Love in a bean bag

What does love feel like? What does it look like? Is there any way to actually describe it in a few words or less? I don't think so. But you know it when you see it. I found it in a bean bag...actually in the filling up of a bean bag. 

Our family time was rushed last night, because I got home late from a dr appointment and consequently peter got back to his studies later than he planned. I'm still nesting pretty bad and so I decided to fill up my newborn poser with 4 boxes of filler to be able to cross it off my list. I read that it could be messy so I decided to do it out in the garage. 

As soon as I tried to do it myself I realized I had bitten off more than I could chew- bean bag filler started going everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. Apparently there was a hole in the top part of the giant bag and they were flying out of there faster than I could try to get some to come out of the actual hole I had made. It was kind of a disaster. 

Peter happened to walk by the garage while I was attempting to not lose every bean from that bag- and he put his book down and came over to help even though he was already behind. He took over from there- I don't know how or why I thought I could do this myself!! He emptied the rest of the initial bag into the poser and I attempted to clean up some of the hundreds of sticky, static-y beans I had spilled, and the wind was blowing into the garage and spreading them all over. Baby Peter thought it was Christmas morning- he was so excited to chase them, stomp on them, and play with them! 

In the mean time, my sweet man started getting out a bunch of supplies and it didn't take me long to realize he was making a giant funnel to finish filling the poser bag. During school time, he willingly and without me asking set his work aside and joined in rescuing me from my project. I fell in love a little more with him. 

He diligently worked on his giant funnel and soon had it ready to fill. I wish I could have gotten a picture of me the teamwork it took. He would fill the funnel reservoir, then hold it up while I shook the poser and helped direct the beans into it. It worked really well and we wasted wayyyy less beans from the next three bags. Even though I was so impressed with the funnel masterpiece I was more overwhelmed and impressed by how loved I felt! I don't have to nag or beg for my sweetheart's help- lately I have had so many projects as my nesting mommy's heart prepares for baby and peter has SO kindly and sympathetically taken my projects and urgent "to do's" as his own. From shampooing carpets to moving furniture...he has been a huge support and I'm so grateful for the loving husband he is. 

We finally got our bean bag poser filled and father and son had fun testing it out. :-) 

My heart was filled to the brim and I fell in love all over again. So thankful for the love I found in a bean bag! 

Valentines Getaway

Me and my love got to enjoy a last-minute valentines getaway when we realized we had a free hotel night that expired in February. It was such a wonderful time. We found a good Chinese place- we really miss NYC Chinese food.

 Peter brought me to a beautiful candy shop where we got a truffle for each of us- and they were close to closing so they gave us half a dozen free cupcakes!!! Yes please!! :)

We walked around a chilly, pretty, and deserted bricktown river walk and talked and laughed and made out. ;)

We realized that it was exactly our one and a half year anniversary this evening. :) What a full, wonderful time it has been! 

In the morning we got huge breakfasts (half off!) at Cracker Barrel and Peter showed me some other pretty places as we headed home. 

I am so blessed!! <3 

Celebrating a month of marriage :-) and another great week

It seems like time is flying by!  Last Monday we celebrated our first month of marriage.  In some ways it feels like we've been together forever because it is so normal and so wonderful, but in other ways it feels like my wedding was just a few days ago. 

I babysat over 30 kids on Monday in Manhattan with a big group of other babysitters, but I got home in enough time to take a little nap (30 kids are exhausting!) and get ready to go back into Manhattan with my date.  We had a groupon that we bought months ago but had never used, so we decided to go there before our groupon expired.  So for $20, we enjoyed salad, bread, 2 entrees, tea and cappuccino, and 2 desserts!  It was a great little place, and made a perfect *one month* anniversary for us.  :-)

  Tuesday I babysat again, so that was pretty uneventful as far as writing details about it, although it was certainly not uneventful while I was there!

 
  Wednesday I caught up on all my work at home- cleaning, laundry, organizing, and marketing for my photography business. Then mid-afternoon we left for the (dreaded) DMV where I stood in line for 3 hours, but Praise the Lord was successful in getting my driver's license.  My license got stolen when I was in Texas so it was little tricky to get my name changed without my old license, but I knew I needed to work on it because I need it to fly back home for a wedding next month.  Anyway, we were SO hungry when we got home, so I skipped my good meal plan and we got some Chinese that lives dangerously close to us.  And its really really good. 

My laundry system :-) It will be really fun in the Winter time!

On Thursday my friend, Laura, came and visited.  She had been visiting her family on Long Island so it was kind of on her way back to Chicago for her to come see me.  It was a great time- on Thursday I was babysitting so we just stayed in Astoria and made a really good dinner- Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps (which I forgot to grill :P) and BLT salad which was SO yummy and I got "stuck" with eating the leftovers for days.  Yum!

