3 Months

It's been three months since we got married. I count that as a big milestone because it is a fourth of a year. Time really has flown by, and I cannot believe its been 3 months.

It's been a pretty great summer, and I am ready for this Fall. Small group with church, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving... Good times are ahead. I know in no time it will be our 1st, 15th, and 50th anniversaries. And I am certainly looking forward to each milestone and moment in between.

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Last night, I made a dessert to take to a friend. I have been seeing this "Ice Cream Sandwich Cake" all over Pinterest and even at different events. It seemed like the perfect dessert for the blazing weather, and due to its need to freeze, it lends itself to being made ahead of time. Here is the inspiration recipe I found. I stuck to it fairly well. I changed up the toppings a bit, but the fun thing is you could really do anything. 

Layer the Ice Cream Sandwiches (5 1/2)

Next, spread hot fudge

Layer of Cool Whip

Rinse and Repeat

Hot Fudge

Cool Whip and Chocolate Syrup

Caramel Sauce for the Win!

This dessert was incredibly easy and took about 15-20 minutes to assemble, and the bulk of that time was simply unwrapping the sandwiches!

Here is the recipe:

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

11 Ice Cream Sandwiches in any flavor

1 Jar Hot Fudge (I used Hershey's)

1 Tub (pretty sure that is the technical name) Cool Whip. Just the regular size.

Toppings of your choice. I used Chocolate Syrup and Caramel. I feel any candy, sprinkles, or cookie would be quite delightful.

Assemble and freeze. :)

I look forward to this dessert being a summer staple.

*Almost* Wordless Wednesday

Pictures make me smile. And everyone and thing in these I love :)

updated

Funnest nieces ever. That's right "funnest."

aside from being possessed... so sweet.

At KINDERGARTEN meet the teach...

It's almost the weekend guys! Hope its been a blessed week. 

Focus

"Energy and time are precious, limited entities. Therefore, you need to use them wisely, focusing on what is truly important. As you walk close to Me, saturating your mind with Scripture, I will show you how to spend your time and energy. My Word is a lamp to your feet; My Presence is a Light for your path."

-Excerpt of Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

I read this, and it seemed to smoke me in the face. Yes, this is deep and theological and I used the word smoke. I seem to always try and cram as many moments into a day as I can. I am ashamed to admit how often I push the Lord to the back burner. I'm too quick to put my own thoughts on how to spend my time and energy in action, rather than focusing on how the Lord has called me to use those precious gifts.

At the risk of sounding 75, the days really do seem to fly by, and I am already amazed at the point in life which I am. The thought of intentional living has been on my mind frequently over the past few months. Reading the phrase today that "time and energy are precious, limited entities" put in to words so eloquently the quiet feelings of my heart.

My prayer is that I will search deeply and focus my time and energy in areas where the Lord has shown me. I am over being busy for the sake of busy-ness. I choose not to live in a way that would cause me to look back and regret loving shallowly, connecting with people in a tired and stretched too thin way, and not enjoying all the blessings the Lord daily gives.

I pray Scripture guides how I spend my limited time and energy. This truly seems like a crazy thought in a Pinterest world where image seems to dictate the use of time and tends to make everyone perceive that your time should be spent making a homemade artistic masterpiece while baking gluten free bread from scratch wearing your knitted scarf. I just don't want to waste the time the Lord blesses me with each and everyday. And so often I do.

Here's to loving others today. Cherishing relationships. Glorifying our Savior.

Mid-Week Randoms

Well, it is Wednesday, and I am filled with some random thoughts. I am super excited for the upcoming weekend. But this week has been pretty fun and needs to be documented.

• Caroline's 6 month picture. Holy Moly Cuteness. I cannot believe she is already 6 months old...

• We have made some good additions to the house this week. First up, new cushions for the kitchen stools. I love the colors and the fact that it ties in nicely to the red couch that is just off the kitchen.

• We are still loving the Olympics, and Gert is so ready for the Puppy Olympics in 2016

• We had a super yummy and easy dinner that involved some fajita steak, onions, black beans, corn, and rotel tomatoes. Throw it together and you get fajita nachos.

• Lastly, our new mirror to go above the mantel. I love it. I also have been enjoying the gradual progression of our house decorating. It will be so fun to look back and see how far we have come.

That about sums up my random thoughts. At least we are almost to the weekend (well 1/2 way). Because on Monday, I felt like this...

Happy Back to School Everyone! You and me both wish it was still summer!

Weekend Wrap Up

Somehow, this weekend turned out to be somewhat busy and we were on the go, but it was filled with great visits with friends and family so all in all it was better than we could have asked. I am going to cheat and include Thursday night because my parents came over to eat dinner and hang out with us. It was so much fun and we ate way too much at the Strawberry Cafe. We watched some of the Olympics and just had a grand time.

Friday night brought a Girls' Night for me and I am confident it brought video game playing for Bubba. It was so much fun to sit and catch up with all the girls. I met Susan, Whit, Sara, Lester, and A Fri at Chili's (which is a random place for us to eat but I was so excited to eat my meal of potato skins. Healthy much?). We just sat and talked for a ridiculously long time, and then we had to move the party to its second location Corner Bakery for some sweet treats. We shut that place down.  After an almost 4 hour dinner, we figured we had accomplished what we needed to.

Saturday was filled with fun! We started off with a baby shower for our friends LeeAnn and Garett.  We cannot wait until sweet Gracen makes her debut in a few weeks. Then we met up with some of Bubba's friends that were in from out of town and had a good catch-up. That night we went over to Joshua's apartment to help him get settled in a bit before he starts law school this week. (Thinking back about that time in my life made me SO glad I am on the finished side of law school and the bar.) We went out and ate and just had a really great time.

We celebrated Sunday in typical fashion. Church. Followed by lunch with family. We ate with Rebecca, Will and the Girls at the Fish House and it was fab. It really is so much fun to live in the same town as family. This is new for me and I really really love it. I only wish that John and Emily and baby C could ever move this way. We went on Sunday night to church for Small Group Kick-Off. It was so much fun and we are really looking forward to being in a small group.  We ended the night with about a 2 mile walk. I am sore still which is humiliating. Poor Gertie was exhausted after. Here is the proof:

This weekend was busy and fun and still had the feel of summer about it. I know that fall is creeping around the corner, and I honestly cannot wait.

Here's to a great week!

Wedding Pictures!

We got our wedding picture cd in the mail, and I cannot wait to share our favorites! Robby Followell took our pictures, and I will declare for all of time he is the best photographer ever. We love him and his heart. He made us look way better than we really do in real life. I love that our pictures capture our joy and the fun of the day. I am going to try and narrow down my favorites, but it is really hard. I love them all and most importantly the people in them. Thank you Robby!! And if you are getting married, pick him. I treasure these pictures and have looked at them tri-daily.

We had a blast and this was absolutely the most fun day ever. S'more smashing and all!