Home is where my stuff is

So for Thanksgiving my husband and I traveled up to Indianapolis to spend time with my mom, my friends, and my home church. And to shop. And to eat! We had such a great time!

My husband worked half-day on Wednesday and then we headed for the great state of Indiana. That morning we loaded the car. That is the worst part of traveling for me. It makes me so very thankful that I married such a great guy. I pack and pack and sort all of the stuff and he lugs it all to the car. We finally got on our way after a stop at Five Guys. (BEST BURGER EVER!)

We eventually arrived late Wednesday and soon went to sleep. We stayed with my best friend and awoke the next morning to begin cooking for the big feast. I had really planned and prepped and things went very smoothly for our dinner. Everything turned out pretty well, except no one loved the asparagus casserole. Oh well, live and learn. After eating an enormous amount of food, we napped and then got up to graze a little more. I love Thanksgiving leftovers. There is just something magical about eating leftover turkey on a leftover roll that makes me happy! Then it was off to bed after an evening filled with good conversation and good movies.

Then, at the crack of 3am, my BFF Karen and I awoke for the most glorious day ever! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I do mean Black Friday! I love to browse the ads, find the deals, map out a plan, and race in with all of the other crazies! We had a small list of the things we wanted to get, and an order to which we would visit the stores. We arrived at Target about 20 minutes before the store opened and there was a HUGE line. We decided to see if the deals were available online, and surprisingly one of them was! I ordered it online and got the same price I would have gotten in the store and checked one thing off my list. Then, as the doors opened and the mass of humanity began racing into the store, Karen and I joined them. It was CHAOS!! One woman was providing a service to the community by simply screaming at everyone who came in the store that, "them TVs is gone!" Of course we were headed to the electronics section, which was the most chaotic place in the store, but upon taking a detour, we located one of the items on our list. We quickly got our items, got in line and got out of there! Then it was off to Best Buy, because they opened an hour after Target. We grabbed some coffee and then we split up. I decided to go to Lane Bryant because they were opening early and I hoped that they would be giving something away like coupons or freebies. Karen went to Best Buy to run with the crowd while I went down to the LB. I was the 1st person there! They unlocked the doors and I had to fight the urge to run in with the same excitement as all of the other shoppers...but there were no other shoppers!! I was the only one there! I feel like I should have gotten a prize simply for being the first shopper! Karen was successful again and we clutched our bags like they were gold medals we had won in the Olympics! We were champions! We had braved Black Friday! We had saved some money! We had gotten the items we wanted!!

Then it was back to bed!

When we awoke, Karen was dying to play with her new Wii. This was her Christmas present to herself. We played all day long! It was great! I have never enjoyed video games, but I really loved it! I have learned that I am an AMAZING Wii bowler, swordfighter, frisbee thrower. I also found out that I look like a crazy person when I play Wii Boxing. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Saturday we spent the day lounging and shopping. Then in the evening we met up with some great friends for dinner. We laughed and laughed and had such a great time catching up. It was the perfect evening!

On Sunday morning, we went to church. I was sooooooo excited to see everyone! I love to visit when I am home! It is so good to see those that I have know for so many years! It is just good to be where people know me and love me. Then, all too soon, it was time to hit the road.

I hated to say goodbye again so soon, but the memories that I made this weekend will last a lifetime! Then, as we got on the interstate, I began to realize that we were headed home. How odd for me to call this place home. I call Indy home too. Then, I realized that home is where my stuff is. I love Indianapolis and it will always be my home. But, now my home is somewhere else. And one day it may move to yet another place, but for me, home is where my husband is and where my stuff is. As much as I love to travel, I love to come back home. I love to have a place for everything, a routine, familiar surroundings, and to have all of my stuff together. I feel so relaxed knowing that tonight I get to sleep in my own bed, next to the man who brought in all the stuff from the car. I get to sleep in my own room, in my own house, surrounded by my stuff.

Chicken Quesadillas!

We have had revival services since Sunday so this week has been CRAZY!! Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday my husband and I have not seen each other until the middle of the church service. We haven't had dinner together since Sunday. Tonight is the first night! WOO HOO!! Making dinner is one of my favorite things to do, but some days it is tough to have the energy to make something fabulous. This is why I love my crock pot. We are having chicken quesadillas for dinner. It is super easy and so good, if I do say so myself!

First, I put 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot, sprinkled a bit of seasoning salt over them, added a cup of water, and left it on low all day while I was at school. When I got home, I took them out and set them on a cutting board to "rest" while I made some pico de gallo. This is super easy too. I cut and seeded 4 plum tomatoes, cut a red onion, snipped some cilantro, mixed it up with a bit of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Now, my pico is in the fridge and the flavors are mixing and it is going to be so awesome!

Then, I took my chicken, shredded it, and put it back in the crock pot. (I dumped all the fatty juices out first) and added a cup of water and an envelope of fajita mix. It is simmering on low until the juice is absorbed. When my husband gets here it is super easy to assemble the fajitas and enjoy them! All that you have to do is put a tortilla in a skillet, add cheese, some of the chicken, some pico, more cheese, and another tortilla. When the bottom is brown, I flip it and in just minutes I have some delicious chicken quesadillas.

