Letters

Friday Letters...


Dear Husband, wow...you work so hard every day so that I can stay home with our baby. I am SO grateful for you. I love that you come home and spend your time playing with Jules and asking about my day. I admire and respect you so much!
Dear Juliana, you are precious in every way. I love your giggles and your new discoveries every day. I love that you try to kiss my mouth with your wide open slobbery mouth -- melts my heart! 
Dear God, you are what we live for. Thank you for your provisions for us in every way. I am learning and growing every day and I want to honor you with my life.
Dear New House, I am so excited to make you our new home! I am sorry we are ripping you apart but it will only make you stronger in the end hehe! I can't wait to start painting and decorating and most importantly, make new memories under your roof!
Dear Old House (i.e. tiny apartment), I know that over the years I have often complained about your lack of space issues and the fact that there is no washer or dryer here. But in all honesty I have LOVED living here. I love that this is where we first lived after our time in India and that this is where I spent my evenings last summer plopped on the couch with my huge belly and a bowl and watermelon. I love that this is where we brought our new baby home to and where we have watched her roll over, crawl and now walk. And although I will not particularly miss the dogs barking below us or the tire place as our next door neighbor...I can honestly say I will miss you and my little family's evening walks around you!
Dear Blogging World, this is all very new to me but I am really enjoying seeing the community of amazing women here! I'm sorry that I can't figure out how to link things correctly and probably make you look bad but I promise I will get there!!!
Dear Readers, Thank you for stopping by my baby blog (that's what I'm calling it until I have more than....ummm lets say, 8 followers! haha!) I so appreciate you reading and look forward to connecting with you in the future!!!!


Happy Friday!!!! 

Friday Letters

Simple dinner

Last night we got home late from shopping but we really didn't want to stop and grab food that wasn't good for us and expensive. So we just ate late :) It's summer right!?! I love whipping up stir fry cause it's so easy and so filling even though it's just veggies and meat! (unless you have it over rice like we did last night! Baaaad.....Should have been brown rice but oh well).   

After looking at a how to in Cooking Light 6 Step Stir Fry I've changed how I do stir fry. I actually cook my proteins (in this one it's tofu and chicken) separate from my veggies and then throw it all together with the sauce at the end. I used their Peanut Sauce mentioned here.

 If you haven't tried this sauce from Trader Joe's it's so good! I add it to so many marinades and sauces!

I am utilizing all of my burners in our tiny apartment! 

Mmmmm......I love the smell when it's cooking. That soy sauce, garlic, ginger make it so good!

 Top with fresh cilantro

Dinner Time!!!!! 

Love It / Hate it Wednesdays

I am new to this whole blogging thing. I had NO idea it was so extensive. The more I look at friends blogs and their friends blogs I see people are linking up with so and so and so and so! It's exhausting! And before I know it Jules' whole nap is up and I've spent the whole time trying to create a button. (linking up, button...don't I sound bloggy?! hahaha)

So here goes my Love/Hate Wednesday :) 

I love that Jules took a good nap today

 I hate that lately she's been fighting it!

I love that my Mother-in-Law was so helpful and washed our laundry for us!

 I hate that we don't have a washer and dryer....yet!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new dyson vacuum

 I hate that it was expensive 

I love that little smirk 

 Nothing else :) 

I love that it is cooler today

 I hate that we are sick inside :(

I love how cute little blue eyes looks in her bib

I hate that she throws all her food on the floor instead of eating it :(

I LOVE that after 7 months our house finally closed!!!

I hate that it will apparently take longer to get in that planned

I love my husband!!!!

I hate that he works so hard we haven't had as much time together this week

I love how God has blessed us, loves us, and teaches us new things as a family every day!!!

It's just one of those days...but still a day that God has given me

I always appreciate honest blogs. It almost irritates me when I read blogs where the mother of 4 made the perfect dinner in her perfectly (clean) and decorated house in her adorable outfit. It is not about appearing perfect, but sharing life in the ups and the downs, the excitements and failures. 

