I'm a proud sister

It's been a busy week and weekend since Jonathan and I returned from Charleston! It started with having to restock the apartment with food, get Beth back from our friend who was watching her, she has grown so much in that one week time frame. Then it was trying to establish a routine of getting to work early with the addition of a puppy. Still working on that one. At the end of all that, there were parties to attend which included lots of good food, friends and family.

We were partying because.....
First, my youngest brother Mark graduated from high school on Thursday! He is now heading off to NC State to pursue a degree in Graphic Design from the College of Design.  Mark has grown up into a great man who has a love for Christ, a love for ALL people, a love for his family, but most importantly he has a servants heart. Mark has been blessed with an artistic gift that simply amazes me every time he puts his paintbrush to the canvas. The result is simply beautiful, simple, yet complex. He sees every detail in the picture he is recreating- may it be from a photograph, a landscape or just what he sees through his eyes which is equality, joy, love, hope, hurt, struggle, and the beauty of God's creation.
I know he will be great and do great things in the future wherever God may lead his life. I am so proud of him!

Then, my oldest brother John, who just got recently ordained, is now a head pastor of a church in Lexington, NC. This is a great accomplishment for him and a huge stepping point in his life. I am so proud of him!

Also, my brother-in-law, Daniel turned thirteen on May 21st! We celebrated his birthday like last year where lots of his friends come over and play air-soft war against Jonathan and I cook the fabulous cookies for the boys and the family. [Air-soft war is not the same without the real-life Soldier, Jonathan! :)]
 I have been blessed with in-laws who love and support me just like my family does. It has been fun watching Daniel grow up since I have known him and I look forward to watching him grow up into the man that God wants him to be. I am proud to be Daniel's sister-in-law!

Food, coffee, how I have missed thee

Can you imagine not being able to eat real solid food? Not being able to drink your favorite coffee or tea for almost a week?
Let me tell you it is not good. Especially because I love cooking, baking, eating healthy, and mostly my caffeine boost in the morning.
I know how it feels because I have been dealing with food poisoning since Sunday afternoon. (I think I got when Jonathan and I went out for dinner on Saturday night.)
I have had to only drink liquid calories like milkshakes, fruit smoothies, soup, etc. with in a few crackers and pieces of bread thrown in. All those things are not my favorite foods, I really don't like too much of any of those. I want REAL FOOD like fresh veggies and fruit, meat, a salad, cheese, etc.
Last night, I had to drink a milkshake and chicken noodle soup instead of the yummy meatloaf, steamed veggies and twice baked potatoes that my mom made for dinner. I was craving the meatloaf so bad! It looked delicious.

Though as of today, I can feel it getting better! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with a real meal awaiting me on the other side of the bright light. I am planning to take it easy these next couple of days so that I will be able to enjoy a wonderful, special meal with my husband in Charleston, SC! 

Only one more day of work until I am on a plane to go see Jonathan again!

These days have made me realize why cooking your own meals at home is so important for your health. You know how it is prepared, how to prepare it properly, and you know every ingredient in the meal. If it is done properly, there is a smaller chance of getting food poisoning or even worrying about how many calories you are consuming in one meal at a restaurant. Also cooking your own meals is more fun, a good stress relief, a money saving investment but most importantly you know it is going to be healthy and that is a good feeling!

Now I want to know your input....

Do you enjoy cooking at home or going out to eat more often?

Do you like to cook healthy or old-fashioned style like Paula Dean? (Paula loves her butter!)

Jonathan and Beth: Double the Surpise

Meet Beth, our new German Sheppard puppy! Isn't she cute?! Jonathan and I just absolutely love her. 

Beth is just one of the two amazing surprises I got this weekend! 

First, Jonathan surprised me on Friday when he called to tell me he was coming home for the weekend! I was so excited, so overwhelmed with joy, that I skipped the entire way home! :) My dad thought I was going to break out into song because I was carrying my tote bag and my "Mary Poppins" umbrella. He arrived that night and I ran out to hug him just as he was getting out of the car. 

There is no way I could entirely express in words how much I had missed him that week as well as how much he missed me. It was definitely a great Saturday for both of us because we got to spend the entire day with each other. Though this morning we had to say our goodbyes again because he has to go back for another week. It was hard parting again but I know that I only have 4 more days until I fly down to see him. 

Now let's talk about my second surprise, Beth. 

We were told about Beth from one of Jonathan's friends when he called on Saturday wanting to know if we wanted a dog. This dog had followed a girl home one day with no tag or sign of a family. She took her to the vet and found out that she was a German Sheppard and only 4 weeks old. Normally puppies don't leave their mother until 8 weeks old which implied that she was abandoned or dropped off on the side of the road. 

It just broke my heart hearing about that. Why would anyone want to abandon puppies like that?!

After meeting her and hearing that she needed a good loving home, we said YES! We had already been wanting a dog for a while but had decided just to wait. Though when this offer came up we took it without question. 

We are both so glad that we were able to get her! She is cute and small right now but just in a few months she will be really BIG! I am excited about that because I like big dogs. 

Here are a few more pictures:

She immediately started playing with Jonathan's toes when wearing his Five fingers! 

We got her a stuffed bunny to play with and cuddle with when she sleeps. 

So cute when she sleeps! :)

Positively Productive.

Productive is the title because that is what I have been today even considering the fact that I have only ONE cup of coffee this morning at 6:35 am. Wow, I am good.
My productive day has already contained hitting up the gym in the early a.m, walking home, doing some laundry followed by heading into lab to get some reactions completed. Now, I am waiting on the files from my computer to finish copying to my back-up drive....something I have needed to do for a few weeks now.
It is slow because I have a lot of files containing various pictures, a large library of music, scientific software, data and of course my school work and research. These are all very important to me and I must save them because you never know when a computer will crash and burn on you....

