All is Being Purified

Happy Monday to us all.  

Where We Live Now

Hi.  This is where we live now.

I'm totally kidding, but we did just spend 6 days away.  I'm super excited to spill the details of our amazing trip.  

I'm currently working on a "Vacation Update," so hold on tight.

Have a great weekend, we've missed you!

T., H., S., & N.

Dream Dinners, An Anniversary Celebration

    I wanted to talk a little bit more about how we celebrated our anniversary because it was just really memorable and fun.

 Tim bought me a gift card to a place called Dream Dinners. I wasn't exactly sure what it was at the time, but it involved us and food and cooking so I was already on board.

     As it turns out, Dream Dinners involves attending a session at one of their locations,  fixing several meals at once, and freezing them for later use.

     We had a Saturday Morning wake-up call at about 8:15 (which is EARLY for us) so we could make it to our session by 9:00.  (sidenote: we jammed to MC Hammer's Can't Touch This on the way, that helped).  

Here's how it works: 

      You use their online form to select your meals. Once you arrive, they give you an apron and your set of "recipe" cards (we had 6). Each station is labeled with the meal and “recipe” or list of ingredients. Once you arrive at your station, you simply follow the instructions on the card to put your meal together. Once you've finished all the recipes, they package it all up nicely (with the baking instructions), and you place it all in the freezer.

      Even though this was super fun and convenient, we both agreed it is going to be something we reserve for birthdays/anniversaries/Christmas. We were able to use their introductory offer, but in the future it will cost about $150-$200 for 36 servings (12 meals of 3 servings). While I budget $100 a week for us, that also has to include cleaning supplies, toiletries, and other household items not to mention breakfast and lunch items (and produce)!

Plus I LOVE grocery shopping (it's weird, I know). I also love meal-planning so it just doesn't make sense for us to do it on a regular basis as a family.

     I could not believe the number of locations they have (7 in Ohio)! If you can find a Dream Dinners location near you, I'd definitely recommend this for a gift, girls outing, or fun date (if you've got money to spare)!

     We spent the rest of the day looking at estate/yard sales and working around the house. We finished the evening off with chicken sandwiches on yummy pretzel bread (from our Dream Dinners date)!  

Here's a really terrible recent photo of our shrimp with parmesan risotto.  On paper plates, cause we' fancy like that.

Love & they have you put garlic in everything,
H. 

It's Madness, Madness, I tell you!

  So.  Here's this.

     Someone stole my checkcard information, and made about $6,500  in charges.  What's almost hilarious about the whole thing is that they made several hundred dollars worth of  donations to various charities.   Were they trying to improve their karma?

With that being said, Tim and I are just in this really, really good place right now.

     The other day, I had a meeting at church.  There's a big window in the office, and I saw Tim's arrival (we had driven separately), and I just kept thinking, "Smile at me through the window...Smile at me through the window..."  And he did, and then I just kept...you know, watching to see if he would walk by again (and he did).  I don't know why, but I felt 15 again, and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Right now, it is 1am.  Tim is (quietly) snoozing beside me, and I just get the distinct impression that everything is going to be okay.

There is enough grace and tenderness and mercy to go around.  

     As I was scrolling through "my" transactions, I noticed one from an "LA Nail Salon."  It could not have been me because when I got a manicure, I used a Groupon instead of my check card, thank you very much.  I was SO MAD thinking about how those jerks used my card to get their nails done.

Then I remembered I got a pedicure this week.  So...yea.

I hope you have a Good day.  We will.

Love, and (from looking at my account) apparently we're going to Spain?  Or Austria?  Wait, no we're not.   We're buying a boat?
H.  (it is still, H, right?)


Thinking about both of these helped SO much.

Influence Conference 2013

I just wanted to stop by and share some exciting news with you all.  I just purchased my ticket to The Influence Conference 2013 in Indianapolis!!!!!  I did not go last year, and I SO WISH I would have.  With more time to focus on blogging, and a call to do so, I'm so excited about what God's going to do at this conference!  The world needs more empowered, educated women using their INFLUENCE to reach the world for Jesus.  

Love and now I need a room mate, 
H. 

Tom + Chee, could you call this a Restaurant Review?

     Every year, my friend Courtney comes to visit from Kansas.  This year, I had the chance to sneak away to a yet-to-be-discovered part of town.  Per her recommendation, we ate at a cute little place called Tom  + Chee.  Bringing fame to this side of the Ohio River, Tom + Chee is a "gourmet grilled cheese" joint that actually started in a little tent on Fountain Square and expanded after having been featured on the show Shark Tank (one of Courtney's favorites)!

Or did they expand first and then become famous?  Answers please, Courtney! 

If I tell you that this place was "the bomb,"  will you still continue reading?

Probably?  Ok.

This place was the bomb!  ;)

     I ordered the Pep. & Chee (pepperoni, tomato sauce, and cheese on sourdough) and a cup of cheeseburger soup. It was fantastic. However, I do wish I would have ordered a tomato-based soup so I could dip my sandwich in it (rookie mistake, we'll get em' next time)!

We also split a grilled cheese donut. That's right. A donut. It looked like this...

(That's right.  I took that wonderful, oddly-colored photo).  

and it was super delicious, and it's okay if you don't believe me because that just means more for us.

Yum. Yum. Double Yum. I would totally eat here again.

 This is Courtney with Corey Ward, one of the restaurant's founders! (and super nice guy)! 

I just love finding new little joints, and supporting local businesses.

Love and where to next?

H.

Special thanks to my BFF  for letting me steal some of her iphone photos...

Oh the technology we have at our hands these days!  

Ushed & Gushed: An Anniversary Post

I have ushed and gushed about our Anniversary for almost a solid week, now.

Honestly, the past several months have been cloudy with a side of mild depression.  If you've been there, you know...it is hard to sincerely feel anything.

via

So, with that being said, I think one of the reasons why I have just loved anticipating this anniversary is because... 

it feels so good to actually be excited about something again!!!  

     I have never before in my life had so many questions (BABIES?  HEALTH INSURANCE?  JOBS?), but I am equally as confused  intrigued as I am happy, and that's mostly because of Tim.

     Sometimes, the call to write is so strong, I can feel it in my teeth.  It keeps me up at night.  I am a hoarder of words, and a lot of those words get all jumbled together.

The other day, I had this quote rolling around in my head.  I just couldn't put it all together.

And then we had dinner with friends, and I mentioned the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...

and there it was...and I just thought it was so fitting.

Love, and my new world has a red front door,
H.

Happy Anniversary, Timothius G. Young.  You're my guy.