Valentines Day = Lots of Chocolate!

This year I had so much fun with Valentines Day!

It started with thinking up ideas for what to make Austin to take in for his work. They do parties for every holiday. The past couple of parties they have had, I have sent in some sort of treat. Now for the past couple of weeks, his coworkers have been asking him what I was going to send in with him for Valentines Day.

We decided we wanted him to take in a platter of chocolate with chocolate boxes (idea came from Cake Boss) with homemade chocolate hearts, roses, and flowers and chocolate dipped strawberries. It was an adventure, but in the end we managed to make two different types of chocolate boxes to put on the platter. It turned out awesome!

(Huge platter for Austin's work)

(Single box)

We actually made extra boxes. One we gave to Austin's best friend and his wife. One we gave to my best friend. And finally one we put on top of a cake (homemade by me) and took it to our fellowship group.

(Single box on top of a homemade yellow butter cake with homemade buttercream icing)

The cake turned out wonderfully and I am pretty happy with the decorating. I am slowly improving in my cake decorating skills. All in all it was a lot of fun and a LOT of chocolate!

(We used 2- 2lb bags of melting chocolate and 1- 2.5 lb bag of melting vanilla)

I would love to hear what you think!

Pinterest = Pinspiration

I love crafting and Pinterest feeds that love... love, obsession, whatever you would like to call it. Pinterest is a site where I can find ideas for anything I wish to make. The great thing about my new situation in life- that of a housewife- is that I actually have time to do the crafts that I find on Pinterest. Here are some of my recent Pinterest conquests:

1) Ornament Wreath

This was the first craft that I did after discovering Pinterest. The directions I followed can be found HERE. *There are pictures along with the instructions*

First, buy pretty ornaments from the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or any other store that sells packages of ornaments for $1- $3. Also find a wire hanger. (Hopefully you had not recently thrown them all away like I had). Untwist the hanger and shape it into a circle. Hot glue the ornament tops so they do not pop off. Arrange the ornament by sliding them onto the hanger making sure to vary the sizes so there are fewer gaps. The final step in the instructions that I followed is to twist the ends of the hanger back together and attach a ribbon to the wreath to hand. I added one final step to my wreath. I bought a gold garland from Michaels, cut pieces from it, and glued it in between ornaments on the wreath.

Here is my finished product:

2) Glitter ornaments with no mess.

http://pinterest.com/pin/166281411211449734/

Gather your supplies: Floor wax- I used Pledge with Future Shine, clear glass ornaments found at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, fine glitter, and a funnel.

Take the tops off the ornaments. Pour a little bit of floor wax in an ornament. Gently swirl it in the ornament so that the entire inside is coated. Do not shake it or there will be bubbles. Pour the leftover liquid back into the bottle which will coat the neck of the ornament. Pour the glitter into the ornament using the funnel. Swish the glitter around to coat the inside. Put your thumb on the top and shake the ornament to ensure that the neck is coated. Pour the leftover glitter back into the bottle. Put the top back on. I added gold letter stickers to spell "Merry Christmas".

Those are two of the projects that I have done from Pinterest. Stayed tuned for future crafting accomplishments.

Long Time No Blog

It has been a long, long, long, long, long time... LONG time... since I have blogged.

Lets recap the past year very quickly...

1) From October 2010 to October 2011, I was working as a receptionist at the office of a very good family friend. (A doctor's office). Which, BTW, is a big part of the reason I have not blogged in a long time because *here comes a list within a list*:

a) After being on a computer all day long, I did not want to come home and jump in front of another computer

b) Working at a doctor's office makes it very difficult to have anything to discuss on a blog; not because nothing happens, but because everything happens because of the patients which you cannot disclose anything about them. AT ALL. Therefore, any stories would sound like: "this one person said this one thing somewhere in the city of Tallahassee." Not very interesting.

2) In February, hubby and I enlarged our family by adopting a puppy! Brinkley is a German Shepherd. He is now 10 months old and about 90 lbs. Our friends tell us he can no longer be classified as a "puppy." In fact, one of our friends regularly refers to him as a moose. He is still my puppy though.

3) In June, we celebrate 1 wonderful year of marriage. We rented a condo on the beach and had a wonderful time... and that is all I can say.

4) In August, hubby graduated with his Masters in Applied Economics. He was very handsome in his cap, gown, and hood. And yes, he pulled the hood on top of his head to look like a grim reaper, but in gold. We followed this by a cruise to the Bahamas with my parents, his dad and stepmom, and my brother and his wife.

5) In October, hubby got a raise! Yay! And I resigned from my job to become a stay-at-home wife and have the opportunity to pursue my dream of teaching. The only flaw in this plan is how much I love being a stay-at-home wife. Fortunately, hubby is amazing and he only wants me to go back to work if I want to go back to work. Right now, I love being at home!

