First off, I do apologize for this awkward selfie ... ha! It was a dark plane, okay! Anyway, we had quite the early morning as we made our way back home for the holidays! This weekend will consist of lots of family time and I'm soaking every bit of it up!
A few things ....
- We are so excited to be home again and celebrating Christmas with my fam!
- Also, Christmas is FOUR days away! What?! It's been a busy/full month.
- Jeffrey and I have called these last 6 months our "bulking" season ... ha! We are feeling every bit of the weight and we're so ready for a change for the sake of our health!! Haha.
Hey y'all! Yesterday was a fun day! Jeffrey and I continued our packing and for the most part, we were pretty productive. Even though we live in just one small room, it's been taking us a very long time to pack it all up. Ha. Spent most of our day packing and preparing for the future. I can't believe that Christmas is less than a week away!
Of course, made a trip to Target to pick up a hair straightener and a few candy bars!
We wrote encouragement/goodbye/Christmas cards for our single adults!
I started packing for our trip back to GA.
Then we finished the night with a little gathering and a secret Santa exchange.
Gonna miss this close-knit group!
Wow, it feels like the end of the year is coming up quick! There's still quite a bit of things that Jeffrey and I need to do before we can say "later" to 2017. As y'all know, we're getting ready to move in a couple weeks (this has been so weird - it doesn't feel like we're moving at all) so we need to pack like ..... so much! I really didn't think I had that much stuff, but after I started packing, I probably thought about 20 times how I was going to become a minimalist. Ha!
But wait ... before we can move, we've made so many other plans. We're going to be traveling down to GA this weekend for a funeral (can't wait to see ya, Vic) and then coming back to celebrate Christmas with our Indy fam. Then, we're going back down to GA to celebrate Christmas with my GA fam and we'll be there for one entire week - so excited! We bought our plane tickets a few months back so that's why we're making the tedious trips back and forth, but it's really no biggie since we're both not working right now.
All this traveling just calls for a ton of packing and unpacking, but it's all exciting stuff. Even though this year has been kinda hectic, it's been such a good, full year.
We attended our first Christmas party of the season with our church family here in Indy. It was the most chill event ever. Ha. Also, it snowed. The snow here in the north is so light and fluffy and it's beautiful and bright. I love.
This year, Jeffrey and I want to start baking cookies every holiday season (mainly just me, but totally forcing him to make them with me) and I have a recipe that I want to try. It's modified from Martha Stewart and they're called Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies!
H O W T O M A K E T H E M :
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pur vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 granulated sugar (for rolling dough)
22 mini chocolate peanut-butter cups, unwrapped and chilled
DIRECTIONS:
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°. Place two racks in the center of the oven. Whisk flour, baking powder, & salt in a medium bowl & set aside.
Beat peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as necessary. Add eggs one at a time and then vanilla, mixing until incorporated.
With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in dry ingredients. Put granulated sugar in a small bowl. Use a 1 ¾" cookie scoop to form dough into balls.
Roll each ball of dough in sugar, coating completely. Use fingers to flatten dough ball a bit. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 6 minutes. Remove from oven.
Press one chilled peanut butter cup in center of each cookie. Return to oven & continue baking until cookies are golden brown and chocolate has begun to melt, about 5-6 minutes more.
Let cool at least 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely (about 1 hour). It can take awhile for the peanut butter cups to set again. After cookies have cooled on the sheets for one hour, move cookies to the refrigerator to set the chocolate for about one hour. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Excited to be making these with Jeffrey!
Beat peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as necessary. Add eggs one at a time and then vanilla, mixing until incorporated.
With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in dry ingredients. Put granulated sugar in a small bowl. Use a 1 ¾" cookie scoop to form dough into balls.
Roll each ball of dough in sugar, coating completely. Use fingers to flatten dough ball a bit. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 6 minutes. Remove from oven.
Press one chilled peanut butter cup in center of each cookie. Return to oven & continue baking until cookies are golden brown and chocolate has begun to melt, about 5-6 minutes more.
