[thankful heart.]

I realized today that I was washing the SAME load of laundry for the third time. I kept washing it and forgetting to put in the dryer so every couple of days it would stink and I'd have to do it again. Finally today it made it into the dryer smelling like lavender laundry soap not mold.

Some days I'm thankful my head is still attached.

Psalm 95:1-5

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he make it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Thankful the Lord is greater than my short comings, my hard heart, my sin, my greed, my selfishness, my vanity, my sadness, my fears, and my guilt. Thank you Jesus.

dmj.

"A Conservation Garden"

This past weekend, as a late mother's day get-together, my Nonna, Zia, their friend Barb, mom and I all went to the NC Botanical Gardens. We arrived a little late, but still joined the tour as it was beginning. Our tour guide was a sweet older women named Nell. It was clear early on she LOVED her job. The way she spoke and told us about the different plants really inspired me to learn a little more.

The NCBG is more of a learning experience. It reminded me of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in DT Raleigh. When I watched the Young kids, I would take Bill here regularly (to see the dinosaurs!). It went through all the different areas of NC, what plants that grew there, type of soil, what animals that lived there etc. For the NCBG soil was brought in from the mountains and the beach. Their goal is to conserve the native plants of North Carolina and demonstrate sustainability (my inner granola like this part)!

It was overcast, so really a great day to take some pictures and enjoy the walk with out feeling like my skin was melting off in the NC heat. My grandmother and aunt LOVED it! Do you have any gardener's in your family?! Take them here. They'll loved it.

The NCBG even has a small area where you can buy some plants you wouldn't find at Lowe's and you just place your money in a box. (They even have Venus Fly Traps for sale!)

Here are some pictures:







dmj.

d.a.t.e. n.i.g.h.t.

Date night! So important! Do you have one if you're married? Jerod and I have date night usually on Wednesday, but sometimes the week gets a little unruly and we have to switch to Friday. BUT no matter what we have one every week. Jerod is a stickler about it and I'm sad to say sometimes I am not as good at protecting our night together.

When we have date night we communicate better, talk about an issue we're having and sometimes we don't talk!

Some great idea:

1. $1.50 movie- Blue Ridge Cinema
2. Barnes and Noble - Jerod and I each buy a book, buy a drink from Starbucks and read
3. Go out to eat- many people do this but J and I don't have a ton of spare money lying around so we will splurge but usually we try and only do this one once a month, my fav right now: The Flying Biscuit
4. Coffee and desert- we LOVE Morning Times in DT Raleigh, a cup of coffee and their chocolate cake are amazing)
5. Eat in- many times I will cook for Jerod and we'll just have a date night at home, eat, talk, rent a movie (or rather receive one from Netflix)

Those are some things we've done and really enjoyed! If you ever have any other ideas for me that's be great!
Here is our most recent date night:

Chicken sausage, onions and peppers, mustard, brioche rolls and BEER! Yum!



dmj.

worship through {suffering}

Last night at C-group we discussed Psalm 22. Pastor Tyler gave a sermon using Psalm 22 discussing worshiping even in suffering. I was encourage by our discussion.

*It was the best discussion we've had in WEEKS and what a blessing. As always you guys challenge me and encourage me. I’m VERY thankful for all of you :-)

Our group thought of great questions:
Who is this God we serve?
If He is good, why is there suffering?
Does God will suffering?
What is the difference, if there is, between God willing suffering and Him allowing it?

We talked about truth. Who is God? What do we know about Him?
He is good and loving. He is worthy of our praise. God loves us so much, He sent Jesus, who experience separation from God and died for our sins.

God does allow suffering!

Romans 5:3-5

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

BUT even though we suffer God is faithful.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for God.

I need to remind myself daily that I love and serve a God who does care for me and loved me enough, despite my sin, to send Christ to die for me. I do not have to be separated from God, even when my body physically dies. I can easily get caught in the lie that God is only good when things are going my way. And that's a LIE. God is good all the time, He is faithful and merciful all the time. God works things for good. I see this in my past clearly. I made pour decisions, put my hope in people and dreams other than God, and I suffered the consequences. But looking back I see God's faithfulness. I see where He was chasing after me through scripture, church, family and friends. God was calling me back to Himself. Suffering gives us the opportunity to cling to God in a way we may never have, to trust Him more. Its a challenge, my sin gets in the way. But we serve a God who is greater than my sin, my emotions, my short comings. My heart is thankful this morning for who God is and what that means in my life. hope this is encouraging.

dmj.

grass.

