Merry Christmas!

This week has been a week of really really good gifts!

First of all...I finally finished 3rd quarter, passing with all A's!
I am so thankful that it is over and I am greatly enjoying this little mind break!

Second...my Dad GOT A JOB!
For those of you who do not know, my dad has been out of a job for just shy of 2 years.
It has been a difficult trial but my parents have been so trusting and relying on God to provide
and he has proved very faithful over these 2 years.
The story of how Dad got the job is amazing and I would love to share that with you sometime!
To God all the Glory and Praise!

THIRD...we are celebrating receiving the best gift of all, JESUS!
Our biggest problem was taken care of when this little baby was born.
OH HOLY NIGHT!

It has been so fun sharing Jesus with Norah and watching her as she gets excited when we tell her that Jesus is born and what he did for us and why he was born.

{She also loves the part when we tell her that we give gifts because God gave us the BEST gift, and she says "Yes... let's give toys!"}
...Love her...

Merry Christmas

grrr snow!!

I cannot believe it is snowing so much during FINALS week!
I just want this quarter to be over so I can start enjoying the Christmas season
...shop, wrap presents, make Christmas gifts, and all of the things of Christmas...

Instead I am waiting to figure out when I am making up 2 finals I have missed!

It is so hard to be in the Christmas spirit with these 2 important tests looming over my head.

I love Christmas, I pray these tests are scheduled and passed sooner rather than later
so I can enjoy the Christmas Season!

too cute!

This is too cute to not share...

NC and I were in the car and we were talking about Thanksgiving

...what it means, why we celebrate it

and I started telling her things I am thankful for.

Then I asked her what she is thankful for...

and she said, " ummm..."

1. Milk

2. Zoo Babies

3. mommy

{I made the top three!}

Anyway, I pray that someday she makes the connection between how awesome it is that God provides constantly and faithful for our needs {like milk}

and God's grace is seen through amazing creation {like zoo babies!}

Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving...

its the little things

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I have been studying and studying...and I cannot get my mind off CHRISTMAS!

I long for the day I can trade in my Pharmacology book for Christmas Carols
and early mornings of studying for long nights of wrapping presents

I have four more weeks of school and they cannot come soon enough

Nursing school is hard {not that I wasn't expecting it to be}
but I think the hardest thing about it is wanting to do other things but stuck studying
I have to keep reminding myself it is worth it, it is!

I did get to do something Christmasy today
Joe and I have been married for 6 years and we have never hung Christmas lights
{not my choice}
Well today...I did it, with my parents help, while Joe is at work!

It was soo fun, I cannot wait for it to get dark to see how it looks!

So despite school, Christmas is on its way!
I personally cannot wait!

just another manic monday

Today was crazy....as usual.

...But I just had to take some time away from studying {as if I need any encouragement} to tell you about my new FAVORITE show on HGTV.

It's called:Her name is Sarah of course.
The premise of the show is she finds a house that needs renovating and each episode she is fixing up a different room in the house.

I love it because her taste is exquisite.
I believe she is in her 3rd season.
I have seen parts of Season 2 when she fixed up a house from the 60's.
This was my favorite room in that house, the living room.
I love the soft colors and the hint of crystal and class.
As we are redoing our den upstairs this room has been in the back of my mind the entire time.
How cute are those little benches.

The third season she is renovating a farmhouse.
It makes me want to move to the country {again} and live life in an old beautiful house.
She added onto the house and all of the episodes I have seen I have loved.
This is the bathroom she redid today on the show.
Those sinks were dressers they found and turned them into sinks...
I am totally doing that someday!

Anyway...keep your eyes peeled to HGTV and check out "Sarah's House".

.overwhelmed

---"I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed...but can you just be whelmed?" -Name that movie!---

I am not underwhelmed or whelmed...

I am OVERwhelmed, with school!

They said third quarter was a toughy and I must say they are living up to that promise.

God has been so gracious to give me an awesome husband who cooks dinner, cleans bathrooms, and loves Norah so well.

Without Joe Nursing school would not be possible!

okay...that was my little tiny break from studying, now back to work!

{did you get the movie yet...it is "10 Things I Hate About You"}

our trip

We recently went on a vacation to visit Joe's dad in Cocoa, Florida. It was relaxing and busy all at the same time!

