5 Months ago yesterday was my very favorite day ever. The
day I became a wife to my Godly, handsome, and silly Groom. I have LOVED being
a wife and often answer the obligatory question, “How’s married life?” with
“It’s way easier than dating!” Ha! But seriously, we have found a really sweet
rhythm of married life and have found that no longer having to coordinate
schedules to see each other or having to say goodbye every night has made for a
much simpler [and less emotional] life.
I LOVE being a wife and have found such joy in getting to do
all of the “wifely duties” like cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, etc. I
experienced some serious anxiety leading up to the wedding, afraid that I would
be a terrible homemaker and wife. Trust me when I say I have a LONG way to go,
but we haven’t starved yet, we have made our house a home, and our clothes are clean. I’d
call that a success. Ha! I am honored to be Darin's wife and love finding ways to love and serve him in a tangible way.
Cooking...
Before we got married I had NO experience in the
kitchen…like seriously the extent of my cooking ability started and ended with
pouring cereal. It was embarrassing to be honest. With my lack of experience
came a surplus of anxiety and insecurity that made the idea of cooking every night DAUNTING. That was another
misconception of marriage and cooking I quickly learned was false…I do not cook every single night. Some weeks
we are hardly home and find ourselves in a rhythm of eating out, out of
necessity and some weeks I have a weeks worth of meal plans ready to be
executed and a refrigerator stocked with food. AND we have a weekly tradition
of eating Chipotle every Monday. Like EVERY Monday. We’re a little obsessed,
but we’re okay with that. In the 5 months we have been married, I have actually
grown quite fond of the kitchen. Every time I make a meal, regardless of how
simple or elaborate it may be, I am able to serve Darin in a very tangible way.
I LOVE that about cooking.
During our first few weeks of marriage, I became an expert
at Crockpot meals. Ha! Because I was so afraid of messing up in the kitchen, I
knew that if I could throw everything into one bowl and cook it all day long,
there were very limited opportunities for me to mess up. This guarantee and the
flexibility of preparing meals the night before definitely helped ease me into
being a wife AND working full time as a student teacher. After several Crockpot
meals however, I grew tired of how similarly each meal tasted. SO I ventured to
other meals with the help of some go-to websites:
http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/
http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/
And of course, my list would not be complete without
including the ultimate “go-to,” my friend Pinterest. Ha! But seriously, I have
discovered such yummy recipes through these websites and have had some
delicious success with them!
Some of our Favorite Go-To Meals Have Been:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches (with pita pockets)
- Baked Potatoes Loaded with Vegetables and Diced Ham
- Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Goat Cheese
- Chicken Fajitas
- Waffles and Egg Sandwiches
- Smoothies and Cereal (just keeping things real)
- Cheesy Tortellini Crockpot Soup
We have also LOVED using our steamer and often load up on
asparagus, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and corn on the cob. YUM.
Moving away from the kitchen, it has also been SO fun to
help make our house a home. As I look around our family room and see NO
pictures on the walls, I recognize that I haven’t necessarily excelled in this
department, but now as a GRADUATE enjoying summertime, I have plans to decorate
soon! My favorite decorated rooms
in the house right now are our bedroom and our bathroom. The kitchen is fun
too, but I have more plans to decorate it.
In the last five months, we also got hooked on New Girl and Alias. We LOVE both of these shows and rolled through all five seasons of Alias (I'm still grieving that the show is over) and are waiting for the latest season of New Girl to go on Amazon Prime. We also watched the newest season of 24 and have watched a few episodes of Lost, Friends, and The Office, but nothing quite compares to Alias. I have serious attachment issues and I am okay with that.
Now for a quick catch up since these last 5 months have
FLOWN by!
We went on our honeymoon along the Pacific Coast Highway (that deserves it’s own blog post) and it was PERFECT.
I started student teaching and my FINAL semester of college.
Whoa! (more to come about that)
I FINALLY got my hair chopped!
We celebrated our first married Valentine’s Day…or
Valentine’s Day weekend. We celebrated Valentine’s Day introvert style and it
was awesome! The night before Valentine’s Day we had a fancy meal at a yummy
restaurant and dessert at one of our favorite hidden gems, Aglamesis Brothers.
