I hung out with Claire Roberts and her kiddos this past Friday. She was asking about our first year of marriage and it got me thinking! I had not really sat down and thought about it. Has it been good? What have we done? Have we grown over this past year? I have been in a funk now for the past month at least and I wonder if it's because we are changing. Not changing in a bad way, but settling in to {married life}?
I've found myself over the past several months feeling anxious and looking for the next thing. Claire mentioned she likes to have something to look forward to and I think I'm the same way. Before you are married you are looking to get a boyfriend. Then you get the boyfriend and you are thinking, when are we going to get engaged? Then you get engaged and you plan a wedding! You plan and plan, get excited and then once you are married and go on your honeymoon, real life begins to happen. Nothing major to plan, no major event your looking forward to. You're going to work or school (at least for me) every day. You come home cook dinner. You have those things, like C-group or church, you do every week. All of these things are good and I love them, but I keep finding myself asking, now what?
I believe the Lord is quietly saying to me wait, learn, watch, pray, seek me. It doesn't sound super exciting at first. I'm supposed to sit around waiting? I sense J and I are supposed to be preparing for something, and of course only God can know the what, when, where, and how. I have a feeling the Lord is yet again teaching me patience and contentment. Those things in our lives that keep us from worship and keep us in bondage God goes after with a vengeance. Which is why I'm not surprised I'm continuing to have to learn this lesson over and over. My goal is to memorize Philippians 4:11-13 this week. If Paul can be content in prison, then I should be able to be content in the place God has brought me.
dmj.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Jerod's hummus
Thought I would share another awesome hummus recipe! I found it here. Thanx Emeril!
I made a couple changes and it turned out great. I love it even more than the last one I made! It is also the kind of hummus Jerod will eat so needless to say I'll probably make this one more :-)
1 can chickpeas
1 roasted red pepper
1 clove garlic
1/2 C tahini
juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper
I didn't bother mincing or chopping anything. I was lazy and let my food processor do ALL the work :-)
That's why I love it! It keeps about a week.
dmj.
I made a couple changes and it turned out great. I love it even more than the last one I made! It is also the kind of hummus Jerod will eat so needless to say I'll probably make this one more :-)
1 can chickpeas
1 roasted red pepper
1 clove garlic
1/2 C tahini
juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper
I didn't bother mincing or chopping anything. I was lazy and let my food processor do ALL the work :-)
That's why I love it! It keeps about a week.
dmj.
Friday, June 11, 2010
{learning}
Learning dependence on God is hard when you are an adult. Culture says: I'm supposed to be independent. Take care of myself. I'm supposed to look out for myself. Work had to provide for myself. What I have is mine because I earned it, worked hard for it. It is easy to give into this mentality and not believe truth: that all I have is a gift from God; nothing is mine.
I make God smaller than He is, and I do not even mean to do it; I diminish His power in my life. How quickly I forget that I'm taken care of?! God's got this. All my questions, all my desires, all my worries and all my fears are already known by God. Could my anxiety be because I'm not telling God, even if He already knows the desires of my heart? We are supposed to come to God like little children, dependent for our every need (Mark 10:15). Thankful, because He has provided all we need.
Today I'm feeling content and thankful. I think I'm starting to live more in the now and not always looking for what is ahead, missing what God is providing for me now. It's allowing me to take pleasure in these little joys in life. Corney? Maybe, but I'm okay with that. I'm called to not worry. Philippians 4:6-7 says, do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
Updates on our life right now:
*I'm very thankful I have Jerod home for three weeks! He is all done with teaching, and he'll start teaching Pre-calculus at Enloe sometime in early July. Yesterday we just hung out, ate together and even played some XBox 360 before I went to class.
*My brother graduated from HS! And this August he'll be a student at NC State in the college of Engineering! Go Wolfpack!
