The War Inside

I'm just going to warn you right now, buckle up because I'm probably going to reach a new level of rambling today. I've had the topic that I'm writing about on my mind for quite some time, and I feel like I've meditated on it enough that I finally have the courage to write about it.

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I have a theme song, at least a song for right now. I've mentioned before that I'm am overly affected by music and that it can really can steer my emotions. While I was on the treadmill about two weeks ago, The War Inside by Switchfoot came on. If you've never heard the song, it's really a great workout song, so I'd recommend adding that one to your playlist. But something about it just lit a fire inside of me...of about two days.

Isn't that how we are though? Don't we set our mind to something and we build up our determination, just to watch it crumble when it gets tough or uncomfortable? Maybe it's just me, but I'm pretty bad at sticking to things that are super tough, even when deep down I know that I want to.

Last week, for some reason I had these words swimming around in my head...all...week...long: "I do want I don't want to do and I don't do what I do want to  do." These words derived from the words of Paul in the New Testament when he wrote about his sin.

"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am!" - Romans 7:14-24

Okay, so admittedly, I'm not the best at memorizing scripture word-for-word...but I had the gist of it rolling around in my brain for days.  

I keep setting my mind to things: eating good, sticking to Weight Watchers, working out on a daily basis, lowering my carb/sugar intake, not eating dessert, making healthy choices even when we're out, etc. I keep setting my mind to things and then at the drop of a hat, I just abandon them...even though I don't want to. I go for the ice cream, or I turn off my alarm in the morning, day after day after day. Obviously, I'm not saying that eating ice cream or sleeping until 7:00 rather than 6:00 is evil, like Paul is saying about his sin, I'm just saying that by my own strength, I cannot conquer any battle. 

As you've probably gathered by now from my blog, I really do hate putting bad things into my body. I really do hate going days at a time without working out. I really do want to be healthy and want to exercise. But than wretched sin that dwells within me goes against my better thoughts and desires and just takes over. 

I'd been really really hard on myself over the weekend. Jason was in a wedding so our dinners were provided to us at the wedding and rehearsal dinner, so it made it very difficult to stick to what I wanted to eat, which were healthy things (or at least healthier).

So there I was on Sunday afternoon, relaxing on the couch, and trying with everything inside of me to hold off on snacking and just wait until dinner. It was time to leave the apartment for church. Jason and I had been hanging out that afternoon, so we loaded into the car, and headed off. 

We made a few pit stops to turn in his tux from the wedding and also to peak into the new LOFT at the Summit (I'm a big fan by the way). While we were in LOFT, I tried on multiple items that didn't fit. I took the jeans that I really liked (but were one size to small) up to the register to see if they could get them from another store. The sales lady kindly told me that the size I had in my hands was the biggest size they carry in the store. Talk about humiliating. Talk about being really down on myself. Internally, I was a mess. 

Finally we arrived at church. I was so ready to just worship my Savior and Creator and just spend some concentrated time in corporate worship and study in His Word. Our executive pastor was the one preaching that day, and he told us to open our bibles to Romans 7. He explained that the text he would be preaching on that evening is very difficult to preach on, but absolutely necessary. The words he spoke could not have been more true. 

You see, he started out in Romans 7:14, which is where I had been kind of lingering all week long. But he did something that I had been failing to do...he kept reading. 

After Paul goes on and on about how dreadful this sin problem is, he says this:

"Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." - Romans 7:25-8:2

[Here's the part that's hard for me to admit]

During his sermon, the pastor then said something that truly cut me to the core and convicted me in a way that I haven't been convicted in quite a while. 

I'm so bad about comparing myself to other people. Maybe it's the way the look and I figure out if I'm bigger than them, smaller than them, or the same. Maybe it's looking at someone's lifestyle or choices and knowing that they're walking an outwardly sinful life and concluding that I'm probably better off because most sin that I have (and I do realize that we ALL sin) in usually more inward. I'm very quick to just brush off my lack of self-control or my readiness to give up at something as me just "accepting myself the way I am". And while I do think it's important to know and understand that God has created each of us and we are His workmanship, my tendencies are nothing less than sin. 

