Happy Days

There have been many, many happy days in my life. I don't just mean regular happiness (I have a LOT of those days!!) but I mean the kind of happiness that you feel like your body could just burst. The day I got married. The birth days of both of our children. Holding my niece and both nephews for the first time. The day I got saved at church. Being on girl trips with my mom and sister. Having alone time with my husband post-children (you take that time for granted before having kids!!).

But none of those times could have prepared me for how I felt on March 11, 2012.

If you told me when I was in high school that this was going to be my life, I would have seriously not believed you. I never thought I would be in the place I am now, but man am I thankful things didn't work out the way I had planned!

And if you had told me that eventually I was going to marry Stephen (well, I would have believed that part, I was totally smitten with him) and that one day he would be a deacon in our church and an extremely well-respected man in our church, I think I would have smiled and said that seemed a little high-reaching for a prediction. But about a year and a half after we got married, we both got saved at the church we attend now, and since then our relationship has changed drastically. I can't even get into how grateful I am for where we are now.

We found out a couple of months ago that Stephen was being nominated to be a deacon in our church, and although this may not seem like a big deal to some people, we are taking it very seriously. We have a new pastor at our church and he is making some major changes, one of those being the implementing of deacons over certain sections of the church (like evangelism, outreach, discipleship, etc.) So being a deacon right now is very significant in our church. I am so proud of Stephen and how far he has come since we first met 13 years ago. He is such an incredible father and husband, and he is such a blessing to me.

But like I said, nothing could have prepared me for how I felt on the day he was ordained. My parents came to the service to support us (and also, my dad ended up playing the piano for the entire service since our piano player didn't show up - Hah!) At the end of the service, it was time for the newly ordained deacons to be prayed over by anyone in the congregation who had previously been ordained. This included several men from church as well as my dad. I can't even describe how I felt seeing my dad up there praying over my husband.

Our pastor Chad with Stephen

I got really emotional that day! I just think God has brought us so far. It's so important to us that we stick with our faith through everything. In the past six months I can't tell you all the marriages that have fallen apart, tragedies that have struck families we know... and it's only been the ones who lean on God that come out on top and thriving.

1 Timothy 3:8-13 KJV "Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus."

Sunday, Sunday

Church was awesome this morning! As usual. While I am waiting for our chicken parmesan to cook, I figured I would put some pictures up.

Brianna loves this Baby. But that does not stop her from putting Baby in a pot. Let's hope she doesn't do this to the real baby in October...

"Twelve Dancing Princesses" - one of her new favorites. She will just lounge around reading this looooooong book:

"Excuse me, you're interrupting my reading, Mom!!"

A coworker of Stephen's and his wife stopped by the other night. I found out he loves blueberries so I ran out to our bushes to pick the first batch I have picked this year. I think this is probably close to a pint, and I was only out there 3-4 minutes! I need to remember to keep picking them.

Brianna smooches on her daddy:

Open-mouth, lots-of-tongue kissing going on here!

And another piece of news! Exactly two years ago today I blogged that Stephen had gotten a promotion at work. I am so thrilled and excited to tell you that he has reached another promotion!! Say hello to one of the youngest (if not the youngest) Master Sergeants on Pope Air Force Base! He works so hard and is an incredible shop chief, so I am really not surprised that he got this promotion.


It will be a while now before the next promotion comes around, but this is a huge blessing from God and I am so proud of Stephen! He definitely deserves it. I love you babe, congratulations!!

Genius

Stephen just called me. He had a test for his Master Sergeant stripe today... and passed!!! He had heard that about 90% of people fail it on their first attempt. Then he walked into the classroom and the proctor told him that she gives about 20 tests a week and about 4 people will pass. So the odds were definitely against him. He was worried because he didn't really study since we had Bible school all last week. I am so proud of him!! He can't get the rank until next August or September because he doesn't have enough time in yet. But as soon as he has the time, he's good to go!! He will be a 26-year old Master Sergeant. That is so good!

Anyway, I'm just so proud of him, so I had to post this. I'm at work with Bri on my lap and typing isn't that easy. At least now she can kind of sit up on her own, so I can type with both hands. She has been playing really good by herself for the past two hours, and took a 15 minute nap which helped somewhat. She's probably getting hungry now which means we'll both get a break!

#37 - Finally make creme brulee

Well, I finally got around to making creme brulee. A couple of years ago I got a creme brulee kit at Target after Christmas that was 75% off so it was like $5. I jumped at the chance because it came with the ramekins and Stephen was excited because it came with the "flame thrower". I finally got around to using it all today to try out a box kit of creme brulee that I've had for a while. I guess I didn't let it sit long enough, or there's a good possibility that the stuff had expired, because it was still kind of runny when it was all over, not custardy like I've always had it. I didn't even test it because I'm not a fan of food poisoning. Mark my words, I will try this again someday!

I have forgotten for several days now to announce some great news - Stephen finally heard about that job he applied for. He got it! So he is officially the shop chief now. Well, I guess it'll still be a couple of weeks until he actually starts doing the job, and then he'll switch back to day shift. He also got a sweet cash bonus and some "reward" extra leave days as a bonus as well. Plus the job comes with a raise, so we are really thankful for this!

