Lunch Help

I think it is obvious that life gets harder with age.

When you are younger all you want to do is grow up. But when you grow up there are decisions to make, hardships to face, and people to please.

One of the hardest decisions I have had to face as an adult is lunch.

Seriously lunch.

Think about how easy lunch was when we were younger. Our lunch was either packed for us and so kindly deliver to the lunch room for us or we were able to select a scrumptious meal courtesy of the school cafeteria.

Yes I am in the small percentage of about .2% of kids that like the cafeteria food.

I am just about the least pickiest person you will ever meet.

But now that I am a boring adult I do not have the luxury of somebody packing my lunch, or a tasty cafeteria with a yummy new meal everyday.

I have to figure it out for myself, and it is hard.

Now bringing my own lunch to work seems like such a small "problem" to have in life, and in fact it is a small "problem". But even small problems matter people!

First of all there is the problem of remembering to pack your lunch.

Most days I am running out of the house as fast as I can trying to make it to work only 15 minutes late and not 30 minutes last. Packing my lunch is not on the top of my mind.

Second of all there is the problem of not knowing what to pack.

What do you bring for lunch? A sandwich seems like the typical thing to bring but after eating a sandwich for lunch for more than 3 days in a row I start to gag with the mere through of a sandwich.

I am ashamed to admit that a lot of days I end up going out and grabbing something fast. Usually Chick Fila or Subway. I HATE spending money on this, but its usually what I end up doing.

Does anybody else have problems coming up with something other than a sandwich to eat for lunch? Anybody have any good lunch ideas?

I really don't want to spend money eating out everyday, but I also need some creative ideas of what to pack for lunch.

It seems like such a small issue, but everyday around 11:30 I start to have a panic attack about what to eat.

I miss the school cafeteria. Turkey Ala King was my fav.

Neighborhood Charity Case

When Luke and I first found our house we loved it. We fell in love with everything about it. One main thing we fell in love with was the yard. Three quarters of an acre of green grass to run around on.

However, when we would tell people how big our yard was, they would ask if we were crazy. Who on earth wants to mow that much lawn?!?!

Luke thought this question was absurd, he grew up on a lot more than three quarters of an acre and strangely enough he was looking forward to mowing the lawn.

Yes, looking forward to it.

He had it in his mind that mowing the lawn would get his body back in shape.

Now I don't think he is out of shape but whatever.

So Luke went and picked out a fancy schmancy new push mower because he was so excited about getting in shape.

No riding lawn mower for this Indian.

After a couple of weekends of living in our house it was evident that our yard needed to be mowed. Luke was getting anxious about spending several hours on Saturday morning mowing the lawn.

He was a man with a plan. A mowing plan.

His mowing clothes were ready, his shoes were by the door, the mower was gased up, he was going to get his mow on. And tone his body while doing it. Or so he thought.

Side note, is it even possible to tone your body by mowing the lawn for an hour once every two weeks? I'm not one to question my husband's thoughts as he is usually the smart one, but this seemed a bit odd to me.

So back to the mowing......

Luke was out mowing the lawn for about 5 minutes when a man on a riding lawn mower pulled up and started helping him.

A complete stranger we had never seen before in our lives.

Who literally came out of the middle of nowhere.

It was like a little riding lawn mower guardian angel.

I thought this was so nice.

Luke thought it was nice, but was looking forward to mowing the whole lawn by himself.

He late asked me if he looked like he was mowing wrong and needed help.

I had no idea.

He was clearly disturbed by the riding lawn mower guardian angel.

I started to realize that Luke needed to mow the lawn. It was important to him.

One more thing about him that I will never understand.

Fast forward to the next mowing session. Wait, I don't remember when it was because somebody else in the neighborhood mowed our lawn before Luke had a chance.

I mean completely mowed it, we came home and it was already mowed.

I thought this was amazing.

Luke was frustrated for two reasons.

1. It was messing up his awesome workout plan

2. It was threatening his manhood

Finally there were a couple of days when Luke got to mow the lawn by himself with no help.

Those were victorious days.