 Here's what he said (this isn't word-for-word, but it's the best I could remember when I was jotting it all down): "We may look down the road and say to ourselves, 'Well, at least I'm not a drug addict like my neighbor over there.' But if we are growing Christians, we should look at ourselves in the mirror and say, 'I'm worse, I'm a a believer and I'm a pride addict, or a stuff addict, or a food addict.'" 


May I recognize the sin in my life and call it what it is. May I do so, not to be self-deprecating, but the be a growing believer.


I know that most of you have probably had that Sunday when you're sitting in the congregation minding your own business and then the pastor decides to basically call you out (not literally, but you feel like it). I have had many occasion such as this, and Sunday evening was definitely one of those times. I wanted to stand up and just say, "I get it, God! Thank you! Thank you God for saving me even me!"

I am set free by the blood of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what I do or how hard I try, I can never accomplish or defeat a battle without Him. 

“The Christian life is a life of continual struggle, of victories and defeats, and Christian victory comes only when we totally distrust self, and rely on the provision of God. How frequently we throw works out the front door of justification, and invite them in the back door of sanctification.” - John Stott 

This weekend I was reminded that there is a "war inside". There's a battle for my soul. But I take refuge in the fact that I also have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of my soul. I am His, therefore there is no battle that will not be won.  

Another Weekend has Come & Gone

What a wonderful weekend we had! We got to spend time with friends, each other, shop, relax, and work. After a whirlwind week at work for both Jason and me, we definitely needed some down time.

The last few weekends have been wonderful, but busy. They've been the kind of weekends where you need another weekend to catch up from the weekend.

As you all know, I'm right in the middle of planning my wedding. We are officially 68 days away! I feel like almost every conversation I have is full of wedding talk...and I love every minute of it! So far, I really have enjoyed every part of wedding planning. My mom and sisters have been INCREDIBLE at tackling all of the decorations for our ceremony and reception. I've handled the majority of booking things, big picture planning, and administrative things, such as getting the invitations prepared to go out.

Speaking of invitations...

off they go!

And here are a couple of other "sneak peaks" at what my mom has been working on:

flower pots pained by my sister

pales for the flower girls

flowers to go at the end of the pews in the chapel.
complete with sentimental broaches from my grandmother.

boutonnieres for all of the guys -- handmade by my mom and sisters

My mom and sisters seriously could go into business making this stuff! Every time they send me a picture I'm so stinkin' impressed! They have gone way above and beyond every expectation I could have imagined!

So far I've had the hardest time finding shoes to wear on my wedding day. I've probably bought and taken back five pairs of shoes. Finally, I decided to just wear the same shoes as my bridesmaids (red patten leather ballet flats) because I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I wanted to wear flats, I wanted them to be red, I wanted a sandal, I wanted some sort of embellishment, and I didn't want flip flops because I don't want to make noise when I walk. I really didn't think this was too much to ask, but after five months and five pairs of shoes, I thought maybe it is too much to ask.

Yesterday, Jason and I decided to go out to the outlet mall in Leeds. We'd never been out there shopping, but we both love a good bargain, so we headed that way. While we were there, I stumbled upon these little babies -

THEY ARE PERFECT!

I'm literally almost as excited as I was after I bought my wedding dress.

So, I'll quit my wedding rambling - I'm sure there's a lot more of that once we get closer! If anyone has advice on how to not freak out (in a good way) every day that the wedding gets closer and completely obsess (again, in a good way) on the day just getting here, please pass it along to me!

Watch It! : A Where I'm Going Update

So, remember how I've always battled my weight and how I identified a couple of months ago that it's a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual battle that I've had to deal with? Well, that's still extremely true.

