My little bug

Mia was a bumble bee this year for Halloween   She wasnt quite sure what to think about all the people coming to the door.  :)

Fall Break

I hate that I never have time to blog anymore, except when I am avoiding studying (like now).  It feels like not much has happened lately, but that's just because School is on my brain.  But really a lot has been going on.  

Ronnie came for a visit over fall break.  We only had a week together, but it was packed with activities.  We went on a little mini vacation with my family down to Madison  Indiana to Clifty Falls State Park.  It was the perfect place to just enjoy fall.  The colors were beautiful!  We enjoyed shopping on Main Street and checking out the park.

The rest of the week I had school, so, aside from visiting me for lunch, Ronnie got lots of little projects down around the house!  He rearranged the upstairs room, put up a new light fixture in the office, tinted some windows, cleaned the garage, and more little things.  What a help!  I'm so spoiled.  I have such a great husband.  *blush*

All in all, we had such a great time together.  I was sad he had to go so soon.  But hopefully he will be moving home for good sometime soon!  

My crazy cousin

My cousin Stephen came in from New York City to visit us for a weekend.  He was doing some scoping for a movie he is going to be shooting for school.  We managed to hit all the highlights of the surrounding areas as well as hang out a bit.  We took him to Brown County, an apple orchard, Bloomington, and Greenwood (where he grew up), as well as the necessities of midwest life- Steak 'n' Shake and Ritter's.  It was so fun to hang out with him for a bit and catch up on life in general.  Man I miss that kid.

Anyways, he is raising money for his film "Big World" so check it out at http://www.indiegogo.com/bigworldnyu 

Puppy Proof

Well, we hit a bit of a milestone this week.  With Mom out of town and no one to puppy-sit, I had no choice but to leave Mia at home alone all day.  That is one large accomplishment in itself.  Ten hours is a long time for a pup to hold it.  I decided to leave Mia in her new large, soft-sided kennel so she would be able to stretch her legs a bit.  Well, she managed to get out; first via the zipper, then just straight through the side.  When I got home, she was VERY excited to see me.  I think she camped out by the door all day.  BUT this is the look I got when I went to go check her kennel....This is her, "I know I broke it...I'm in trouble" face.  Yup.  Nice large hole in the side of the kennel.  It took everything in me to keep a stern voice and not laugh.  The good news is though, she did absolutely no damage to the house therefore, she earned the privilege of staying out of her kennel while I'm gone from now on. I guess it's that or her tiny kennel since the large kennel is just not puppy proof enough....

 

All in a day's work

After a crazy and extrememly long week, I feel very accomplished.
Here is a quick summary:

• Sat in on the Sunday school class I will be teaching.
• New Roof on the house!  It looks great! 
• My wedding ring is sized, cleaned, soldered, and inspected!
• Rocked 1 quiz, 3 tests, and 3 finals (includes two practicals) (yes, just this week).
• Clean house.
• Clean dog.
• Stocked fridge.
• Letters written.
• Caught up with friends.
• AND BLOGGED!

Complete success.  God has more than multiplied my time this week.  Now I can relax with my family this weekend.   :)

Monday Meals

Mondays are quickly becoming one of my favorite days of the week.  The sting of resuming an early morning schedule is lessened by anticipation of my weekly plans with my friend Katie.  She comes over for dinner on Friday evenings and we try out new dinner recipes.  It is a wonderful way to make sure that we each get a home cooked meal at least once a week, have yummy left overs for lunches, get time to catch up, and it of course feeds my pinterest addiction.  We have had many delicious successes over the past weeks, but I can definitively say that the "baked sweet and sour chicken" (recipe below) is our favorite thus far.  We loved it so much that we made it twice!  It takes a little more prep than some meals but is TOTALLY worth it.  Plus, it doesnt call for any "out of the ordinary" ingredients.  It has been such a blessing to just share life with my life-long friend and encourage each other in our everyday, crazy school schedules and relationships.  *So thankful*

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

from: Life as a Lofthouse

The chicken coating:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt + pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

I know, I know, I'm completely awful... I have been in school for over six weeks now and I have yet to blog one word about it!  I guess the main word is :

BUSY!

Dont get me wrong, I am loving my time in the Clinical Lab Program but it has certainly been stretching and takes all my time.  I wake up at 6am and usually dont get home until 5:30 or 6pm.  Then there is homework to be done and oh, the studying!  ALL my free time is spent studying...  tv, facebook, pinterest, and even cooking are all on hold for the most part.  Mia spends the day at "grandma's house" which she loves and it tires her out for me too.  Anyways, I did want to get it out there that I AM back in school now, it is amazing and very challenging, and I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  I hope to update a little more soon!  

Maximum Organization for Maximum Space

I love organization and lately, closets have been my project.  Tonight I finally finished the office closet!  It was great to really unpack the office for the first time.  Sure the boxes have been long gone, but now I feel like all my scrapbooking and craft supplies are accessible!  

I left the right side of the sliding door closet for hanging clothes should we ever use it as a bedroom, but added shelves to the left side [all by myself!]. 