A couple of weeks ago he was mowing the lawn while I was watching TV. I looked outside to see how much he had left to mow and much to my surprise he was nowhere in sight but instead there was a woman mowing our lawn.

A WOMAN. It was one of the funniest things ever.

Then here comes Luke from around the back. Luke and the anonymous woman mowed our lawn together and then she went on her merry way.

I really should have taken a picture.

When Luke walked in he looked at me and said "Do I just look pathetic when I'm mowing?"

I really didn't know how to respond. I mean obviously he doesn't look pathetic mowing the lawn, but there has to be a reason why EVERY NEIGHBOR HELPS HIM MOW THE LAWN.

OK, fast forward to present day:

Luke was planning on mowing the lawn today. I believe his last words to me this morning were "I have to mow the lawn before somebody else in the neighborhood does it."

Famous last words.

It is like mowing the lawn has become a personal and unattainable goal in his life.

At the end of the day I was driving home from work and I thought to myself "I sure hope Luke gets to mow the lawn today, he might doubt his manhood if he doesn't."

As I pulled in our driveway from work, what do you think I saw?

I saw a friendly man driving by on his riding lawn mower, waving to me as he mowed our lawn.

The riding lawn mower guardian angel strikes again.

I immediately called Luke to notify him of our friendly mower. To which he replied "go make him stop!"

Ok yeah, I'm going to go out to the extra friendly man who is mowing our lawn for FREE and ask him to stop, because my husband thinks he is going to get in shape by mowing the lawn and he finds some sort of manly fulfillment by mowing the lawn.

Not gonna happen.

I did go out and ask the man if he would like some water, he kindly denied the water and said he was almost done.

Poor Luke, when he got home he looked so defeated. He thinks he is now the charity case of the neighborhood.

In fact he may have screamed 'I'M THE FLIPPING CHARITY CASE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD"

I may or may not have been laughing hysterically.

I think Luke is very manly, even if he doesn't mow our lawn.

However I think he needs to stick to The Shred if he wants to get in shape, I don't think he is going to be mowing our lawn anytime soon.

Thank you anonymous mowers of our neighborhood. I appreciate you!

Lessons Learned Two Years Later

When Luke and first started dating we were two young crazy kids in love.

Well I'm not sure if we were in love at that point, but it came eventually.

But we were young and still had a lot to learn.

One area we still had room to grow in was the art of giving flowers and the art of knowing how to receive a gift.

Luke=Flowers

Me=How to receive a gift

We both had a little something to learn.

So lets go to the day we both learned a lesson.

I can't remember what the occasion was or why Luke was giving me flowers but I do remember it was within the first 6 months or so of us dating.

Maybe it was our first Valentine's day, which was awkward. I wasn't good at dating, which could be why Luke is the only guy I've dated, and also why I wanted to marry him after the first year and just be done with the whole dating thing.

Too bad it took me FOUR MORE YEARS to decide to marry me.

How many times can I beat a dead horse?

Anyways, back to 2004 when we just started dating. We were celebrating something and Luke came to my apartment with a vase of flowers.

The ugliest flowers I had ever seen in my life.

I took one look at them and said, and I quote:

"hm, those are nice did you pick them in a field on the way over?"

No lie. I said that.

Just to clarify Luke is the sweetest person I have ever met. And very patient. Obviously.

I on the other hand am not, and there are probably plenty of people who could testify to this.

We do not need your testimonies right now, thank you.

I don't remember what happened after that, but I do know that we STILL laugh about that incident and he did marry me.

So he knew what he was getting into, just saying.

He swears that it did not hurt his feelings and he liked it cause I was "real" with him.

The moral of the story is he has gotten better at buying me flowers and I have gotten better at holding my tongue. Most of the time.

I mean look at these beautiful flower he sent to me today for our anniversary:

These definitely weren't picked from any field.

Oh and for further clarification, he didn't pick the original flowers out of a field either.

And please don't hate me after this post, I was young, and well, young.

But don't worry after the incident we got married and two years later we are celebrating our anniversary. Here we are in all our two year marital glow.

