Our Wedding Registry Revealed No. 1

I love being married to J. 

He's charming, handsome, appreciative, absurd... Oh how long the list goes.

But with our marriage came lots of gifts.

Lots of kitchen gifts. 

Talk about my little heaven. 

We have an amazing kitchen and lots of new tools and gadgets to work with.

So, to push myself to use them all...

And to share my new favorites and recipes with you

I will do my new Wedding Registry Revealed series of posts. 

J wakes at 5:00 am every weekday. 

While I am not obligated to rise at the same time, I am a morning gal and

find it easier to rise than to fall back asleep.

But by 7:00 am, my post workout coffee is a necessity.

This little tool, the Nespresso Frother, has made me a coffee snob. 

Coffee is not coffee without frothy goodness atop its energy laden self. 

Check out this beauty... It's tasty, but dangerous.

 A coffee without froth is just some flavored water in my snobby little mind now. 

But Starbucks has gone nothing on Ambucks. 

So really, I'm sticking it to the man right? 

I'm a coffee with a packet of Truvia and topped with frothy goodness... 

How do you take your coffee?? 

marriage, the ultimate union

We attended our first wedding as a married couple this weekend.
It was so fun to enjoy the festivities... Especially because it wasn't our day!
The wedding was so beautiful!
Duh, I was watching one of my closest friends marry the love of her life.

This reading was included in the ceremony and I truly loved it.

Union
By: Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance
to this point of commitment.
At some point, you decided to marry.
From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes,
 indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way.
All of those conversations that were held in a car,
or over a meal,
or during long walks –
all those conversations that began with,
“When we’re married”,
and continued with
“I will” and “you will” and “we will” –
all those late night talks that included
“someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” –
and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.
All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another,
“You know all those things that
we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed –
well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time.
Before this moment you have been many things to one another –
acquaintance,
friend,
companion,
lover,
dancing partner,
even teacher,
for you have learned much from one another these past few years.
Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life,
and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband.
This is my wife.

I am so grateful that I get to share the rest of my life with my dear husband.
He is so much more than a best friend, a teacher, a dancing partner.

(yep, I'm sort of freakishly short compared to J... I never really knew until I saw this picture!)

The Much Awaited Wedding Pictures!

I know this isn't going to seem like enough... And really it isn't. 

Our photographer is still editing so we got these few as a sneak peak. 

Oh how we love them already. 

And here are two from the photo booth which was by far the BEST idea. 

When we get all of the photos from our photographer you will probably get an overdose of our day. 

It turned out so perfectly wonderful and was a night we hold so dearly in our hearts. 

(I can't wait for you to see all the little details!)

His and Hers Pizza Party

For the first time ever, J and I have participated in a culinary competition in my kitchen! We usually work together to make dinners... Or I make it while he drives home from the gym and showers... But the other night we competed. Each of us made our own pizzas and mine, of course, was tastiest!

We couldn't agree whose pizza was truly the best, so we resolved to put up a poll on here and see what my readers think. (Please remember you are my readers!)

His

Marinara Sauce with Sausage in it

Spinach

Cheese

Pepperoni

Hers

Alfredo Sauce

Tapatio Hot Sauce

Cheese

Artichoke Hearts

Pepperoni 

And now, it's up to you! 

(Leave a comment voting for one!) 

And on the side of our pizzas... The only thing uniting our plates was the always delicious caprese salad!

How sweet does that picture of us look in the background? In the midst of the battle it was the only thing sweet in the room!

Valentine's Day Love: Letters to God

Church on Sunday was a fantastic start to a new series. I was so happy that J and I got to be blessed the way we did in service and I left feeling so convicted, yet renewed by Him. We were given three tasks, one of which J was -much to my surprise- very into doing: writing a letter to God. So last night we made a plan, after dinner each of us was going to write and we did. Then we swapped and shared.

I truly enjoyed writing my letter to God. I felt freed. I felt like my relationship with Him was enriched. I felt honest, open, vulnerable. I felt loved. I needed to be able to be honest with myself, with J, and with God. And I was. 

Now it's my turn to be more transparent here. To let you, my dear readers, in more than I have before. To tell you all that I'm not perfect. My struggles remain constant and my vigilance grows tired. I forget all the blessings He has given to me and grow bitterness in my heart. I lose faith over and over again in growing weary, in exhaustion, in wishes seemingly unfulfilled. I like to look at pictures and see so much happiness and joy, but I know there remains so many unfettered feelings running amuck within the little body I call mine. 

Yet, through all the madness His faith remains. I can screw up over and over and over and over without running His patience through and through. He doesn't give up when I draw into myself and long to do it all on my own. He knows I will return and He will celebrate, just like it happened with the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. 

Here I go to make the dreams of being a strong Christian women, wife, friend, daughter, sister, best friend come true with the power and strength of Him within the tired little body that is me. Stay tuned for the journey (it's bound to be full of smiles, tears, laughs, cries, and, most importantly, Him). 

Simply Sweet Note about How Romantic this Truly was: 

This little activity made me fall madly in love with J all over again. J is an honest man. He doesn't make things over complicated. He just lays it out there. Thank goodness. I realized in his letter all of the reasons that we are so perfectly paired as best friends. God had us planned for all time and now it's our opportunity to shine, shine, shine so brightly in this world together.