weekend rewind

As usual.......my blog will be a little bit of this and that.

First...Tuesday nite.....anyone watch TBL?!?!?! it was amazzzzing, one of the best episodes ever in my book. I cried my way thru it and loved it.

Wed, ran my 3 miles and felt really good about it.

Fri, we had dinner and watched the Food Network channel (our fave channel pretty much), and i was asleep by 8:20. i could not keep my eyes open to save my life!! i felt like such a loser. i constantly fight it. i want to prove that i'm not old. so i lay on the couch drifting in and out of sleep, telling myself that i can make it till at least 9. oh no such luck!

but......i got a great nights sleep and slept till 7. woo hoo for me.

Saturday was date day/nite. I wanted to plan it this time.

All you Dallas people who always talk about your cute little cake and cupcake shops.....know that you bring me to jealously every time. So next time you think about writing your fb status about the delicious cupcake you just had...think about those less fortunate who don't have cupcake shops to enjoy.

anyways, that's how i got my date idea. I was dying to go to a little cupcake shop and just googled to see if there was any in the state of Oklahoma. To my shock, there was!!!!!!

So Saturday afternoon, Daniel and i headed to the nearest cupcake & coffee shop. The plan was to read, study language, and just hang out, then go to dinner. Daniel didn't know any of the details of the day, so i had to pack his language stuff and books without him knowing.

Here's us on the way....notice Daniel's eyes are on the road like a good driver :)

Ok, remember....Oklahoma is trying to catch up with Texas in some ways. Places like this new little cupcake shop are a thing of the future here. I'm hoping to see them more commonplace soon. SO, it shouldn't have been too surprising to see the line out the door of our little cupcake shop. In fact, we were there for over 2 hours, and the line was out the door the entire time. But wow, was it worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

here's my Mocha...SO delish!!

Daniel with his chai....

and the reason for it all....the cupcakes!!

i hope you're drooling right now. bc i am. i want to go back this second and eat 5 cupcakes and 2 mocha's. what? everything in moderation right?  :)

Of course, our day wasn't complete without playing a little bit of Would You Rather? They had the game cards sitting next to us, which can entertain me for hours on end.

Daniel, looking ever so intent as i ask him nonstop Would You Rather questions....

After our afternoon full of sugar and caffeine, we head to dinner. We went to a local restaurant, which is one of Daniel's faves. And mine too.

Daniel's pizza...

My parmesan crusted chicken...

That was our date in a nutshell.

Today, was Sunday, high attendance day at our church. We had breakfast with our Sunday School.....and i ate way more than i should have. it was the complete breakfast buffet.

But the best part, is that our deaf ministry joined us for the main service, and a deaf teenager was baptized. He had an interpreter for him, and all his deaf friends came and supported him. One thing i really like about our church, is that when someone is baptized, all their friends and family go on the stage to support them. it's so great to see!!

Anyways, we sat behind the deaf section, and when we were singing "all hail the power of Jesus name" the part where we say 'crown him Lord of all' the sign language was just beautiful. It looked like they were really acting out the crowning of Jesus. I loved watching it!!! I have always wanted to learn how to sign, so i try to pick up a few words whenever i see people signing.

We had lunch with the fam at a local restaurant, and have been resting ever since. Well, not true. I tried to make guacamole for the first time and had my avacado's in the fridge. I didn't realize they needed to be room temp....so we're waiting for them to soften up a bit  :)

hope your weekend was fun and relaxing!!

love

laura

weekend rewind and surprises!

BEFORE I tell you about my weekend, I have to tell you the best part of my day today!!!!!! I got home from work and found a package from TPG!!!! I was WAY excited!!! Amy has been encouraging me non stop and gives me the greatest running advice. She's an expert runner and knows her stuff. And she also knows how to encourage. Both wonderful things in a person!

I love surprises. and i love gifts. what's better than a surprise gift?!?!?!?!?!

She gave me some great pink socks for my 5K!!!!! And look, an 'M'!!! I'm telling myself the socks are really my monnogram instead of the brand of the socks :)

THANKS AMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, so my original post, ha!

My weekend started on friday when......

