It's time for a change!

In case you haven't noticed, the posts on this blog have pretty much come to a dead halt!
And that is because I have decided it is time to stop messing around with the "blogging" thing and really put more time and effort into it. So if you feel so inclined, I invite you to check out my new blog which will be launching tonight at 7pm (Sept 1, 2016)

www.proverbs31potential.com

love your body

Today’s post is going to be a little raw. The topic has been on my mind for a few days as I wrestled with it in my own life and have finally come to terms.

When do you plan on being happy with your body?

I’m serious.

When is your body going to be where you want it to be?

Do you need to lose weight? Get some muscle tone? Maybe you need to gain a few pounds? Or perhaps there is some kind of feature you have thought about surgically removing or enhancing?

When are you going to love your body for what it is?

I know that for years I have dwelled on the various imperfections and at times been hung up by them. There have always been things I wanted to change. And I know I am not the only one.

Thankfully, there is a new trend happening. This new fad of “real women” gracing magazine covers, and celebrities revealing untouched photos. It’s a wonderful change, and it got me thinking…

You see, in our apartment the bathroom mirrors are HUGE and when you are getting into the shower, you can see it all. Every imperfection, jiggle, and dimple. It had become my least favorite part of the day because I didn’t like many aspects of my body.

Each day I would tell myself, “Maybe if you work out harder, you will notice a change at the end of the month and be happier with what you see.” And that is all fine and good, I should increase my workouts and strive to see changes in my body, but what about this moment?

This picture was taken at
our family lake day, you can't
see my thighs super well, but
I still was hung up about this
picture of me, but NOT
anymore!

Why do I have to be insecure about different parts of my body now? Everyone on this planet has a body issue, something they would change or alter if given the chance. But that takes away from this moment. It steals a little bit of your joy by not enjoying where you are at.

So I changed up how I see my body. Instead of focusing on the imperfections, (for me it’s cellulite and stretch marks on my thighs), I have decided to praise my body for where it’s at.

 My body is strong. There is nothing I need to accomplish, or want to, that my body cannot handle. And that for me is enough. I won’t stop working out or pushing to see changes, but I refuse to hate on my body anymore.

I’m not going to beat myself up when I eat too much pizza and am a little bloated. I’m not going to feel like a failure if I take a day off from working out. I am not going to avoid wearing a bathing suit because I’m insecure about my thighs.

I am going to love my body exactly the way it is. Because for each imperfection I see, there are millions of other reasons to love it. And it was designed specifically for me by God. So I refuse to waste another day not loving my body, and I invite you to do the same.

Insurance Nightmare

Ok, today was a totally mess. I contemplated not even doing a post because I would much rather call it a day and pop open a bottle of wine to relax. But then I realized what I went through today is something worth talking about because not enough people pay close attention to what is going on in their finances and bills.

To make a long and horribly frustrating story short, Josh and I had a terrible experience with our IL insurance agent.

Ok, that may be too vague… Here is the short version of the saga that has (hopefully) concluded today. When Josh and I got married we took out life insurance policies, a new auto policy for our car, and jewelry insurance. One may think, that’s easy, just take out the policies and make your payments and things will be great. You would be wrong. Our life insurance policies cancelled and reinstated multiple times causing us to be constantly fixing the problem, until we got fed up in March and switched life insurance providers. Then we moved to WI and had to transfer our auto policy. That should have been finalized in May, it is now August 1^st and we are still getting bills for the IL policy. In my quest to get that policy officially cancelled we learned my car has a policy in IL and WI. And we learned that our life insurance policies were never cancelled correctly so we never got our reimbursements.

3 hours, 5 emails, and 10 phone calls later, we MAY finally have it in the works of being sorted out.

So I tell you this story (sparing so many frustrating details) to encourage you to be on top of your finances, insurances, and bills. Don’t just toss letters for things you have on auto-pay or ignore your monthly bank statements. You work hard for your money and should be conscious of where it is going at all times. And anyone that you hire to do a service (insurance, auto care, housekeeping, ANYTHING), should be willing to work with you and solve problems. But always make sure you get confirmation of things being accomplished and SAVE receipts, emails, letters, any correspondence as proof so that you can fight charges you don’t deserve.

Don’t be lazy about your money or allow yourself to be taken advantage of. 

Quality Time

Family time is incredibly important. Even if it’s just you and your spouse right now, taking time to be together has a really positive impact on your marriage and life together.

