House Hunting Lessons

     I, once again, cannot sleep. I can't wait for it to be a little bit later today where my hubby will FINALLY be back home to me - but for now I will endure one more almost sleepless night. I'm glad that I haven't been able to fall asleep though. It has given me time to lay here in our bed and reflect on the lessons of today and I am grateful.

     You see, the thing is that I know my weaknesses and my shortcomings, but God knows them better. I haven't been able to keep my mind off of this one thing (difficult submission) since we started house hunting. House hunting is scary and it's new and it's fun and it's stressful and it's so many things. But I am constantly reminded of how much I fail as a biblical wife (by my own convictions) and how much God is using this to teach me and to grow me. You see, when we first moved out here to the 'Zona, things were difficult and I wanted things to go my way - but God was growing me. He lead to me to talk to my dear friend, Shawna, and we got on the topic of being a biblical wife, what it means, and the consequence of Eve's disobedience (sin) to God when she ate from the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3:16 speaks of this consequence: 

"To the woman he said,

'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
     in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.'"

     When God says that her "desire shall be for [her] husband, and he shall rule over [her]", he means that while she was created to live in harmony with her husband and submit to his headship (Ephesians 5: 22-24), she would desire to be the one in control. John MacArthur's study bible explains it like this:

"...Just as the woman and her seed will engage in a war with the serpent, i.e., Satan and his see (Gen 3:15), because of sin and the curse, the man and the woman will face struggle in their relationship. Sin has turned the harmonious system of God-ordained roles into distasteful struggles of self-will. Lifelong companions, husbands and wives, will need God's help in getting along as a result. The woman's desire will be to lord it over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design (Ephesians 5:22-25). This interpretation of the curse is based upon the identical Hebrew words and grammar being used in Genesis 4:7 to show the conflict man will have with sin as it seeks to rule him."

  During my conversation many months ago, Shawna explained to me that as a wife, I need to submit to my husband's decisions as long as they don't go against the bible - even if I'm not 100% on board because God placed him as the head of our family for a reason. No where in the bible does it say "Wives submit to your husbands unless it displeases you." You can look, but you won't find it. 
     Throughout this house hunting process (from beginning to talk about it to actually getting connected to a realtor), I can't help but think that even when it gets hard - and it will because buying a house is a HUGE decision, I am going to learn how to better submit to my husband's decisions. I wish I was better at it, but the truth is I am a sinful, selfish person, I prefer the known to the unknown and I think I should get my way - not because I deserve it or because my way is better - but because it's my way. You see, the truth is - I'm a very sinful person...and that sucks. But there's good news - VERY good news.
     When Jesus died on the cross for my sins, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide His children. When I gave my life to Christ, the Holy Spirit entered into my life to help guide me through this life. So tonight - I rejoice that God was with me and the Spirit was guiding me.
     I know my husband wants only the best for our family and that he is going to do everything he possibly can to make the best decision through prayer and research and today we found out that we are talking with the seller of a house - they haven't accepted an offer, but they are willing to talk with us. Today we signed a counter offer, I got excited and then the Hubs called.
     There's another house that came up in our portal that he really wants to look at, but they're not accepting offers yet and it needs a little more love, but he wants to look. I'd be lying to say that my heart didn't break - but I am confident that God will lead us to the right house, I am confident that He is growing me to be a better wife and I am confident in my husband. As we discussed not submitting the counter offer, I did my best to not let the tears fall and I did my best to cling to the confidence that God has a much better plan. The tears fell, but I am still confident God has this all under control. And all I could think of was Shawna mentoring me all those months ago, saying, "There will come a time when your husband will make a decision you don't like, but it won't be unbiblical and you are going to have to submit because that is what God has called you to do." I heard that repeated to me tonight, I took a deep breath, tried to swallow my tears and my selfish desires to have a house --this house-- and I did what God wants me to do because I love my husband and because I trust him with every ounce of my being. In that moment, even though I felt like "our" house was getting taken away (which is just silly because we don't have a house), I had to step up to the plate and do the right thing. It's not always easy to do the right thing, but it's always worth it and God will ALWAYS work it out.

     And here's the amazing thing - I learned a lesson (hopefully I won't forget it too quickly) and God was able to provide a compromise on the situation that eased both of our hearts. We know that God is working through this, and ladies, submission is rarely easy thanks to sin but it's worth it because that's what God ordained. Let's be honest, submission sucks when we think we know better (and let's face it, we don't- but God does) or when it goes against what we want. I knew from the start of this adventure that God would grow us, because this is so much bigger than anything I think we've ever had to face (well, besides marriage) and we need God to guide us. I think I knew that I would have to let go of what I think my dream house is and trust that my husband is doing exactly what God wants him to do. I think I knew that God was preparing me for this because it's been on my heart since we walked into the house - but even though I think I knew, it was still hard - but I think this is just SO big that it's SO evident we need God to help us find the best house for us and I can't be stubborn and selfish with that. I can't just say 'No, I want this house and we're so close to getting it that we have to move forward". I really suck at the whole submission to my husband thing - but it was absolutely amazing to see God work through it and to see that He had a compromise already planned out that eased both of our hearts on the situation - and all it took was me being obedient to God.

     I know that there are going to be more occasions in our marriage where I will have to submit to my wonderful husband's leadership even though my pride wants something else and I'm positive that they will be on more difficult things as well. Sometimes the outcome will seem favorable and sometimes it will be difficult, but God is using EVERY circumstance, situation, obstacle, etc. for His good and perfect plan and we will learn something from it every time. God - please continue to guide me in being submissive to my husband's decision and remind me You have a better plan and that You're using my husband and his decisions in that better plan. And I pray that You will guide every woman in submitting to Your plan and the roles that You have given us as women and as wives.

