Cha-cha-cha-changes! And a recap

The title reflects my theme song for the next, let's say 14 months of our lives. Some are exciting, and some are completely unknown as of yet. I'll post more about those as they happen because I am trying not to stress over details and give God control of our future. The most exciting thing is that Kyle will be home in a week for good!

After looking over friend's blogs, I'm really sad at how few pictures I have taken of our first year and a half of marriage. They are few and far between. Heaven forbid I actually post any of them to my blog!  So here is a quick recap with the photos I've got:

Our first apartment's living room before we moved in

 Our decorated bathroom (with zero counter space, so I thought!)

Our cute little ice cream table from Kyle's grandparents!

Our living room, in the midst of thank you note writing

Our massive amount of dishes after our dishwasher disaster. Our dishwasher basically caught on fire and all of our dishes smelled like really yucky, stinky smoke. We were just thankful our apartment didn't burn down!

The culprit of the dishwasher disaster.

My massive organizing project last year. I organized every pill bottle in the entire pharmacy from alphabetical by brand name to alphabetical by generic name. It took me 24+ hours in two days, so needless to say, I'm proud!

Our first Christmas tree, a generous gift from my grandparent's neighbors.

Christmas Day 2010: I love this picture of us.

New shorter haircut- looks nothing like this now!

Purdue basketball season tickets- most of our entertainment budget for the year!

Marsh triple coupon haul, because who doesn't love a great deal?

Camping at Brown County on Memorial Day: This was my first time EVER planning a camping trip. We had so much fun! It's one of our favorite outdoor activities now!

Wesley's graduation! We are so proud of him!

Goodbye to our old apartment: July 2011

Here are a few things not pictured, but certainly memorable:
-Wedding and honeymoon (deserve their own post!)
-Our interesting neighbors with probation officers =)
-Tough times with family illnesses, including losing Kyle's grandpa, Poppy in October 2010
-New Years fun with church friends!
-A fabulous small group Bible study (and fitting 18+ people in our one bedroom apartment)
-Car issues
-CSC Rootbeer Kegger!
-Our experience with a sewer rat (eek!)

I'll post a recap of more recent photos tomorrow! You'll have to check out the Extreme Makeover: CSC Edition we carried out this summer!

Calling

For those of you that don't know, Kyle and I have been through some big changes this semester.  Just a few short weeks after our first anniversary he resigned from his previous job and started an apprentice training program...in Tennessee.  He's been home several times for long weekends, but for the majority of the last ten weeks I've lived alone.

It's been an interesting experience. I am an only child, so entertaining myself has never been a problem. However, I have desperately missed having my best friend by my side every day.  I truly appreciate the friends and family who have reached out to us, made a point to spend time with me, and have kept us in their (your) prayers.  Words can't express how important all of those things have been for us.

There are quite a few things in our future that are uncertain. I'm currently finishing my last year of schooling. Beginning in May I will be on clinical rotations for a year...somewhere in the state of Indiana.  At some point I need to be decisive about my career and/or post-grad training. Kyle is applying for jobs- wherever he is placed we will be for at least five years. We don't know where we're going to live. I don't know where to request my rotations. The list of uncertainties is pretty long right now.  And I've wasted far too much time and energy trying to play out the different scenarios that could play out.  Add to this working two jobs, a large leadership role in a student organization, and a 23 credit hour semester...and you've got one nutty, worried lady.

As unusual as it may sound, I think God purposely put this period of time into my life.  In our ladies' Bible study, we've been talking about becoming a woman of simplicity.  As part of this study I've deliberately made efforts to reduce the "noise" in my life. I don't watch TV, and I've turned off the radio/iTunes.  It's given me plenty of time to reflect and listen.

A few weeks ago, I looked up quite a few verses for a friend going through a rough time. They were passages about God's plan for us and how He knew us deeply before we were born.  While I was writing an email to this friend, I realized that this was God's message to me. "I have a plan for you; I've known it for all time. You are my beloved daughter- I want nothing but the best for you."  Right then and there I gave all my worry, fear, and stress about the future over to God.  I instantly felt relief and at peace.

In our Sunday school class we've been reading the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. I've missed a few weeks due to visiting family out of town, but it's been a great class so far.  Two Sundays ago we read letter six in the book.  The whole message was basically that when we are occupied with thoughts of worry for ourselves we open ourselves up to the trap of selfishness and it's easy to lose sight our goal.  As I sat there rereading a portion of the text, it was like God was using a giant billboard pointing out, yet again, that my worry would be my pitfall, and to turn it all over to him.

