being thankful

happy day after the day of thanks! 

today i am praying that you would be just as thankful as you were yesterday. i want to live everyday as if it was thankgiving. [minus the over-eating]

this year i am thankful for:

- season of engagement 

- living in kappa delta for the last time

- may 14 [becoming a wife to my favorite]

- honeymoon in san diego

- summer in cincy

- student teaching experience

- soon to come, graduation

but most of all, i am thankful for my faith, husband, family and friends. i am thankful for my Sovereign, Loving Father. i am thankful to serve a God whose love is unfailing. right now my prayer is for a hunger to praise and serve the Lord to a deeper level. i pray this not only for myself but for those around me, including you who read this. i pray that the Lord would give us a desire to celebrate him in a deeper, more meaningful way this Christmas season. praying that you would remember the meaning, even among the stress and preparation. 

just around the corner

there are a few things that are right around the corner
1) thanksgiving/cody's birthday the 27th
2) graduation
3) Christmas

and all 3 will come extremely fast [as usual]

1) thanksgiving - im ready for thanksgiving. were going to spend it with my family in the fork. it will be a nice break before the end of the semester.  i am looking forward to focusing these next couple days on what i am thankful for. shouldn't this be a lifestyle?

and i am ready for cody's birthday. he received his present of a HOT flannel shirt this afternoon because i couldn't wait until sunday. when i got home from the store this afternoon, i was so excited about his gift that i directly said to him "i'm so excited to give you your new shirt" within two minutes of walking in the door. [apparently i've been around kindergarteners too long. see story below]

2. graduation - not sure that i am ready for this one. mainly because i am starting to get sad about leaving my wonderful kindergarteners. seriously. love them to pieces. reality of this started last friday. i was gone in the morning and when i returned to school, i was greeted with joy and hugs. the teacher informed me that she made the announcement to the class while i was gone that i would be leaving soon. shortly after coming inside from recess, the students were putting their coats away and i was standing about 10 feet away when i hear "we can't tell her what we made. ITS A SURPRISE" then about a minute later the same girl tells me they made something for me but can't tell me what it is because it's a surprise. now every time i teach or even walk into the room they all exclaim "MRS. ANDERSON!" and look at me as if they will never see me again. i realize graduating means i'm one step closer to having my own classroom but it still makes me sad to leave these kiddos.

graduation also means an unexpected trip to new mexico. cody and i are both graduating in december. originally we planned only attending my graduation ceremony since we were already in nebraska. but a few weeks ago, new mexico state university called cody wanting to order his grad gown. this is how cody found out that he will be graduating with HIGHEST HONORS for the college of engineering!! i am so so proud of my husband for not only receiving this award but his humble attitude after finding out. his praise was directed towards our Heavenly Father for giving him the wisdom and strength to make it to that position. again, i am extremely, beyond words grateful for my husband. [and if you were wondering, our graduations are different weekends so we will both be able to walk]

3) Christmas....decorating ideas are coming. but i feel my thoughts can wait. let's respect thanksgiving.

6 months

exactly 6 months ago on monday was the best day of my life.
this man became my husband....

[isn't he SO handsome?!]

even though it was only 6 months, we were excited to reach the second mini-milestone (the 1st month being the 1st). he bought me beautiful flowers and a bottle of wine. we went out to dinner at granite city [yumm] and then watched a movie [the hoilday]. it was relaxing yet wonderful. these past 6 months have been some of the best. words cannot express how grateful i am to walk alongside this Godly man. he encourages me. he is one of the most patient people i know. he serves others as much as he can and always puts himself last. i am thankful to be so blessed. 

experimenting with pumpkin

my mother-in-law is infamous for her pumpkin bars. one of the only demands from my husband is that i learn how to make these pumpkin bars. one key step is that she uses homemade pumpkin. so, my afternoon has been spent experimenting different how to puree pumpkin.

first i searched online and tried to find the best way (or the way i liked). basically i found you can bake or boil. so i am trying both.
here are the two websites that i found most helpful:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/recipes/Homemade-Pumpkin-Puree

http://chefinyou.com/2009/10/pumpkin-puree-recipe/

i also used http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-puree/detail.aspx to read reviews

so, what i did was first clean the pumpkins off/out. (with the help of the mr.)

then cut the pumpkin into smaller pieces [i thought this would help make it faster...]

then i put some in the oven....

i had it in for about an hour. 

[turns out, the larger piece in the pyrex cooked better. the skin peeled right off!]

[[and after experimenting with the different batches, it worked the best to add some water in the pan]]

while the pumpkin was going in the oven, i had a batch boiling on the stove

i liked boiling the best. took about half the time and turned out very nicely. (20-30 minutes)

once it was soft, i peeled and used the hand mixer to puree it. then i had to used my sifter to drain some of the water.

the end product? five bags half full. so im guessing about 12 cups of puree.

now to find pumpkin recipes!...any suggestions??

Harry Potter

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."
-Stephan King

i'll be there for you

how are we feeling? much better, thank you! cody still has some congestion but thankfully not as intense as the weekend. it took me most of the weekend to feel better. yesterday i was so busy during the day that i forgot i felt tired. funny how that works.

highlights of the sick weekend:
building a fort in our living room.

we were sick so it might not be a castle. it still made watching movies/tv in said fort a bit more enjoyable. 

now for the best part of the sick weekend....... :]

getting cody hooked on the tv show FRIENDS!

i knew it wasn't going to be difficult. 

it was only a matter of time. 

here is a clip from one of the episodes that we watched: 

BONUS: this is one of my many favorites: 

(i tried and tried to post the video but couldn't figure it out. so PLEASE click the link and giggle)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf5sbeEQQec

first time

just like they say, there is a first time for everything. today's first time for cody and i is that we are both are sick. it started last night. his throat was sore and started with a cough. for me, my stomach hurt a little so i thought i just needed to use the bathroom. and i did...all night. so today has consisted of rest, rest, rest.

not only does it stink to be sick but stinks that we are both sick. every other time, one of us is healthy and are able to take care of the other. thankfully, cody doesn't feel as yuck as i do so he has been able to do more than me. he is so great.

what else stinks about being sick? a messy apartment