My tiny family last night, snuggled up and laughing

Josh and I are blessed to be able to spend every evening together. Most of the time it consists of eating dinner and watching that night's favorite show, but every once in a while that time becomes more than just 2 people sharing the same couch and staring at the TV.

Last night was great example of that.

I spent much of the afternoon preparing dinner so that when Josh got home the two of us could actually catch up face to face instead of it being while I prep dinner. (I made chicken strips and cheesy potato casserole, yum!) So all I had to do was pop everything in the oven and the two of us could sit down together and catch up on our days. (And update our budget, yay!).

It set a really good tone for the night, our ability to not be distracted while we caught up. The two of us were able to focus on each other and carry forward our conversations the rest of the night. Which got to be really entertaining.

On Thursday’s we catch up on Suits. (Yes, our dog is named after the main character).  But instead of tossing on a sitcom from Netflix after and watching our night tick away, Josh turned on an animal documentary. So we sat and talked about the various animals, their struggles, and often found ourselves laughing at some of the weird things they do. It was also fun because Harvey would periodically watch too.

Our night wasn’t crazy busy, or really all that thrilling, but it did break up our week night routine which was awesome. Laughing together and talking all evening sure beats listening to the same sitcom until we get bored and start scrolling our phones. (On that note, if you don’t have a set “technology free” time, I recommend it. Having to put away phones and computers takes away distractions and helps aid in spending great time together).

Great nights of quality time with your spouse don’t have to be extravagant. Just do some minor things to break up the routine and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

(I have also learned that my "Love Language" is quality time, so this is right up my alley. To find your love language you can Google search a quiz).

Couple's Bible Study Resource

It’s been a while since I posted something about marriage specifically, so today I want to share something Josh and I discovered during our weekly Bible Study and devotional time together.

Every Wednesday, Josh and I have been setting aside time just before dinner to sit together and spend time with God learning about His plan for marriage. Last year, we stumbled upon an excellent online resource that has great couples Bible Study options, Simply One in Marriage, which is a website.

You can choose from several different topics and each one includes questions to ask each other at the end, which is super helpful to further dive into the topic you covered. (Check it out for yourself: http://simplyoneinmarriage.com/couples-bible-study/)

We have used this resource numerous times and last week the study we did connected us to something they call “Couple Connect.” Which is basically a guide for your weekly time together. (http://simplyoneinmarriage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Couple-Connect-2.pdf)

Since we are up for anything, we decided to give it a try the last two weeks and have found it to be really helpful!

It brings up topics that we weren’t originally including in our time together, like “accountability,” “decisions,” and “thankfulness.” We have been really enjoying adding this layout to our weekly time together, and it has sparked some excellent conversations.

It’s important to us to make our weekly time a priority but without having a plan, you can spend more time trying to figure out what to cover that actually doing what you set the time aside for. I know it used to be super frustrating to Josh and I when we couldn’t find a resource we both liked or that included questions afterward the lesson. We really like the website I shared, and it is added to quite frequently. Plus, there are already so many topics to choose from, you certainly won’t get bored or have a hard time finding something.

If you have been struggling to set aside devotional time with your spouse, I highly recommend checking out Simply One in Marriage and taking advantage of the Couple Connect they have created.

(I once again have not been asked to endorse this website or their various offerings, I just am sharing what I found and loved). 

Homemade Chicken Parm

It's a rainy day up here in Manitowoc, and while I can’t decide on what to make for dinner tonight, I am still thinking about what we had on Monday!

Every once in a while I will stumble upon a recipe on Pinterest for something I love and decide to give it a try and Monday was no exception. Several days prior I saw a pin for 3 cheese chicken Parmesan and couldn’t wait to whip it up. With a few tweaks of my own of course!

The “recipe” wasn’t really helpful, so I had to kind of guess what the original Pinner was trying to get across, and I think I did a decent job. So if you enjoy chicken parm, you should definitely give this a try.

First you need your ingredients:

·         1 defrosted chicken breast per person you are feeding

·         1 egg

·         A little milk (probably close to ¼ of a cup)

·         Breadcrumbs

·         Parmesan

·         Mozzarella

·         Olive Oil

·         Pasta (we used whole wheat shells, but I would recommend a different noodle, like spaghetti)

·         Sauce (I make my own)

·         Bread (if you like it as a side, I make that too)

o   If you want to copy the butter I made for the bread you will also need:

§  Fresh Basil (8 leaves)

§  1 teaspoon of garlic

§  ½ stick of butter

-          First pour some oil into a frying pan, you don’t need a lot just cover the whole bottom of the pan. Heat the oil (you know the oil is ready when you stick a wooden spoon end in and bubbles form around it).