Let cool at least 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely (about 1 hour). It can take awhile for the peanut butter cups to set again. After cookies have cooled on the sheets for one hour, move cookies to the refrigerator to set the chocolate for about one hour. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Excited to be making these with Jeffrey!
At this time, I believe I was either a freshman or a sophomore. Vic wanted to surprise Chu with a little birthday party during Christmas break and we joined in on the fun!
A little gift exchanging fun!
The senior group enjoying the last of our Christmas days in college. Ha.
Friends forever! Hehe.
Christmas at the Grove!
A secret sister sock exchange that we started our senior year (the girls have continued it this year, too!) This was such a fun little idea to gather the girls together even in the midst of a busy semester.
Just reminiscing over all the Christmases that I've gotten to share with these good friends throughout college. College has been a blessing in its entirety and I'm so thankful to have gained friendships through this sweet community of women.
Here's my little Christmas playlist that I've been playing since October. Ha!
Some things I want to do before Christmas ...
1. Go ice skating
2. Make hot chocolate from scratch
3. Bake holiday cookies to gift to others
4. Wear PJs for one whole day
5. Celebrate Christmas with my Indy fam!
What are some things you want to do before Christmas?
1. Go ice skating
2. Make hot chocolate from scratch
3. Bake holiday cookies to gift to others
4. Wear PJs for one whole day
5. Celebrate Christmas with my Indy fam!
What are some things you want to do before Christmas?
What a sweet, sweet photo. This one makes me think of my mom.
I love how cute and simple her decorations are for the tree.
This has nothing to do with Christmas anymore, but! My mom....
She's always been such a simple woman and pretty sure that where's I get it from.
I'm so simple... HAHA!
There was a year we had zero presents under the tree. Chris and I went out together and we bought gifts for the family. We came home, snuck the gifts into my room, wrapped them so fast, and then brought them out to place under the tree. My parents came out all surprised and they were so excited to open their presents. I don't even think we were employed at the moment ... ha!
My family came from little and we didn't have much in general. Growing up, we weren't spoiled with expensive things, but what we were given, we loved and knew that we were gifted these things with love. Looking back, these times have always been a constant reminder of where we were and where the Lord has taken us. Each year, I find myself so humbled and thankful that after all this time, God has always been walking with us. How faithful is He that He would provide just what we need (not talking about gifts..haha), never less and never too much; that we would rely on Him alone.
My family came from little and we didn't have much in general. Growing up, we weren't spoiled with expensive things, but what we were given, we loved and knew that we were gifted these things with love. Looking back, these times have always been a constant reminder of where we were and where the Lord has taken us. Each year, I find myself so humbled and thankful that after all this time, God has always been walking with us. How faithful is He that He would provide just what we need (not talking about gifts..haha), never less and never too much; that we would rely on Him alone.
I know the photos are such bad quality, but I love these photos ... and I love my family!
Y'all should know that I enjoy a Christmas movie outside of Christmas time. Mai and I would watch Christmas movies in our living room back in college in like ..... October. Ha! Thanks for doing that, dude.
A F E W O F M Y F A V O R I T E S :
A F E W O F M Y F A V O R I T E S :
- Elf. A classic. A go-to.
- Any Hallmark Christmas movies. They're not that bad - you just gotta get past the cheesiness.
- The Star. As of yesterday, this one has become my top fave because it's that good! It's seriously so perfect, funny, and captures all the emotions perfectly. It tells the story of Jesus' birth and it made me cry! HA! I'm not that much of a cryer, but this one was good, not because it was sad, but because it was goooood newsssssss.
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I recently just watched this one, too, and it is so funny. We are always quoting from the movie!
What are your favorite movies to watch during Christmas?
