5 on Friday!

Thank God it's Friday!!!  I'm linking up with April, Natasha, Christina, and Darci again for 5 on Friday so I've got 5 random thoughts for you today.

#1

Trader Joe's recently came to the DFW area and I had yet to visit one, even though that's where the wine for my wedding came from!  My coworkers were sweet and provided all the wine as a wedding gift to us. 

Yesterday, my coworker and I ventured out during our lunch break and went to Trader Joe's and it was awesome!  I really wish there was one closer to where I live!  I'd go all the time!  They have way more food than I was expecting. They have fresh produce, frozen pizza, all kinds of oils, cheeses, breads, and even household products - mostly organic.  I bought some lotion with aloe without "fragrance".

Top 25

These Irish Bangers make me laugh....Arrested Development anyone???

#2

I think I'm going to revamp my blog.  It'll have a new look and possibly a new name soon!  I never realized how technical blogging can be.  I'm super impressed with all of the blog authors I currently follow!  See my blog roll on the right side!

#3

I've been trying to make us salads for dinner lately.  It's so much lighter and we haven't been home until later, yet go to bed early.  I definitely can't go to bed with a full stomach so a salad settles a lot better.

Ingredients:

Chopped Romaine

Chicken

Red Bell Peppers

Feta Cheese

Sliced Banana Peppers

Kalamata Olives

Balsamic Vinaigrette (I love making my own with the little Italian packets)

#4

My friend, Carroll, is a consultant for CAbi, a very cute, classy clothing line that you will love!  For the next week, we're having an online "party"where you can purchase anything on the website with free shipping, including free shipping if you have to send it back in to exchange for a different size.  I know you will love the new Spring Collection!

If you want to purchase something, just contact Carroll directly at carrollschuler@gmail.com

#5

Don't miss the beginning of my Wedding Story series.  You can read the first post about how Kevin and I met here.  Many posts to come that complete our story!

Wedding Story: How We Met



I'm thinking about doing a blog series on my wedding!  This is the freshest it'll ever be in my mind (seeing as how it happened last October) and I'd love to have it documented here so I can come back and enjoy it over and over again.

So I start with how Kevin and I met and our story of dating.  I hesitate sharing this with you...why?  I'm afraid of being judged.  I'm afraid of people thinking that I'm a jerk.  But our story is quite beautiful considering how God orchestrated it all.  If I had to summarize it all in one sentence, it would be this: God works in ways that you will never understand or ever be able to predict, but He is in control and knows what He's doing AND what is ultimately best for you.

So in November of 2010, I was not in a happy place.  I had just gone through a really tough breakup and to be honest, was pretty depressed.  I was 27 and not understanding why I was still single.  Though I was NOT old, I thought I was because most of my friends were already married and on baby #2.  Thankfully, I have a very supportive family who has always loved me and NEVER pushed me to marry quickly or feel inadequate because I was not married yet.  They believe in God making your story happen the way He wants it.

My roommate and I decided to visit the young adult gathering at my church on a Thursday night, November 4, 2010 to be exact. Ha!  It was on this night that I met Kevin, my future husband.  I remember thinking he was a good-looking guy who was very sweet and seemed down-to-earth.  At the end of the night, we exchanged phone numbers and agreed to hang out again. 

Now a bit about my thoughts at this point: my heart was very broken.  I still cried daily and just couldn't get out of my depression that started the previous September.  I had considered counseling before, but never wanted to pay the money to invest in it.  The daily crying finally convinced me that I should give it a go.  I was sick of being in a such a terrible place.  I got a recommendation from a friend for a great Christian counselor and started going weekly.  I cannot tell you how BIG this time in my life was!  I learned SO much about myself, my desires, why I process things the way I do, what in my childhood affected the way I handle situations today, the kind of men I was attracted to, and more.  This all came from the LORD and His guidance in this time of counseling.

Ok, back to Kevin.  We immediately became great friends and hung out often, even just the two of us.  I think that because of my brokeness, I couldn't see past being friends at the time.  I knew I was not in a place for a relationship.  I did go on dates with others in the meantime, but nothing became of any of it.  I got to know Kevin very well.  I knew deep stuff about him and he knew deep stuff about me.  I was always honest with him about my intentions - being friends.  He so graciously accepted me where I was and accepted me as his friend, best friend.  There were times that I felt like we shouldn't hang out as much but I just couldn't stop....I LOVED hanging out with him.  I felt like he got me for who I really am and accepted me despite all of my inadequacies.  In fact, I had an ex-boyfriend that viewed my querks as annoyances.  He rolled his eyes at the things that Kevin loves about me.  I was always 100% myself around Kevin.