Then came the sermon about our mission- how God calls us to serve the forgotten wherever we are, in our current situation. I remember thinking it was a good sermon, but I didn't walk out of church feeling particularly called or moved.  As I was washing dishes that night in silence, I heard a voice in my heart, whispering, "I want you to do my work. You are my daughter. That comes first, before everything else in your life. Before school, before work; my work is your first priority."

I have never so clearly heard God's call. I'm excited and nervous. He's already working in our life- I just found out that I will be on rotation in Lafayette for 4-6 months next year. I can't wait to see how He's going to use me in this community! There are other awesome things in store- I know this because God promised it!

Learning to FLY

Change has been a huge part of my (our) life the last few months...moving, new schooling, changes in work, etc.  Fast forward a few months to our new, cluttered, dusty, *ahem* less than spotless or organized apartment, and I realized something had to change.  I heard someone mention a website called Flylady on a different blog. They said she had great checklists for cleaning. I'm a list maker, so it sounded great to me. It truly was an underestimate of what Flylady really is (Flylady.net). It's a method of managing a household in the minimum time possible, so you can enjoy other things in your life. Imagine my surprise when the first step was not to make a big to do list or to tackle an all-day house cleaning.  Instead, she implored me to shine my sink- one little task I could quickly complete to help me realize how much I've missed that order and routine in my life. So I did:

The results of some serious TLC with Comet and elbow grease.

Shiny, sparkly, beautiful, and rewarding

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "So what? Who cares if your sink is clean?" Well my friends, my sink is so shiny and perfect that I don't want to leave a single dish in it.  I give it a quick wipe-down every night. And it's carried over to other things! You better believe my bathroom sink is sparkling too! Little by little I'm tackling my household clutter and developing good routines to keep me sane. Corny? Yep. Rewarding? You betcha! I've rediscovered the simple pleasure of making a house a home and being a blessing to others through hospitality...all because of my shiny sink =)

Easy Roasted Potatoes

One of my favorites sides at restaurants is roasted potatoes.  I always thought they were time consuming until I actually made them myself.  They are actually a cheap, easy side dish. Chances you have everything you need in your pantry! You can make the cooking time much shorter simply by dicing your potatoes into smaller pieces.  This is a great way to use up those last few potatoes you've got left in your pantry.

Red potatoes, scrubbed and diced evenly
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Salt
Rosemary
Basil
Oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Scrub and dice your potatoes.  I cut mine into about 1 inch squares, but you can adjust the size to shorten or lengthen baking time.  Put your potato pieces into a large Ziplock bag.  Add enough olive oil to coat all the potatoes well.  Seal the bag and smush it around until the oil is evenly distributed.  Open the bag and add a generous sprinkling of each of the spices, about a teaspoon of each for 5-6 potatoes, more or less to taste.  Reseal your bag and smush it around again.  Spread the potatoes in a single layer on foil covered baking sheet.  I sprinkle a little more salt on at this point.  Pop in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Stir the potatoes and bake for about 10 more minutes. 

Fiesta Chili Mac

I love cookbooks.  I LOVE cookbooks!  I know you can find just about any recipe online, but there is just something that I love about flipping through a book, looking at the pictures, and marking the pages with my favorites.  For Christmas, I got LOADS of cookbooks! Seriously: two Rachael Ray cookbooks, 3 Pampered Chef books, plus this super awesome set of Pampered Chef recipe cards called "More Weekday Dinners- Done!"  This little packet has two weeks worth of 30 minute or less recipes.  Each week uses similar ingredients, plus comes with a convenient grocery shopping checklist for the week.  The best part is that each recipe is under $2/serving!  This recipe came from the pack- I'm hoping to do the whole week's worth soon! 

Fiesta Chili Mac
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. uncooked penne (I used macaroni since that's what we had; also this is the equivalent of 1/2 a 1 lb. box in case you didn't know.)
1 can beef broth
1 1/2 c. chunky salsa
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef with spices in a 12 skillet.  Once beef is broken up, add the onions and brown for a few more minutes (total about 8).  Add pasta, broth and salsa- stir together well.  Cover and bring to a simmer, cooking for 10 minutes.   Stir in green pepper and corn; cover and simmer 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender.  Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 c. cheese.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 

It's a nice twist on typical mac 'n cheese, especially if you enjoy Mexican food.  You end up with a 9x13 casserole dish full, so somewhere between 6-8 servings.  It wasn't very noodley, so you could totally add more pasta to make it stretch farther.  The recipe originally came with microwave cooking directions with tiny stovetop directions on the bottom, so if anyone wants those directions I can get them to you.  I just personally find the idea of cooking ground beef in the microwave disgusting- somehow it ends up being chunky and odd tasting, in my opinion anyway.  Enjoy!