     And what's even more, God amazed me more - in that I was writing this and marveling at God's amazing grace and work in my life and how much He blesses when we are obedient, I received a message from a friend thanking me for being an example of difficult submission. This friend witnessed the conversation; witnessed me trying to not cry, trying to not let my voice break, trying to be strong as my hope in a house I think I'm in love with wavered - and I am thankful that God was with me. I am thankful that God kept me strong. I am thankful that God taught me a lesson and I am thankful that He chose me to be an example for someone - me! Wretched me who tends to cry when things don't go my way because I'm way too selfish. I am blown away that God thought me worthy to be used. Words alone cannot describe how amazed I am that He loves me so much He used me. Blown away at the greatness of the cross. Blown away at the greatness of Jesus. Blown away at the loving leadership of my husband. Blown away by God's blessings. Blown away to the point of joyful tears. God is so amazing, I'm not worthy but He makes me so. I am nothing, but He makes me something.

So maybe this my "dream" house will become our real house and maybe it won't. Either way, God is with us and He has a plan. He knows what house is ours and when we will get it - and even if it takes years and years and years for us to get a house (oh, please don't let it take too long!), I am thankful that He taught me something and I am grateful for His presence in our marriage.


And I can not wait to see this man tomorrow (well, I suppose now it's today)!

love & heart full of joy & hope,
     Sara

Under-the-Sink Organization

Under the kitchen sink always seems to get way cluttered and messy very quickly. So I decided that needed to change. I, once again, didn't take a before picture - but here's the neatly organized under-the-sink area:

What I did:

• Pull out EVERYTHING from under the sink and wipe down.
• Group like items with like. 
• Figure out what works best for you organization wise and do it!

     I put items that we are likely to use frequently on the outside. The plastic bags, dish soap, and cleaners I use daily or weekly were placed closer to the dishwasher on the right.
In the middle, I took a purple plastic bin I received at one of my bridal showers and placed all the bathroom cleaning supplies in their - including a separate sponge because I feel like you shouldn't use the bathroom sponge for anything else.
     On the left of the cabinet I placed an organizational shelf. I put all dusters on the bottom & placed extra sponges, plastic bags, and cleaning wipes on top.
I don't like leaving my rubber gloves out and I didn't want to necessarily place them on top of something after I use them and their wet so I took a paperclip, unbent it and fed it through the hole on the back of my towel rack. I then twisted the bottom end of the paperclip around a binder clip & use that as a way to hold the gloves. Easy to access and I don't have to lay them down on anything.


-S

DIY: Plastic Bag Storage

     We always end up having an EXCESS of plastic bags that end up accumulating under out sink in a big blob that ends up driving me nuts. Well, sometime last year (after we moved out here to Arizona) Anthony and I came across this brilliant idea on the internot. He actually did this the first time - but since we had to re-stock the bags, I did it this time. All you'll need is excess bags and an empty kleenex box. 

The blob of plastic bags

 Take a bag and flatten it out as best you can. 

Then fold it in half long ways (like a hot dog)

 And then again

Do this to a bunch of bags and then line them up on the ground - with one about half way down the other - and continue the pattern. 

And then roll them up!

Stuff 'em in the kleenex box

 Then pull up the center bag a little bit. Now, when you use a bag, the next one will just pop up - just like the kleenex did before the box was empty!

Now it's easy to store the bags and re-use them without it turning into a plastic bag monster.

Neat and tidy plastic bags to you!

-Sara

Date Night Vase!

     Anthony & I have been married for almost 20 months (if I did the math correct - and we all know that rarely happens), and I think that we've both realized that we tend to get into these "comfortable", "monotonous", "lazy" phases where we end up doing the exact same thing every day. Come home from work, make dinner, eat dinner, do some chores, play with bunnies, watch tv.  The last part is the part that gets frustrating. I know also, that I am a huge homebody so if I don't make plans in advance to do something I will pretty much just stay inside all day which then makes me not want to go and do something later on anyways. And let's face it, we all need to get out of the house every now and again.
     I saw a link on Pinterest for a date night jar - and I LOVE this idea, so I made one - except that ours is more like a date night VASE (ok it is a date night vase) because we didn't have popsicle sticks and the mason jar was too small for all my rolled up pieces of paper. I'm super excited for this - I am convinced that it is going to be SO much fun and that we will grow even closer together as a result of it.

Thanks to Pinterest and these lovely bloggers:
Life in the Green House
Six Sisters' Stuff
Small Notebook
Ideas for a Fun Date
Happy Money Saver
The Dating Divas

and some creativity on our own behalf, we were able to come up with a TON of fun things to do together.




When I told my husband what I was doing, the first thing he asked me was, "are you making it color coded?". Of course I am - normally I would have done it a little more uniformly, but I'm trying to NOT spend money when I have other things that will work just as well, so I just used what ribbon I had laying around and split it up into 4 categories.

• Dark Pink Ribbon = more expensive dates, dates that involve advance planning, or both
• Light Pink Ribbon = less expensive dates that get us out of the house
• Tan Ribbon = at home dates
• Princess Ribbon = $5 or less dates

(I realized after I had tied the dark pink ribbons pretty tightly that I should have used the Princess Ribbon for the expensive dates and another ribbon for the cheap dates, but I'll have to fix that another time.)