WE HAVE GRASS!!! And it's only been a week :-) And Merlin doesn't know how he feels about it...

farmer's {market}

Saturday = NC Farmer's Market! Nicole Short went with me and we walked around all the stalls tasting tomatoes and feeling up other assorted produce, and thinking of all the tasty things we could do with squash and zucchini... It was crowded, which I usually do not like, but at the FM I don't tend to mind the people bumping into me. I love the sight of all the onions, zucchini, potatoes, green etc all piled up in boxes and baskets. I like to imagine what I can cook. The herbs smelled wonderful, and I can't wait to make pesto this week (It is going to be so good on a tomato sandwich or on top of hot pasta). I even found a dead dragon fly on my lettuce; made me wonder what other kinds of bugs might be lurking? And could they be alive?

After going to the FM over the past couple of years I've figured out exactly how I like to work it. I usually start at the German man's booth, so I can eat a cheese bread stick ($2, but well worth it). Then I make my way, not buying anything yet, through the whole market, thinking about what we'll eat that week and looking at all the prices. After I've walked through everything I make my way back through and get the stuff I need. Usually I come out spending between $20-$30 which includes the vegetables for 1 week, bread and flowers (like the peonies I bought).

I love the onions with the green parts still attached, and I already made a tomato sandwich with the bread and tomatoes I bought! Yum! (little mayo, tomatoes and salt) Forgive how bad the photos are, I'm not a photographer!


dmj.

Back{yard} Part 1

Jerod and I have finally started fixing up our backyard! When we first moved in it was a jungle back there. Everything was overgrown, the grass was tall and several eucalyptus plants were completely overgrown. Jerod took his hatchet and a weed-wacker and cleared the whole thing out. Then we put down under-layment to try and kill everything. Finally this weekend we had time and even though we should have ideally planted grass two weeks ago we decided to give it a go. For around $100, Jerod got us squared away and this morning at 8 we were outside!

Even though I hate bugs, I managed to help Jerod and I did the mulch all on my own! It was fun working with Jerod and as usual he made it fun! I think my favorite part was laying the seed down because Jerod bought this sweet seed-spreading tool. I have no idea what its called. I think it will all be worth it when we can actually use our backyard! I'm really excited :-)

Here are some pictures:



I like the girlie garden gloves Jerod got me.


Well we'll keep you updated on how it goes! We're hopeful our grass will grow :-)

dmj.

Vacation!

Jerod and I have pretty much come to the conclusion that for us to rest we have to get our of Raleigh :-) So Jerod and I went on a quick two day trip to Wilmington, NC over Jerod's spring break and we had a fabulous time! Even though it was March the weather was beautiful and warm, but the water was still pretty cold. Good thing I don't go to the beach to actually get in the water! I would rather lay out and feel the heat on my skin! It's wonderful! Despite SPF 70, I feel asleep in my chair (which was under an umbrella) and burnt my right arm. FAIL. I also burned my lips... you didn't think it could happen? Well it can. My lips are only just now healed completely and its May. Needless to say aloe vera was my best friend for two weeks and I purchased lip balm with sunscreen.

Even though it was back in March I thought I'd share the pictures. It was Merlin's first trip to the beach and despite our best efforts, he dug many holes in the sand and did not like the waves moving towards him. Merlin is more of a fan of non-moving water. We're going to go again when the water is warm and see if he likes it.

Here's Merlin on the beach! With sand all over his face!


Eating Crab Legs!



Merlin is rockin' his doggie back pack :-)



dmj.

happy birthday {dad}

A tradition my Dad and Mom have had for years is on our birthday's they tell my brother and I the story of our birth. Every year I look forward to sitting down and laughing together as my parents sit and retell silly stories about me from my childhood. I love listening to them laugh as they remember my brother and I with joy. One of my favorites is when we lived in Oklahoma and were stationed at Tinker AFB. I would walk into the bathroom while my dad was shaving and this is how the conversation would go:

I would ask, "Watcha doing Daddy?"
"Shavin," said Dad.
I would ask again, "Watcha doing Daddy?"
"Shavin," said Dad.
I would ask again, "Watcha doing Daddy?"
"Shavin," said Dad.

It would go on and on and he would just keep answering me :-)

Only now that I am 23 and married do I realize how much my Dad has taught me about grace, patience, working hard and generosity. I am so thankful that despite my sin, my Dad has shown me grace and always taken me back when I've walked away not only from my family but from the Lord. He is so much like the father in the story about the prodigal son. My Dad has seen me several times walk far away from the Lord, but when I came back, there was a celebration, joy and hope. My Dad has taught me to labor well and to honor the Lord. As sappy as it may sound, I am so thankful and excited for what another year will bring! And next year will be a party because he'll be 50!!! (shh... don't tell him I told you)

A picture of my {dad} and I from my wedding.



Photo credit: Amaris Hames

dmj.