On Valentine’s Day, we stayed in ALL day and it was fantastic. Ha! We had
waffles with homemade strawberry syrup and enjoyed a super lazy Saturday together. Totally our style.
Then on Sunday, Darin had a surprise adventure to Hawking Hills, Indiana to stay
in a cute little cabin. It was SO cute and SUPER fun…but our plans were cut a
little short as a HUGE snowstorm was expected to hit the tri-state the next
morning. Our adventure was short, but it sure was sweet!
The Snow DID Come
Speaking of snow...we had a LOT of it this winter. So much
snow that I enjoyed a VERY lazy snow week and several other snow days
throughout my student teaching. Every snow day was a gift that I savored!
We saw Ben Rector in concert…twice. I’m a BIG fan of Ben
Rector. If you haven’t heard his music, stop reading this right now and look
him up. His songs are just happy and sweet. In March, Rachel and Jeremy asked
us to go with them to one of his concerts at Asbury University in Lexington. I
figured the venue would be small, but was psyched when I realized just how
small it was. At one point, Rachel and I snuck up towards the stage and giggled
so much at how goofy we were and how close we were to Ben. We were THOSE girls
and it made my heart happy.
And then in May, our friends Jess and Eric invited us to go
to a concert called Tour De Compadres, featuring Ben Rector, Needtobreathe, and
two other bands. We had a blast and Jess and I acted like silly schoolgirls
when Ben Rector took the stage. We couldn’t help ourselves. We love his music!
Two of our favorite people got engaged! Joshua and Felicia,
I love you two and am SUPER excited to celebrate your special day in August!
We took two cooking classes at The Learning Kitchen in West
Chester, OH and had a blast creating cuisine masterpieces. That may be a little
dramatic, but we had a great time and really learned a lot! Our first class we
learned how to make gnocchi, which was quite an experience and our second class
we learned how to make pork chops (or as Darin likes to call them, po chos), potatoes, and snap peas. YUM!
My Sweet Love of a Husband had a birthday. When you’re as
amazing as he is, you get a month long celebration…and not just because it’s
March Madness. At the beginning of March, our sweet friends Jeremy and Carlie
planned a surprise birthday party for Darin with their family and two of our other favorite families, the Judd’s and the Hart’s. I loved that time with those
sweet people and loved celebrating my man’s life with them.
The day before Darin’s Birthday, I surprised him with a trip
to Lexington with clue cards throughout the day. We had lunch at Cane’s, yummy
and huge cookies from Insomnia Cookies, walked around and read at UK’s
Arboretum, went to Southland, ate dinner at Coba Cocina, got gelato, AND
finished the night with Krispy Kreme…we both had stomachaches after, but it was
worth it. Ha! I love celebrating my Sweet Love and am so honored to be his
wife!
On his actual Birthday, Linda, Page, and the girls surprised
us at church. What a sweet surprise that was! We loved all being together to
celebrate the one and only amazing Darin!
Spring Break happened…that deserves it’s own blog. But let
me just say three words about it. IT. WAS. AMAZING.
Mom took a job at Southeast Christian Church. I am still adjusting to the idea of Mom and Dad moving to Louisville, but I am really excited to see what God has in store for them there. Mom has already started and is LOVING it and Dad will join her as soon as their house sells. Speaking of which, if you know of anyone looking for a beautiful house in Northern Kentucky, let me know. Ha!
For Darin's birthday, I got us tickets to see Tim Hawkins perform. He was hilarious and we laughed the whole night...he even did an impromptu set about newlyweds at our expense. It was awesome! I love laughing with my Sweet Love.
We met our fur-niece, Koa. Rachel and Jeremy got Koa a few
weeks ago and OH MY GOODNESS, I am obsessed. She is seriously too cute for
words. I’ll show you a picture and you’ll understand what I’m talking about…
Am I Right or What?
I finished student teaching and GRADUATED!
Well that is certainly an abridged version of life the last
5 months and a glimpse at the highlights. Mixed in with these highlights were
many days of working full time, figuring out life together, sleep deprivation,
stress, and lots of laughter, love, and joy. Now for many, many more 5 months together…