-          While the oil is heating prep your chicken. Crack the egg into a bowl and add the milk. Whisk it together so that it isn’t separated (put some pepper in this too). And pour your bread crumbs into another bowl.

-          Dip each chicken piece in the egg and then dip in the bread crumbs. If your oil is heated put the chicken right into the pan. The goal here is just to brown the outside, so keep an eye on it. I had mine on each side for less than a minute.

-          Then place the chicken into your baking pan. Pour a spoonful of sauce on each piece, and top with your cheeses. Bake in a 375-degree oven for about 25 minutes, again, keep an eye on it since some chicken pieces are thicker than others.

-          While that is baking, cook your pasta and heat your sauce. Once that’s done I toss the two together.

-          If you make your own bread, follow that recipe and plan it accordingly so everything finishes at the same time.

o   For the butter, I melted the stick in the microwave, finely cut the basil leaves and mixed them in the butter along with the garlic.

o   I then put it in the fridge so it would set, pulling it out periodically to re-stir so that nothing would settle on the bottom.

-          Once the chicken is done, serve over your pasta! Done!

I was surprised by how easy the prep was for this dinner and it got great reviews from my husband who actually said it tasted like it would if you ordered it at a restaurant! I’m thinking it will be added to our meal rotations.

Niagara Falls!

Part 3!

For as long as Josh and I have known each other, we have talked about doing a road trip. But for years it didn’t happen because either the money wasn’t there, or we could get friends to actually commit to going with us. The road trip talk didn’t stop after we got married though, and after careful planning, we figured out a way to make it work.

Josh still had one more Spring Break and we knew that would be as good a time as any to make the trip happen.

Ice House Winery

We decided that our destination was going to be Niagara Falls and that we would drive up through Canada and home through the states. I was excited! I had never been to the falls or Canada and couldn’t wait. Plus, I found an awesome deal on Groupon (again, I don’t get paid to mention them, it’s just my experience) that included our hotel stay, wineries, and other various touristy things. (Yes there are SEVERAL wineries near the Falls, and they are excellent!)

Our drive began on a Monday and we knew that day one would get us all the way to Niagara Falls, Canada. The drive out wasn’t too eventful, but it was still a blast. You see, Josh and I have this crazy ability to be in the car for hours and not use the radio. After all these years together, we can still fill long car rides with endless conversations. It’s pretty awesome, especially since our music tastes don’t overlap by much.

It was gloomy and cold, but that doesn't stop us!

The Falls at night

We arrived at our hotel in the early evening, hungry and happy to be out of the car. The room we got was beautiful. We dropped our stuff off and headed out. It was FREEZING still up there so we were thrilled to have packed our winter gear. After dinner, we walked down to the Falls. They were lit up and we were able to catch our first glimpse. It was beautiful.

The next day was strictly Falls focused. We grabbed breakfast and started to walk. The Falls were breath-taking! Anything you have seen of them on TV or in photos, simply does not do it justice! You have to get there and see them for yourselves. We spent a lot of time there, staring at the water, visiting the little tourist shops, and reading up on some Falls facts in the guest building. It’s an incredible place.

But there is SO much more to do there than see the Falls, which we didn’t know. Turns out, there is tons of tourist attractions, casinos, and like I said before, wineries. So we spent the rest of our day doing those things. It was a fabulous trip. We stayed there for 2 nights/3 days, and got to experience and see so much.

The picture we have on the wall

And then, the drive home ended up being a huge part of our trip too! One of our goals as a couple is to visit all of the NFL stadiums. And since we were in our car and had the freedom to, we decided to stop by some on the way home! My favorite part was of course our drive to Pittsburgh, so I could see Heinz Field! It was just as awesome as I always imagined it would be.

Me in my happy place!

Instead of spending more time in a hotel, and partially because once you hit a certain point in Indiana that leaves you without many options, we chose to drive straight through to home. It was a long day, and LONG night, but we managed to get home around 2am. (And were lucky enough to catch Portillo’s before it closed in Schaumburg for dinner).

Road trips are awesome! And the best part is not planning it out. Sure we knew where we wanted to end up, but we had no agenda for the drives or even once we got there. It forces you to go with the flow and take things as they come. And for someone like me, I need that every once in a while. So we chose a photo we took of the Falls to be our final print in our family room, to remind us to go with the flow and always go on adventures together.