Menu Plan....Saturday?

I used to do Menu Plan Monday, but now due to the absolute craziness that occupy my Mondays, it's now a weekend task.

Monday: Leftovers/Soups from the freezer (Work and class night)
Tuesday: My Favorite Porkchops with green beans
Wednesday: Dinner with the Stiners
Thursday: Shepard's Pie
Friday: Fend for yourself, grocery shopping night
Saturday: BBQ Pulled Pork (slowcook in crockpot all day while I'm at work)
Sunday: LIFE group

We're going heavy on the pork for the next few weeks because a family member generously offered us meat they didn't have room for in the freezer.  I'm really looking forward to the BBQ pork, especially after a long day of work.

On another note, I had a cooking "first" this week. I cooked with anchovies for the first time ever...and it was interesting.  I made a recipe for Caesar Spaghetti from my new Rachael Ray Look + Cook cookbook that I got for Christmas.  It was delicious, but I was a little unnerved by the smell and the general concept of using anchovies.  Next time, I think I'm going to skip the anchovies and go a little heavier on the garlic to compensate.

I've also been breakfast food crazy ever since my last post.  I've made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins and Blueberry muffins to eat half/freeze half.  I'm also going to make mini loaves of banana bread and a batch of whole grain muffins to freeze as well.  I'm not usually a breakfast eater, but I've been trying to eat a little something every morning to help boost my metabolism.  It's really helped me to control my portion size at dinner because I'm not as hungry.  I've been adding the recipes into MyFitnessPal (my FREE online food diary) to calculate the nutrition facts for the baked goods I've made.  I've been so-so about counting calories the last month, but I'm really going to try and take advantage of this short break from exams to focus on my health.  I'll post some recipes from my recent baking craze soon.

Our Superbowl Sunday? Breakfast for Dinner!

While we were snowed in last week, I went cooking crazy! As a result of my cooking I had nearly half a gallon of buttermilk left over that was about to expire. The only thing I could really think of that requires buttermilk was ranch dressing or PANCAKES. I found an amazing recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes, and a link to homemade Buttermilk Caramel Syrup! It's heavenly. The pancakes have whipped egg whites stirred in at the end that make the pancakes unbelievably light and fluffy.  And the syrup is sinfully good (I don't even want to count the calories; just pretending I used Splenda not sugar!). The syrup is basically like making carmels; you've really got to keep an eye on the temperature. And of course it helps if you remember to add the sugar at the right time... (oops!) Yes, it's rather time consuming and makes quite a few dishes. But they will be the best pancakes you've ever had, I promise!  The best part is that we've now got about 15 pancakes in the freezer ready to defrost for a quick and delicious breakfast!

While you're looking at the recipes (Do it now!), take some time to look around the rest of their website. I've been making at least two of their recipes each week. They're fabulous, every last one, with the exception of the Butermilk Cheddar Biscuits (the reason I originally bought the buttermilk, actually). For whatever reason, mine were a complete flop. Way too brown and zero flavor. Anyway, just try the pancakes and you will fall in love! Thanks to Our Best Bites for the mouthwatering Breakfast for Dinner!

Tomorrow night after my exam, I'm making homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing!

WalMart: How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways...

I. hate. Wal-Mart. I don't know what on Earth possessed me to go on Friday night of all things; the only times worse than Friday night are anytime on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  I decided to run to the store this evening to grab a few things that we needed for the week, including a few household and miscellaneous items that would be way overpriced at a grocery store.  It was a madhouseeeeeeeee. Children were running loose screaming, pulling things off shelves, darting in front of carts and just behaving horribly. Several people rammed their carts into mine because they weren't paying attention.  Add to that the fact that I couldn't find several things (they were hidden in bizarre places), and I was not a happy camper.  I'm now in a pretty horrible mood and never want to go to Wal-Mart ever again.  Just goes to show that poor planning yields poor results. I'll be making my menu plan and grocery list early next week.

Life is so darn busy!!!

I really miss blogging, but we've just been soooo busy! This weekend is full of fun times with friends, plus hosting LIFE group on Sunday. The good news is that our apartment is getting a much needed deep clean in the process! I'm planning to make vegetable soup, cheesy garlic bread swirls, strawberry cheesecake cheeseball with graham crackers, and mini tiramisu bites for dinner Sunday! Check back soon for recipes and a longer update!  We've got some exciting opportunities on the horizon, and it's so awesome to see how God is working in our lives.  Once things are clearer I'll share more. Goodnight!