When I was going into ninth grade, my mom joined Weight Watchers and lost a good bit of weight. Since she's the one who bought the groceries and made dinner each night, I learned a lot about the program and I lost some weight as well. Since then, I've tried Weight Watchers a couple of times, but I always have a terrible attitude toward it for some reason.

I think that I've identified that Weight Watchers is a strict program that actually works if you do it right, which is true. I think that in the past I've always blamed the program for my weight gain/battle rather than myself and my lack of self-control.

Over the last couple of years, a couple of people in my life (including my dad) have done WW and had some pretty significant success from it. Over the last few years, I've attributed the fact that WW doesn't take sugars/carbs into consideration as my reason for not getting back on the program.

Obviously, things have evolved from 2004 and now WW does take sugars/carbs into consideration. Even though I knew this, I've still used the same excuse for the last year or so.

Last Thursday while we were at camp, we were going around telling everyone (who asked) that our wedding is "three months from tomorrow [Friday]". Then at lunch, someone who I've worked with there told me that a whole group of girls that work for the organization are doing WW together and if I ever wanted to do it and needed a support group, I could join them.

I don't know what really was the exact straw that broke the camel's back, but something did. I could just feel the door opening for me and God pushing me through it. I could feel Him telling me that this is a weapon I can use in this spiritual battle that I have been fighting for the last 15 years. And it just so happens that the sign up fee for a three month WW online subscription was waved through the weekend.

I asked Jason for this thoughts, and he obviously said he thought it was a good idea if it's something I feel like I need to do (he's the best). So, starting this past Sunday, I'm a Weight Watchers online member :)

I have to admit that it's been a tough couple of days, especially while we were traveling home 8.5 hours. Anytime I start something like this its hard, and it even becomes emotional for me because this is a mental/emotional/physical/spiritual thing. Over the past couple of days, I've doubted, I've wanted to eat my feelings (and I did until I finally stopped myself), and I've been ashamed.

I was ashamed that I'm not happy with myself three months before my wedding. As each month goes by, I want to feel more like I'm closer to looking/feeling the way I would like to look/feel on September 22nd, but so far I haven't. I'm ashamed that I'm having to start something new so close to that day; so ashamed that I almost didn't write this post today.

But I realize that I need prayer and support. This blog has served as an avenue for me to receive just that. It's also served as accountability for me over the last few months, and I'm definitely a stronger person because of all of you reading this thing.

So, as I embark on this little adventure over the next three months, I am hoping that you'll keep me in your thoughts and prayers. If you find good WW recipes, send them my way! And if you've had a WW success story (or know one), send that my way as well!

Productive Weekend in Review

Here's our VERY productive weekend in review:

Friday -

I just love a trip to the mall. 

Friday night we got new dishes. They look a little something like this:

Jason with our new dishes.

We also got a "something old". Jason's step mom gave us some really awesome red cups as well as some red vases. The cups are from 1967 and they're really cool looking!

We also went to eat at Stix. I went with the teriyaki  chicken with veggies and brown rice. I had enough left over to eat Saturday night as well. Definitely our new favorite Asian food joint.

Saturday - 

Although we didn't we get to sleep in, it ended up being a pretty restful day. We got up early and took Jason's family to see our wedding venue. They loved it, and it was perfect weather.

Then we went to eat at the wonderful Olexa's in Mountain Brook Village. We wanted to make sure that they got to taste our cake :)

Next, Jason got fitted for his tux/suit! Look how hot my fiance is!!!

This is what Jason will be wearing.

This is what the groomsmen/dads will be wearing.

After lunch we kind of went our separate ways. We were all tired and wanted to rest. After about an hour of just chillin' by the TV, Jason and I decided to be productive. We basically just ran errands until dinner time.

Then we rented a movie and watched it at the apartment.