When he was home the first two weeks after Brianna was born, he was all the time getting phone calls, fielding questions from guys at work as well as new airmen coming to Pope. Today he took a phone call from a new airman who had enough questions to keep Stephen on the phone 25 minutes! I said, "So do you get those phone calls now that you're shop chief?" And he said, "No, I got the shop chief job because I get those phone calls!" In other words, he's been doing that job, just not getting paid for it, or the title.

I am really proud of him because he has always moved up really quickly in rank, and has always been really respected at work. He is such a hard worker. He beat out a lot of guys for this position that are a lot older than him, but he definitely deserves it. He's done an amazing job for only being 25 years old. I'm so proud of him!

He's growing up so fast

Well, it's taken almost 9 years, but finally I have rubbed off on Stephen a little bit! Most people who know me know that ignorance is a pretty big annoyance to me. I think it all started when I went to App and realized how ignorant I was. Or naive. When I was in 9th grade, I debated the phrase "Ignorance is bliss" with my ELPSA teacher, Mr. Purvis. I debated it on the "pro" side. He thought my debate was funny, so he gave me an A. But as I've grown up, I realize that ignorance is only bliss for the ignorant. Not for the people they are talking to.

I cringe every time I hear someone say there are no homeless people in Moore County. I cringe again when the next sentence is, "If you're homeless, it's your own fault!" I'm here to tell you, that's not always the case. I could tell these people stories about friends I know, people I am close to, who have been homeless, and the circumstances that got them there. But they probably wouldn't listen.

I cringe when people laugh at me or Jenn or others for giving extra food away to people on the side of the street. Why are you laughing? I can go without the food. It probably only cost me a couple of bucks, as cheap as I am, and I'm not giving them money which could possibly fuel their booze or drug habit, so what's the big deal?

But I digress.

I think this is why I love the TV show "30 Days" so much. Two people from opposing viewpoints are forced to live with each other and learn about each other in order to overcome their ignorance. Not necessarily reform their views, but become more knowledgeable about them. One episode was an anti-gun activist who went to live with an avid hunter for 30 days. One was the director of the show living in a minimum wage situation for 30 days. Another was a professional football player who was confined to a wheelchair for 30 days. It's very eye-opening.

I digress yet again.

Stephen embraces my activism and compassion, but has never felt the need to be active in any cause or anything. Which is fine for me - it's not for everyone - and there's nothing he feels really strongly about except for his faith. So I was really proud of him when he told me that he had said something to someone last weekend.

Background story - we have a food bank in Pinebluff, just like there is in Southern Pines, Carthage, Aberdeen... get the picture? Anyway, this food bank is right on our way to work. And when I go to work on Saturdays at 6:00am, the line of cars at this food bank is already down one street and wrapped around the next. Stephen only works one Saturday a month, so I always try to remind him to look at the cars, and he always forgets.

Well, last weekend, he didn't forget. He saw it. And then he went out to breakfast with his dad and his girlfriend? girl friend? I'm not sure. Anyway, he went out to breakfast with them before work. And she just happened to order this big stack of pancakes and then proceeded to eat one and said she was full. And Stephen, bless his little heart, told her about the long line of people he had seen that morning at the food bank, and pointed out that if she wasn't hungry she shouldn't have ordered it.

I was so proud of him! He is an activist! He'd probably kill me for saying that.

Stephen's birthday

Earlier I talked about wanting to cook something special for Stephen tonight for his birthday dinner. It's one of our favorite meals but I don't think we've even had it since moving back to NC, which is just mindblowing. Actually, if I remember to, I think I'll put the recipe at the end because it's so incredibly easy and DELICIOUS!!! And awesome left over.

Chicken and Pasta

And anyone who's ever been with Stephen on any birthday knows what kind of cake he gets. A cookie cake. Well, we don't have a Great American Cookie Company around here like we do in Georgia, which is where we usually are for his birthday. So I improvised:

Hence, a big fat roll of cookie dough smushed into a circle (kind of):

And then Stephen creatively made his own cookie cake!

Now that's some sugary sweetness! It was deeeeelicious!

Okay, here's the recipe if anyone wants an easy, 30-minute meal.

Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil
3-4 chicken breasts
4-5 carrots
1 10-12 oz package of broccoli florets
2-3 cloves of garlic
12 oz angel hair pasta
2/3 cup chicken broth
basil
Parmesan cheese

1. Heat vegetable oil/olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken. Cook for around 8-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove from skillet and place on paper towels to drain.
2. Keep oil in the skillet. Begin heating the water for the pasta. Add carrot to skillet, cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add broccoli and garlic to skillet, cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add chicken broth, basil and Parmesan to skillet. I use just enough basil to cover the top of everything - no more than 1 or 2 teaspoons. Parmesan I just shake over everything, stir, and shake again. You'll probably add more when you put the pasta on your plate anyway. Stir, put the chicken back in the skillet, stir again. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes.
4. Drain pasta. Or if you're like me, don't. You can place the pasta in a serving bowl and put the chicken mixture on top, or keep them separate and mix them yourself. I keep them separate because it's less dirty dishes.

YUM!!!

25 years ago today...

Stephen entered this world!

I hope I have the energy to cook something special for him tonight! I have something in mind, I'll just have to see if we have time for it. I can't say anything on here because once every 6 months he checks this blog, and with my luck it would be today. I'll take pictures if I get to do anything for him.

I love you honey!! Happy 25th birthday!

*Any old person jokes I could make at this point wouldn't even be funny because I'm six months older than he is. Drat!*