Traditions are so great. I don't think my family really had any as I was growing up, though, which is totally okay. Now that I'm married and have my "own" family, there are a few traditions that Jeffrey and I would really like to begin implementing now and when we have kids in the future. A fun one is to bake Christmas cookies every Christmas Eve, send Christmas cards, and then we want to get matching pjs every year (I know .... I'm not too big into the matching thing, but I think this is totally a cute idea for when we do have kids, so maybe we'll start this whenever we do have kids). Another little tradition we want to start is to read the story of Jesus' birth together every Christmas Eve to remember our Savior. In the midst of a busy season where all the pretty things will be grabbing our every attention, we want to keep our hearts grounded in the true reason of our celebration. We create that space for ourselves where we can simply quiet our hearts and be reminded of Jesus.
What about you? What are your Christmas traditions? What traditions do you want to start?
I'm doing "blogmas" which is a post everyday until Christmas. No purpose, really, but it'd be fun! I chose the prompts that seemed more fun and added my own little topics in there. If you're up for it, do it, too! You can go about each post however you like and in whatever way you so choose (doesn't even have to be the ones listed up there)!
It starts tomorrow! I'm excited (and can't believe how quick December came!)
A L I T T L E L I F E U P D A T E + C H R I S T M A S D E C O R
Sorry that all of my posts have been nothing but Christmas, but the season is upon us, y'all!
Christmas has officially gone up in our little room because I was getting antsy (pretty much) with my Christmas decor just chillin' in my closet. Haha! After having raided the dollar section of Target and accumulating loads of wrapping paper, all my Christmas wrapping and decorating is finished. Yep, finished. A little early, buuuut we might be spending the end of December packing this room up, so it only made sense to start early. I'm excited as this will the first Christmas that Jeffrey and I get to spend together as husband and wife, but it's also sad because we won't even get a Christmas here with my in-laws (since we'll be heading back to GA for the holidays). However, it's truly been a sweet season; one where we have felt so stinkin' spoiled and cared for which is partially the reason why I feel like I'm not yet ready to leave this place. I mean, I was just starting to get comfortable, dude! It's great though because I was able to spend a time here with my in-laws and I'm glad to say that I have a relationship with them which is exactly what I wanted. #thankful
N O W F O R T H E L I F E U P D A T E :
We've talked over and over again about the day that we'd actually leave this place and Jeffrey always believed that it'd be by the new year and it just blows my mind to think that the time is coming. Just today, he asked me if I was nervous and I told him that it probably wouldn't hit me until the night before they install him into the church. Ha! Y'all, we're movvvving. Crazy, exciting, nerve-wracking, humbling, a little overwhelming. That's kinda been my life lately. I was thinking the other day about what an opportunity this is and how such an opportunity is with much responsibility. I feel completely inadequate and incapable and the truth is ... I really am, but I so boast in that in hopes that it continue to magnify Jesus all the more. This is a door that He's opened for us so we are on board and want to walk obediently and in faith.
A couple weekends ago, Jeffrey and I made a 4-hr trip to join the Legacy church in Milwaukee and we loved them even though it was just as nerve-wracking. These guys are so much older than us, but turns out, they were just a bunch of family who already knew us before we knew them! I felt like a baby, y'all .... and well, I pretty much was. Nonetheless, a sweet group.
Also, getting to meet up with our old college friends have been a breath of fresh air. It's been encouraging as evvvvver to see our friends from afar and just grinding it out and running this race. Then to come back and be able to encourage each other in all that's going on. It's so neat to see God working and moving in each other's lives. Love these guys and holding them so dear to my heart!
Thanks for the picture, Mai. Haha.
That's pretty much the little update. There is still a lot of unknown things for our future, a lot of things that do really make me feel so ... scared (to plainly put it), but this pushes us to go deeper with the Lord, to trust in Him more, and to keep on walking with Him. I have a lot of peace about this and trust fully in God's sovereignty, in who He says He is, and that when He says He'll never leave nor forsake us, that He means it. How great that we can have this confidence in Him.
Be blessed where the Lord has taken you all today! Love you guys and miss you all incredibly.