Sunday -

We got up early again to go to the 9:00 service at Brook Hills. We wanted to make sure that Jason's fam got to go to church with us but they also had a long drive ahead of them. I was okay with going to church early...it meant that I got to eat "Perfect Oatmeal" from Starbucks on the way.

After church we went to eat lunch to celebrate Father's Day with Jason's dad. We went to The Fish Market, which is right by our church and only a couple of miles from our wedding venue. While we were there, we asked if they can accommodate rehearsal dinners. After lots of looking, talking, and booking, we now have our rehearsal dinner location! Just one less thing to do :)

After church, they hit the road and Jason and I hit the grocery store. It had been a while since I'd done anything even close to a full grocery run. Since we were in the area, we decided to go to Target rather than the usual Publix.

We ended up leaving with a new TV!

Jason setting up his new toy...that lives at my apartment :)

We decided to rent another movie, but we ended up just watching Netflix instead. We also made our third voyage to Steel City Pops. I went with coffee and Jason rolled with strawberry cream.

Sunday night, I made lots and lots of food. I spent probably an hour and a half cooking four meals for two...but more on that tomorrow.

Monday - 

I know Monday isn't a weekend day, but since I'm kind of running a day behind on my blog, I'll just include it.

Yesterday Jason and I both had to work, and then we helped put on Rock the Block with our small group.

Rock the Block is basically Vacation Bible School in a neighborhood or, in this case, an apartment complex. The goal is to reach more people in the community with the gospel as well as build relationships with the folks that live around you.  

We played games, did a bible lesson, and ate popsicles.

Celeste teaching about Moses (right) and the Egyptians (Pharaoh in his "robe" is on the left)

David sharing the gospel to all of these kiddos.

Prayer time. How precious?

Hope you all have a happy Tuesday. Rambling done now.

One for the Books

This weekend was definitely "one for the books"!

Friday night started off with a little tour downtown with some friends from one (one of my bridesmaids and one of my flower girls to be exact).

Reese (age 8), was taken with my scarf collection and the Vulcan, but not so much with Reese St. or her lemon popsicle.

We ate a wonderful Greek dinner at Taziki's, complete with three Friday Specials and one grilled cheese :) I love having a kid around. Even things like what they order for dinner cracks me up. 

We'd told her about the new place in Homewood, Steel City Pops. Jason and I had not had a chance to try it yet, and we've heard wonderful things about it, so we took Chastity and Reese after dinner (well, first we made a quick pit stop at the Vulcan because Reese was very interested in the statue man).

Unfortunately, since Jason and I had never been there before we didn't really know how to advise Reese on what to get. She doesn't like pieces of fruit in things, so her choice of a lemon popsicle kinda threw her off. But we all had fun anyway! Jason enjoyed his Blood Orange pop, Chastity rolled with coconut, and I ventured out to strawberry  balsamic. All three of us loved ours!

We even got her picture on Reese Street (although I don't think she really wanted to get out of the car in the middle of the road to take a picture...oh well)!

Saturday morning the girlies and I woke up and started cleaning and organizing everything for my shower. My family came in town around lunchtime and sent me away while they decorated and got the food ready. Reese and I went to get manicures.

Reese with her purple glitter nails after her first manicure!

When I got back the apartment was all decorated and it was breathtaking! Carlee, Julia, Chastity, and my mom had put in so much hard work! I loved it so much!

The shower was definitely a success! I loved every minute of it and it was so wonderful to see some friends who I haven't seen in a while!

We ended the night at the mall. I really don't spend a lot of time just "hanging out" at the mall like I did back in the day :) Chastity and I did the photo booth with Reese. Julia, Shara, and Reese rode the carousel. We grabbed some dinner, and ended the evening with a little window shopping.

Reese and Shara on the carousel.

Sunday we got out the door just in time. Jason, Julia, and I had planned on doing our engagement photo shoot Sunday morning. Julia is an extremely talented photographer, and we just knew she was the girl for this job!

