Photo Booth

On Sunday night, hubs and I went on a double date with a couple friend of ours. Our friends had a babysitter in town for the week, and they were making every minute count. Well, after a great dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We took them to the Penny Arcade... and laughed the night away. We were kids again, hooting and hollering trying to win tickets for... what?... a plastic toy? We played skee ball, derby, Deal or No Deal (this game we won 108 tickets), but our favorite was the photo booth.

I know you all remember taking your BFF to the photo booth and cherishing the 4 (well 2, because you had to share) black and white pictures FOREVER! Well we were BFF couples that night and now you get 8 pictures (so do the math... 4 pictures when you share) that our proudly displayed on our refrigerator. They are hilarious, and bring a smile to my face every time I look at them.

The night wasn't over after the Penny Arcade. Afterwards, we walked across the street to an old Victorian hotel in the area to "take a look around". Well, when we were about ready to leave, our husbands decided it would be fun to start a game of hide and seek. We had the front desk clerks helping us locate them as they gave us clues via text or cell phone. We did end up finding them in "the dark room by the kitchen" hiding under the table. Laughs all around.

My challenge to you all, is go out and be a kid for the night (or day) with other adults, for we are all kids at heart.

In need of some recommendations.

Hello Women,

I am in need of a good, nurturing book for the feminine heart. It's been a day feeling overwhelmed by all the roles I feel I need to fulfill by being a wife, having a career, and keeping up a home. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks from a desperate soul.

My Biggest Cheerleader

We are training for a half-marathon in June and a several Saturday ago we were to run a 8 miler. We started off from home, with our water and gel packs ready for the challenge...


Running is more of a mental and physical challenge for me than my husband. My husband can just take off with strides of gracefulness and speed making running look like walking. I, on the other hand, start off with the first mile gasping for air, concentrating on the miles, strides, breathing, and my own running rhythm. After that first mile or so, I start to feel the endorphins quick in and I begin to enjoy the exercise and beauty around me.


Being that my husband is a natural runner and I am not, we have found a great way to "run" together. We will start at the same point and usually run in a opposite directions around the course/circle. This way, he can keep an eye on me and I can see his wonderful smile and high-five as we pass each other. It works well.



The story goes like this.. Several weeks ago, I was .5 miles away from the "finish" line, and I twisted my ankle... badly! I started limping home and called my husband to come and pick me up. Of course, he came and got me with the biggest grin on his face and several praises of doing such a great job and how he was so proud of me. He instantly put me on the couch for a little TLC/RICE (tender, loving, care/rest, ice, compress, elevate).



Well, this injury has put me out of commission for the last several weeks. I thought that I would be ready for a run this past Saturday, yet with my husband's gentle direction, encouraged me to just rest and make sure that it truly ready for the run. I was so discouraged, because I felt ready to run and try to pick up the mileage again. As I moped around the home because I couldn't run, guess who came along side and said... "babe, I am still so proud of you!"...My husband!

He has been truly wonderful throughout this entire injury. It is not been an option to help me around the house, "ground me to the couch" while he does housework, etc. In another week or so, I hope to have my running shoes on and continue training. In the meantime, I am listening to the best coach and cheerleader of the year!

A Fresh Coat of Paint...

I took it upon myself to paint the bedroom before I started work. It was something that was placed upon my heart after several discussions with my sister, prayers, and readings. I wanted to create a place of warmth and intimacy for our marriage, a room that is guarded and protected from the outside stresses of the world.

I was ready to paint when I took these pictures...

My goal was to complete the project before my husband came home from work. It was such an enjoyable day, to pray, sing, dance, think, and... paint our bedroom. When my hubby came home, the room was finished except for the bedding on the bed. My hubby was sooo pleased. I heard praises for days regarding the room.

The colors our are wedding colors: blue and brown...very sentimental.

It is amazing how older, free furniture looks great in a newly painted room. My husband and I are determined not to purchase any new furniture until we are able to pay cash, and at this time it is not high on the priority list. But the fresh coat of paint and new duvet has created my hopes and desires of a peaceful, more intimate ambiance.

