Easter!

happy EASTER!

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AND TODAY IS ALSO MY BIRTHDAY! :) 

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hope you all had a great weekend & a blessed weekend!

xxoo, 

j

Palm Sunday.

at church this morning, there was an annual performance called, "Journey to the Cross". it is definitely a great reminder of what Jesus went through for us... i'm so glad that i had that reminder because how quickly we forget. we always say, "He died for our sins..." but the death that he died was excruciating... and as gruesome as it may've been, i think it's important to remind yourself that He did all of that...went through all of that for you & me. 

little side note: excruciating means "out of the cross"

· The spike would be driven through and crush the main vein running out of the hand - causing "excruciating" pain. This word "excruciating" means "out of the cross". They actually created a new word because nothing in the language could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion.

to read what Jesus endured for you & i, go here. warning: it is very graphic.

the above passage, i randomly found, but it's exactly what one of our pastors was saying this morning. anyways, hope that you had a great Palm Sunday & are so looking forward to next Sunday celebrating the Risen King & victory of Jesus! I know I am! :)

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again & again & again, i am eternally grateful for what my Lord has done for me. even thinking to right before His death, washing the feet of the 12 disciples -- even the one whom He knew was going to betray Him... He loved, He served. the ultimate example of how to live.

extremely thankful & praying for your heart, 

jace

happy weekend!

Happy Saturday, loves! What a crazy week, it's been. I've been extremely tired with NO idea why!? Maybe it's because some nights I stayed up a bit later to finish our LOST marathon?! or maybe something else -- i don't know. 

regardless, last night i made creamy pork chops & rice...which i found out i'm not a huge fan of pork chops... maybe it's because they had bones... maybe i just like them breaded better? again, no idea... the rice & other stuff rocked, but it'll be a mystery until i try them again. :) i'm trying to cook different things, so i'm just pulling recipes that look tasty, buying the stuff & trying them. we need more meals in our family arsenal than just sloppy joes, quesadillas & hotdogs! :) so far i've tried cordon bleu, breaded tilapia & creamy pork chops with rice.

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i'll keep you posted with how this experiment turns out. 

here's what i have in the batter's box:

french onion burgers

beef teriyaki

shortcut chicken cordon bleu

crunchy no-fry chicken

quick chicken parmesan

easy asian-style chicken & rice

broccoli & garlic penne pasta

as for today/tonight... it's leftovers. man, it's hard feeding just two... i haven't mastered cutting recipies down/freezing half yet. i'll get there... it may be hard feeding two, but it's a lot cheaper & we can have leftovers! we love our leftovers! :) i'm thankful for that!

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so, since i didn't feel like cleaning or anything last night. today is going to be a cleaning day. and once i get done cleaning, then i'm going to the spare room/craft room to clean up. it's ridiculous. i'll get it clean & then BAM, it's a disaster. it's time to fix it once & for all!

have a happy weekend! 

xxoo

happy weekend (for me)!

hi loves!

so excited that today was my last day of work for the week -- score. adam & i have a nice extra-long weekend planned! :) so, technically, it's the 'weekend' for me, right? :) 

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hoping that all your weekends are marvelous! 

loves, 

j

when i take the dogs outside...

...this is what i look like.

exactly. look closely & you'll see one going one direction & one going another direction. perfect.

husband catching me in the action... not like you care. i just thought it'd be funny to put them up. enjoy.

of course the babies NEEDED to go out after we'd been gone for a few hours at daddy's basketball game! they were crossing their legs when we got home! :)

here's to me trying to take a d-u-m-b picture with my hot chocolate in my cup.

enjoy! :) 

j

easy-peasy chocolate drink.

adam & i got CRAZY sick this winter. after we had seen the family at Christmas, we were all infected. i mean every single person on adam's side, but one... strep, influenza, bronchitis, etc. ick, gross. so, towards the end of our sickness, we just HAD to get out of the house. ever have that feeling? you CAN NOT stay cooped up in your sicky house ANY longer. so, where do you go? well, for us a shopping trip to good ol' wal-mart was just what we needed! :) 

while we were there, we were dying to have something cold for our throats. we picked up some chocolate milk & ice cream. got home. put them in the blender. sprayed some whip cream on top. the end. finished done. 

it...felt...so...good! and tasted pretty good for ice cream & chocolate milk. 

from looking at this picture it looks like i added some serendipity hot chocolate mix to it... :)

i love my pretty cups... the ones above were part of our FANTASTIC set we got for our wedding... and the bottoms were too good of deal to pass up... they were like an $80 set for $20. perfectly pretty. 

