Sister time = waffles, coffee and a cute wheelchair dog

Well it is another cold, rainy day outside and Jonathan is gone for the majority of today and tomorrow. Known as drill duty for the Navy. It is one weekend a month where he gets up at the crack of dawn to leave and returns around dinnertime. I don't like it because I miss him dearly during the day but on the other hand I do have time to clean house. Though today is extra special because I get to see my sister!!

Today consists of drinking coffee (as per usual), making chocolate chip waffles with my awesome waffle maker and watching "girly" romantic comedy movies.
Today's feature show is The Back-Up Plan. I must say it is pretty hilarious besides the fact that Jennifer Lopez's acting fails during the dramatic parts of the movie. Plus Cathy is obsessed with "the wheelchair dog".....she wants one of her own lol. No joke about it.

You can't help but love this dog! 

Sounds like a perfect plan to me for being stuck inside on a cold rainy day. Definitely better than studying synthesis reactions or group theory and character tables. That can always wait until tomorrow. 

Come on, everyone needs a break on the weekend :)

Motivation for the gym but not molecular symmetry? Not good.

So this semester, I have a new motivation to go back to the gym. After the holidays and the lovely, yummy, deliciousness food I realized that I need the gym again! Hahaha! It works out a lot better than last semester because my teaching schedule is not that bad.....such a nice break from all the grading EVERY week.
Anyways, since I am motivated and my husband does not have a hard-core workout schedule for me....I actually like going to the gym.
I never thought I would say that. EVER.
Though it does give me a great feeling when I can see the results from it, i.e less stress, more energy, muscle tone (again :) ), losing some weight, building up my core which means no back pain and just feeling good. I like it!

I like the motivation! Now I just need some of that directed toward molecular symmetry and group theory.....ewwww.....especially group theory. Character tables, trying to access 3D eyes of which I don't have, more calculations, I just don't get the point! Ugh. I just want to move onto some industrial catalysis.....that is so much more fun! Macro-scale synthesizing of drugs and agricultural chemicals, I mean how cool does that sound? So cool!
Hey I am trying to have motivation for group theory. I really am. Maybe I could try by teaching Jonathan, that should be fun for me:) or in actual reality I probably should have the mindset of:
"I will be more well-rounded chemist if I learn this to the greatest extent that I can with the resources given to me" maybe then motivation will be the result.
Well we shall see about that.

My little creativity revealed....

I must admit that I have a secret obsession.
It's not an obsession with coffee, for me that is a necessity, a love, a passion. Without coffee my day will not go go well. It's also not an obsession with baking, for me that is a stress reliever, a love to make people smile hobby, an infatuation for chocolate and something for me to enjoy alone. Enough with that. Let's get to the real obsession.
I have an obsession......with Picnik! It's the photo-editing website designed by Google and it is the one place where my creativity shines (the little that I have). I like to make photos better, especially the ones from my old digital camera. Though in all seriousness, my creativity shines in making memories out of the pictures. It's like my way of telling a story through the words I put in the picture or the collage that I make.

Here are a few of my photo creativity designs, I took all of the photos except for two of them....let me know what you think!

Relish in the snow days....and everyday

I have been thinking about the weather and I came to notice that we have had a lot of snow in just two winters.....the most snow I have seen since I was, maybe 4 years old. It's unbelievable, especially for the "triad" since we are right in the center of the state and usually snow is always around us. North, south, east or west. It never fails to happen. until recently.
Between last winter and this winter season, we have already had 7 big snows. The last one was just Monday and Tuesday which were the first days of the semester. Thus no school = Awesome!

Tuesday was my favorite because it was the first day since the honeymoon that me and the hubby got to sleep in, not worry about anything and just enjoy the snow day. For us there was breakfast in bed, peaceful shopping at the outlets, a beautiful sweet romantic dinner out and ending with a movie in our apartment. It was great, I loved every moment of it :). Most importantly we enjoyed each other's company in a way that it was completely focused. Thoughts weren't going in a million different directions, stress wasn't building up with every move that was made or with every word passing the lips. Rather, thoughts were still and clear, stress had ceased thus every word, every action brought relaxation and joyfulness.
I didn't want the day to end....I wanted to apply a freeze-frame and just sit there in the moment and relish in it.

Thinking on it now, I pray that I apply it to everyday not just the snow days or the honeymoon days. I wish that at the end of everyday I can look back on what I did that day....what I said, the look I had on my face, the feelings or thoughts I had at different moments.....and smile.
A smile that says, I was living my day in order to show Christ and glorify God through the words I chose, the decisions I made and the acts of  love I expressed to my husband.
A smile that is thankful for having another day to experience with my husband, another day to experience God's grace working in my life, another day to teach and show others about God's grace in the midst of the God-less society, another day to simply learn more.
A smile that says "I want to apply a freeze-frame and relish now as long as I possibly can."

First Christmas!

It's our first Christmas together as a married couple! I love the sound of that :)

Well, today is Christmas Eve and since we have so much family to go see today and tomorrow we decided to have our gift giving this morning.
It was so cute, perfect, and incredible. Even though it didn't last long and it was simple, I was happy because it was OUR christmas together! The little moments, looks, and surprises are what I cherish the most.
I am not going to have a play-by-play of what happened this morning but I will share my favorite moment....I was opening my gifts and the last one had a note with it. It was simple and something that Jonathan just put together at the last minute (hehehe) but I liked it. It read
"Remember that I love you. Love you!"
It made me smile :) So I proceeded to open the box....
It was a beautiful gorgeous silver necklace that had a small teardrop pendant that said "LOVE".
While I was opening it he said to me, "everytime you wear this always remember that I love you!"

It was a beautiful, Perfect moment.

More to come tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. Let the Christmas rejoicing, celebrating, and gift giving begin!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and all rejoice the birth of our King because that is the real reason for celebrating Christmas!!

coffee....

Oh yes, I got him into drinking coffee.....I am AWESOME! hehehehe :)
Tate Street Coffee. Our favorite place. Many memories were made there. Now I want coffee.....

Grace Revealed....these days everyone is in need of knowing this

"Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.

Cheap grace is
grace without discipleship,
grace without the cross,
grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.

It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.

It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us."