Wedding Talk

Can I just take a minute to share with all of you how much I loved Kate Middleton's wedding dress! She always looks really classy, so I knew that it would be beautiful, but oh my goodness! I fell in love, and I want to wear that dress right this minute!

I didn't see the dress until today, because I went to an English tea party at a friend's house, where we dressed up, ate scones, drank tea out of pretty china cups, and of course...watched the wedding ceremony.

I think I loved the dress so much because it was a flawless combination of classic and modern bridal styles. But since I'm an old soul, I definitely appreciated the traditional silhouette most. As I watched her walk down the isle, I kept having visions of Maria in the Sound of Music and Grace Kelly. Kate's dress definitely reflected both of these very classic designs. I think the gorgeous lace sleeves and full, but sleek skirt made her look like true royalty.

I realize that this post is centered on a somewhat surface, perhaps frivolous, topic. But every once in a while, I like to embrace some of the fun things about being a girl. And that includes admiring incredible wedding dresses and dreaming of being a princess myself. After all, EVERY girl is a princess, right! :-)

My Savior Lives!

Happy Easter to each and every one of you! I hope you had a blessed day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! During worship at church this morning, it struck my heart afresh how glorious is the gift that Jesus bestowed upon those who trust in Him. The words of one song in particular touched my spirit, making me want to cry at the cost of my salvation, but also rejoice at my God's victory over death and the mercy He shows to me.

"You came near, from the everlasting to the world we live…The Father's only Son. You lived, You died, You rose again on high. You opened the way for the world to live again. Hallelujah for all You've done!"

I always love this song, but it has a special meaning on Easter, as we recognize what Jesus did for us and why we should live to bring Him glory. He conquered the grave and made a public spectacle of sin. He deserves every ounce of our praise!

Following that brief little "sermon" (haha!), I want to share some photos from our Easter celebration. Unfortunately, I didn't have my act together enough to get pictures with much food in them. But you'll get to see the blank canvas of our buffet tables. Ryan and I had a blast with many of our church friends, who joined us after the service for a resurrection Sunday brunch. We had ham, creamy potatoes, deviled eggs, muffins, and more scrumptious foods. It was wonderful hosting such a fun get-together, especially with our house back in order. As you’ll see in the pictures, Ryan finished installing our wood floors and baseboard this weekend. He's so great :-)!

I hope you enjoy these few pictures. Happy Easter again! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Table #1 with yummy deviled eggs

Table #2 with plates ready to go

Close-up of the pretty flowers

I had to get another close-up of the flowers. I loved the spring colors!

An "after" shot of our ham :-)

Our sitting room, looking lovely with finished wood floors. Thank God for handy husbands!

¡Deliciosa!

Here's something that many of you may not know about me. I looooooove food, but I am not a huge fan of cooking. That presents a problem now that I no longer live with my parents, as I have to make my own meals, in addition to meals for my husband. It also doesn't help that Ryan is a much more picky eater than I am. I often get frustrated and discouraged when I'm planning a weekly dinner menu for us. I feel like I get stuck in a rut with the meals that I make, and I find myself longing for variety.

That's why I was thrilled to hear that some friends of ours were hosting a "Food-from-around-the-World" party. This would give me the chance to make something different and strengthen my culinary skills! I struggled for a long time over what to make. I wanted it to be somewhat appetizing for my picky hubby, but I also didn't want something boring. I thought about Mexican food, since good Mexican food is almost impossible to come by in Florida. I considered making a Swedish cookie that is traditional for my family at Christmas. But then I finally decided on a main dish that stemmed from my fond memories of my family's visit to Spain: paella.

Initially, I wanted to make the paella with chicken, sausage and shrimp, but wanting to appeal to the largest number of taste buds, I chose to exclude the seafood. If you do like shrimp, I would highly suggest using it if you decide to attempt this very yummy, but very easy Spanish dish.

Because I push things to the very last minute, I was lucky to find a quick recipe for paella on allrecipes.com that I altered just slightly (love that website!). And to my pleasant surprise, it turned out quite "deliciosa" and fairly traditional from what I remembered of paella in lovely España.

