Day 89 - Weekend Trips

Tomorrow afternoon I will leave for Mt. Lebanon Baptist Encampment for a DTS Seminary Wives in Ministry retreat! Homecooked meals, fun and challenging workshop sessions, girl time, being out in nature... should be great! This will be the first time that I've left Roy home alone over night. He's left me a couple times, but he's never been home alone since we married. I would be looking forward to a little me time, but since he already has so much time alone, I think he's kind of dreading it...especially since he knows he should do school work, and that isn't fun at all!

I'll try to post tomorrow before I go, but if I don't, I'll still take pictures tomorrow and Saturday. They will be posted when I get home Sunday afternoon!

Day 88 - Cheddar Bay Biscuits

We don't go to Red Lobster very often, being as we aren't big seafood fans. But when we decide to hand over some of our Olive Garden gift cards for a night at Red Lobster (same company so you can use their gift cards interchangeably!), we usually go for the Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Hot. Melt in your mouth. Amazing yummy goodness!

Day 87 - A Made Bed

I don't like messy rooms. For some reason, it's harder to go to bed in a messy bedroom. And I really like having a made bed, especially when I come home to it, and Roy is the one who made it!

Day 86 - Theology

I'm thankful for my involvement and education growing up in church and attending Cedarville, where I learned about God and His Word.

I'm thankful for being married to someone who is studying in a field that I understand and can hold fairly deep and meaningful conversations about.

I'm thankful for having those conversations. Tonight we discussed many aspects of theology, mainly focused on prayer, hence this picture. Roy's been after me to read this book for quite awhile, and I will at some point! It goes through various views on prayer, which was the focus of much of our discussion this evening. So it seemed like a fitting picture!

Ultimately, I'm thankful that Roy and I are able to discuss God and His ways, challenging each other and growing because of our conversations.

Day 85 - Starbucks

I'm not a coffee fan. Never have been. Never will be. But I DO like Starbucks. They have amazing chai, and today I treated myself (thanks to a giftcard!) to an iced chai latte. YUM! Thanks Starbucks!

Day 84 - Out to the Movies

We don't go out to movies very often, and when we do, it's something we really want to see! That means we pretty much only see really good movies in the theater, which is nice. Especially when it's opening weekend for only $6, and we had a gift card! That extra gift card money was great for some popcorn!

Day 83 - Time

So teach us to number our days, 
that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

 Psalm 90.12

Day 82 - Daffodils

Love these on my table :)

Day 81 - Homemade Ice Cream

Homemade cookies and cream ice cream. You could sell this stuff. YUM!!!

Day 80 - Our View

One thing I am going to miss about living in Swiss Tower is our view. As we head back toward summer, the sunset starts moving back into our view, and I love it! The sky is so beautiful, displaying the glory of God every night out my window!

Thankfully, where we're planning to go, you can probably see a good sunset most nights. Gotta love flat Ohio! :)

Day 79 - Rain

I love rainy days. Rainy days are made for books, blankets, and hot beverages :) Unless it's warm outside, like it is today. Then I guess they're made for just books... and maybe ice cream!

Day 78 - Having a Catch

This afternoon, Roy and I "had a catch" as he likes to say. It's always fun to go outside and throw the baseball around for awhile! Although I'm sure that I will feel it tomorrow!

Day 77 - St. Patrick's Day

 

While many today do not know the history of St. Patrick's Day, the man himself had quite a story. 

Patrick was born in England back in the late 300's. He was kidnapped around age 16 and sold as a slave in Ireland. During his time in slavery, he turned to religion and to God, converting to Christianity and becoming devout in his faith. After about 6 years of slavery, Patrick escaped back to his family in Ireland. However, he felt that God was calling him back to the people of Ireland. After much training, Patrick went back to Ireland to convert the people to Christianity and to encourage the Christians already living there. It is said that he used the shamrock to explain the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all making up one God. 

So even though people have taken this holiday and made it solely an excuse to party and drink, the holiday is rooted in Christ and in His work through an ordinary man who decided to listen to God and follow His call on his life. And that is worth celebrating!

Day 76 - Electric Tea Kettle

 My in-laws gave me this awesome electric tea kettle for Christmas. I love being able to push down that blue button and have boiling water in two minutes! It's great, especially on nights like tonight when my throat is all scratchy, and I want something hot to drink now!

Day 75 - Froot Loops

Froot Loops are in my Top 5 Faves for Breakfast. Lucky for me, they're often on sale, so I can get them cheap when I use a coupon! Mmmm... they even make the milk taste sooo good!

Day 74 - Spinach Artichoke Dip

My absolute favorite appetizer - spinach artichoke dip. An impromptu date night (aka I don't want to cook!) ended us up at Applebee's for a free dinner (thanks to a gift card and a coupon!). We pretty much always get the 2 for $20 deal - appetizer and two entrees. And we always get spinach artichoke dip. Now, Applebee's dip is ok. I'd give it maybe a 7 on a 1-10 scale. My absolute fave is BRAVO! in Ohio. Mmmmmm. So delish! They serve it with this amazing flatbread, and it's just the right blend of cheese, spinach, and artichokes. I'm making myself hungry just thinking about it!

