Everyday when i come home from work at 5:00...

...I have a couple hours to myself before I leave to pick up Jonathan from work at 7. Sometimes I spend these hours playing my piano and singing (my apologies to the people upstairs for the unrequested daily concert...)

Sometimes I watch mindless tv. VH1 or MTV. "You're Cut Off" has been a recent guilty pleasure.

Sometimes I pick up the apartment, do some laundry, make the bed, etc. Now that all our furniture and decor are in place, I take great pride in keeping our apartment clean. Which reminds me, I've been meaning to post some pics of my new home! I'll have to do that soon.

Yesterday, I started getting dinner ready so we could eat as soon as J got home. New recipe, and very very easy:

1)Thaw and tenderize 2 chicken breasts until they are pretty thin

2)Spread cream cheese on each chicken breast

3)Cut up some green peppers and sprinkle it over the cream cheese

4)roll up the chicken, tuck in the sides

5) wrap each breast in 2 pieces of bacon
6) bake on 350-450 until chicken is 165 degrees (all chicken should be this temp!)

goes really well with a side of green beans and a sweet white wine, in my opinion :)

Anyway, while I hope you enjoy this recipe, our dinner wasn't meant to be the focal point of this blog. What I wanted you to know was this: No matter what I do during those couple of hours, I spend every minute counting the seconds till he's back with me. Yesterday I was just soaking in how much I love being a wife, his wife. I mean I love it. I adore my husband and the life we are building together. I love that he feels like home more than a place ever could. I love that he

appreciates every meal I cook,

laughs at every story I tell,

listens to every word I say,

considers every need I have...

I am so blessed.

UnBELIEVably...

the Blackberry has come back to life!!!

Let me just try to communicate how ridiculous this is.

A synopsis of the series of events:

I drop my phone directly in the toilet. *plunk* I reach in and grab it, but before I can take the battery/sim card out, the screen flashes and the phone dies. I'm at work, so I have to leave the phone as is for several hours. On my PRT ride home, I try to put the battery and sim card back in which resulted in more flashing and dying. I get home and check online for what to do. Step one says, "DO NOT under ANY circumstances reinstall the battery until you have put the phone in rice to dry out as it will short and be permanently ruined." arggg.... I now assume there is no hope. When I get home, I bag some rice and toss in my phone just for kicks. After about a day, I reassemble---still dead. Not even a hopeful "flash" this time. I leave the phone in the bag as I cannot bear to toss it just yet.

Then...

TODAY----

THREE DAYS LATER---

For no reason in particular, Jonathan picks up my phone at breakfast this morning, puts it back together...

AND IT TURNS ON AS IF NOTHING EVER HAPPENED!

ok...i'm trying not to get too excited yet...i know water damage can be a slow moving phone disease,but STILL! I have never appreciated this fine little piece of equipment so much!!!

praises :) thank you Jesus.

Poor little blackberry...

I dropped it in the toilet.
and now it can't make calls or take pictures or occupy me on PRT rides.
And then my work computer got a virus today.
Not a good technological day at all.
:(

Souls knit together...

Kaitlin is home.

Kait followed the Lord's leading and left in the fall of 2008 for Venezuela to minister to college students in Maracaibo. She has been faithfully serving there for the past 2 years and is finally home. Few people are fortunate enough to know a friendship like ours. I am so incredibly blessed by her love for the Lord and her presence in my life.

She's finally home and she's coming to visit this weekend--and I can hardly wait!

*a favorite hangout in 2008, the brick wall outside of our apartment :)*

"Oil and perfume make the heart glad, so a man's counsel is sweet to his friend."

Proverbs 27:9

*My visit to Venezuela during spring break of 2009- It was the first time we'd seen each other since she left*

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

Proverbs 27:17

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."

Philippians 1:3

Preeeeesenting.....

My

first ever

BLOG AWARD :)

( I'm a little bit proud of this, can you tell??)

There are some rules to this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award

2. Share seven things about you

3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs

4. Let your nominees know about the award!

Here goes...

Gracia, Xie Xie, thank you Penny Ann! This award is just lovely :)

7 things:

1-I recently started shopping at Aldi to cut down on the grocery budget. I use recyclable bags and everything.

2-I don't read Harry Potter or Twilight on principle, but I don't doubt that they are addicting.

3-I tried to get my hair to go blond all weekend with lemon juice and Sun-in with less than satisfactory results. I think I might dye it.

4-I'm left-handed which means 70% of what I hand write ends up smeared.

5-I'm unsuccessful at thrift shopping like some people are unsuccessful at fishing.

6-I am more threatened by my peers than by adults.

7-I look terrible in sunglasses.

And I will be passing this blog award to 15 blogs that i quite like:

Dividing Lilies

Crafting Happiness...My Way

the marvelous flight of cara

One Bright Corner

Life. Celebrated Daily.

