The Summer Fun Has Begun

This was the third summer we kicked off with a visit from the Jacobs side of the family. We love Memorial Day weekend!

 Part of the tradition is going to Rise and Roll on Saturday for some free food followed by petting puppies and playing on playsets.

We also enjoyed some golfing and a couple of bonfires.

And what is a Jacobs Family Gathering without some badminton?

Our next summertime adventure was a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum with my bestest Jamie and her hubs.

The kids had a blast. Marie flew from one thing to the next while Jack mosied slowly, just like his dad.

We were there from open to close and loved every minute! It really is a great museum and I highly recommend it! I also recommend finding a best friend like Jamie :)

Many more summer adventures (aka blessings) ahead including a nice long trip to PA!

Sometimes it is just downright impossible to begin to fathom how much God loves us and loves to be a daddy.

The evolution of the Jacobs Garden

In the beginning was the first Jacobs Garden:

2011

After beautiful success, the expanded second Jacobs Garden was born:

2012

Not only were we blessed with another successful season, but we found that we really love to garden! So we tackled our biggest project yet...

The Jacobs Garden of 2013

 Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Jeremiah 29:5

Bikinis

I literally just watched this video that several people had posted on Facebook and found myself thinking over and over things like "Yes!" "Amen!" "Exactly!"

So now you know how I feel about it.

I decided to throw together a quick post because the immodesty in today's society is downright making me mad. I really try not to rant in my facebook statuses and I've been doing pretty good with that lately. But the other day I was bombarded with barely dressed moms and saying I was mad is a serious understatement. I wanted to get into each of their faces and yell, "Have you no dignity??!!" But instead I ranted on facebook.

This passion for modesty is not something I've always had. In fact, most of my life I was just sorta oblivious to it. I've never been super immodest, just kinda careless. I've always believed in modesty but honestly had no idea of the importance. I think many Christian women fall into this category - we can literally be unaware of our own immodesty. That doesn't make it okay.

I am a new woman. And for good reason.

On the flip side, it does break my heart. I hurt for all the women who are trapped by the lie that revealing "everything but their mother's maiden name" somehow gives them power... Although I think most women want to feel wanted so much more than they want to feel power. Dressing bikini-style will definitely make you desirable... in all the wrong ways.

Please, watch this video. You will not regret it.

(I'm sorry for just posting a link. Posting video on blogger is annoying and time consuming!)

If you have an opinion, I would actually love to discuss this further. Please share your thoughts!

Running??

I know that all of you wait anxiously by the computer, waiting for my next amazing, thought-provocing, inspirational post. I'm sorry to keep you waiting! We've been sooo busy with wonderful things. I have a post about our super-fun Memorial Day weekend in the works. But today I came across an article I had to share.

Check out this article about a huge study comparing running versus walking. I love to walk, but I love running much more and I'm excited that running wins overall! I mean, they are both very beneficial but according to the study, running is better for weight control, and it actually suppresses appetite! (I can tell I haven't run in awhile. I've had the serious munchies today!)

I love that I am lowering my risk of high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes as a runner. And guess what, walking helps with that, too! So get moving!

And speaking of running, I was supposed to be running my second half marathon, blowing my PR off the pavement this Saturday. But when it came to registering and we saw the price tag, we decided it wasn't worth it. And with all that we've been busy with, I'm glad God closed that door.

Priorities.

So this Saturday I think I'm going shopping with my mom and sis. Excellent trade-off :)

I still run and I still love it! Races are just going to wait for awhile.

Planting Potatoes

We have 104 potato plants in the ground! This is how we did it...

We got seed potatoes and I cut them in halves or quarters, so there was at least one bud on each piece. Then I let them sit on the counter on a cookie sheet (or somewhere dry and with airflow) for a couple days until they look like this...

Then we headed out back and dug trenches 4-6 inches deep.

Place the seeds about a foot apart with the buds facing up.

Then cover with just about 2 inches of soil, saving the rest of the soil for piling up around the plant as it grows. Don't let any potatoes see the sun!

We planted our first 40 seeds on April 4th, and finished up the row with 64 more seeds on April 14.  The first signs of plant popped through on April 30th!

I love how the plants burst through the soil. I've found new plants bursting through every day since the 30th!

The plants will wilt and yellow when they're ready to harvest. That'll be awhile. But I'm excited!

Here's a few shots of what else is going on around the garden...

Raspberry bushes graciously donated by my Aunt Pam:

Strawberry bushes are flowering!

Peas growing unevenly:

Spinach:

Lots and lots of onions! Framed by lovely dandelions:

What a blessing to get to work God's soil!