6) I have discovered Pinterest! I LOVE IT!! It gives me all sorts of ideas to satisfy my craft side, my loves to bake side, my desire to learn new recipes side, and my dream about my future home side... all in one amazing site! My next blog will be a couple of the projects from Pinterest that I have actually done along with pictures... I'm sure you can hardly wait!

So that is our life in the past year in a nutshell. Isn't life exciting?!?
Hubby and I at Tallahassee's Winter Festival

The Winds of Change...

Can you smell them? Can you hear them? I can. My heart is starting to flutter because it knows what is happening. The winds of change are starting to blow. Austin and I are rapidly approaching the day when we step away from the safe confines of Tallahassee and college into the great big world of adults. (Yes, technically, I have already made that step, BUT having my husband and a lot of my friends still in college makes it feel like I haven't). We don't know yet where these winds are going to blow us. We could be blown as close as Jacksonville or as far away as Costa Mesa, California. We are just beginning to feel the slight breeze. We are starting to see the leaves on the ground stirring slightly. The rustle of the trees is barely audible. We know the winds are coming. It is hard to say how long they will take to begin blowing full force.

Truth be told, I hate change. I always have. Growing up in the military, change meant moving away from my friends, my school, everything I was comfortable with and starting over. It meant going through the arduous process of packing up the house. Then it meant going through the equally arduous process of unpacking the house. It meant going to a new school where I didn't know a soul. Knowing that once again, I was going to be that annoying smart new girl. It meant going through the painstaking process of finding a new church and building all new relationships. In short, I hate change.

Right now, however, I am excited. When I think about the possibilities ahead of us, I get the tingling feeling that it is going to be amazing. I am excited about the prospect of a whole new adventure with my husband. I am excited about the prospect of establishing ourselves somewhere as a couple. Of meeting new friends who only know us as a married couple, not as single people who recently got married.

Austin has several interviews coming up in February, the most exciting of which is in California. I am currently studying for the GRE, preparing to go for my masters in English Literature. (That adventure probably won't begin until Fall of 2012 at the earliest, but I am beginning the preparation process).

For right now, we are just enjoying the early signs of those winds of change and dreaming of where we might end up.

Financial Peace or Heartbreak: Which Will You Chose?

My confidence is shaken. A year ago, I was sure of my life and my calling. I was in my last year at FSU, close to getting engaged to my wonderful (now) husband, and I had no doubt in my mind that I would get a teaching job. That confidence continued through the spring and into the summer. I graduated from FSU and Austin and I got married. I was still confident that I would get a teaching job. After all, God called me to be a teacher- of that I was certain. If that was certain, then it was also certain that I would get a job. I was wrong. He had other plans for my life. It took me a while, but I accepted it and have worked to maintain peace with that and to figure out where He is leading me. It is true that throughout this fall I have had several opportunities to help friends through things and be there for them in ways I would not have been able to had I been teaching. That fact is not something to be ignored. I am grateful for every opportunity that God gives me to serve him and help my friends. But now I've started rambling...

My point in looking back and remembering all of this comes in when I look to the future. Austin is in a one year Masters of Economics program and will graduate next August. I am so proud of him. He is working extremely hard and excelling amongst his peers. He has already started putting his name out there and searching for jobs. He is beginning the interview process with a consulting company sometime this month. I have had no doubt that he would get hired with this firm and make his career with them. They are an excellent company with a drive to help their employees excel. As I said, I am so proud of him.

The unfortunate part about it all is that he will graduate with a large amount of student loans. Should he get this job (or another with a similar firm) we will have no problems in paying off this debt. Why? Because we are learning how to manage our money through Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. His motto is, "If you will live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else!" Meaning, that if we live modestly and below our means now and continue that way until we are debt free, later in life we will be able to live like no one else because we will be, in a word, rich. That is an exciting concept. Yesterday, however, as we went through his lesson on dumping debt, I had a panic attack. Right now, we do not have the means to make large payments on his student loans. This hasn't been a cause for concern because we figure that if he gets a job staring right after he graduates, we will be able to pour our resources and knock out the debt.

This is where my shaken confidence comes into play. What if he doesn't get a job? I was so sure I was going to get a job, but I didn't. What if my high confidence that he will get a job is going to prove to be untrue? What will we do? The job market is not a friendly place for job hunters, as I have discovered. What happens if we are both in this situation of trying to find any job we can? Here I must trust God, and we must live by the principles we are learning from Dave Ramsey.

I strongly encourage any one reading this to consider attending a Financial Peace University class. You will learn how to get rid of debt, make a complete budget and live on it, as well as save and invest to the point where all of your children's (or future children's) college, grad school, weddings, etc, will be covered. You will learn that it is possible to buy nice cars and even houses in CASH. Your marriage will never be torn apart by the most common cause of divorce: money fights. Whether you have debt or not, you live outside your means, or not; Dave Ramsey can and will change your life. I have seen it in my parent's life and one day not too far in the future, I will be reaping the rewards of living responsibly. So what will you choose? Financial Peace or Financial Heartbreak?

http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/

Though He Slay Me...

