I Am the Cute One, She's Just My Sister

As part of her Christmas present to us, Michelle came home to visit this past week! We had a great time just hanging out as one big family again! I am so proud of her for growing up and doing what she has always dreamed of, but I hate not getting to see her very often. It sure does make her visits just that much more special though!

Can't wait until Chris and I can finally go and visit her in sunny California...hint hint hubby!

Other than seeing Michelle a few times this past week, nothing too exciting is happening in our family. I am loving my new job and the extra time it gives me to be with husband. I am also training for a half marathon which I will run April 27! I am super excited but also nervous about training for 16 weeks and then running for over 2 hours straight...yikes! Chris is looking for a new job so we are praying God will lead him to the perfect job! Loving this phase in our lives.

Dear Zeppelin

Please remember you are a dog. Dogs sleep in the floor or at the very end of the bed. Not on mommy all night. Thank you!

What Love Is Not

I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday to pick up a few supplies for a craft I am trying to finish. While I was there, I saw this sign...

 

And it made me mad. Really mad. Like so mad I had to walk back to the aisle and take a picture of it so I could talk about it on here.

 

To me, it makes complete sense while 50% of marriages end in divorce. From the time we are kids, we are inundated with things that tell us something similar to this. So when we grow up and fall in love, we go into it with unrealistic expectations. Because as wonderful and amazing as love is, it is anything but easy. It takes work, dedication, and lots of time. I love my husband more than anything in the world. Which means, no matter what happens I will be there by his side through it all. But life isn't easy. People die, lose their jobs, struggle with health issues, and all other kinds of things Satan throws at us. Staying by someones side through an addiction, or an affair, or even just a job loss is one of the hardest things can do. But people do it everyday because of love. Parents sometimes have to sit back and watch their children make bad decisions, and I can only imagine how unbelievably hard that must be. But parents let their children make mistakes so they can learn and grow. And they do it because they love them...even when it isn't easy. God sees us sin daily (make that hourly probably) and yet He still loves us. He tells us that watching us sin breaks His heart. But he forgives us and gives us a million second chances...because he loves us.

 

All this to say, I think it's time we take a stand and teach kids the real meaning of love. Because while nothing about mine and Chris's relationship has been easy, but it has been completely worth it!

Resting In This Today

Future Gardners

This makes my heart happy and my future baby will have a picture like this. Prepare for the cuteness.

Greener Than Elphaba

For those of you who have no idea what this title means, go see Wicked. It is quite possibly the best musical ever. Elphaba is the green witch. There is my explanation.

Okay. So, in my quest to live a healthier lifestyle, I've done a bunch of research. It seems like all of the advances in technology have come with a price. In the past hundred years, new diseases have been discovered, and others have presented themselves in more people or in worse ways than we have ever seen before. Lots of scientists differ on why this really is, but I think it is no coincidence that we fill our homes with chemicals more than we ever have before. Most studies show that the air inside our homes is more polluted than the air in large cities like Los Angeles, NYC, etc. That's insane.

So what does this mean for us? I have been on a quest to find safe, healthy, and cost effective cleaning products. Sure, you can buy expensive ones at the store, but that's not really where I want to spend my money. As of last month, I have been making my own cleaning supplies! I love them and I am very happy with their results. They all use things that are either edible or things that we use to clean our dishes that we eat off of. I am very excited!

I also made our own laundry detergent. This one isn't chemical free, but I know exactly what is in it, and for about $26, it made over 2.5 gallons of detergent. The best part is it only takes a tablespoon each wash! It lasts an average family about a year...yay!

I am so glad that we are able to clean our house without chemicals and save money in the process!

Happy Happy Happy New Years

2012 was a fantastic year! It was our first whole calendar year of being married, we traveled to Detroit and Niagara Falls, Destin, New York, Saint Louis, and Taylorsville Lake,KY. We were blessed to be able to pay off all of our debt, save money, and just enjoy being in the same city again.

 

We wanted to have a quiet New Year's Eve, so we just relaxed at home.

 

 

Resolutions:

Read through the whole Bible (M), get a new job (C), use all natural cleaning products (M), get super healthy so when we are ready to start a family my crohn's disease will be completly under control (M), have theme dinners once a month, and save the money we need for a down payment!

 

Can't wait to see how awesome 2013 is!



Quarter of a Century

I had the most absolutely amazing birthday this year! I've been freaking out about turning 25 for some reason, but I think I am over that mostly. Chris woke me up with breakfast made, tulips, and a sweet card on the table. I had mentioned that I would like to do some random acts of kindness on my birthday, so he had put cash in the card so I could give out lots of money to the homeless paper people...too bad I didn't see any of them the WHOLE day. That just means I will get to do it for a few days. I had to go to work, but my coworkers got me a card, cookies, and a cute book. Even though I am so new, they have all done everything they can to make me feel welcome! After work, we went to birthday dinner with my parents at the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown. It was so yummy!

 

After dinner we headed back to our apartment for presents and cake. Dad took pictures on my new camera for me and I love the way they turned out! Can't wait to learn how to use it!



 

Chris got me the coolest present! We get to go to a private food and wine cooking class for just the two of us! I am super excited to do it and I think I really like the idea of getting trips or experiences than presents. I'm hoping this is a tradition we keep up in the future!

 

I even got a card from Zeppelin that said, "You're how old? Wow, in dog years that's like...nevermind." Too funny!

 

Of course I had my favorite birthday cake! I had to miss out on it last year because of crohns, but it was just as amazing as I remembered! Yummy!

 

 

I got a super cute shirt from Michelle, so I changed while my cake was thawing. I was able to blow out all the candles at once!

 

My family never ceases to amaze me with making me feel so incredibly special on my birthday. This was truly one of my best, and that's saying something because I have had some pretty spectacular ones! Here's to my quarter of a century year!

The Reason For the Season

This year was our year to have Christmas with my family, so the week before Christmas, Kim and Dan came into town to spend a day with us celebrating. We had such a fun time eating, opening presents, and playing a fun new game Chris got for Christmas. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures...what is wrong with me?

 

On Christmas Eve, we both had to work, but I got off in time to go to the candlelight service at my parents church. It is my favorite service of the whole year! We then ate dinner and stayed the night at my parents house. On Christmas Day, we had a great time just hanging with my parents, grandparents, and of course, Zeppelin. We are so incredibly blessed!

 

Our Christmas tree

 Love that dog

Mr. and Mrs. Claus