Your hut

I received an e-mail from my Aunt today. She's a twin and is the 'receiver' between them, which means that when her twin sister has any kind of pain, she can feel it. They don't even live in the same STATE, but she knows when her sister has even a headache! The reason I preface this post with info on my Aunts is because I want you to understand who sent this message to me, it makes the words so much more powerful.
Dad was the twins older brother and definitely took on some 'fatherly' roles since my Grandpa had MS. Grandpa passed away when all the kids were young, and my Grandma remarried to a WONDERFUL man that raised my Dad and my Aunts as his own. Skip ahead SEVERAL years and here is what has happened in my Aunt's lifetime: Her father passed away when she was young, her brother (my dad) passed away in his 20's (leaving a wife, a 3 year old son, and a 13 month old daughter), her mother and step-dad both passed away, her nephew (my brother) passed away at age 19, and in the midst of ALL this she and her sister both incur incredibly painful physical problems and no amount of surgery or medication can fully control the pain. Now remember with the pain problems, that not only is she experiencing her OWN pain, but also the pain of her twin sister!!! DOUBLE WHAMMY!

Anyway- all that to share this with you, and to remind you that no matter what your circumstance, God is doing something through it. Just trust Him since he has YOUR best interest at heart.

Your Hut
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?"
Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

The Moral of This Story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground.

It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

Catch Up

It's been quite a while since I wrote and I apologize deeply, but life has been a little crazy. And when I say a little, I actually mean pretty darn crazy! My mind that never stops has already begun thinking of Christmas- back in September. (Lauryn, my sister would be so proud of me!) She is the QUEEN of Christmas folks. So I've been trying to figure out what I can do to make our Christmas more affordable this year since Dave is going back to school. (Which I'll discuss more in detail in a bit) The internet and blogworld has become my closest friend lately getting ideas for gifts and decorations for the greatest time of year. I'm so excited!

Also I've had a Wedding Reception, Bridal Shower, and 3 yes THREE baby showers to get ready for. And since I've found so many neat ideas I decided to do personal homemade gifts for EACH of these events. It was time consuming and a little nutzo on my part but it was totally worth it. We ended up saving money in the long run and the recipients seemed to really like them. I forgot to get pictures of my 2 'wedding' related gifts but the baby gifts I'll be doing a separate post on soon with links to the tutorials on how to make them.

THEN the hardest part of my life at the moment is that Dave is not only going back to school (for nursing by the way) but his business isn't doing so hot, so a wonderful friend at church got Dave a job at a factory. It is SUCH a blessing because we are going to be able to use the money to not only pay the bills but to also put back enough savings that next semester when Dave is doing his CNA, he most likely won't have to work. But that also means that right now is full of 7 days a week of work (cause there is MANDATORY overtime) plus 2 FULL days a week of school.

Dave works 10:30pm to 7:00 am and I start getting ready for work right as he is getting to bed so he can sleep until 4:30pm and go to work again that night. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays he has class from 10:30 am to 9:30 pm, and in the midst of all this, I have so much going on in my own life that we aren't getting to see each other more than 30-45 minutes at a time and no more than twice a day. Today I saw him for about 20 minutes after I got home from work, before I went to church and after church before HE went to work I got another 15 minutes. 35 minutes total today! This is only until the end of the year, and the plant closes down at Christmas which will give us the Holidays together which is SUCH a blessing.

This is all only temporary and I know that but it's so difficult in the midst of it. God has blessed Dave with this job and we are SO incredibly grateful for the amazing money but it's bittersweet. Your prayers would be appreciated in the next few months as we figure out how to live this way. I don't know HOW military spouses spend so much time apart because I'm at LEAST getting a few minutes a day! God is so faithful and I know He will be with us during all this. Thanks for listening/reading! :)

Been a long time- shouldn't a left you, without a dope beat to step to... step to-step to.....

I realized today that it has been forever since I did a post! Not sure why cause I've checked on my blog everyday and we've seen crazy slow at work. Oh well, better late than never.

Life has been pretty timid lately, nothing too out of the ordinary going on which is a nice change. My (step) sister and her family came down for her birthday over the weekend and we had a great time with them. Her mom and my mom planned a surprise party for her since it was her 30th and it went great! My nieces are getting so big- Kylee is taller than ALL of us now and is in the 8th grade. Moriah is sassy as EVER and in 1st grade, even DAVE couldn't believe she had gotten so big!

There has been LOTS of cooking and baking in our house over the past few weeks so I am excited to share some recipes and tips with you- especially about how to make your bread rise! Homemade bread was always a touchy subject for me because I couldn't figure out how to get it to rise correctly... NOT ANY MORE!!! Woop woop! :) I've made taco dip twice, a mississippi mud cake, cinnamon rolls, apple butter, strawberry jam, bread, and 2 batches of chocolate molasses cookies. Mmmm Mmmm!

Can't wait to share all my recipes with you and even a few pictures- cause we all LOOOVE pictures!

