In The Middle Of This Mess

I fear...I have run out of interesting things to say.

So I will share a recent victory. I successfully cooked a vegetarian meal. *cheers* *wahoo!*

My past escapades at vegetarian cooking (and no, we are not becoming vegetarians!) have been lackluster and plain gross.

Orzo stuffed bell peppers. Sounds fabulous = tastes like bland, soggy rice in a cold, chewy pepper.

Quinoa (which is actually fairly tasty when done right) and sauteed vegetables = mushy brown sludge

The only other "vegetarian" option I've tried is Twice Baked Potatoes and although delicious, probably not the healthiest.

So, last night - I hit the jackpot. A delicious and easy recipe, and something so different from the normal chicken and vegetables that I actually squealed when I ate it. I know, dork.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers
via Polwig

1 (28oz) can of whole peeled tomatoes in juice (I used two small cans of tomato sauce)
1 jalapeno chile (I used pickled jalepenos)
2 small (1 huge) onion
3 garlic cloves
1 (19 oz) can black beans
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheese (pepper jack or italian mix)
1 tsp cumin
3/4 cup water
4 large poblano peppers.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine tomatoes (or sauce), one onion chopped and 2 garlic gloves in blender. Blend until smooth.

Mix other chopped onion, one garlic clove, black beans (drained and rinsed), cornmeal, cheese and cumin. Add water to desired consistency.

Cut poblano peppers lengthwise in half and stuff with bean mixture. Add lots of salt and pepper.

Pour tomato mixture onto bottom of 9x13 pan, place peppers on top, squish down a little bit so they are somewhat covered in sauce. Top with more cheese.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with sour cream

OMG. So delicious. I think the sauce is what makes it. It reminds me of the salsa in El Salvador we ate with the pupusas. So yummy. I also made an avacado and tomato salad, which added a fresh spin on it too.

Oh, so yum-O!

Be Small Enough

One of my favorite lyrics goes:

"There are moments when I could not face Goliath on my own, and how could I forget we've marched around our share of Jerichos..."

It always seemed like a simple metaphor to me. We all have our Goliaths that shadow us with their intimidation. And we all have our Jerichos, that we circle and circle trying to find a way in, around or through.

I think we have daily Goliaths and Jerichos. And then we have the BIG ones. The walls that we continually bang our heads against, thinking maybe this is the time our tiny skull will crack the concrete.

But, thankfully, also in our lives we have our Davids. The mild-mannered heroes that slip in, shoot one tiny rock into our seemingly unpassable giant, and the whole thing topples down. And we have our Rahabs that hide us when the danger comes, protecting what we hold most sacred from what we were most afraid of.

Jason: thank you for being my David and my Rahab. For making me feel safe and humbled at the same time. One day I'll be normal. I promise. Hopefully. Still counting on it...:)

Shine Like The Stars

*knock knock*

who's there?

*library monster*

library who?

*Library monster gone done and eaten Stephanie......*

*burp*

MIA

So here we are starting a new adventure. My three weeks of stay-at-home-dom has come and gone, and I do believe I did it well. I slept [a lot], ran errands [a lot], watched TV [a lot], and prepared myself for a new step. GRADUATE SCHOOL.

Going back to school has been something I've always assumed I would do. I love learning, I love that environment and I love to be knowledgeable on the subjects I'm passionate about. I was lucky in undergraduate school to choose what I wanted to study early on, Marketing -- and enjoy it from the get go. I always just knew it was where I needed to be. I love this field, and have found it fascinating from the beginning. But graduate school for me, is a chance to make myself better in the field I love. An opportunity to go further.

So, back to school. It will be tough. And it will be stressful, and I plan to enjoy every moment of it, because I know I'll never be back here. I'll never be here, at LSU, in class, on campus, care-free (mostly) with my entire day focused on reading, absorbing and learning. I'll probably never have the freedom like this experience offers. And I know Jason and I will never be in this place again either.

It feels as though graduate school is the gateway to so many bigger things. It's that "last step" before the next step -- a family. Moving to a new city (probably). Having kids. Getting grounded. And being more than just the two of us. I think that is part of what excites me the most about starting school. I know it's the first step in a new direction for us. I don't want to get ahead of myself and miss this experience, but I can't help but look down the road a little bit and get excited about what's to come.

So, in honor of that. I wanted to reflect on where we've been lately.

We braved our first holiday season together:

We moved into a new place (with the help of some amazing family and friends):

We celebrated another Spring, where a year before we stood waiting to see each other for the first time on our wedding day:

And of course, loved on our adorable, almost human child, Sadie (who right now, I kid you not, is licking the couch cushions):


And we danced. A lot.

So soon, there will be new pictures of new moments together. And I can't wait to share our exciting it will al be!

So Good I'll Take It

So I finally did it. I left my job for the start of a new adventure. It was time. That much was as clear as daylight. And it's time to focus on something new. Graduate School. Back to the halls, back to the alma mater, back to class. I'm looking forward to studying exactly what I know I want to know more about.

But before that adventure begins, I've take a few weeks off to just...be. To breathe a little deeper, to take a break. And that has given me an opportunity to do things I've been putting off for years. All those tiny projects that line up and never get done because of lack of time, energy, patience...etc.

It's been relaxing, rejuvenating and just plain nice. I know things will pick back up again. And I won't have many more quiet moments like this, but I plan to enjoy every minute of it. Even it means just having the time to clean the boring ol' oven.

As It Was

Even though owning a home is far down the road for me and Jason, I have been obsessed lately with looking at remodeling, decorating, home-type blogs. I don't consider myself much of a DIY-er (do it yourself-er), but these projects people come up with are incredible.

Need to re-brick my fireplace? No problem!
I need an Indian silk handwoven rug to match my acryclic blue hand crafted tile? Uhh...easy.
My 6 Kitchen Aid mixers are so boring, who can hand paint with oils derived from honeybees tears? Cake walk.

Not to poke too much fun, but I do have a lot of fun perusing them to see what type of inspiration it might create in me.

And today, I've found a winner.




A PLATE WALL.

Not to mention the super awesome, if anybody wants to buy me one I would love them forever, blue piano. This idea of displaying artsy, beautiful plates as artwork is so endearing to me.

Definitely will use this one day in my home, or maybe....business? *wink wink*

If That's What It Takes

There is a song by Mercy Me "Bring the Rain," that I've always loved. Its verses and melody has touched a part of my heart that was always stubborn - always wanting God to bless me with the good stuff, and none of the tough stuff in life.

I haven't talked much about my struggles at work here mostly because of an internal rule that my daily victories and struggles at work should stay there (minus the vent sessions had with my husband and family). I tried my best not to bring work home.

But lately it's been so overwhelming and heavy that I've been baffled that I can't find peace in the midst of it. I would pray the entire way to work "please make today OK, make me patient, make me strong," but everyday I would come home more defeated than the last.

So during a drive last week I was listening to that song.

"Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Being me anything that brings You glory
I know they'll be days when this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You, Jesus bring the rain...

And it hit me. All this time that I've been praying for my own personal comfort I had been missing the point. All of these struggles were opportunities to praise God during this storm in my life. The good times aren't the only blessings we are given.

God showed me I had been taking his faithfulness for granted and not given Him enough credit. This time at work, the times when it feels like a gorilla is sitting on my chest, are the best opportunities to share Gods love and grace under fire. He will see me through.