The Palm Tree

Welcome to part 2 of the 3-part series based on the photographs that I hung in our family room. In case you missed it, the first post was about The Queens Staircase in Nassau, Bahamas. Today I want to talk about picture #2 and our trip to Cancun.

In 2013, Josh and I were blessed with the opportunity to go on another all-inclusive vacation through the company I work for, and it was to Cancun, Mexico.

We were both really looking forward to the trip, and it was going to be the first time that we left the country together. I didn’t know what to expect, what we would do, or really have any expectations.

When we arrived at the hotel we were definitely impressed. It was huge! There were multiple restaurants, a gorgeous spa, and of course a giant beach. And if you were interested, you could sign up to do some of the excursions.

For the entire trip, Josh and I laid in beach chairs listening to the ocean. There was no agenda, no need to accomplish anything, or see anything. We just relaxed. We were unplugged from phones and social media, there was nothing that needed our attention. For days we went between wadding in the ocean, to laying on our chairs in the sand.

As a couple, it was powerful to have 0 distractions. To just be able to experience this place with no schedule, or plan. We were able to talk and just enjoy the slow pace. A welcome break from the routines we find ourselves in at home.

So when we were looking for a picture to represent our Cancun trip, we chose the view we had when we were laying on the beach chairs, a palm tree from the view of looking up at it. It reminds us to enjoy the day, live in the moment, and to relax. Definitely a message I want to remember to live out at home, and not just while we are on vacation.

I encourage you to find something that represents a relaxing time in your life, and include it in a space you spend a lot of time. It will help you to balance the stresses of life with a reminder that it’s OK to rest.

The Queens Staircase Adventure

Us after getting off the ship

Today I want to start a 3-day series about each of the 3 pictures I had blown up. Each one is from a different trip Josh and I experienced together from a different part of the world. And they each reflect something that I was taught during the trip.

This morning I will start with the picture furthest away from my seat on the couch, The Queens Staircase. 

Josh and I took that picture while we were on a cruise that I earned through work. One of the days we were able to dock in Nassau, Bahamas and spend the day exploring the island, shopping, or sitting on the beach.

The Pink House/Government House

The day before we were set to dock, they gave out informational brochures about all the things you could do while you were on the island. We wanted to experience something cultural about the island, not just spend the day in and out of tourist shops. So when we came across The Queens Staircase, we decided that would be the days’ goal.

Historically, The Queens Staircase was carved by slaves as a short cut to Fort Fincastle to honor Queen Victoria. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn about the nearby fort until after our trip otherwise we would have ventured there too.

So when we docked, Josh and I headed out. We were excited to walk the island, and try to find the stairs. Neither of us had ever been to the Bahamas before and we were excited to explore. I am so glad we did! We got to see different buildings, neighborhoods, and experience the city like a local. In an effort to see and experience as much as possible, we walked and were even able to find the staircase without asking for help.

The photo on our wall

We ended up being at the top of the Queens Staircase and got to see it from above before climbing down and seeing the rock formation it was carved into. It was beautiful and the vegetation that was growing throughout made it even more impressive.

Us on the Staircase

And it wasn’t a time consuming event so we still had plenty of time to do the touristy stuff and visit the beach.

That escapade to find the Queens Staircase is one that I am so glad Josh and I did together. We learned about a different culture, experienced a piece of history, and really dove into our surroundings. I highly recommend that if you are traveling that you make the effort to visit places that are unique to your location. And that I think was our biggest take away from that trip, to always embrace the location you find yourself in. The world has so much to offer it would be a shame to always stick to the path everyone travels.

Errands: Day 2

Don’t you hate those days when you set time aside to run errands, and then completely forget half of your list because it’s the half you didn’t think you needed to write down? Yea, I am having the aftermath of one of those days.

I forgot to do ½ of the things I set out to do yesterday and it wasn’t until I got home and was going through my planner that I made the realization. So today I get to go out again and complete the things I should have gotten done yesterday.

But I am glad I forgot to do some things because… I HAVE A NEW PROJECT!

My mom had a table base in the basement that I saw while we were home last weekend and I asked if I could have it. She agreed and after shoving it into the car, we got it home. It’s really cool and will definitely fit our needs at this time. Picture one of those serving tray stands used at a restaurant with a wider top and base. It’s also metal and silver, so it’ll go great with the look we already have going on.

This morning, I am going to head out to the store and find a wood table top for it and maybe some wood stain. I am very excited to be close to having a table in our lives again… we haven’t eaten at a table in our home since we got married! Sitting on the couch or around the coffee table isn’t great for all meals!