Now the challenge is to keep this room protected and guarded from the stresses of the outside world, and to only bring items into the room that will enhance this environment and motive.

The Rest of the Cake Class...

Week Three... Cupcakes:




The Grand Finale...

On top is the "Wilton Rose"... Who knew I could make a rose out of frosting! The cake is currently in my freezing waiting to come out for Mother's Day brunch.

Life Lessons Learned By a Visit...

Last weekend, my husband and I went to see my sister and her new home in Texas...

The entire time was wonderful. We arrived late Friday night, so I only greeted my brother-in-law. Saturday morning, I came downstairs to find my sister and almost two nephew very awake and ready for the day. I re-introduced myself to my nephew and the next minute show and tell began... "outside, tree, ball, shoot, score, yeah! bitricycle, chalk, letter, flower, plant..." he'd point and say the words to everything he knew. It was so fun and cute!

The rest of the trip consisted of paddling a boat on the lake, going to IKEA (love this place... why in the world don't we have one closer!), hitting a jazz bar to hear some great live music, yummy bar-b-que, but more than anything connecting with my sister.

She has done such an amazing job creating a home of warmth, love, and peace. She also displayed characters of strength, confidence, and contentment I haven't seen in her in awhile. Being newly married, I have struggled with the idea of "only be a mother" and putting my career aside to take care of a family. But after being around my sister and her ability to have undivided attention to her family, she made "only being a mother" a compliment and lifestyle I truly desire. I've known that I have always wanted to be a mother, but I didn't get married till my late 20's and had discovered a career and working path I enjoyed and succeeded at, which became apart of my identity. Now, that I am married and the idea of children isn't that far off- motherhood scares me, because I don't know how 'to be ' a mother and if I could succeed at raising a Godly heritage. But what I saw by living life with my sister for a few days, is that the strength to be a mother is a day-by-day surrender to God and He becomes your life-giving ability to care for a family.

It is refreshing to see that being a mom is still apart of my feminine heart. In fact, my job starts Monday, and I am dreading the idea of going back to work... I just want to stay home. For now, I think God still has some work and healing to complete in my own heart about being a mother; so I will enjoy the season I am in of working and caring for my husband.

In the meantime, I have these pictures up around my home to remind me of the great time and life lesson I learned by visiting my sister.

Discovering Me...

Hello. Several months ago, my husband came to bed with the computer ready to "start blogging"! We were going to complete this task together, and here we are 3 months later and I am just placing my first entry.

As my darling sister has encouraged me several times to "just begin", I feel like in the interim of two jobs is a great time to start. So... as the first entry, I could talk about being a newlywed, but instead I am going to share about a new discovery that I had no idea I would enjoy creating so much. That discovery is decorating cakes!

The story is, my sister-in-law (sil) asked me to join her in taking the Wilton Cake Class at our local Michael's store. I thought "sure", it would be fun to learn something new, but mostly to continue building the relationship with my new family.

As I started to prepare for class, I was really frustrated with how much preparation needed to be done before class. I ended making three batches of frosting (gross) and a cake that was frosted. Plus, I had to spend the beautiful afternoon inside baking than being outside soaking up the beautiful weather with my hubby. Nonetheless, I made the commitment, and I was going to learn to decorate cake!

Here is a picture before going to class.

Well, to my surprise, I had a wonderful evening! My sil and I laughed at our similar frustrations as we walked into class with a box full of supplies and wondering... Is this really going to work? The laughs continued throughout the class as we practiced new skills with the star tip, writing, and familiarizing our self with the consistency of the frosting. Then we had the opportunity to practice these skills on the cake we brought.

Died Fingers trying to get red frosting. (Note, I was the only one in the class with this extreme of messy fingers and even the teacher was asking "How did you accomplish that?".)

I ended up completing my cake at home, with the hopes of my hubby taking it to work with him for his co-workers to enjoy. I was actually really proud of the end results, surprised by my creation and enjoyment of making a cake. Below you will find the end product=-).

So now, I have completed my first blog and decorated my first cake. Go Discovering Me!