Day 73 - Being Held

Sometimes I just need to be held. There are different kinds of "being held" too, as this picture illustrates. Roy is so good at holding me tight and letting me know that he's here for me. It is so comforting and reassuring! I'm thankful to have him to hold me!

Day 72 - Redbud Trees

I love all of the trees that bloom in the spring (or almost spring!). This redbud on campus today had such beautiful flowers!

Day 71 - Birds and Blooms

My favorite magazine - Birds & Blooms. I read it pretty much cover to cover, except for the more recent addition of advertisements clearly targeted to the elderly population! Being as birds and flowers are two of my favorite things, this magazine is always a welcome sight to find in my mailbox!

Day 70 - The Incredible Edible Egg

We have eggs in some shape or form every Saturday morning for breakfast! Usually they're scrambled with cheese or on some kind of breakfast sandwich or burrito.  Yum! After their yumminess, my favorite part of our eggs is the Bible verse written inside the carton! It's the same verse on the mug from Day 19 (Hot Tea and Fun Mugs)! It's always a good reminder to rejoice and be glad in the day the Lord has given me!

Day 69 - Reggie

Reggie is the closest thing we've had to a pet since we've been married. I say it that way because he isn't even our fish. He belongs to some friends. But we always get to fish sit when they go out of town, so we feel some sort of connection to Reggie anyway. In some ways, he's the most boring pet ever. But then he has his moments. Like when I tried taking a picture of him tonight. I was lucky to get this one before he started hiding from the camera on the other side of his vase and frantically trying to avoid the bright orange light that kept threatening him through his glass. :)

Day 68 - 31 Days of Praise

Free books are great. They're even better when they're good! I've been using this resource over the last week or so for my morning devotional. It was a gift to the seminary wives at one of our seminars. It's been refreshing to my soul and a good way to focus my heart and mind on Jesus at the start of each day.

Day 67 - Being a Seminary Wife

What do weird triangle-shaped cookies have to do with being thankful that I'm a seminary wife? Great question!

This week is the World Evangelism Conference at DTS (or as the DTSers call it, WEC Week!). Instead of going to the "adult" stuff this year, Roy is involved in the Kids Konference. One of his classes, Church Ministries with Children, is responsible for the planning and production of the Kids Konference. Each day they focus on a different country. Roy and his partner chose Iran, and they'll be sharing the story of Esther along with discussing the Jewish holiday of Purim.

A little background...

If you know anything about Esther, she (along with God's help!) saved her people (the Jews) from being completely wiped out. The villain of the story is named Haman, and he is said to have worn a three pointed hat. I'm not really sure where that comes from, but it's the tradition. Anyway, it's a Jewish tradition to make cookies that resemble these hats. They're called Hamantaschen. The cookies are filled with jams (or other yummy things!).

So back to the Kids Konference...

Roy and his partner decided that Hamantaschen would be a great part of the snack time to go along with their theme for the day. I agree! And guess who got to make all these wonderful cookies??? Yup. It was me. And 145 cookies later... whew! But it was so worth it. I get to love my husband by helping him with his project. And I get to learn more interesting information (I'd never heard of Hamantaschen before!) and hear how these days impact the kids as they learn more about God.

So all of that to say, I'm thankful to be a seminary wife, where I get to do crazy things like make hat cookies to show my husband how much I love him!

Day 66 - Sweet Tea

LOVE.

Day 65 - Love Never Fails

 
1 Corinthians 13.4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

I think I'm going to let the Word speak for itself. 

Day 64 - Stir-fry

Today for lunch we made honey chicken stir-fry. YUM! I love chicken, veggies, and rice. Not bad for me, keeps me full, and tastes sooo good!

Day 63 - Late Night Movies with Roy (and popcorn!)

Thanks to some people in our building, Roy and I enjoyed a late night double feature this evening! Gotta love some classic Star Wars! We watched Episode IV last weekend, and we finished it off tonight with both V and VI. Love it!

Day 62 - Care Packages

Oh happy day! A box in the mail full of goodies from home! Even when I was in college (a whopping 30 minutes from home), my mom would send me care packages. I love getting goodies and even just notes to be reminded how much I'm loved!

Today's included cupcakes of different varieties from our favorite cakery, elé. They did our wedding cake! Several other goodies were included, as well as a pizza gift card - yum!

Thanks, Mom!!! 

Day 61 - Gift Cards

One of our favorite gifts to receive - gift cards! If you give us money, chances are we'll spend it on bills. If you give us gift cards, we get to have fun! Eating out, movies, shopping, coffee shops, and the list goes on! Christmas always provides us with lots of new gift cards, and we try to spread them out and make them last as long as possible!