Monday, October 29, 2012

new traditions

"You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural. 

You are more than dust and bones.
You are spirit and power and image of God.
And you have been given Today.”  -Shauna Niequist




i sometimes have the tendency of being a planner and forget to stop and see the beauty that is appearing all  around me. it is hard for me to stop and enjoy the coffee without thinking about how i am going to spend the afternoon or when i am going to fold the laundry. for this reason, i love traditions and celebrations. the combination of celebration and tradition helps me to reflect on what has happened in life and realize all the blessings that God has given me.  

caleb and i got engaged nearly one year ago. in order to celebrate, we made a new tradition of going back to the place that it happened, NYC. we went to the same breakfast place, sarabeths, enjoyed a stroll around central park, and went back to the row boats were caleb popped the question. this tradition may seem a little nutty for some, but for me, i am brought back to the moment. and in this case, the moment that changed my life. 






we got our picture on time square. nbd. 






so here's to moments. the moments we never want to forget (and in my opinion, are worth making new traditions out of). 



Tuesday, October 23, 2012

oh liberty drive.

it doesn't seem that long ago that i was starting my very first teaching job in my very first "city" all on my own. it was my first glimpse of being a real person- an adult. kind of a surreal feeling. what made it so special though was sharing it with God's gift of two amazing roommates. i still remember the first time i walked into the house on liberty drive and i thought to myself- whoa, i don't know if i am trendy or "cool enough" to live here (it truly looked like an anthropology show room). little did i know that i would not only love the appearance of the most adorable home, but more so, i would love these girls. 



 i miss our conversations about life, boys, jobs, and our dreams. each morning we would jam (and i mean jam) to all sons and daughters. eating brown sugar poptarts and drinking way too much coffee. the best was when our real coffee pot would break and we "had" to resort to french press. bummer. 

we would take turns sharing a dinner. i remember the first dinner i ever made. a martha stewart sweet potato soup. it was supposed to have a "kick" but not like a "kick you in the bootie and burn your taste buds off." which as you can guess- did exactly the latter. i still remember katie and britt trying not to hurt my feelings. they ended up licking the soup with the tip of their tongues instead of taking a spoonful of the way to spicy soup. i remember katie running to get her chap-stick because her lips were burning (hint: NEVER put an entire jar of adobe chilies into a recipe - even if it calls for a little jar!) 





it is funny how fast life goes. i do love married life, but i DO miss these girls- 
the trips to starbucks on the corner of main street, the runs on the prarie path, the pa-rouses around the french market, the freedom cake baking, the searches for an atm at a flea market, the sample eating at whole foods, the ringing the bell at davids bridal and the love of life that surrounded our home. you are missed liberty drive. 










come back soon katie and britt, you too. i miss you girls. 

Monday, October 8, 2012

pancakes and french press.

Happy Columbus Day!
I tried to persuade caleb to stay home. His work won. 
So the today show will have to be enough. 

I usually am very sad on Mondays as I have to say goodbye to the weekend. But, today, a perk to being a teacher- the day off.  I will simply reminisce about the weekend and about those darn good pancakes!

Pumpkin pancakes. Saturday mornings deserve pumpkin pancakes. Especially, fall saturday mornings. 
I embarked on this journey while caleb was sleeping on the chilly morning.
 Boy, was he in for a surprise. 
I used the recipe from one of my favorite blogs (joythebaker.com). 
Enjoy! Remember the cinnamon and ... nutmeg :)
Oh and p.s. if you have a french press. Pull it out on saturdays. Coffee just tastes that much better in a french press. 

Off to watch my favorite news anchors. Hope you have a good monday.