On that note,....today has been well-- ya. I'm writing this from my couch and my brain is so foggy I keep rereading what I've written to make sure it makes sense. Woke up with a bad cold yesterday and unfortunately today it's still goin, but now baby girl is sick too. It's hard to be sick with  a baby (especially when they don't feel well either....lets just face it you're both over the whole day before it's even noon). 

It's hard because they have no radar for you not feeling well. They still require the same chasing, feeding, playing with and attention as usual. It's not hard because I don't feel like doing it, but because I am trying to will my body to have energy! 

She decided this morning to forgo her nap (always helpful right?) so I decided to run out to target to get wipes. As usual, target my cart did not just have wipes in it but a million other things and then they convinced me to sign up for their RED depit card. So as my child is crying I'm filling out paper work and HOPING she'll fall asleep in the car as usual. Well no, of course not!  To add more fun I tripped over the curb with all my groceries in front of a bunch of old people who then proceeded to tell me all their stories of times they've tripped. I've decided to be thankful that my toe is not broken :) 

So now we are back...and here is my house. I almost decided to post on some recipes I made the other day since it would be pretty and put together. But we're being honest right? Well, I'm eating a bowl of cereal looking at this...

I wish I could just cuddle up on the couch and drink tea...but off I go to to tackle this mess and chase my sweet girl as she dumps over our trash can!

Some Thoughts...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how in life, we are often happy and content with our lives until we see someone else's house/body/possessions/life/job/etc. All it takes is to walk into a store you love and suddenly you are discontent with what you have...and you want more. Most of the time it's not even intentional. But as you look at someone else or something else and you start finding reasons why you need (or we think deserve!) to have whatever it is they have.

Why do we do this?! Are we INTENT on wanting to feel dissatisfied? I do not want  refuse to live my life centered around those things. Everything in life is constantly changing except one thing - who God is and what he has done for us. Two things in life are eternal -- our relationship with God and our relationships with people. I want to invest in Those things. Whenever I look around and I can feel those envious thoughts coming on I bring myself back to this...none of those things will even matter at all in the end. How I spend my time and my day are important and I don't want to waste them doing things that won't last. What color I paint my walls, how I decorate, what kind of car to buy, how I cut my hair or dress, the shows I watch -- these are not the things I want to be known for or invest my time into.

I'm not saying at that it is wrong to have hobbies and interests and to enjoy doing those things. God made us so creative and I love seeing different ways people use this gift. But I am challenging my day to day life in how I spend my energy. I want it to be for things that matter. I want to invest in people, in discipling, in my daughter as she grows in the Lord and in my own relationship with my Savior.

I don't think this means sitting around all day reading my Bible. But in everything I do--whether it's folding laundry, cleaning, meeting a friend for coffee or playing with my baby--doing it all to the glory of God and pleasing him with my actions and attitude.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:11-13

BREAKFAST Time!!!

I absolutely adore summer fruit! Nectarines especially. But....nectarine pancakes?!? Yes please! Martha Stewart made these for her 60th birthday recently.

Yummmmmm. It's two of the best things combined into one show stopper breakfast. And they are GOOD. Here's our recreation :)

Serve with a dash of syrup and of course...some butter. Fresh blueberries make a beautiful garnish to pretty much any breakfast as well.

Here's the recipe!!!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/909613/nectarine-pancakes

Happy Sunday!!!

Dinner Tonight

Tonight I had dinner at my parents house. My mom is an amazing cook. I have to say I never get as stressed as when I'm having my parents for dinner. Not because they would EVER say anything other than good things, but because she is such a good cook it makes me nervous to serve her food! I am so thankful to have learned from her :)
Tonight after getting home from costco, winco, sprouts etc etc she wipped this up in 20 minutes. YUMMMMMM.....we had grilled eggplant and zucchini with caprese salad and kale topped with red sauce. SO delicious!!!!

What did you have for dinner?!