Doing It Ourselves: Oven Cleaning

 A few weeks ago, I ran the auto-clean cycle on my oven. It cleaned the oven but the oven window was still an icky, grease splattered mess. It was becoming a real pet peeve of mine but I wasn't sure what to do about it. So, I did what most women of my generation do. I logged onto Pinterest. LOL

I had an idea of what to try but wanted confirmation that someone else had tried it and their family was still alive. Ha.

I made up a paste of baking soda and water. Then I smeared it all over the inside of the window and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. I then used a wash cloth to scrub it in a bit and clean it off. Most of it came off. There were still a few spots that were really baked on. So I carefully used my kitchen razor to scrape off the thick stuff and then scrubbed again with some more baking soda paste.


Viola! Crystal clean oven window. My kitchen was already pretty clean that day but this was the icing on the cake. I had to stare at it for awhile. Oh the things us adults get excited over. Hehe

Slow Leak

A few weeks ago, I had printed off some recipes and had separated them into categories on the carpet in our living room. The next day, I picked them up and noticed they felt like they had been in a damp environment. Not wet, just kind of soft feeling. I felt the carpet where they had been sitting & it felt damp. I moved a book case and the carpet under it was soaked and mold had starting growing. I knew instantly we had a big problem. 

We called a plumber who had to cut into our wall to find the leak. He originally thought it was a leak in the slab which would have been very expensive to fix. Luckily, the leak was higher up and he was able to fix it. It was still pretty expensive but better than he originally thought. He said we had a fairly decent amount of water damage and suggested we call a water restoration company. Thankfully, God was protecting us once again and the man from the company told us "I am not in the business of robbing people. My fees start at $800 and you don't have $800 worth of damage here." He then instructed us how to clean up the mess ourselves.

We ended up having to purchase a new book shelf, patch the wall, and we will have to replace a section of the carpet pad and shampoo the carpet when we are done with everything. All in all, a little hole in a small pipe that has been slowly dripping for at least a year is going to end up costing us quite a bit of money and effort that we would have preferred spending in other ways.

That concept had me thinking today. Here we have a house, with lots of pipes, wires, wood, brick, concrete, etc and our whole life was turned upside down for a tiny little hole in one small pipe. This small, drip over the span of at least a year, ended up causing so much damage. 

I've been relistening to the Strange Fire Conference hosted by Grace Community Church in California in 2013. This conference addressed some of the false teachings that have slipped into the church, have been tolerated, accepted, and finally practiced by much of the church today. It had me thinking about how a small leak of bad theology has grown into a full movement and has infiltrated most of what claims to be "Christianity."

Galatians 5:9 says, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." A little false teaching can bring down an entire church and even a whole denomination and eventually taint the reputation of the universal church to where what most "Christians" claim to be the Gospel is actually no gospel at all. 

Justin Peters says that many false teachers today do teach quite a bit of truth, but there is just enough false teaching that it becomes deadly. He compares it to putting a tiny drop of strychnine in a glass of water. The contents of the glass may be 99% healthy, beneficial water but that tiny fraction of poison will kill whoever drinks from it. 

We must address false teachings when we hear them. Even if they don't seem like a big deal or like something most Christians would fall for. We cannot let even one small drip, one small grain of yeast to exist in the church. We must root it all out. 

The best way to do this is to not neglect daily reading the Word of God.

This was part of Jesus' prayer to the Father for all those whom would become Children of God:

"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." (John 17:14-19)

This leak also got me to thinking of the Christian life. How much "damage" can a small leak of good theology, of Truth, do to the enemy, to the false religions of the world. The small, constant, dripping of one voice can begin to eat away at a big conglomeration. A small leak is typically silent and can go on unnoticed for a long time, it usually isn't noticed until substantial damage has taken place.

Yes, the loud voices, "the burst main lines," are needed in the church today. Those who make dramatic differences in the world today. Missionaries, preachers, debaters, authors, speakers, etc. But it is the sheep within the church, the ordinary man, the layman, the "silent slow leak" that really causes a whole change in trajectory of a group, church, city, state, country, world. 

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says we should "aspire to live quietly" in order that we will "walk properly before outsiders." Teaching a correct view of God and worldview leads to people being saved and equipping them to go out and do the same. A group of a thousand protesters usually does little than just upset those who are on the other side of whatever movement the protesters are upset about. I'm not saying their isn't a place for protesting but much more is done by the changing of the worldview of the masses. 

