A week or so late...

We didn't take a full day off this weekend and not surprisingly filled up to be crazy hectic. My bad. Now I feel like I was knocked off my week and am scrambling to get back on top of life.

Andrew look me out on Friday night for Pizza Luce, known for their mashed potato pizza. Weird, but we heard good things and wanted to try it. It was good too! Instead of sauce, the mashed potatoes went down on the crust with broccoli, cheese, bacon and chives on top. It was good, but not crave-able.

Saturday we had a cookout for students at Bethel. It was a blast! We cooked 150+ hamburgers and brats. And yes, in Minnesota, brats are a staple at cook outs. Fortunately we were at the Bethel football game and couldn't see the terrible, touchdown-less Georgia game. Ugh, Steve Spurrier won.

Matt and Lisa had their second little girl over the weekend and I made some macaroni and cheese, corn bread (I use Jiffy but add extra water and add smoked paprika for a little kick and less crumbles), picked up a rotisserie chicken, and sent a couple of feta and sun-dried tomato chicken breasts I made a week or two ago.

Reid and Nikki got engaged on Sunday so we also had a little par-tay for them. Last minute cake...store-bought dark chocolate cake mix (I added 1/2 a package of pudding mix for more moisture) and whipped up some cream cheese frosting from Cooking Light. I doubled this recipe meant for cupcakes because I was frost a two-tiered cake. I remembered I had a heart-shaped cookie cutter and made some cookies (a little cheesy I know, but they got engaged!). Here's the fun couple:

I guess it's a little creepy to post a picture of another couple (which I got off facebook- whoops!) but they're friends ya know?

AND...I've. turned. crafty. Ahhhh! I made this little paper pennant banner for the happily engaged couple. I got this cute package of scrapbook paper from Target (duh, where else do I shop here?) and cut out long triangles. Then I traced a circle (from a glass) onto some white cardstock we had. Then I drew some letters out on a piece of the scrapbook paper set and glued them all together. I had some clothes pins and pinned them on some twine which we stretched over a room opening. Here's a peak at the finished product- after the party.

So it was a fun weekend, but jam packed. Hubs and I have already said Saturday is OFF! And Georgia is playing the Razorbacks. So we'll try and catch some of that.

Joys from campus..and mormons?

So here are the beautiful girls I get to hang with on campus! They are all sophomores and are a blast. We had our very first group last night and I was so excited. We're planning to study through 1 John and read The Prodigal God together all semester.

Rachel, Katie, Hannah, Ali, Cassie are on the top row and Greta, Marlley and Megan and on the bottom row. This is at our place after digging into some brownies and talking about the semester. These girls are so encouraging and God has been working in each of their hearts- they are all so hungry to continue growing!

And random thought, why is the Mormon church having an ad campaign? Weird! I guess people think Mormons are bizarre and they're trying to show that they're "normal" people. Check out this article on some of the ads that have been showing near us here.

It's Saturday in Athens! ...or Minneapolis rather

And you know what that means! Well, in Athens that means Larry Munson clips, dressing up in red and black, tailgate food, beautiful (and hot) weather, 90,000+ people together all with one thing in common: a love for Dawg football. But in Minneapolis Saturday means, um I nothing much. Ha. But in our household, it still means Georgia football. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord I married a Dawg fan. Anyway, today was our day off after our first week on campus. That means a restful, taking-it-easy kind of day, and reflecting on my heart and week.

It was great to reconnect with girls from campus, but I was ready for a break since classes seem to come way sooner than I was prepared for.

One thing I do love about Minneapolis Saturdays is the Farmer's Market. I went with 20 bucks and came away with a ton of great produce (and a dollar left over...who'da thunk it that I'd be under budget?!). I'm making Mom's recipe for green tomato casserole (which I use less butter for...and cook it along with this easy chicken recipe for our married couple small group) tomorrow so I got 6 green tomatoes for that.

I also picked up a few small avocados, almost a dozen delicious, but not quite ripe nectarines, 5 ears of sweet corn (another plus of living up here is incredible and abundant sweet corn!), a huge bunch of beautiful carrots, $2 quart of fresh strawberries, and this beautiful bouquet. I couldn't resist!

Mom and I eyed these vibrant jewel toned flowers and this week I had to get some. I just love fall colors and since they were only $5 and won't be available much longer I thought I'd splurge.

Here's another look at the unique flowers.

And I took one of the sunflowers out so we could enjoy it on our dresser.

Oh, and I tried a new orzo recipe tonight using some peppers and onions and carrots from the market. I changed the recipe by subbing carrots for eggplant, making the orzo whole wheat and adding leftover rotisserie chicken. Hubby gave it enthusiastic thumps up. And grilled some corn and using Emeril's seasoning instead of their spice mix. So good!

