The End of our Bread Buying Days!

     After hours of looking at Ashtanga yoga stuff online Chris randomly was inspired to make bread this afternoon!  He searched through our MANY recipe books and found a good base recipe to start with-- Molasses Oat Bread.  One loaf was made into cinnamon raisin and the other was just a regular loaf.

 

     And yes....they taste as good as they look!  He made everything by hand, we don't have a bread maker but might find one at Goodwill one day =).  We look forward to trying out many more bread recipes!!!  Anyone have any good recipes or suggestions for our next bread?

Powerful.

I miss Home.

     One of my most favorite times of the year-- in December Chris & I headed up to New Jersey.  I can't seem to explain the excitement I get as soon as we see the "Welcome to New Jersey" sign.  I am a Jersey girl at heart!

     Our trip was filled with sleeping in, reading by the fireplace, eating lots of yummy food, shopping, watching the Big Bang Theory marathon and spending time with my family and friends.  Every time we go back to New Jersey I realize how much I miss my family and friends up there.  This trip was different than others, it seemed less like a race and more like spending time with those that mean the most to us.  We saw so many people and did so much in the time we were there but I wasn't exhausted when we got back home!
    We headed up Christmas Eve and were at my parent's house by early afternoon.  We enjoyed my Mom's meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn that night MMMmMMMmmm!  Never thought I'd actually request Mom's meatloa, it was SO good.  When I was younger I would never want to eat my Mom's meatloaf, I told her it was gross and yes I requested it.  Wow have times changed.

    My Mom took the week off from work and my RETIRED Dad worked a lot.  I am happy my Dad has found a new interest in car auctions.  It was so nice to spend the time we had with Mom & Dad.  

      Christmas Day our family met at my Nana's house.  It was SO good to have everyone together.  I loved it.  My Nana HATES pictures of herself but I am so glad we "took way too many" as she complained =)  She is absolutely beautiful and full of wisdom.  I love this picture of us.  Happy 89th Birthday Nana!!  So thankful we were able to visit my Nana a few times when we were up.
 

  
     Chris & I always tell my Mom about the yummy things we make together so while we were home Chris made us a homemade apple pie, it was delicious!!!!  I think Mom was impressed after the "oh-crap" cookies Chris made my Mom last year =)  lol

     Now that my Mom & Dad live closer to my Grandma we got see her many times too, it was so nice!  Love her so much.  I was SO surprised when my Grandma came over with a bag for me and Chris.  It was my Great-Grandma Fricke's ceramic Christmas tree.  I always wanted a tree just like hers, I think it is so neat looking!!!!  I told Chris that tree will be up year-round in our house =)  I will post a picture once we take down our real tree and replace it with the ceramic tree.

     We got to see many of my Mom's side of the family at my Grandma's house a few days after Christmas.  It was so nice to see everyone.  We hadn't seen them since our wedding!  Lots of yummy food again =)

     We got to see Susan and Jason a bunch of times while in New Jersey, it was so nice!  They took us to out to dinner on the bay when we came to visit their new place and we went on a chilly beach walk.  If Chris & I had the money and could find jobs at the Jersey shore we would LOVE to buy a place with Sue & Jason =)  We love you guys and miss you...lets go camping together when it gets warmer out!!

     One of our most favorite parts of New Jersey is Long Beach Island.  We got to visit with Nicole and her family, Momma Cerillo FILLED us with food =)  Maybe next year we will make it to their Christmas Eve dinner.  It was so refreshing to chat with Nicole over a lovely cup of coffee at their beautiful home.  I miss Nicole SO much and wish we lived closer.  Till then we will continue our weekly "coffee dates" =)

     We also made a trip up to visit with KATIE!  She was home from Singapore and it was the first time Chris got to meet "Katie from Singapore" =)  We met at Clinton Station Diner and ate way too much food lol.  It was so great to see Katie and her new DIAMOND!! YahooOOoO we can't wait for your wedding.

      That afternoon we visited with Caroline, Peter and Ellen.  Every time I see Ellen she has grown taller and is now much taller than me =)  She has grown into such a beautiful lady.  It was really nice to hang around their warm wood-burning stove and catch up.

      As we were leaving the Shelly's Chris was amazed at all the deer on Doe Run =)  ...yes that is New Jersey with all those trees and deer...

      We are so thankful we were able to take some time off to visit New Jersey!  I can't wait to get back.

Thai Yoga Massage!