So for a year and half, this was life.  I continued my counseling which went from getting over the ex-boyfriend to moving onto bigger and deeper topics that I had never dug into.  I highly recommend counseling for everyone - we all have stuff we need to dig into, no matter who we are.  No one is too good for counseling.  But hear me on this - there are good and bad counselors!  Get recommendations!  Ask around!  Don't just Google someone.

I was also digging deeper into my relationship with God and getting a true understanding of grace and His unconditional love.

Kevin and I became better friends.  During this time, we got to know each other's hearts without the temptation of becoming too physical or caring way too much about what the other thought since we weren't dating.  I so appreciate that phony filter not being a part of our friendship.

Here are some photos of the random things we did while we were friends over that year and a half:


 
 
 
 
 
 

Coming soon....Wedding Story: How We Started Dating

5 on Friday!

 

Today I'm linking up with a. liz adventures, carolina charm, hello! happiness and the good life blog!

 

I get to share 5 random fun things!  Here we go!

 

ONE

 

It snowed in north Texas yesterday!!  Actual snow...not the normal ice that we get when precipitation falls from the sky.  You're probably making fun of it if you're from the north, but it was kind of fun.  Too bad it wasn't Christmas, because it totally fit the holiday feel.  I did watch some of the neighborhood kids throw snowballs at each other...well, the small amount they could gather off of the ground.

 

photo by Sydney Pham

 



 

TWO

 

Speaking of snow...last weekend, my husband and I went to Oklahoma to see his grandfather....the sweetest man on earth.  Here we are dancing at my wedding:

 

 

It's always a hoot going to visit Grandpa Bill.  He loves going to country dances at the senior centers around the area.  Normally we go to one on Saturday night, but this weekend we went to two!  One was an hour away on Friday night and one in town on Saturday night.  I was exhausted!  There are 86-year-olds not taking a single break when I have to sit down every chance I get...haha.  It's definitely motivation to stay active and healthy so I can do stuff like that when I'm that age.

 

So we heard there might be snow on our drive home that Sunday, but didn't expect it to be nearly as bad as it was.  Our 5 hour drive home turned into 7 hours in the car with 2 anxious doggies.  It was definitely icy.  We saw probably 30 wrecks, overturned cars and semis.  It was pretty scary. 

 

See that long extension of the ice/snow storm, yeah, that was our entire drive from Grove to Dallas!  It somehow knew exactly where we'd be driving!

 



 

It went from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

Thankfully, we made it home safely!

 

THREE

 

My husband and I love hot chocolate!  We always use the little store-bought packets, but they aren't wonderful and you never know exactly what they're sweetened with.  I found this amazing recipe for Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa through Jen's blog at Whimsy At Heart that originally came from The Nourishing Gourmet.

 

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Since we are both lactose-intolerant, we don't drink normal milk so I made Kevin's with Lactaid and mine with unsweetened almond milk.  I also didn't have those sugar replacements so I used Stevia because I had some in my pantry.

 

FOUR

 

We pretty much finished our guest rooms and we're ready to have some guests stay with us!  Here is the big room where we've decorated mostly with items I've purchased while traveling and some bird-themed decor.  Once I've finished all of the walls, I'll post a photo from every angle.

 

 

And here is the other guest room:

 

 

And don't judge!  I don't have candles in the candle holders yet!  Thank you to the Guilbeau's for donating the bed decor.  I love it!  The framed 'B' and green clock were also gifts from our sweet friends, Wally/Monica and Tracy.  And bless my husband's heart...I initially wanted this room to be painted an olive green so we spent a whole day painting it.  Then, months later, I decided I wanted it to be grey so we re-painted it. 

 

FIVE

 

So my husband and I love watching shows like Treehouse Masters, Shark Tank and American Restoration, but we've started a new evening activity.  I especially like it because I get to interact with Kevin more and it challenges my brain.  We sit on the floor together and play Rummikub.  He ALWAYS beats me, but for the record, I beat him for the first time last night. ;-)