I'd say that the morning was a success! We had a little rain, but honestly I think it made the pictures even better!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out with my family and went to the evening service at church with Julia and Shara :)

Amazingly enough, this weekend was so great that I don't even need to keep on rambling! It was one for the books and we've got the pictures to prove it.

Prayer Focus of the Day: Pray for high school and college graduates as they are in a time of transition. Graduation is over, everyone is moved, and now is the time that all of the life changes really start to sink in. My sister Carlee is going through orientation at Samford today and tomorrow. I know that it's an extremely exciting time for her (as well as all of the other incoming freshies), but it can also be scary and unknown. Pray for peace, wisdom, courage, and strength for those you know who are experiencing this transition right now.

A Picture-sque Weekend

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm actually really sad that the weekend is over. I took a half vacation day on Friday and I literally had the best weekend I've had in months.

Here's the weekend-in-review-via-pictures (I like combining words today):

Friday Jason and I went to see one of my best friends graduate from Samford's nursing school. I am so proud of her and it was also great to see my Little (little sister in Phi Mu)!

Yay MK!!!!

After graduation, Jason and I drove to Decatur, AL to see our friends Mark and Lindsay. Lindsay was on the Casting Crowns tour opening for the band while Mark, her husband, was also on the tour as an assistant tour manager. Jason and I became friends with them in the fall and we were excited to get to see Lindsay play at Soul Stock.

Lindsay McCaul - and yes, you should go buy her album, right now!

The event was sponsored by Show Hope, which is an organization that helps people adopt from overseas by raising money for grants and also raising awareness about orphan care. If you've ready my blog at all...you should know that I was totally excited about going to a Show Hope sponsored event (I cried like three times while we were there).

One of the cool things that is connected with Show Hope is called the Red Bus Project. It's literally a big red bus that goes around to college campuses and it's set up like a thrift store on the inside. It's super awesome and if you ever see this thing, you should definitely check it out!

After Lindsay played, Steven Curtis Chapman's sons played. I'd heard a lot about their band, Caleb, but I'd never seen them live before. They were great and Jason and I had a great time relaxing outside listening to their music.

After Caleb, there was a speaker from Show Hope who talked a lot about adoption and what the organization does. Jason and I listened for a little while, but then we got super hungry so we hit up the booth that was selling Chick-fil-A sandwiches. YUM! Jason also bought us matching-ish Show Hope t-shirts! Thanks Jason!

I promise the top shirt (Jason's) is blue, not pink.
The editing made both of these shirts look super girly.

The headliner for Soul Stock was Steven Curtis Chapman. He and his wife started Show Hope after adopting their three little girls from China about 12 years ago. It was only appropriate that that headlined for the first Show Hope sponsored event, right? I definitely re-lived ages 6-9 since he played a lot of his older music.

I loved everything about the event (except the bugs).

Saturday morning I woke up early, per my usual weekend routine. I waited to get a text from Jason saying that he was awake. We were able to go for a walk and do some work around his apartment and mine. I made us some lunch to save money. I hadn't been to the grocery store yet, so I literally threw together random things for myself, but it ended up being pretty good!

I had Italian seasoned green beans with shrimp and a baked sweet potato on the side.

Later that evening, Jason and I went to Chili's for dinner. I had the chicken fajitas with no sides while he went for the chicken crispers with corn on the cob and fries. We had a coupon for a free molten lava cake (hello splurge day), so we split that for dessert. It was good, but not sure if it was worth the calories (that sounds like crazy talk coming out of my mouth, but it's the truth...my how things have changed). Jason made me promise I'd never tell him how many calories are in that cake.

Saturday lunch, Sunday lunch, Saturday dinner

After Chili's we used another coupon and saw What to Expect when you're Expecting at the Edge Theater. It cost $6 for both of us to see a movie and for Jason to get popcorn. Now that's what I call a cheap date :)

The movie was actually really funny...and surprisingly clean. It has some language in it, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Sunday was the greatest day of all. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was great for some reason! I was actually able to sleep in (which is unusual for me), and then Jason and I went for another walk. After our walk, we made lunch and caught up on some TV shows. After TV/lunch time, we went to the pool for the first time this season (it was Jason's first time ever).