Hey everyone its Chris,

Im a newbee at the blogging stuff so here is my first post (=. My most recent adventure has been learning Thai Yoga Massage. It has been one of the most beneficial and most exciting things I have learned throughtout my career so far!! Last year my friends at Porters Neck Yoga & Spa in Wilmington, NC ( If your ever in Wilmington look them up! Kas and Monique are the nicest people ever!) sent me an invite to take the levels 1&2 Thai Yoga Massage w/ Gabriel Azoulay. Little did I know what to expect on this new adventure in my life. I arived and was greeted by the smileing and always happy faces of Kas and Monique and the learning began. Learning about the history of thai massage, "Nuat boran" is the Thai name for a type of body work native to Thailand (nuat = pressure, boran = ancient). They call it massage, we call it Thai Massage because it is from Thai land. It was created by Dr Shivago Komarpaj some 2500 years ago. My teacher Gabriel travels to Thailand and studies with Pichet Boonthume a Thai master. We learned so much and there is still tons more to learn! I just found out that Gabriel will be moving to wilmington to open a studio this year so I cant wait to learn more. Here is the link to watch the Thai movie that I put together to show people an example of what thai massage is.

Give Me Faith

I was watching the Code Orange Revival at Elevation Church tonight and they played the most appropriate song I needed to hear...

Give Me Faith 

I need you to soften my heart

To break me apart

I need you to open my eyes

To see that you're shaping my life

All I am

I surrender

 

Give me faith to trust what you say

That you're good and your love is great

I'm broken inside I give you my life

I need you to soften my heart

To break me apart

I need you pierce through the dark

And cleanse every part of me

I may be weak

Your spirit strong in me

My flesh may fail

My god you never will 

 

I thank you God for speaking to me through this song tonight and reminding me just how Mighty and Awesome You are.

A glance into our weekend

     Lets rewind a little before the weekend, this week was the first week back to work after a very LONG and RELAXING break (blogs to come!).  UGH.  Yes, it was hard to get back into the grind.  Chris and I have taken it easy this week, easing back into the routine.  We went to bed early (before 10PM) almost EVERY night this past week.  I know my body requires way more sleep than it gets...and when it finally gets 8 hours or more sleep I feel SO MUCH better.  Rested, refreshed and ready.  I really like the sound of being rested, refreshed and ready.  Here's to 2012!

     I was always overwhelmed at the thought of doing "Secret Sisters" at Discovery Church when I was a student.  This year, however, I can come up with NO excuses!  For those of you who don't know what Secret Sisters is allow me to explain.  Each year, the ladies of our church that are interested pick someone and that is your "Secret Sister" for the year.  For that year you have the pleasure of praying for and blessing that lady however you want.  I am SO excited.  I absolutely LOVE gift giving and blessing others.  I feel so lucky to be able to pray for and be an encouragement to this lady.  I can't wait to get to know her and bless her in small ways.  So that was my Friday night spent at the Coffee Shack with the Discovery Ladies for our Annual Ladies Night Out Planning and Secret Sister Reveal and Pick.

     Today is Saturday and Chris and I slept in and had an amazing RELAXING day.  Side note:  It was AMAZZZZING to sleep in because I haven't been able to sleep well the last few nights because our neighbors have the LOUDEST, SCREAMING baby on the planet...and it screams all night and morning.  I couldn't imagine-- that does not make me want a child anytime soon.  On a more positive note:  My sweet husband sent me for a massage today with Caroline...it was AMAZING!  Chris works for Caroline at ReFreshology.  We are so thankful for the awesome opportunity Chris has to work with such great ladies.  That was such a refreshing start to the day!  Thanks again Caroline :o)  Check out their website http://refresh-ology.com/

      Check out our $19.99 Goodwill purchase...

A Bike rack for the car!!!

This afternoon we went riding on the Greenway trail, it was beautiful.  It felt like a spring day, sunny and 70 degrees-- in January.  I could get use to this weather but, it will probably be back to 20 degrees soon.  I just can't figure out the weather here!  Eastern North Carolina is so strange.

Finally have my mountain bike in NC...now to find some mountains!!

My sexy cyclist :o)  ...his road bike is Sweet!!

      And what better way to end our Saturday than spending time with one of our most favorite families.  We are so lucky and blessed to be friends with Laci and Randy and their sweet kiddos.  They have no idea how thankful we are for them!  We had a blast jumping on the trampoline, hanging around the fire and enjoying a game of Scrabble.

Love you guys!

and your kiddos too!

MMMmmMm! 

"Happy Face" :o)

     That was our weekend so far, not sure what tomorrow will bring besides some AMAZING worship at Discovery Church...off to bed way later than I thought!!  WOW!!!  Oh well, it's been fun to get back on here and share our happenings.  I look forward to sharing about our trip to NJ and all the special people we got to see and hang out with.  Thanks for keep up with us :o)

It's been a long time--

Hello to our blog readers!  

It's been about 2 months since I've been on here to post.  We have been busy!!  Good news our lives may slow down a bit.  I've spent the last few months studying for the dreaded RD (Registered Dietitian) exam...and happy news I PASSED!!!!!!  Very exciting news, I feel like the entire past 6 years of my life have been preparing for this exam.  It is SUCH A RELIEF to have this behind me.  I promise I have done nothing but study or feel guilty for not studying for the last few months...it's been an amazing learning opportunity to say the least.  The largest lesson I've learned is to be persistent and NEVER give up.  

Many, many more posts to come...we have a lot of catching up to do :o)