Here's a list of the dates we decided to include:
Dark Pink Dates - More Expensive Dates/Planning Dates:

• Melting Pot
• Go to the Zoo
• Weekend Away
• Hotel Stay for the Night
• Dinner at a Fancy Restaurant
• Go to a Local Fair or Carnival
• Go See a Play
• Go to the Water Park

 
Light Pink Dates - Less Expensive/Out of the House Dates:

• Go to the Botanical Gardens
• Go to a Museum on Free Admission Night
• Try a New Restaurant
• Theme Night - Decide on a theme and stick to it ALL night
• Go to a Local Sporting Event
• Coffee Date
• Window Shopping for the House
• Dessert Only
• Bowling
• Mini Golf
• Dinner and a Movie (Hubster's Choice)
• Dinner and a Movie (Wifey Boo's Choice)

Tan Dates - At Home Dates:

• Have a Spa Night
• Go Swimming/Jacuzzi
• Back to the 50s Night – turn the kitchen into a diner with burgers, fries, milkshakes
• Rent a Movie from the Library to Learn to Dance Together
• Have an Outdoor Picnic
• Have an Indoor Picnic
• Build a Fort
• Action Movie
• Chopped Challenge
• Homemade Pizza and an Italian Movie
• Make Dessert Together
• Popcorn and a Chick Flick
• Puzzle and Pizza
• Take Out and Board Games
• Fondue and a Movie

Princess Dates - Cheap Dates (again, I should have switched the princess ribbon and the dark pink ribbon):

• Have a root beer float date
• Visit a bakery and pick up two cookies! Next, head to somewhere fun to enjoy
• Enjoy 2 Redbox movies and have a movie night.
• Lay on a blanket in the backyard and stargaze while listening to two new songs you’ve downloaded
• Grab water guns at the Dollar Store and have a water fight!
• Visit a fast food drive-through and enjoy a milkshake with two straws.

The blessing my husband is

We don't have kids yet and we probably won't for awhile, but as I was driving to work today I realized how blessed I am by my husband and how great an example to our future children he will be. I started thinking thing the beginning or our relationship. He went out of his way for me when he didn't have to. He hs cared for me deeply and genuinely from the day we met. He never tried to "make a move" on me, he didn't kiss me until we had been together(unofficially) for about a month, he drove me, he provided for me before we had a serious commitment. But the thing that stuck out the most to me in those early days was that he didn't act like any other guy I've dated. He was gentle and sweet, caring and respectful.
There's one event that has always stuck out to me. We were hanging out at his house with 2 of his friends, it was getting late and I wasn't feeling the best. He told me to just go upstairs and crash in his room - he didn't want me driving so late when I lived 30 minutes away and he was in the middle of a game with his buddies who were staying the night So I listened. I remember being concerned that his parents would be upset, but I was really too tired to drive and Anthony had other guests. I went upstairs and fell asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up feeling like someone was in the room and it freaked me out. I started to look around, the door was cracked letting in a little light and there, on the floor in front of the door was Anthony - fast asleep. I think I realized then that he loves me. It blew my mind that he would sleep on the floor - every other guy I've dated would've climbed into bed. I remember thinking that he was sleeping on the floor in front of the door to protect me -not only my reputation and integrity, but also because I didn't know the guys staying over very well.
That's the kind of man I want our sons to grow up to be - respectful, caring, God honoring, protecting, and serving men - men who choose to do the right thing even if it would be just as easy or easier t do the wrong.  That is the wrong. That is the type of man I want our daughters to marry. I am so blessed that he is going to be ge example for our children if and when we have them.

Thank you Sweetheart for always loving, respecting, caring, protecting and providing for me, for us, for our family!

Organizing the Spice Cabinet

Just like when I organized the pantry, I didn't take a "before" picture - but you can KIND of see the messiness in this picture:

 

 Things don't really fit - and you can just see that it's completely disorganized (also, please ignore the dinner making mess in the picture. Thank you.)

BUT - it's not so messy anymore:

Taking a note from my pantry organizing fun, the first thing I did was pull everything out, wipe down the shelves and group items with similar things. Then I had to decide where would be logical for things to go.

My biggest issue was the spices. There were SO many and it was SO hard to find everything and nothing stayed together AND we had this huge ferris wheel type spice rack that took up a ton of room on our countertop, yet we hardly ever use most of the spices. Once I realized that I could probably do without most of those spices, I stopped everything and pulled the spice rack out.

I took out all of the spices and separated out the ones we actually use from the ones we don't. Out of 20 spices in the rack, we only used 7. So, I dumped out all the spices we don't use and washed the containers. I then took our spices and poured them into the empty containers. This helped condense a LOT - we had 5 things of cinnamon and 4 things of nutmeg and duplicates of almost all our other spices; partly from my awesome kitchen shower before we got married and partly because I ended up buying spices I didn't think we had because I couldn't locate them easily.

Now I was stuck with spices in containers with wrong labels. The first thing I tried to do was remove the printed labels, but that proved unsuccessful so I went to plan B. I grabbed some red scrapbook paper, the hot glue gun, whole puncher and some yellow ribbon and got to re-labeling our spices. I didn't do the ones that were correctly labeled - but will at some point because I really like uniformity.

Labeling problem fixed, I went on to try and figure out how to stack the spices without going out and spending $10 on a shelf thing. The scavenger hunt was a success! I found 2 identical trays that are about 1"-1.5" tall. I took out the glue gun, glued them together so that they created a stair effect and placed it on the shelf. Then I added all the spices in alphabetical order (because I'm like that). Then I added the rest of our spices that didn't make it into a container to the side of the staired shelf - putting the taller ones in back and shorter ones in front.

On the other side of the cabinet are our "everyday" items - salt and pepper shakers, salt and pepper grinders, oil, pam, toothpicks. And toward the center I put other cooking items, like chicken and beef boullion and kitchen bouquet.

On the second shelf is all baking items on the right side. Using an organizing shelf you can get at BBB or Target, I put baking spices & extracts on the bottom. Food coloring, sprinkles, cupcake liners, frosting, etc. on the top.

On the left side of the cabinet, I placed all our vitamins and stuff like that. And nothing gets put on the top shelf because the second shelf is hard enough for me to reach. :)



The most important thing to do when organizing, is to figure out what works best for YOU - it doesn't matter how I organize my cabinets, if it isn't a system that works for you then don't do it. I do suggest trying different things out though. It took me almost 2 years to figure out pantry and spice cabinet organization!

lots of pretty organized shelves and loves to you,
Sara

Pantry Organization

I go nuts when things get really messy and cluttered. It sends me in a funk and I just want to run through the house and throw everything away. I don't like feeling like the stuff is overtaking us - but that's exactly how I've been feeling about our pantry. Every time I open it, I just want to slam it shut again. I don't want to see it, I don't want to have to go into it. It overwhelms me. So, I decided I needed to organize it and come up with a way system that works for us (and by us, I mean me because the Hubster is not the type of person to get greatly annoyed by the pantry. He's just not.)