When we walked up to the pool, there was a man laying on a float in a teal speedo. Last year, my mom came up to stay with me on Memorial Day weekend and this same man was in the back of my apartment (I guess his backs up to mine) doing yoga in his chair. Well, yesterday Jason decided that it was too hot  to just sit in the chair, so he got in the pool (Jason, not speedo man...he was already lounging on his float). Speedo man started talking poor Jason's ears off. Turns out...he's from Miami and he's an alligator wrangler.

I couldn't help it. I had to take a picture.

I texted my mom while Jason was talking to the man and she said, "Well, it's official. Jason will literally talk to anyone!" So much truth.

After about an hour at the pool, we had to go back to my apartment to wait on the guy from Charter to come fix my internet...again. After he left, it was time to head to church.

Church was great, dinner was get (yummy yummy Thai food), and then we went to Jason's apartment to work on getting the pedestals off of our new washer and dryer.

They're so dusty, which wasn't a big deal. The pedestal came off of the dryer super easy. But the washer was a whole different story.

After about 45 minutes of trying to get the bolts out, Jason decided we'd go buy a better tool later. Poor guy, in the middle of all of that, he killed at least two spiders (probably more) and had to clean off all kinds of bugs and nasty stuff that we apparently purchased with the washer.

Overall, great weekend. I honestly didn't want it to end. But next week is a long weekend (WHOOHOO!!!) and I'm sure it will be great as well!

Enough of the rambling from me...what did YOU do this weekend?

In Case You've Caught the Mondays

Happy Monday everyone!

After two posts on Friday, I decided to take the weekend off from blogging. But don't worry, I have plenty to share today!

I will catch you up on my weekend really quickly (meh, kind of quickly).

Friday, I left work a little early because Jason and I had friends in town.

When I arrived home, a birthday/wedding present was waiting for me.

At first it was a mystery, and then on Saturday my sisters called and told me that the gift was from them! I love it (and so does Jason)!

We took our friends to New York Pizza, which was really fun. Jason and I just hung out for the rest of the evening.

Saturday was a busy day. We started out at the 5K Walk for Foster Care. I took us to the wrong park...oops! But once we got there, we had a great time. The weather was perfect and it was nice to start the day out early.

From there, we attempted to run some errands, but it honestly didn't happen. Everything we needed to do was closed. So...we went to lunch.

We hit up Stix by the Galleria thinking that they had a lunch menu, but they didn't. I got the teriyaki chicken with double veggies and no rice. I'm slowly but surely learning how to spell teriyaki (even though it's showing up as misspelled on my computer right now...uh oh).

Saturday was my sweet little neighbor's 87th birthday. Jason and I bought him a cupcake, card, plant, and balloon and left it for him Saturday morning. I ran into him as I was coming home from the grocery store on Saturday though and he said he didn't have dinner plans.

I was making dinner for Jason and myself, so I took some over to him.

Then...he told Jason that I need to go into the catering business.

Not sure what to think about that!

Anyway, here's what I made for dinner:

Jason's dinner is on top - Ziti Bake - and my sandwich and salad is below.

Once again, Jason and I ate together but separately. His dinner wasn't unhealthy, but I really wanted some frozen yogurt Saturday night, so I decided to use the remainder of the turkey from last week to make a sandwich.

I adapted the recipe for Jason's ziti bake from a recipe I found on Dashing Dish.