Proof that you will never look as good as you did on your wedding day.

By the way, after we took this picture Luke told me he thought my hair looked good. Bless him. He is a good husband.

This and That

1. This weekend Luke and I went to the local Farmer's Market and I bought this huge bag of Okra. Now I have no idea what to do with it. I would like to do something OTHER than fry it (which is obviously the most delicious but least healthy way to cook it). Anybody have any good okra recipes?

2. My husband has been recording a new song. Here he is in all his recording glory (and will probably kill me for putting this picture on here). When we first got married I thought I would never get sick of the sound of his singing voice. Two years later when my husband locks himself in that room for hours and I can't hear my precious TV over his LOUD singing, I find myself wishing he had a soundproof recording studio with a red light outside of it like Uncle Jesse. Everything's better on TV.

3. I don't like to rush time, because it goes fast enough as it is, but I am excited for Fall. Crisp air, holidays, football games (yes I said it), apple cider, boots, sweaters. I'm ready!

4. When I started the Harry Potter series I had a hard time deciding whether I should read the entire series first and then watch the movies, or watch the movies after I finish each book. I decided to go with the second option and I am so glad I did. While the books are better, the movies are very comparable and I LOVE the actors. I'm so glad I decided to read Harry Potter. I am hooked!

4. I had to start moderating my comments because I am being infiltrated with Chinese spam comments. It is SO annoying. Seems like blogger could do something about this? Maybe not.

5. This time last year we were on our way to Disney World with my family. Oh how I wish we were going there again this year. I would LOVE to go to Disney World in the Fall.

6. On Friday we had friends over, we grilled burgers and just hung out and talked for several hours. There are few things better than good friends that you connect with, which I have found is so hard to come by. We are thankful for good friends.

7. If you aren't watching Friday Night Lights you are missing out on the best show ever. Luke and I watched seasons 1-3 in record time and are contemplating watching season one again. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Virtual Pets

Does anybody remember those Tamagotchi pet things?

If you don't know what they are, they are vitural pets. When you get a Tamagotchi Pet an egg hatches and thus your virtual child is born. You have to take care of your pet or it will eventually die.

They became really popular in 1998 and were all the rage.

I think I was a bit old for them, but as a person who is NEVER going to miss out on the current fad I had one, and I loved it.

LOVED it.

I may have been nerdy, and I might have taken my little Tamagotchi pet a little too seriously but I loved it.

I would nurture my sweet little virtual pet and when be so disappointed and feel like I failed if it died.

Fast forward to 2010. I am now married, and I had no idea I was married to a man who shared my love of taking care of a virtual pet. Until recently.

Let's back track, the other night Luke and I are in bed, we are about to go to sleep when Luke freaks out that he needs to water his followers before he goes to sleep.

Um, hold up, WHAT?

He then pulls out his iPhone, goes to some app and begins to feed his followers.

I sat in schock. My 26 year old husband had his very own version of a virtual pet.

The next day after church we are sitting down to eat with friends, when Luke, who usually lectures me about sitting on my phone with friends, pulls out his phone and begins to care for his followers.

When our friends asked what he was doing and his honestly replied, taking care of my followers, they lost it, complete hysterical laughter.

I mean really, what else can you do in this situation?

For the last week I have watched my husband water his followers, feed them, put them to work and put them to sleep, so that they will be rested up for the next day.

I am by no means making this up.

I don't really understand what the game is, because between you and me I honestly don't care but my husband is obsessed with it.

Obviously you have little followers whom you take care of. I don't really understand much more than that.

It is weird to have flashbacks of Jr high when watching your husband play a game.

I better watch out, next thing I know he is going to be playing Dream Phone

My Steps

The summer after my junior year in college I decided not to travel back home to live with my family as I had done the summer's before, but instead I decided to stay in my college town and live there for the summer.

It was a hard decision but I felt it was the right time to stay there for the summer.

This was also the summer that my trusty ole right lung decided to stink out on my and quit working.

In other words it collapsed.