So here's what it ended up turning out to be like:

I realize now, that I should have taken a before picture - but I was too focused on fixing the problem, that I didn't...the same thing happened when I organized our spice cabinet and then the entire rest of our kitchen. You will just have to trust me that it was a completely disorganized mess that drove me bananas.

So what did I do?
First - I went on pinterest, searched for pantry organization and read a handful of blogs for ideas. The important thing to remember is that you need to do what fits your lifestyle and not what some blogger says you should do. I ended up incorporating suggestions from a number of different bloggers - and I'm sorry that I didn't keep their blogs handy to link you to them for more suggestions.
 
One of the things that every blogger I read had in common was to remove EVERYTHING from the panty first so I did and that totally gave me anxiety - because that's the type of person I can be sometimes.) Then, I wiped everything down and separated everything - like with like - to determine how many "sections" or "zones" we would need.

After that, I decided which items we use most frequently and arranged them on the easiest to access shelves (the middle ones - shelves 2 & 3). I put the least used items on the very top (because we're short and it's hard to reach) and then the semi-frequently used items on the the last shelf.

Here are the sections from top to bottom"
Shelf One: "Impromptu Entertaining" (That's the Red Box). The box is easy to get down, which is important since we're not tall folk and I would rather not have to dig around on the top shelf for longer than necessary.
 In the box you will find:

• Paper Plates
• Paper Bowls
• Paper Napkins
• Plastic Utensils
• Plastic Party Table Cloths
• Popcorn
• Chips
• Salsa/Dip
• Easy to put together appetizers
• And other quick snacky things.

Next to the red box are all of our serving trays and bread baskets

Shelf Two:  "Baking Items". Everything that I use for baking is on this shelf - extra flour, sugar (brown, powdered, white, raw), cake mixes, chocolate chips, extra baking powder, marshmallows, oil, pudding mixes, frosting, etc. Since we have a TON of baking stuff - I'd rather make it sweet than savory about 90% of the time - I knew it had to have it's own shelf or share a shelf with something we don't and won't have a lot of - so it shares the shelf with the "Weeknight Meals Basket". I use this basket to group all of the dry, non-perishable ingredients for our meals throughout the week. That way, when I get home from work it's super easy to just go and grab out of the basket instead of digging through the pantry. I'm sure this will be VERY appreciated when we have munchkins in a few years.

Shelf Three: "Pasta and Rice". We always have a TON of pasta - it almost rivals the baking items, but not quite. I did my best to group like pasta with like pasta - putting any duplicates together as best I could so I know when we're getting low. Barilla pastas are on the left, then it goes to macaroni and cheese type deals, then "Asian" pastas (Ramen noddles), and Rice.
Then comes the "boxed starches". Hamburger helpers, stuffing, extra bread crumbs, etc. We usually don't have a lot of this so it just gets put towards the back.  The starches share their shelf with "Canned Foods". I used a pantry/kitchen organizer shelf thing we weren't using. Broths and soups are on the bottom, veggies on top - grouped by kinds. Tuna is next to that.

Shelf Four: Separated into 3ish sections: The first section is "charity lunches & snacks", then "Powdered Beverages"- chai tea mix, iced tea mix, hot chocolate, extra coffee, extra tea, etc., and the last section is "Breakfast Foods" since we usually forget to eat breakfast on the days we're working, I figured it didn't need to have a prime shelf spot.

I then labeled each section on the edge of the shelf. It's been a few weeks since we put this system into place and it's the longest our pantry has remained organized throughout our entire marriage! And I have to say, I am glad that we are getting organized well before we have a house to manage and a family to raise. I feel like it's gonna make that a smidge easier.

I hope that, if you're looking for a way to get organized, that this at least gives you a starting point for creating a system that works for your lifestyle and personality.

Cheers!
Sara

Recipe: Flour Tortillas

Hi Family & Friends!

     The other day I decided that we were going to have burritos/tacos for dinner since we had left over beans from our small group & I didn't want things to go to waste. However, I was in a lazy mood and didn't want to go to the grocery store after I discovered that there were NO tortillas to be found in the house. So naturally, it was easier to just hand make them. Since this was my first attempt, I can't say that these popped out at me as "the best", but they were still quite delicious- even though I made them way too thick. I do, however, think that next time I will add a little more salt or something so they have a little more flavor. I got the recipe from Eat Good Food, though I deviated slightly...very slightly.

First things first - get your ingredients ready. I'm finding it much easier to measure everything out when you start. I make far less mistakes this way than when I'm doing everything at the same time.

You will need:

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 Cup warm milk (not hot)

Combine all dry ingredients and the oil. It will a little bit clumpy and a lot of dry - distribute the oil as evenly as possible. 

Next, heat up your milk so it's warm - using the stove is probably better, but I used the microwave because I a client was on her way over and I needed to move fast.

Add the milk in slowly, I did about a 1/4 cup at a time. Mixing after each 1/4 cup. It's gonna get ooey-gooey, but it may not get ooey-gooey as quickly as you think it will. It took longer than I thought, but once it's gooey - it's pretty gooey.

Now comes the work. Turn the ooey-gooey ball of dough out on a floured surface, set the timer for 5 minutes and get to kneading. You will knead the dough for the full five minutes. The recipe didn't really say exactly how fast to knead it so I went from a medium speed to a slow speed.

When you're done kneading the dough, put the entire dough ball into a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let sit for 20 minutes.
Rumor has it that if you don't let it sit for the full 20 minutes that the dough will be rubbery and very difficult to work with. I decided not to test this and let it sit for the full 20 minutes.



