inspired

I shot this picture while I was photographing the boutique at Cornerstone on this past Saturday. It’s a picture of some of the decor inside the bookstore, and I was just super inspired by it for some reason. It felt like my life in a lot of ways- hanging by a thread at the moment but bright and colorful- hopefully bringing joy and hope to many soon or someday or now. A symbol of the season, which actually ISN’T about shopping and things and presents. But is actually about a baby that was born to bring hope to us all. And this season I am full of exactly that- HOPE. Not that I haven’t had hope, but it’s been hard to find these past few years- at least for me. But I am starting to see why God has removed us from Cornerstone and I am grateful, hopeful and thrilled for the future.

Jason and I have made a decision about where we are going and what we are doing. I am not quite ready to discuss all the details, but we have found a place that is thriving and healthy and amazing. We couldn’t be happier and more excited for this time in our lives. God is so good and keeps revealing things to us that completely confirms that He has moved us for a huge reason. And he is taking care of us and protecting us- in more ways than I ever thought possible.

It makes me feel silly that I ever doubt Him and His plan for our lives.

So this picture might not have any significance to you. But it’s a fun picture to me; one that is symbolic in a lot of ways. And one that inspires me to keep pushing forward. Our future is bright and I am finally excited about this community of people and all the changes it’s going to bring for our lives.

I hate to leave you hanging, but more details will come once we can share them.

I promise.

saturday favorite #19

This has been my most favorite thing this week. I found it at Forever 21 while I was at the mall, and it’s kinda hard to come by.

Yes, my friends. I am talking about yellow nail polish.

It was only $2.80 (yet another reason why Forever 21 is my all time favorite) and it’s not a pastel yellow, which is usually what I find if I find yellow at all. It’s bright, it’s cheery, it’s fabulous. And it’s totally made my week!

happy 30th birthday!

Today was Jason’s 30th birthday!! Even though Jason isn’t sure how he feels about it, and even though I’ve made him feel like an old man these past few days, 30 is not old! It’s the new 20 and I’m pretty convinced that Jay is going to look as young as he does for a long, long time. He’ll just be that lucky.

I wanted to plan something special for him, but we don’t have a whole lot of extra cash these days. We have some really amazing friends who all helped me throw Jason a surprise party on Tuesday evening, the night before. He had absolutely NO IDEA and just thought we were going to our regular Bible study that we have each week. Our great friends Katelyn and Casey hosted and Katelyn helped me to get everything set up before we got there (thank you Katelyn!!). It was so great to hang with friends and about 25-30 people came, which was absolutely perfect.

I do have to say that Jason’s cake did look like it was on fire with the amount of candles we put on it! I wanted to make sure he blew out 30 candles and no less! So we all ate cake and relaxed for a little bit and Jason was totally surprised!

Today, Wednesday the 4th we spent time together as a family! We’ve had a lot of those days lately but this day was extra fun! We didn’t have too much planned, but we did manage to make our way into the Apple store. Jay decided that it was time to exchange the phone that he’s had for our ENTIRE MARRIAGE for a brand new iPhone!! I’m not kidding- that phone that he had was seriously one that Zach Morris from Saved By The Bell probably used during his time at Bayside. He’s had it forever! So it was completely time for him to upgrade to the new millenium and join the rest of us with an iPhone. Ha! I’m glad he did!

Our little man crashed from ‘partying’ to hard with mom and dad. We hadn’t even left the Apple store yet and he was already zonked out!

We ate lunch at Liberty Market after our time at the mall. When it’s your birthday, they give you a meal up to $10 for free!! So Jay got an amazing pizza made by none other than Andrew Sterbenz and we visited with Andrea Alley while we were there too!

Our evening was pretty simple- we had a family dinner at Olive Garden (one of Jay’s favorites!) and then headed home. After we put Cruz to bed, we sat on the couch with baseball on TV and worked. Yes, we had to work on his birthday. We don’t have the luxury right now of having a day off- THAT’s how busy we are! But we are super grateful to have each other and to be able to celebrate another birthday together! Birthdays are super special to me- life is too short and you never know how many birthday’s you’ll have together. Gotta make ‘em count for sure.

Happy 30th Birthday to the love of my life, Jason! I love you and I can’t wait till we turn 60 together! I love you!

 

kisses

Cruz is now giving us kisses. And it’s the best thing ever.