My Crazy Life

Life is currently full of work, weddings, and BASEBALL in the Hilgers Home. Over the weekend we had a Customer Appreciation Day at work and it was crazy! I've been working pretty hard on it for a few months and I have to say that I am quite glad it's all over. Mom ended up being sick that day and couldn't even make it, which made it a little harder to get everything done. She and I are the only ones in the office other than our boss, and let's be honest- the boss does nothing! ;) He knows we say that by the way!!! Let me just say though that I am BLESSED!!!! My Dad showed up and helped ALL day, Dave came and was a big help even though he had a friend in town. The boss and his girlfriend showed up and actually were a big help too. All in all it was a good day- VERY hot but good.

Mike (Dave's friend) was in town and we had a great time with him. I got to try out some great recipes on him too... Apple Cinnamon Bread, Sausage Breakfast Casserole, and MY favorite new one- Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread! YUM! He and Dave had a great time, and his Mom even sent us an outdoor canopy which I am excited about cause I have been wanting one pretty badly!

We have a wedding the next 3 weekends. My cousin's is this Saturday, next Saturday is our good friend's sister, and the week after is my younger sister's friend. Brittany's this weekend is going to be a difficult one for our family. Her Dad passed away a few years ago and she told my Mom last night that is was just hitting her that he wouldn't be there to walk her down the aisle. She is also having a slideshow right before she walks down of just her and her dad... that's going to be pretty hard for the whole family. Please pray for us this weekend if you think of it.

On a happier note... Baseball is SO MUCH FUN!!!! We had a doubleheader last night and it was brutally hot and humid. Dave called and had me bring a cooler of water for the guys and I'm so glad I did cause they were exhausted after just a few minutes of playing! I had a great opportunity to sit and talk with some of the parents more and it was wonderful. Terry is such a sweetheart and she brings her new puppy Jacey to all the games so we have a perfect outlet to talk and get to know each other. Dogs are great for breaking the ice!

The boys are doing REALLY well in the games. We have only been able to have 7 games so far, but we've only lost 2! Last night we lost the 1st game and won the 2nd so we ended on a good note. Dave is having so much fun getting to know these guys and spending time with them. Apparently I'm even quite popular with them too which is hilarious! One of the kids keeps telling the rest of the team that he and I are seeing each other behind Coach's back, and last night another kept calling me his girlfriend. Of course I jokingly play along because it's funny to see their reactions and Dave thinks it's pretty funny too. I think it's just their way of 'accepting me' into their lives, or a least I HOPE that's what it is!!!!

Well work is slow today, but I guess I need to get back to it anyway. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

OH MAN!

Well a few things...

I know this might sound bad, but I am ECSTATIC today because our Governor got arrested on corruption charges...FINALLY!!! He is a jerk, a creep, and an all around bad guy for Illinois. God puts our leaders into place for a reason, and I know that but I am SO glad that God is now taking him OUT of leadership for us. The state will be better for it! Although I say I am happy about it, it's really quite sad and pathetic that our country has come to this.

We took Boaz for a walk/run last night and had such a good time. Dave and I both need excersie and so does our poor little dog, so we bought him a couple sweaters and even a coat and we are going to be taking him with us on our walks. Last night he went an entire MILE which is the longest he has gone- and he ran MOST of it too! He was so tired last night when we got home that he just pooped out and rested the entire evening... it was kinda nice! :)

Lauryn's wedding is only 25 days away!!! We finalized our hair appointments today and I should be taking my dress to be altered soon to get that done. This weekend I'm spending my Saturday making favors, christmas gifts, and getting a Mary Kay makeover since I won $50 in make-up at a wedding show here in Salem! (Good thing b/c I needed new make-up BADLY)

Dave and I had a great weekend together. Friday night we had a game night at church with the youth- we did a Christmas "around town" scavenger hunt and it was SOOOO much fun! We also decorated Christmas cookies and played a few other games that had a Christmas theme.

Then Saturday we got to actually sleep in before we headed out for Fairview Heights. We went to PetSmart and got some fun toys for Boaz since he has DESTROYED his other toys we bought him! (That place is so much fun by the way...) After that we headed to St. Louis for dinner at Maggiano's. OH MAN it was so good! Calamari and Spinach Chicken Manicotti... FANTASTIC! Plus we split a chocolate and candy cane ice cream dessert... MMMMM. We finished the night looking at Christmas lights and then headed home.

Sunday was church, a party with friends in Orchardville where we had a White Elephant and had some pretty funny gifts exchanged! That night we headed to my parents after church and decorated their Christmas tree. The sad part is that this is probably the last year we will ALL get to do this together. With Lauryn getting married and living in Edwardsville, and Dave and I thinking of starting our own traditions as a family it's a little sad. I mean we will all still be together during the holidays, but it won't be the same when we all have our own families and stuff. I guess we'll just all start NEW traditions with each other! :)

What type of traditions do you all have with your families? Are there any traditions you no longer do that you miss or are glad that are gone? ;)