Marital Bliss...

Its been 9.5 months since andrew and i said i do. Its been really great and challenging and i want more! haha Its funny cause as you know if you are married, marriage is a bit different then what you picture or think in your mind. Having watched my friends while i was single, and their honesty with me about marriage helped, but still you have a rose colored view of it and when you get into it its better and different the you imagined.

We have a couple friend who have been married for 15 years and had a desire to start a 'small group' of just married couples. They asked us and 3 other couples to come once a month so they could discuss and help us in our first years so that when we get to year 15 we won't be like 'wish i had known that earlier'.

Each week we 'test' ourselves on something and then we have homework from that. The couples are all early 20's and longest married is year in a half, and shortest is 6 months. We all come from different walks in life, and enjoy our time together. The group is open and honest and we all desire to WORK at our marriages.

I am very thankful for this group!

Veggie and Fruit Co-OP

So my new adventure in cooking is joining a veggie and fruit co-op! We got our first package yesterday and it was like christmas time for me all over!! I am splitting it with my friend in the neighborhood and this is what we EACH got...2 fresh tomatoes, head of lettuce, leek, spaghetti squash, kiwi, bag of oranges, bag of potatoes, 4 apples each, broccoli we split, 12 bananas we split, something i don't know what it is...and i think thats it :)

I ate a FRESH salad last night, made one for today, looked up recipes on the spaghetti squash and leeks. The freshness of them is amazing! The kiwi is, as andrew said, PERFECT! I am excited to cook and develop my cooking skills :) It is so nice knowing that you are paying $25 for fresh straight from the farm veggies and fruits! Its almost as exciting as if i grew them! haha

If you have any great recipes for the things mentioned please share :)

Her Treasure

Just started reading thru Luke, not really sure why but that is where i am now. :) If you have grown up in church you know the second chapter my heart. You know all the players and their lines. It seems like God's word does a dance with you when you read it. Each time you are not sure which dance it is but different spins and steps lead you to see different people, events or words stick out no matter how many times you have read it.

This time verse 19 and 51 stood out in our dance. 'But mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart." -after the birth of jesus. 'His mother treasured all these things in her heart'- after she lost jesus and found him in the temple. Not sure if there are any other times written in scripture of her treasuring things...i will find out....but i bet her treasure box was huge as the mother of jesus...with sad and happy things.

Then i thought about my life and all the things i have treasured thru out my 'short' life. Whether it is great friend, moments of travel beauty, learning something new, seeing something beautiful in others, or a new revelation of God. Our treasure boxes are big too! God is so faithful and true we don't always treasure them. What treasuring means to me, is you take a moment and 'mental picture' what is happening and write a caption. Good or bad. Its something you never will forget. God never forgets us!

I am challenging myself to treasure more, to look for God more. So my box can be big too!

Neighborhood Outreach

Its been on Andrew's and my hearts to reach out to our neighbors, but finding time is like finding a needle in hay stack and its beginning to get to me. I saw that our neighbors across the street had a baby so at my weekly walmart time 3 fridays ago i purchased a bag of diapers. Finally monday night i saw them coming in their drive way, andrew was in the house, so i jetted up stairs and said 'honey they are home lets go!' So we talked with them in the driveway! We know their names and she liked the diapers, it was the kind he was using :)

I am tired of 'not having time' to do things. I am praying for a change somewhere and hoping i can be obedient in this. We have talked about doing a block party, maybe that will happen for realz! :)

Muslim, Jewish Weekend

This past weekend our church had a Multi Faith weekend. Where congregations from a Jewish Synagogue, Muslim Mosque and Baptist church took turns visiting the others 'service of worship'. Our pastor has been given some amazing friends through out the years that only God could give that has affected his heart to teach us to love and respect others, and try to understand them.

Andrew and I didn't make the Jewish service on friday, the time was just difficult for us. We were able to make it to the Mosque on saturday. The people were so warm and welcoming. They greeted you and gave you a small tour, then led you to the food! YUM! i love experiencing other cultures...it just makes God seem so huge! I love hearing others pray in another language too.

These are three distinct religions with very different views. But i know that God loves each of us, and as we all seek HIM he shows us the truth! He revels himself to those seeking HIM. Thank you Lord! There was q&a after every service. Good questions were asked and answered. The men from each of the congregations are very easy going, passionate and loving. Its hard to know what you take away from a weekend like this. I am glad we did it and i look forward to visiting or working with them in the future.

Double Flip Fun

So i got to go to lunch with two of my students that are dear to my heart, NOT MY FAVES, just dear to my heart. We used to meet weekly and we always went to Chilli's. So for old times sake we did again...they had some fun with the coasters :)