Cooking Out South American Style

The rehearsal dinner was a fun event over the weekend. We arrived at the country club early and had an opportunity to talk with many of the interesting people who were a part of the wedding party.

One of the groomsmen grew up in the area and knew Matt well. Together they were quite entertaining. 

Another flew in for the wedding from Australia. He and the groom became friends while the groom studied abroad in college. The most popular story of his visit to the States involved an unbridled Segway and his resulting leg injury. An injury for which he had to make multiple doctor visits. 

One of the bridesmaids is the bride's boss in North Carolina; she and her husband lived in our city before moving to NC in August. It was interesting to hear what she and her husband miss about this city now that they live in the South. 

We all got along well and had a good time socializing before and after the rehearsal. In fact, we were having such a good time that I looked up after a while and saw that everyone else had already left for dinner at the house. We reluctantly decided it was time to relocate :)

The dinner was at Matt's childhood home, where his mom still lives. The bride decided she wanted to grill one of her favorite meals for us. She is originally from Guatemala. We had carne asada, fresh salsa, fresh guacamole and Spanish rice. For dessert, chocolate covered bananas and fresh strawberries. YUM!

Under the tent at the rehearsal dinner

That was the first time I'd ever eaten a chocolate covered banana. Admittedly, some time has been spent today thinking about how I'd make them myself...

Girl Time

Since Matt's mom had a full house of guests for the wedding last weekend, Matt and I stayed with Uncle Paul and Aunt Molly. Right off, I was invited for a day of fun with the girls. 

Aunt Ellen and Molly were getting manicures and I was invited to join them. I must admit, I've always wanted to give it a try...

When Matt spoiled me with a spa treatment as my Valentine gift last year, I got a pedicure as part of the package. This would be the first time for a mani-pedi combo :)

Molly and I took off in the convertible to meet up with Ellen...

My hair was pulled back so it wouldn't get wind-whipped, but because of the shield behind our heads, I doubt I needed to worry. It was perfect weather for a drive.

At the salon, we were pampered; it was quite relaxing...French manicured nails for me and bright pink toenail polish :)

Afterward, Molly and I went shopping for a dress and accessories for the wedding. We finished our day with a late lunch before heading home. There was plenty of time for girl talk and for me, that was the best part.

As soon as we returned, I had the rehearsal dinner to get ready for and attend with Matt. It was a wonderfully full, fun first day of our visit to Indiana!

Simple It May Seem

When we moved here, the movers crushed Matt's file cabinet. The sides were bent in and the drawers wouldn't pull out without difficulty or go completely shut into place. 

Matt coped for a while and finally about two months ago, he mentioned wanting a new one, a heavy-duty one. Not sure whether or not he wanted to choose it (HA!), I didn't run out and get it right away. It soon became clear he was subtly adding it to my shopping list ;) 

Off I went to Office Max and Office Depot, analyzing merchandise offerings and prices. Since Office Depot was the second stop, they had the same products at the same price and the store didn't have one in stock either, I ordered a file cabinet at Office Depot for delivery. Never again. 

It was due for next day delivery and never came. After multiple phone calls and emails over the next two weeks, I finally went by the store where I purchased the cabinet and asked the manager to refund my money. (The problem: they charged me when placing the order, but a third party was to make delivery. Normally, I wouldn't get my money back until Office Depot got theirs back from the third party. Praise the Lord for a manager who waived that policy!)

It took me a few days before I had it in me to try again. Finally, I stopped by an Office Depot that had the product in stock. Believe it or not, it only took about 5 trips to various office supply stores (start to finish) before securing the cabinet. I happily lugged that thing home, upstairs and into place. :)

Let me also say, I'm thankful that Ikea sells adjustable desks and puts their instruction manuals online. I took apart a portion of the desk, moved one of the legs and slid the cabinet underneath so it would be flush against the wall.

Why did I have to do this? The heavy-duty file cabinet was only available in a taller, deeper size than the one we'd had before. I had to adjust the height of the desk, but if I didn't move the leg over, it would look odd and misplaced jutting out beyond the desktop.