I cut them with a pizza cutter and serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. (I really LOVE Wholly Guacamole, and with a coupon it is WAY cheaper than making my own.) Sometimes I will make some Spanish rice to go with the quesadillas.

Now my mouth is watering for these! I can't wait for my guy to get here so we can enjoy this tasty dish together!

What easy recipes do you go for when life is too busy?

Thanksgiving Preparations

So, apparently I am the only one in America who didn't realize that Thanksgiving is next week! NEXT.WEEK!! I am so not prepared. I have a gazillion things to accomplish between now and then. Today, I frantically got together a note for my students about our class Thanksgiving party. We are having McDonald's for lunch that day. Doesn't that just scream festive?! That was the easy part of my planning. Now comes the real work. Collecting money, organizing supplies, getting parents to volunteer to bring stuff in, planning an art project or two, baking a dessert, and appearing to be stress-free while inwardly panicking about all of the details! Oh, and I have to look like I am enjoying the party as well! Don't get me wrong, I love a good class party! I love to see my students enjoying themselves and doing fun stuff together. I really love it. It is the details that I hate.

Now, if this were all I had to do to prepare for Thanksgiving, I think I could handle it without a meltdown. However, my husband and I are not celebrating the holiday here, so I volunteered to make a cheesecake for my in-laws to enjoy in our absence. An absolutely aMaZiNg pumpkin cheesecake! They will love it, I will get to use my new springform pan, and all will be happy. Except I don't know when I am going to make this delicious dessert! We are leaving on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I want the cake to be delish, so I can't make it too soon.

That brings me to my last, and yet the biggest headache of the holiday so far. We are going to Indianapolis to celebrate Thanksgiving. Not that big of a deal. Except that I am cooking. In Indianapolis. In someone else's kitchen. This is where the stress and real planning comes in. My mom will be there, my BFF, her mom, my husband and me. This is our tradition. I love it! I can't wait to be there, but like I mentioned before, I didn't realize that Thanksgiving was next week. I finally have my menu planned, I think, and now for the grocery list, and the 12 million phone calls, texts, and emails that no doubt will follow. I need to know who is bringing what, what pans are available, and all of the other details that go with that.

Details, details, details. I hate details. I hate having to think through my recipes and factor in oven space, oven temperature, how long the individual things cook, and how this affect my turkey. The crown jewel of the feast! The bird that could make or break the day based upon its moisture to dryness ratio. UGH!!

Oh, and I failed to mention that I am trying some new recipes this year. I thought it would be fun (yeah, fun is not the word I would use now) to have a fusion of traditional meals that I have grown up with, and some things that are staples in the south. Things we have never tried before. Things I have never made before. Here is a sneak peek of our menu:
     
     Turkey with Marinade
     Sweet potato casserole
     Asparagus casserole
     Green mashed potatoes (a Peruvian dish, because I am not crazy enough)
     Stuffing
     Sweet milk rolls
     Cranberry Sauce
     Veggies and other appetizers (my mom is handling these)
     Deviled eggs
     Pumpkin cheesecake.

I really am looking forward to our Thanksgiving holiday, but I don't like when the holiday feels like it is moving at the speed of light. I want to relax and just enjoy the holidays. Unfortunately, it is busy season, formerly known as holiday season. The time of year, where if you are not careful, you will miss it! And Thanksgiving is just the beginning.

Even with all the hubbub, I am so thankful that I have good friends and family to celebrate with this year. It will be good to spend time with friends, family, and my home church.

And my husband just came in and said, "By the way, we are having a pitch-in dinner at work next Tuesday..."

The boy I sat next to on the bus

It all started with a ride on the bus to school. I was in high school and I rode the bus. Since I was at the very last stop, there were never any empty seats, so I ended up sitting with anyone who would let me sit in their seat. Months passed and I always tried to sit with this one guy. He was cute! I thought he was dreamy. He was quiet, shy, and wore a big puffy coat in the winter. I was not shy. I was loud, obnoxious and wild. One day, after sitting with this guy for several days, we finally began to have small conversations. And that was all it took. I was smitten. We began to talk more and more one day on the way home he asked if I would be his girlfriend. Of course I said yes, and then he kissed me. I liked him. A lot.

The boy on the bus!

He was such a good high school boyfriend. He walked me to my classes and even carried my books. Then he asked me to the prom!! Oh my goodness. A junior asking me, a sophomore, to the prom! I was so flattered, but I knew that my mom would never let me go. I was so excited that I told him yes, even though I knew there was no way I was going to talk my mom into this one. So, I did the only thing a girl can do...I blew him off . I liked him. I loved hanging out with him. But I stopped. Dumb, dumb me. So, he broke up with me. I was crushed. My little 15 year old heart was broken.

We still sat together on the bus, and we were still friends. One day he told me that his dad, who was in the military, was being relocated, and that he and his family were moving away. I was so sad. This boy who had once been my boyfriend, who was now my good friend, was leaving. We exchanged addresses, promising to write and the last day of school that year he told me good-bye. He hugged me and he kissed me one last time. 