This season has probably been the toughest season of life I have faced thus far. Don't get me wrong, married life is amazing. I love my husband with all of my heart and I don't know what I would do without him. I certainly would not be handling this tough time as well as I am if he weren't supporting me.

My difficulty lies in the feeling that my dream is slipping away. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to teach. In elementary school I would line my stuffed animals and dolls against the wall and "teach" them whatever I was learning in school. I kept all of my old workbooks so I had something to use to teach them. As I got older, I sought out experiences that would help me get into an education program, and then into a classroom. It is all that I have dreamed of, all that I have worked towards. Two years ago, I got into the Elementary Education program at FSU. I was so excited, the next step towards my dream was coming true. Through the course of the program, I got to actually teach lessons and work in the classroom. I was thrilled. It was hard work, but it was so worth it.

When this past May arrived, I was ecstatic! I was graduating with my degree that would allow me to teach. I was ready! I was confident that God would lead me to the right job. He would orchestrate things so that I would be in the position he had designed for me. I knew that I would have to work for it, but I never doubted that at the end of the summer, I would be a teacher in my own classroom. After all, He had given me this dream. He had nourished it and led me down the path to being a teacher. Of course he would lead me to the perfect job. I was right there, it was within reach.

But now, I'm stuck by the realization that, at least for now, I am not going to teach. School starts Monday, and I don't have a job. These are the hardest words to write. I know that this is within God's plan, but I still feel like there are so many people that I am letting down. I know that I did everything that I could do; Leon County is a very difficult place to get hired especially in this economy. Yet that feeling of failure and letting people down remains. I dread facing the question from friends and family about what I am doing. These are people that have rooted for me and supported me in my dream. Now I will have to tell them all that I didn't get a teaching position this year. My heart hurts.

My family has been so supportive, all of them. I think my mom has cried as much as I have. Both my mom and dad have been praying nonstop for me since this all started. My amazing husband has listened to my rantings, my questions, and my tears. He gives me suggestions when he thinks of something, but then He just holds me and reminds me that God has a plan and we will get through this, together. I love him more than I can say. His family has been very supportive as well. I am very blessed in my in-laws.

As I said, I know that God has a plan for me. I know that somehow, someway, all of this will work out to His glory and it will be better than I ever imagined. Right now, however, it simply hurts.

I am learning to say as Job did. "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him." What else can I do? God give me the strength for I have none of my own.

Reality Check

I am FINALLY updating my blog. The past month has been crazy, but absolutely amazing. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

1) I finished my application for my certificate and have begun applying for teaching jobs. This in and of itself is a mind blowing reality. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a teacher. Everything I have done up to now has been focused on that fact. Now I am done with college and actually applying to be a teacher. I am at the point in the process that all I can do is pray for God to direct the prinicpals' decisions and that I will be hired at the job that he has planned for me. (I also selfishly pray that it would be a job teaching 2nd or higher.)

2) I GOT MARRIED! I know, no surprise. This has been planned. But it actually happened. We got engaged in January and began the wedding planning process (and it is a process). January-April sped by at a maddening rate through the midst of student teaching, wedding planning, and enjoying my last semester as a college student. Then once graduation was over and I had moved back home, May crawled at the slowest rate imaginable. It was as if someone had hit the slow motion button on life. The worst was probably Memorial Day weekend when Austin flew to California for four long days. After he got back it was June and then we went from slow motion to FAST FORWARD. I had been told that things were crazy the last couple of weeks. I didn't understand what others were talking about until June 1st. Every day consisted of last minute wedding stuff. I was convinced that I was going to forget something (even with all of my extensive lists). Family started to arrive and life accelerated even more. Everything passed in a blur. When I get pictures from our photographer, I will write more about it and put up pictures. The slowest part of the entire wedding weekend was from 4:00-4:30 on wedding day. I was completely dressed and ready to go, pictures had been taken, we had our prayer time. All there was left to do was wait for the ceremony to start. That was probably the longest thirty minutes of my life. after we were told it was time to start, I blinked and the reception was over. Four hours passed in the blink of eye. I was married to the man of my dreams and headed out for our first night as husband and wife. (Don't worry, I'll spare you the gory details). Let me just say that it was magical. As were the next two weeks of honeymooning. First was the week at the beach house with his family. I really enjoyed getting to spend more time with my new family and just relaxing in the sun. We had the top floor master suite complete with a beautiful view of my beloved Gulf Coast. Then we had an amazing week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The week was perfect, right down to a room with a panoramic view of the Pacific and falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves. We even indulged in our first spa experience (which I could easily get used to). The second half of the week we hung out with another young couple who were also on their honeymoon. It was a lot of fun to get to know them.

Now we are back at my parents house preparing to move into our townhome in Tallahassee two days from now. Back to reality, not that I'm complaining. I can't wait to decorate our home and face whatever comes next, together.