Sangria

All of our trekking across Texas for 2011 has come to a close. 

After moving-in and spending our anniversary in DFW, we headed to Austin for a final farewell with our small group. The six couples planned a rendezvous at Chuys restaurant and enjoyed awfully delicious Mexican grub. I even snagged a strawberry margarita and a sangria for myself! 

My girl Kali surprised us with some of the best caramel popcorn I've ever had as an early Christmas present. I'm hoping this blog will nudge her to post the homemade recipe on her own site.

Then we were off to Corpus Christi to spend a few days with our besties, the Lutz' duo. Aubri is getting ready to take her nursing board exams in a few weeks so we are sending a lot of prayers her way! We exchanged gifts, which oddly enough also included sangria, and they upgraded our Keurig! Aubri got me hooked on ABC's Once Upon A Time. 

It's hard to fight off childhood fairy tales depicted via the talents of Ginnifer Goodwin & Jennifer Morrison. Love them! Now I just need to trade her Hulu account info for my Netflix so we can share!

After a quick few days in the city, we ventured out to the tiny town of OG where Aaron grew up. The brother-in-law fired up a couple of bonfires for his friends, warmth we happily mooched. I got to spend time with my sister-in-law, who we never get to see enough, and meet her new squeeze. Unfortunately, when it came time to cook up Christmas Eve dinner, Aaron and I completely botched our mac-n-cheese recipe. We forgot to turn the oven down, which was set at 425 for the stuffing, and our super-delicious-delicacy-turned-mushy-gloop was affectionately named "Prison Mac." 

Christmas Day we resisted the adolescent urge to dump out our freshly-filled stockings and tear apart the perfectly-placed packages under the tree and went to church first. Aaron's dad was beaming as all of his children, sans the eldest, filed in to the Cowboy Church of OG. It's always interesting to see how different communities of believers choose to worship; whether or not their music falls pleasant upon my mortal ears, it's sweet to know it's like honey to God.

Finally we were able to exchange gifts!

 

Despite that the hubby accidentally found out what he was getting, I was still able to surprise him with a Remington 770 .30-06 in full camo with scope, strap, case and a box of ammo to boot. He loves it! We took it outside to shoot several mags at cans of Keystone, because we're in the middle of nowhere. 

I shot several rounds through it and am proud to say that I was the only one to twice, explode two cans with one bullet. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I'll gladly attribute it to my dead eye. ;)

Now for my gift, my honey got me this pretty little number:

I love it! Aaron told me though he determined long-ago that he was going to get for me a new wedding band, our anniversary visit to the museum confirmed his decision. While there, I had put my ring underneath a microscope intended to show bacteria growth and he saw how broken and misaligned the diamonds in my original band were. 

When we got married, we spent all of our money on our honeymoon so Aaron wasn't able to get my wedding ring till after we'd returned home. I picked out the little guy on the bottom, the product of an after-Christmas sale. When we bought it, we knew it was all we could afford but I loved it and didn't care if it was comprised of larger-cut diamond left-overs.

Well apparently he cared and wanted me to have an upgrade. I can't bring myself to not wear them both, though I know they clearly don't match. Maybe if I have an anniversary band to match the new one, I'll have to graduate the original band to my other hand. 

Christmas Day also took us to San Antonio to visit my family and drop off Aaron's brothers at the mother-in-law's apartment. My grandparents were in town so it was a lot of fun to hang out with them and the boxed-wine that's always in tow. We got a lot of sweet gifts from our family and spent a lot of time playing the game we got them: Wits & Wagers. Super fun, great group game!

My sister and I even got our hair did!

Blonde once-again. What do you think?? 

And finally, after we'd spent time enjoying all the festivities, we still had to pack up the other 3/5ths of our apartment. It took forever but everything is now settled into our storage unit or unpacked into our new space. Moving was not fun. I was so stressed and irritated, I definitely needed to treat myself afterward. 

Which I did.... with a glass of Sangria.

Merry Merry Christmas to All and Happy New Year!

One Year Later

365 DAYS!!! 

This past weekend, Aaron and I celebrated our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! This would be a good opportunity for me to recount the moments leading up to our blessed union. 