We must pray for our leaders, political and spiritual. We must pray for each other as well. Not merely prayers of addressing felt needs (health, family, finances, etc) but prayers for wisdom, discernment, to be protected from falling into sin, to remain faithful to God, and, above all else, to bring glory to God's name. 

If you need help knowing what and how to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ, check out the openings and closings of the epistles. These are letters from the Apostles to the churches. They often open with how they thank God for them in certain ways and then close telling the church how they will pray for them in specific ways and then tell the church how they can pray for writers in specific ways.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippines 1:3-5)

"We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you," (Colossians 1:3)

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

"We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing." (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one...May the Lord direct your heads to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3, 5)

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

We must also pray for a real revival in the church, not a manufactured, emotional high type revive, but a true drawing close to God.

"We cannot organize revival, but we can set ourselves to catch the wind of heaven." ~ G Campbell Morgan

"We must set our hearts to treasure the God who describes Himself in Scripture, never again be satisfied with His absence. It is His name which is at stake. It is also our everlasting joy to have Him near." ~ John Snyder (Behold Your God, p. 263)

"Regardless of the spiritual and moral decline, it is never so dark that God, the Eternal Light, cannot expel the darkness." ~ John Snyder (Behold Your God, p. 262)

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:7-10)

March 2015

Well, February wasn't that busy. The last weekend, I went to a conference with my friend Tara. It is called The Art of Homemaking and is presented by the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth. We had a great time. Next year, I hope to get a fairly decent size group to go. I have been to several very bad women's retreats, so I wanted to check this one out before inviting a bunch of people. I wouldn't say it was the best conference I've ever been to but it was the best women's conference I've ever been to. I dream of hosting a women's conference one of these days & I would do a lot of things differently but this one is still one I would highly recommend. Next year it will be in the fall, so we have to wait almost 18 months for the next one but it will be worth it. :)

On Valentine Day, Anthony got up early and made me breakfast in bed. It was so wonderful. Red roses, heart shaped biscuits, man, I am one blessed woman!

I said in my last two posts that I was going to talk about my goals for 2015. I am going to be really general because I have a very, very long list that speaks of the specifics of each goal so there is no need to address that here. So, here I go.

I have categorized all of my goals into nine main groups: spiritual, physical, mental/educational, entertainment, emotional, family, social, home, and work. Because I'm a little bit crazy when it comes to making lists and outlines and organizing (despite my home not exactly evidencing that), I have subcategories & subsubcategories. Hehe. So, I'll only share a few of them with you and tell you how I'm doing on them so far, being that we are almost 1/4 of the way into 2015. :)

I. Spiritual

     A. Prayer

          1. Prayer journal - I am no where near consistent in setting aside time to pray. However, when I write my prayers out, I can concentrate better. I have also seen how my prayers often start out me-centered but end more God-centered. My husband and my mother-in-law both got me journals for Christmas that I am using as my prayer journal.

          2. Read a prayer from Valley of Vision each night together before we go to bed - I was doing this for a little while and then I stopped. I need to get back into this again. 

     B. Bible reading

          1. BSF - I am almost through my first BSF session. I'm looking forward to studying Revelation. I have different thoughts on eschatology than I did even four years ago so I'll be interested in seeing how they deal with the different viewpoints and it will be good for me to read through Revelation slowly now that my presuppositions have altered somewhat.

          2. Daily Bible reading with Anthony - We have been doing this since we got married. We miss days/weeks every so often but it is a definitely a habit we want to always be a part of our marriage.

          3. Behold Your God study - I am almost finished going through this with my friends. Wow! What an amazing study! It will reprogram your mind to think of God differently, more Biblically. It is by far the best book study I have ever participated in.

          4. Keep a list of what God says about Himself - This was an idea I got from one of the pastors interviewed in the Behold Your God study. 

          5. After reading a passage, always ask, "What does this passage tell me about God?" - The Bible is not all about me, I need to remember that. Asking this question will help me to remember who the Bible really is about.

          6. Practice homiletics - No, I don't want to preach. However, I did take a one hour BSF seminar on homiletics and I can see how it really helps you in studying a passage. I haven't practiced this much but I really want to work on it this year. Plus, I one day want to write Bible studies for women and this will help me practice in doing that.