After a lot of blood, sweat, tears and anguish, this is what his office looks like today: 

South Jersey, Part 4

On the way home, Matt and I stopped in Philadelphia to see the University of Pennsylvania. Ever since my best friend from junior high, senior high and college went to Penn for her undergraduate studies, I've been curious. 

While she was in school, I wanted to visit her there to see where she was living and going to school but it never worked out. When she graduated I asked for a ticket so I could attend, but Ivy League schools don't issue many tickets to each student and she had enough family members to take up all she had. I hated missing it because it was such an eventful time in her life, but I understood. 

We lost touch after she went on a backpacking trip through Europe with a friend after graduation. I've wondered about her for years. I've wondered where her life has taken her; if she ever went to graduate school as she planned; if she got married and has children now; if I'd ever run into her on the street and know it was her. 

This is my former friend, Caroline.

Her parents own a business in Memphis, so I've even attempted to get in touch with her mom through the office. She wasn't at work the day I mustered up the nerve to call and I felt my message probably wouldn't get through based on the receptionist's response to what I said. 

Knowing we'd be in Philadelphia, I couldn't resist asking Matt if he minded us walking the campus to see what it's like. No matter how much that Sunday afternoon nap was calling him home, he didn't disappoint. He took the time for us to leisurely take it all in. 

 My Sweetheart checking out the campus with me.

 These are some of the buildings and grounds:

I must admit, unbeknownst to Matt, the entire time I walked the streets of Philly I couldn't help but look at every face we passed looking for my friend Caroline. You may be wondering why it is so important to me that I see her again one day. She was my first real friend (other than my sister) and I have years of memories that include her. It's not likely I'll ever see her again, but it felt good to finally see where she studied and the city in which she lived for four years.

Thank you, Matt, for taking the time to explore it with me.

Designated Packer

One of my housewifely duties has evolved into designated family packer. Whenever we go out of town, whether for an overnight trip or for a week, I pack for both of us. 

If you saw how I packed for vacations or church trips in my youth, you'd be screaming "Nooooooooo!!!!" Fortunately, I've been on several mission trips over the years since and have learned how to pack in a more condensed fashion :)

Nevertheless, this new duty has not been without difficulty. I have found it to be a stressful task because in the process of choosing for Matt, I begin to worry about forgetting something he'll need. The work of packing then takes two or three times as long as it should because I walk through each day and all the articles of clothing he'll need to put on each morning to be fully dressed for the day's events. 

Running through it more than once is just to be sure that I'm sure I haven't missed something. Usually I'm a bit frazzled by the time it's all done.

A recent consequence to that process for an overnight trip a few months ago: he wasn't lacking anything, but I failed to pack my sleep clothes. Being that it was an overnight trip, there was nothing else in the bag that could reasonably serve that purpose...except an extra t-shirt I'd packed for Matt. Husband to the rescue! Whew :) Or should I say: Awkward!

We'll be out of town this weekend for a family wedding in Indiana. I got up when Matt did this morning (5 a.m.) and began pulling out clothes to cover each day and extra clothing for the wedding events. This is what our room looked like this morning: 

Believe it or not, this will be just enough to cover each day and all of the events. :)

Progress

How quickly time passes still amazes me. I set out to make a two-piece dress for the wedding this weekend and it is still in progress. Somehow I began last week thinking I still had three weeks to make it and then woke up, realizing I had less than two weeks. How did that time slip by me?!

I admit, I'm a novice. Apparently when I changed out the thread, I threaded it improperly. I couldn't figure out what I'd done because I couldn't see into it well enough to identify my error. While the machine was woefully unusable, I lost about 3 hours due to frustration and perplexity. I kept looking at the instruction book and didn't get what I was overlooking. It's really not that complicated. I was just tired from staying up too late.

Clarity came in the morning. I continued on with the skirt and it's almost done. That's supposed to be the easy part, but it's taken longer than I imagined it would. Let me just say, this has been a good learning experience. 