At the beginning of the summer when I decided to stay in my college town, away from my family I had no idea that I would end up spending a week and a half of that summer in the hospital.

Such is the story of life. You never know whats gonna happen.

The weekend that my lung collapsed I "just happened" to be at my home town at a wedding.

I was about to hit the road and head back to my college town when I decided that I should probably stop by the ER to figure out what that weird feeling was in my chest and why I couldn't catch my breath.

That was back in the day when I was still on my dad's insurance and I made periodic stops at the ER just to get things checked.

Seriously.

Luke put a stop to that real quick when he took over my medical bills.

Which is why I now live my life through Webmd. I miss my carefree days when I could make a quick stop at the ER, get checked over, and leave knowing I was fine and healthy.

Anyways.....

That night when I stopped at the ER to get checked over I was admitted immediately, set up with oxygen and wheeled to a room where I would end up spending the next week.

The hospital that I was admitted to was less than 5 minutes away from my parents house.

My family spent the next week going back and forth between my hospital room and home.

It was so convenient that the hospital I went to was so close to their house. Me being in the hospital didn't inconvenience them much, they could still carry on with their lives, while also catering to me at the hospital. And I needed LOTS of catering to.

If I had gone to the hospital in the town I lived in, they would have had to packed up their lives and came to where I was, or driven back and forth throughout the week.

It is a small thing, and it wouldn't have been that bad, but it was so nice that I was in the hospital so close to them.

I think about this situation many times.

Not because my lung collapse is my claim to fame and I use the excuse "I have breathing problems" when people want me to work out with them. Shady I know.

I think about this situation because to me it shows God's absolute provision.

Here I was living several hundred miles away from my family, yet "somehow" I ended up at a hospital in close proximity to them.

I know it was God, I know that he made sure that I was close to my parents.

I stopped at a random hospital yet it was one that took my insurance and everything was paid for through my dad's insurance.

It seems so small in the grand scheme of things, but, to me, this is what is so amazing about God, nothing is too big or even too small for him.

I do my best to follow the Lord everyday, spending time and communion with him. Striving to be more like Him everyday. Seeking His will for my life.

And when I do this, I know that He directs my steps. Even when I cannot visibly see it.

I had no idea that weekend when I debated whether to even go home for that wedding that I would wind up in the hospital, but He did. And He directed my steps to the place I needed to be.

Everytime I begin to doubt God providing in a situation, or start to question whether I am where I need to be in life I think back to this story, and how he guided me. I was committed to Him and gave Him the steering wheel and he led me, even when I had no idea I needed leading.

What a faithful God.

Sometimes things happen that don't make sense, but I have to remember I am looking with my own eyes, and cannot see the workings behind the scenes.

Admittingly it is hard to remember this sometimes, but I try my best.

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? Proverbs 20:24

Weekly Weekend Update

I haven't done a Weekly Weekend Update in a while, I think it's time for one!

Thursday night Luke and I headed to my house to spend a couple of days with my family. We always have fun there and get to spend lots of quality time with my sweet nephew. He is so much fun!

I found this weird bear hat thing and put it on him. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Friday morning me, my mom, youngest sister, and grandma woke up early and went to a craft show. I love craft shows with all of my heart. Does that make me a nerd? I LOVE them.

Later that evening I left Luke with my family (they love him) and went to hang out with my bloggy friends. It's always a great time with these girls. I wish we could do it more often!

Lindsey, Me, Katie, Jessica, Megan and Emily

After my bloggy friend get together I went to get Luke so that we could head back home but there was a big storm so we decided to stay and hang out more with my family

Saturday morning we woke up and headed back home. We spent the weekend with some friends just hanging out and eating.

Jodi, me, Jayma

Me and my main squeeze:

Sunday after church Luke and I headed back to my hometown to go to a church gathering where Luke was leading worship. Part of my family came and Luke's mom and dad came.

Us with part of my family, (my sister was working and my dad was home sick)

And with Luke's parents

It was a great and exciting weekend, but also, very exhausting!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

A (second) Year in PIctures

Last year around this time I put together a post of a picture of me and Luke from each month of our first year of marriage. While the second year of marriage may not be near as exciting as the first year is I decided to do it again. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have nothing to blog about. Nothing.