Anyway, Andrew and I also found out about the UGA Alumni chapter up here. There are suprisingly more Dawgs in Minnesota than I thought. So, we headed downtown to watch the season opener with fellow Georgia fans. (And PTL for the new QB, Aaron Murray, who thankfully played great and can make passes AND run! Goooo Dawgs!)

It was fun to meet new people and of course get to watch the game. Up here SEC games are rarely on, even with big networks because they always default to regional games (like Perdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc which I obviously care way less about). And the Lord is SO sweet, there were some warm women I met there.

It got me thinking about sweet the Lord is. My heart is just hard most of the time, but God is so incredible to pursue me still. I've lately been meditating on Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Gosh. I am so grateful God bids us rest! I realized again that all I have to do is keep looking to Jesus. That is the only work I must do. I only have to give Him burdens. I only give Him my heavy yoke and accept His light load. What grace!

I worry for girls on campus, I worry about being effective, I worry about not making an impact, I worry about how I am not a perfect wife, how I am focused on myself. I mean I'm even anxious about being anxious- you know I'm worried about not being at peace and that brings less peace! Anyway, I am so grateful for our Father's bid to do nothing but look at Jesus and be in awe of Him. I want to let go of "heavy burdens" in theory but more often than not I want to hold on to them. It makes me want to say "whew" and then cry from gratitude that I have an advocate who will fight for me! He says "the battle is not your own but God's and He will fight for you" (2 Chron 20).

pictures from the weekend

More pictures from the weekend with the 'rents. And here's to them- it's their Anniversary tomorrow! 28 years. Congrats Mom and Dad!

Minneahaha Falls:

In the winter this waterfall freezes in motion...cheers to frigid weather coming soon!

Hubs flipping burgers after Mom and I went to the Farmers Market:

Andrew's Duathlon:

He's about to overtake these guys in the last few hundred yards of the race! Yeah hubs!

And there he goes after passing those other guys! Almost to the finish.

Getting some calories after almost 2 hours of exercising! So proud!

For more official pictures from the race, visit here.

Lunch at Lake Calhoun:

Love the background, hate that I wore an ambiguous maternity-esque shirt...nope, no bump! We were so grateful that Mom and Dad got to spend the weekend with us. We loved it!

visitors from LaGrange

Over the weekend my parents came to visit! It was a blast to see them and great to catch up with them after our trip to India...and not being able to keep in touch very well half way across the world.

They flew in on Friday and we immediately took them to Minnehaha falls which is a park with creek, waterfall, and tons of walking trails. It was the most gorgeous weather ever. Then we swung over to Buca di Beppo for amazing Italian food. Andrew and I always go back and forth between a few dishes, but we branched out a little with my parents. We got the Penne San Remo- so good- and some dish with Italian sausage and rigatoni (because my Dad LOVES Italian sausage!). Andrew gets their chocolate cake every time we go and he dreams of it

whenever we go to Buca. It was huge, but Dad and Andrew managed to dominate it!

Mom and I went to explore a few of the many Farmer's Markets in Minneapolis. We stopped by the Mill City market but it was a little pricey and much more commercialized.

Then we drove around and found the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. It's a gem. Huge! Rows and rows and rows of vendors. Tomatoes, eggplant, hot peppers, apples, breads, lettuce, corn...I was so excited! I think we walked away with $14 in produce which came out to: 4 nectarines (maybe the best I've ever had), 3 Heriloom tomatoes (can't even get those in the store), several small heads of baby romaine lettuce, 3 red and yellow bell peppers, 2 red onion, a bag of 6 Focaccia loaves (think Macaroni Grill-ish) and 4 small avocados! Oh my gosh, I thought I might start skipping on our way back to the car! Mom was great to have with me- not only her good eye but great company.

(thank you google image search. I didn't bring my camera, but this is of the MPLS Farmers Market)

Later on we came back and had burgers and the men continued to work on some kind of electrical wiring at a ministry house. I don't really know, but they we tired but felt accomplished when they got home.

Mom and I started cooking for dinner and it was SO good! We had a fabulous caprese salad with those fresh and crisp farmers market tomatoes. I picked up a Santa Maria Tri Tip Roast from Trader Joes and that was supreme! Seasoned so well. Then one of my favorites: chipotle mashed sweet potatoes. I've been making them for a few years and they never ever disappoint. And we broke out the Focaccia loaves with some dipping oil. So so yummy! For dessert we hadtiramisu. It was light and tasty.