Now that it's time to begin packing, I have to choose something from what I already have to wear to the wedding. That's ok with me. I'll have more time to work on this project and do things right. 

In the meantime, this is what my sewing station and surrounding areas look like: 

 Pattern pieces strewn about...

 Pinning, cutting, sewing station

 Ironing location (On the 2nd floor - At least I got exercise going up and down stairs!! A lot.)

Before too long, I hope to have a finished product that is respectable enough to post a photo :) We'll see...

What Did You Expect?

The book I've been reading lately is called What Did You Expect? Although it's my goal to read each night for a half hour before bed, it's been hard to fit it in with our busy schedule in the last couple of weeks. I find more often than not I only manage to read a page or two at a time and sometimes not even that much. 

The chapter I'm reading now is about building trust in marriage (i.e. building intimacy). It seems I read a brief section and then think about whether or not that aspect of trust characterizes our marriage. There is always a question at the end of a section, basically challenging the reader: Are you doing these things? 

The emphasis of the book is for the reader to take personal responsibility for how he or she approaches the marriage relationship rather than pointing a finger at the spouse. The author provides specific suggestions for what we can do to grow into a deeper relationship as husband and wife. 

This has been the most thought provoking chapter for me, but it has all been good so far. I highly recommend it. 

Some of the questions I found to be helpful include:

• Is your communication free of hidden agenda, and is it motivated by the needs of your spouse? 
• Are you serious about your promises, even when they are little, and do you do everything in your power to follow through? 
• Do you quickly admit your wrongs and seek forgiveness? 
• How well do you care for one another? 
• Do you quickly deal with wrongs and quickly settle your differences?

As you may imagine, along with less time to read, I've taken more time to think about what I'm reading. Although I'm inching along, it's been worthwhile. 

Disciplines

Getting regular exercise and managing portion control are probably my biggest challenges of all the disciplines. Lately I've renewed my dedication to these disciplines and have had a decent start.

Recently while talking to a friend about my new resolve, she gave me some helpful tips to jump start the weight loss. This is a meal I came up with under the "lean meat and vegetable" meal plan:

It was delicious! 

One half of a blue cheese stuffed, marinated, grilled steak with fresh mushrooms and asparagus sauteed in 1/4 tablespoon of butter. YUM.

More lean meat, fresh fruit and vegetables are on the menu this season. It's time for healthier eating.

Real Intimacy

Praise the Lord for Christian authors with helpful insights! 

A few years ago I read a book called Changes That Heal. One of the lessons I learned was about real intimacy. The author presented real intimacy as being emotionally vulnerable with someone you love and receiving acceptance, gentleness and love in return. On occasions when a husband or wife is bold enough to share his or her heart with the other and acceptance, gentleness and love is the response, a deep bond forms between them. That bond is the result of deeper intimacy being achieved in the relationship. Knowing another person and being known. Being loved deeper still.

The author talked about the fallacy in this world of thinking intimacy is found in a physical relationship and mentioned the sad fact that even in marriages that last, many never achieve true intimacy. 

His comments were all I needed to know what I wanted for my future marriage. His words also prepared me to be able to engage in a relationship on that level. 

It is really scary to be vulnerable with someone after you've been burned in relationship after relationship, but it's worth the risk with the right person. You see, even as wonderfully blessed as I am to be married to Matt, even though I know he loves and accepts me for who I am, it is still very difficult for me to open up about my feelings. 

In our relationship before marriage, I dared to share with him some of my feelings about different situations in relationships around me and he was wonderful. He was accepting, loving, gentle, supportive and he listened very well. Each time, his words were exactly the words I needed to hear. It was unbelievable. A rare experience for me. Something I crave in relationship. 

Among other things, these experiences of sharing my heart convinced me that he is a man of godly character, that he is the man God chose for me to marry and that we would have a blessed relationship in marriage. As secure as I feel in our marriage, as much as I know I can trust my heart with Matt, the fear of rejection (emotionally) still remains. My natural tendency is to hold back those thoughts, those feelings, but I must confess, when I've dared to talk with him about those things closest to my heart, I've noticed this amazing sense of connection with him that I wouldn't trade for anything. 