That summer he and I exchanged a few polite letters. The letters were friendly, and each time we would promise to keep in touch. Well, that didn't last too long. Our lives were busy. I attended a missions trip that summer with my youth group and I got saved. I started praying for my unsaved friends, including him.

The next years passed, and I was heading to college. He and I still managed to write a letter or two, and we were able to stay in touch with each other. I continued to pray for my unsaved friends, including him. I remember emailing him a time or two during college and getting friendly replies. They always went like this. "How have you been? What is new with you? Let's try to stay in contact." Each time we would reconnect, we would talk about old times, discover what was new in each others lives, and promise to continue to write.

The years continued to pass and I dated several different guys. They just weren't the one that God had for me. All the while, in the back of my mind, I remembered that guy from the bus. I continued to pray for him. After I graduated from college and began teaching, I had pretty much given up hope on several things. I had decided that I probably would never get married, and that he would never get saved. I had prayed and prayed for him.

Then after a few more on-again-off-again attempts to stay connected, I was looking through my email contacts, and there he was. It had been 12 or 13 years since we had seen each other and years since we last talked. I decided to send out a short, friendly email. I expected to hear that he was married and had children. I half expected to find out that this was no longer his email address. But, miracle of miracles, he responded! And he was single. Single!

We began to write back and forth and developed a much deeper friendship than before. He saw that I was MUCH different than I was in high school and we talked about my salvation. He was not at all open to hear about salvation. I still prayed for him. Through our friendship, I was able to answer many questions about salvation and shared the gospel with him on many occasions. I realized that I had real feelings for this man who was so far away, and I realized that I had no future with him unless he was a Christian. I was torn.

After many months of friendship, he got saved! I still get tearful thinking back to that Sunday night as we talked on the phone. As we hung up the phone that evening, I cried myself to sleep as I praised God for answering the prayer that I had prayed for so many years. Things moved very quickly from here. We had met each others families and we fell in love. Real love. L-O-V-E. Love like I have never known before.



He and his family invited me to go to Disney World with them for the week of New Years. I was so excited, but I was so afraid that he was going to propose to me, that I specifically asked him not to. I wasn't ready. I knew that if I married him, one of us had to move. I wasn't ready. As the clock struck midnight on New Years, we were standing on a beach, surrounded by his family, watching fireworks. (He later told me that he would have proposed to me that night!) The day before we left Disney, we were watching a parade as the park closed, and he went to get me some popcorn and a diet Coke. As he was walking away and I was sitting with his parents, I started to cry. I knew I couldn't live without him. I didn't want to live without him.

Us at Disney

He came to see me for Valentine's Day, took me to a great restaurant, and after dessert, he popped the question. I have never been so happy. I knew that this was the start of a wonderful journey.

Five short months later, that same boy who let me sit with him on the bus, was standing at the end of the aisle in my church waiting for me. God gave me the man of my dreams. He gave me a man who loves me, who prays for me and with me, who leads our devotions in the evening, who encourages me. He gave me someone to love, to share everything with, to grow with.

We have been married for over a year, but sometimes I look over at him and say, "Can you believe we are married?" It is still so new, so exciting, and while it hasn't all been sunshine, roses, and lollipops, the good outweighs the bad. He is the man of my dreams.

I will never have a blog.

I have said this for many, many, years! I love to read blogs that my friends write, I love to peruse blogs to see the interesting things strangers have to post. But, never, Never, NEVER, will I create my own.
Well, obviously, I have changed my mind, or rather, had a change of heart. I have things to say, and I don't always have an audience. I will not be as faithful as I want to be to writing, but I will try to at least give some of the highlights.

First, here are some things about me. In the last 16 months, I have gotten married, gotten a new job, moved to a new state, and experienced a multitude of other changes. I would love to say that I have been a pillar of strength through these last few months, but I would be lying. I HATE change. I hate small change. I don't even rearrange my furniture. I have learned much from these changes. I have learned about myself. I have learned about my friends. I have learned about my husband. But more than all of these, I have learned how big my God is.

God has taken care of my husband and me in ways I don't understand. My husband lost his job a month before we were to get married. God met our needs for a wedding, honeymoon, and moving expenses. I needed a car desperately. God provided a car for me and a car for my husband. I left my home, my church, and my family. God gave me a place to live, a church to become a part of, and in-laws who love me, PLUS a husband who adores me. When things looked bleak in the economy, God gave my husband his dream job.

I fully believe that God takes care of His people. I know that, but never has this become so apparent in my life than now. I have learned to claim the promises that God has given in His Word. Two verses that have become very dear to me are:

Jeremiah 32:17, "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee."

Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

I have realized that the things that were hard for me to understand or to work out on my own were never too hard for God. And I have realized that I would be blessed if God would just supply all that I ask of Him, but that He loves me enough to provide exceeding abundantly above ALL I ask or think.

So there it is. I don't profess to be profound. I am not eloquent. But I know that God has been good to me, and I have to share it. Therefore, I will blog.

This is a song that I heard recently and it has really stuck with me. It is about God's goodness.