*Surprisingly, running is getting easier and easier!! You may not believe me but I swear it is true :-)
*Merlin update: When we run he still thinks he has to pee on every other bush... "This ones mine! and this ones mine too!" But he looks so cute when he trots next to me, mouth open, tongue hanging out the side. Run's usually involve at least one attempt at attacking a squirrel and several attempts at attacking birds! I often wonder what he might do if he actually got a hold of one. Everyone is telling us he looks bigger and I am starting to believe them. His legs are longer and he's taking up more space than before. He new favorite pastime is sleeping under just about anything-- our bed, coffee table, other people's coffee table's, dining room table's, etc.
A while back he jumped up and knocked a bird down in the backyard. I couldn't get my self to pick up the bird dying next to the air conditioning unit. So, I waiting till Jerod got home to get rid of the now dead bird. Merlin has an incredible memory. Every so often he would go to the window to see if it was still there.
*I have a new client after I found my last one dead. I thought about death a lot and slept a lot afterward. I still keep thinking about my own death-- when? where? how? etc. Morbid I know.
*Jerod and I are officially grown up because... WE BOUGHT LIFE INSURANCE!
Lots of random thoughts I know. I'm thankful for what today will bring, to have my puppy sleeping on my feet, under the table, and wait patiently on the Lord.
dmj.
I make God smaller than He is, and I do not even mean to do it; I diminish His power in my life. How quickly I forget that I'm taken care of?! God's got this. All my questions, all my desires, all my worries and all my fears are already known by God. Could my anxiety be because I'm not telling God, even if He already knows the desires of my heart? We are supposed to come to God like little children, dependent for our every need (Mark 10:15). Thankful, because He has provided all we need.
Today I'm feeling content and thankful. I think I'm starting to live more in the now and not always looking for what is ahead, missing what God is providing for me now. It's allowing me to take pleasure in these little joys in life. Corney? Maybe, but I'm okay with that. I'm called to not worry. Philippians 4:6-7 says, do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
Updates on our life right now:
*I'm very thankful I have Jerod home for three weeks! He is all done with teaching, and he'll start teaching Pre-calculus at Enloe sometime in early July. Yesterday we just hung out, ate together and even played some XBox 360 before I went to class.
*My brother graduated from HS! And this August he'll be a student at NC State in the college of Engineering! Go Wolfpack!
*Surprisingly, running is getting easier and easier!! You may not believe me but I swear it is true :-)
*Merlin update: When we run he still thinks he has to pee on every other bush... "This ones mine! and this ones mine too!" But he looks so cute when he trots next to me, mouth open, tongue hanging out the side. Run's usually involve at least one attempt at attacking a squirrel and several attempts at attacking birds! I often wonder what he might do if he actually got a hold of one. Everyone is telling us he looks bigger and I am starting to believe them. His legs are longer and he's taking up more space than before. He new favorite pastime is sleeping under just about anything-- our bed, coffee table, other people's coffee table's, dining room table's, etc.
A while back he jumped up and knocked a bird down in the backyard. I couldn't get my self to pick up the bird dying next to the air conditioning unit. So, I waiting till Jerod got home to get rid of the now dead bird. Merlin has an incredible memory. Every so often he would go to the window to see if it was still there.
*I have a new client after I found my last one dead. I thought about death a lot and slept a lot afterward. I still keep thinking about my own death-- when? where? how? etc. Morbid I know.
*Jerod and I are officially grown up because... WE BOUGHT LIFE INSURANCE!
Lots of random thoughts I know. I'm thankful for what today will bring, to have my puppy sleeping on my feet, under the table, and wait patiently on the Lord.
dmj.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
I heart Raleigh.
Yesterday I went and ran 30 minutes with my friend Nicole Short and another friend of ours Rob Parrish. As we finished our run we passed several houses with families out on the porch, children running in the street playing with a basketball, people lounging in plastic chairs, grills cooking hot dogs, and lot of smiles and laughter.
