I Feel Like Super Wife Today

Do you ever have a day when evening comes and you just feel like you accomplished SO much! Now, I still have presents sitting in my living room and I'm still not unpacked...but I did a lot today and I feel good about it! Just what did I accomplish you may ask? Well....

I did 7 loads of laundry! Some still hanging to dry, most of the others already dried, folded, and put away.

I tackled the impossible tub to clean. I have cleaned our tub extensively with several different cleaners and tons of elbow grease. Finally, I decided to try something new:

Our tub before I cleaned it today...GROSS

Our tub AFTER....yay!

It took a toll on the sponge, but it worked!

A few weeks ago, my mom sent me this blog post about how to line your dresser drawers. I decided to give it a go! I bought the fabric the next day, but it has been pushed back until I finally did 3 of my 7 dresser drawers today.


Here is the $30 awesome dresser we got from a thrift store...I can't wait to re-finish it or paint it eventually.

Empty, boring drawer. Definitely needs something cute.

Like this fabric! Purchased with a coupon at JoAnn's.

Multi-surface adhesive  spray that I bought with a coupon from Hobby Lobby (I can't figure out how to rotate the picture haha sorry)

 My 3 drawers

First step, wipe the drawers clean with a damp rag

 
Now if you read this blog, it shows how she finger pressed the edges before sticking it to the drawer. My mom helped me cut the fabric long enough to do this folding on the sides. However, when it came down to it, I felt like I didn't have enough fingers and hands to spray the adhesive, fold the fabric, and get it down smoothly and then try to fold the other end when I got there. So I sat there in frustration as I often do when I start a craft project. I just don't have the creative juices to figure it out and make it work. I was sitting in this frustrated position when my wonderful husband came home. He immediately jumped in to help me. He taped pieces of paper together inside the drawer to figure out its size. Then he got a hobby knife, cutting board, the fabric, and trimmed it down to the right size.

My great husband to the craft rescue!

Now that my fabric was the right size, I sprayed away! I sprayed one edge first and laid the fabric right up against the wood sides. Then I folded back the fabric and sprayed the majority of the bottom of the drawer. I used a pan scraper to help me smooth the fabric on the drawer without any bubbles. If I matched up my first edge just right then the middle and other edge went really smoothly.

Yay! 3 drawers complete!

Now onto the kitchen. I have been craving something sweet. So I looked through my Pinterest recipes for something with chocolate...but not too much or else my husband wouldn't eat it. I also needed it to use ingredients I already had because I didn't feel like going to the store.

I chose this recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars! It was the maiden mix of my Pistachio KitchenAid :) Here is the finished product chilling in the fridge.

Finally...I made dinner in the crock pot and rice cooker tonight!

I used this recipe to make chicken for burritos

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning
1 c. chicken broth

Combine in crockpot; cook 6-8 hours on low. Remove breasts from crock and
fork-shred. Spoon a bit of the juice over it if desired. Serve on warmed
tortillas with cheese, salsa, sour cream, black olives...anything your taco
heart desires! 

 

Shredded chicken and veggies prepped for the tortillas.

 It was a delicious and filling meal! Plus, I made extra chicken and rice to freeze for a future meal! And my wonderful husband helped me by cleaning up the kitchen after dinner! Such a great and productive day! Now to try one of my dessert bars and then go to bed...super wife is tired! 

Any Super Wife moments for you? 

Thanks to Amanda from Crafty Fox and Angela at Cut to Pieces who provided the inspiration and instructions for my dresser drawers.

 

Blessings Come Through Raindrops

This morning I woke up to a strange sound...raindrops! 3 months ago I would have hated waking up to this sound, but this morning it was so nice. I knew today would be cooler and a relief from the heat both inside and outside of my house. Not only is it raining though, but there was also some good thunder and lightning. I actually enjoy thunder and lightning storms. There is just something beautiful in the flashes and booms that makes me feel vulnerable and small yet safe and protected because the One who controls the storm also holds me in His hands. (sidenote: I do not however like when the house gets hit by lighting...the beauty is lost VERY quickly in that instance).

As I sat this morning reading emails and looking out the window at the rain, I thought back to the last time it rained...the morning of my wedding! And the last time there was thunder and lightning...after my rehearsal dinner.

The two weeks leading up to my wedding, the forecast showed sunny and HOT. My mom was not happy about the hot as she has told me since Day 1 to not have an outdoor summer wedding because everyone will pit out. This is probably the only instance I completely disregarded what my mom said and planned my outdoor summer wedding anyways :). So when the forecast showed her words becoming true, I quit looking at the weather websites. I knew I was not in control, that yes we might be hot, but as long as it didn't rain (especially since the month before had been SO rainy) I would be happy.

