Little Changes

This weekend has been a fun one. Whenever I have the opportunity to buy stuff to decorate the house, I take advantage of it. I received a hefty payout for my sales performance last quarter at work, so Chris and I talked about using a portion of that to buy bedding and decor for our guest bedroom. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be able to do this. I have been wanting to decorate that room since we moved in, but decorating the rest of the house took priority over the guest bedroom. On Saturday, I went shopping with my dear friend Sharai (who also found some great finds for her new house). I ended up getting a sweet quilt that was brown, cream, and red, some delicious red sheets to match, chocolate brown curtains, and a few wall hangings for the guest room. The only drawback was that I accidentally bought the twin-sized quilt, and when I went back today to return it, they didn't have the full-sized one. I thought I could just order it online, but no luck there either. So my search continues for a comforter (I would love a quilt) that is red and brown to tie the whole room together. Next on my list is paint. :)

Take a look at my cute finds so far.

Chocolate Curtains


Darling Wall Hangings




Lastly, for our wedding, a close friend of the family gave me and Chris a dresser, mirror, and chest of drawers for our master bedroom. It was a huge blessing at the time because we couldn't fathom paying for our wedding, our new house, and everything to make our house a home along with new bedroom furniture. So we have used that furniture in our master since we've gotten married. When I came home from my successful shopping day, I was showing Chris all the great stuff I found and was asking him if he thought I should buy some basic furniture for the guest room. He told me that he thought it was a good idea for us to move the furniture we have into the guest room, and buy brand new furniture for our master. I am super thrilled about that. I love that we have been able to decorate our house little by little. Anyway, that is what is going on right now. I will definitely keep ya'll updated on our guest bedroom.

Potato Soup

Today a cold front came in. It was humid all day long until about 4:30. On my way home, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees! When I got home around 6:00pm, Chris had every window open in our whole house. He loves cold weather and celebrates it! lol In honor of the cold weather, I decided to make potato soup. I haven't made it since our first summer together (which was cool enough to make it, because it rained everyday that summer. It was such a romantic summer, and perfect for us to learn each other...but that is another story ;)). Anyway, I found a great recipe, and it was delish!

1-1/2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Approximately 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced in thin chunks
2 to 2-1/2 cups water
2 cups milk
Extra butter and freshly ground pepper

1) In a 3-quart pot, stew the onion in butter until soft. Don't brown it, just let it soften while you peel and slice the potatoes.

2) Add the salt, potatoes, and water to barely cover the potatoes. Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are just about done, 15 or 20 minutes.

3) Stir in the milk and simmer until the potatoes are really tender, another 15 minutes or so. (Don't' worry about breaking the potatoes as you stir. In fact you want them to break so they dissolve and thicken the soup.)

4) Season with salt and ladle into bowls.

***I also seasoned with garlic and freshly ground black pepper. I topped with (real) bacon crumbles and sprinkled some shredded cheese on top. My hubby also included a dollop of sour cream.

I

Lazy fun weekend.

I have had such a blissful weekend. I was blessed to have the day off on Saturday and did lots of fun things! Saturday morning, I woke up early and Mom, Mariah, and I went to get our hair cuts. I love the girl who does my hair--she is amazing--and I wanted to give Mom and Mariah an opportunity for her to cut their hair. So we all got our hair cut and we all LOVE our new dos. After that, we all stopped at Starbucks for some yummy fall lattes. Mom and I had pumpkin spice lattes (with soy milk), while Mariah had a white chocolate mocha something. After getting our drinks, we moseyed around a nearby Bath and Body Works. We had such a pleasant morning together and it made me realize that we need to start spending time like that more often.

After my special morning, I went back home and relaxed. I won't lie, I am a really chill person and I love laying around the house. This weekend was really rainy and chilly, so it gave me an excuse to cuddle up on the sofa and watch tv. Chris got home a little later that afternoon, and we decided that we wanted Subway for dinner. So we picked up our sandwiches and went home for our scary movie-a-thon....which ended up being two movies...really one and a half for me! ;)

Oh...on a side note, Chris and I went to the movies on Friday night and saw 'Couples Retreat'. It was freakin' hilarious!!!! We laughed the whole time! Now Chris will randomly walk by me and slap my bum and say "Encouragement". HAHAHAHA Go watch it! Its great!

So to top this weekend off, Chris and I went to church this morning and it was great! We love the church we are currently going to and are really blessed to be a part of it in this chapter of our lives. We don't know what God has for us in our future, but we are really trying to seek him and let him guide us....and right now, we feel like we are in the right place.

