welcome 2015 and the best and worst dressed.

to save I have neglected this blog would be an understatement. not only have I been extra busy and seemingly stressed in the past few month but I have felt like I have little to offer on here. however, I have decided that writing here, no matter the content can be therapeutic for me. so, in effort to make better life choices in 2015 I decided I'd better start blogging again.

what better way to start then to highlight my best and worst dressed of the 2015 golden globe awards. I wasn't as into the awards this year as I hadn't seen most of the movies and wasn't terribly invested in who won or lost. however, I was of course invested in the clothing selection. this year brought some great disappointment but also some breathtaking reactions as well.

enjoy!

worst dressed:

the shoes, the color, etc.

this pattern? is she going to the prairie?

I don't know who she is and probably never will but the wings

on this dress are miserable.

the dress itself is not so horrible...it's the dumb belt.

ugh.

she is my favorite!! so I was so sad to see her in this. I guess either you love or

hate this, because she made many different best and worst lists this year.

looks like an old curtain...and that color. woof.

when she spoke honoring George Clooney I could hardly focus because I was

distracted by this miserable dress and that awful hair to go along with it.

spider web circling around the boobs?

so many tings wrong with this.

I can handle the bottom, it's that dreadful top.

ugh.

 

best dressed:

I was terribly disappointment this year and felt like there were slim pickings for this category!

 

love this dress. love the color. love her.

this surprised me but I ended up liking it.

not a huge fan of her but thought this was a great choice for her.

she is gorgeous. I love everything about this, the color, her hair, her date, the list goes on and on.

wow - she wow'd me. gorgeous.



although I like top much better than the bottom I thought she looked amazing.

 

 

until next year...

Renovation Realities

Little by little Coy and I are making necessary updates to our home. Last year we focused on smaller projects - replacing/updating the light fixtures, painting, landscaping, etc. This year we started some larger (which in this case larger means more elaborate and more expensive).

 

In the past month we had our house repainted. Although our house is only trimmed with wood it was still a pretty extensive project. 

We attempted to pick out a color slightly darker than the original color on the left (sorry for the poor quality, I forgot to get an actual 'before' pic and this was the best I could do); however, as you can see it turned out not only darker, but a little blue. I've heard that grey either ends up looking slightly purple or slightly blue so I'm glad it was latter. It look a minute to grow on me since the change was pretty drastic, even though it doesn't show in this picture, but we ended up loving it! Makes our house looks years younger!

We are pretty pleased with the finished project.

 

Next, we moved onto the countertops. Although our original countertops weren't awful, several of the end caps were missing portions and despite our attempts to find a piece just to replace the end this ended up being more difficult than we originally anticipated.

A huge shout out to Coy's Uncle Mike who really is a handyman genius. Coy's dad was also a huge help and we couldn't have done it without their help!

 

Once we got started on the project we realized that our new countertops were slightly shorter than our old countertops...meaning that we had a slight gap of unfinished drywall above the edge of the countertop. We debated between caulking and painting this section and adding backsplash. We ended up choosing backsplash because neither of us could bear the headache of all the tedious work the painting option would have led to. Well that and we have wanted some sort of backsplash since we moved in and got rid of the old/ugly backsplash.

This led to another debate of what kind of backsplash. Something not too time consuming to add nor too expensive. Thanks to the helpful guy at Home Depot we ended up doing a stainless steel tile option. He sold me with 'this stainless steel option will be twice the price but will take 1/4 of the time to complete.' For once, a home project went better than expected and this was SUPER easy.

 

 

We both love the final result and can't stop staring at it whenever we are at home!

 We are already compiling our upgrades for 2015 so stay tuned!

 

see ya satan.

Recently, when processing through some tough things going on at work I finally came to realization that Satan was trying to get the best of me. For the first time, in what feels like a long time, Coy and I have been in a place of contentment. Not contentment in a bad, "don't change me God" kind of way, but a peaceful contentment encircling our lives...For the first time in our marriage and probably his entire adult life, Coy is finally doing work that he enjoys. In addition to playing with kids all day, he has been blessed with an amazing opportunity to serve the students at our church. Speaking of church, we are finally feeling at home after a long journey following a hard 'break-up' with our previous church. And the good times have kept rolling...we haven't been strapped financially every 5 minutes. We have been able to make some upgrades to our home that we have long been seeking. We haven't been constantly consumed with thoughts of never having children and when that thought has crossed our minds it hasn't been as devastating as it has been in the past. We've enjoyed vacations, laughter and sunshine in abundance these past few months. The list could go on and on and Satan has hated every second of it.
While life had seemed to finally be throwing us some peace Satan attacked me where I was most vulnerable. That place doesn't necessarily happen to be my workplace but in this occasion my workplace was used to start making me question my capabilities, my work abilities, my competence, and most importantly the respect that others had for me. I pride myself on my skills and my leadership and when some of the things I value most about myself seemed to be questioned it rocked me to my core. It left me unhinged, hurt, confused, and just pretty low. Satan has battled and lost in so many other areas of my life that he struck a stable place that had never been struck before. While it was a hard few days and weeks I was reminded that my honor and my value is not found in where or how I work or anywhere else for that matter...my honor only comes from the Lord. No matter what happens in my career, God will remain my mighty rock. If Coy and I never have children God will remain my refuge. If life continues to toss and turn me, as life always does, I will keep my eyes focused on God and I will trust in him at all times because he has never let me down and I don't think he will start to now.

