What My Husband is Teaching Me About My God Part 1

When I have heard in the past, love your wife like Christ loves the church, I see the picture of figuring out this romance by learning from Christ.  That is true.  However, I'm amazed at what I'm learning about God by seeing how Jeff loves me and shows me this love.

Early in our relationship, I was doing the typical girl thing and griping about my hair, how I looked in a certain outfit, etc.  He just looked at me and quietly said, "When I look at you, I don't see all of that.  I just see my love."  Whoa!  And in that, God spoke to me.  Because of the grace of my Savior, when God looks at me, He sees His love. I don't have to measure up, show off, or prove myself.  I am His.

What an amazingly blessed woman I am.

abc's and 123's

i'm ready to start school, really i am.  i don't know that i'm ready to have to be at school every day until may, though.  i'm in my classroom right now and i'm not sure there's enough concerta in the world to help me get it decorated in time.  it's fun, though, to watch an empty space become a classroom. 

i love freshness of the beginning of a school year.  my heart skips a beat when i see the school supplies go on sale.  i'm meg ryan in you've got mail -- a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils could improve any day.  the beginning of the school year is so full of hope.

here's to year #9 (crazy) and to living it up this last weekend of summer (and by living it up, see my last blog about sleeping in, driving around randomly and snowcones).

e.

uno

not the card game that we love/loathe.

one month in, we are only realizing how much of a blessing this whole marriage thing is.

so far, we have

• taken a train trip to the big easy (or, walmart in a box as jeff likes to call it)
• survived the stomach virus on said trip
• become pretty successful in this whole meal planning, weekly grocery buying, cooking at home thing
• purchased a tv in preparation for college football (and NCAA 12 for Xbox)
• purchased a car (not the smart car we not-so-seriously contemplated)

it's been great to just learn to live life together.  since about april 27, we have longed for normalacy in some capacity.  the wedding was absolutely amazing, more than we could have hoped for, but we are so thankful day-to-day life is even better.  we didn't want the event to be the highlight of our marriage, but rather a celebration of what would come as our lives were joined. 

right now we love just hanging out; we cherish our saturdays filled with sleeping in, random drives and occasional snow-cones.  we enjoy cooking and trying new recipes together, catching up on our days apart after so many together in a row, hanging out with friends, kobe on sundays, dreaming of what's next but not forgetting to live in the moment and nightcaps of popsicles. 

we are looking forward to football season and enjoying that with friends, serving together and trying to plan for the west side.

the next month will be really exciting (with a whole lot of crazy thrown in).  between the start of the next school year and jeff's job search, it's easy to be a little (or a lot) anxious.  we firmly believe, however, that God is in complete control and trust His plan in our lives.

j & e

Real Housewives of Tuscaloosa County...

Or something like that.

One of our goals this lovely first week at home has been to try to eat more meals at home.  To most people, the question, "What do you want for dinner?" elicits the answer of a specific food or meal.  To us, it meant Taco Casa, Wings, La Gran, etc.  Earlier in the Spring, I had signed up for the online service E-Mealz but I had never actually used it.  This week we actually planned our meals for the week, shopped for said meals at one time and have pretty much stuck to the plan.

You can choose a plan based on number of people in your family, the store at which you want to shop and specific dietary benefits.  I am on the Publix - 2 person plan.  You print out a menu, shopping list and then a hint of coupons you can use.  The meals are planned based on what is on sale at that store during that week.

So far, we have had Taco Cornbread Bake and Creamy Roast with Potatoes and Mushrooms.  I'm often skeptical of recipes because some I've tried have been terrible (BLT Macaroni and Cheese with LOTS of tumeric, anyone?).  However, both of these have recieved a "WOW" from Jeff upon the first bite.  The recipes are very simple, few ingredients, a lot of hands-off time and inexpensive.  This week we have crock pot ribs and philly cheesesteak sandwiches left.  I am now an e-mealz fan. 

Exciting stuff at the 7105 this week, I know. :)  This is me trying to learn to be somewhat domestic.

e.