Tall Glass of Water

I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that Chris and I are trying to make a lifestyle change and become more health-conscious. Well, we are on week 2 and going strong. I have found that I can still enjoy the foods I love but in moderation and through the process of elimination. Chris and I ate at a burger joint this weekend and we substituted the burgers for grilled chicken sandwiches and shared fries. I know that's not a complete 180 but it is definitely better than us both eating cheeseburgers and fries of our own. We have also been drinking what seems like 46 gallons of water a day!! It's fantastic; this morning I poured myself a glass of apple juice and after the first sip, I decided that I'd trade my super-sweet (but 100%) juice in for a tall glass of water!

Tonight Chris prepared dinner (a salad, baked chicken, broccoli, and corn), we did yard work, and then went for a suuuuuper long walk. One bonus to this lifestyle change is that we spend sooooo much more quality time together. I am loving it!!! We are able to talk to each other and just spend time with each other without any distractions.

Now I am off to shower! I am all sweaty from our [brisk] walk.

Ta Ta!

"Ohhh Sweet Wind, Come and Blow Over Me.."

Chris and I started going to a new church that our close friends--James and Tara--go to. We also found out through attending, that some of our other friends go there too. Soooo far, we love it. The worship is so great, and they really allow (well, that's not exactly the right word for it) the spirit to move throughout the service. At some other churches we have visited, it seems that structure overpowers the spirit (don't get me wrong, I do think church needs some structure) and I have felt that the spirit was stifled because church needed to end at EXACTLY noon--not a moment later. Chris and I are still praying about where God wants us to be serving, but since He hasn't told us to move one way or the other, we are really enjoying being still here. It's also really nice to be attending a church where we have a deeper relationship with some people in the congregation (ie, Tara and James, Greg, Kasie and Jimmy).

That is my little update for the night. I am soooo excited to see how the Lord moves and reveals the next step into our spiritual life. Now I am off to read I Peter before I get my beauty rest.

I hope everyone has a great week!


Oh, one more thing, the title of this blog is a song that I learned at summer camp many many many years ago about the Holy Spirit that popped (I totally spelled 'pooped' the first time) into my head as I was writing this blog. ;)

Dinner for Two

Chris and I have great news!!! We are going to Dallas in a week and a half to visit Megan, Josh, Jocey, and Rora!!!! I am sooooooo excited! I haven't seen Megan in OVER a year, and before that, I hadn't seen her since my wedding! We made our reservations and are ready to go! We'll be up there from Sunday the 19th to Tuesday the 21st. I can't wait.

In other news, Chris's mom came over on Monday night while he and I were out getting his haircut. When we drove up to our house, her car was in the driveway. I was confused. I asked Chris what she was doing here, and he gave me no answer....he says I ask too many questions. I do. I asked again. He said that I needed to just "go with the flow". That's totally not my nature. I am VERY inquisitive about EVERYTHING. Anyway, by this time, we walked in the house, and she was cooking something. I asked her what she was cooking for and she replied, " I never was able to have a birthday dinner for you (which is a family thing she does for everyone in the family), nor did I do anything for your anniversary." So she was making us dinner for that evening. She asked Chris and I too take a seat in our bedroom (we have a very large bedroom with a sitting area) where she had set up a table covered in a beautiful table cloth and candles and two chairs. We sat at the table that was already set with her beautiful place setting, while she poured us some wine, and brought out a yummy salad for each of us. After we ate the salad, she brought out a huge lobster for each of us, rice, and broccoli. Everything tasted wonderful!!!! That wasn't even the end of it. She made dessert too....of course, and it was my favorite: tiramisu!!!! We were stuffed by the end of it! After she took our dessert plates, she washed the dishes, packed her stuff, and went home. It was great to have the fancy restaurant come to us! What a nice change of pace. After that, we continued on with our romantic evening...but I'm sure you aren't interested in details! ;]

I'll keep everyone updated on our vacay!

