Blue Like Jazz-Confession

A couple years ago, I read the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I loved it.  I was challenged, stretched, and I grew spiritually through this book. Fast forward several years and the movie is out on DVD. I could hardly wait to get my hands on this movie as I heard it was at Red Box now. Last night, we planned a date night around watching Blue Like Jazz after dinner and swimming. I drove all over town trying to find it-only one Red Box had it in stock. The good news is I had this scene while I drove:

 I picked up snacks for each of us, because movies are more fun with snacks. Our choices: Ryan-Red Vines Kai-rawhide Me- Carmel-filled dove. Mmmmm.I personally think I win.

I honestly could not remember a lot of the scenes in the movie in the book, except the confession. At the end of the movie, there is a powerful scene of Donald Miller confessing. SPOILER ALERT (Skip this part of my post if you are going to watch it!). He had spent his entire first year of college running as hard as he could from God, only to realize he could not escape. He is elected the "pope" which is basically the head of the party-ers at his university, but when he sets up the confession booth for the party people to confess their crazy-doing, he says to each person that he needs to confess first. He confesses to them that he has not accurately represented Christ and asks for their forgiveness. This is powerful, people. It was hard to see him rebel, but almost even harder to see him confess, knowing how hard that would be on one's pride. The movie ends with this and you cannot help but to think about how you represent Christ. Am I representing him well at work? Around my friends? In my marriage? 

I confess that I can not say that I truly have represented Him. Fear of what people will think gets in the way. Why am I not sold out for Christ? My whole purpose here is to proclaim his goodness and bring others to Him so why isn't that my only and sole mission? Why do I care too much about what people would think? I confess that I have failed and I want to make this better. I need to care more about the nails that were in Jesus' hands and feet and less about how people will view me. My purpose should be proclaiming Christ's fame and everything else is secondary.

Thank you, dove.

To not letting fear in the way of representing Christ fully,
Tera

Weekend Review

Phew! I am exhausted. Can I have another weekend, please? Our weekend was fabulous, don't get me wrong, but it's going to take awhile to recover. This weekend my wonderful in-laws were here, moving my sister-in-law into her apartment. We love spending time with them and are excited for them to have even more excuses to make their way to Stillwater!

We spent Friday eating, chatting, and hanging out and Saturday was moving, organizing, shopping, etc to get her moved in. It was fun to see her room get put together, meet her new roommate, and to know how wonderful of a time she is about to have. Then Saturday the fires were so insane, and Ryan was on call so needless-to-say, we did not sleep much Saturday. Sunday we grocery shopped, cleaned, said goodbye to in-laws (minus Nicole) and even took a nap! We were lacking sleep and we ate and ate and ate this weekend that we could do nothing but sleep. Kai and Ryan napped together, cuddling, snoring, all of that. I took pictures and oohed and awwed because it was one of the cutest things ever.

We're so excited to have Nicole in Stillwater. I woke up this morning thinking that's crazy she's in the same town right now and I could possibly just run into her somewhere.I spent some time Saturday sewing her a curtain for under her sink and for her room. It's fun to be able to make things for people!

I also did do something somewhat bad. I went and saw Micky- Kai's potential brother. He acted, looked, and had the same characteristics as Kai. I was in love. I kept calling him Kai on accident. He is a little smaller than Kai but who has the exact same body shape as all their siblings? I was tempted, but my rational side kicked in and told me that wouldn't be a good idea. Mainly because of the cost. (not to buy him but to keep him alive). However, I do hope he goes to a great home, because he deserves it. He is precious.

Friday afternoon a mechanic fit me in their schedule to fix our air conditioner! It took less than 20 minutes to fix it. Apparently with the extreme heat, he's seeing the same issue all over the place. I'm just thankful it works now.

I'm thankful for family, cooler weather today, and for a new week.

To having great weekends,
Tera

Sometimes God is very Funny

The Lord has a funny sense of humor. I woke up at 4pm in a complete sweat, fretting about what was wrong with me. I shuffled out of bed and immediately was convinced I was ill. I looked at the thermometer and it read 84 degrees. I was not sick. Our air condition is broken.