When the 20 minutes are up, separate the dough into 8 equal sections, roll them into little balls, place in the bowl again- not touching (I used two bowls), cover with the damp cloth (again), and let sit for another 10 minutes. (At this point, my client had arrived, so they ended up sitting for about an hour to an hour and half - I don't think this really effected them.)

Next, on a floured surface, take one ball of dough and pat it out into a 4 inch diameter circle. I couldn't get it into a circle, so it was more like an oval. Using a rolling pin, roll out your dough ball into an 8" diameter circle (or oval). It's easiest to roll from center out, but find what works best for you and just go with it. I am a terrible measurement judge, so mine ended up being a bit thicker and probably closer to 6 inches than 8 inches. Next time, I'll get closer. :P [[no rolling pin pictures, sorry - I was a floury mess at that point).

Now, heat up a frying pan! I used the 8" one, realized that it was probably small for what I was attempting and after 2 or 3 tortillas switched to a larger frying pan. Don't add any oil or butter or pam or anything - just heat. Take your 8" dough circle and plop it into the frying pan for about 30 seconds, or until it starts to bubble up, then flip it over and heat the other side for about 30 seconds, or until it bubbles up. I found that tongs worked best in flipping sides.

Eat Good Food blog says that "They keep well in the fridge for a few days, wrapped in foil/etc. Reheat them any way you like, but I personally like putting them in foil in the oven for a few minutes until they're nice and warm."

Lots of warm yummy tortillas from me to you,
    Sara

Ladder Loaf

     When I was little, I remember my mom making this quite frequently and it was so delicious. So, when I saw raspberry jam at the store the other day - I decided I had to give it a shot too! I was surprised at how well it came out aesthetically and enjoyed introducing Ladder Loaf to the Hubster. 

To make Ladder Loaf, you will need:

     ♥ 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

     ♥ 1 teaspoon baking powder

     ♥ 1/2 teaspoon salt

     ♥ 1/2 cup butter or margarine

     ♥ 3 ounces yogurt or cream cheese; I used strawberry yogurt, but use whichever flavor you want.

     ♥ 1/2 cup milk

     ♥ 1/2 cup raspberry preserves (or preserves of your choice)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter. Add yogurt. Pour on the milk and stir just until combined. 

Next, turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times only - do not overwork the dough.

 

Using your hands or a rolling pin, roll the dough out on parchment paper into an 8 x 12 inch rectangle - or as close as you can get. Once the dough is rolled out, carefully pick up the parchment paper and dough and place onto a baking sheet. 

Mark the dough with a knife lengthwise into thirds. Spread preserves down the center third of the dough.

Make diagonal cuts every couple of inches on the outer thirds of the dough - make sure to cut them far enough into the center of the dough, but do not cut INTO the preserves. You need them long enough that they will cover the preserves in the center.

Fold strips over the preserves, first from one side, then from other (like braiding) until you have folded over all the strips of dough.
It will look like this.

 (I didn't cut far enough in on a few strips so it ended up tearing when I tried pulling it over - where the dough looks a bit messy on the right side of the photo).

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until dough is fully cooked and lightly browned on top.

Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes. In the meantime, make the icing.

You will need:

     ♥ 1/2 cup powdered sugar

     ♥ 1 tbsp milk

     ♥ 1/4 tsp vanilla

Combine the ingredients and then drizzle over the ladder loaf. I only ended up using half of the icing. A little goes a long way.

 Enjoy this yumminess. It's fantastic. I love it; I hope you will too!

-S 

Recipe: Cinnamon Chip Scones

Hellloooo Yummy Goodness!
While I was back home in California visiting family and friends - my mother-in-law told me about Cinnamon Chip scones and decided we had to make them before the Hubster and I went home. I am SO glad she did! These are delicious!

Now I'm not sure where she originally got the recipe, but from my understanding she first tried these at a church event. And since these are SOOO delicious, I have decided that it must be shared with the world! So here you go:

Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter; very cold cut into pieces
2 eggs
1 cup mini cinnamon chips [they aren't sold in California, but you can order them here]

-egg wash (optional - gives the scones a more finished, glazey look though!)
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a small bowl, blend the sour cream, vanilla and baking soda, and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cream of tartar, and salt. Add in the butter, using a pastry blender -blend until butter is in pea-sized pieces.
Add in the sour cream mixture and eggs into the flour mixture and mix until just moistened.
Fold in cinnamon chips (taste few too!)
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface [it will be sticky...VERY sticky], and knead briefly - if too sticky add more flour. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. You can easily shape these any size you want.
If you choose to do the egg wash, brush the tops lightly with egg wash.
Bake 13-16 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting Glaze
1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract extract
2 tablespoons milk
Directions
Mix the cream cheese with the butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl. Drizzle over cooled scones in any fashion you choose. We just put it in a ziploc bag, cut the corner off and drizzled over the yummy goodness that is the cinnamon scone.



Whoever came up with this amazingness, thank you. It's delicious!

Recipe: Cheesey Zuccini/Squash

In our first year of marriage, Hubster introduced me to these yummy little zuccini slices and we have since expanded them to include yellow squash as well. They are a nice little snack, appetizer, and even side and SO simple!





Ingredients:
1 zuccini or yellow squash, sliced
butter, melted
mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese (both super yummy)



Cook Time: 10 min, until cheese is slightly browned
Preheat Oven: 350*-375*


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Lay out slices of zuccini and/or squash.
Using a pastry brush, coat with melted butter.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Put in oven, 10 minutes or until cheese is browned.

We used to make these on the grill, however we currently can't use the grill due to apartment complex rules.

Recipe: Panko Breaded Chicken

My friend, Nicole, gave me this recipe for Panko Breaded Chicken at one of my wedding showers and it's SO yummy! So I'll share it!

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Preheat oven to: 375*

Ingredients

2 eggs

1/4 milk

2-3 C. Panko Bread Crumbs

1-2 C. all-purpose flour

 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips (or 6-8 chicken tenderloins)

1/2 tsp. pepper

Morton's Nature's Seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F. Line a baking sheet or shallow dish with foil (makes for easy clean up!).