As I work on and complete the project, I will share the details! As well as any further projects I take on along the way! Project: Greatsinger Home Beautification is well under way!

Just be polite!

“It costs $0 to be a decent human being.”

This quote was posted on Facebook this morning by one of the people I’m friends with. It’s kind of timely because I was just out running errands and kept catching myself being caught off guard hearing someone being nice or polite.

Isn’t that crazy? I should not be surprised to hear someone being nice, it should be common place.

It’s sad to me that the mother and daughter who were yelling at each other throughout the store today didn’t make me think twice, but the instances where I got to witness someone being a decent person caught my eye.

There was a gentleman at the fast food place I stopped who addressed the cashier as “Ma’am” and was generous with his thanks for her taking his order and preparing it.

In the parking lot of our apartment complex Josh and I got stopped by an elderly man looking for directions. He was so grateful for us taking our time to help him out.

Something as simple as being greeted with a smile and hello is so rare, but can make a huge difference. Kudos to the employees I came into contact with today who made me happy I was shopping in your store.

These simple actions I just described took next to no effort but make a big impact! So I want to encourage anyone who reads this to say hello to the person you pass of the street, exchange a smile with the customer you passed in the aisle, say excuse me when you have to go around someone, and just generally treat the people you come into contact with in a way that you would want people to interact with you.

Creating Time for Devotionals

For Starters: I do not receive compensation for sharing ANY of the products I use on this blog! I just love them and like to share!

I'm sure I have mentioned before that I do daily devotions. Well, today I want to dive a little deeper into that with you and share some of the things that work for me. Especially since I have not always been faithful to my time with God.

In fact, the reason I am so good at them now doesn’t even stem from my spiritual background. The company I work for actually recommends taking time every day to read 10 pages of a good book, specifically, personal development books. So, after some time I decided that I should use the Bible and a devotional book because what better way to develop than to spend time with the One who created me?

It was not easy for me at first. I couldn’t remember to open my Bible to save my life. Everything got in the way and by the time things were quiet at night, I would fall asleep the second I hit the pillow. But, then I realized I need to actually schedule my time. I am incredibly organized and keep a daily planner at all times. I am the type of person who can’t go to sleep unless everything is crossed off, so I figured, add my daily devotional time to the planner! It worked like a charm and I haven’t missed a day since putting it on my schedule.  If you think that will work for you, give it a try! Any planner will do, but I use one that my company promoted to us and it’s like a planner/organizer on steroids! It’s definitely pricier than the ones you get at the store, but I am crazy about it! My inner-planner loves it! Here’s the link:

(http://store.davidbyrdconsulting.com/store/p/144-Next-Level-Achievement-System-Deluxe-Edition-with-Tablet-Sleeve.aspx) Plus it comes with a CD that walks you through how to use the planner, and it’s creator, David Byrd is just phenomenal! (I do not receive compensation for sharing ANY of the products I use on this blog!)

I have discovered that the best time for me to do my devotional is right away in the morning. (Sometimes, Harvey will join me and snuggle while I read, it’s a special time of the day!)

Now that you know how I am able to make time for it daily, I will share my method.

Harvey interrupting my prayer journaling

I start out my Devotional time with my Bible, (I started in the book of Joshua). So what I do is open up to where I left off and read a Chapter or if it’s a short one, I will read two. My goal is to take my time, read what each Chapter has to say and contemplate it. I have found that doing it that way has led me to retain more than if I just read and read. But, do what works for you. If you like to read several chapters at once, go for it!

Next I pick up my devotional book. Right now I am reading “Let God’s Word Empower Your Prayers” by Stormie Omartian (I do not receive compensation for sharing ANY of the products I use on this blog!). It’s awesome! Each day has a short verse followed by a real life application and a prayer. I love it and it has been especially fun the few times my Biblical reading topic coincided with the topic in my Devotional.  

After reading my devotional, I grab my prayer journal. It’s just a leather bound empty journal that I found at Home Goods (I’m obsessed with Home Goods). I keep a pen attached to it at all times so I never have to waste time searching too. I open it up and begin writing my prayers to God.

This morning routine is something I thoroughly enjoy. It has enhanced my faith and been such a positive way to begin my day. I hope you will give it a try and add things that will make it a great experience for you, maybe coffee or some light music? 

Meeting New People

Have you ever moved to a new place and had to start over in the “relationships” category? That’s where Josh and I find ourselves now, and I am trying to figure it out.

If you follow my blog, you know that we moved to Manitowoc back in May for Josh’s new job. Since our move, we have met several people through his work but are still trying to break into the community.