Fast forward to Thursday night before my wedding. After my bachelorette party and all my bridesmaids went to sleep, my parents and brother pulled me aside to "talk".  They announced the worst news that a bride could hear for her outdoor summer wedding: there was an 80% chance of rain for Saturday. NOOOOOOO!!! I will be the first to admit, I cried. Okay, I bawled. No, no, no. How could this happen? The middle of July! I had dreamed of, planned, and imagined this outdoor, sunny, summer wedding practically my whole life. All the decor I had spend months on would be soggy and gross. Guests would be miserable and leave early or not even come. My hair would be a frizz-bomb disaster. This was not good. I cried some more.

My parents told me we needed a Plan B. For the time being, we would stick with Plan A and pray, but if we thought of a second option now, we would be able to execute it sooner and make it as great as possible rather than waiting until the last minute.

We created several Plan B's:
~have the wedding inside our church and the reception either outside or inside there as well
~have the wedding outside at the farm and then the reception inside at the church
~rent as many tents as we could to cover ceremony, dance floor, and tables plus umbrellas for pictures

Oh it was so hard to choose one because any totally destroyed the image in my head. I did NOT want it inside, but I did NOT want guests and decor to be soggy and lead to a short wedding/reception. I was leaning towards the church however because at least then people would be dry and stay for a fun time. Thankfully my parents told me I could sleep on it, and we could decide later the next day or even Saturday morning. When my mom said "goodnight" to me, she said, "remember, only 2 thing are important on Saturday: you and N get married, and God is glorified." Those two things were very much our motto the last week leading up to the wedding and even more so now with my dreams potentially being washed away.

As I crawled into bed, I called my fiance and we talked about it while I cried a little bit more. He, as always, went the optimistic route and said he wanted to stick with Plan A unless it was a torrential downpour. Rain where I live is either a 5 minute downpour or a several hour light drizzle. Either would be manageable.

Friday morning was sunny, but the forecast was still not looking better. My parents were both on the phone figuring out logistics and options. My dad was able to rent several large tents and so we decided to stick with the wedding and reception at the farm. The tents would be used in the best way possible to keep people, decor, and food dry. To create the best set-up based on the weather, we changed the delivery of tables, chairs, and tents until Saturday morning.

We went about our tasks on Friday, buying last minute food items, discussing decor set-up, and the rehearsal. The rehearsal, by the way, was SOO hot. My Maid of Honor got heat exhaustion from earlier that day and skipped the rehearsal to recover so that she wouldn't be sick for the wedding. Thankfully that did the trick and she was revived in time for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went smoothly, dinner was fun and delicious, and it was gorgeous and sunny the whole time. But on the drive home, the dark clouds rolled in, and that night it rained, thundered, and lightninged.

I fell asleep that night telling myself "2 things, just 2 things are important." I was disappointed of course, but I was okay. I knew it would still be great.

Wedding day! I woke up, and it was raining. My heart was a little sad, but I was still okay. I knew my parents and dear family friends were already at the farm working to set everything up in the rain. I texted both my parents to say "sorry they were getting wet, thank you for doing it, and I could come help if they needed." My mom replied saying she was still in bed! I got up and went and crawled in with her as she made phone call after phone call to coordinate food prep, someone buying umbrellas for taking pictures, etc. etc. etc.

As my bridesmaids woke up and we started getting ready, it stopped raining, and the sun slowly, but surely began peeking through the clouds. Dozens of people were praying for good weather and God was answering!

By the time, the photographer arrived, it was completely sunny and we were able to take bridal party pictures outside. We headed over to the farm. It. Was. AMAZING! There was a tent over all my decor pieces that looked so great! Having it in the tent really pulled it all together. All the tables were covered by tents and twinkly lights had been strung up! My parents and so many dear friends worked very hard to make it look incredible! They got wet and spent extra money to pull it off and make the image of my wedding become a beautiful reality! Thank you thank you!

It ended up not raining at all! We were so blessed! It was sunny, blue skies, beautiful, and a nice warm temperature. The tents were still great to provide shade and I think it looked really nice how the tables were all together under the twinkly lights and tent tops.

I learned some good things through all this:
~always have a Plan B, even if it is the middle of July
~focus on what is truly important
~prayer is powerful
~different can be better--the decor tent turned out better than I think it would have without the tent and with the tents over the tables we were able to have twinkly lights!
~expect rain at some point in the day if you get married at that farm (mine was the 3rd wedding there with rain at some point in the schedule)
~friends and family who will do anything for you are the best things ever!