In 3 shallow, wide bowls fill each separately with (1) flour, (2) panko bread crumbs, and (3) beaten egg and milk.

If not already 1/4-1/2 inch thin, gently flatten or pound chicken until flat (place between sheets of wax paper) using a mallet or rolling pin. 

Coat each strip with four, then egg wash, then bread crumbs.

Place each strip on foil lined sheet leaving a little space between each one.
Sprinkle with pepper and generously with Morton's Nature's Seasoning.
Bake 20-25 minutes (flip 1/2 way through) or until fully cooked. Bread crumbs won't necessarily be browned, so be careful not to overcook.

**adding garlic to it is yummy too!

Before they went in the oven:

After - unfortunately my little kitchen timer didn't go off so these were a little over cooked, but they were still very yummy:

They're really good served by themselves, but we like to add a sauce to it. Hubster likes to eat them with a ketchup/hot sauce concoction. Ketchup is good or orange sauce/terriyaki/sweet and sour... pretty much asian inspired sauce is great!


Enjoy the yummy-ness!



-S

I don't want to give away what I named this little gem, so go read on and see what this is about!

     I have come up with a BRILLIANT beyond brilliant idea! Here it is...

You might thinking that this is just evidence of my enormous sweet tooth. You might be wondering, what is this all about? Well, have no fear because I am here to tell you!
The Hubster and I were talking last night about the fact that he sometimes has to go on business trips and how I have a hard time the first couple days (ok, let's be honest - I FINALLY adjust and come to terms with him being away the day he comes home *giggle*) . Anyways, thinking that I am sure there are lots more wives out there than me who deal with the same thing I decided there should be some type of "Husband Business Trip Survival Kit" and then this was created! I can't honestly tell you why there's Jet Puffed Marshmallow Creme included, it just seemed like a good idea as I walked through Target.

Now this isn't the ENTIRE kit - as I forgot to grab a book and bubble bath to include with the other goodies, but I figure it's a good start. And maybe you know a [newlywed] wife who's husband is going on a business trip for the first time and you want to try and help the transition (it's not easy saying good bye to your spouse, even if it's just a short trip!), you might want to make her a little "Survival Kit" like this one.

Ideas of things to include:
Brownie Mix (or already baked brownies)
Cookie Dough (or cookie mix or already baked cookies)
Marshmallow Creme (again, don't know why it just sounds good right now)
A chick flick or two (or if she's not into chick flicks, some movie that she would like)
Bubble Bath
A Book
New Nail Polish
A Starbuck's gift card perhaps
A journal with encouraging notes already in it




An encouraging bible verse

Put it in a cute basket and tie it with a bow and you've got the "Husband Business Trip Survival Kit" and hopefully a wife that has a bunch of distractions while her hubby is away!

I know the Hubs and I came up with it (ok, I came up with it - he agreed it was a good idea), but I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea and I think it would be a nice little thing to do for a wife who's struggling with her hubby being gone!

Keeping a Clean House

 "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels...She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."

-Proverbs 31:10, 27

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."

-Titus 2:3-5

     As a Christian woman I am exceedingly grateful that God has given us an example of what a godly, excellent wife looks like in the Bible. However, in the hustle and bustle of this Martha world, I find it rather difficult to keep my heart in the right place and to keep in mind that as a wife, the things that I do for my family are rather important - regardless of what this world tries to tell us about being old fashioned (or worse).

     For the majority of our first year of marriage, I struggled immensely with two things that I was VERY convicted of on a daily basis. What were they? Making dinner for my husband and keeping the house clean. These are things that I personally feel are important things to do as a wife, and yet I was unable to keep on top of it. Part of it had to do with the fact that I worked 40+ hours most weeks and was exhausted by the time I got home and the other part of it was that I had NO idea where to start. I've already posted about meal planning which has helped me GREATLY learn how to budget my time in order to make dinner for my husband (you can read about that here), so this post will focus on my other major struggle: keeping the house clean. 

     The fact that I have been greatly convicted of these things indicates that they are something that I should be doing to the best of my ability when I can; and since I have spoken with other young married women who have said similar things to me - I'd like to share with you all my cleaning list. I thought I had already posted it, but I haven't located it - so my apologies if this is a repeated post.

     I found this list on RealSimple.com, however I have not been able to locate this exact list on their website anymore - so here it is. I appreciate that it is broken down into daily, weekly, and seasonally things to do and my husband appreciates it too. He now comes home to a pretty neat home and doesn't have to think about doing anything after a long day of work [[trust me though, there are still plenty of days where he comes home and it's a disaster, but instead of being an issue or a huge frustration which it seemed to be in the past, he more joyfully and willingly helps me get the house straightened up again because I'm putting forth effort more than I used to]].

Kitchen

Every Day:
Wipe down sink after doing dishes/loading dishwasher
Wipe down stove-top
Wipe down counters
Sweep, Swiffer or vacuum floor

Every Week:Mop the Floor
Wipe the cabinets, backsplashes and appliances
Wash the dishrack
Wipe the switchplates
Take out the trash
Wipe the inside of the trash cans (I don't do this - I just spray it with lysol)
Throw out old left overs
Clean the stove burners

Every Season:Empty & Scrub down the inside of the refrigerator
Empty & clean the insides of the utensil drawers
Scrub down the cupboard exteriors
Clean the stove-hood filters

Living AreaEvery Day:

Pick up crumbs & dust bunnies
Fluff cushions & fold the throws after use
Wipe table tops & spot clean cabinets
Straighten coffee table books & magazines
Throw out newspapers, put away CDs & videos

Every Week:Dust all surfaces - electronics, books, blinds, picture frames, window sills & ledges, & tops of door frames; remove all cobwebs.
Dust, mop/vacuum floors
Vacuum upholstery (I honestly don't know what this means)
Throw out old magazine
Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, door jambs,
Shake out/vacuum doormat
Vacuum heating and AC vents

