Our week in recap

Yay for Friday!  Even though I took Monday off, I am still very thankful that the weekend is here.  For some reason I have been so tired this week.  So sleeping in couldn't come soon enough.  Oh, and Dan and I are going on a date tonight :)  Yay for date nights!

Here's a little recap of our week. 

It was really windy and rainy one night so our end table got drenched :(  Thankfully it wasn't ruined. 

You knew this was coming.. more Fall pictures. 

I lied on Monday when I said we were going to Panera.  We tried out the new caribou that opened up and I LOVED it. 

Everything in the Caribou was new and modern.  Look at this cool, uncomfortable looking chair.  A brave man tested it out and then left saying there was no padding, immediately moving to the leather chair next to me.  I think he made a good decision.

This is what I stared at from Monday through Wednesday.

This is what I see when I walk out of our apartment!

I made this last night (I added Cayenne Pepper.. I spice everything up :).  Too bad Dan doesn't like Tomato Soup.  It's ok though, I made him quesadillas and he was happy.

Last week I made this recipe and it was reeeally good.  Cajun Chicken pasta is my favorite.

Lastly, I made this Sante Fe Chicken.  My friend Becca made it for us and it was really good!   I love crock pot recipes.

Happy Friday!!

New beginnings

There is something I love so much about starting a new journal.  Not only because I like buying new things, but because I anticipate the time when I can go back and read through what God has been doing in my life for the past couple months.

This last journal I had for a whole YEAR.  I think that's a record in my journaling life.  I mean, this journal was big- really big. It didn't fit in my purse, and when I took notes in church I'm pretty sure people would do a double take, or I just assumed if people looked in my direction they were staring at my journal, but either way I was self conscious about it in public.

It actually took me a couple days to go through my journal when I was done.  I'm one of those people who goes back and writes a table of context at the beginning so if I ever need to see notes I took on a certain subject or book I can find it easily.  Come to think of it, I may be the only person I know who does that.  Anyway, the reason why I write in journals is so I can look back and see what God is doing in my life, so I like to keep it organized :)

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll probably remember when Dan and I wrestled through our decision to continue serving in Jr High  or take a break as our classes at Trinity picked up.  I also read through the quotes that I wrote down from Shauna Niequist's books Cold tangerines & Bittersweet as I got completely lost in those last summer.  Her writing is SO real and raw and I loved every second of it.  If I ever have a quiet moment at home I still sneak those books off my shelf and read a couple stories.  There is something about her writing that connects with me and I love that :)

Because of her love for Michigan and the fact that we got a new camera last year, Dan and I took a trip over Labor Day last year to South Haven and I loved reading about our trip in my journal and the time that we spent with the Lord at their cute coffee shops.

I also really enjoyed looking over the notes I took from all the books I read.  Some of my favorites from this past year were: 

Humility

Just Do Something

When People are Big and God is Small

Think

Forgotten God

Each of these books met me right where I needed to be- whether it was my struggles with people pleasing or Dan and I wrestling with big life decisions, I was so thankful that in between all the reading we have for our classes I was able to get away and read some "less academic" books :)

I also came across journal entries from our Trip to Florida and loved how every single journal entry started off with "Lord I am just so thankful ..." God has been really good to us.

And lastly, a huge chunk of my journal was devoted to all the notes I took at the Gospel Coalition.  We were so so thankful that we could go, and I learned a ton from all of the speakers and breakout sessions.  Those are definitely sections of my journal that I will be looking back on in the future!

So thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me :)  It honestly warms my heart to look back and read about how God has blessed us this past "journal year" and what He has taught us.  I know there are going to be journals in my life that are more painful to look back on- ones where my prayers are dry and I seem to just be asking God "Why is this happening" or "Why is this not working out," but for now I will continue to praise God through the blessings that He has given us- and use these journals to remember His goodness and mercy.

Decorating & all sorts of fun things

Make your own pizza party?  SUCH a good idea.

I'm pretty sure Dan would never let this fly in our apt, but how cute and girly is this?

Love.  Such a simple idea, too.

I don't know if I'd ever have the patience to do this, but I really like the look of these stripes via

Anything that has to do with organization draws my attention via

I love this skirt.. and I just bought one and it's so comfortable.  I could wear it every day!

The rest of our weekend

Daniel and I have been taking advantage of the fall weather and going on a lot of walks.  Truthfully, it goes down more like this:  "Dan can you please go on a walk with me?!"  Let's just say that Dan doesn't love walking or running (even though I've been pressuring him lol).  But, usually he is really nice to me and goes even though it's not the first thing on his agenda for the day.  He's just that great :)

So, obviously because I'm obsessed with fall I took some pictures while we were wondering around.

I felt a little threatened by the large amount of ducks that were swarming around us ...

Then they came on land...

Signs of fall!

The rest of our weekend consisted of hanging out in a "Leadership 101" class at our church.  We weren't 100% thrilled when we saw the class was six hours, but it actually went by fairly quickly and we had some good discussion- and there was this one older woman named Pat who asked the cutest questions.  She was my favorite by far.  We were so glad she was there :)

Then, we went out to eat after church at Pei Wei.  I pretty much love any Chinese or Thai food and was SO excited!