Anyways, at the end of the day or at moments I slow down from being busy, I realize that when I have my mind set on what I have to do, there is so much which doesn't even cross my mind. In particular, I don't think about how much I miss Jonathan or about how in an hour I won't be going home to fix dinner for the both of us then spill to him about what happened in lab but instead I will be going to my families house.
All the emotions, the twists and turns that follow those initial thoughts are both good and bad.
Good: it shows how much I love him, how much I cherish his company, and shows that he is my best friend because I tell him EVERYthing. He knows my thoughts, he understands me and I feel weird being without him.
Bad: those thoughts can lead to being sad all the time, not enjoying time with my family, and ultimately not putting my trust in the Lord.

So, I guard my heart and my mind for when those thoughts of missing Jonathan come in because they come in often.
I guard my heart and my mind through prayer. Putting my trust in the Lord to keep him safe, to keep me strong, and that the Lord open up my eyes everyday to what He is doing in my life, Jonathan's life, and our marriage.
I guard my heart and my mind by seeing the Lord's blessings and being thankful.
I guard my heart and my mind by anticipating the next phone call so I can tell him about my day but mostly anticipating May 20th because I will be flying down to join him and be able to hug him again. :)

Mixed Emotions

How can it be that I am feeling both happy and sad this week? 
Well, let me tell you....
On one hand, I'm happy because I am BACK TO THE GYM! Back to my normal 4-5 days a week in the gym with more motivation than I had at the beginning of the semester. I'm trying new forms of cardio and swiching up my strength training again.....my body sure is feeling it but I love it! :
Feeling the sweat, the endorphins running through my blood stream, but mostly the intense energy I get after working out feels amazing. Oh how I have missed all of that in the last month (or two?).

On the other hand, I am sad because I know I only have two more days with my husband before he is going to be gone for 2 weeks. :( It is the annual training for the Navy Reserves and I know I will miss him so much!
Though I am staying positive by remembering that 2 wks is nothing compared to what many other military spouses go through and that I am blessed to be able to fly down there the last weekend he is there and drive back with him. So I am spending as much time with him as possible before he leaves :).
Cherishing every moment.
Yesterday was good because we spent the ENTIRE day together! Literally. Just sleeping in late and being lazy then running errands, going to the gym, and ending the day with renting a movie. It was a much needed day and I loved every minute of it.
This weekend will be busy for the both of us because he has drill duty but this time I get to tag along because it is "Family Weekend".
It will be interesting for me because it is my first! Details to come.....

Revamping the old

Yes, I have been changing the design of my blog because I realized that it didn't reflect who I was or at least what I was writing about. I needed to revamp the old and make new....not just the look but also the title.
So I went on a quest to find the right look for my blog and the right name.
Let me tell you, it went through A LOT of changes before now but I think I finally settled on what is truly my design, my interests and what I tend to write about the most.

Let me know what you think!
I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday! :)

Did your blog go through many changes before settling on what it is currently?

Forgiveness with a side of Earl Grey Shortbread cookies

God gives you Christ as the foundation of your marriage."Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God" (Romans 15:7)....Don't insist on your rights, don't blame each other, don't judge or condemn each other, don't find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other everyday from the bottom of your hearts. 

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

I am currently reading through John Piper's book, This Momentary Marriage. In this book, he continually references Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the start of every chapter. There are so many quotes that I love but I just had to share one....for right now. It is of particular importance to me recently because I am continually seeing the importance of the words forgiving and forbearing with one another. Marriage is a gift of God given from God to us, it is just a small picture of the amazing blessings that God can give us. 

Though it is not all perfect, beautiful harmony between a husband and wife. I can attest to that and I know that any other married couple can share their own experiences of ups and downs. But that is not the importance of this post rather the importance is where Dietrich says: "God gives you Christ as the foundation of your marriage."

I love the way that Piper emphasizes the importance of how Christ being the foundation leads to how we treat our spouse because as a believer "we are chosen, set apart and loved by God" . These are the roots and thus when we believe it, cherish it, and live it then those actions of love as shown in 1 Corinthians 13 and Colossians 3:12-19 will flourish. That "honeymoon" stage as everyone calls it will only continue to grow but in deeper, more intimate ways. 

Simply Beautiful. Is it not? 
It is something that I am continually growing in everyday as a newlywed, praying that our marriage is God-centered and God-glorified through the decisions we make but mostly in how we love one another through everything, the everyday. 


As a side note: 
Since I am done with classes and my stress level has gone down. I have more time to spend in the kitchen, especially in trying new cookie recipes. 
I found this recipe from Whole Foods and I immediately thought of Mrs. Amber Apple because of her love for Earl Grey Tea. Amber, if you are reading this I hope you try the recipe and let me know what you think! :)


I enjoyed the recipe because it is simple, has good flavor and goes perfect with a cup of tea and coffee! I also was in the mood to try this one because of all the sugar desserts that were consumed over the holiday weekend as well as week following! I was in need of a low-sugar dessert.....So here it is:

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

1/2 c butter, softened

1 Tbsp Whole Trade Earl Grey Tea Leaves, finely ground

1/2 powdered sugar

1 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 8 x 8" pan

2. Beat butter and tea leaves until smooth and creamy

3. Add sugar and beat until smooth

4. Add flour and salt until just combined (it will be crumbly dough, so don't worry)

5. Press the dough using fingers (or a spatula) into the greased pan and bake for 30 minutes

6. Let the cookies cool, then cut into squares and enjoy!