"Tea With The Mommy To Be"

This morning was spent celebrating Cayla and little Miss Charley Adalynn Day!

Being one of the first out of our group of friends to have a baby, you can only imagine how excited we all are for Charley to make her debut (less than 3 weeks to go!)

We had so much fun at the shower. Not to mention, it was one of the most beautifully decorated shower's that I've ever been to! The theme was "Tea with the Mother to be" and it couldn't have been any more perfect! The hostess went above and beyond.  Vintage tea cups and saucers, tea pot cookie cutters to take home, all pink everywhere, a beautiful cake. It was awesome. 

 Isn't that fabric banner amazing?

 Everything was perfectly pink

 A morning shower isn't complete without mimosa's--especially when there is frozen fruit involved

 Bless her and her sock monkey loving heart. Little Charley has it coming!

 I wish I had a better picture! My 2 piece seer sucker swim suit was a bit hit with Mom :)

 Some of the girls knew how bad Cayla wanted a glider for the nursery--and well, the rest is a surprise

 She was so excited 

 I'm so thankful for our long lasting friendship! As your mom said today, it feels like not too long along we were back playing in "the ditch" making all kinds of mud creations and causing trouble!

 It's okay, you're pregnant :)

All the girls

Join me in keeping Cayla, Matthew, and sweet little Charley in your prayers as their due date quickly approaches! 

Beautiful Lengths

Today was the day. I cut my hair. The hair I haven't cut (like really CUT) since I last donated it in January 2011. This time around, I am donating it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. It is a partnership between Pantene and The American Cancer Society and the donated hair is used to make free, real-haiw wigs for women who are battling cancer and have lost their hair. 

It's a funny sight (feeling) walking out of the salon with all of your hair in your hands.

31 Years and Counting

Happy Anniversary to these two love birds. 

31 years and they are still showing us a wonderful example of a Godly marriage.

I am so thankful for my parents and their love for one another. 

The Lord blessed me (and continues to) so immensely with their love for one another and their love for Him.  It's something that can be talked about in all households, but it's something else when you see your parents live it out daily--setting an example for you in word and deed. 

Two sinners going through life together with a common goal and with the unity of loving God who binds them together, it's a beautiful thing.  

 Thank y'all for being so wonderful.
Thank you for loving us.
Thank you for loving one another so well.
Above all else, thank you for teaching us all that when you love God the most, loving your spouse is a little easier.

We hope you have had a wonderful day celebrating the greatest (earthly) gift other than Jesus Christ Himself! 

Off She Goes

This morning my dear, sweet sister hopped on her plane to begin her mission trip for the next 2 months (she will be interning with Mission to the World and will be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). But, not before having a farewell/Memorial Day dinner with the family last night. 

It was then I got to surprise her with my little...task...I've been working on the past 4 days. 

36 letters, in unmarked envelopes (so that she will not know who they are from) from various friends and family who love her very much. I knew there would be times when encouragement was needed and that's what these letters were all about! We also printed her off some pictures to have with her while gone as well. 2 months is a long time without the people you love the most! 

Thank you to everyone who helped me out and wrote a letter to Mary Claire! You will brighten one or more of her days while she's gone! Y'all are awesome. 

Mary Claire is planning to blog while she's in Ethiopia (when wi-fi allows) so if you are interested in keeping up with her check out her blog (here). Also, I ask that you join with me in prayer (traveling, health, teammates, leaders, translators, rest, and much, much more) for her as she's gone spreading the love and the word of God to the people of Addis Ababa. 

We love you Mary Claire and can't wait to hear how the Lord uses you in Ethiopia. 

Go and do great things in His Name. 

The Halfway Mark

On Friday Jason and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary (I can't believe it's already been half of a year)--183 days of marriage and many more to come! As silly as it sounds, it feels like we just got married last weekend. What a joyous weekend that was! I would be lying if I told you I didn't look at our pictures that often! We celebrated by having somewhat of a low key afternoon/night. We went and got frozen yogurt from this awesome place in Madison, Menchies (it really is superior to other frozen yogurt places--silly, I know) and saw the new X-Men: Days of Future Past, had one of our favorites-Chickfila, and then lo and behold we came home and watched another movie! This one was one that I've been wanting to see, Percy Jackson Lightening Thief. 

Time for a little recap on some of the fun things we've experienced as a married couple for the past 6 months:

 This day, best day of my life

 Still my favorite thing we did on our honeymoon

 Our first Thanksgiving together, on our cruise ship

Our Christmas Tree

 Jason's first trip to Canton to see the lights downtown

 Hosting our first "big family" event--having everyone over for gumbo. I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have to look up how to set the table correctly. I will learn!

 Jason's first time to venture over to the Smith-Frazier-Jussely Family Christmas

Ringing in 2014 with my handsome hubby

 Just Dance, this is how we ended our New Years

 Our first snow day together

 Our Mexican Valentine's Day 

 Easter Sunday Brunch at the church

 Our first really long road trip together--to Atlanta for my cousin's wedding

 My brother's engagement!

 and two of our best friend's engagement!

And that's only what I've caught on camera.

The many, many meals we've cooked (Jason mainly, but I am learning!) I'm in the breakfast/dessert making department

Decorating our house

The countless movies we've watched

Lost, House, How I Met Your Mother--just a few of the TV seasons we've completed

Game nights with our best friends

The honor of being in or going to our friends weddings

A few road trips

Being halfway through reading the bible in 1 year

Half a year of teaching at the same school as a married couple (which is super sweet and good for my soul to see his handsome face throughout the day!)

183 precious, precious days. 

We are so thankful to God and for His many blessings He's given us during these 6 short months!

Spicy Sweet Potato Medallions & Chia Seed Pudding

I was blog browsing earlier today through my usual "reads" and came across this awesome recipe from "A Small Snippett" blog.  Check her out, she has adorable kiddos and some really great posts! 

Today's was no exception and it was right in time for dinner.

I love sweet potatoes in any shape, form, or fashion. I've even gotten purple sweet potatoes from the farmer's market. I'll never pass up a sweet potato! With that being said, I have to share this awesome recipe from her blog. 

Spicy Sweet Potato Medallions 

let me preface by saying these are not actually spicy--they just have a really nice flavor! They would definitely be "kid friendly" if you are cooking for the family. 

We had the sweet potato medallions, broccoli, and lemon pepper seasoned fish. The sweet potatoes and the broccoli were fresh from the farmer's market!

What you need:

2-3 medium sized sweet potatoes

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Paprika

Red Pepper Flakes (I added these myself for a little more of a kick)

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Scrub the potatoes then pat dry

Starting at one end, cut sweet potatoes into 1/8-1/4 inch medallions--keep the size the same so they cook evenly

Line the medallions on foil on a baking sheet

Drizzle with olive oil and generously sprinkle with kosher salt and paprika

Bake for about 20 minutes, more if you want them crisper. 

Serve immediately

If I'm being honest, I could have had a plate full of the potatoes only--they were that good! 

For dessert? Well, since we are trying to eat clean again--we had Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding (yes, there's another recipe share coming up).  Remember, don't judge a book by it's cover--this looks weird, maybe a little gross and unapproachable, but trust me--it's good! Sweet and much better for your body than your heart's desired ice cream.

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

Makes 2 regular size servings or 4 smaller servings

What you need:

4 tablespoons chia seeds

1 cup coconut milk (or almond milk) 

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

honey (only for extra sweeter if needed)

What you do:

In a small bowl or jar mix the first four ingredients.

Give it a good stir and refrigerate for at least one hour

After the first 30 minutes, give it a good stir so it doesn't clump together

I let ours sit overnight

Only stir in the honey as needed. I've found that it's plenty sweet enough without it!

Here's to a night of fun, healthy, different cooking.