Alli B Photography

LUXLUCY

Minster Grace

Distributary: To flow away from the main stream

Tea a *HUG* From The Inside

Living a Life of Love

So Far So Great

Joyful Living

Gussying up the Tuttle

A Little Piece of Heaven

Enjoy :)

Thanks again, have a lovely Tuesday all!

Every weekend should be a 4 day weekend :)

What a GLORIOUS weekend!

Friday afternoon I began the trek home with my husband and brother. I was comfortably squashed in the backseat of Ol' Shirley amidst what we HOPE was the last of the clutter we are taking back to store at my parents' house for now. First stop was the Robinson mall to meet up with blogger friend Cara :) What a blessing that turned out to be! Spending time with her was so refreshing and encouraging. It immediately reminded me of a passage I had recently read in Acts about Pentecost. Acts 2:44 says, "All the believers were together and had everything in common." That's how I felt with Cara- we had an immediate connection with each other because we are sisters in Christ- such a deep and beautiful bond. I'm so looking forward to our next meeting!

This picture of us turned out better than I expected, neither of us had cameras with us (bad bloggers!) so Cara took it with her phone!

Then, from Saturday until Monday, Jonathan and I did precious little more than eat, swim, and work on our tans. My aunt and uncle live right next door to us, our backyards connect. Fortunately for us, they recently put in this beautiful new pool!

Elijah and Riane were working on their cannonballs ALL weekend!

While my aunt and uncle were busy installing a pool, my Dad has been busy building this monstrosity. What began as a simple pit in the backyard has turned in a Parthenon. but it makes for some good eatin'! This weekend we had a lamb and 2 top sirloins- yum!

...I wasn't about to miss that greasy hot deliciousness right off the spit, i dove right in!

After a hardy dinner, it was time for some relaxing...

...and then more play time with the kiddos!


...

Last night we ate some delicious Hibachi (my favorite!) with my parents, brother, and brother's girlfriend- our last big weekend "hoorah", and now it's back to reality, *sigh*
:(
At least I have leftovers!

There was one last little surprise however, our new couches were delivered bright and early this morning! I was almost late for work because I was so excited to get everything situated just right. Jonathan's sisters, (now my sisters as well :) are coming over for a couch warming dinner party tonight. Any suggestions on what I should cook??

Oh, and one last thought- I got my supervising attorney hooked on blogging too! go check Mollie's blog out!

Beautiful Things

Who can know the mind of a 5th Grader?

My tech-savvy 1o-year-old nephew was recently asked a series of social interview question on facebook. Ladies and gentelmen, his responses:

Who has changed your life most this year?
No body.

profound.

If you could bring one person back to life who would it be?
Chris Henry

A former wide receiver for the Bengals who was involved in a string of legal troubles during his professional career, including offenses such as driving under the influence, marijuana possession, assault, and criminal damage. Good choice.

How much would you pay to visit the moon?
10 million

reasonable.

What is your greatest fear?
When the lakers beat the Cavs

unreasonable.


Haha! He makes me laugh. I am so looking forward to heading home with Jonathan this weekend to spend some time with the little man and the rest of the fam. J's Dad and sisters are coming in for the 4th too- hurray for large family gatherings, newly installed swimming pools, and giant chunks of meat roasted in the backyard!

Changing gears...

It is a good thing to be able to feel your own heart changing.

Right after the wedding, Jonathan and I both felt ushered into a time of extreme thankfulness in our lives. We became profoundly aware of God's graciousness, faithfulness, and provision. Not only were we seeing our small obedience to God yield infinite blessing, but we were seeing Him redeem sinful, unpleasant parts of our lives and relationship for His glory and our benefit.

But somehow, in the midst of reveling in His goodness, we forgot to trust Him.
What had begun as, "Thank you Lord, for you are good and your steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 118
Turned into, "Thanks for everything God, we can take it from here. Please just don't mess anything up. Don't spring any surprises on us!"

I realized that while we were genuinely thankful, we were trusting in our own comfort and contentment rather than God's deep love and perfect provision.

Recently we've encountered some situations and circumstances that range from slightly annoying, to truly difficult. Just life. And I have found myself beginning to practice true reliance on Christ. I am finding that with each day, I become less attached to the things I want or that I think are best. Please don't misunderstand me-- I have far from mastered this! So often I am selfish and childish in my desire to do things MY way. But God does answer prayers, and He deeply desires for us to become more like Him. And so it is in His nature to honor a request to become disenchanted with sin, so that we can fall more in love with Him.

It is good to be able to feel your heart changing--- because it means Something Greater than yourself, Something Beautiful is actively loving and moving within you. And there is no greater feeling!