The Four Letter Word

I have been stuck on this simple four letter word 'love'.

1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This passage is probably one of the most commonly used chapters from the Bible to describe love. Love possesses all of the qualities written in this passage. For God so loved the whole world including murderers, rapists, gossipers, thieves, homosexuals, heterosexuals, Caucasian, African American, homeless, imprisoned, ill, rich, poor, and all others. Why? Because He created them. He didn't 'mess up' on any one person and every person was created in His image and His love for us has no conditions. He loved me... ME... when I was covered in filth and not willing to seek Him. When I spat in His face by being intentionally disobedient. He sent His Son to die for ME knowing that I was a dirty sinner.

My heart was recently stirred by a conversation pertaining to love and it caused me to check myself. As a follower of Christ do I truly strive to love as Christ loves? Do I study scripture and ask God to show me how to love? When I think about my relationships and read through this passage I realize, I do not always love the way that Christ describes love. Love keeps no record of wrong, is slow to anger, is not self-seeking, is patient, and is not rude. God says, "Love your enemies." Do I really love my enemies?

With Easter approaching I cannot help but think about the ultimate love sacrifice. A day that has been obscured by cute little bunnies and colorful eggs. An event that was full of sadness but at the same time was the turning point for the entire world. It only happened because of the deep, unconditional love from the Father. He sacrificed His perfect and blameless Son, Jesus, so that I may have eternal life. And Jesus, knowing the excruciating pain He would feel, willingly went because of His love for me. What a beautiful picture of love.

Be Love.

~Jess

The Heart of a Nurse

I have been a nurse for almost 2 years now. My first year working primarily with adults and second with children. I love both for different reason and would not change my experiences for any others. My first year, I was exposed to many common injuries and disease and worked with incredible, experienced co-workers and physicians who took the time to teach me about each. I think God gave me that job to prepare me for my current job at TCH. Since working at TCH, I have been exposed to so many different, unusual, severe, and uncommon diseases. All devastating, severe or not.

I remember as a little girl seeing kids with severe disabilities and, as many kids do, staring; partially because I didn't understand and partially because I was sad for them. I would notice how every single person who walked past would stare, some disgusted by the characteristics that the disease gave the child; some confused as to why the child was the way he was; and some uncomfortable by the loud noises and motions the child would make. Many would hurry their children along or try to ignore it. Very rarely did I ever see a individual smile or try to talk to the child. I realize now that these parents, whether they meant to or not, taught their kids to treat these children different. 

I have always had a compassionate heart. Often times, I try to put my feet in other people's shoes to try to understand what they are going through and think of what I would want if I were them. In this past year, I have seen and worked with many, many children who have diseases with severe physical/mental handicaps. Yes, some do look and act different than many other children, but I have learned that their hearts are so so sweet. The most kind, loving, and innocent hearts. I no longer see them as 'different'. I have seen the love between them and their families. I am honored to take what little role I have in caring for these kids. Some days, when I look at the schedule for the day, I get excited for who is coming in because I know that he/she will always greet me with a smile and I my day will be brightened.

Though these kids are blessing to me, unfortunately other people do not see it that way. I have heard stories of these kids- severe and not- being bullied and picked on. Other kids and adults putting these children down to build themselves up. It breaks my heart and honestly infuriates me. There were times in my life that I was picked on and I remember how it made me feel, and to this day I have insecurities of some of the things I was made fun of for 10 years ago, but what I went through is no where near some of the stories of these kids. How could someone be so cruel.

What do I do to help? Can I even do anything? On a large scale, maybe not, but where I am and the few times I see these children, I love them and try to make them feel special. I give them my time, even when I may not have much.  I listen. I play. I do whatever it is that child and family need at that moment. 

I encourage you, nurse or not, young or old, whatever your circumstance may be, to do the same.

Button Magnets

I love hanging things on my fridge! Everything from pictures, to cards I get in the mail, to reminders and grocery lists, but I ALWAYS run out of magnets and end up playing the 'How-many-papers-can-one-magnet-hold' game. So I finally decided to get more magnets, but all the magnets I could find were either so not cute or kind of pricey, so I decided to make some of my own! 

Literally all you need are circular magnets, super glue, and buttons!

I had all of the materials already so it didn't cost me anything. My grandmother had a collection of buttons that was passed down to my mother and later to me. I used brown and lime green to match the colors of my house which actually turn out to really POP on my black fridge.

If you send me a card I will add you
to my fridge too!

Notice my moose magnet. If you don't know already,
I absolutely LOVE moose!

~Jess

Beautiful Days Ahead

Well hello again from Houston!

It's been a while since I have blogged about life. I recently changed blog sites because the other site I was using was not user friendly at all, so it was taking a ridiculously long time to post anything. I didn't enjoy it. I'm loving blogspot though. Way easier to work and has a lot more cool features. 

I have actually kind of been obsessed with fixing it up lately. I am constantly finding new features and have gotten a few suggestions on things to add. Love it! It is actually kind of therapeutic. I recently read a really cool blog that I found on Pinterest that inspired me to start posting all of my DIY projects and 'How To's'.  She is years ahead of of me and had EVERYTHING that you could ever think to do to your house with videos and pictures but I bet I could get there. I actually plan to use a few of her ideas on my house.

Anyway, life has been so good lately. This semester has been different for us. We are spending a lot more time at home just being together. I have really loved it. I think last semester we were trying to stay super busy to get plugged in and almost over committed to things which just caused us to be stressed and tired all the time. Daniel has had more time to study (bleh) and relax- which is what I wanted for him- and I have had so much time to craft and fix up our house. I actually cook dinner almost every night now! Daniel's loving that!