I do have a little disclaimer: I wasn't as good at taking pictures during the second year of marriage as I was the first. Sad day. Some of these are pretty bad pics. But it's all apart of life right?

So here we go:

August:

At a Sugarland and Keith Urban concert. We aren't big fans of either bands but his parents had some extra tickets and we will never pass up anything FREE. I'm pretty sure Luke played risk on his phone the whole time.

September:
At our friend Tambra's wedding. It was such a beautiful night.October:
Another wedding. This is a bad picture but its my only one from October.
November:
Thanksgiving at my Uncle's house. Luke is squeezing me extra tight just because he loves me THAT much, not because he was sick of taking pictures.

December:
Four-wheeling on Christmas day. Please don't be jealous of our cover-alls.
January:
Spending time with my family. This is the ONLY picture I have of us together from January. There is an extra little guy in the picture. That's our nephew.


February:
This was either for Valentine's Day or Luke's birthday. I'm sure I could look back on the blog and see but it's not that important.

March:
This month we bought a house!! Praise the Lord! Standing on the front porch of our new house.
April:
This was after Luke's band played a show. I'm always such a good little groupie.
May:
This was on Mother's day.
June:
Spending time at the lake in Branson with Luke's family. We had a lot of fun!

So that brings us to present time. After reviewing through my pictures I vow to take more pictures during our third year of marriage!

P.S. Our anniversary isn't until the end of July, this was just a fun early review!

I do not understand

There are many things I do not understand.

Here are some things I do not understand right now.

I do not understand why......

I gain weight when I quit drinking diet coke, quit being the key word here

When my hair is short I want it long, and when my hair is long I want it short

I wait so long to get my hair colored and have the darkest roots I have ever seen. It is embarrassing.

On earth Bella would choose Edward over Jacob. I mean seriously............

I can spend hours watching a TV show, but find it so hard to spend time in the Word

My face looks like it is going through puberty, hello acne at the ripe ole age of TWENTY SIX

The change I continue to pray for seems so far away and unreachable

People find it so hard to believe that my husband wants a career in music. Its our normal, get over it.

I feel like I need to eat something sweet after every meal, I once heard if you eat a Hershey's Kiss after every meal this will take away your sweets craving. Doesn't work for me.

Reba isn't on TV anymore. It is hand's down one of the funniest shows ever. Don't knock it till you've watched it!

We spend so much blasted money on food. I can't find a good coupon system that works for us.

There are many other things but this is all for now. I have important things to do right now like watch Friday Night Lights because it is amazing. And also eat this wonderful new pasta dish I found online at $5 recipes. It is delish.

We be Grillin

From the moment that Luke and I moved into our home I have wanted a grill for our backyard.

I find it t hard to come up with meals in the summer. It's too hot to do a big casserole from the oven, and usually a cool salad doesn't feel us up (we are big eaters unfortunately).

So when we moved into the house I instantly wanted a grill.

However there were wood floors to buy, a new guest bed, bookshelves, various decorations, etc etc.

And the grill got put on the back burner.

Until the beautiful month of July when we decided it would be the perfect month to get a beautiful grill.

Well first Luke decided that we would get a grill, then he started crazy talk about needing microphones, and microphone stands, and all sorts of musical equipment that would not cook wonderful steaks and hamburgers.

After a bit of convincing Luke agreed it was time for the Tree's to purchase a grill.

Here I am with the grill trying not to gloat. This is where I sat, next to the girll convincing Luke that it belonged in our home.

We brought it home and put it together (we being a relative term, Luke might have been the only person who put it together) and then we (again, relative) grilled some yummy burgers!

I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship.

In other news I saw this T-shirt today and it took everything within me not to purchase it. I mean what child of the late 80's early 90's doesn't need this t-shirt??!?!

Are there any fellow grillers out there? What is your favorite thing to grill? Any secrets we (Luke) should know about?!?!

A Moment of Silence