Every Season:
Wash insides of windows
Lift big furniture and vacuum underneath

BathroomEvery Day:

Wipe out sink
Wipe the toilet seat and rim
Swoosh toilet bowl with brush
Wipe mirror & faucet
Spray the entire shower and curtain with shower mist after every use (prevents soap scum build up and a mildewy smell if your shower curtain starts to smell mildewy....ours did and it drove me nuts. I would wash the curtain like every week or every other week...the shower mist cleaner stuff really helped! and the off brand (called Daily Shower Cleaner) is only like $2.50)

Every Week: Scrub the tub
Scrub the tiles
Mop the floor
Wipe the switch plates, door knob and door jambs
Empty and wipe out the waste basket

Every Season: Take down the shower curtain and launder according to care instructions
Empty, weed and clean out the medicine cabinet

BedroomEveryday:

Make the bed
Straighten up nightstands
Put away laundry
Put away jewelry
Every Week:Strip bed and wash sheets, pillow cases, etc.  (I usually do this every other week - we don't have a back up set of sheets yet so I feel like this is a bit ambitious to do EVERY week...I hope that's not gross)
Sweep, mop, vacuum the floor
dust all surfaces
throw out old magazines
wipe the switchplates, door knobs, and door jambs
empty the waste basket
vacuum the heating and ac vents and inside of the closet

Every SeasonFlip the mattress
wash insides of the windows
launder matress pad and dust ruffle

I know this doesn't tackle things like: the patio, dining room, office area - but it's a great start! Once I've started the daily list, it's easy to see what needs to be taken care of in the dining room (like clearing off the table, vacuuming up crumbs), the office area (I mainly just 'straighten up' and throw away old ads, eventually it will get a "deep clean" and I will declutter), and patio (spray it down with a hose). 

A big plus to this list: once you get used to it, you can clean the apt in 20-30 mins which leaves lots of time to have fun doing other things and it's a great routine to get into! I'm convinced that since I'm so used to this now, that when we have a house I won't get completely overwhelmed when I clean the house. :)

But the biggest plus of it all: The hubster appreciates it a lot and it's makes my heart very joyful and happy knowing this!

Happy Cleaning!

A Godly Woman

I would really like to write more. Not on any one thing in particular, but just simply write more. I remember when I would write constantly, whether it be a poem, a story, or rambles - but I don't do that any more and there's really no reason for it. With this desire, I encountered writer's block [[naturally]], so I went exploring through my computer to see things that I have written in the past [[but not necessarily published]] since nothing exciting is really happening in our lives here. I came across a document about being a godly woman, so I decided I would share it.

As a young Christian woman, I am encouraged to be a [more] godly woman as I continue my walk with Christ through this life. And while the phrase, command, and/or encouragement to "be a godly woman" is in itself a wonderful thing, it is also very vague. So I took some time with the help of the Bible & the Holy Spirit to make a little reminder sheet as to what a godly woman is.
Let's start with reading Provers 31:10-30

"10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

This section of Scripture gives women a very straight forward model of a godly woman, though it's rare that this is easy to do. I find it to be an encouragement most days and proof that I just don't measure up on others [[Thank the Lord for His abundant mercy and grace and is everlasting, unconditional love]]!  Using this as a starting point, I went through and found other references [[I did NOT pick out all of the references - I tend to get overwhelmed easily when researching things or moving forward with a project in general]] and came up with the following:

A Godly Woman…

• Seeks to be holy in conduct
- she fears the Lord - she seeks His will over above all else-1 Corinthians 10:31      "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." -Leviticus 19:2        "...be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy."
• Seeks to be modest in dress
  -God emphasizes beauty of character
  -1 Timothy 2:9-10
       "9I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."
• Seeks to be gentle and quiet
  -2 Timothy 2:24
       "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful"
  -1 Peter 3:4
       "Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
• Seeks to care for her home
  -Titus 2:4-5
        "Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
  -she has a home that is open and hospitable and is given to ministry to the sick, the needy and less fortunate.
• Seeks to be a person who can be trusted
  -Proverbs 31:11-12
       "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."
• Seeks to serve others
  -has learned and knows the love of Christ for others
  -Proverbs 31:20
       "She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy."
   
• Seeks to be prudent in financial matters
  -She is a saver, not a spender
  -She can see beyond today on her own
  -Proverbs 31:16
       "She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard."
•  Seeks to be a hard worker
  -There is no laziness or lack of motivation in her
  -She recognizes the value God has placed on hard work
  -Proverbs 31:17
       "She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks."
• Seeks to internalize Biblical wisdom
  -Proverbs 31:26
       "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue."
  -The Word is in her heart and in her life, so it comes out of her mouth. When it does, it is dressed in the Spirit, gentle and kind.
• Seeks to do what is right and have a good reputation
  -Proverbs 31:23
        "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land."
  -1 Timothy 3:7
         "He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."
  
• She is a blessing to all
  -Proverbs 31:28
       "28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."

I wish that I had more Scripture references written down for this project, but I guess that just gives me a project to complete at some point in time. I hope that this was a blessing and an encouragement to any ladies who happen to read this; above all, may the Lord be magnified through this.

Have a great week!
S

Meal Planning

If you're a newlywed like I am, you may struggle with meal planning as I have. Unfortunately, I forget grace to myself so when I would plan in my head to do something, when I would get home from work we usually didn't have all the ingredientsand then we would end up eating dinner at 8 or 9 PM....which is LATE! Thankfully, my friend Ashleigh introduced me to meal planning and a fun way to do it too! Enter the Menu Board.

Now, apparently, this is old news - my mom informed me that she used to do this all the time! She thought I already new. :) Anyways, this board is really easy to make and it's brilliant.

All you need is:

 an 8x10 picture frame

a piece of scrapbook paper; whichever color/print you'd like

letter stickers

decorative stickers (optional)

a dry erase marker.