Three Cheese Ziti Bake (or, Three Cheese Pasta Bake):
Ingredients

• 3 c. cooked whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 c. fresh spinach leaves
• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 1.5 jars three cheese marinara sauce
• 2 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened 
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. oregano 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile cook ground turkey in a large nonstick skillet, until meat is cooked through, (no longer pink). Stir in cream cheese, crushed tomatoes, spinach, and spices and turn off heat. When pasta is done, pour into a colander to drain. Add pasta to sauce mixture.
3. Pour everything into prepared casserole dish, and sprinkle mozzarella over the pasta. Cover casserole dish with foil. Bake for 15 minutes, remove foil, and bake an additional 5-7 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted.

My sandwich consisted of whole wheat bread, an avocado, black forest turkey, and colby jack cheese. I grilled it on the skillet for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

I had a blast cooking Saturday night, as you can see. Usually, I'm alone on Saturday nights, so I either just make something quick for myself or go out to dinner with friends. Have I mentioned lately how much I love having Jason home?!? 

After dinner, Jason and I went to go see The Avengers...finally!! We are huge fans of the Edge Theater in Crestwood. We started going there when Sharing Spree sold tickets for less than $2. We bought tons of them...and unfortunately they're all used up/expired now. We still have coupons and Sharing Spree deals that are $5 for $10 worth of tickets or concessions. So, for two tickets and a popcorn, Jason paid the difference of $2 for us to see an incredible movie!! That's what I call a deal!

I loved everything about Saturday night. The food, the company, the movie, the price...absolutely everything...except for the kid who sat behind us in the movie and coughed, sneezed, and sniffled the ENTIRE 2.5 hour long movie! By the end of it, I felt like I needed to wash my hands for 15 minutes straight...or maybe take a shower.

Sunday was a normal Sunday for me. Jason went back to volunteering at church working the lights during all three services. I taught my 8th grade girls small group. We went home for lunch, ate leftovers, and watched Property Virgins. Then we went to the Summit to look for some colorful jeans for Jessica and we hit up Target on our way back to church. Church was great, our pastor and his wife are pregnant with their 4th child! We're so excited for them!

After church we went to Maki Fresh where I ordered a salmon salad. It was great, but I'm usually not all the way full after eating that. That shouldn't be the case for a salad that costs almost $10 from a counter-service restaurant. Oh well...

After church, Jason and I went home and read. We've never done that before and I'm not sure why. We both enjoy reading. So, we sat on my couch, Jason with book in hand and me with my Kindle. We read for about and hour...and then I fell asleep on the couch. Have I mentioned that Jason and I are glad we're done with school? I don't have the stamina to read like I had to in college anymore!

So, that about sums up my weekend. This morning I got up and went for a run around my apartment complex for about 30 minutes. I saw Jason's Asian next door neighbor doing tai chi or something in the parking lot.

GOAL: Get a picture of that for tomorrow's blog!

Also, isn't always more fun to get ready for a Monday with new things?

New matching red and black lunch box and tumbler.

QUESTION: Do you prefer a busy weekend or a laid back weekend at home?

Enough rambling for this Monday morning. Let us turn our focus to prayer...

Prayer Focus for the Day: May is National Foster Care Mother. Yesterday, the Alabama Baptist Children's Homes held their annual day of prayer. Will you join with me in praying for the fatherless both domestically and internationally? Here is a printable 40 day prayer guide: http://www.pearpod.com/oc/downloads/40DaysofPrayer.pdf

Both Ends of the Rainbow

Good morning everyone! Today is a special day...especially for me!

Today, I turn 23. It's the first of my "adult" birthdays. I know that people say that you're an "adult" when you turn 18, and then some people say you're an "adult" when you turn 21, but I don't believe any of that boondoggle. In my opinion, you're an "adult" when you go to work on your birthday.

Don't get me wrong, I could have asked off for today, but the truth is I kind of wanted to come to work. I have great friends at work and I love being around people on my birthday. It's also hard for me to take a lot of vacation days pre-wedding.

I even got some presents! Folger's Vanilla Biscotti, Summit gift card, cute earings, and a summer scarf!