This move is unlike our move to Madison because we don’t have friends here already. In fact, the only people we know are the ones Josh works with. And since we live far enough away that we can’t just rely on our friendships from where we grew up, it’s time to make new friends.

I know that this process will be an on-going one, but as I figure out different things or come up with great ways to meet new people, I will gladly share them here. (I mean; we can’t be the only ones trying to make new friends in a new town).

So today, I will share the only tip I have so far.

When you are asked to do something outside of work with a co-worker, say YES! I don’t care if it’s after work drinks, a round of golf, or joining a work-league of some sort. Just commit!

After Josh and I moved in and he started work, one of the guys he works really stepped up and helped make us feel more at home. The first thing we were invited to was trivia, which is something we had done with friends back in Madison, so we accepted the invite. Then he invited us to be on his volleyball team (one of the local bars has a Tuesday night volleyball league). Saying “yes” to these invites was such a good thing! We were able to meet several people and also become more acquainted with our new town.

I highly recommend accepting invitations from your co-workers to do things, (even if it’s to do something you don’t have an interest in). By accepting invitations, you open the door to receiving additional invites, meeting new people, and can start to feel like you belong. 

Family Room Decor

Our collage wall

I completed another “home beautification” project! And of course I am very excited about it.

Our main living space is an open floor plan, so you can clearly see from the kitchen into the family room. On one of the walls I did a collage. It’s filled with pictures from our wedding, dating, vacations, and important symbols. I love that wall because it is kind of a reflection of Josh and I.

Across from the collage wall was another empty space, and I have been wanting to put more pictures there. But of course, you can’t have two collage walls in one room. That would be way too busy. So after giving it some thought, Josh and I decided to blow up 3 of our favorite pictures from our various vacations (the Bahamas, Cancun, and Niagara Falls). In a previous post I talked about the process and materials I used/ordered for this project and today I just want to show it off.

Unfortunately, the pictures I took don’t do it justice. In fact, they almost make the blown up prints look too small, but any bigger would have been overpowering.

I am very happy with how our family room/kitchen turned out and I can’t wait to finish decorating the bedrooms and bathrooms.

I love coming home to a space that reflects who Josh and I are. It’s so nice being able to look around and be reminded of different moments in our relationship.

Please enjoy the pictures!

Our Front door Decor

Our new blown up vacation prints

Family Room

Harvey wanted to get his photo taken too

Homemade Ravioli

As I announced yesterday, today’s post will be about my homemade ravioli.

Over the weekend, Josh and I made crab rangoons and had more than enough left over wonton wrappers. As luck would have it, I then came across a Pinterest recipe using the wrappers to make your own ravioli. In typical me fashion, I didn’t follow the recipe to make the filling but I did check out the length of time to cook them (in boiling water for 5 min).

So yesterday I set out to make the ravioli. I was really excited about it. I already have homemade sauce in my freezer and homemade bread dough ready to go. A fresh homemade ravioli was going to be perfect to complete the meal.

I pulled out my ingredients:

·         Left over wonton wrappers

·         Ricotta (whole container)

·         Garlic (one teaspoon)

·         Salt/pepper (to taste)

·         Spinach (two handfuls)

·         Fresh basil (8 leaves off my basil plant)

·         Shredded Parmesan (1 cup)

·         1 egg

I used my herb scissors to cut up my basil and spinach and then mixed everything together. It smelled amazing!

Then I used a cookie sheet to lay out the bottom half of my ravioli. I put a spoonful of my mixture in the center of each one and then rubbed a little water along the edges and put the top wrapper on. The water helps the dough to connect, but I also used a fork to pinch the edged shut. (I ended up with extra filling, but I will be putting that on top of our salmon tonight).

I was so excited about how my ravioli looked and couldn’t wait to share my cooking skills with my husband.

 

Unfortunately, things didn’t go well during the cooking process. The instant the raviolis hit the water, I knew something was wrong. Some of the filling began rising to the top and I didn’t have high hopes for my pasta any longer.

 

But I still waited the 5 minutes I was supposed to and then draining my ravioli. The strainer was filled with pasta and filling goop. Yet, I still grabbed a fork and tried it (looks can be deceiving right?). The filling was incredibly good, but the pasta was a gummy mush that I refused to eat. So into the trash the goop went.

Last night’s dinner ended up being saved by boxed pasta. Looking back, I think I would repeat this recipe and instead of boiling the ravioli, I would bake them. That I imagine would be way better, maybe I’ll give it a try soon.