Hey y'all! Wanted to share our very first Christmas card with you guys! Mercy took these for us on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon and we loveeee it. You can't even see the rain! We started with a ton of templates that we liked and literally compared all the way until we ended up with the one that looked best with our photo. When we finally got them in the mail, Jeffrey was probably more excited than I was. He took one and showed it to all of his brothers.
I love sharing "firsts" events with this guy!
Just wanted to wish you all a very happy thanksgiving! This is the first thanksgiving that I'm away from family, but I feel that I'm at a place now where this is home, too and for that I am thankful. Our plans today consist of time in the Word, lots of laughing, catching up with family, eating a turkey, and hitting the mall for Black Friday.
O T H E R T H I N G S I ' M T H A N K F U L F O R . . .
+ Hope that is alive today. Thankful for the cross and this life because of Jesus.
+ Jesus who has provided for our every need - our every need.
+ My husband and this new season upon us. Excited to walk alongside of him and watch him do what God has called him to do.
+ The time we've gotten to spend with our family here in IN.
+ Friendship and the sweetness of community.
+ People who are in prayer for each other.
+ Relationships that continue despite the distance.
O T H E R T H I N G S I ' M T H A N K F U L F O R . . .
+ Hope that is alive today. Thankful for the cross and this life because of Jesus.
+ Jesus who has provided for our every need - our every need.
+ My husband and this new season upon us. Excited to walk alongside of him and watch him do what God has called him to do.
+ The time we've gotten to spend with our family here in IN.
+ Friendship and the sweetness of community.
+ People who are in prayer for each other.
+ Relationships that continue despite the distance.
I know y'all know how much I love Christmas and so to celebrate the fact that it's now November (and Christmas is quickly approaching), I thought I'd add in some inspiration photos that I'm taking from to decorate this holiday season.
I just love Christmas. Some people love Christmas, but I love Christmas. I sound crazy ... and I probably am, but there's something about the holidays that I just love. I enjoy the cool weather and the busyness of people trying to get their holiday shopping done. I love wrapping gifts and giving gifts. I enjoy decorating and just being with family. Everyone's happy and excited. It's just a wonderful time (obviously aside from the true reason we celebrate Christmas itself).
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| Photos taken from Pinterest |
Just one word ..... wooooow.
We've been talking about visiting the ark in Kentucky for some time now. The church finally made plans to see it and y'all, it's pretty awesome. Besides the fact that it's so stinkin' packed with people, it's a neat experience and so worth the $40. Then they shuttle you from the parking lot to the ark and while pictures may be deceiving, don't be fooled - it's so much bigger in person. Seriously, it's huge - so much so that I'd probably question Noah, too, if I saw him building this thing!
Though it was below 40 degrees, I'm thankful for a heated ark and the opportunity to see this in the most tangible way! I'm incredibly encouraged and also blown away by Noah's trust in the Lord; that God would command him to do something that probably sounded ... well, crazy and yet, Noah obeyed. Carrying two of every kind of animal in this large boat, preparing for a storm that would flood the earth and all of mankind, and simply moving forward saying, "I trust you, Lord."
Noah's ark is more than just a story, but it's an account of God's faithfulness. Because of one man's act of obedience, the Lord said, "I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth" (Genesis 9:15-16).
Initially, I wanted to go to a pumpkin patch but we figured it'd be easiest to come here. It's a little outside nursery that's down the street from us and it's quite the calming place. We've never been before, but Jeffrey agreed that it was a pretty neat little place. And on the plus side, our pumpkin was clean. Ha! We just picked out a little tiny one for 3 dollars - so great.
Here's a bad angled selfie of us with out little pumpkin!
And here it is! I couldn't decide where to put it, but pretty sure it'll stay on my desk.
Then we came home and baked pumpkin cupcakes. Jeffrey took care of the cupcakes (he even crushed the chocolate chips) and I put the cream cheese icing together. I've been getting into baking a lot and wanted to try out my new pipes ...... and here's the finished product. Haha! I mean, it tastes good and that's really all that counts.
Doing life with Jeffrey's been pretty great.
Days off from work aren't bad either.
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