I can look right at him and say, “Cruz, can mommy have a kiss?” And I’ll pucker my lips up and he’ll lean in (with his mouth still open cuz he doesn’t know how to pucker his lips) and he’ll plant one on me. I love it so much that I ask him for ‘kisses’ all day long.

Tonight he totally got fed up with me asking for kisses. I can’t blame the kid. I seriously ask him all day long because it’s the cutest thing ever. But he gave me this look tonight that said, “Mom? Seriously?”

I just told him (as he crawled away from me) that I don’t care how old he is, he’s not ever going to be too big or too cool to hug and kiss his mother.

 

lame

The other night after dinner, we decided to head to a pumpkin patch that is nearby. We carved pumpkins with our small group last week, but we thought it would be a fun idea to get a ‘family pumpkin’ and carve it all together! Cruz loves pumpkins. I mean, what’s not to love? They’re big, fat, round and orange. Of course an 11 month old is going to love it! We set him down in the midst of all the pumpkins and he didn’t know what to do!

Well, he couldn’t move actually because he hates walking in his new shoes. And we were on the gravel. So he didn’t go anywhere. But he was super fascinated with all the kids that were there with their families picking out their pumpkins!

So we took some pictures, picked out a small pumpkin that was only $4.00 and headed to check out. I could NOT justify getting a pumpkin that was more than $4.00, since I got a huge pumpkin at the Farmer’s Market for only $1. But the $4 pumpkins were the cheapest they had. So we went to pay and realized that we had no cash, only card. The lady that was at the checkout told us that we have to spend at least five bucks in order to run our debit card.

LAME.

So we left with no pumpkin because spending the $4 was already stretching it for me! Ha! Well, at least we got some pictures! That’s what really matters. So I guess there was no pumpkin carving in our future after all. Oh well.

And I’ve included another picture of Cruz’s Halloween costume because it truly was the cutest thing ever! Happy November!

 

saturday favorite #18

He’s an elephant!!

Have you ever seen anything this cute?! I will post more on his trick or treating experience and our time at a pumpkin patch later!

Happy Halloween!!

finding time

It’s actually been really, really great having Jay home these past few weeks. Honestly, we haven’t had too much down time since he lost his job; our photography business has exploded! It’s just been crazy and so, so good. I don’t think we’ve ever been this busy in our entire lives- and that’s without any solid commitments to ministry at the moment!

That said, we are still finding time- in between all the edits, applying for jobs, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, clipping coupons and applying for insurance- to make time for a few fun things with our little man. Halloween isn’t necessarily one of my favorite holidays ever, but since it’s tomorrow it’s still fun to do a few things to begin to get into the spirit of the holidays! (the holidays?? When did that happen?!)

After Cruz woke up from his morning nap yesterday (which he’s getting ready to drop and I’m not sure how I feel about it), we ate some lunch at home and then headed out to get him some new shoes. Since it’s been chilly here, I’ve noticed that he doesn’t really have any good shoes! Since he’s been such a small little guy up until now and since it’s so hot in the summer, I hardly ever put shoes on him! I just let those little footers go free all summer long! But now he’s starting to walk and it’s getting cold. So we headed to Dillard’s and got him a pair of grey Converse.

And boy, are they cute!!

They also convieniently match his costume that he is going to wear for Halloween- he’s going to be an elephant!! We have a great friend who passed down a costume she had from when her son was Cruz’s age. We are thrilled and can’t wait to post pictures of him in this costume.

So stay tuned for that!

After we bought his shoes we let him play in the toddler play area at the mall. He loved it, even though he hates wearing shoes since he’s not used to it.

 

dear cruz,

Wow. This month has taken some unexpected turns.

Our journey is changing, little guy. And it’s been a month full of mixed emotions. Anger, hurt, happiness, relief. It’s been a month of continued stretching for us, as our life seems to be. Sometimes we wonder when God’s going stop stretching us- even if only for a brief moment so we can catch our breath. But at the same exact time, I wouldn’t change anything that we’ve been through because it would mean that we aren’t here.

And here is where we are.

This month has been hard. Daddy lost his job. Mommy lost a little baby. It would be easy to give up. To wonder where God is in the midst of confusion, hurt, anger and loneliness. Mommy and Daddy have lost some friends this month. When things get hard, you learn who loves you most. And we have learned that and are clinging to friends and family who have stuck by our sides. There still is a lot of people around us Cruz. A lot of people who love us. Who love YOU. The support has been amazing and I can’t help but know that God has big plans for the three of us!