I got off work early (just bc, they let us go at 3!) and came home and did The Shred. It wasn't as hard as last time and i could move on Saturday, which is a big plus! Friday night was also the chicken parm....not as good as last time, but still yummy!

And in effort to stay awake past 8, we had Starbucks. Not sure if everyone knows, but you can get a Peppermint Mocha all year round at Sbux. It's not the exact same as their holiday version, but i can't really tell a difference. I did half decaf/half regular non fat Peppermint Mocha with whip. it's really the only way to go :) Daniel got a frapp with regular caffeine....let's just say he was awake in the middle of the nite for a few hours....  :)

Then 'wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles!' we slept in till 8 am!!!!!! ME!!!! We were in bed by 10 and i slept a full 10 hours!!! I seriously woke up and sang the whole song from Fiddler to Daniel so we could both appreciate it :) hahahaha

Then, of course we stayed in our pj's the whole day and just layed around. We were supposed to get up to 8 inches of snow. It was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. Here are the pics...does this look like blizzard like conditions to you??? ugh....where's a good snow day when you want one?

We spent the day reading, playing on the computer, and even had a good game of Monopoly. Now, this will be shocking news....but Daniel actually won!!! (sorry 'forgot' to take a pic). We both had lots of property and houses, but i ended up going out with just a few bucks left to my name. He won fair and square. i wish i could say i was just being nice...but ya'll know me better than that.

We ended the day with a good bowl of chili and cornbread. not the best chili i've ever had, but it was my first time to make it....so gotta start somewhere right?? ooooohhhhh look at the steam!!

Sunday was church, leftover chili, and sloppy joes for dinner, followed by the Amazing Race!! I also made yummmmmmmmy peppermint chocolate chip cookies.  I only baked mine for 9 minutes cos i hate hard, crunchy cookies.  It's a few days later, and they're still soft and delish!!


Mmmmmmm....not much else going on. Daniel is working 3 nights this week. So it's just me. me and the tortilla soup simmering on the stove. Also, my first time to make, so i'm crossing my fingers :)

that's my weekend and my news for the day!!

p.s. been getting up way early and it's going great. Even if not getting as much sleep as i want/need, QT's are going strong! thanks for all the prayers!!

love
laura

sanctification

can i be honest??

Monday morning, before doing my QT (quiet time), I watched Caroline's video she posted on her blog about unspeakable joy. Caroline is my bff, and watching her on video made me miss her even more. but what she made me really miss was closeness with the Father. While watching her video, i was convicted and did a little spiritual inventory on where i really was with Father.

I looked back to a year ago, when I woke up with peace each morning, knowing that I was giving my moments to Father. I trusted Him to lead me, had such a dependance on Him, and spent much more time with Him than i'm currently doing. He consumed my life. Until last Monday, i was giving the bare minimum. I was having a QT, but it wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't really starting my day with Him or consumed with Him like i've been before.

This really upset bc who wants to add another year to their spiritual life and be further away than before??

It's like having another wedding anniversary and growing apart as time pasts. I certainly don't want that. And i secretly knew I wasn't giving Him all that i had. I was putting myself first-wanting extra time to sleep, justifying the time i was spending in the morning, or even using distractions in the morning that kept me from surrendering myself each day.

This is TMI, but i've lived overseas, talking about poop isn't weird to me. Monday morning i went the bathroom and looked at my poop, and was like 'gross, that is what I'm giving to God.' He's getting the crap of my life. Gross.

The word that kept coming to me last Monday is 'sanctification.' Our pastor last Sunday said that Ephesians isn't meant to get you saved, but to get you sanctified.

How I long for that to happen in my own life!!!!

 How can I ask Father to make me a light to others, if i feel like i only have a match burning right now?? Just the thought of being sanctified brought new joy and hope!! I want to be changed!!

I knew what i needed to do. I'd probably known longer than I care to admit. After confession and journaling it all out (i really need to journal, esp if it's anything serious, or something i really want to be commited to or remember), i decided i needed to change my priorities and my time. If i thought i wasn't getting up early enough as it was, I knew time was one of my main problems. If i don't think i have enough time for a quality time in the Word in the morning, i'll skip stuff (usually prayer), and slide right thru it without really getting anything.