Directions:

Make sure that your scrapbook paper is cut down to 8x10 and then put it in the picture frame.

On the glass of the frame, using the letter stickers, add the word: "MENU" (or whatever you want it to read - MEAL TIME, MEALS, GRUB, etc.)

Then on the left side of the frame, add letters to signify the days of the week.

Add additional decorative stickers if you'd like. And you're done!
Just write on the glass with a dry erase marker, and you've got a nice dry erase menu board that can be made for under $10!

Another thing that I have found to really help with this is this spread sheet of sorts frm theprojectgirl.com:

This is absolutely fantastic - and I have no idea why I didn't think of it before I found this! It's a printout to help organize the weeks shopping list - not only does it help with meal planning, but it helps the entire grocery store trip not be overwhelming or excessively long since it's broken down into department. I actually enjoy going to the grocery store now, which is something I used to HATE doing. And I mess up dinner a lot less now that I'm planning more adequately and intelligently.
I hope that this helps anyone who may be struggling with overwhelming grocery store trips or making dinner :)

Happy dinners!
S

1 year!

A year ago today, at this time, I was sitting in the lobby of the Montage with my mom, bridesmaids, friend/make up artist/hairstylist, and one of Anthony's co-workers (also a hair stylist) awaiting my room to be ready (which was late) so that we could start getting ready for my WEDDING! Today I look back on this past year and see how faithful and loving God has been, is and always will be. We've had our ups and downs this year, but all for the better. We made some big decisions, moved to a new state, started a new church, are presently fostering a bunny (we can officially adopt her on November 21!), but most importantly grew in Christ together and trusted Him more than we have in the past. So I felt it only necessary to share something that has been a great tool in our marriage, though I wish I had gone through it more regularly than I have.

Shortly before we were married, it may even been right after we got engaged, my in-laws gave Tony & I a prayer card each. Mine reads: Lifting My Husband Through Prayer; his reads: Lifting My Wife Through Prayer. You can get these cards for $0.99 at FamilyLife.com and are perfect to tuck into your bible as a reminder to pray for your spouse during your quiet time!

I will share with you a little of what is on mine, I don't know where Tony's is, so I can't share that - but I would GREATLY encourage buying it from FamilyLife.com where you can have all of it on it - they have such great resources there! In fact, they would be nice to get for a part of a gift :)

[I won't give everything listed on my card; it's quite descriptive and provides a LOT of Scritpture references]

"Lord, I lift my husband to You today and pray, according to Your Word, that:

• You give him strength to lead, time to know his family, and a passion to manage his home.
• You bless his work and show him daily how to honor You in his attitude and spirit; confirm the work of his hands unto Your purpose.
• He will be a wise steward of our finances and all we possess, remembering that all things are Yours and entrusted to us for Your purposes.
• He will love You with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and hate evil.
• He will be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger
• You protect him physically, mentally and spiritually
• You give him the desire to teach and model a godly lifestlye for his children.
• You will instruct him and teach him in the way he should go; give him peace in the circumstances and integrity in decisions he must face today.
• He would meditate day and night on Your Word, pray without ceasing and stay faithful to Christ to the end.
• He would develop strong relationships with other godly men."

On the back of my card it has a section that says: Praying for myself as a wife and The Powe of Prayer. The first is an excerpt from The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian (c)1997, page 45 and the second reference says Ibid., 13-23 [I'm not entirely sure of what that means...]

Again, I would highly suggest checking it out:
Lifting My Husband Through Prayer
Lifting My Wife Through Prayer

Proverbs 31:10 and an Exceeding Amount of Grace!

"An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels."

-Proverbs 31:10

     This verse is amazing in my life, and not amazing in the sense that is used today to describe something cool, but amazing in the sense that it is startlingly impressive- Amazing in the strongest form there is. An excellent wife is a challenge, an exceedingly difficult woman to find. In one verions I have, the word rare  is used instead of precious. She is more rare than jewels - and please keep in mind the time of which this was written. They couldn't go to the store and find a diamond ring or a ruby necklace - the people of that time had to search hard and work hard to find them. They were not easily accessible, they were not easy to find. It was a challenge. On top of that, jewels were not things that were just tossed around willy-nilly. They were kept well; cherished; they were precious and treated as such. An excellent wife is rare & precious. She was rare in Old Testament times, how much more rare is she today?

    I have to admit, when Tony tells me that I'm an excellent wife I feel like he's being cheated in some way. The definition of excellent  is: possessing outstanding quality or superior merit; remarkably good; extremely good; extraordinary; superior. These are things I often do not believe of myself. Extremely good?  Psalms 14:3 & 53:3 say "...there is none who does good, not even one". In Mark 10 verse 18 Jesus makes the same claim, though stated differently as a response to a man seeking eternal life, "And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." I often times feel far from the Proverbs 31 woman, let alone an "excellent wife. I don't alawys have the best attitude, my mind gets distracted with plans of the future - our plans of 'grandeur', I don't keep the house sparkly clean, I forget to plan/make dinner, I can be high maintenance and difficult, I'm not always motivated to serve my husband how I am called to by God. I have this idea of what an "excellent wife" should be, partly guided from Proverbs 31, partly guided by my ideas of perfectionism. I am no where near what an "excellent wife" should be. But, what a beautiful act of grace to my life! Despite all my imperfections and the fact that I fall short of my version of the excellent wife, my wonderful, amazing, loving Hubster stills sees me that way. He looks at me and sees past my faults, sees through my insecurities and sees a Proverbs 31 woman. In that, I have hope that I can be the woman God has created me to be, I can be the wife He has created to me, and (Lord willing), I'll be able to be the mommy He created me to be.  And even more, in that one act of grace from my Hubster, I know God better - God sees past my imperfections, my short comings, my struggles, my sinfulness - He looks at me and sees Christ's righteousness as my own. He sees me the way He created me to be and the way I cannot fully be until the day Christ returns and I am with my Father in Heaven. Oh precious is this grace!