So if you face the same struggles that I do with your weekly dinner assortment, add some Spanish flair to your dinnertime with this paella recipe.

Ingredients:
4 oz. chorizo
2 chicken breasts (cubed)
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup peas
1/2 stalk celery with leaves
1 clove garlic
1 cup rice
1 can diced tomatoes (juice reserved)
1 or 2 dried bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine

Fry chorizo in a skillet and remove. Fry the cubed chicken in the same skillet and remove. Saute garlic, onion, and other vegetables until tender. Then stir in the rice, tomatoes, chopped bay leaves, salt, oregano, and turmeric. Cook and stir for about 1 minute, then add the tomato juice, chicken broth, and white wine. Add the chicken, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the chorizo, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Then....enjoy! (Serves 4-5 people)

New Floors!

The old, very ugly tile

This past weekend, Ryan and I decided to finally part ways with our old, white, cracked, ugly ceramic tile and install new hardwood flooring! Though we still have to finish the transitional areas and put in new baseboard, I am already so pleased with the results of Ryan's hard work (Yes, it was all him... I did nothing!).

Old kitchen

I have loved decorating our house and making it our own. But this is probably my favorite thing that we have done so far. It makes the entire house feel so much warmer, and it's not even finished yet.

New kitchen! It looks lighter in this pic because of the flash.

I can't wait to get the rest of the flooring in and get my house back in order, but I'm so thankful that we were able to say "bye bye" to the old tile! So even if it means that I have to deal with a little more chaos within the next week, I'll take it for the end result of shiny wood floors!

I love it!

Back to Blogging

After almost three months away from the blogging scene, I have decided to make a very belated New Years resolution and commit to writing on my blog more regularly. I think I pressure myself into writing something extraordinarily entertaining or inspirational EVERY time I complete a new post. So instead of trying to think of something incredible to write, I avoid blogging altogether. But I have to remember my main reason for even creating a blog... to keep my friends, family and loved ones in tune with what is happening in my life and to share little insights and experiences along the way. So with that in mind, I am launching back into blogging.

Since it has been a while since I've visited my own blog, I have a wide variety of updates. Don't worry, I'm not going to share everything at once. Baby steps :-).

The first thing I'm going to start with is my recent graduation from college. That's right, I have been an official college graduate since December 10, 2010! I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about it. At first, it didn't even really hit me that I finally had my degree. I decided not to walk in the graduation ceremony since my family couldn't be here and because I didn't have any close friends graduating with me. But Ryan let me know how proud he was of me by giving me a new scarf and a new camera case. He made sure that I couldn't tear into the presents too quickly by wrapping them entirely with tape. He's so ornery but so cute too :-). My family also treated me to a nice dinner when I visited them in Colorado after Christmas. It felt fabulous to celebrate my long-awaited accomplishment with the people I love!

It feels amazing to be done with school and to be part of the real working world. I am currently working for a company in Tampa, helping to write and edit proposals. It's a temporary position, but it has been fantastic experience. I've also been fortunate enough to gain writing experience by doing projects for my dad's company in Colorado. I'm hoping that these projects will help to build my resume so I can eventually work from home, doing freelance writing for a variety of companies. To keep fresh on my creative writing skills, I have also been contributing articles to a local magazine called Positive Impact. Visit their website if you're interested. It's really an awesome publication: www.positiveimpactmagazine.com. In the midst of everything, I'm trying to trust God above all and see where he wants to lead me in my career.

Speaking of God, I have to take the last bit of this post to give Him all the credit for the immense amount of blessings in my life. When I moved to Florida, I was afraid that I would fall behind in school and have trouble finding jobs after graduation. Instead, He led me to a school where I got a degree that will probably be more helpful to me than the one I had originally chosen. And He has handed me one opportunity after another to follow my passion for writing. Why do I ever question His faithfulness and goodness? He reminds me over and over again to take my favorite Bible verse to heart: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

I hope you all are experiencing His love and blessings in your lives. I am glad to be back in blog world so I can keep up with all of you as well!