So I sit here today, thankful for the rain because it will be cooler and allow me to comfortably be productive in my home. And as I sit here, I think back to my wedding, the tears, the smiles, the rain, the sun, the people, and the memories! I am so thankful for all of that. I think I needed that rain those few days. I needed that reminder that even though I had planned, I had made decisions, I had worked, I had dreamed, still, I was not in control. I needed to re-learn those things I listed. I needed to be blessed by the rain.

Soup is better for Winter than Summer

I knew this, it makes sense, but did that keep me from putting soup on the menu for this week? No. And so our mouths and tummies were happy and our bodies were sweaty and hot. Now our house is already a nice little oven so cranking up the heat in the kitchen doesn't help one bit. But as I said, dinner did make our tummies very happy and that's because I made Italian Wedding Soup!

Probably the best part was that I got to make it in my NEW pot! My pots and pans arrived from Costco today. Yay!

This is SUCH an easy recipe. My mom and I got it from our family friend. There really isn't anything to do except put everything in the pot.

You need 3 boxes of chicken broth, 1 cup of orzo pasta, about 30 frozen meatballs, 4-5 carrots (I had baby carrots so just used 3x as many), half an onion, fresh or dry basil and S&P. My grocery store only had fresh basil in a HUGE bundle so I went with dried.

Now the way I got this recipe from my friend is really just the list of ingredient and not so much the "how to" part. But the way I did it worked and I really don't think you can mess it up.

First pour the broth into your pot and begin cooking it at a medium-high heat.

 

I sliced up my carrots as thin as I could so they wouldn't take too long to cook. Add those to the broth.

 

Then I chopped up my onion and added that.

 

I forgot to take a picture, but next I added the meatballs. You have to lower them in or else the hot broth splashes all over. Oh, and you can put them right in frozen, you don't need to thaw or anything.

So then right before I went to add the orzo pasta, I realize...pasta is usually added to boiling water. Hmm..maybe this should be boiling and it would also help cook the meatballs and veggies. Okay so crank it up to high and cover to bring to a boil. Then I added my orzo and kept it on high for 9 minutes with the lid off.

While my soup was cooking, I got started on the biscuits. I just followed the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for drop biscuits. (notice how with all my meals I seem to always make one thing from scratch and one from a box? well, ya I do...get over it :) !) It was 2 1/4 cups of mix and 2/3 cup of milk. I of course used parchment paper...love not having to wash the pan and worry about sticking biscuits. Oh, and you may already know this...but I learned from experience...a whisk is not a good utensil to use for biscuit dough. It just got all clumped up and not mixed.

Mmmm...the soup is looking good! With most soups, I think you can just let them simmer on the stove for as long as you want. I checked with my husband to see how hungry he was and since he wanted to eat sooner than later, this wasn't going to be a simmery soup. I spooned up a good selection of the ingredients to check for doneness. Orzo pasta should be cooked and soft, carrot should be soft, and meatball should be warm all the way through. It was ready!

Here are the biscuits! I don't have a bread basket or cloths yet so I improvised by using an empty basket that usually goes on my desk and paper towels. Biscuit tip: the recipe says 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. I went 10 minutes and then a little...I probably should have taken them out at 8. They weren't bad at all. Just a little crispy on the bottom. Oh well. Live and learn. And butter and honey are great ways to fix a little burnt taste.

Voila! It was yummy! While we were eating...I said to my husband, "I think this recipe would be better in the fall or winter; I didn't need extra heat today." But it was GOOD!

A Very Rare Occurrence

 That's right...it says 5:45 AM. And I took that photo. And no, it is not Photoshopped. I actually got up that early today. My husband gets up at 5:30 for work. Usually I hear his alarm, feel his "good morning" kiss and then roll over and sleep until 9:30 or 10. But today, I was just awake. Wide awake with no falling asleep again. So I did what any logical person would do and got up!

Here is the view from our living room at 5:45 in the morning. We live on a golf course (but as you can tell from the condition of our yard it's not what you normally think when someone says they live on a golf course. This is not a posh, fancy kinda golf course and neither is our yard/house). Anyways...I learned that there are people up working at this time (YUCK!). You can see in the picture that someone is out mowing the fairway and green.

Since I had SO much of my day before me and didn't already feel behind schedule (a very common occurrence when I wake up at 10) I started my morning off right with a little devotion.

I'm not making any resolutions or promises or goals to get up this time everyday...I mean let's not be ridiculous here. BUT...it certainly did surprise my husband and I got to eat breakfast with him. So maybe this very rare occurrence will become a slightly rare occurrence. :)

An achy back

The past two days, I have hardly gotten any sleep and when I wake up in the morning, my back hurts so bad. I blame the garage-sale mattress my husband has had for several years. And so, the time has come to take his grandma up on her offer. Recently, my husband's grandfather passed away and so now his grandma is moving into a retirement home so she no longer needs her King size bed and offered it to us...SCORE!

Problem--I have a very sore back and therefore cannot help move a Queen size bed out of our room and upstairs nor load a King size bed into a pickup truck and then into our house.

Solution--a wonderful friend of my husbands. We bribed him with fun on the boat before the task and a  home-cooked meal afterwards. (We didn't actually have to bribe him, he's really nice and was willing to help!) But the fun and food did happen! We went out on the lake for some tubing and wakeboarding first. Then the guys were all manly disassembling, carrying, and loading the various parts of the bed. After my supervision was no longer needed, I stopped by the grocery store and headed home to begin cooking. The guys worked on assembling the new (to us) bed while I cooked!

On the menu for tonight: BBQ Chicken Pizza....(it's okay you can say YUM out loud)

I cooked my chicken in EVOO, garlic, and pizza seasoning.

 

I prepped all my toppings: black beans, red onion, tomato, green pepper, and jalapenos.

Then I pre-baked the dough (next time I will make it from scratch but I didn't have time so this was from a Pillsbury can...which by the way, it is a bit of a chore to make a square crust into a round one) After it bakes for 8 minutes, I spread the BBQ sauce on top.

And the beautiful and tasty result!

 

 Oh, and not to forget the reason for the pizza...our new and VERY comfortable bed :)

You know you're a housewife when...

...you can make a good meatloaf!

Maybe that's not true, but I feel like meatloaf is a very old-school housewifey thing...maybe that's just me. At any rate, when I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner this week, he took less than 10 seconds to say "meatloaf!" oh dear, I've never made meatloaf before!

Thankfully I received several cookbooks for shower and wedding gifts. So I searched through them, picked the tastiest and easiest sounding recipe and went to the store. I was actually really excited to make it!

Maybe it's because cooking for someone other than me is pretty new, maybe it's because I have beautiful and colorful new things to cook with (gaze at Fiestaware canisters, salad spinner and cutting mats) or maybe it's from all the hours of Rachel Ray I have watched...but whatever it is...I am excited to cook! I want to read cookbooks. I want to try new things often. I want to take pictures and blog about it. So here's to many recipes, successes, and failures in the kitchen to come!

Some things I like about cooking meatloaf...

1. I actually enjoy squishing all the ingredients together with my hands (Rachel Ray style and rings off of course)

2. the long time in the oven allows me to set the table, clean up dishes, and prepare side dishes easily

3. my husband likes it

Something I do not like about cooking meatloaf (in the summer)...

1. it makes my already hot house EVEN hotter! :S

So after an hour in the oven....voila!

Yes, I realize meatloaf is not the prettiest meal...it's messy. But this was a sight to behold for me. I was so excited! It was a success.

I made mashed potatoes (from the box, I admit...that will be another day's challenge to make real ones) and green beans.

The meatloaf tasted SO good. We were both stuffed but went back for seconds and have leftovers for today!

Mission Meatloaf--accomplished!
(a special thanks to the Grimm Family cookbook)

Recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatloaf
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 c dry bread crumbs
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 eggs
1 t minced onion
15 oz tomato sauce divided

Topping
tomato sauce
2 T brown sugar
2 T vinegar
1/2 c sugar
2 t prepared mustard

Mix together beef, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and eggs. Add onions and half of the tomato sauce. Form into loaf and place in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

In saucepan, combine topping ingredients, bring to boil. Pour over meatloaf. Bake 10 minutes more.

It's Really Happening

I keep pinching myself. I'm just dreaming, right? Nope...it's really happening! I am really getting married! Years of daydreaming about this day as a little girl, months of planning as a fiance, and now just days left as a single woman.

I have taken pictures of different decor pieces I have made and made mental notes of things I want to blog about. But alas, the pictures remain on the card in my camera and the mental notes got quickly lost in the bajillion wedding thoughts running through my head. Good intentions...but not enough time to diligently blog about it all. However...I have not completely given up on those blog posts. I hope to post about things after the dust has settled and I'm sitting at home this summer while my husband (ahh so strange to say, in a good way) will be working and I will not.