Achieving real intimacy is a daily choice. That's what I want for my marriage as the years continue to pass. That's what I want for all of our marriages. 

Thank you, Dr. Cloud! Your insights have been a blessing in my life and marriage already. Thank you Lord for speaking through your children to show us the way...

Well Wishes

Several people I know had a picture of the wedding party and all attendees taken on their wedding day. A few have had wedding guests sign and write well wishes to them on a photo mat. I decided to combine the two ideas to create this memento of our wedding day: 

Matt and I LOVE it! 

We've looked at the picture a couple of times as if it's Where's Waldo. It's plenty big enough that we've been able to pick everyone out. So far, I think I've read all the sentiments on the mat 3 or 4 times. I can't resist. 

Thanks to all who came, posed and wrote!

South Jersey, Part 3

We finished the night feeling a bit nostalgic. On our first visit to Maryland, we stayed at an Element hotel. (This was before we were married, so we were in separate rooms.) We enjoyed breakfast together each morning though and thought our rooms were nice. At almost exactly a year later, we stayed at another Element hotel, in Ewing, NJ this time. 

The similarities led us to think back on all that's happened in the last year. It's really hard to believe what all can fit into one year. Somehow it just seems like that was longer ago. 

When we arrived to check in there was obviously a loud party going on downstairs, so we were offered a free upgrade to a suite. "We'll take it!" Let me just say, it was nice! 

Still about 45 minutes away from the church, we got up early Sunday morning to get ready, fit in breakfast and leave extra early to make sure we found the place. GPS made it simple. 

While there, we met some of the nicest, most welcoming people. We enjoyed a nice lunch with cousin Dave and his wife, Debbie. It was fun to get to know them and hear about their life and the life of their church. (Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture with them.)

Even though I know God is at work all around our country and around the world, I still find myself surprised to meet true believers in places unfamiliar to me.  

It was nice to see how they are serving the Lord where they live.

Then and Now

In talking with Matt and listening to our moms, we decided they'd enjoy receiving an album of our wedding photos for Mother's Day. This is the project I mentioned a few weeks ago that took me 2 days for each album. 

You see, I created each book to include photos the moms would most care about, so they are different. It was fun to see the albums take shape as I chose the backgrounds and made adjustments to the layout for each page. It was time consuming, but well worth it. 

Here is a glimpse: 

 The cover shot is of Matt and I walking down the hill from the foot of the crosses.

The center shot is of Matt reading a card I gave him on our wedding day during those first moments together before taking pictures. 

Matt has enjoyed looking at the albums while they've laid around the house these weeks. One of the sweetest things he said as he looked one day: "And I'd do it all over again."

Praise the Lord for that! So would I.  

We hope our mothers enjoy these albums and enjoy sharing them with others. We love you!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Sadly one of the gifts I bought for Matt's birthday was due to arrive a few days late. I was excited about it and eager to give it to him, but it was hard to be sure if it would suit him.

When I opened the door to go out for exercise on Monday (3 days after his birthday), the package had arrived without me knowing it. In order to avoid delay I dragged the huge box into the house and stowed it in the side of our coat closet. Matt would arrive home before I returned, so I had to put it out of sight.

Out of sight, out of mind. By the time I arrived home, I'd totally forgotten about his gift! It worked out rather well in the end. I managed to take it out of the box, look it over and hide it until a good time to give it to him. Since we had game night Tuesday (playing with one of Matt's birthday presents), it worked out well to surprise him with his gift right before we began playing.

It seems he loved it! This is what I got him:

He mentioned it would be nice to have a new golf bag, but I picked a K-State one :)

South Jersey, Part 2

After lunch, we stopped in a couple of specialty shops as we walked. Surprisingly, we both enjoyed looking at some of their unique items. Since Matt hates to shop, it was nice to browse without driving him nuts! He'd never show it, but I'd feel badly for dragging him along nonetheless. 

For dinner, we went to City Tavern. It's a colonial style restaurant where the servers wear colonial dress and speak in like manner. It was a nice candlelight dinner for two. 