I'm super blessed to have great friends at work.

I also realized this morning that this is the last  birthday that I'll ever have as Jessica Sansom. Next year, I'll be married woman and rockin' a new last name!

I'm super excited to celebrate with Jason and some more friends tonight! Stay tuned for that post tomorrow :)

Now it's time to backtrack to Saturday night-Sunday. I'm still trying to get my blogging schedule down pat, so you'll have to bear with me on the weekends for now.

Saturday night:

 I made some cookies to welcome Jason home and also to give to my sweet next door neighbor. Mr. Fritsch (my neighbor) is in his 80s and his wife just passed away a couple of months ago. I try to give him some sort of goodies and a note just to let him know that I'm thinking about him and praying for him whenever I can.

Cookies and Cream Cookies (recipe adapted from Lovin' from the Oven blog):

Yields 24 Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 stick softened margarine
• 6 Tablespoons Stevia in the Raw
• 6 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt substitute
• 11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.  
2. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in the Oreos and chocolate chips until just combined. 
3. With a medium spoon, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft.
4. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 

Each cookie came in at about 56 calories. Not too shabby for a yummy treat!

The outcome = delicious 

Sunday:

The day had finally arrived. Jason was coming home for good! I woke up thinking that I was going to be late picking him up, but in actuality, I woke up about three hours too early. Oh well. Better early than late, right?

I took it slow, ate some breakfast (boiled egg), drank my coffee (yum), and did the 30 Day Shred (ouch). Then I hopped in the shower and headed to Montgomery where I was supposed to be meeting the buses. 

I arrived about 30 minutes before they did, so I hit up Ross Dress for Less. I had a successful little shopping trip. I walked out of there with a new welcome mat and wreath for the front door, a can opener, new lunch box, and a dress for less than $60. 

Finally, I got the call. The bus had decided to stop at a different exit, so they dropped Jason off at a Raceway gas station. A few minutes later, he was in my car and we were headed off to lunch!

We decided to get back on the road, so we stopped for lunch in Prattville. I was being a very indecisive eater, but we (I) finally settled on McAllister's Deli. 

Jason went with the French Dip with macaroni and cheese while I rocked the Veggie Club with fruit. 

When we finally made it back to Birmingham, we just relaxed and hung out. I couldn't believe that he was home for good and we didn't have to squish a whole week's worth of time together into two or three days. It was seriously so nice just to chill. 

After a little relaxing, we got ready for church. While we were driving there, we came across the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen. 

It looked like we could see the beginning of it and we drove under its perfect arch. I was just reminded of God's promises, which I know might be a bit cliche, but who cares. We serve a Savior who is faithful to the promises in his Word. 

Birmingham rainbow - the beginning

I sent a picture to my sister Carlee, and she sent this back to me.

Destin rainbow - the ending

We were five hours away from each other, but connected by rainbows. God is truly amazing.

At church, I felt so blessed to be able to dive into God's word specifically referring to a place where I am in life. The sermon was on Matthew 19, which is primarily about divorce. But, being engaged, it was necessary to truly listen and get everything I could out of it because to be divorced, you have to first be married. The whole entire sermon I kept thinking to myself, "I must be a wife who depends on solely on the Lord. My marriage must reflect Christ."

 I've heard him say it multiple times, but when David Platt said, "Take heed lest you fall," it pierced my heart like never before.

After church we grabbed dinner with  some friends who we haven't spent a lot of time with lately. It was so wonderful to reconnect with them! 

When we got home, Jason came over for a little bit. We had so much fun just talking and laughing. Like I said, it's really nice to just be able to hang out and relax. I don't like feeling rushed. 

Welp, that's about it as far as my weekend goes.

I did find out this fun fact today: 

Yes, while this was happening, I was being born. What a wonderful day May 7, 1989 truly was :)

Instead of rambling on, I'll leave you with a gift...

For all of you fellow Nutella lovers, here you go.