I was a self proclaimed serial monogamist. Both relationships I'd had prior to Aaron lasted two years each. Any new dating situation was entered into in hopes of finding the one. I was taught and adhered to the belief that dating was supposed to be very intentional, with the end result being marriage. 

Aaron was very different. 

My interest in a relationship with Aaron was very short-term. I wanted to go through that crazy, date-lots-of -guys, college phase so that I could have a more, oh I don't know... seasoned(?) understanding of the dating world. This desire was borne of an incredible distrust resulting from an abrupt end to my previous relationship. The boy, who I just assumed was going to be the guy I ended up with, woke one day and decided he didn't want to be in love anymore. And he informed me just as plainly. I was devastated and not in any way looking forward to being betrayed by my next suitor. 

Aaron was going to just be someone to flirt with and think about while I was busy figuring myself out. Though I was fairly certain there was a mutual interest, he went about the whole thing with great indifference. For example, since he wouldn't ask me out, I had no qualms about accepting dining offers from other eligible men. He even encouraged and laughed with me about the various quirks these other guys had. I found myself on dates waiting for a free moment to sneak away and text Aaron how bored I was.  When we finally did get around to dating, it was oddly informal and he took his sweet time in officially asking me to be his girlfriend. Still, my intentions were short-term. 

Four months into our relationship I'd realized that this kid wasn't going anywhere.  I was growing attached to this man who was in so many ways so very different from myself. What on earth this conservative, country boy found so intriguing about a lefty, city girl still escapes me. But by the time we'd spent our first Christmas together, snowed in on a New York vacation, I was hooked. I had that gut feeling that they talk about in books and movies and legends of old but you're sure doesn't exist in real life. I just knew. 

...

That next December I was at the tail-end of a six-week engagement, finishing up finals, getting ready to graduate, move across state, get married and go on a honeymoon in the span of about two weeks. I'm crazy, I know. My life was finally at that point that I'd dreamt of all my adolescence. I was about to be married to the most peculiar love of my life, a love I still can only explain as being predestined by God. I was moving to a new city in a new home to start a new life as a wife and career-woman. Everything was unfolding as I had hoped. 

--

Now, one year later, we have no careers and no city or home to call our own. Though I don't think I would change anything. I am a wife to a great, God-loving man who keeps me sane and reminds me every day that I am not going through this chapter alone. He is my comfort and my perfect fit. When he fails to live up to my unrealistic expectations, his constant focus on and desire to grow more like Jesus give me the security that I need to trust that we were put together to do good work for God's Kingdom.

One year later, it feels so strange to say that I've been married for a year. It's still strange to wake up and think "... I'm married?!" even for a day! I am so thankful that I get to share this frustrating journey that I'm being carried through with my husband. And I know God's plan for my life was just this and it is perfect in its imperfection.

Our First Photo                    Our Wedding Day

 One Year Later                                              On Our Anniversary Date

 Museum of Nature & Science & Planetarium!! 

I love museums!!

 Me as a Dinosaur                                                        Under a Giant Nose

 HAZMAT Suit Aaron                                                             Aaron and a Bear

Year old wedding cake... Tasted about as good as it looks....

NEET

We are nice and settled here in our new home of sorts. My eldest niece, who is four, is ecstatic to play games on my iPhone and take pictures of herself on my Mac. The younger two little girls are both sick, sadly. We unpacked all of our things and got our room organized and the XBOX hooked up. And we are in full swing of life as penniless vagabonds.

NEET: a government acronym for people "Not in Education, Employment, or Training"

It's been a two and a half months since I last clocked out for a day of work. I feel like I should be doing more to find a job but I'm at a loss for what to do. It doesn't help that I've got Aaron's employment to think about, too. I do my due diligence and meet all the qualifications to receive unemployment benefits (which is fairly minimal). I follow up on applications and try to network with recruiters on LinkedIn. I'm not being that picky at all when it comes to the types of jobs I'm applying for. I'm not yet at the point where I need to put on my roller skates, name tag and head to the Sonic down the road. I feel like I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do but it's bearing no fruit. 