We went:

1. On an Airplane

2. Disney World's Magic Kingdom

3. NASA space center

4. THE BEACH

5. ...and lots and lots of shopping!
This break I also finished our den upstairs, someday I will post pictures!

Tomorrow I go back to school...Quarter number 3, whoohoo!!
Wish me Luck

'over the taupe'

I don't know if it is just me but I never use ALL of the nail polish I purchase before it goes all gross and sticky and useless!

Well...my favorite nail polish has recently reached this fate and
I must say
I have been living in denial.

I keep putting it on...it has been uneven and bubbly and completely awful for months but I have not been ready to give the bottle up!

Every time I walk past an O P I seller I have to go in and look for "over the taupe"

I have been searching for months!...but. no. luck.

Then the other day I was walking through the Dilliards salon and decided to stop-

AND THERE IT WAS! Seriously, I almost flipped out...maybe a little "over the taupe" but I didn't care, I am thrilled.

Now I can gladly throw away the old bottle and enjoy the smooth evenly coated fresh one!

~ahhhh~

one more day!

Whew....well it has gone by fast but I am one skills/assessment lab away from completing
Quarter 2 of Nursing school!!!

I am really excited to take a little break from studying, writing, and constantly being confused about EVERYTHING I am learning!

On this break I plan to:

1. finish painting the den upstairs and hang the curtains that I took to my seamstress today

2. Take a nap

3. Work a ton in the bakery (as usual)

4. Go to Disney World. more importantly visit Joe's dad in Cocoa Florida and go to the BEACH!

my love/hate relationship

Fall and I have a Love/Hate relationship

There are soo many things I LOVE about fall!

The Textures

The Sights

The Tastes

The smells!

{I absolutely love making pumpkin pies and cakes

with the nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon!}

The colors and the smells are truly magical!

HOWEVER...

There are two things that make the arrival of fall bittersweet!

I hate to see summer left behind and I really hate to see winter arrive.

Why does such a great season like Autumn have to come before winter?

...I guess it is a little gift that is given before the beasts of snow and ice arrive!

I am excited for all of the fun activities like bonfires, pumpkin patches, football games, and sleeping with the windows open but I am just not ready to let another summer go just yet!

'our home'

Joe and I appreciate our house soo much!

I think almost everyday we say how much we love our home...

i think we appreciate it so much because we lived in many places that did not feel like

"home"

before we were blessed with our home!

We have been hard at work in our home again...

we have officially finished our half bath upstairs

{some day I WILL take a picture}

We are redoing the den upstairs and adding other touches to other rooms!

When I came across this picture in an email from a dear friend I realized that this picture is the epitome of what I want my house to feel like!

{We also love to have people over so if you are reading this consider it an open invitation!}

Happy 3 day weekend!

A three day weekend...what a joy!

The weekend was started off last night with an Alias night
with Jessica, Andrea, and Erin...WE love Alias nights!

This morning NC and I woke up early and made some delicious
Lemon Poppy Seed muffins

Then we went outside to paint our garage door...it looks great!

Then I primed my dresser that has been in our room forever...and it was hideous!

When Joe gets home from work we are going to go to Home Depot to buy:

1. Grey paint for the dresser
2. new knobs
3. paint for den upstairs that we are re-doing
4. hopefully a new storm door

Then we are going to go to JoAnn Fabrics to buy the fabrics
for new drapes and pillows for the den!!

Tonight we are going out with friends to celebrate Jessica's birthday!! yay!!

Tomorrow I am sure we will do a lot of Norah's new favorite pastime:

Cajun loves the swing set too!

Tomorrow we are also celebrating Joe's moms birthday at Buca di Peppo's

Then we have a "free" day on Monday...oh the possibilities!

Did I mention I have finals week coming up, I guess I should fit in some studying also!!

life is hard...God is good!

Our pastor has been going through a 4 week sermon series on the will of God. If you want to check it out, I would highly recommend it...www.graceky.org.

Today he talked about that in the New Testament after the gift of the Holy Spirit is given, the idea of looking for the will of God is never mentioned because we KNOW the will of God. God desires for us to glorify him in wherever we are...

whatever we are doing!

