Stranger

Ever since Reed has started working at Starbucks, I find myself often coming to work on Saturday mornings at his store. Coffee shops offer the best "people watching" experiences. You see SO many different types of people who come in. Moms, kids, old men, girl friends, guy friends, couples, teens, and the occasional working professional.

Paleo Diet

Reed and I have been trying the Paleo diet for the past month to try and eat healthier and more naturally. I definitely know that not everyone is "pro" paleo and most people think we're a little "crazy", but we've seen a lot of great benefits (energy, less hunger, no bloated feelings after a meal, etc.)

This is one of our favorite recipes so far (I think the chili pepper flakes are really what gives it a bang). Thought I would share :)

Meat loaf with mushrooms recipe

Serves 5

Ingredients

• 2 lb ground beef (you may substitute with ground pork);
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt;
• 1 tsp ground black pepper;
• 1 egg;
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped;
• 2 cups white button mushrooms, finely chopped;
• 1 tsp chili pepper flakes;
• 3 tsp fresh thyme, minced;
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, minced;
• 3 cloves garlic, minced;
• ½ cup homemade ketchup;
• 1 tbsp honey, optional;
• ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce, optional;
• 1 tbsp paleo cooking fat;

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium sized skillet placed over a medium heat, melt the cooking fat, add the mushrooms and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until soft.
3. In a large bowl, combine the meat, salt, pepper, egg, onion, mushrooms, chili pepper, thyme, oregano and garlic. Mix well, makng sure to break-up the meat. Add the cooked mushrooms as well. It’s very important that the mushrooms are evenly distributed to ensure the loaf bonds well.
4. Lightly grease loaf pan with additional cooking fat and fill it with the meat mixture. Place in the oven and cook for approximately 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ketchup, honey and Worcestershire sauce to make the sauce for the top of the meatloaf.
6. After cooking for 15 minutes, gently spread the sauce on the top of the loaf.
7. Continue cooking for another 40 minutes.

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-meat-loaf/

Words

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. I know that I technically didn't shoot it in February, but I still think it counts.

Psalm 1

1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

My View Today

The view from the 12th floor at work...

February Photo Challenge

I saw this on a blog I was reading and I thought it would be really cool, especially since I've been MIA from the blogging sphere for a while. I thought it would be a great way to get back into posting about life so that this blog can have a purpose...which I'm hoping will be a way for friends near and far to stay connected to us.

Life in May

Wow - there have been so many life changes in May for us!

Reed graduated on May 14th and I honestly was teary when he walked across, which is so odd for me cause I'm not a usually hugely sentimental person. But I guess it was just the significance of his walk and journey through school. It wasn't the typically get in and out within 4 or maybe 5 years. Nope, he started this process when he was 18 and is now completing it at 27. And that's not a bad thing at all. God has used that time in some incredible and amazing ways. Reed and I wouldn't be married today if it wasn't for this "journey" in his life. Also, Reed wouldn't be the man he is today if he hadn't been refined through this undergrad journey. I can't even describe it, it just is truly amazing how much God has refined Reed into an amazing man through this whole process.

Now that he's done with this path of the journey, we've kind of been at a loss for what the next step is. Reed has been looking for jobs for months with no avail. He's even had some amazing interviews, where he really felt good about the job, but he keeps getting the response that he doesn't have enough experience. It's the "2 years of experience spiral". If no one gives you a job because you don't have experience, then you never end up getting the experience you need to in order to get a job at all. We know that God will provide for us, but during this time of job hunting we've seen lots of closed doors. So with that, we've started to look into grad school and found a masters in journalism program at UNT that has specific specializations in News, Media, and PUBLISHING. For those of you that may not know, that's Reed's dream job. We're really excited about the possibility of him going to pursue his passion and dream. Even if it takes another two years, its well worth it if it puts him in a position to get the job he wants.

So now its time to just pray and be diligent in the application process to grad school. We also are praying for patience in our hearts. We feel ready to move on to "next steps" in our lives, but are wondering if we should hold off on things like a family until grad school is over. These are really hard things to work out and its really hard to know when we're being cautious about having a family in a wise way, or if we are ignoring God's calling. Either way, we need clarity and peace. We need to not worry about what's next, but look at where we are with assurance that we're right where we are supposed to be, in God's hands.

Weight Loss

I know, its a touchy topic cause all of us girls feel like we need to lose weight, but if you mention you want to, people are convinced you have a low self esteem and that you should just "love yourself the way you are".

Well, I'm not fine with the way I am because I'm officially overweight and I'm ready to do something about it. I've felt like this for a while and have done really good for a couple of weeks and then back slid. I think the back slides happen mostly because I was keeping myself accountable with, well, myself. And that never really works.

With that I want to get back to a healthy weight for my height, build, etc. I don't want to be a crazy 120 pounder, but I want to lost about 17 pounds.

Wow.

That's a lot. Ugh. I recently looked at some pictures of myself and realized that I have a skewed perception of myself. I keep thinking of myself as that fit 19 year old. But the fact is I can't stay fit and at a good weight without working a lot harder at it. I sit at a desk for 8-11 hours a day (sure I get up to go to the restroom, but I don't know that that really counts) and I'm starting to realize I can't eat the same way I did when I was 19 and a lot more active. Also, I need to start exercising and just getting my overall health back.

So here's to my May resolution. I'm also putting a status tracker on my blog to help you guys (anyone who still reads this) track my progress. I think that will give me a little bit of healthy motivation knowing you guys are tracking my progress...eek!

Okay, thanks for listening...I just needed to get that out there.