I LOVE my prayer time! it's something i know i need. i fall apart eventually without it.

I always thought i would be this great mom and wife...leading my children to Father, being the spiritual partner my husband needed, and thought it would just come automatically. I'm 4 months into marriage, and realize if i'm not where i need to be with Father, my relationship with Daniel will suffer.

We do a devotional every Sunday morning together, and last week it talked about how when we're not finding our satisfaction and needs met in Father, we start looking to our spouse to fill us. We expect our spouse to give us the things we want and need to feel whole. Another person will never fill us or give us everything we need. While Daniel could die trying to make me happy and fulfilled, he'll never make it. We're both imperfect people.

I know i'm rambling. Long story short (umm long?), last monday i commited to getting up early enough to have the time I need to spend in the morning with my Heavenly Father. I commited to lengthening and deepening my prayer time. It's been a GREAT week!

I guess my point to the post is this......when is the last time we all took a good spiritual inventory??

Are we just sliding by, giving the bare minimum? If so, who else is suffering because of it? Who are we called to be praying for, but not? Where does Father want us to be in relationship with Him? are we there? are we having a deeper, more intimate growth in our Christian walk than we were a year ago? 5 years? 10 years?

p.s. Has anyone heard the song 'God of this city?' Bluetree sings it. PLEASE youtube it and watch one of the many videos of it or look at the lyrics. The story behind the song is amazing. 

I remember where i was the first time I heard it. We were all squished into a small room about a year and a half ago on a Sunday morning, having our Sunday time together in Asia. Being in a city where there is very little light and singing the words that greater things are yet to come and still to be done in this city.....it's something we had to believe. Living in a city that is very dark where very few believers were, and believing, holding onto the hope that He was not done with the city. That HE was the light in their darkness. It's heartwrenching.

This morning at church, they showed the video behind how the song came to be. Then we sang it. I instantly saw the faces of the people in 'my city' where i lived in Asia. Before the first verse was even sung, I was sobbing uncontrollably. You know, the kind where you can't breathe and gasping for breath because you're completely broken. it hit me. it keeps hitting me. i can't remember the last time i cried that hard.

I want it to keep hitting me.

 I want to continue to be broken for people across the world, in small villages, in thriving cities...where people have never heard. I don't want to get comfortable here in america and forget that there are people still waiting for the Truth.

p.s.s. if you are someone who prays, pls remember me this week as i go to work earlier than last week, and start getting up at my new early time. I know the enemy wants to make me tired, wants me to justify why i should sleep in or skip my time altogether. I want the enemy to be completely disgusted with my life and where it is going. I want him to loathe my relationshp with Father.

p.s.s.s. i would love to hear from you! i've added my email on the sidebar.

love

laura

this is my random post....


i've had a lot of random thoughts i've been wanting to share, so here ya go:

- One thing i miss about living overseas is wearing the same thing over and over. At the bookstore at the college i work at, there's a sign that says

"of course you can wear a t-shirt everyday, as long as it's not the same one."

i disagree here. One thing i loved about living OS is choosing my outfit (usually layers) and knowing i was good for 4 days. Unless i got really dirty or gross or something, it would be 3 days. Then i'd wash those clothes and move on to the next outfit. I really wish i could do that here and not be judged or mistaken for homeless.

Life is so much simpler when you wear the same clothes for days at a time and everyone else around joins in too.

confession... i have to constantly remind myself to wash my clothes now. It's not unusual to go a few months without washing my jeans. i can think of a couple of pants right now, that have been washed less than 3 times probably in the last 7 months. don't judge me. i like it this way. and i'm not dirty.

-awkward moment....so now that i'm at the new job, i walk around a lot doing different things and go thru outside doors several times during the day. i've been in almost daily awkward situations where i don't know if i should hold the door for someone.

i mean if the person is right there, of course, i'm not going to just slam it in their face. but what about the people you see coming towards you to use the door or are behind you, but still at a weird distance, so if you keep holding the door open, it almost makes it worse. is there a polite way to acknowledge that you see the person about to use the same door, but they're at an awkward distance so tough luck??

does anyone else have this problem??? do you have a solution???