Sunday morning hubs had a Duathlon race. Well, he actually forgot about it and hadn't trained at all, but somehow, he always does really well anyway. So here's the breakdown: 5k run, 18 mile bike, 5k run. Um...I think I'd only make it through the first 5k! He did so well and finished the race under 2 hours. He actually beat the average finish time by almost 20 minutes. I was super proud of him! Anyway though it's a whole 'nother culture in there. Some hard core cyclists with aerodynamic helmets and bikes. Everyone walking around super fit and buff with spandex on and gearing up for their race. And I'm walking around in skinny jeans and big sunglasses trying to find Andrew so I can take a picture. Bahaha. I would've laughed it I saw me in a crowd. I got to be hubby's cheerleader and during the long bike section, finish a section of the book I was reading. Ha.

(Run, hubs, run! This is the 2nd 5k- almost done!)

After we got home and got cleaned up, hubs, Mom, Dad and myself went down to Lake Calhoun and had some fish tacos on the lake front and then went to hear a jazz/blues band at the Lake Harriet Bandshell.

This weekend Mom and I laughed a few times about Minnesotan culture. We saw a fun slice of organic, crunchy, outdoor-sy, active folk. This really is Minnesota in the summer. Everybody is out running, biking, in those weird bike contraptions, windsurfing on lakes, etc. It's a cycling town. And it's real crunchy. Which I dont mind at all.

Mom was the faithful photographer, I was not. But I'll post more pics as I get them.

channeling southern charm

My newest Southern Living came in the mail today. It is such a treat! I think I've felt more like a Southerner moving away from the South than I did in it. Seeing different things makes me miss what I had. Though I am very, very confident about living in Minnesota (and right about now is when I surely am glad to be in the 70/80s and not the 90s) I so still love my Southern heritage.

Here are a few things I loved in this month's SL:

On the second to last page, an open letter to Hollywood is written to please resist the urge to stereotype Southerners so much. Here's a link to it online. It's just that I live in a place where people are surprised I don't show up in an antebellum dress (you know like getting ready for Old South). They think I have a Southern drawl, but also think that anyone from the South takes 5 times as long to say anything.

And I also appreciated the section "25 Tips for Celebrating the Soul of the South". I want to keep parts of Southern tradition in our house. Some things seem familiar, but also seem so specific to the South and I see how a non-Southerner would think we're crazy. One of their tips is recognizing small town beauty queens, which we do have here but they're no where near as celebrated as in the South. Or how to write a charming thank-you note. And everything else from canning okra to making apple pie to "counting your blessings" to floating down a river. It is a romanticized idea of the South, but it's fun for me to read about.

And it's funny how Minnesotan girls think monograms are weird. They also think a Southern woman has everything in her home monogrammed. In the magazine they talk about how to decorate stylishly and talk about monograms- a debate up here in our ministry mix of Southerner and Midwesterners.

home sweet home

It's been a week since flying back to the Western hemisphere and so far its been great. We've been running around a ton, but overall we're enjoying being back home.

but honestly, I've been thinking a lot about "home." Home sometimes means Atlanta for me. Sometimes means our little apartment in the St. Paul suburbs. Sometimes means just being around my family or Andrew. Really though, especially after being in India, I've realized "home" means where I'm comfortable and where I'm surrounded by familiar things. Andrew and I have been talking about this idea of home a lot and we keep coming back to Philippians 3:20 "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." I've realized that our true home is Heaven- and yes that will be the most comfortable, enjoyable, place ever! Not because there will be tons of fabulous food to eat all the time, or because it will be the perfect weather, but because that's where God is. Where ever Jesus Christ is, is true joy and real comfort.

This place on earth- my life is but a vapor.

We got to talk with 2 couples who are missionaries in Delhi, India. One couple is from Arkansas (and their twang was so sweet and welcomign to me half way across the world!) and the other is more unique- the husband is Indian and the wife is from California. Neither had met each other, but both said about living in India- "We're not here because we love Indian culture or the dust or the food, we're here because we want people to know Christ and you can't deny the needs here." They also said "I'm not looking for comfort here on this earth, that's why I'm looking forward to heaven." Woah. Ton of bricks.

That's what I've been/am doing. I'm trying to make the earth my place of ultimate comfort. not only am I worshipping the idol of comfort, but I'm chasing an allusion. This earth will never be truly, ultimatly, unfailingly comfortable. Everything will end, will perish, will fade away.

Matthew 6:19-20 says also “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Thankfully my personal and gracious God is reminding me He alone can be my treasure. He is the only one to actually fill my desires of home: comfort, security, familiarity, etc.