Later, Jerod and I went downtown to meet up with Nicole and Rob at the Duck and Dumpling, an AWESOME restaurant on Blount St. Jerod and I went there for Valentines Day and our friend Amaris Hames works there as a hostess and food runner. A perfect job for her if you ask me! She's a get-er-done kind of person and her personality draws people in no matter how much you know her. I watched her last night effortlessly greet, seat and make people laugh. She saved us the best seat in the restaurant (in my opinion), in the corner by the window so you can watch everything inside and everything outside.
Jerod and I took the motorcycle last night and I admit I've been trying to get him to get rid of it... and it hasn't worked so far :-) But I remembered why I love it in the summer. Since we didn't go on the interstate I didn't have to wear my big heavy jacket with padding in it, while safe it is SO hot in the summer. As we drove I was texting Nicole and watching all the people. We don't have a big skyline but it is so beautiful at night when you drive over Boylan Bridge.
Here it is at night in the background of the picture. This is from the night Jerod proposed:
I love Raleigh. We're still small but growing. We have great things to do, museums, an arboretum, colleges, churches who are trying to love the city, First Friday, art and music. I love that our city has so many different kinds of people. I love our church, Vintage21. I know Jerod and I are called to live here and serve here. I have so much peace and joy knowing we are called to be here. We can invest here. I desire to have children here and raise them to love God.
*I did not remember where in the Bible these verses were but they were on the screen at church yesterday :-)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give you daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
Later, Jerod and I went downtown to meet up with Nicole and Rob at the Duck and Dumpling, an AWESOME restaurant on Blount St. Jerod and I went there for Valentines Day and our friend Amaris Hames works there as a hostess and food runner. A perfect job for her if you ask me! She's a get-er-done kind of person and her personality draws people in no matter how much you know her. I watched her last night effortlessly greet, seat and make people laugh. She saved us the best seat in the restaurant (in my opinion), in the corner by the window so you can watch everything inside and everything outside.
Jerod and I took the motorcycle last night and I admit I've been trying to get him to get rid of it... and it hasn't worked so far :-) But I remembered why I love it in the summer. Since we didn't go on the interstate I didn't have to wear my big heavy jacket with padding in it, while safe it is SO hot in the summer. As we drove I was texting Nicole and watching all the people. We don't have a big skyline but it is so beautiful at night when you drive over Boylan Bridge.
Here it is at night in the background of the picture. This is from the night Jerod proposed:
I love Raleigh. We're still small but growing. We have great things to do, museums, an arboretum, colleges, churches who are trying to love the city, First Friday, art and music. I love that our city has so many different kinds of people. I love our church, Vintage21. I know Jerod and I are called to live here and serve here. I have so much peace and joy knowing we are called to be here. We can invest here. I desire to have children here and raise them to love God.
*I did not remember where in the Bible these verses were but they were on the screen at church yesterday :-)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give you daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
Friday, June 4, 2010
{hummus} is delicious
Yes you too can make hummus! It is so easy! Do you have a food processor? Mine gets used at least once a week. I really try and not buy anything already made... for now this is going well. I'm sure there will be a day where I do not have as much time as I do now. But I'm hoping these good habits now will follow me no matter what.
This hummus is so easy. I threw it together with what I had in the house, I did not have cayenne pepper so I used cumin and I did not have all the herbs in the food network recipe, so I only used a 1/4C parsley. I also used more garlic because I just really like garlic. Really you can do what you want with it. I ate it for a snack with a mini pita pocket from Trader Joe's.
I used these two recipes to get an idea of the ratios:
Green Herb Hummus
Hummus
1 (15 oz) can Harris Teeter brand chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1/4C parsley leaves
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp tahini paste
juice from half a lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
Place everything in bowl of food processor. I mixed it on low for about a minute. Then stir the bottom and pulse a little more. I did not do this and I had honey at the bottom not fully incorporated.
Then eat with veggies or take a pita, toast it and cut it up for dipping.
Will last about a week (But J and I'll eat it before then!)
dmj
This hummus is so easy. I threw it together with what I had in the house, I did not have cayenne pepper so I used cumin and I did not have all the herbs in the food network recipe, so I only used a 1/4C parsley. I also used more garlic because I just really like garlic. Really you can do what you want with it. I ate it for a snack with a mini pita pocket from Trader Joe's.