my hands are freezing. 

loves, 

j

ps. if adam ends up getting all the way sick, i guess i know what i'll be making soon... :)

sometimes husband just has to laugh...

when i wear stuff like this... i won't say most... okay, maybe most of my clothes (outside of work) husband doesn't understand. a lot of the time i like loud & different stuff. thus, the leopard & bright red flower leggings! I LOVE THEM! :) my mom was looking for ideas for Christmas & i found these bad boys! $5 at rue21! i don't shop there much because i don't find their stuff to be great quality, but these babies...well, they're going to be fun while they last! :)

wedding ring (obviously) & fossil watch are a staple in my wardrobe...paired with a GREAT ring my mama picked out for Christmas -- it has a camel leather strap (so cute) & a bracelet that i got for $1 from charlotte russe! oh how i get SO excited for good deals!

i love my cowl neck scarf that you can't see in the picture... it's cozy. sorry for the picture quality... it's not terrible, but a bit blury. our camera mysteriously stopped working, so we're relying on the iPod until we get a new one.

the end. 

j

Valentine's Dinner at church.

apparently each year our church does a Valentine's Day dinner... just a night where they cater some food in, everyone plays games & then they end the night with a movie in the huge auditorium (seriously exactly like a movie theatre)...complete with pop & popcorn...

i had NO idea what to wear. i scoured pictures from years past to see what everyone else wore & it was a mixture. well, since i had some old scrap gingham pattern fabric, i decided the bright pinkiness of it would make the perfect patterned infinity scarf. 

so easy... cut & sew. 

i just decided semi-casual... black jeggings (tommy), neon pink & plain white undershirt (victoria's secret), black cardi (simply vera)... add a homeade scarf & a ring you got for a $1 from claire's & WHAMMO. casual valentine's outfit. simple, yet gets the 'festive' part across.

want to buy this worn one-time, upcycled beauty? 

go here.

happy WAY-LATE valentine's day!

j

once upon a Sunday outfit...

one time, i wore this to church. 

don't you just LOVE finding clothes in your closet you sorta, maybe forgot about? this little beauty sort of looks like a paint can threw up... i got it when i used to work at The Limited. i have enough clothes from there for the rest of my life, but sure do miss the dealios!

mr. a & i went shopping at the mall of america a month back or so... i found a couple of cardis from Cotton On that i got because they were on sale for... $5... perfect, in my book! i really LOVE most of cotton on's style... the only downside to our first shopping experience there? you couldn't hear a thing in there store... it's an australian-based company & apparently it was Australia's 'forth of july'...their independence day. so cotton on hired a DJ (why you couldn't hear a thing) & a Photo Booth...the photo booth was fun because husband & i got FREE pictures from the day! bam!

i'm trying to go through pictures i took & put them up! bare with me as i play catch-up documenting my life! :)

xxoo, 

j

a sick bug.

a bug (husband) is having a rough go at things lately... he's had more ankle problems (over the years) than i can count... and right now he's fighting the beginnings of a cold!

usually this would stink, but right now it's extra stinky because he has an alumni tournament this weekend that he's playing in! so, he's been staying off of that ankle & trying to rest his body before the games begin! the only bad part of this for him is then he's not in as good of shape, either. sigh, i think his body needs a break! and he was going to play church softball this spring -- who knows?!

(p.s. these aren't pictures of a sick bug, right now...these are pictures of a bug pretending to 'sleep' while our nieces were over. we thought it'd be funny to take a picture for my brother & sister of how we felt after we had a weekend with 2 under 3, HA)

all i know is that we'd sure appreciate your prayers around these parts! :) 

a bug is having some sweet dreams right now (he's a cute sleeper), so i thought i'd jump on here real quick & ask for some prayers! :) 

hope this blog post finds you all in a world of happiness!

xxoo, 

j

happy birthday to a bug!

to my husband on his birthday, 

God has granted me quite the privilege of being your wife. i thank him often! i'm so happy that i landed with you & can't wait for the next FOREVER together! can you believe it's been this long... age 23 we meet & here we are at 28 continuing to live our happily ever after!

thanks for the man you are. 

thanks for the puppydad you are. 

thanks for the father you're going to be. 

thanks for how you love me.

thanks for how you love the Lord. 

thanks for making me laugh. 

thanks for your positive outlook & keeping me in line. 

thanks for a million other things!

love what you are, who you are, how you are & am so glad you're mine!

HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY, BUG!

you've made me one of the luckiest gals out there! :)

loving YOU! :)

j