-my line for the week....for the past week or so, after i say something funny, Daniel & I laugh, and then i say "I'm funny.' as if i'm announcing it or Daniel needs to be reminded that i'm a funny person. i think sometimes i just surprise myself when other people laugh at my jokes. it's kinda nice.

-again, i'm in a college atmostphere now for work...which means there is PDA. i'm all for holding hands, whatev....but extreme PDA is not appropriate. but that got me thinking....is there such thing as blog pda?? am i committing this crime?? i would define BPDA as showing too much mushiness for your significant other to where it annoys other people. yes, i'm madly in love with Daniel. but is there a line when blogging to keep the PDA to a minimum??? thoughts???

-I've decided that it's hard to make friends in Oklahoma. Yes, I have friends already, but they don't live here. And it's hard (at least for me right now) to find friends that you are realllly friends with....the kind you call on the way to/from work, have dinner with, go to the movies....Not the general friends that you have in your outer circle....you know, the ones who don't know your middle name.

I feel like i'm on first day of new school repeat. i go home everyday to my family (Daniel), and feel totally comfortable. but other times, i feel like the outsider. idk.

I think when i first moved here, i wasn't really concerned bc, let's face it, i was bombarded with wedding planning. Then we had the holidays. now it's March and i have yet to add to my 'friend' category. hmmmmmmm.....

p.s. ran 3.3 last night...woo hoo!!!

love

laura

week & weekend rewind....

well. i'm about 2 months along now.....

2 months along in the blog world that is. ha!

ohhh where to start! This weekend was busy. This whole week was pretty busy. My first full week at the new job. And i'm still getting used to being away from home for 11 hours a day again. We're trying to get the food schedule settled still so we can cook and work out. Daniel's designated night is Thursday. He made grilled tilapia, zuch & green pepper, and rice. It was probably the best thing he's ever made...minus the chocolate tart from V-day. It was a close call.

Friday night we had a family dinner to spend some time with Mike, Daniel's youngest brother, who was in town for a few days. Now, if you know me, i'm not the biggest fan of mexican food. there are a few limited places i don't mind to eat, bc i know i can find something on the menu. this has always made things interesting bc my sister, Daniel & his family, and my closest friends LOVE mexican food. Bc i love them, i tag along.

Sorry, no pics from Friday night, i forgot the camera. But it was a fun time had by all.

Saturday started off early (6am). Not on purpose, but again Daniel and I have problems with sleeping in. So we got up, worked out, and went to our nephew's first birthday party. We had a great time enjoying food and fun at Daniel's parents house. Family from every side were there, and of course, who needs entertainment when there's a baby around. Baby=entertainment.

Mike in town:

We had AMAZING food!! My fave is the sausage breakfast casserole my MIL (Sherry) makes. She's pretty much famous for it in the tri-county area. We also had yummy pastries for dessert. mmmm!!!

Here's baby J enjoying his birthday cake! He was really confused at first.

Sat night was our date night. We decided to save a little $, and have a stay-at-home date. We picked up wings and ate without any thought of calories. it was nice....here's Daniel enjoying his wings....

And OF COURSE, what is date night without Scrabble?!?!?!?!?! i know what you're thinking, it is finally time for Daniel to win a game. I mean, how hard is it to win one measly game of Scrabble right???  Ohhhhhhhhh the sadness that came that night.......

Not only did Daniel lose.......but he lost by almost 100 points, the biggest gap we've ever had playing the game. Now, i'm not being harsh. Daniel trash talks all the time how he's going to kick my butt in Scrabble. I'll let you know when that day comes....but i'm gonna gloat until then :)

We are having chicken alfredo & brocc for dinner. i haven't made it in a long time, so i'm hoping for good things.

Random pic:

Last week i made spinach cheese pie, and it was SUPER easy and SUPER yummy!

i hope to blog more than i have lately...we don't have any super big plans this week, so we'll see!

p.s. it's our 4 month anniversary today!!!!

love

laura

wow, it's been a while. the longest i've ever been gone in the blog world. i hope you survived without me :)

SO, I started my new job last week. can we say BUSY????? I think i will like what i'm going to be doing. there's just so much to learn, and i'm still learning each day about more stuff i didn't know about before. i think it will def take a few months to figure it all out and find my groove. 

which is hard for me, bc i want to know everything immediately and be perfect at it. i so wish this was possible.

