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!

I work so hard

A coworker of mine took this picture of me the other day at work. My bestie Nikki gave me some 3D glasses, and I found them in my purse yesterday and was just playing around. Enjoy :D

Have a Wacky Wednesday!!

Faith

Last night Chris came home and told me that he wanted to talk to me about some things. Naturally I thought I was in trouble for not 'calling so-and-so' or 'forgetting to do such-and-such'. I am the biggest procrastinator AND for some reason, it is hard for me to get the motivation to do ANYTHING unless it seems important to me at the time. It is definitely something I need to work on, but this time I was off the hook. This was something serious though.

Chris basically told me he was not going to be working with the school he is employed with right now next year. He has had a lot of issues with this organization and a few of his employers this year. I'm not going to go into great detail about it all, but he has had a road block in the form of his principal ALL year. She is the most unpleasant woman! She is on a feminist power trip and challenges a lot of the men in the organization, Chris especially, and is not making some very integral decisions.

Anyway, the point is that Chris will not be working there next year, and he does not have a job lined up in its place. He has some options that he is looking into, and we will be more than okay if he has to go without a job for a few months because of our investments, but the unknown is kind of unsettling. Well, last night as Chris and I were laying in bed, I felt God soo strongly tell me to pray for Chris. **A little side note--I am very self-conscious about praying out loud, EVEN in front of my husband...I just feel like I sound stupid, and that my prayers are really basic. I know, I know, I really need to work on that. As I was laying next to Chris, I was battling God in my head. I didn't want to make myself vulnerable. Finally, I said (in my head, of course), "God, I'm not going to be selfish. Who am I to keep your word from Chris. If he needs to hear this, use me." I held Chris in my arms and I prayed. It wasn't a long prayer, nor was it an eloquent one. I thanked God for his love and his blessings. I told him that Chris and I aren't afraid of what is gonna happen in our future, and that we know that HE is our provider, not our employers. I thanked him for always meeting our needs. That was it. With that one small prayer, everything felt so much better. I felt more confident about our future, and I think Chris felt more at peace.

Yay for listening to God and being proactive. God, you rock.

Little Update

WOW this has been a busy couple of weeks! I finally have a day of and all to myself today! YAY! I have been sitting on my couch cuddled up in a fluffy blanket all day, drinking pink lemonade and watching trash tv. I have been sooooo exhausted for a while now because of work, keeping up the house and other commitments, and haven't really had time to recharge. Last night I fell asleep at 9:30pm, and I didn't wake up until 9:30 THIS MORNING!!! I can'e believe I slept 12 hours. Needless to say, I feel great today.

Since I last blogged, my godson, Caedmon, had his first birthday, Chris and I spent a blissful day at the Botanical Gardens, and we had a wonderful Easter celebration at my sweet grandma's house with lots of family.

Here are a few pictures from Chris and my little botanical adventure.













Have a Terrific Thursday!

Thirsty Thursday

This is a countdown of a few of my favorite beverages to date.

5. Apple Juice
4. Sweet Leaf Tea: Half and Half
3. HEB's Organic Original Soy Milk
2. Jamba Juice's Banana Berry Smoothie
1. Sonic's Sweet Tea

I have such a thirsty mouth and am ALWAYS drinking something. These are some of my favorite things to drink right now(besides water, of course).

Have a great evening and drink something yummy!

Sunday Picnic

Today Chris and I slept in instead of going to church. We had a pretty busy week, and had some friends staying with us for a few days. I woke up at about 11am to my husband sneaking back into bed behind me, holding me tight, and kissing the back of my head and my shoulders. He asked if everything was okay, and if I was feeling alright. I think lazy mornings are my favorite pastimes with Chris. We don't get those very often because of our busy work schedules; so when we actually do, I really cherish them. Around 2 o'clock, Chris and I went for a stroll in the neighborhood and talked, and enjoyed the beautiful sunlight. There is definitely something to be said for sunlight affecting a person's mood. I would like to think that I am a pretty happy person, but just being in the sunlight was intoxicating, and made me feel GREAT! Shortly after our walk, Shelly (my sister in law) and her friend Laura met up at our house, and we all piled up in my car for a day trip to Austin. Chris's older sister and her hubby had a picnic at their house to announce their baby news to all of their friends and family. About 30 people showed up. Roger and Kristi made some homemade fried chicken, and sides, and about 4 pies. Needless to say, we ate really well!!! It was a perfect day in their backyard.

Side Note: Chris and I saw "The Knowing" with some friends on Friday and it was PHENOMENAL!!!!!! It was a great plot, with some interesting camera angles and very artistic elements. The movie itself was very spiritual in that it would touch you in some way no matter what you believe about life and the after-life. It is definitely a must-see.

Love Love Love

Just taking a stroll down memory lane. What a great journey this has been. :)

The Motions

Today on my way home from work I was listening to K-Love (which I have a love hate relationship with). Usually I am not interested in a lot of the songs they play. I am not a big pop music fan in general, and when I hear Christian pop music, I want to tear my hair out. Anyway, I heard a new song by Matt Redman called "The Motions" and WOW! This song explains how I want to live my life in about three minutes. I never want to get caught up in motioning through my life, particularly my relationship with God. I want to always have a consuming desire for Christ and never forget how desperately I need him. I wrote the lyrics down below. Read them, listen to the song, and pick out what you need.



This might hurt
It’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care
If I break
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just ok
Is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

No regrets
Not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love
Make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something

Take me all the way
Take me all the way
Take me all the way

My day off.

I had the day off from work today and I enjoyed every (well, almost every) moment of it. Last night I thought to myself, "Oooo, its my day off tomorrow, I wanna sleep in until 10am.." So much for that: I woke up at 8:30, then 9:00...and laid in bed until 10am. I got up, showered, and then went to the pharmacy to pick up my Nuvaring. At noon, I met my sister-in-law, Shelly, for lunch at Chili's. They have this fantastic lunch special called "The Express Lunch" or something like that. It consists of all-you-can-eat chips and salsa, soup, and salad. It was soooo yummy. After that, Shel and I decided to get the choco-chip paradise thing...super yummy. I had SUCH a good time with her. We really haven't spent much time together since before she moved back to town(which was almost a year ago!!). I love being with her. She makes my heart happy.

After lunch, I went up to the mall (ha...I was about to spell my name) and shopped around a bit. I bought some cute gold sandals and a sexy secretary black collared-shirt (not to be worn together). I would have shopped longer, but the cute red heels I was wearing were hurting my baby toes. Lol. After leaving the mall, I went over to Nikki's house to work out....that was fun! We talked about all the upcoming birthdays.

I got home a little later and then Chris and I made a cobb salad for dinner. Today would have been perfect if it wasn't for the constant power struggle between Chris's mom and sister that they insist Chris be in the middle of. Honestly...they ask him to "mediate" and then get angry with him when he gives them level-headed unbiased answers. Anyway, just say a little prayer because there are going to be a lot of changes in the next coming weeks.

Side Note: Chris's oldest sister, Kristi (who is not involved in the family drama) is pregnant! Yay!!!!