I used these two recipes to get an idea of the ratios:
Green Herb Hummus
Hummus
1 (15 oz) can Harris Teeter brand chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1/4C parsley leaves
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp tahini paste
juice from half a lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
Place everything in bowl of food processor. I mixed it on low for about a minute. Then stir the bottom and pulse a little more. I did not do this and I had honey at the bottom not fully incorporated.
Then eat with veggies or take a pita, toast it and cut it up for dipping.
Will last about a week (But J and I'll eat it before then!)
dmj
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
13.1
13.1 miles! That's so many! The most I can run right now is 4. So, I've decided I want to run a half marathon. I was inspired by a really great friend of mine named Nicole Short. She's running one in Seattle, Washington very soon! I am also reading a book called The Non Runner's Marathon Guide for Women. It is hysterical! While I work out and I run I really would like a goal to work towards. So here it goes! I will not actually start the official training until the first week in July. The training takes 19 weeks and the race is at the beginning of week 20.
So why run a half marathon??
Well, to be honest... my first thought was to loose the last pesky 5lbs I carry around and no matter what feel like I can't get rid of. But I feel like working towards a half marathon would give me a goal. I would love to start an finish something, which I have seen in my past that I'm not great at. I feel like the author in The Non Runner's Marathon Guide for Women, I have a hard time finishing what I start. I started at NC State and did not finish and, now I'm working toward nursing. But I won't finish nursing for another two years so until then I would love to commit. Commit to running 13.1 miles, commit to eating better, commit to working towards having a healthy lifestyle.
I also know I could run the risk of becoming consumed? I usually limit myself at the gym to 1 hour. I want to be accountable to still keep priorities straight.
I went through all my "work out" clothes and found I was wearing a majority of pants and shirts make of 100% Cotton. All the research says I should be wearing fabrics that pull the moisture off my body. So I took the opportunity to go to Target and do a little shopping :-) I bought myself two new pairs of polyester/spandex bottoms and 100% polyester shirt. I probably won't look cute running but I'm going to try :-)
I would like to run the half marathon in Raleigh, NC. November 7th is the City of Oaks Marathon and Rex Healthcare Half Marathon. I'm trying to convince my Dad and Mom to do it with me! Jerod thinks I'm crazy, but I'm not done with trying to convince him to do it with me too :-)
So I'm going to keep praying about running it and then hopefully register soon!
dmj.
So why run a half marathon??
Well, to be honest... my first thought was to loose the last pesky 5lbs I carry around and no matter what feel like I can't get rid of. But I feel like working towards a half marathon would give me a goal. I would love to start an finish something, which I have seen in my past that I'm not great at. I feel like the author in The Non Runner's Marathon Guide for Women, I have a hard time finishing what I start. I started at NC State and did not finish and, now I'm working toward nursing. But I won't finish nursing for another two years so until then I would love to commit. Commit to running 13.1 miles, commit to eating better, commit to working towards having a healthy lifestyle.
I also know I could run the risk of becoming consumed? I usually limit myself at the gym to 1 hour. I want to be accountable to still keep priorities straight.
I went through all my "work out" clothes and found I was wearing a majority of pants and shirts make of 100% Cotton. All the research says I should be wearing fabrics that pull the moisture off my body. So I took the opportunity to go to Target and do a little shopping :-) I bought myself two new pairs of polyester/spandex bottoms and 100% polyester shirt. I probably won't look cute running but I'm going to try :-)
I would like to run the half marathon in Raleigh, NC. November 7th is the City of Oaks Marathon and Rex Healthcare Half Marathon. I'm trying to convince my Dad and Mom to do it with me! Jerod thinks I'm crazy, but I'm not done with trying to convince him to do it with me too :-)
So I'm going to keep praying about running it and then hopefully register soon!
dmj.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)