I had a lot of fun picking out cute boxes to house all my supplies.  :)

The Master Closet was my fist project.  Dad came over and helped me take down the existing shelves, move them up, and add another layer to the bottom.

Now there is plenty of room for Ronnie's clothes when he comes back!

We even let the shelving go above the door to maximize storage space!

So that's what's new around the house.  :)

Pintentional Home

I think a lot of people would agree that Pinterest is a great way to waste time and procrastinate, but it is also a valuable resource. This last week, I have spent my time organizing our new home with the help of Pinterest. It has been fun to try out so many of the cool ideas I have seen on-line. Here are just a few of the things I have been working on.  

Projects:

The inspiration for my bathroom... I needed hooks and found this awesome mirror for above the tub!

With stainless steel fridges somehow not being magnetic (blows my mind), I needed a new solution to hang things in the kitchen.  Planning to fill in with more cork later. 

Room by room checklist; laminated so you can wipe eras.  Find it HERE.

I love my expedite.  Probably my favorite piece of furniture.  This time I used it as a bookshelf in the sitting room. I used this site as inspiration:  7 ways to display books

I also laminated this cool daily to-do.  Find it HERE.

In the Laundry room

For some reason there are no shelves in my laundry cabinets so I used a tension rod.  Also note the Jar for checking pockets.  :)

Homemade Reusable Clorox wipes to replace the pricy ones.  Recipe HERE.  Keep an eye on Dawn concentration- use less if highly concentrated!

Our Prayer Board.  It's a place for all the photos of loved ones to pray for. 

Ticket Frame for the upstairs theater/man cave

Mason Jars:

Match Jar complete with sand paper top.  Note:  only works with strike anywhere matches.

Salt Jar and Caramels (just because I like them)

Pick-a-date jar.  These ideas are color coded by cost (Free, cheap, and expensive).  Taken from many different sites of date ideas. 

Sewing Jar

For the Love of Binders:

Ok, so these are not pinterest... This is just from my own love of organization.

All past college courses organized with syllabi and tests for easy access

All our love notes in one place.  Makes it fun to look back too.

Business Cards all organized!

Boxes!

Everything has a place.

Game Box in the living room

In the works is Office closet organization... all the boxes are there, just need to hang some shelves. 

So that's what I've been up to the last couple weeks.  Can you tell I like Pinterest?  LOL

Scrapbooking and Yummies

Tonight was a fun girls night.  I hosted a Heritage Makers digital scrapbooking party!  It was so much fun learning about something that I am already passionate about- memory saving.  So fun.  Anyways, I also had fun making the spread of snacks for the event which were a huge hit.  So I thought I would share these pinterest treasures.

Cake Batter Fruit Dip

Great on Fruit and Cookies and tastes like Cold Stone Ice cream!  Would also make good cream for sandwiching cookies if you make it thicker with more cake mix.  PS~ This is only a small portion that was left over... forgot to take a pre-party pic of it...

Mix together

• 8oz container of light Cool Whip (thawed)
• 8oz bar of light cream cheese (softened)
• 1/3 cup (or more if desired) box cake mix (I used Yellow, but I've seen others use red velvet or funfetti.)
• A container of sprinkles [reserving a few more for the top]

See original recipe HERE. 

Brownie and Fruit Kabobs

ok, so this was a spin on a July 4th idea that excluded the grapes.  Pretty self explanatory...

• Brownies cut in squares (works best if chilled)
• Marshmallows
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Blueberries
• And of course, Kabob sticks 

See original recipe HERE.

I know I can be a pretty opinionated person.  I think that is the curse of being able to talk before age 18 months.  But I know when to stop and I feel that arguments are a complete waste of time.  Why should I expect you to think like me??  

This whole Chick-fil-A drama has got people piping hot.  I'm  a little unsure why it is an issue at all.  Why should a company get slammed for having an opinion?  A wide spread one at that!?  And what happened to freedom of speech, separation of church and state, and tolerance (because really if you are refusing to eat at a christian restaurant that is willing to serve you, who is really being intolerant????)?  

As a Christian, I support that same view, but like Chick-fil-A, I'm not condemning or judging people who don't think like me (no one was EVER denied service for being gay!).  Now, DO NOT get me wrong on this.  I do not think truth is relative and that sin is only sin to some and fine for others.  I just think matters of the heart should be left to God because I for one am not qualified to pick a fight.  Besides, isn't HIS opinion ultimately the only one that matters?  I am a huge believer in God speaking to people and helping to convict them in their sin.  If someone is truly a Christian, I believe God will convict them.  That is not to say that I cant help shed a little light but it is to say that it is not my job to convince or convict.  I am commanded to love everyone, because maybe there is some truth in "being born gay".... afterall, we are ALL born sinners.  But that is not what we are called to be.  It is not our DNA.  We are called to be holy vessels of Christ and that cant be done if we are too busy arguing, fighting, and condemning.  

So.  All that to say, I went out today to support not only Chick-fil-A, but family values, freedom of speech, and moral standards.  But no, I am not being intolerant or judgmental.  In fact, I leave your sin with you and God, no matter what it may be.  But do me the honor of leaving me and my opinions alone too. 