     C. Scripture memory - I've posted a verse to memorize by our door but I really don't see it that often so I think I'm going to put the same verse in our bathrooms as well so we see it more often. ;)

     D. Church

          1. Get involved - I have joined the audio visual team and Anthony is the hospitality person for our new church, The Church at Pecan Creek. What is great is that we can actually help each other out. Anthony is so gifted at understanding technology and has been helping me & the whole team get some things set up. The other night he was sick so I and another friend of ours took care of the hospitality stuff. I will say that this audio visual stuff is daunting but I'm learning a lot. We have the ability to control both the projector and the sound system from our iPads, allowing us to sit in the audience rather than in a sound booth. 

               a. Audio Visual team

               b. Hospitality

               c. Women's ministry - I want to get a women's ministry going eventually at our new church. We aren't quite there yet but I definitely want to be involved with it.

II. Physical

     A. Exercise

          1. Wii Fit - I got a Wii Fit for Christmas and I love it. I need to be more consistent about doing 20-30 mins every morning, which means I need to get up earlier (another goal further on).

          2. Work up to 10,000 steps a day - I got a pedometer that connects to the Wii Fit so I'm keeping track of this. I didn't realize how sedentary I really am. Very depressing. The other day I walked almost three miles and still didn't even get close to 10,000 steps. I never realized how much walking that actually means. :)

          3. Thirty min move after every meal - Last week I came up with the idea to try to take a 30 min exercise of some sort (gardening, walking, wii) after every meal. I haven't done this yet but I think it is doable and healthy.

     B. Food

          1. Monthly menues - I've been consistent with this for a year; I just want to keep doing so and hopefully be better at sticking to it this year. :)

          2. Try more healthy recipes - I've researched a few new recipes I want to try including cooking with spring rolls, quinoa, and cauliflower, all things I've never experimented or even tasted. 

          3. Keep a food journal - I'm a member of SparkPeople and keep up with my nutrition through their app. I just started back at this last week and I've been pretty good at keeping up with it, with a few meals missed.

          4. Water - I am an avid water drinker however, over the last couple of years, I've gotten into a bad habit of not drinking as much as I use to. I need to be better at getting my water in each day.

     C. Checkups - working on these

III. Mental/Educational

     A. Reading

          1. Read 10 books this year (not including the Bible) - I am currently reading two books. So, I'm already behind but as long as I'm consistently working toward this goal, I'm happy.

              a. Women's Ministry in the Local Church by Ligon Duncan & Susan Hunt - I'm 65% (according to the Kindle app) of the way done with this and I can say it is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it to all women and all leaders (including the men) in a church to read this book.

              b. Everyone's A Theologian by RC Sproul - I'm only a couple of chapters in but this book is so great. It is an intro to systematic theology and is a book that every Christian should read.

               c. 

     B. Sewing - I haven't done these yet.

          1. Learn to make a skirt

          2. Learn to make PJ pants with pockets for Anthony

          3. Learn to make toys

          4. Learn to make window treatments (cornice, drapes)

IV. Entertainment

     A. TV time

          1. Limit TV time to two hours a day (except when sick and doing laundry) - We are actually pretty good at doing this right now. Many nights we don't even turn on the TV. The problem is that when we do, it is very difficult to turn it off.

     B. iPhone/iPad games 

          1. Delete the time wasting games - Done. I had some games on my iPad that I realized one day I was spending hours on and wasting much of my day. They are now gone. I feel so free now; I didn't realize what a slave I had become to them. I still have a couple of games that only take a min to make a move before waiting for the next person to move so those don't suck my time away. I also still have Sudoku but I usually only play that while watching TV.

V. Emotional

     A. Time management

          1. Get up by 6 am - I am so not good at this. I have got to get better at this. If this is the only thing I get in the habit of doing this year, I will cut it a good year. :)

          2. Create and stick to a daily schedule - I have done this several times but I finally think I have created one that works for me. I have been pretty consistent at sticking to it as well...at least most of it...still need to work on getting that exercise in as one of the first things in the morning...hence needing to get up at 6 am. 

          3. Prep dinner in the morning - When I don't do this, I can sometimes dread having to stop what I'm doing to spend the next two or more hours cooking & then cleaning up from cooking. When I get most of the prep work done in the morning, I know if I need anything in time to go to the store, I can know the meat is thawed/marinated, and I usually end up saving myself a lot of frustration and time. Another reason for needing to be out of bed by 6 am.

VI. Family

     A. Family archival - I'm still working on this. I was really consistent of doing this for a while but there was a few weeks that I couldn't and just never got back in the habit. I cleaned off my desk on Sunday so that I would have room to get back at this again.

