Seven Year Itch or Seven Years Rich?

This week I was listening to a local Christian talk radio show and the topic was the Seven Year Itch in marriage. It caught my attention because just around the corner Andy and I will celebrate our 7th Anniversary. For some reason, this seems like a significant milestone. Maybe because of the very saying titled in the message I heard. I found it interesting as I listened to a husband and wife of thirty plus years talk about how often, around year seven, disillusionment sets in for at least one of the spouses in a marriage. In this particular case, it was the wife. She described her feelings of uncertainty. She expressed her thoughts as she wondered what in the world she'd done and who was this strange man she was sleeping next to. She discussed her fears of "what if?"...what if this man finds out who I really am? And worse, what if he finds out and DOESN'T like me? I found her candid dialogue so interesting and refreshing. And honestly, I could completely identify with much of what she was saying. Except for the fact that those thoughts and feelings occured for me much earlier in my marriage and quite frankly took me and us down a fairly rocky road because of it. But God, in his overwhelming grace, brought us through that. Not without battle scars and deep wounds but with those have come a depth and a security in our marriage that I wonder if we would have ever found otherwise. In our wedding vows, I "received Andy as God's perfect provision for me". As a starry eyed bride I probably had different ideas of what that perfect provision looked like. But as a lightly seasoned wife, there are no words to express how deeply grateful I am for His provision for me in my sweet husband. His perfect provision. Daily I am challenged as I watch Andy's dear and tender heart serve me; putting my needs, wants and desires above his own. Sacrificing himself for me. He is the most kind and generous man I know. His grace abounds toward me. His forgiveness quick and complete. Is it just me or does this sound like someone else I know? Someone who suffered not only an excruciating road to His death but the worst pain of all, separation from the fellowship of His Father...all because of His love for me. Yes, Jesus Himself is truly my perfect provision. But how very wonderful of Him to give me a husband who looks and loves so much like Him. So, as I stand on the cusp of completing this 7th year I have a sense of relief. A renewed appreciation. A grateful heart that I not only love Andy far more today than I did seven years ago but I also really like him. I'm left not at all feeling an itch but on the contrary feeling very, very rich.

Fun Finds

The past week or so we have been working on extinguishing some behaviors in our 5 yr. old son. This is the little guy who remains virtually unmoved by just about any consequence we implement. But set up a reward system and the little fellow comes alive. His motivation soars. So, today when I picked him up from school and learned that he'd had a successful day in the particular behavior, I knew just the reward! You see on Saturday we had not only the cutest birthday cake but the most delicious by far. Thanks to my friend, Crystal! It came from Society Bakery and it was fantastic. I'd been wishing all week I'd indulged in another piece at the party but decided today was my chance for a do-over. :) Not to mention the fact that I knew my son would be over the moon about my choice. We made our way to the bakery in hopes of finding some cupcakes. Who knew that Society was voted #1 cupcake in Dallas (now I know why) AND is nationally recognized?! My little guy very carefully chose the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cupcake (oh, yeah, and it had to be the very one he pointed to...not just ANY PBCC Cupcake on the tray! :)):



I chose this delicate Strawberry with amazing cream cheese icing:


After our cupcakes were neatly boxed up we scouted out the perfect spot to enjoy our deliciousness together! Little guy picked a GREAT corner with a sofa and two chairs just his size arranged perfectly around a coffee table. This quaint little corner happened to be in a quaint little sandwich shop adjoining the bakery. I've passed this place a thousand times and always wondered what The Corner Market was like. It is the cutest sandwich shop/deli with a flower shop tucked in the back to boot! It reminds me of a place where your sandwich would be wrapped up in brown paper and tied with twine. They had a wide variety of unique bottled sodas, chips and one case with pasta salads and such; another filled with truffles and chocolates. They also serve breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays! And did I mention the flower shop in the back?! I saw the most vibrant, happy bouquets being carried out of there in those 30minutes of enjoying with my little guy. We laughed and talked about his day and even danced while we devoured the cakes. That icing on the PBCC cake...oh my! It was like peanut butter fudge with chocolate chips...super decadent but so worth it. The only thing sweeter was seeing my son's spirit soar and his tank being filled up by our time together celebrating his success(he's my quality time guy). And in the process we stumbled upon a fabulous trio of fun finds!

I'm Back!!!

Well, I didn't officially "go" anywhere but I've just not posted anything in a while. I actually started a couple of posts but for whatever reason never put them up. Now they seem like old news! So, onto more current things I suppose.

I went a little crazy in the kitchen today. My mother in law has passed on stacks of Bon Appetit, Cooking Light and Southern Living to me over the past few weeks and in my free time I've been perusing them and having visions of cooking grandeur. Then Aimee K. posted this blog post on Facebook and it fueled my kitchen fire even more. I LOVE all the ideas for healthy snacks/meals to have on hand. We already do a few of them but today I prepared plates of fresh veggies, cut up lots of fruit and made some homemade trail mix to have ready to grab when someone, namely ME, comes into the kitchen looking for something to munch on. I put the veggies on a pretty plate and the fruit in my favorite pink bowls. I always enjoy my food more when it's presented in an attractive way. It actually took me back to being at my grandmother's house when I was a little girl. She always had, in her fridge, carrot sticks and celery sticks in darling little jelly jars filled with water to keep them crisp. One time my sister who HATES celery accidentally drank the glass of celery water!! Needless to say, it did not help the celery cause for her!

I also cooked up 3lb. of ground beef to freeze for later, put tomorrow's dinner in the crockpot and tried quinoa in my rice steamer for tonight's dinner (it worked beautifully, by the way!). Oh, yeah, and all the activity in the kitchen today was sparked because I wanted to make these:

Hubs and both kiddos LOVE "bars" and I spend loads of money at the grocery store on Odwalla, Luna and Clif bars. I only buy them when they are on sale but "on sale" is still $1 a piece. In my brilliance, I thought I'd make these today and see if they will be an acceptable substitute. But guess what? My brilliance went out the window when I forgot one of the ingredients at the store. They will have to wait until later in the week. But I do have them to thank for the productivity today! :) And now, I feel certain my kitchen will go dormant again for another couple of weeks until a fresh wave of motivation comes my way. My philosophy is you gotta ride the wave while it soars and hope the next returns sooner than the last.