   Friday we went to Manhattan together, and braved navigated the subways all by ourselves.  It was fun.  She is headed to the Philippines next month, so she picked up some souvenirs and I got my first fast food since I have been married- and sadly it is even better than I remembered!  I also got a cute little brown hat, but we were down to our last pennies, so we asked and re-asked the guy to take 7.25 instead of 10.  He finally said yes just to get rid of us.  I think as we stood there counting pennies he realized that really was all we had.  We headed home, but then I realized Laura had never seen the statue of liberty, so we headed back to where we had just come from and farther to the Staten Island Ferry.  It is such a nice ride, and it's one of the only things you'll find in the city that is free.  We got home to Astoria just in time to meet her brothers to head back to Rochester.  Laura drove my car, "Hoda" back to Rochester where my family will be keeping and loving her now.  It's a relief to not have to worry about parking here, but it was sad to see her go.  Friday night brought an apple-themed family fun night at church. Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and apple crisp.  I gorged.  To bury the sadness of seeing Hoda leave...or maybe that was just an excuse, but the food was SO good.  It was the perfect junk-food day!

Saturday was the first day of Fall, so after visitation I was in the baking mood.  I cooked all day while I watched a photography seminar on lighting. I made chicken terryaki, rice,corn, and green smoothies for Saturday's dinner, apple craisin muffins with cheese cream filling and crumb topping for Peter for snack, 2 loaves of complicated honey oatmeal wheat bread, (It was the neediest bread I have ever made, and it was still pretty dense to me, so I am not convinced it was worth the 4+ hours it took,) peanut butter pie and cut up veggies for our company on Sunday, and made a huge batch of refried beans. :-) I was pretty tired by the end of the day.  I did get a chance to go play the piano for a little while at night, and then Peter took me for a little snack at this frozen yogurt place we found right around the corner.  Anyone that comes to visit me will certainly go to this place.  It is SO yummy!!!

Sunday was such a great day. We had church in the morning, a birthday party with SUCH GOOD Greek food for lunch, a quick nap, making dinner, evening church service where my husband preached to the teens a great message on how easily God could replace us, and also introduced a new system and booklet of journal-ing their devotions each day to make sure they are getting meaningful applications every day. I am looking forward to implementing it in my own life.  Then we had friends from church over and a few neighbors who we are praying to receive salvation over for mexican night.  I always forget to take pictures of the spread and our guests, but we had a great time.  Carolina and Dave brought decorations to help it feel more authentic, so we had a pinata burro and pretty flowers and confetti.   It is so good to get to know my new church family and make friends.  I am really enjoying it.  :-)

Busy week!

I feel like this was my first official week in the city, seen as this was the first week that I was settled in and was starting some side jobs.  

Sunday we had our first big group of company.  It was so fun!  We had 10 total- including a missionary, our guest speaker for the ladies conference, a neighbor that is not saved (yet!), and several people from church.  I wish I had taken a picture- but I was busy feeding everyone after church.  We turned the island sideways and everyone built their own fajitas.  I also made a 5-layer dip, rice, and dark chocolate brownies- which there were way too many leftovers of. Notice the past tense. ;-)

Monday started my first official training class near Central Park.  It also marked the first time I navigated subways into Manhattan alone. Peter gave me great directions, and the class went really well.  :-)  It was so nice to get to see 2 of the puppies I trained when they were babies.  

It is a beautiful park- FULL of dogs, so I have my eye on going back to hand out a 

lot of flyers when I am there every week. 

Tuesday I started with my babysitting job- every other Tuesday I get to watch this cute little chatter-box.  She is almost 2, but seems very ahead- she puts whole sentences together already!

 

Peter got to go to Princeton with a dear friend of his- so they were gone all day, but when they got home I had chicken cordon blue waiting for them, along with grilled eggplant, zucchini, and peppers, and incredibly sticky (?) oven roasted sweet potatoes.  I'm wondering if it's because they were in the oven so long or if I accidentally doubled the honey when I was not paying attention.

 

Wednesday I got to do my first photo shoot in the city.  A newborn! A gorgeous newborn that was not very sleepy at all, but we still got some beautiful shots.  :-)

To see the whole sneak peek, check out my photography blog at:

http://kisimmipixsa.blogspot.com/

Thursday was cleaning, editing, updating, meal planning, grocery shopping, and church.

I really enjoying meal planning- it's fun to know what new recipes are coming this week.  We've stumbled across some real favorites, for sure!  For any of the recipes, just follow me on pinterest, on my board "favorite recipes."

 I also tried out green smoothies for the first time.  I woulda killed the blender on my first try if Jenna hadn't answered her phone.  Thankfully she did, and she gave me directions.  All you need is fruit, (which I get in the "scratch and dent" section for 29 cents a pound!) spinach, agave nectar, water, and ice.  They tasted great- and for me to think a spinach drink is great, you KNOW it has to be good.  My husband loved them, too, and illustrated this by drinking his and most of mine. :-)

Speaking of my husband- he has always been very faithful about getting me flowers.  Every time we saw each other when we were courting he got me some- either a bouquet or single stem. 

