Valentine's Day Inning

Valentines Day has generally been just a fun happy day for me. Not necessarily lovey dove or sad, because I didn't have anyone special in the past, but more just fun!

For this holiday Blake and I adopted an idea from our friends Joe and Emily Fulcher (see her running blog here) that the she would plan Valentines Day and he would plan the anniversaries! So we thought we could give this a try, so it was up to me to plan our first married Valentines together! Since being married this view of fun for Valentines Day shouldn't change.

Back in October for our wedding we registered at fun housey places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Dillards, but our favorite place was registering at REI. This was an AMAZING place to register and our guests were so kind as to get us really amazing things, and we were blessed to get all the basics!

So I used our wedding gifts and planned a fun outing, but really an inning, by Camping Inside.

In preparation I:

• Made paper stars and hung them in the middle of the living room
• Bought three stacks of firewood, yet we only used one (which, Blake, one is still in the trunk of my car and I think that's where the mildew smell is coming from...)
• Bought chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows to have s'mores for dessert
• Turned the A/C on to make it sooo cold inside out apartment, to justify a fire, because we're in Texas and in February its 60 degrees! (Later that evening we opened the sliding glass door to feel the evening breeze).
• Downloaded a nature sounds app so we would hear the sound of a rushing river. Blake's favorite spot to camp is by a Montana river so I brought it to Dallas. 
• Set the tent up, by myself for the first time (that was interesting..)

So when Blake walked in from after work, this is what he saw:

I had guacamole and thin chips ready to eat and dinner of stuffed bell peppers was on its way! 

Once it actually got cold enough we had a fire and roasted some tasty mallows on the hot coals! 

This is not actually us, but do you feel the joy?

It was a blast to plan Valentines day and go on an adventure in our own home! I can't wait for many many more Valentine, Fun, Days with my handsome husband! 

When God Gives Nose Bleeds

No, God did not punch me in the face to make me have a bloody nose, but here is a story of God's provision and proof that He is BBBBIIIIIGGGG!

It all started in January 2010, before the Farrar-tale was EVEN a thought,  I was at the Bluffs just on a days work sitting at my desk, when I wiped my nose thinking it was running (because its cold in that office, we even had to buy a heater) when in fact it wasn't a runny nose, but my nose was bleeding.

Randomly bleeding

I think the last bloody nose I had was at a 7th grade soccer game, when the ball  hit my face at warp speed. I mean I couldn't even dodge it or head it. I am telling you it was going mach 5.

This was not that case...this nose bleed was random.

It really actually surprised me that I got a nose bleed, so at that moment I thought...what if the person I am supposed to marry gets a random bloody nose?!?! Then I would know!

So that night before my head hit the pillow I prayed a little something like this:

"God I pray that the person I marry would get a bloody nose, that it would randomly start bleeding just like mine did this morning. But he couldn't get in a fight or have gotten hit in the face. That it would just start. I't would be great before we make a decision to get married or our first meeting or even when we've been married for 50 years, it doesn't matter when, it would just been fun, but I pray BIG that my future husband would get a random bloody nose."

And I believed that prayer! I told my roommates, which led into telling my bible study group and it became a silly little joke. I am sure they thought I was crazy.

But, that wasn't much different

Yet, I mean the idea was crazy, but I believed it and when I would pray that my future husband's character would go before him I would also pray for a nose bleed every so often.

Then fast forward to June, as Pine Cove Summer 2010 was launching off. I had been running into this guy named Blake every so often that spring at Macalisters or Einsteins, but it wasn't till Week 1 of camp that we went on our first date.

Every saturday of the 11 weeks of camp we went on an exciting date and the relationship really started to move forward. When summer was over and he went on his first annual fly fishing trip to Montana and I went to Flagstaff to visit my parents. After these trips, it was planned that he was going to pick me up from DFW airport and then we would spend the weekend at his family Ranch where is grandma lives and his parents were going to meet us there.

Side note: if you know me, you know I LOVE ranches and have dreamed of having one...even if it was just an acre! If you don't know me, you know now that I LOVE ranches. So getting to go with him and visit the ranch was EXCITING AMAZING  A DREAM COME TRUE!

We spent our time touring on a four wheeler

Picking Pears for a cobbler
(the pears were hard as a rock.)

The BEST part was taking care of the cattle...

We coaxed them in with cattle cubes treats and sprayed them with fly spray, to keep away those pesky buggers

It actually works better to stand and get out of the truck...