It's also very strange moving into someone else's house. Normally, when we are here it's temporary. It's for fun. Now it's semi-permanent and its because we are helpless. Maybe that's a little dramatic but just take my word for it, it's weird. 

[Le Sigh..]

I'm looking forward to a phone interview I have tomorrow for a position for which I interviewed a few weeks ago. I'm really hoping this is the job but we'll have to see. This weekend we will get the opportunity to do a little church shopping. I still need to find several to try out. 

If you know of any good ones in far East Dallas or the Tyler area, please share!

This marks the beginning of a new season of life for us Thurmons. God is going to teach us so much, I just know it. I am praying that He has a church home and a community that He's been preparing for us. There IS a higher purpose for our troubles. I trust that. The process just isn't "NEET" at all. 

Jobless Homeless Moneyless Faithful

This week has kind of bummed me out a little bit. We have some big changes happening very soon that I haven't been very conversational about so I'll fill you in...

WE'RE MOVING!

We have lived fairly happily in Austin, TX for the past year. Aaron got a great job in retail management. Despite being bored out of my mind, I had a great paying job with lovely coworkers. We had a fabulous (and superbly decorated if I do say so myself) apartment. We fell in love with a wonderful church and served in their Children's Ministry since August teaching pre-kinder. We befriended an amazing group of young-married believers and even hosted them in our home every week.  God has really blessed us. 

When I lost my job, we had laid out various worst-case-scenario responses if A should happen or if B took place. And just our luck, they all took place at once. 

I wasn't able to find viable employment. Our apartment complex pretty much financially evicted us by raising our rent by 22%. Then Aaron, too, lost his job. 

Thankfully, God's timing was gracious. We are at the end of our lease term anyway. By being jointly unemployed, we are both free to uproot without any friction. We had just enough saved up to finish out our lease, bills, and cover moving expenses. 

So in two days we will be en route to our new home in East Texas. Aaron has an awesome brother and sister-in-law who has offered their home to us.  We are kind of looking forward to the change.

1. They have a huge house which will allow us to have our "own space." 

2. Aaron can hang out with and share in "manly activities" with his brother. 

3. We will get to spend a lot of time with our three nieces.

(Of this idea, I'm slightly enamored.)

4. Our sister-in-law is a recruiter with a bazillion connections in the area.

It shouldn't take us too long to find jobs.

5. Once we pick back up on the nine to five routine, we will be able to save up and get back on our feet better than we were before (hopefully). 

There are some things that we are mildly anxious about, however. 

1. Their house is in a remote location and we fear there will be difficulties finding that "community" feeling again. 

2. We will have to church shop for a while to see where God calls us. This brings out a wealth of logistical questions: How far will we have to drive? Will the friends we make live close by? Will we become full members? Will we serve in a ministry? How long will we be there?

3. We are going to be living off of someone else's good graces so I feel like every financial decision we make could be questioned. This is not to say that our family is judgmental in any way, only that I would probably have some thoughts of my own if people living with me were spending frivolously. 

4. We, a newly married couple, will be living with a family of five. 

I don't even know what to be anxious about in this area!

I think, most unfortunately, we will miss our church and our small group here in Austin. We prayed for so long that God would give us fellowship and call us into service. Now that we are being asked to give  back to Him that which we've been blessed with, I am not as optimistic about finding it quickly in a new city. 

We just finished a study on the book of Ruth utilizing a sermon series called Redeeming Ruth by Mark Driscoll.

This study felt so appropriate for our situation right now. It's so comforting to know that God is sovereign and good. His plan is perfect and He can use our bad decisions to bring glory to His name. Aaron and I are trying really hard to trust that this is God doing good things with our life that we simply cannot see. It's so comforting to know that my life means so little and ALL the glory goes to God and to advancing the Kingdom of Christ Jesus. It is a huge relief to trust that when Jesus hung on the cross and said "It is finished" that He did all the work for my life. There is nothing that I could do that would inhibit God from establishing His Kingdom on Earth.

I love being let off the hook a little bit and having more confidence in my own decision making, knowing He'll use my choices any way I make them. I pray that I can be like Ruth and submit to His will for my life. Right now, His desire is for us to be jobless, homeless, moneyless, faithful children.

That doesn't sound so hard now does it?