VII. Social

     A. Game group - We want to create a gaming group that meets fairly consistently. Right now there are four of us but we would like to invite a few other people to join in with us. We are working on this one. :)

     B. Have people over at least once a month - We do this fairly often already but I want to start inviting people who we don't have over that often.

VIII. Home

     A. Major projects

          1. New garage door opener - done

          2. New roof & gutters - I need to call the insurance company to see if they can come take a look at the roof.

     B. Minor projects

          1. New tires - done

          2. Fix door panels - done

          3. Fix fence - not done yet...the weather & our busy weekends had been impeding this. 

IX. Work

     A. Kapp's Kitchen

          1. Make one batch of cookies a day - I'm not doing this consistently yet.

          2. Work the Denton County Community Market - We are trying to get our application in for this but we have a question that hasn't been answered yet, so we are kind of in limbo at this point.

     B. A Narrow-Minded Woman

          1. Research/write 1-2 hrs a day - I am not consistent in this, yet.

          2. Publicly publish the site - Not quite ready yet. I have all the pages up and ready but I want to get at least 10 articles written before I start posting.

          3. Post 2-3 articles a week

     C. COO of the Kapp Family

          1. Create a home management binder - I have created several printables and I am working on more. I have been enjoying a few of the ones I have created so far. One of these days I may put them online for purchase. 

          2. Organize & clean office - I cleaned part of my desk off on Sunday, does that count? ;) Granted, much of this is directly proportional to how far along in the family archiving I am. 

So that is part of what I'm working on this year. Ha. Like I said, I like making lists. It makes me feel calmer and less overwhelmed. Some of these are already complete, some are just habits I want to maintain, others may take many years or a lifetime to complete, and it is highly likely I'll add more to this list as the year goes along. There are a few other things that I didn't list either because they were a little more private or I just didn't want this list to get crazy. Ha. Fail there. ;)

"In Sickness & In Health"

Well, we are married. :D

But it has been a very challenging few weeks. The wedding itself was beautiful. More beautiful than I could have ever imagined. By Friday, I was done (I'll explain in a min), done with everything. I pretty much threw everything we had made into a pile & told my family to do what they could with it. I felt ridiculously bad for not helping decorate but I was done. I don't think I could have. I could no longer make any kind of decisions. It was the strangest feeling ever. But I have amazing family & I couldn't believe it when I saw it on Sat morning. If I had been able to make any decisions, I think I would have just messed everything up.

I know you want to see pictures & I will post a few here but I'm mainly waiting for the professional pics to come in.

So, let me tell you about how our life has been from the week before the wedding to present.

Challenge 1

My hall toilet has been running for some time & I had bought a new flapper to fix it a while back ago & had just been procrastinating. Anthony & I were going to pick up my sis & bro-in-law the Sun before the wedding at the airport. They live in Barrow, AK & about a week before all this, their sewer had frozen so they had not been able to use the toilet in their house for awhile. So, I wanted to provide a nice, quite, functioning toilet for them while they stayed with me.

On Friday I replaced the flapper; this did not stop the running plus, I noticed the water in the tank had a lot of black stuff floating in it. I quickly discovered that the flushing mechanism had a crack in it, so, on Sat, Anthony & I went to Wal-Mart & found one for $4 & replaced it. When we took the toilet apart, we noticed the rubber gasket between the tank & bowl and the seal in the water supply tube (what was causing the black stuff in the water) had started to deteriorate, but wasn't too bad yet. We put the new flushing mechanism on, put the tank back onto the bowl, & filled the tank with water. Almost immediately water started leaking between the tank & bowl.

After we picked Kim & Jonathan up at the airport the next day, we went into Lowes & bought a new water supply tube (later realizing we had the wrong size & having to go back to Lowes) & gasket. Anthony & Jonathan worked on the toilet only to have the leak still present. We made another trip to Lowes & still there was a leak. I called my friend Thomas & he came over on Monday to take a look at it. After taking the toilet apart & putting it back together about 5-6 times & talking to his plumbing buddy, we finally discovered the tiniest chip in the toilet. Thomas tried some sealant but it still didn't stop the leak. We finally decided a new toilet was going to be the only solution. So, Monday evening, during a big storm, Kim, Jonathan, & I went to buy a new toilet. Jonathan installed it like a pro with only one more trip to Lowes. Yay! Craziness over...not so fast.