Then we herded them into a pin, corralled them in the shoot, and put deworming and other things on them with help from the parents. 

Needless to say I was having the time of my life! If only the Pioneer Woman knew..she would be proud! 

Then, Blake and I had to go into town to grabbed some more cattle cubes at the small town, Hico, feed store, where they know Blake and the family! I am on a pure high at this point living the dream on a ranch, loving being with Blake, taking care of cattle, and enjoying the central Texas scenery. When all of a sudden I look over at Blake, he touches his nose, looks at me, and says,

"My nose is bleeding, that's weird I never get bloody noses, how did this happen?"

At that moment I stopped, starred, and laughed.

Laughed...thats what I did, I just laughed. Oh, then I tried to find Kleenexes in the truck, and laughed!

He jumped out of the truck to open a gate and I laughed some more while praising God at the same time and also thinking...REALLY God?! We've only been dating three months! Are you crazy...did I actually pray for this!?

I sure did and God answers prayer! I'm Married to that same, nose bleed, handsome rancher now!!

After that I was on Cloud 9

No, 10!

No 9, is this nose bleed really for real?! 

I learned that moment to pray BIG to a BIG God. It was a real prayer that I believed and God showed up big time. He showed up in abundance and provided all my hopes and dreams when it came to marrying a man of godly character and random bloody nose. 

I can't help but to praise God for giving so richly. It is stated over and over in Psalms of the abundance of God's steadfast love, and how full are his store houses of gifts to his beloveds, (36:8, 69:13, 72:16). 

I didn't tell Blake about God's mighty work with my prayer then, but continued to respond to his leadership, and told him the cold December night when we said, "I love you." 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one knocks, it will be opened."

Matthew 6:7-8

Pinterest Phun

I just really like using alliterations, but in this post I am going to put pictures of all my completed Pinterest projects! If you haven't heard of Pinterest it is an incredible site of inspiration for life! You have as many virtual bulletin boards as you want and each one has a different category and title, and you add pins to your boards. The pins are pictures from across the country of crafts, cooking, sayings, homes, style, you name it. Be warned you will be spending HOURS pinning really fun pictures (that lead to how-to links) on your boards.

Really you just end up pinning more then actually doing, but it gets an A+ in inspiration!

Yet, I was determined to ACTUALLY do some of the pins I had on my boards so below you will just see a few pictures of what I have done. I have also made a board solely for completed things!

It makes me feel good seeing all seven of my completion on there.

All seven make me happy!

I don't have the how-to of what I have finished here, mainly because I really don't even remember everything I did and plus the credit goes to the people in the pinterest/bloggin' world who have already done that for us!

When I think of something creative myself I will make a how-to, that's when I do.

Budget Envelopes

 I had extra double sided scrapbook paper. I unfolded an envelope that would fit in my wallet and traced it on the piece off scrapbook paper. Then I added a piece of cardstock on the back with a yarn with a blanket stitch to stick it in my wallet.

 Voila! 

I have been wanting to use this money handling method for a long time and since being married it made a great excuse to actually put it into practice 

And it helps us immensely to stay on a budget...thanks Dave Ramsey! 

 Deck o' Love

I made this deck of cards for Blake for our First Christmas! I bought the deck of cards at Bass Pro Shop, only because they had deer on them and then wrote on each card why I loved him! 

See that BIG 5 point deer!  (10 pt deer if your from the south)

 I liked how thick it was to hold and it was SUPER fun to make. 

 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

I made these for dessert when we invited our neighbors and friends in a small group over for dinner. Are they supposed to look like this?! 

They tasted okay...I just ate the cookie dough on top! 

Cupboard Door turned Coat Hanger

my actual vision and idea

At the JF Ranch there is an OLD OLD house that has been vacant for at least a 1000 years

maybe a hundred years

Blake just informed me at least 50 years.

Well, we went in this house, hopping from beam to beam where the floor wasn't completely caved in and found this gem (and many more) in the kitchen. It was an old cupboard door that we took off. Then we took the authentic glass knobs off the other cupboards and drawers that didn't look at great.

We drilled holes into the wood, I bought bolts from Home Depot and we put this puppy together.

I felt like a handy (wo)men. I think Extreme Home Makeover could hire me.

 There it beautifully hangs in our little humble abode.

Thanks Pinterest and all you out there full of inspiration! Here are the links of the above projects:

Budget Envelopes

 Deck o' Love
 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

What Pinterest projects have you finished?!