Green Chile Chicken

Aaron's Green Chile Chicken & Rice

Ingredients:

3 Large Cans Chunk Chicken or 3 Fresh Chicken Breasts

1 4oz Can Green Chiles

1 7oz Can Verde Sauce

1 10oz Can Cream O' Chicken Soup

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 Block of Cream Cheese

2 Bags of Success Rice

Salt  

Shredded Cheese (We used Monterrey Jack)

Preheat oven to 350. 

Prepare rice as directed on box (we did the microwave method).

If canned, heat chicken in skillet for 5 minutes on medium heat to lightly brown. 

Combine rice, chicken, green chiles, verde sauce, soup in a large bowl. Add softened cream cheese and sour cream. Salt to taste. 

Coat 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. Pour mixture into pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Low broil for an additional 5 minutes to brown the cheese. 

Serve hot! Enjoy!

New-Sew Stockings

Today, I embarked upon my quest to make this little family some Christmas stockings and, to my surprise, Aaron wanted to help!

After determining that Hobby Lobby had a selection of stockings that would neither suit my creativity or tickle Aaron's red and green traditionalism, I continued with my plan of going DIY.  I did some Googling and decided that a felt stocking would be much less invasive, especially since I really didn't want to break out the sewing machine.

The Shopping List:
1 yard of felt from the fabric section
2 giant buttons
Fabric Glue
Assorted fabric sheets from the craft section

For starters, I made a pattern using leftover wrapping paper. This worked really well and kept things festive!

After cutting out four stocking shapes, Aaron began working on what he termed to be his "Reindeer Camo." We cut out and tacked down all of the shapes with the fabric glue.

I began my own stocking as Aaron's lay drying. I started by cutting out my main attraction.

Then I grabbed some felt flowers I'd made for a wreath that I never finished and played around with layouts.

After our designs were done drying, we flipped them over and placed fabric glue along the edges in lieu of sewing. For a finishing touch, we folded down the top to create a nice even rim.

After the glue had set, we flipped these babies right-side out and added giant buttons to embellish our hooks.  Don't they look great?

Super excited that now we have stockings!
Hope ya'll enjoy!
Oooh I also added a really yummy Green Chile Chicken & Rice recipe to the Food tab.

Happy Holidays!!

Merry UnChristmas

I've been feeling very non-Christmasy lately.

For all the decorating that took place for October and November, December makes me look like a slacker. Our tree is still up but I only have four ornaments and some leftover gift wrapping ribbon on it. The only reason that the ornaments are even there is they just happened to be in the same box as my Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It's the one my mom got us last year, knowing we would be too busy with graduating and the wedding and the honeymoon and moving to decorate. Lastly, my sister painted for our home a giant ornament night-light that shines "Merry Christmas," it's sitting on our TV stand.

Yeah that's about it.
Isn't that so un-festive? It's definitely un-spirited for me. I do love Christmastime but life has just had other plans for my creativity.

Last year, Aaron and I came back from our honeymoon in Mexico on Christmas Eve and went straight from the airport to his dad's house to celebrate. This year, we aren't even sure if we will still be in our apartment by then let alone knowing where we are going to spend the holidays. It seems silly to put up a Christmas tree that you'll have to take down before the 25th.

But I'm thinking I need to take the initiative and kill two turtle doves with one stone: Festivity & Boredom.

Thus, I will be embarking on a new adventure that is DIY Stockings!

I'm kind of nervous about it because growing up I've had the same stocking all my life. {.. or at least for as long as I can remember ..} So I want to make sure that I pick out a design and a pattern that will suit this new Thurmon family for years to come. This means it will also need to be something that can be fairly easily replicated for any Thurmon-ites that should be borne out of our holy union. Also it will need to be a fairly frugal craft activity, seeing as how I have no employment offer wrapped underneath our sad little undecorated tree. And I'm a pretty novice sewer.. in fact I'm pretty sure my machine will need some repairs before I get started or I'll be doing this by hand!

Ahhh I'm already salivating at the idea of going to Hobby Lobby!
Or maybe I smell Aaron baking cookies for Santa.

There may exist a twinkle of hope for a little merriment this year yet.