THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her26 to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—  for we are members of his body.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c] This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:25-33

As I'm writing this, I'm still kind of shocked that it has been 3 years since Jordan and I got married.  I know we are rookies compared to other couples, but it seems like just yesterday I walked down the isle.  

When I was single, I remember have many doubts that I was too picky or never going to get married.  People would even question me and ask, "Do you think maybe you have too high of standards for your future husband?"  I don't think they were trying to be cynical but just looking after me.   For the most part, I would let it go in one ear and out the other, but occasionally doubt would creep in.  Was I too picky?  And boy, am I glad I waited.  I married thee most serving, godly, funny man.  I was't really expecting him to be 2,200 miles from where I was born and raised, but he was definitely worth the move & the wait.  Not to mention, I married into an awesome family.  That wasn't a requirement I had for a future husband, but it has definitely been a bonus.  

I have been reading this blog by Kara Tippetts called Mundane Faithfulness. Basically she steals the words from my mouth regarding Jordan.  

I will be very clear: he’s not perfect, but he’s humble in his imperfection.

-Kara Tippetts

That's just a small insert of her post, but I can relate to her whole post regarding her husband Jason.  Jordan is a man who has taken Ephesians 5 seriously and leads our family well.  Seeing him be a father to our precious son these past 16 months have caused me to love him even more.  I knew before we got married that he would be a great husband and father, but he has far exceeded my expectations.  He wakes up with James in the middle of the night; he changes his diapers without me asking; he comes home from a long day at work and wrestles with James; he reads aloud Bible stories to James.  I try not to take all that he does for our family for granted.  These past three years have been far from perfect, but has been the best years of my life.  I look forward to many more.  

   

POPPYSEED CHICKEN RECIPE

If you are looking for a healthy recipe, this is probably not it!  But it is so amazing & yummy!

Well, I pretty much get stuck in a rut when it comes to recipes & cooking.  A while back I blogged about being "tacoed out" and guess what?  Not a lot has changed.  I have tried many of the recipes everyone has sent-so thank you very much for that.  However, I still make a lot of tacos because they are just so easy!   

Anyway, back to this amazing chicken recipe.  My friend, Maggie, gave it to me and I will be sure to list the ingredients/directions below!  Can I just say that I am very intimidated by baking chicken?  I always undercook or overcook it.  So, Maggie gave me a little short cut if you're like me & scared to bake chicken.  (We do eat chicken by the way, but typically Jordan grills it.)  

  

Poppyseed Chicken
Directions:

• Boil the chicken & then reduce to simmer (for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink). My shortcut:  Buy a rotisserie chicken and use that instead :) Shred the chicken. 
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the butter, crackers & poppy seeds in a bowl.
• Blend the sour cream & cream of chicken soup in a separate bowl with the shredded chicken, but save half of the soup to put in the bottom of a 9x9 pan.  Then place the mixture in the pan. Sprinkle with cheese, then put the ritz mixture on top of the cheese.  (I left out the cheese).
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheese has melted or sauce is bubbly.  (20-30 minutes).
• ALL DONE

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast (or a rotisserie chicken)
• 1/2 butter, melted
• 1 sleeve of ritz crackers
• 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds
• 1 (8 ounce) of sour cream
• 1 (10.75) can of condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups of shredded cheese (I left out the cheese)

Jordan LOVED this meal and said to save it!  He loved the rolls and salad that I served it with too.   

FIFTEEN MONTHS

A few days after James turned one he started walking.  Now, he is officially running!  He surprises us with new words every day.  He says "tank too", "bye, bye", "uh oh", "ball", "dog", "woof", "mama" and "daddy".  He's such a little daddy's boy.  I'm chopped liver when Jordan is around, but it is the sweetest thing to see him playing and interacting with Jordan.  

James has such a fun personality.  He definitely isn't shy.  Usually, he will go up to people and start talking gibberish--he's quite the little talker.  And he's not afraid to grab stuff from people either.  When we were at church a few weeks ago, I was talking with this lady and before I knew it, he grabbed the cookie out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth real fast.  Not really sure why, but he loves brooms, canes, & vacuums.  I hope that means he will help around the house, but I'm not counting on it.  He is now giving kisses & hugs, which is so sweet.  

We went to the doc for his 15 month check up and he is still in the 95% for weight and 98% for height (33.5 inches).   The doc said he looks like a perfect little 15 month old!  I'm so grateful for a healthy little boy. 

Dear James,
We love you so much sweet boy.  You have no idea how much you have changed our lives, for the good.  We pray for you non stop, and hope that you will surrender your life to Jesus at a young age. 

PROCESS OF OUR POOL

Well for those who don't know, we added a pool to our house last summer.  The process began in June and lasted for 8 weeks.  Then it took a couple extra weeks to finish landscaping and getting patio furniture.  The process was a little overwhelming to me because I knew nothing about pools or any of the terminology.  Kool Deck?  What the heck is that?  Coping edge-yeah, not sure what that is either.  But now, I now I know what those are :)  I probably annoyed the heck out of the employees because I'm a perfectionist and wanted to love it!  But Pamlico Pool in Milledgeville, Ga did a GREAT job and I give them props for putting up with me!  

Here are a few things about our pool if anyone is interested in the details:

1.  The width is 16 feet and the length is 36 feet.

2.  It's a gunite pool.

3.  We have an automatic cover for safety reasons (since we had a 4 month old when we started building it).

4.  The coping edge (which is basically around the perimeter of the pool) is travertine.

5.  We got kool deck instead of plain concrete or even acid stained concrete because concrete is unbearable to stand or walk during the summer.

6. The pebble tec comes in various colors, and we chose Caribbean Blue.

7.  We have a retaining wall because our backyard is sloped.

8.  That area next to the spa is the tanning ledge.  Our one year old LOVES to play in it.  It's perfect for kids!  

Enjoy the pictures!

JAMES IS ONE!

My baby is one!  It's been a super fun year!  And it's definitely been a learning curve being a parent. 

Not a lot has changed has changed since I wrote my last post.  James is still his crazy old self.  He still loves to tear apart our pantry when he gets a chance, and sneak in the bathrooms and go wild with the toilet paper.  He is 25 1/2 pounds and 32 inches long (99% percentile for height) and has 2 new teeth--the top 2.   He's taking several steps but not fully walking...loves to clap and snuggle with his teddy bear.  He is still taking 2 naps a day, but I have a feeling we will cut it down to 1 soon!  Oh and he still loves to read books.  The teacher in me eats that up!  

We had a great turn out for his first birthday and I can kick myself for not taking one picture.  I wanted to document it, but I dropped the ball on that one..maybe next year!  

We LOVE you so so so much James.  We pray that you will use your energetic personality to serve the Lord.  Just know, that we pray for you on a daily basis.  

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Here are some of my faves from the past month: