A few honeymoon pictures

Taylor and I went to Molokia, Hawaii for our honeymoon. It is the most gorgeous place on earth.



You could be on a beach all day and never see another person. It was wonderful!



The sunsets were beautiful!

It was wonderful just relaxing, talking, and letting the moments sink in.



Our wedding rings were placed on 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter read during our wedding that displays the selfless marriage covenant.



You feel so small when you look across miles of Ocean. It is breath-taking. How great our God is and His creation.

Engagement Ring

I was *little* excited about my beautiful ring one day... so I took loads of pictures. This is just the engagement ring, the wedding band hadn't been added at this point.






I always wondered, when I was younger, what my ring would look like. I have always thought that it would tell a lot about the person who bought it for you. Call me crazy or just a hopeless romantic, but I still think that.





I love that my ring is so sparkly. It is so incredibly beautiful the second light hits it. I love that it is not overly huge and showy, yet delicately beautiful.



I love that it is a one-of-a-kind, specially made for me. Taylor had the sapphires on the side of the ring added. He added it because Sapphires are my favorite gems, also sapphire means truth or faithfulness, and lastly he wanted my ring to be a one-of-a-kind. The thing I love the most about it, is without my help or my families, he bought me a perfect ring. I honestly couldn't ask for a better ring.








The flowers are from the day he purposed, and the two letters he had sent me while we were dating.

Chocolate and fruit.

White chocolate cups filled with fresh fruit. So good! :)

Mom

“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” ~ George Washington
I don’t think I could have said it better. My mom has always been my standard. I want to be like her. My mom has had a really rough last six months. She has a medical problem that keeps her at home and off her feet. The pain is extreme and brings her to tears. I look at her and think if it was me I would be a mess and be complaining to everyone. But she isn’t. Even in this experience she is humble and selfless and doesn’t complain to others. I only post this to ask for prayer for her. Please pray for healing in her feet.

Kitchen Adventure

I was having a little bit of fun in the Kitchen this week. :)

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

I got this recipe from Panera and I really liked it. (http://mypanera.panerabread.com/recipes-view.php?id=70)
I changed a few things:
1) I used french bread over cinnamon toast. I think it would be really good with both.
2) I used frozen blueberries over fresh. It is to expensive out of season. I actually though the frozen worked really well. Since it is in the filling and is mixed up and cooked anyways, you couldn't tell it wasn't fresh.
3) I didn't soak it as long. Maybe 15 minutes. I think it still turned out well.




Blueberry Stuffed French Toast
INGREDIENTS
1 loaf Panera Bread Cinnamon Raisin Bread
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese spread, at room temperature
4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
1.Cut bread into 1 1/4-inch-thick slices (you should have about 8 slices). Cut a slit through the top crust of each slice to form a deep pocket.

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and orange zest. Stir in blueberries and spoon filling equally into bread pockets. Lay stuffed slices of bread in a shallow 4-quart baking dish, such as a 15-inch-by-10-inch dish.

3.In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and remaining the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pour mixture evenly over bread, tilting the dish to completely coat the bread. Let sit until the liquid is absorbed, at least 30 minutes at room temperature or covered in the refrigerator overnight.

4.Coat a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray, oil, or butter, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the Panera Bread Cinnamon Raisin Bread and cook until nicely browned and crisp outside, about 5 minutes per side.

Makes 6 servings.
Prep: 15 minutes (plus 30 minutes or overnight soaking)
Cook: 10 minutes

Nutrition (per serving): 489 calories, 19 g protein, 61 g carbohydrate, 20 g fat, 259 mg cholesterol, 443 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fiber

Thematic Interp

This was part of my Thematic piece from this last year. This story is based off my great grandparents. Theirs is one of the greatest love stories.


“I was twelve, sitting in the window seat of the train, looking across the beautiful Canadian plains. Six years ago my papa moved to Canada to build a house for my family. Just days before my family left England for Canada WWI broke out and passage was no longer allowed for civilian. My poor mum was separated from her husband for six years. She was obligated to raise and protect three children from the horrors of war. But today is a happy day. After weeks of traveling we will finally be reunited with my papa. My excitement grew as we approached the station. I wondered if he would even recognize his Mazie. I could now see two men standing side by side on the platform. One was definitely my papa, his dark eyes I could never forget. But the other one was a young man, very handsome. As the train came closer he pulled off his cap. His eyes caught mine; the edges of his mouth formed a smile. I quickly looked away. I could feel my cheeks turning red. But no matter what I did I couldn’t remove the smile from my face. The reunion with my papa was sweet. The young man introduced himself as Joe. He came to help papa with our luggage. I had never been in love before, but this was truly love at first sight. Joe was the milk man at his parent’s dairy farm; he brought our milk every day. It was always the highlight of my day. Over the next three years we became best friends as we talked, laughed, and danced. Every time I saw him I fell more in love. One night on New Year’s Eve, destiny gave us a little time alone together. He told me that he loved me and asked if I would be his “sweetheart.” I promised him right there and then that as long as I lived I would be Joe’s girl. Little did I know that was the last time I would see him for the next five years, we were separated by my family’s move to America. But when Joe and I were reunited it was like nothing changed. I was still Joe’s girl.”
They had a good life together filled with laughter, love, and dreams, but it was inundated with many difficulties and hardships. They went through it all together because their love was founded on commitment. This story had special meaning to me. You see, Joe and Mazie were my great-grandparents. They were married seventy-three years. They loved each other more at the end of their lives than at the beginning. In two-thousand and eight my great-grandmother died at one-hundred and one. On her death bed all she could say was: “I am going home, to see my Joe.”