He of course struck a cord when he said that the more steady, regular doses of the Word of God we study the more in the will of God we will be.

Life is hard...but we are so blessed to have a God who loves and cares for us.

As time passes the more I feel myself longing for Heaven when...

MY FAITH WILL BE SIGHT!

But for now...I will settle for a steady regular dose of His word to live by.

your trash is my treasure!

My house is full of great finds that are found at the end of the street on garbage nights!

Here are a few of my favorite new things that people throw away!!

Their loss is my gain!!

{I cannot wait to have time so I can actually fix up these pieces. }

This is a secretaries desk!! What a great find!

I have been searching for a little table to go in out recently renovated bathroom!
I will paint this puppy white and it fits perfect in there!

unexpectedly fun evening in the country

On Saturday night I had to travel to Indiana to interview a family friend for a school paper
and it unexpectedly turned into a super fun night!!

I conducted the interview on my handy dandy "netbook" as we drove to Oldenburg Indiana

Home of....Well I am not sure, but we were going for dinner!
I finished the interview at dinner and everyone enjoyed a home cooked
Fried Chicken Dinner

* at dinner there was this old man and his wife sitting at the table next to ours. The wife was in a wheelchair and the sweet sweet husband fed his wife her supper. it was sooo precious how much he truly loved her! old people love is the best!

After dinner we stopped by a local "Whippy Dip" to have some delicious soft serve
with sprinkles!

After dinner we stopped by a local produce stand and bought
the sweetest yummiest Cantaloupe you can imagine!
{Little side of the road produce stands are the best!}

When we arrived back at our friends house we built a bonfire
and roasted marshmellows!

It was a lovely evening of doing fun summer things!

I could say it a million times...
Life is really about living for a BIG God while
experiencing the little things!

*Thanks for reading, have a great week!

"things that make you go....ahhhh"

So a beautiful friend sent an inspiring email today full of
so many things that I instantly feel in love with
~so I am sharing it with you~

{Love you Fran}

{please forgive me if I am stealing your pictures
I don't have any sites where these were found}

all twisted up

I am not really one to sit around and make things in the kitchen {especially in my time off from the bakery} but certain recipes come along that I cannot resist giving a try.

This is one of those recipes

I found it on a blog listed below and it is for soft pretzels. I must say they tasted really good and were super easy to make! Follow the simple steps below and tell me what you think!

Step 1: Dissolve 4 teaspoons of dry yeast into 1 1/4 C water and 1 tsp sugar. Let sit until creamy, about 10 minutes

Step 2: Combine 5 cups flour, 1 tbs oil, yeast water mixture, and 1/2 cup sugar in kitchen mixer bowl.

Step 3: Using a kitchen mixer with a dough hook, knead for about 10 minutes.

Step 4: Let rise 1 hour in a greased bowl.

Step 5: Take chunks and roll into long ropes. About 12-18 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide.

{Here is Joe helping with Step 5}

Step 6: Shape rope into pretzel and set aside.


Step 7: Once all pretzels are shaped dip them into a solution of 1/2 c baking soda and 4 cups hot water.

Step 8: Put onto greased cookie sheet and dust top with sea salt. {I also put a cinnamon/sugar mixture on half of the pretzels with the salt to make some sweet and salty!}

Step 9: Cook in 450 degree oven until browned, about 8 minutes.

ENJOY!

http://cagefreemonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/11/tutorial-homemade-soft-pretzels.html

...it's been awhile!

Wow...I cannot believe how long it has been.

I have so much to blog about but so little time.
I have also missed reading my favorite blogs...I think my problem is I go to sleep
WAY too early
I wish I had more time in the day to read and write and see all that people are up to!
...Maybe someday...

So I don't even know where to start
I will start with the good stuff
VACATION

We went to Hilton Head and we took along some Hilton Head newbies with us
My sister Andrea's husband Dave had never been on a vacation with us
My mom's sister Angie and her husband Pete also tagged along!

It was a great trip
WE love HILTON HEAD!
We always rent a house with a pool...walk to the beach everyday
we ride bikes to starbucks every morning
play games
laugh a TON!!
eat good food
take naps in the pool on rafts

IT IS FANTASTIC!
More blogs to come...I have a lot to talk about!