But back to the present...4 days, 18 hours, 30 minutes from now I will be walking down the aisle!!! Some moments it really hits me and others I feel like its still so far off and just something you continuously plan for but never really comes. I am just praying that it doesn't come and go so fast that I don't remember the wedding day. So many brides say the day is a blur. I'm hoping my super Type-A planning personality will make the day relaxed and enjoyable for me...no blurring please.

Planning a wedding has been busy. Some moments have been fun, some tedious, some stressful. I've learned a lot about crafting, myself, and my fiance. We have had to talk through several things and settle disagreements. Not necessarily fun, but it's been good and we've grown through it.

While I may get nervous and have butterflies, I know without a doubt that he is the man I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I love him, he loves me, and with God in the middle, it will all be okay :)

I Love Laptops

Why? Because they allow me to lay in bed and be productive at the same time! That union makes me happy, just like Starbucks located inside Target (kudos to whoever thought of that genius idea!)

Anyways, it is almost 1:30 and I am still in bed. Yes I did sleep in until 10:30 (didn't fall asleep until almost 2am), but I have been productive for the last 3 hours thanks to the compact technology sitting on my lap. I have been sending emails, checking for new job postings, and starting different wedding documents.

We are under the 2 month mark and I definitely feel like it's Go time! I'm not stressed (yet), just staying busy and always having something to work on. There are times that it really hits me--I am getting married!!! It's not a panic feeling, but just so much excitement and joy and sometimes disbelief that this is reality and not just a dream. It hit me when I bought an airline ticket for August and wrote my name as Hannah Baughman. It hit me when I told my brother yesterday that his birthday was in 2 weeks, I would be officially graduated from college in 3 weeks and I would be a married woman in 8 weeks! It hit me today when I was working on the "script" for the ceremony and typed "Dave and Hannah walk down the aisle." Wow, I am so blessed that this is happening!

It also hit me when we finished the invitations and I took them to the Post Office. Invitations are a lot of work! But I am SO happy with how they turned out that it was definitely worth it.

After writing, finding the perfect font, designing, printing, punching flowers, gluing flowers, sewing flowers (my mom did that part), and then tying knots (Nate helped me!) so the thread wouldn't unravel--here is the finished product!

Close-up of the stitching and flowers.

As if sending out the invitations isn't exciting enough, getting RSVPs is even moreso! We send RSVP cards that people could mail or they had the option to respond on our website. We got 3 cards back at church yesterday and 2 responses online! So exciting!

Time to get back to my wedding tasks, but thanks to my laptop no need to get out of bed still :).

3 Movies in 1 Day

First of all, 3 movies in 1 day is not really anything too incredible if you know my family--we watch a lot of movies! We always have, and probably always will. It's something we really enjoy doing together. The guys watch chick flicks with mom and I, and us girls watch the action movies with them. My parents are continuously playing "name that actor and all the other movies they have been in" and only a few times do we have to go to IMDB to verify their answers. I have caught on and can join in the fun of saying who is who, who is or was married to who, and what other movie they were in with some other actor. And of course, we have our favorites. :)

We like to watch movies at home as well as in the theater. Growing up, we would often read the book once we heard a movie was being made and other times we didn't know there was a book until the screen said "based on the book by so and so" and mom would joke that we had to leave a go read the book. And we ALWAYS stay until the VERY end of the credits after the songs, location, the brand of film and cameras and then the speakers pop and the screen goes blue or black. We are almost always the only people left in the theater except for the employee cleaning up the popcorn. The ONE time we did not was when we saw "Pirates of the Caribbean 3". It was not a favorite of my moms and she got up as soon as the last scene ended. We all left and found out when we got home that there was a scene at the end of the credits (this was in the beginning of the "throw another scene at the end of the credits" fad that is now quite popular) and so we stay. But this extra scene is a newer reason for why we stay. The main reason we stay is because ALL those names, ALL those people who worked on that movie, they should get some credit too. And my mom always says "their moms would be so excited to see their kids' names up on that screen, and someday when my son's name is up there I am going to stand up before anyone leaves and tell them they all have to stay until they see my son's name."  Now that my brother is a film student, the chances of this happening are extremely likely. His cinematography knowledge is fun for us because it provides behind-the-scenes info and critiques on movies from a filmmaker's perspective.

So back to the title of this post...we like movies. A lot. My brother has gone to see "The Avengers" four times in theaters and I am the only one who has not seen it. Today my parents had a meeting after church so Michael and I went on a sibling date to see "The Avengers", which he was very willing to see yet again.

