This weekend I saw lots of great friends, ate good food at restaurants I have missed, packed out our two old homes and my classroom, and had some fun as well. Here's a little "peak"
{camping & kayaking just a bit}
{mowing. cleaning. packing. a lot.}
{sno cone. every. day.}
{celebrating mf & ian getting hitched}
how cute is this tree?! two of them were placed at the backdrop of their i do's and i loved it.
I just love driving on the back roads of Texas. It had rows and rows...and rows...of corn field. Then, out of nowhere, out pops a huge plot of land covered with sunflowers. The hubby graciously stopped so I could jump out and look.
Hope your Memorial Weekend was just as productive and fun as ours was!
It was such a joy to see you the past two days. It seems like just yesterday you were walking into my classroom filled with excitement and ready to take on the world of first grade. Some of you were a bit timid, perhaps a little nervous. I was a bit nervous as well, but as soon as I saw each of your smiling faces I knew that the Lord could get me through this...and that somehow, some way He would use me and use each of you to make Himself known in our lives. I am so blessed to have had you be my students for my first time teaching. You have learned so much and taught me even more!
I am pretty sure that since August of last year, each of you grew 3,000 feet! Did your parents have to go buy five new wardrobes because of the many growth spurts you have gone through? Or perhaps you had to buy a new wardrobe because of the many holes you got in your pants at recess (you know who I'm talking about!)
You have all lost teeth - some of you lost so many teeth that you had trouble eating an apple. Your mind has grown in so many ways. You know how to read and express yourself. You can tell time. You can stand up in front of people and give a speech, even if you have nerves! You can diagram a sentence way better than I could in college. In fact, you could probably tear apart this blog post and fill it with red marks that need to be corrected! You can go to a store and easily hand the cashier the exact amount of change needed to buy a pretty necklace or a slimy frog (if that's your thing). Your mind has certainly grown.
Most importantly, you have daily written the word of the Lord in your heart. You have grown physically and academically, but more than anything I have seen a growth of the Lord drawing you near to Him. Some of you have found NEW LIFE in Him and I can see the process of sanctification taking place in you each day.
Wow.
What a joy it is to learn from you who put the Lord first, others second, and yourself third; what a joy it is for a first grader to spur my heart on to give abundantly as the Lord calls us to do; what a joy it is to see the future generation seeking after the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
I pray you continue to do just that. As you grow up and become taller than your own parents and as you begin to run faster and learn to paint more beautifully, I pray you also begin to chase harder after our God. I pray you realize more each day of how in need you are of a Savior and how true delight is only found in the One who made and loves us.
Thank you so much for teaching me these things! You will forever be in my prayers and I cannot wait to see where the Lord leads you throughout your life! Have fun in second grade :)
Dear Husband, thanks for not getting upset with me when I steal the sheets. I promise I don't mean to. Perhaps you'll enjoy having the bed all to yourself tonight. Wow. The first night we aren't together. That will be weird! Enjoy the freedom tonight. I'll be back to steal tomorrow :)
Hey Parish People, enjoy this coffee cake I made and give a big thanks to good ol' Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman who motivates me to always keep my fridge stocked with plenty of butter to whip up such things as that delicious coffee cake. And that little missing corner piece you see - for some reason it just didn't bake there. Weird. I know. Or maybe I just had to have a bite to taste it for you myself (hence the picture above).
Dear College Station, I can not wait to step my feet into your Aggie infested soil. I have missed you so. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend of spending time with my first graders now second graders, eating at a good Mexican Restaurant, staying at the Bacaks, and dancing it up at the future Bowling's wedding! I'm not looking forward to cleaning and moving out of Mark's old house and my classroom. Oh well :) Duties call.
Dear Mark, thanks for letting me sleep in this morning. I can't wait for you to get to CStat tomorrow. You better get there stat (too much. yes, i think so. i try to be funny. it fails at times). And bring the tent so we can camp out tomorrow night. That will be fun. Kayaking included! We can prepare for our long awaited summit climb to the Grand Tetons. Step back 13,775 feet, that mountain has the Felder name on it.
23 years ago Miss Joy Elizabeth Mercer made her grand entrance onto this Earth.
I haven't spoken to Momma Mercer about this, but I'm positive it was a grand and loud entrance. Joy would have nothing less.
Joy and I met during one of the tiring, exciting, and grueling days of rush recruitment our freshmen year at A&M. After a long week, we both ended up "going Chi-O!"
{the first of many "sorority poses". my legs are def stronger because of them}
We didn't hang out that often freshmen year, but we soon came to our senses and through Pine Cove and various reasons we ended up becoming great friends and living together our last two years of college!
{the five of us}
When I say "great friends", I mean so great that I even went with her to the infamous Hannah Montana Concert in 3D. That's right, we stood in the waiting line and everything. It was legendary. Here's a little glimpse for you...
In honor of your birthday, Miss Joy...here is my Thankful Tuesday post...all centered around you :)
Reasons I am Thankful {for Joy}
4. I am thankful for the love we share of things Disney. Yes, I admit it. I love Disney Channel. Maybe not as much as Joy, but oh how I love it.
5. I am thankful for her ability to be the girl who can make me laugh at any instant moment, yet the same girl who can sit down over a good cup of hot cocoa or some beverage and have an in depth conversation of how deep and wide and long the love of our Lord is.