Daniel had to work 2 nights last week so we saw each other only for a few minutes each day. it was SO hard!! i'm used to giving him a play-by-play of each moment in my day. ( i like for him to feel apart) But to start a new job and have so much more than usual to talk about, and not be able to. Unbelievably hard. I don't know how people do it. Right after my parents got married, my dad went overseas for a full year. I could barely go 2 days. honestly, i don't do well without Daniel.

ok, so that brings us to Saturday.....we had a wedding here in OK for some friends of ours. But first, i had the great idea to do 30 Day Shred (Jillian from TBL's video). it was def a hard workout. And I tell Daniel right after doing it, that it was harder than i thought, but wish she had pushed us harder on the abs and weights.

I couldn't move when I woke up on Sunday.

I've climbed mountains before, and NEVER been close to this sore. I'm not sure what she did to me, but i'm glad she did it!! I even had to use support to lower myself to use the bathroom. this might be TMI, but it's the only way for me to get my point across. Pain people, pain.  

and i thought i was so in shape. HA!!!

So we went to the wedding, here is us getting ready.

This is Daniel's typical shot of himself. If you've ever been around him and have a camera, you prob have this pic already...

We got to the church early....so of course...

The wedding was great...the cake delicious...and my feet hurt so bad i thought Daniel was going to have to carry me to the car...all the makings of a great wedding!

Here are the only pics we took while there:

This is Jason. He was the best man and close friend of Daniel. he's cool.

After the wedding we went out to eat with Brad, the pastor who married us. He also married our friends so he was in town! we went for some great Mexican and were able to just hang out. it was really fun.

Today, busy. did i mention my job is crazy busy?  cos it is. We wanted to work out after work, but changed it up a bit. We went to a park near our house, and ran outside. My FIRST time to run outside!! We ran for 25 minutes, but the park didn't have info on how far the trail was, so we're not sure. i wouldn't be surprised if we ran barely 2 miles.. i felt like i was practically walking. but it was also like 20 mph winds, which i want to blame for not having a great performance.

We just got home and had Burger King. perfect right???

the big, little, and in-between

Well, this post seems to cover all of it i guess. I don't have a central theme so here goes....

The biggest news i guess, is that I have a NEW JOB. I start tomorrow at a local university in a nearby town. I'm WAY excited. Surprisingly, not as nervous as i'd think i'd be. I love the academic setting and have worked at a University before. It's such a fun environment to be in, and things are constantly changing. I'll be working in the business office for one of the main departments on campus. I'll be doing mostly accounting and budget stuff, which is pretty much right up my alley. I'm excited to learn and meet all my new coworkers so i can analyze them and figure out their Myers Briggs. (i'm not kidding.....)

Here is a pic of me when i got my official acceptance letter in the mail:

Other than that, I've been cooking and working out. Here are a few pics of recent days:

Chicken pot pie

Daniel eagerly waiting to eat the pot pie (sometimes he's so cute i can barely stand it)

Daniel cooked a traditional Asian dish last Friday night. It was really good!! I had him wear one of my aprons bc he was working with flour. and i always make a mess when i'm just near flour...

Before:

After:

I have no idea why i didn't take more pics of this....maybe too consumed with actually eating it. There is a mixutre of beef, onions, tomatoes, and spices inside. We fried and steamed them.

So I've had a few days off between jobs, which has been filled with errands and more errands. But while at Walmart last Friday, I found these little beauties (MY FAVE) for $5. I couldn't pass it up. I love tulips and especially love that they're pink.

If you haven't noticed already, I updated my reading list. I just started the Runner's World Complete Guide to Running for Women. I'm only a few pages in, but can't wait to keep reading. It covers a lot of stuff beginners should know, and i'm loving it!

Yep, i'm still running. i'm hoping to run at lesat 3 miles again on Wed.

love
laura