 

He rates it as the #1 movie he's ever seen. I liked it a lot but not my #1. I would however put it in the Top 10 for action movies. It had a good story, the acting was good, and it had some humor as well.

Then we came home and as is often the case at night, my family will watch a movie. Well we ate our dinner while we watched tonight so we started early. We have a lot from the library right now plus one from Netflix. My brother narrowed our choices down to two: "Made of Honor" and "Captain America" and then I had to decide. Normally chick flicks are the no-brainer choice for me, but after just seeing "The Avengers", I was in that kind of a mood. I was torn. So I flipped a coin--"Made of Honor" won. It was good. Funny and cute, and yes the couple that has no interest in each other whatsoever at the beginning does get married at the end. :) After that movie ended, the night was still young and so we watched "Captain America" as well. Also a good movie. I liked the story a lot--it didn't hurt that it was set in WWII time (one of my favorite time periods) and there was a love story. The only MARVEL movie I have yet to see is "The Hulk". I'm not sure it can top "Captain America." Green and angry just doesn't do it for me like an old-school gentleman and patriotism...but Mark Ruffalo is in it so I wonder if he will dance to "Thriller" like he did with Jennifer Garner in "13 Going on 30"? See...the name-that-actor-and-what-they-have-been-in game never ends. And thankfully, it doesn't have to, because movies keep on getting made, and we keep on watching!

A Weekend in the Emerald City

Last weekend, I went back to Seattle for a shower for my roommate Esther. It was nice to be back "living" with my roommates and enjoying Seattle life. The weather was SO nice while I was there and I was able to soak in the sun in many ways.

A walk to Fremont with Esther and Emily for Starbucks Frappucino Happy Hour!

So nice to be able to read what I want now--no more college required reading.

 I love being able to wear my Rainbows again!

Laying by the canal enjoying the nice weather and warmth.

Dislike Seattle gridlock traffic...but at least I could have my sunroof open and window down while I'm sitting on the city streets bumper to bumper.

Time Flies when...

...you are falling in love, at the beach, student teaching, getting engaged, graduating from college, and planning a wedding. Yep, all that has happened since my last post OVER A YEAR ago! But as you can see, slacking on my blog has been for several good reasons.

I had a very exciting, fun, and life-changing year. I met Nate (my now fiance) on March 26, 2011 at a volleyball tournament, which we returned to and won this year. We got to know each other long distance through letters, texts, phone calls, and visits every few weeks. After school ended in June, I returned to Cannon Beach for my second year. This summer I lived with my 3 great friends from the first summer: Jill, Katie, and Olivia. Being roommates with all of them was amazing and one of the best things about the summer. I was the supervisor teacher for the 4 and 5 year-olds, which came with a lot of challenges and joys. The kids were so precious and I enjoyed it a lot. In September, I got to spend 3 weeks at home before school started again. It was so nice to be close to Nate for longer than a weekend. We took a road trip to Montana to visit his parents and my brother as well as other fun hangouts in our neck of the woods such as boating and a demolition derby. Heading back to Seattle was hard to leave him but I had 3 amazing roommates awaiting me, which made it better. I was SO SO blessed to be able to live with Emily, Esther, and Janelle my last two quarters of college. Those girls are so beautiful, fun, loving, encouraging, and great to live with. We got along very well, and definitely the worst part about graduating a quarter early was cutting my time living with them short. Over Christmas break, both Esther and I got engaged. Very exciting to be sure! Winter quarter included lots of wedding plans, bridal magazines, and pinterest squeezed into my incredibly busy teaching schedule. I did my student teaching in a Kindergarten classroom with an amazing mentor teacher and 25 sweet students. I learned so much and survived the brand new Teacher's Performance Assessment (it took over 30 hours to complete!) I am going to be visiting the classroom this Friday and it will be a surprise for the students. I can't wait to see them!

So now I am living back at home. I have been exercising 6 days a week since mid-March (getting in wedding/honeymoon/bikini shape). Jillian Michaels exercises are great! She definitely kicks your butt and doesn't care one bit. I have also been working on wedding plans little by little including calling and meeting with vendors, making my invitations, and marriage counseling. I also applied to three different school districts for a teaching position for the fall. Praying that something opens up and I can find a good job.

The sun has finally come around and made it look like spring here in North Idaho. Nate and I had our engagement pictures taken on Sunday. It was so much fun. Our photographer is really great. I can't wait to see all of the pictures. Today I ate my lunch outside...so maybe 30 minutes...and I got burned! I seriously have the most pathetic skin ever.