Challenge 2

Tuesday night Kim forced me to finally go to bet at about 11:30pm. I walked into my bathroom to find white stuff all over the floor. I looked up & there was a decadent size wet spot on the ceiling & bits of the popcorn ceiling had fallen onto my counter & floor. Jonathan climbed up into the attic & onto the roof but couldn't find any holes. He figured it must be coming in through the vent in the roof. So, the next day, I had a roofer come out & take a look. Sure enough, the sealant around the vent in the roof had cracked & water was dripping down. He fixed it for $75 but also noted I had some hail damage & might start considering a new roof.

Challenge 3

Kim found some mouse dropping in the hall bathroom & hallway. Yay.

Challenge 4

Anthony had been sick all the week before the wedding but hadn't wanted to tell me because he didn't want to worry me. He told me on Thursday that he was starting to feel better. The day after the wedding, Sunday, he started feeling really bad again. On Monday, we decided to leave our honeymoon cabin & drive around Beaver's Bend. While walking around the visitor's center, Anthony became really dizzy & had to go to the car. We drove to Wal-Mart & bought some Tylenol, NyQuil, & a thermometer. He was running about 101 fever. We made an appointment with his doctor on Wednesday & she performed a chest x-ray & sinus x-ray which came back normal. While examining him she mashed on his right lower abdomen & he complained. So, she sent us to the ER for possibility of appendicitis. Naturally, I brought him to my workplace. They did a CT & he was normal. Yay! No surgery! But he still felt terrible for a few more days. He's feeling a lot better now.

Challenge 5

Since Anthony wasn't feeling too great on Tuesday, I drove us home from our honeymoon. I must have hit something because we got a flat & had to buy a new tire.

Challenge 6

Friday night, we were in the hall bathroom putting away towels or something & I looked up at the ceiling & saw this brown stuff that looked like it was growing on the ceiling. Anthony pulled the curtain back & in the tub were lots of dead termites. UGH! So, yesterday I left work early to meet with the pest guy. Very nice, little, old man. So, hopefully that will do it.

Challenge 7

This morning while I was having breakfast, Anthony had finished & was walking through the living room to go take a shower & screamed. Lying on the floor, like he owned the place was a snake! Just a little garden snake but still. EEK!!! Anyway, after a few minutes of what could have been a major laughing point on any prime-time comedy, we caught the snake & through him into the bushes outside. We aren't really sure if he was still alive... Anthony said that "Yakety Sax" should have been playing in the background during the excitement.

Ok...picture time....

Ever After Chapel

Instead of printing programs, Anthony, me, & my dad made a chalkboard & had my cousin/day-of coordinator/insanity preventer/one-of-the-most-amazing-women-I've-ever-had-the-pleasure-of-knowing, Kaylee, write out the actors. ;)

As you can see, my maid-of-honor was celebrating from Mongolia where she now lives. What a blessing technology is today! Her mom brought her iPad & Brandie was able to watch the whole thing via Skype. Amazing!

My dad had been sweeping off the front step & had set the broom down, dusted his hands off on his pants, & looked up to see me standing here. He said, "Oh my gosh!" & immediately reached into his coat for his camera & snapped this pic. It made me feel so pretty. :)

Our Twitter friend Collin played his cello (we actually had never met face-to-face until the rehearsal...that's how we roll). Kim (my sis) sang while her husband, Jonathan (most amazing bro-in-law in the world) played an AMAZING version of "His Eye Is On The Sparrow." While Anthony & I had a private communion. Also in this pic is my INCREDIBLE cousin & day-of....week-of-coordinator, Kaylee (check out her adorable blog "Blue Mitten Green House"). I cannot put into words how amazing this woman is. She is more of a sister to me than a cousin. 

Mr. & Mrs. ..... with Louis Armstrong's "'Bout Time" as our exit music. 

Rev. Bob Oudin, my sister's father-in-law & one of the most sincere men I know, married us. We both love him so much & look to him as a spiritual mentor. He probably wouldn't like that but that makes him even more of an honorable man.

Here we are as a wedding party...sans Brandie, of course (but she was in our thoughts & hearts). Jason, Alejandro, my hunky husband, me, Kim (my sis & matron-of-honor), Anya, & Tanya (Anthony's sisters).

My sister & matron-of-honor, Kim, and her brother-in-law (also the maker of my ring...see his Etsy site) performed Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" with Joshua playing the ukulele that he made himself. What talented family & friends I have!

This is something special our friend Jordan made for us. She also designed our invites. She is super talented. If you have any interest in her designs check out her Etsy site.

I'll post more as soon as I get the professional photos back from the photographer. :D