Roses and stroganoff

Today I came home to a clean apartment. And I mean CLEAN. Like vacuumed clean. I was so impressed! Luke's job isn't the kind where he has the same, set days off each week. Some days he'll have a weekend off, others he'll have a Monday and Wednesday off. His schedule just depends on camp guests, jobs to be done, and if he is running the retreat/weekend/event or not. He had off today and will have off tomorrow as well because he works this upcoming weekend. Because of this, I came home to a clean, vacuumed apartment and...ROSES! One dozen red roses to be exact. After the long day I had, he couldn't have given me a sweeter gift. I am so grateful for him!!

{Gorgeous}

Just like clockwork, becoming a wife has brought out the cook in me. Now, please note that I did not say gourmet chef, just cook. I guess it was inevitable. "Man cannot live by college nachos alone..." or something like that, right? ;) All joking aside, this whole wife-cooking-for-her-husband instinct has been very intriguing to me. You see, I've never been a cook. My great-grandmother was an award-winning cook and wrote her own cookbook, my mom has cooked perfectly for a family of 6+ for over 19 years, and my sister Emily was the assistant manager of a French restaurant in midtown Houston at the age of 20. In college, I was lucky if I "cooked" Chicken Viola once or twice a week.

But things are different now. I want to cook to Luke; I enjoy cooking for him. My repertoire is a little shallow still, but for now I just want to master the basics. I'll get fancy later. Tonight I made beef stroganoff and steamed broccoli. I know this may sound pretty basic to all you wives and moms out there, but I was pretty impressed with myself! It was my first time to cook this meal for Luke and he LOVED it! I think I'm going to enjoy these wife instincts that are starting to surface. :)

{Yum! It was so good!!}