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!!}

Warning: I'm just rambling...

So, I'm just sitting on the couch at our apartment, folding some laundry and watching Friends on Nick @ Nite. Have any of you been watching Friends the last week or so? Re-runs have been playing on N@N over and over...I'm LOVING it!! I think Luke is wondering when he'll get his wife back, ha. Anyway, my Mac Book prompted me to install 7 updates (a little behind?), so I decided to try and post from my Nook. It's not as easy as if I was on my trusty laptop, but I'm digging it. Ok, time to go fold the load of laundry that just finished drying. See, I warned you. Just rambling...:)

Count your blessings

I've been thinking a lot about blessings recently. God blesses me in so many ways and I unfortunately don't always recongize these gifts.

There is something about the temperature dropping 20 degrees that reminds me of God's grace. Hurricanes flood us, fire tear us down, but God's love and provision remain.

Today I've recognized His blessings in...

...the first sip of this season's pumpkin spice latte.

...in the way my maltipoo's excitement because her momma came home for lunch never weakens.

...in sore muscles because I've been blessed with a body that has the ability to workout.

...in the way my husband drives 1 hour to come home every night because he knows
how important family is.

...and in the piles of paper on my desk because I have a job that challenges me and
colleagues that believe in me.

Too blessed to be stressed. :)

Summer weddings and long weekends

This weekend concluded mine and Luke's summer of weddings! We attended our own (obviously!) on June 25, 2011. Then one month later, I was a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's wedding. The following weekend, I drove to Dallas to see a college friend get married. And finally, this weekend Luke was a groomsman in one of his best friend's wedding. Three of these four weddings were those of "camp couples." Luke and I met at Camp Zephyr back in 2005, I worked there for 4 summers through college, and Luke is currently the camp's full-time staff supervisor. Sarah and Andrew met at camp in 2007 and both of them spent a few summers working there. And Tyler and Aubri practically grew up at camp. Tyler's father is the executive director of Zephyr and both Tyler and Aubri have worked at camp for many summers as kids. It's been such a blessing to watch of all these Zephyr alum grow up, chase new life paths, and fall more in love with the Lord and each other!

{Our wedding 6.25.11}

{Sarah and Andrew 7.30.11}

{Kara and Brett 8.7.11}

{Tyler and Aubri 9.2.11}

Whew! Yes, it was as tiring as it looks!! But we've had an amazing summer celebrating love and God's provision over all of these relationships. This was definitely a summer for the books!

**I must make a quick intervention here to say that while Luke and I were at T&A's wedding, the BAYLOR BEARS kicked some major TCWho's butt on Friday night!!!! I was so proud of my Bears! This game was an amazing way to start off the season and I'm so excited for future games. Rip 'em up, tear 'em up, SIC'EM BU!!!**

Luke and I have also been enjoying our long Labor Day weekend! Aubri and Tyler were married on Friday night, so on Saturday Luke and I drove up to San Antonio for the day. We love getting away every once in a while and SA is the closest "big city." We made a stop by Americus Diamonds to have my engagement ring and wedding bands soldered together, ate lunch at Panda Express, took Brooklyn to PETCO to find a new food/water dish, made a quick stop at The Container Store (LOVE!), and had coffee with some of our best friends, Justin, Michelle, and Gabi Graves. It was a quick trip, but totally worth it!

{Family road trip to San Antonio!}

{Starbucks with Gabbers}

{Brook with her first "puppaccino" from Starbucks!}

{The 3-drawer cart trellis that I bought at The Container Store! Luke put it together for me this evening. Can't wait to organize SOMETHING}

The rest of our weekend has included church and rest. Luke and I are really enjoying attending Yorktown Baptist Church here in Corpus. Worship was amazing today (as always!) and the youth minister, Joel, gave the message this morning. He spoke truth in a very unapologetic way and was so relatable (is this a word?). I would definitely love to hear him speak again! After church, I got to pick up my copy of the book for this fall's women's Bible study. We get started on Sept. 20th and I can't wait to dig into the Word with the ladies of YBC!

I hope you all have had a fabulous long weekend and enjoy your Labor Day tomorrow!!