It's so sweet.  These are the leftovers from the red roses he got me last week.  I like how they look in these water bottles we got at our fancy hotel on our honeymoon.

 

Friday was a little bit of a crazy day. I am trying to sell my car.  Before I get a parking ticket or someone scratches my bumper as they try to squeeze their car into a tiny parking spot.  Well, we have gone 2 places now but still aren't getting what we hoped for it, so Lord willing this week we will get some direction on that.  

We also went to Jamaica Center as I am in the long process of changing my name.  They know how to make it quite the ordeal, good thing I love my new last name!! :-)  Thankfully Peter got a half-day so he could accompany me, as I can only imagine how lost I would have gotten following all those directions!

One day this week my husband and I were talking and he asked me what I have learned the most in our 4 weeks of marriage.  I told him I think it has got to be the faithfulness of it all- you can't just sporadically cook a meal and then drop off the face of the earth.  At one meal, you're thinking about the next meal.  One dish load means you're making room for the next dish load.  It is such a fulfilling and wonderful thing to be a wife, but I am also learning about the amount of faithfulness and diligence it requires.  Peter was encouraging enough to remind me that as busy as I feel now, this is probably the least busy I will ever be for the rest of my life. (If the Lord blesses us with children.)  I was thinking, "Wow, that's not very encouraging! I'm already exhausted!!"  

I am happy to be busy, here, though...there's no place I'd rather be than 

home sweet together with my love.

<3

Home. Sweet. Together.

Mainly I started this blog for my family and friends to be able to see what I am doing as I now live far away from them all.  But I also want to have it so that I can look back over the years and recall all the sweetness and memories of the beginning of our life together. 
I am hoping to post some recipes, photos, ways I saved money or time, etc....  I informed my husband over dinner a couple nights ago that I wouldn't be half the wife I am today if it weren't for pinterest!  I am a huge fan of all the recipes, ideas, and tips that pinterest has, and it has filled our first weeks together with a lot of yummy food!  :-) 
 As I looked around my house the other day I was overwhelmed with thankfulness.  Even though I love my home, I can barely take any credit for what is in it.  The people in our lives were SO generous for our wedding and shower.  Almost everything in every room was a gift.  When I registered for all my kitchen stuff I guess I didn't realize how MUCH I would get of the list we made.  I literally got almost everything on all 3 of my registries- I think I still need a rolling pin.  I mean, seriously, it was overwhelming!!  We are SO blessed and I am reminded every time I go to use something.  I turn on my lamp and I think of my new friend at church, I look across the room and there's this decoration from that person, and this gift from someone else.  Even the stuff we did buy we found such good deals on Craigslist for- which is why I want to emphasize that my home not be a showcase but a testimony of the goodness of God.  He really rewards those that wait for His best exceedingly and abundantly above what we could ask or think.  :-)
So for the home I can take no credit- just do my best to keep it sweet and lovely, and for the together part I can take no credit because it was the Lord that brought us together and it will be Him that keeps us together. 

Here are the words to the song I sang as a surprise to my husband at our wedding, that inspired the name of this blog:
I've found the place God planned for me;
Where I belong, where I should be,
The grace of God sent from above has given you to me to love.
A house can be wood, brick, or stone,
But homes are built by love alone.
I dreamed of this my whole life through,
I found my home when I found you.

Home Sweet Together
Home Sweet Forever
Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with you
No matter where we ever roam,
Together we'll be home sweet home,
For this life and forever, we'll be
Home Sweet Together

I promise God and promise you now,
Before Him as our hearts we bow;
All my love for all my days,
Together giving Christ the praise.
Home here, or far away
If God calls us to go or stay;
Wherever we go, whatever we do,
I'll be at home if I'm with you.

Home Sweet Together
Home Sweet Forever
Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with you
No matter where we ever roam,
Together we'll be home sweet home,
For this life and forever, we'll be
Home Sweet Together
 

First Post! Our Honeymoon :-)

Well, I am finally settled into my new home here in NYC!  Our first week we spent on our lovely, quiet honeymoon in Lancaster, PA.  Knowing the busyness that was facing us as soon as we got home, we just loved enjoying each other and the peacefulness of Amish country. 

 This was the beautiful view from our house.  It was so pretty!  We would love to go back there and visit someday.  :-)

 Enjoying some SONIC!!  :-)

 

Realllly enjoying Sonic!!! ;-)

 

 We got to go see Jonah at the Sight and Sound Theater.  I loved it!

It was such a blessing, as we were leaving to spend our final day of our honeymoon in Manhattan, the owner of the cottage that we had stayed at brought us 30 dozen eggs, meat, milk, and the best yogurt to share with my husband's family and keep for ourselves.  So we re-routed our trip home a little and stopped by our house for the first time a day earlier than planned.  It turned out to be an even bigger blessing, because we kept the car parked by our house and saved $60 from parking it overnight in Manhattan.