think I ever have, and asking God to show me that HE is truly all I need.  If I have to be completely honest with you, I was a bit hesitant about reading this book I’m about to tell you about.  I knew two things about it.  #1 This little boy gets cancer.  #2 The little boy lives.  (I’m not giving anything away, it’s on the back of the book!)

 

WEDNESDAY’S WERE PRETTY NORMAL:  A BOY, CANCER AND GOD was a fabulous book.  Michael Kelley did a fabulous job of taking you through the journey that I’m sure he wishes he would have never had to go through. I was worried that I would have nothing to relate to this book, since none of my kids have cancer.  I also worried that this book would bring about more of my fear that I struggle with about my kids getting sick and leaving this earth.  Let me tell you that this book resonated with my heart so much, that I found myself underlining all over the book.  Also this book did not bring about fear in my heart about something happening to my kids, but yet it did the opposite.  It brought about confidence in a God that is in control and that no matter what happens he is in control, getting glory, and bringing good through it.

 

One of my favorite parts of this book was how Michael talked about Jesus and the story of when his friend Lazarus had died and he waited four days to go and visit Martha and Mary.  He talked about how Martha and Mary reacted to Jesus’ decision to wait and not come right away.  The anger that they might have felt and the hurt that Jesus, the one who could have cured him, did not come right away.  The way he described this whole scene had me weeping.  Mary wanted answers from Jesus, and she fell at his feet in tears.  She asked him what she wanted to hear, “why did you not come?  If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

 

At this point in the book I was bawling.  Maybe because I was in the waiting room as Deacon was having another surgery.  I was probably asking my own questions to God.  “Why my son?”.  “He doesn’t deserve this.”  “I wish you would just heal him already!”  (I wrote about reading this book while waiting for Deacon’s surgery HERE)

 

I felt Mary’s pain so much.  She was so broken from her brother and so in need of the comfort from Jesus.  Michael Kelley then truly brought me to tears as he described what Jesus did next.  I wish that I could write for you the whole next three pages, but that would be a lot of writing and a lot of quotes …. I’m telling you it is good.  In fact, as I re-read this now I’m crying again.

 

As Mary cried at his feet the bible says “He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved.” (John 11:33)  I will quote Micheal Kelley here:

Jesus understands better that we do that many times the most effective way for the glory of God to be advanced is through the suffering of His people.  He is the God of the cross, the one who endured great suffering Himself for the glory of God.  So He, more than anyone else, understands that suffering is an incredibly powerful avenue for God’s glory to go out.  He knows it, but He doesn’t have to like it.  I think that’s why He was angry.  And I think that’s why, as we see in verse 35, He wept.

In His tears you can almost hear His explanation:  “I am so sorry that it has to be this way.”

 

Oh the tears for me.

 

I am telling you that this book will minster to you.  If you are struggling with waiting on an adoption, this book will resonate with you.  If you are struggling with someone you love having an illness, this book will move you.  If you are struggling with the loss of a loved one, this book will minister to you.

 

I will leave you with this, and then tell you how you can get a free copy of this book from me!

 

In taking God as our refuge, we must also realize that these circumstances are in our lives because He has sen fit for them to be there.  That’s the whole truth.

 

It’s a journey of trying to embrace the fact that God is our refuge but not a comfortable one to hold onto.  It’s a journey of realizing that He is our safe place, and yet He is not safe at all.  It’s a journey of realizing more and more of what it means to walk deeply with God and all the doubt, fear, anxiety, peace, and joy that come with it and how those things can possibly coexist together.

 

I can’t wait to get this book in your hands!

 

I have one book to give away to a very luck winner!  I’m gonna give you five different ways to enter.  You do not have to do them all, you can do however many you like to do, but the more you do the more chances you have to win.  For each one that you do, make a separate entry!

 

If you don’t win, head on over to Amazon and get yourself one. I think they are on sale right now for a little more than $10!

 

Okay back to how you can win one ……

1.  Head on over to Michael Kelley’s facebook page and give him a like.  If you can leave him a comment, tell him you found him through my blog.

2.  Head on over to my facebook page and like me.  Hey I’d love to get more friends and you are just the friend I want!

3.  Tell me why you think this book will be so good for your soul!  What are you going through that’s hard right now and you need a great big encouragement!

4.  Tweet about this contest!  If you need help, here you go: I hope to win the book that @jamie_ivey is giving away at Dreaming Big Dreams from @_MichaelKelley!  #prettynormal http://bit.ly/HXOYTa

5.  Share this contest on facebook!

 

For real, you can do one of these things or do all five.  It does not matter to me, although I would really love to hear from you all on why you think this book would minister to you!!!

 

Have fun!  Good luck and enjoy this video from the author!

 

 

**Contest ends Tuesday at midnight!!  (CST)

 

 

CONGRATS TO MEGHAN!!!

Here are your random numbers:

1

Timestamp: 2012-04-21 22:05:25 UTC

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