Anyways, now that I am out of school and won't have a job until late August, I have lots of free time that I need to fill. Yes there is wedding stuff to do now, but it doesn't take all my time, and I need something for the month after our wedding when Nate is still working and I'm not. So...I want to start blogging more. I think it will be fun to write about my adventures as a new wife. I want to do a lot of cooking. I have probably over 20 Rachel Ray magazines plus dozens of pins on pinterest. I want to make an organized and categorized recipe book and then start trying out the delicious meals. I love food and would love to become more confident cooking and comfortable in the kitchen. I want to do more reading. I read the Hunger Games series recently in preparation of seeing the movie (SO GOOD) and it reminded me how much I used to love reading (before it was assigned in a syllabus and I had to write a paper on it). So I need to make a list, get some recommendations, and find them for my kindle or go to the library! I also want to try and be more crafty. I have so many cute ideas for the home and decor that are on my pinterest and I think I could do them if I just tried. I know once I start teaching I will get very busy again--I'm nervous about my first year and just getting everything established and organized--but this is a new chapter in my life, mmmm more like the next book in the series as its too many life-changing events for just a new chapter. Anyways, its a new part of my life and I want to try new things, find things I enjoy, find things that Nate and I enjoy, and figure out who I am as a wife and career woman. I can't believe I'm all grown up and done with school. Wow, time flies...

well it LOOKS like spring

I haven't written in awhile. Spring break was really good, very relaxing and low-key which is what I needed. Now I'm back at school for my last spring quarter! This quarter has a lot of new things in store for me. I started a nannying job that is two days a week picking up a 2nd grader from school and then his two older brothers come on the bus. I get them snacks, start homework with them and just hang out for a bit until their mom gets home. I really like it and it's a good break from my classes and studying. I am also taking my Methods quarter which is the first of 3 student teaching quarters here at SPU. I will be in a 3rd grade classroom every Thursday observing and helping the teacher. I'm so excited to start in a couple of days. Today I had my first day of 4 Methods classes. Being in class from 8-6 is really long but I liked all of my classes a lot and the workload doesn't seem that it's going to be too hard. Actually, today gave me a good feeling about being a teacher again, which I haven't felt in a long time.

So in regards to my title...it is almost 7:30 but still very light outside. The sun is shining, and birds are singing! I love it! Unfortunately, once you step outside to enjoy it, it's all a joke as it is windy and cold so still feels like winter. I just bought Rainbow sandals and my mom is making me a dress, so now the weather just needs to cooperate!

Artistic Updates

To follow up from my last post, I used the leftover meat, dough, and onions to make calzones! I made cole slaw again but this time had honey to add and I liked the dressing much better. One of my good friends was over for dinner and as I was cooking, I realized she's been my guinea pig all year long as I try out new recipes. She keeps coming back though :) Here's a picture of last night's dinner before and after:


Also, I've been out taking lots of pictures lately. For Christmas, I got a Cannon Rebel t2i and I have loved learning how to use it and snapping shots of everything. I had some extra time today to do some editing and uploading of a bunch of new pictures. For some odd reason, the little slideshow gadget over there ---> will only rotate through a handful of pictures from my Flikr. So here is the link for my photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannahjezak/

8 days until I am done with this quarter and get to go home!

Cooking Adventures

This year I live in an apartment and while the cafeteria on campus is still an option, I have not been inside it once! I have been cooking for myself and I love it! Although, shopping and cooking for one person is not easy or very fun. I do always have leftovers unless I have friends over to share the meal which I absolutely love!

I have a cookbook that I got for Christmas, a bunch of mom's recipes, and a subscription to "Every Day with Rachael Ray." I have enjoyed trying all sorts of new recipes throughout the year though sometimes I do revert back to soup in a can or frozen pizza. But cooking takes time and energy and sometimes as a college student with a job, there just isn't a whole lot of either.

Last night I made this: Polish Pigs in a Blanket from the Rachael Ray show.

you can find the recipe here

This meal is really fast and easy to make! Problems for a single college student is that then you have pizza dough and 1/2 a kielbasa left to figure out what to do with. Sausage is great with spaghetti and marinara sauce and I'm still thinking about how I will use the dough in the next couple days.

This was my second time making it and it turned out pretty good, but here are some tips based on my experience. Spray the baking sheet with non-stick spray or use parchment paper so you don't lose the bottom crust like I did. The sausage crisps much faster than the onions so start it a few minutes later. Next time I will probably use less mustard and onions just because it was kind of overkill. Also, I realized half way through making the slaw dressing that I was out of honey so I just went without. It still tasted good but lacked any sweetness. It was yummy and very filling!