6. I am thankful for Joys's energy, compassion for others, laughter, kindness, honesty, and eagerness to serve the Lord. I look forward to the path the Lord has laid out in front of her and am confident she will make His name great through it all!
7. I am thankful for the many hilarious memories and the many more to come with this lifelong friend of mine :) I wish I could write them all down here...but here's a little glimpse for memories sake: single ladies, live crawfish, black eyes due to imaginary balls, colorado sb2k9 POUNCE, sexy winks, the toe, the tennis match, christmas decorating, the mysterious zach efron, and you celebrating with Mark & I just over a month ago to the start of our new life together :)
Wish I could give you one of these today...love you!
Have you ever gone through a "cleansing" of sorts? That sounds weird. You know what I mean though. Ok, maybe you don't...let me explain :)
Every time around the holidays (or when my whole family gets together for an extended amount of time) I tend to divulge myself into a huge collection of greasy foods, yummy desserts, large servings from restaurants and endless amounts of chips and dip. What can I say? I love queso. My mom & dad love eating out and my mom always has an endless amount of food on hand when the family is in town. I just lose control...especially when there is queso.
So, a couple years ago my sister introduced me to "the cleanse". Basically, we spent the next few days or a good week eating really, really healthy. I'm talking green tea at every meal, snacking on cucumbers, not having carbs, but just vegetables and some meat. Paleolithic diet at its finest.
I get a bit bored with the whole thing pretty quickly. I can't live without that queso (I actually haven't eaten queso in a good month...insane)
At one point she (the sister) introduced me to these shrimp spring rolls. They use rice paper, but we didn't include that as a heavy carb such as bread. They were delicious and I even have them on non cleansing moments such as today. So, in honor of Asian Food night at our neighborhood parish this evening, here's a little how to for shrimp spring rolls.
I added a peanut satay dipping sauce. This would not have been allowed in the cleanse, but I haven't done that in a good year...
First things first. Go to the grocery store, get your ingredients, and chop em on up. Here's a shot of them:
Here's a better list of what you need, friends:
2-3 carrots, diced up
1 green bell pepper, diced up
*Note: I would've gotten red but it was a whole dollar more
3-4 green onions, chopped up
lettuce, shredded up
cooked shrimp, halved up
rice paper
asian food aisle. easy to find.
I pretty much eyeball everything. I had about 3/4 pound of shrimp and used about a half head of green lettuce. The add ins always vary depending on what I have in stock or what's on sale at the store. This is something you can change things up with. I usually always use green onions, a bell pepper, lettuce, and shrimp. Sometimes I'll add some fresh herbs, onions, or carrots. Do what ya want.
Keeping up a blog is harder than I thought. I think it is because I lose things to discuss (or maybe I don't want to go deep and really chat about the things that matter)...but, we have so much to discuss because there is so much to be thankful for! So without further adieu, here begins my attempt at "Thankful Tuesday"
1. It is crazy to believe only a month has gone by since we said "I do!" I am thankful for Mark and his ability to love and serve me endlessly. This last month has been full of laughter, good food, many episodes of How I Met Your Mother, and the start to a new life here in Houston together. I have loved learning more each day about marriage, and ultimately the gospel.
“Marriage was designed by God most deeply, most importantly, to be a parable or a drama of the way Christ loves his church and the way the church loves and follows Christ.” John Piper
We overheard a comment a couple weeks ago about wives not setting unrealistic expectations for their husbands. After overhearing that comment, Mark encouraged me to expect much out of him - to expect Christ out of him. He is to love me as Christ loves the church. While Mark is called to be Christ, I also need to give grace often because c'mon, Mark's going to sin. I am beyond thankful that Mark is a man who seeks after the Lord and is being sanctified day by day to be more like Him. I am also thankful for the grace he extends me when I lack in my ability to submit and follow Him the way the church does Christ.
{taken right after our wedding rehearsal!}
2. The oh so good smelling cinnamon breadthat just came out of the oven. The endless hours of dough rising is so worth the wait.
3. This tiny, lovely, apartment home the Lord has provided us :)
Since day one of dating Mark, I am pretty sure I have stated how wonderful it would be to go on a picnic. We haven't gone on a picnic before.
We have gone kayaking, eaten sandwiches while battling the waters, and broken up a melon on a rock after because we were starving and happened to have one in the car.
After a dirty day of kayaking, you need the antiBac to sanitize...even though your knife was a dirty rock found on the side of the road
It didn't matter. I was starving.
Anyhow, fast forward one year and we still had yet to go on a picnic.
Until this weekend :) Thanks hubby for showing me a good time at Miller Park. Bocce ball, yummy sandwiches and salads, wine in a nalgene, good cheese, and the Houston Ballet. It looks like Houston isn't looking to bad after all...
I'll be back tomorrow with a yummy pressed sandwich recipe that we had on our picnic! I hope everyone had a great weekend :)
We had a good friend over last night. A friend who is about to get married {so exciting!!!}It was our first person to have over to eat on our brand new rockin' dining table, so we wanted to go all out on food. The easiest way to do that...make mussels. They're not too pricey, they look good, they're fun to eat, and they taste delicious. So here's another recipe for you friends...
