Uno, Dos, Tres

If I am correct,
the traditional gift for a three year anniversary is leather.

This might come as a shock to many of you
who know and appreciate my frugality, but

Happy 3^rd Anniversary Chase!

 (Chase in his brand spankin' new truck. He's so proud.)

Sew Sweet

Being the true Southern girl that I am, I can't resist a great monogram. 

Monograms are classic. 

Timeless.

They're great for baby gifts

bags 

jewelry

and dish towels

But my new absolute favorite monogram happens to be this one.

How sweet it is.

(All photo credits are Etsy - click the picture to take you to each product.)

Cooking School

After finalizing the sale of our house, we began the tedious process of packing...ugh. With less than 3 years of marital bliss, we still managed to accumulate what seemed like 10 years of 'stuff'. While in the process of packing the entire house, we still wanted to spend as much time as possible with our friends...which meant several sweet dinners at some of our favorite restaurants (i.e. Full Moon BBQ) . Eating out, in combination with the cesation of grocery store trips, resulted in a change from cooking 5 nights a week to 2 at most. Sad.


When we finally moved into our humble little apartment, it took at least a day to locate, unpack, wash, and store all of our kitchen pots/pans. I feel a little like I'm learning to cook all over again. I'm slowly getting used to our new appliances (which are MUCH more energy efficient...and apparently have the capability to burn something on 'Medium').


With all of the changes, I needed some good ol' comfort food.  And nothing says comfort food to me like breakfast. This recipe is so easy. I apologize for not knowing the original source, since it has been passed from one friend to the next.

Baked French Toast

Ingredients:
1/2 loaf French bread
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 T. vanilla
4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Cinnamon Sugar
4 T. butter, melted

Cut or tear the french bread into 1 or 2 inch cubes and place them in a casserole dish.  The recipe calls for a 13x9, but I think it tastes better when the bread pieces are all smushed together in a smaller dish. Combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar and salt in a bowl. Pour over the bread pieces, coating them all.

The next step is my favorite. Cover and place in the fridge for 6 to 36 hours. This is the perfect make-ahead breakfast. I digress. Moving on...

When you take it out of the fridge, bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Take it out when the top is golden brown. Pour the melted butter all over the bread, and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.

Put the dish back into the oven for 10 minutes. When it's done and your kitchen smells delightful, top it with sliced strawberries and powdered sugar. If you're feeling particularly carefree, drizzle with syrup after putting a portion on your plate.

His Hand (numero dos)

Alternate Title: Can You Believe Our House Sold in 3 Weeks?

I mentioned in this previous post that we had placed our house on the market. With the economy and real estate market still recovering, we were prepared to go through a lengthy process and hoped that we wouldn't lose a large amount of money on our investment. I'd like to give credit to our cute little realtor, who was a huge help to us during the process, but I really have to give all the glory to God. We accepted an offer on our little cottage home after just 3 weeks on the market. 3 Weeks Ya'll! 

Thank you so much to all of you who interceded daily on our behalf to ask that God sell this house at the right time, to the right person, and for the right price. Many students in Chase's class had placed their homes on the market and weren't having any success selling them. When we told friends, classmates, and co-workers how fast our home had sold (and at full asking price) they were amazed. Frankly, we were equally amazed and humbled.

Clearly His Hand.

Also of note: After receiving an offer, we did a little 'apartment shopping' on a trip back home to see family. We were a little disappointed to find such small apartments at such large prices. The last place we went (our favorite) turned out to be very expensive. However, they offered us a $2500 credit (to be applied as we decided) if we signed a lease within a week. All of the sudden the most expensive apartment became the most affordable we'd seen. It's now our home, and we love it.

Clearly His Hand.

We never got an official "SOLD" sign, so just use your imagination :)

Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

I can hardly believe it, but it has been almost a year since I started this blog with the intentions of following 'His hand' through what we knew would be an eventful 12 months. I revisited the original post, which contains the verse in Psalms that we adopted as a motto, encouragement, and prayer to guide us through the decisions that would come. I can assure you that God has revealed His hand and his plan very clearly to us over the last year. There have been periods of time and events that were difficult - times that beg the question, "why?". But through it all, God has been faithful (no surprise there).  More recently, His hand has been clearly visible in our transition from Birmingham to Huntsville. Allow me to elaborate in a series of posts....

In order for Chase to graduate, he needed to pass a series of board exams - a series of expensive board exams that also involve paying individuals to act as 'patients' so an official grader can examine his work. Not just any patient will suffice. Each student needed 3 patients - each with a very,very specific type of dental need. It can be pretty difficult to find patients, particularly when 50 other students are also on the hunt. It can also get very costly, as it is the standard to compensate each patient quite nicely for their time. 

Chase had been searching for his patients for quite a while and found 2 (I was one of them), but he still needed a 3rd candidate.  We were running short on time and money. It seemed like Chase screened all of our relatives living close enough to make the drive to Birmingham...no luck. We shared our hearts with our Young Married group at church one Sunday morning. They not only joined us in praying for the exam, but several also came to the school to be screened. As it turned out, one of Chase's closest friends at church had exactly what he needed for the board exam.

Clearly His Hand.

"Let them know that it is your hand,
that you, O LORD, have done it."
 -Psalm 109:27