Sun shines through the Rain

I'm sitting in a coffee shop on the corner of two streets. It is raining on one street, but not on the other. Clouds have come and gone all day, but now there are blue skies and warm sunshine and yet, still some rain falls. Is this weather not also apparent in life? Difficult situations come and go like the rain clouds. Or maybe one area of our life is going great yet the struggles in another aspect still discourage us. And yet, the sun will always come out again. The sun can pierce through clouds and shine through the drops of rain. This paradox even results in a beautiful rainbow. God's love never stops. Even if we feel alone and discouraged during hard times, He is still there. The clouds can cover up the sun, but they cannot keep it from existing and shining. Stressful situations might consume our thoughts and cause worry, but they cannot change the fact that God is in control and He has a plan. When we recognize this promise, we can experience joy in suffering, perhaps as sweet and beautiful as the vibrant hues of a rainbow.

So, there are some thoughts for the day, and now that it has stopped raining, I'm off to do some photography.

Maybe I should have been an English major

...or maybe an emphasis is enough. At any rate, everytime I take an English class, I love it! Partially because the professors are always my favorite. There are 4 here at SPU that I just love and wish I could take more classes from. I am currently in British Literature from the Restoration to Victorian. We discussed Arnold's "Dover Beach", and parts of Mill's "Autobiography" and E.B. Browning's "Aurora Leigh" today. The part of me that could NOT be an English major is the part that reads these pieces and has no idea what they are saying. But then I get to class and we discuss and it all becomes so clear and I think 'yeah I could do this.' What exactly is "this" though? A profession of reading? Well yes partly. Everyone we've read bases their writings off of ideas from previous authors. Arnold references Milton, Mill talks about Wordsworth and Browning hints at ideals of Wollstonecraft. So, I read, take ideas, and then write something new. Sounds easy right? I'm not convinced. I want to keep reading, and start writing. But I'm not sure what to write, who for, and to what purpose? This uncertainty often leads me to just push it aside and say 'nah, it's not for me.' But then I get so excited in class and LOVE discovering the ideas and connections between authors and even pop culture today. I'm a nerd that way (along with the fact that I could diagram sentences or factor binomials in Algebra all day long :D)

Maybe someday. At any rate, for the time being I need to read some excerpts from "David Copperfield". Oh and I have discovered the best study snack item: dark chocolate covered cranberries! They are sweet, chocolatey, but also healthy! yuuuum. Thank you Trader Joe's.

I Still Believe

It is has been far too long since I posted. Last time I just turned 21 and since then I passed the West-E, finished fall quarter, had a great and relaxing Christmas break and am now coming up to the midterms of winter quarter. Oh, winter quarter. Looooong sigh! It has been very gray and dreary literally, mentally, and emotionally. I had hoped after such an amazing summer that I would not repeat the misery of last winter and in many ways it is better and different but some aspects are still not so fun. I have really struggled with some big questions such as "what am I doing with my life????" I have had serious second thoughts of my major and career choice. But, being only 1 class away from my major completed and student teaching left for certification I realized it was impractical to make any drastic changes right now. I re-applied to work at CBCC this coming summer and after a weekend reunion with the summer staff I got very excited about it again. I currently volunteer every other Sunday helping with 3yr-old Sunday School at my church and I love it. Some frequent babysitting also helps me get my adorable little-kids fix. :)

Today was very blah until the last hour and then God shifted my teeter-totter again. In my Young Adult Lit class we have been reading books about WWII and the Holocaust and then today we watched Life is Beautiful. VERY good movie but also very sad. I was speechless after watching and couldn't participate in the discussion. Certainly not what I needed on an already blah and gray day, but I think there was a good reason. So, within the last hour, my day got considerably better because of my great Bible study. It's such a blessing to be able to open up and fellowship and pray with other Christian girls. Then I practiced guitar and have been listening to some Barlow Girl. I love music and believe it is very therapeutic. Certain songs have really impacted me and helped me through different times both good and bad. Tonight at Bible study I started thinking of one particular song that I wanted to listen to as soon as I got back. It's called "I Believe in Love" by Barlow Girl and based off an inscription found carved into a cellar wall by Jews hiding during the Holocaust.
The lyrics of the chorus are:
"I believe in the sun, even when it's not shining. I believe in love, even when I can't feel it. And I believe in God, even when He is silent." It's a really beautiful song if you want to listen to it on YouTube. I think this was such a God thing how this song tied into my class experience today and then with how I've been feeling about the weather and my life and such.

I don't know what tomorrow holds, I don't know what God's plan is for me, and sometime it's rougher than others, but, I still believe.