Our friendships here are wonderful. I have made a few really sweet friends who are super encouraging and just fun to hang out with. I came up with the idea to start a monthly craft day. Yesterday was our first time and I had a blast. It turned into craft day/dinner/game night. So much fun! We plan to have a monthly poker/fry night in the future. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds. I got a fryer for Christmas and probably won't ever use it except for fry night. Haha! Basically, everyone brings whatever they want and we fry it up while playing a few rounds of poker. This night is geared more to please all the guys! Haha!

I'm super excited for March to get here. Spring and warm weather!! I wore shorts yesterday for the first time since September! It is going to be a BUSY month. We are having family come for the first time since last year. Jason, Val, and Josh are coming for the first part of Spring Break and my parents are coming the second (which actually ended up being a week after Daniel's Spring Break. What a bummer.) While my parents are here, we plan to completely remodel the kitchen. I mean the whole enchilada! We are tiling the floor; tearing out the counter tops; adding a back splash; making the kitchen bigger by closing off a random, useless doorway and adding cabinets, installing a new sink; painting. I also plan to paint the cabinets white, but probably after they leave. It will just be good to see all of them. We are also planning to go to Austin for a friend's bridal shower and possibly one weekend to San Antonio to see Daniel's parents. Also, the rodeo is going to be here! Whoop Whoop! We already have tickets for 1 night and I'm sure we will go at least one other time. Oh, and March is my Birthday month!! Woohoo! Daniel said that he is going to take me to the outlet malls near Galveston as my birthday present. Can I just say, my husband is AWESOME! 

~Jessica

Burlap Wreath

I had this great idea, that probably isn't really my idea, to start a monthly craft day. Basically,  a few of my friends meet up to do a craft/recipe that we have pinned on Pinterest. This week was our first week and I'd say it was a success. 

Supplies:

-  Circular Metal Wire- base if the wreath- $2.99 

- Wire- to tie the ribbon- $2.99

- Scissors

- Wire cutters

- Glue Gun (optional)

- Basic Burlap- it really doesn't matter that width, but I used about 20 ft of the basic burlap. they come in rolls of 15 ft- $5.99

- Colorful Burlap- I chose aqua- $5.99

- Chevron Burlap- $9.99 (Used me 40% off coupon here)

**The fun part about this project is you can add/change so many things. There are numerous things you can add ribbon/flowers/monogram letters. Loah and Jenny (my friends) used yellow burlap and daisies.  

**Always ALWAYS remember to use a 40% off coupon if you go to Hobby Lobby. You can pull it up on your phone and easily save a little extra. 

Total Price: About $25.00  

So we started out by cutting the wire into 6-8 inch pieces and twisting them around the circular wire base. I twisted about 20 pieces total.  

This is Loah and Jenny. I promised them I would mention them in my blog. :)

Next, once the wires are twisted and spread evenly around the base, we moved to the burlap. There really isn't a wrong way putting it on the wreath. I gathered/bunched the start piece and twisted the wire to secure the piece. As you can see below, I made a loop with the burlap, then bunched and twisted. I did that until I covered the entire base.     

At this point I was in craft mode and forgot to take anymore picture (sorry). Basically all I did was add the aqua by bunching (like I did with the other) and twisting with the same wire I used to fasten the plain burlap. I twisted on every other wire though to avoid an overwhelming amount of aqua. 

I cut the chevron into 7(ish) inch segments and bunched the ends together to make a loop and added them throughout with the wire I didn't use to fasten the aqua.

The bow was pretty easy. I folded the ribbon (see below) and used a piece of wire to secure the middle and then cut an extra piece of chevron to cover the wire.

I plan to add a wooden letter ("G" for our last name), but I forgot to buy paint to paint the letter the color I wanted. Loah and Jenny added their daisies as well. 

Love how they turned out!! Nice work ladies!

Whole Wheat Banana Bread/ Muffins

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2-3 mashed bananas
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup hot water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325o F
2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in salt and flour. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Spread batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan
3. Bake for 55-60 minutes

Extras:
To make it a little sweeter I add about 1 tsp pure maple syrup. You can also add chopped nuts. I also like to add cacao (it add a little chocolate taste but keeps the texture of a nuts, it’s found in the healthy food section of HEB)

You can also make muffins with this recipe. Just pour into lightly greased muffin tins and cook for 15-20 minutes.

We eat this for breakfast on a very regular basis.

Whole Wheat Pizza

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm water
2 tsp yeast (active dry yeast)
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur organic white whole-wheat flour)
Tomato sauce
Grated mozzarella cheese
Cooking oil spray
Other desired toppings such as sausage, mushrooms, vegetables, Parmesan cheese, pesto, goat cheese, arugula, olives, etc.
INSTRUCTIONS
Drop the yeast into the 1-cup of warm water and let it go to work for a few minutes. It should foam up a little bit. Stir the salt and olive oil into the yeast mixture.
Pour the flour and yeast mixture into a food processor with a dough blade or into a mixer with a dough hook and turn on the machine. (You can also mix up this dough by hand.)
You should end up with a ball chasing itself around the food processor. If the dough is too dry add warm water a teaspoon at a time and if it is too wet add flour 1 teaspoon at a time.
Remove the ball from your food processor and knead into a smooth ball. Put the dough into a large ziplock bag or bowl covered with plastic wrap (put a touch of olive oil in and coat the inside of the bag/bowl first) then leave it in fridge for as little as 1 hour or overnight depending on how much time you have. It will rise on it’s own in the fridge.
When ready to make the pizza preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Use a rolling pin to roll it out into the desired shape (don’t make it too thin!). Put the flat pizza dough on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking oil. Top the dough with homemade or organic tomato sauce, cheese and other toppings of your choice. Bake in an oven for about 8 – 10 min. or until crust and cheese are golden brown.
Enjoy!

Website: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/