 

Psalm 62: 7,8

God's Goodness.

As you think about this past year how have you grown? What experiences has God used in this past year to take you to a new place?

 

Several weeks ago at our small group this question was raised.

While it was fairly difficult for most people to remember all that has taken place over the past year and relate it one area they have grown or a new place they have been taken to - that was not the case with me. I am on a constant journey with God. Often times this journey takes a new form on a daily basis; however, over the past year I can look back and know for sure what God has been teaching and showing me through all of my experiences.
While God has constantly been revealing his faithfulness to me His goodness is what has been so abundant over the past 12 months.

Goodness

1. The state of quality of being good.

2. moral excellence, virtue.

3. kindly feeling; kindness; generosity

4. the best part of anything; essence; strength.

 

God is gracious and generous. He has provide strength time and time again. He has provided the best part of everything I have and everything I am. I am so thankful that I can look back over the past year and know God was there in each moment. I am thankful that even in the moments when He is silent He is working out a great plan for my life. And I thankful that I have a loving God who has rescued me.

Although I wouldn't want to necessary relive the past year I am grateful for the ways God has revealed himself to me time and time again.  

/ˈgʊdnɪs/ Show Spelled

 

Currently...

Watching:
All of my show's seasons finales! The only things I have left are Law and Order SVU, Nashville, Chicago PD. Once those are done I will hopefully get back to watching The Americans (which I have about 6 saved episodes right now). Coy and I will hopefully also watch this season's Revolution (which we have ALL season dvr'd). We watched part one of Rosemary's Baby this weekend and hopefully we can get through part two - it's looking a little iffy about now; however, I hate leaving anything hanging so I will have to finish it with or without him. Although I am not watching it yet I cannot wait for this summer's Rookie Blue to start up again. Believe it or not, there are some good shows on in the summer!

Listening to:
I'm on a big Pandora crush right now. You can currently either find me listening to the Hillsong United station OR the N'Sync station.


Feeling:
Frustrated. All things work related have been causing an extra amount of frustration and stress lately. If you ever have about six hours to spare I can tell you all about it sometime.


Reading:
'Once We Were Brothers' by Ronald Balson. I am obsessed with anything WWII and can't get enough of books that surround the Holocaust. This is a recent story that reflects on the days of WWII. I am not that far into the book yet but so far, I am hooked!

Making:
Coy miserable by constantly nagging him about all of the projects that need done around the house and all of the things I don't have time to get done. Hopefully this will pass soon, but based on my track record...probably not.


Planning:
To leave for Florida in 2 weeks and 3 days. We typically go to Florida in the month of July but due to schedules of my family we had to back our dates way back this year. At first I was a little bummed of going so early in the summer because it leaves little to look forward to the rest of the summer; however, I CANNOT wait and this vacation could not have come at a better time.  Now, I've just got to figure out how to get a base tan over the next few weeks so that I don't get fried in the Florida sun.


Loving:
The sun, breeze, long walks, my pups, Sunday afternoons, laughs with the hubs, and fresh fruit.

the day I met Andrew Luck.

I know, I know...it's blurry. Trust me, I have had several good cries (not actual cries but silent deep in my heart cries) about the fact that it's blurry. BUT the fact remains that I got to meet Andrew Luck, have a few short conversations with him, and document it in a sad awful tragic heartbreaking slightly blurry photo.

Every year my agency holds a large honorary dinner/fundraiser. It is always quite the fancy affair and I have no problem 'donating' a few hours of my evening to visit with celebrities and get a four course meal for free.

This year, however, was extra special because Andrew Luck was the keynote speaker. Even though I was 'working' I managed to sneak into the VIP room and snap a photo with him, discuss football with him briefly, and later we met up again to talk about our Refugee Program youth soccer team, World United FC. And I managed to accomplish all of this with a million butterflies in my stomach over meeting someone famous.

At this year's event our new youth soccer program was highlighted. The kids were presented during the welcome to the event and later, after Andrew's speech, the kids ran up on stage and presented him with his own World United FC jersey (which I'm sure he will wear proudly and often).

He was such a gracious man throughout the whole evening...he took time to talk with people, took a lot of time to take pictures with the million people asking, and gave a great deal of time and effort to our refugee children (which of course melted my heart).

As much as I miss Peyton Manning I wouldn't have chosen anyone different to take his place.

 

Easy, One-pot, Crock-Pot Mac and Cheese

This has been a recent Pinterest goldmine. Of course with Pinterest you never quite know how things are going to turn out. Luckily, this however was a huge success. Not only was it SUPER easy but it had great flavor that even the hubs raved about.
Hope you enjoy it was much as I did!

Ingredients:

Cooking oil spray

2 cups skim milk
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 egg
Salt and Pepper to taste.
1 1/2 cups pre-shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I just went ahead and used the whole bag - 2 cups)
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions:

Spray the pot of the slow cooker (I even went a little overboard with the cooking spray because I didn't want a mess cleaning up!)

In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporated milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crock pot.  Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.  

Cook on LOW 3-4 hours (I cooked mine around 3.5 hours; however, it would be different depending on your crock pot). Just make sure to not let it cook longer than 4 hours or else the edges will start to get crispy and even burnt.