DIY Bench

I have officially completed another DIY project! This one I am so excited about because I have been wanting to tackle it for years. You see, my mom and dad found this old bench at a barn sale and it was in our garage for a long time just sitting there, unused. I knew I wanted it the second I saw it, but with me still living at home, there wasn’t much space for it in my bedroom.

To my joy, my mom decided she wasn’t going to repurpose it herself and gave it to me a few weeks ago. And this week I finally decided to stop letting it take up space in my trunk and restore it.

 

I’m a tad on the impatient side and don’t really know how to take my time on things. If I can crank something out in a day, that’s what I am going to do, but this bench was not going to let me do that.

That bench needed a lot of work. It smelled like an old antique, musty and just plain gross. The former material was still attached along the edges and it was covered in dust, dirt, and cobwebs. Definitely not something I wanted to let sit in my house for too long untouched.

(Now, I am not by any means a professional at restoring or repurposing so don’t quote my methods, I’m just going to share what I did)

The first thing I did was rinse the bench. I literally laid it in the tub and ran water over it to get all of the gunk off. It wreaked. After the water went from brown to clear again, I let it dry overnight.Then I got to work yanking off the old fabric and the nails that held it down.

The following day I actually washed it. I took a rag, some dawn, and put it back in the tub. I wanted to get rid of the stench. After the soap was off of it, I poured some baking soda on it while it air dried in an attempt to be sure the smell was gone.

While the bench was drying, I took the foam I bought from Hobby Lobby and cut it to size. Since the measurements were awkward I had to use 2 cushions and in order to keep them together, I hot glued them along the edge.

I also was lucky enough to find the fabric and tacks I used to upholster our headboard and was able to save money by just using that.

With the bench dried, I laid out the fabric and hot glued the foam onto the bench. I didn’t expect it to hold long, I just didn’t want the cushions to move while I was working on tacking the fabric.

I cut the fabric to size and did one of the long sides first, then flipped it and pulled the fabric tight to do the other long side. To cap off the ends of the bench, I treated it like wrapping paper and just made crisp edges.

The wood was easy for me to push the pins into by using my hands, but once I had it all tacked down I went back around with a hammer to make sure they were tight.

Now I have this adorable bench at the end of our bed. Couple that with the curtains I hung over our window and our bedroom is already starting to come together and feel like a cozy space.

Coming Tomorrow: I will share with you my first attempt at homemade ravioli! (fingers crossed it tastes great tonight!)

Open up the communication

Sometimes keeping your feelings to yourself isn’t what is best for your relationship.

You may think that not sharing is your way of keeping the peace, not creating an issue where one isn’t really warranted, or just maybe not worth it. I’m going to encourage you to know that it is so worth it.

There will come a time in your relationship when things aren’t going as planned, and you will get bummed out. It could be that your spouse said he would be up for grabbing dinner out, but once he gets home from work he’s too tired to do anything but order a pizza and crash on the couch. Or maybe you were expecting to go out and do something fun, but your spouse’s plans didn’t coincide with that. It happens to all of us. And unfortunately, if it happens when you were really looking forward to time with your spouse, it can be really disappointing.

You may spend the rest of the night trying to not make it a big deal or act like everything is fine, when deep down you are sad about it. If you are anything like me, you aren’t saying anything because it’s truly not a big deal and your spouse has been working so hard you would feel bad to make it an issue.

Well, not saying anything can really hinder your relationship too. You can feel when things aren’t right in your marriage and while you think you are preventing a problem; you really are putting a wedge in between you.

There is nothing wrong with saying something to your spouse. Now, you don’t have to be rude or mean about it, but just coming clean and saying how you feel can ease the frustration.

I bring this up because it happened to me yesterday. I was so looking forward to Josh coming home from work and hearing about his outing with the Firm, but was so disappointed when his exhaustion kept him from even staying awake. I tried my best to “roll with the punches” and let it go, but I was sad about it. He’s been working so hard lately I was looking forward to some down time together where we could just catch up and chat.

My husband knows me super well, and could tell something was up despite my insisting that I was fine. As we were getting ready to call it a night, he hugged me and said “I know you’re upset, please tell me why.”

I didn’t want to. At all. And I even said, “I don’t want to tell you because it’ll make me feel bad!” But he asked again and assured me not to feel bad. So I told him. I said that I was really missing him, and sad that he was too tired when he got home to catch up. He completely understood and even said he was bummed too.

I am so glad that I shared. It was a really great moment and Josh reminded me that he would rather be told what’s up than allow something to fester and create a bigger issue later.