Crab Rangoon. mmm

I am pretty sure it took me 5 minutes to take this picture.  They are so patient with me.

My wonderful meal :)

My first time eating Edamame.  Surprisingly good- especially when it is doused in salt :)

Then we had to kill some time before our movie.. so naturally we went to Bed Bath and Beyond.  Brian and Dan were picking out a new iron cover for our ironing board.  I thought it was hilarious watching them have such a serious conversation about irons.

Unfortunately they closed at 9 and our movie started at 10:10.  Soooo we got to the movie theatre really early and Dan memorized every Trivia question and was yelling it out in the theatre.  Crazy kid.  (PS we saw Moneyball and it was good! I was surprised I stayed up until 12:30 to see the whole thing though- that's later than I stayed up in college). 

This is me taking a picture of the screen... during our hour wait for the show to start. 

A history lesson

This past weekend we headed downtown to meet up with our friends Joel and Caitlin.  They just moved in and it was so fun to see their apartment overlooking Lake Michigan (sooo jealous!) get a tour of the University of Chicago (where Joel will be getting his PHD) and catch up on life. 

Here's our tour through Hyde Park. 

We went to this cute cafe (apparently Obama used to stop there in the mornings) and they had these magnet Tea's that you stick to your refrigerator!

Sneaking a peak at one of the classrooms

Caitlin and Joel!

They took us to this fun restaurant and there was graffiti everywhere- I think anyone could write on it.. but the good girl inside me couldn't let that happen.

Wandering around campus.

There was Ivy on EVERYTHING.  It was starting to change color which was fun.

In front of the Rockefeller chapel! Apparently all of U of C was built by them.

Inside the chapel

Then we went in this fun bookstore! Dan could have stayed there for days. Literally.

This is how the sections were marked.. making it not so easy to see!

books everywhere!

This is me trying out new features on our camera.. this cross was hanging in one of the buildings so I turned it into a "sketch."  I'm just so creative sometimes I surprise myself :) 

Today I am enjoying a day off! Well, enjoying may not be the best word.  I will be spending it studying and reading at Panera all day.  Nonetheless, I am thankful for the time I have to catch up on homework!

More pictures to come from the rest of our weekend.  Happy Monday!

Prepping for the Fall- with soup :)

So recently I have been obsessed with recipes from the Pioneer Woman.  Not only is her photography amazing, but I am loving her recipes.  I know I'm totally behind the 8 ball.  A couple months ago I asked Becca if she had heard of her, and she was like, uh yeah.  She has like the most well known cooking blog on the internet right now.

My bad. Like I said, sometimes I just jump on the bandwagon late.

Anyway, I decided to try her Italian Chicken Soup recipe.  How could you not after seeing that picture?  Since Dan was sick (and obviously in need of some soup) and, she labeled it easy, I assumed I could make it no problem.  I'll let you follow the actual recipe on her blog ... and just give you my entertaining commentary here below.

First, I chopped up the vegetables. Easy.

Next, I baked my own made homemade bread.  Disregard the Jewel bag that it is in ....

Then, put a WHOLE chicken in boiling chicken broth. This was terrifying for me.  Will it actually cook in there?!  I had no idea.

Next step: when bored because it takes an hour for the chicken to boil and cool, take picture of sick husband sleeping on couch.

Then, saute veggies and a whole lot of oregano in some olive oil.

All right. Whew. Onto the difficult step.  Take the meat off the chicken.  Don't judge me, I've never done this before. So here's the before shot....

ahahaha and the after.  How gross does that look?!  It looks like I totally attacked it with a fork.  And I guess I kind of did.

Then put everything together and it looks like this.  Trust me, in the end it turned out SO good. Definitely a keeper :)

Oh and here's a random fall picture Dan and I took on a walk :) Love Fall.

TIU

I spend a lot of time at TIU.  Not only do I work here, but I take classes here- which gives me the privelage of spending hours here on a Saturday.  Be jealous :)

Anyway, there are a lot of awesome things happening on campus, and during one of my lunch breaks during class Dan and I decided to walk around and I took some pictures of some of the great things I love about Trinity.

The mansion (I realize you can't see it. Don't worry, just trust me.  It's behind those trees. And it really is big.  We bought it from the Welch family (They make Welch's grape juice!) sometime around 1950's or 60's.

We took a break to take a couple pictures of ourselves.

This is our new student center.  Pretty nice, right?

Another picture from our lunch.. no more I promise.  Strictly TIU from here on out.

We have new signs up on campus!  They look like this.  We're really excited about them.

Another view of our new student center

Dan tells me I should stop changing the "look" of all my pictures on our MyTubo app.. so there is one that I didn't make any changes to :)

We have a new fitness center!  Don't you want to jump on a treadmill?

Fitness area con't

One of my favorite parts of campus is the area by the Chapel.  I LOVE the fall around here.

Our fountain.

Football!

I know these pictures make you want to visit Trinity.  It's pretty.  And if you stop by, we can eat in our awesome Student Center.  And you'll have fun.  Promise :)