one.

On Monday, Cori and I hit a milestone- one year of marriage!  Our big celebration is the vacation we're getting ready to take- holler, cruise!- but we did a few things on Monday to mark the special day.

In the morning, I spent hours and hours making Cori a delicious, nutritious breakfast... and by that, I mean that I took cinnamon rolls out of the can and put them in the oven.

SO sweet- so many precious people sent us anniversary cards!

After work, we went out to dinner at a restaurant we've been hearing about since we moved here-the Columbia.  It was AMAZING!  Here's Cori with his half of our appetizer, delicious crab cakes!

Cori got mahi mahi and I ordered the lobster cannelloni.  Both were absolutely wonderful!

Our waiter brought us 'anniversary flan' and sang to us.  We also got to watch flamenco dancers!

:)

flowers and a poem from my sweet husband

I'm so thankful for this past year with my sweet husband.  Here's to many more!

the Gospel Coalition Women's Conference

  

This weekend I had the wonderful privilege of attending The Gospel Coalition's Women's Conference with some sweet girlfriends.  Lindsey, Akenia, Stephanie, and I left Tampa on Friday afternoon and made the hour and a half-ish trek to Orlando.  We were blessed to hear from fabulous speakers- Tim Keller, John Piper, and more- and spend quality time with each other.


I can be a slow processor sometimes, so it may be a while before I can fully write about what I learned.  I will say that I enjoyed how every speaker fully focused on Jesus and the importance, the beauty of seeing His face.  I was also encouraged that they acknowledged that life is hard; so often, I think Christians can pretend that being a Christian equals no more struggles or hardships.  The reality?  Life is rough.  But the beauty is that Jesus is our Advocate, our Rescuer.


...and, just a side note... I chopped off my hair.  It had gotten super long, but it's short again.  Pictures to come! :)

Menu Monday

I have loved following Rachel's Menu Monday posts and have found myself using a fair amount of her recipes or recipes from other people that link up.  Today, I'm finally joining in and am  excited to share some of the meals my husband and I have enjoyed this past week.  The amount of meals I cook varies week to week, depending on our schedules, energy levels, and leftovers.  This week I have 4 meals to share!  I'll go ahead and own it- this is not what we ate last week.  Due to work craziness, the last couple weeks have only included a few notable recipes, namely buffalo chicken garbage bread, which the husband LOVED.  So these meals are from a couple weeks back.


Our first meal of the week was beef stroganoff.  This was one of my favorite meals my mom would make when I was growing up.  It was perfect for us because 1. We have an abundance of egg noodles that we need to use up (still do- any suggestions?) and 2. Cori was still recovering from getting his wisdom teeth removed, so the consistency of the sauce, beef, and noodles was good for him- he got to eat a real meal, but it wasn't too rough on his mouth.  


The next two nights we tried new recipes, and they were both winners!


Basil marinated chicken.  Thanks to my friend Ruth for pinning this recipe and then sharing it on her blog!


Not the best picture, I know, but this was definitely yummy!  I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and actually doubled the marinade.  The only thing I would do differently would be to cut the chicken into smaller pieces before marinating it so the marinade could soak in a little more.  We paired it with asparagus (just sauteed it in olive oil and some garlic powder) and mashed potatoes.  






Hobo dinner.  I don't remember who posted this recipe, but I'm glad they did!


I worked at a day camp one summer in college and we would make these every week- the kids would help us peel and chop the carrots, potatoes, and onions, and then would choose what they wanted to put in the pack.  Throw it in the fire pit and voila- delicious meal!  I was so excited for a throwback to those days when I found this recipe, although we obviously cooked it in our oven and not in a fire pit. ;) Cori was admittedly pretty skeptical when I tried to describe to him what we were making, but when it came time to eat, he was a believer! 


Last, we had one of our fave meals that we discovered this year, Spaghetti Carbonara. Because my husband loves to have meat at dinner, I always mix in chicken (cut into chunks, sauteed with olive oil and garlic powder).  I also usually use low-sodium bacon; I don't think turkey bacon works the best with this recipe, but you've got to cut out fat somewhere!  I also drain at least half the fat from the bacon and add in an extra egg.  Seriously, I absolutely love this meal, and it doesn't hurt that it's super easy to make!


This is another busy week for us, so we'll see if I'm back next week. :)