The weather was perfect all day. A gift we both appreciated. It was a great day to spend mostly outside. 

The only odd moments were the ones on our way to Reading Terminal Market. We were surprised to find several street preachers on various corners shouting at the top of their lungs. They were clean cut, ordinary looking folks in business casual attire, so they were not off-putting in that regard at all. 

Although I believe they are true believers who were attempting to spread the gospel, somehow it felt off. Everyone ducked their heads and walked by without slowing down to listen (including me). The one man we saw passing out flyers used a poor choice of words to a little girl walking with her mom. I told Matt he sounded like an innocent and well-meaning person who had no idea his kind words would sound to a stranger as if he was a pedophile. It was a troubling scene because it seemed their hearts were right, but that they had no hope of being effective with their approach. 

If any in the crowd were true seekers, I doubt they'd approach any one of those men to ask questions. Drawing people in for a one-on-one discussion about spiritual things is usually most effective. Thankfully, the Lord can work through any genuine attempt to reach others for Christ. 

It was an interesting day in all respects. Quite an adventure.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a great day because we have the opportunity to honor our mothers.

From bandaging our wounds and wiping tears to your generosity in laughter and love...

From the little mundane things you determined to do for our benefit to the big moments in life when you celebrate with us...

Thank you for all the ways you bless our lives!

Happy Mother's Day, 

We love you!

Family Game Night

Matt and I enjoy playing games. We love adding things to the list that we can do together and mutually enjoy. 

Recently, we were talking as we walked through our neighborhood and I mentioned a family I remember who had a game night once a week from the time the kids were young and as long as I knew them. My friend was in her early 20s still having game night with her parents, her brother and she'd added her boyfriend to the mix. She eventually was engaged to and married that guy. 

As we walked and talked, I mentioned how nice it would be for us to have a weekly family game night. A family tradition that hopefully would continue into our kid's young adult lives. It would be a great way to meet and get to know their friends over the years and a chance for us to meet and get to know a potential boyfriend or girlfriend. (Yes, I always think way ahead.)

Matt liked the idea and agreed we should have a regular family game night. Tuesday night was our first. 

We played with Matt's new game: 

It was challenging, but it was tons of fun!!

Making a Day Special

Approaching the time of Matt's birthday, I found myself often asking: "What will make this day special for Matt?" It can be so hard to decide how to make a day special for someone else. You know what he likes, what's important to him on some level, but how will that translate into making a day memorable. 

For me a birthday is about celebrating the life of that person. It's not simply about giving gifts or doing fun things. Those are just ways to make the day carry the meaning it has for you to the one you love.

I wanted Matt to feel loved, important, valued on this special day, the anniversary of the day he was born. How might I go about that? 

It was important to take the time to make some careful selections for his gifts. He may have told me in general what he'd like to have, but in choosing the specific items I could take the time to see what he might appreciate the most. I wanted to buy him some extras too. Things he didn't ask for but would enjoy nonetheless. Since we're doing our best to save, I wanted him to feel spoiled but didn't want to break the bank :) 

It's tough to figure out what will carry the most meaning: gifts, words, time, affection or acts of service. My goal was to hit them all. A card. A note. Nice gifts. Practical ones too. A nice leisurely home cooked, candlelit dinner for two. Putting his new file cabinet in place. Cleaning and straightening the house after a busier-than-usual week. Spending the day after his birthday together doing whatever he wanted to do. All with the hope that he knows not only how much I love him, but also how thrilled I am that he's here, walking on this journey of life with me. 

Here's a peek at our weekend birthday celebration: 

 A salad to start

 Lamb Chops, Roasted Potatoes and Sauteed Mushrooms

 Strawberry Cake and Icing

 The table before candles were lit.

Matt got several items of clothing.

  I'm a fan of Matt's poses for the camera.

 The golf club he put on his list (given to him by my parents).

I was almost in swinging range :)

 Matt asked for a chess set and would have been happy with a wooden one. This is marble.

It was a fun birthday celebration. I love you, Sweetheart!