My Wolverine :)

Nikki recently created an email account for her eldest son Everett. She encouraged all her friends and family to email him so he could learn how to use it. Knowing how much Everett loves XMEN right now, Chris and I wanted to send him something along that theme. We decided to recreate Wolverine--my Wolverine. I think he did pretty good! :)

Anniversary Adventure

Chris and I celebrated our two-year anniversary on Tuesday. We really only spent about fifteen minutes together that day! We both had to work and had separate plans scheduled for that evening, so we decided to celebrate our anniversary over the weekend. Chris and I both took the day off on Friday, and he surprised me with a trip out to Enchanted Rock in/past Fredericksburg!!! We stopped by Jamba Juice for breakfast smoothies, and then headed on our little adventure to Enchanted Rock! We spent the afternoon hiking and climbing and sweating and talking! It was soooo much fun! Hiking is one of our favorite things to do together, and is so special for us. Some couples love getting all fancied up [which we enjoy on occasion], but hiking is more our thing. After we hiked four or five miles, we were super hungry!! We stopped off at a little burger joint we have been wanting to try for some time. I guess our style is a little more casual. :) We had a really great time together reflecting on our first two years of marriage. It has truly been bliss!

Enchanted Rock at a distance.


Mexican Hats decorated our path.


Chris on the path with Enchanted Rock in front of him.


Chris pointed out a cactus heart...covered in bugs!


Nice view!

Mustard??? Yeah, Mustard!

Tonight I made Megan's famous "Butter Chicken". This is a recipe that my dear friend Megan shared with me. It was my second time making it, and WE LOVE IT!!!! We also had brown rice, and sugar snap peas. Yummo! I could talk about food all day. I love cooking (and I am learning to be more adventurous). One of my favorite things to do is have (or go to) dinner parties. Chris and I are trying to host one dinner party a month. We had one last month with a couple from church. We had Italian night, and it was great! It was a fantastic way to get to know the other couple better, and eat yummy food at the same time. If anyone is interested in coming to a dinner party at our home, please let us know! We'd love to have you over!

Going along with the food theme, I thought I would post a few pictures from our weekend. Chris and I went to Port Aransas with my family Sunday. Chris, Mariah, and I were taking some goofy pictures on these parking post things, and when Mariah stepped off one of them, she stepped on a bee and it stung her foot. Like the responsible, knowledgeable big sister I am, I immediatley told her to rub mustard on it!! Ha ha ha! I'm not sure if it worked but she stopped crying! HA HA HA HA

Enjoy!

Lots of Surprises!

This has been an incredible week, and its not even over yet! Yesterday my hubby surprised me at work (via Nikki and my godsons) with a huge bouquet of white and red roses! I was super excited! I had them on my desk all day and enjoyed the sweet remarks and evil eyes of my coworkers! HA HA!

I came home after work, and tidied up around the house until Chris came home. He had asked me to make dinner, but I wasn't feeling really creative so I just moseyed around the kitchen until he decided what HE wanted for dinner. He suggested pancakes, bacon, and eggs to my surprise!! (Side Note: I love breakfast for dinner and pancakes are my FAVORITE food. Chris thinks its weird to eat breakfast foods any other time than morning [unless we are at IHOP], so when he suggested this, I was up and ready to start cooking!) I started preparing the pancake batter and thought cinnamon would be super yummy in them, and also substituted Soy milk for regular milk. Most of you know that I don't drink regular milk that often because it hurts my stomach, so I drink soy instead...and I think it tastes better. ANYWAY, I didn't know how the pancakes would turn out with the soy milk, but they were glorious!!!

So when dinner was ready, Chris asked me if I wanted to watch a movie. I didn't really want to because I was watching "Bridgett's Sexiest Beaches" (which I LOVE), but he proceeded to put a dvd in anyway. I didn't know what movie he put in, I just patiently sat waiting to see what it was. When I did finally realize what it was, I teared up. It was our wedding video!!! My uncle filmed our wedding, but we just had never taken the time to convert it to a dvd, and when we did show interest in doing it over a year ago, we had some technical difficulties with the sound and picture. I just forgot about it, but I guess Chris had been working on it for awhile. He had a former coworker fix it and edit it. It was a beautiful thing to watch together. Chris and I both teared up a few times, and laughed like crazy too. I told him I will probably watch it EVERYDAY for the next few months! HA HA HA. I would love to share it with anyone who wants to come over and watch it!

SO right now I am waiting for Nikki and the boys to come over so we can have a picnic by the lighthouse. I have a bottle of wine, and some fancy cheeses, and some crackers and I am really excited to spend some time with them. Tonight, I am going to the KENNY CHESNEY concert with Mariah!!!!! YAY!! Mariah called me a few nights ago and asked me what I was doing on Friday (today) and I told her about the picnic, and said I didn't have any other plans after that. She then asked me if I wanted to go to the Kenny concert, which I have been wanting to go to for the last few months...of course I said yes!! So that is what we will be doing tonight! I can't wait!

I need to get ready for the picnic now! I will definitely update ya'll on the concert and the rest of my birthday weekend!