So share your feelings. Don’t let something minor get ignored and become something big later.

Hold out for deals!

**(DISCLAIMER, I do not get paid to promote any websites or companies, I simply am sharing deals I find.)

Happy Monday! I can’t believe the weekend is already over! It was full of fun and relaxing times. My brothers drove up to visit on Friday and stayed until Saturday night. We spent our time together playing The Walking Dead Trivia, bumming around Manitowoc’s SubFest, playing Frolf, and eating more junk food than anyone should be allowed to eat. Our visit was short, but great. On Sunday, Josh and I visited a new church and spent the day getting caught up on household stuff (the budget, bills, etc).

I mentioned before that I have several décor related projects in the works, but I am pretty sure I only talked about the ones pertaining to our bedroom. Well, over the weekend I was able to get all of the stuff together for the last family room project I have on my agenda.

In our “family room” area there is a giant empty wall that I have been wanting to put more pictures on. And although I could easily create another collage wall, that would create a VERY busy space. So I decided I wanted to blow up just a couple important pictures.

It took me some time to decide, but I eventually chose to do scenic shots from our various vacations. Josh and I have done 3 major trips, (Bahamas, Cancun, and Niagara Falls), so we decided to pick one scenic shot from each and frame them.

I have been keeping this project on the back burner because frames and blown up prints aren’t cheap at all! I priced out some frames from Hobby Lobby and was looking at upwards of $30 each. Then prints I found at Walgreens for about $15+ or at Walmart for $10+ (I needed them to be at least the size of a small poster). If I wasn’t careful this project would easily cost a small fortune.

Thankfully, I was patient (a rare happening!).

On Friday morning I bummed through the sale section in Hobby Lobby and found 3 identical frames on sale for $4.50! They were matted and had artwork in them, but all I have to do is pop that out and replace it with my images. Then on Saturday I received an email from Vistaprint and they were having a sale on their website. So I ordered my 3 prints from them and it only cost me $30 including shipping!

I cannot wait for my prints to arrive and I am so glad this project only cost $42! It’s amazing what a little patience can do! And now that all of this is in the works, I can focus on our bedroom!

(I will upload pictures of the wall once the prints arrive and I can hang them!)

Grace

Have you ever had moments in your life that you look back on and completely regret? A nasty exchange with someone you care about, a snide comment meant to trigger someone, or just a complete display of poor judgement?

Of course you have. I’ll stand here and say that you would be lying if you said you didn’t.

We all have those moments where we give in to the monster inside of us and let it run free. Then we stand in the wake of our mishap, maybe ashamed, definitely embarrassed, and we try to correct the wrong.

I will admit to my fair share of these moments. Most often they are with the people I care about most in the world. For some reason it’s the people we love the most that tend to get the brunt of our ugly side. Maybe it’s because we know (and hope) on some crazy level they will love us despite that streak of ugliness.

Well, the reason I bring it up, is yesterday I had one of those moments. I was overcome by frustration and fear, soaking wet after having just spent 20 minutes in the pouring rain trying to coax our puppy back into the house. He had gotten out of his collar and was running through the mud and puddles. I was terrified he would run into the street and get hit by a car, and he wouldn’t come to me for any of the things he normally loves. Harvey was running wild.

By the time I finally got him in the house and crated him, the frustration and fear had bubbled up inside of me and the tears fell. I was angry that Harvey wouldn’t listen to me, and frustrated he was able to get out of his collar.

My husband was at work and in my emotional state I wanted him to know how upset I was. I sent him a snotty message and proceeded to cry out my frustration.

Then I sat on my coffee table (because I was still soaking wet) and examined myself. I was immediately ashamed I had texted my husband. He had been putting in long hours, going in early, and dealing with enough curve balls this week. He didn’t need my attitude.

When Josh called me, I explained what happened and apologized. But then the craziest thing happened. Josh apologized to me for having to deal with it! I was shocked and even more embarrassed now. It wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t even there to witness it, but he apologized. He could have easily come back to me with attitude, but instead received me with grace.

I’ve said it before, but I truly feel that my husband’s love blesses me with a glimpse of Christ’s love. It isn’t contingent on my mood, or my ability to be perfect, or treat him like he deserves. It’s unconditional and in the moments when I don’t deserve it, he receives me with grace.

It’s reminiscent of Jesus’ love for me, and only a miniscule fraction at that! I am so humbled to be able to glimpse, in my human capability of comprehension, the kind of love Jesus has for me. And I am so thankful he blessed me with my husband.