PS~ Chick-fil-A has been an amazing contributor to the wounded warriors and their families in San Antonio as they provide free meals several time a month and walk the cow around the hospital to cheer up injured soldiers.  It was always a blessing to have that provided meal when we lived in a hotel room with no kitchen.  THAT has eternal value. 

A few of my favorite things

I am IN LOVE with my new kitchen.  Here are a few of my favorite things from an organizational stand point...

Pull out drawers for my pantry and cabinets

Built in china cabinet!

Pull out spice rack

All the Crazy People

A collection of some of my favorite pictures from when my Cousins came to visit. Enjoy!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July with Family and friends this year. After a BBQ at my parents', we headed downtown to see the fireworks. We had great spots this year, too! We sat in a Lilly Parking lot with a great view. Here is just a taste of the fun we had...

A virtual tour

We are all settled into our new place and we have pictures to prove it! Click HERE to see the rest of our pictures via facebook!

Whirl Wind Week

The last week has been a tornado of chaos, but such an amazing adventure. Ronnie and I loaded up the UHAUL with the help of amazing San Antonio friends on Wednesday morning. I was amazed at how quickly we got everything loaded up! We were out of the apartment by about 2pm! I flew out of Texas on Wednesday night and Ronnie and his dad (and Mia) began the 22 hour drive with the UHAUL towing my car. They made great time and made it into Indy Thursday evening.

Closing went without a hitch on Friday morning and by 11:30am, we were unloading the truck with the help of our Indy friends. Now... I have to brag for a second. With all of our amazing help, we were unpacked by mid afternoon and nearly COMPLETELY UNPACKED by evening! I'm talking every room having the necessities unpacked and almost all boxes emptied! Impressive? I thought so. And just in time!

Saturday morning began our nearly nonstop guest hosting with Ronnie's Nana and Grandpa. They stayed through the weekend and my grandma came down from Ft. Wayne to visit too. After a grand time with the grandparents, my Uncle Erwin, Aunt Janett, and cousins Lindsay and Hailey came to stay for a week. We divided them up and my sisters and cousins stayed at our place (Ronnie was very outnumbered). We've had fun with 4th of July fireworks, playing games, and hanging out. It has been a busy first week in Indy, but it has been fun seeing so many relatives and opening up our new home to them for the first time.

Ronnie's Un-Birthday

Ronnie's birthday is not until the end of the month, but since we will be apart for his birthday, I took the opportunity to throw a little surprise birthday party. My family and my uncle's family joined us at Ronnie's favorite eatery... McDonald's. Afterwards, I surprised him with a custom cake from Kim's Kakes with matching cupcakes in a variety of flavors (we can never pick just one). It was a burger filled day and I think Ronnie really liked it. Happy early birthday, love! And thanks again, Kim, for another amazing cake!!

Blessings in chaos

My Amazing friend Amy came down for the weekend last weekend to visit us and her hubby who is in bootcamp. Though our apartment was completely in boxes, we had a great time catching up. She even helped me pack a bit! A real friend doesn't mind the mess. :)

Four Eyes

When I was little, I wanted glasses so bad. I even had a pair of fake ones that I wore often. Lately though, I have been having nightmares about going blind. After months of wondering if I really couldn't see or if it was all in my head, I finally went to the eye doctor. Sure enough, I can't see. So now I own not one but two pairs of stylish glasses thus fulfilling both my dreams and my nightmares I suppose.

Most used phrase lately: I really can see better with these!

Mo Ranch Retreat

Ronnie and I went on our all church retreat up in Hill Country last weekend. It was BEAUTIFUL. We had fun in the sun with our friends and enjoyed relaxing for a change. The teaching for the weekend was on Road trips, which seems so appropriate to our lives. Often we come to a detour, stop, or yield sign that changes the plans we have for our life. But God is ever faithful and ever present if we allow him to be in control. And after all, it's not just about the destination, or else we would just go straight to heaven after we accept Christ; it's the journey here that matters.

Saying Goodbye to Texas

It's been over a year and a half since I moved to Texas and it has become my home away from home. I love our church, our friends, BAMC, and even our little apartment. It took a lot to say goodbye. Our Friends from First Pres took us out to one last Texas BBQ, and man was it delicious! But I think it was the company that made it so spectacular. Thank you all for being such an intricate part of our home in San Antonio!

Prayer Request

As some of you know, we are in the process of buying a house in Franklin Township, Indianapolis and we could use your prayers. Nothing is finalized until closing but until then, there are A LOT of details that need to fall into place. Moving from San Antonio to Indy is a big task and to make it harder, Ronnie will continue to live in Texas for a little while while I go back to school at IU. But God is faithful! Please pray with us as we enter this new chapter of our lives.

Happy Pancakes

We had a very happy dinner tonight. These smiley little gingerbread pancakes made us smile too. :D

It's Summer Time!

Our small group came over for a summer pool party this week, and it was a blast! We hung out by the pool, played racket-ball, and then stayed up late watching the game. It is so fun to entertain and spend time with fun friends like these. :D