And so we are moving on and moving forward. We are still sad about both losses- loss of not being apart of a community that we were involved in for 10 years. And sad about the loss of a little brother or sister that you will not meet until we’re all in heaven someday. But we are OK. More than OK.

God has given us more than we could have ever asked for in this time. I finally feel like I completely understand Philippians 4:6 & 7, (“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”) It’s amazing how truly the peace of God will surpass and go beyond all understanding in the moments when you need it most. I feel like I have a clarity for our life, that I’ve never had before.

While I don’t understand what he’s doing in our lives or where He’s taking us, I do trust Him. We won’t go anywhere where He isn’t leading us, little guy. So you can rest easy, relax and know- Mommy and Daddy are going to do their best to trust in God so you can confidently trust in us.

Here’s to many new adventures my Cruzer! This is a great life we are living!

I love you,

Mommy

 

three-cheese chicken penne pasta bake

Jason and I have been trying to cook in a little bit more healthy fashion. We’re always on the ‘go’, and sometimes that can lead to unhealthy choices. But we are both trying to get into shape and be more healthy, so that lead me to search for some recipes that we could be excited about that are still good for us.

Naturally, I started my search at Kraft’s website. I really love their ideas and their recipes. Their website is super easy to navigate and I haven’t really ever had a bad experience with anything I’ve made from their suggestions. Plus, I get those Food & Family magazine’s delivered to my home, which I save and reference often! It’s super convenient and I just love it.

I found this Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake and just knew we had to try it. It was full of flavor and something that Jason and I both enjoyed! It didn’t take long to get into the oven and it made enough to feed us for a couple days afterwards.

And in our current situation, I’m lovin recipes that are cheap and that turn into several meals. You need to try this!

 

Ingredients

- 1-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked

- 1 pkg.  (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves

- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

- 1 tsp.  dried basil leaves

- 1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce

- 1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

- 2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

- 1 cup  Mozzarella Cheese, divided

- 2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375ºF

2. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.

3. Cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min.

4. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil.

5. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done.

6. Stir in Neufchatel cheese

7. Drain pasta mixture; return to pan.

8. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella.

9. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish.

10. Bake 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

 

 

saturday favorite #17

Ever since Jay was laid off from his job, I have really felt the need to simplify our lives. It’s weird. I’ve never felt more free, more liberated and more excited for our future than I do right now at this moment. It’s like we can go anywhere and do anything- the options are endless.

We are in a great position and I never thought even a month ago, that I could possibly be this stress-free. I’m ‘breathing’ about a lot of things for the first time in a long time.

Yesterday, I was catching up on the shows that are on our DVR, and I will proudly admit that I love watching Oprah. She did a show on how different people live all around the world and I was just fascinated. It made me want to travel all around the world in the worst way ever and it inspired me tremendously.

I was specifically fascinated with how the people live in Denmark. Everything just seems so much more simple. I would love to live in a place where I can take my bike instead of my car and where I can walk to the market. She went inside a couple of homes there, and I found myself wanting to live like that. Why do I need a huge house? Living in a loft or town home suddenly seems so appealing to me. Jason and I talked about how people with pretty big families live in very small homes, all over the world! Why do I need all this ’stuff’? There’s nothing wrong with having a big house- we are in one that we are still growing into! But I’m finding my ideas of happiness shifting.

And it’s incredibly freeing.

We are still trying to decide where we are going to go and what we are going to do. Are we going to move? Are we moving out of state? Are we staying here? Working at a church? Just working our photography business? Maybe both?

We are considering everything and anything is possible. We could be across the nation in 30 days if the right opportunity presents itself- that’s how open we are. Or we can stay here if that’s the right opportunity.

All I’m saying is that I am digging deep into myself and my ideas of happiness, home, style and life- is changing. So what is the point of this post, you ask? Simplifying is where I’m at. Not that we’re moving to Denmark or anything (well, not today at least! Ha!). But my favorite thing about where we are at is that we are going to start over. Whether down the street or down South.

I’ve never felt this excited and liberated!

* These pictures are of a couple apartments in Denmark that I loved. I love the cleanliness and the simplicity of it. Beautiful.