I checked the temperature outside when I read this and it was 84 degrees. I fear when it is over 100 degrees outside.

Remember yesterday when I blogged about being positive and looking for the good in things? As I worked out in a complete drench and showered only to not be able to stop sweating, I kept telling myself "be positive, look for the good." Nothing. I love that this was something I asked the Lord to challenge me in, and boy did he! I am thankful I am not sick, that we will possibly have some rain today, and that today is Friday. As I pulled into work I saw a beautiful image in the sky: one of those where there is clouds all around and a beam of light shining down. I felt like it was just for me, and I couldn't help but smile.

As I frantically called heating and air places this morning only to find that everyone is busy, I kept reminding myself that God is good. He is bigger than this. This is silly. There are people who do not even have a roof over their head, I'm going to live. As I wrote yesterday, it is all about perspective. It will get fixed and life will go on, but all I can do right now and work on my mindset to not be stressed and worried over something I cannot control.

I'm reminded that if I want to be challenged, I better be ready. I'm thankful for a God that listens, cares, and loves me more than I know.

To looking at the bigger picture,
Tera

Thankful Thursday- Perspective

I can hardly believe that today is Thursday. Is tomorrow really Friday? How is that possible? I love when weeks fly by like this one has. As I was on my run this morning I was refocusing on being thankful.When I began my run I saw the moon, which was beautiful because it was full. Then on the end of my run I saw the amazing sunrise. Ah, so much to be thankful for.

Today I am thankful for:

• Sunrises
• Sprinklers to run through 
• Family
• A job that is indoors and is air conditioned
• A job that I love
• A puppy that makes me laugh every day
• A husband that loves me and works hard to support our little family

So much of life is perspective. We get discontent when we are not grateful for where we are in life. I'm guilty of this so I am working on transitioning my mindset to being one that rejoices in the good and draws out the good things in life. I want to be light in the dark, I want to choose to always be thankful and not wish for things that I do not have. We live in a society where we are constantly wanting more and when we attain it, we just want more. It is a conscious choice to be thankful and I really want to be content even if it is 112 degrees outside and I long for fall. Even in those little things, I want to be content. I want to be thankful when I go on a morning run-instead of complaining about the temperature- be thankful that there are sprinklers that I get to run through. Oh and boy do I run through them. When I want to groan, I want to look for what positive things I can draw out. It is a choice.I want to make that choice and it all comes down to my perspective.

Tomorrow my in-laws are coming as my sister-in-law is moving in for college! We can hardly wait to have her in the same town as us. She better like hanging out with us because she has no option. We're thankful that she chose OSU even if we were not a part of that equation, we win because she is just that awesome. Stillwater=win. Osses=win.

To being thankful for today,
Tera

Coconut Crusted Chicken Recipe

I absolutely love trying new recipes. I love the look on Ryan's face when he comes home and smells that I cooked something new. I find it extremely rewarding when he loves it. One of our all time favorite places to go out to eat is Thai Cafe. We went there on one of our first dates, the night we got engaged, and every time we can, because it is just that good. I have attempted to make coconut crusted chicken before, but it has never really turned out that well, but I was determined to find a new recipe so after searching pinterest I found this recipe and was sold. Try it for yoruself, it is definitely a winner, as is the blog. It is a frequent read for me now. Now, I did not make the chili sauce just becuase that does not sound that applealing to me, but next time I'm going to make a sauce like the one they serve at Thai cafe. My mouth is watering.

Coconut Crusted Chicken (adapted original recipe for two)
Ingredients: 
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 large egg
2 TB milk (or coconut milk if you have it)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

• Cut off any extra fat globules from your chicken breasts. Gross. Necessary, though. Cut each breast into 3-4 strips, diagonally to prevent the end strips from being really short.
• Prepare your breading station by gathering three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and salt. In the second bowl, combine the eggs and milk. Whisk together until well combined. In the third bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs and shredded coconut. You'll definitely need to wash your hands after this. Yuck. 

• Place half of the vegetable oil in a large skillet and heat over medium/high heat until very warm.
• While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken strips. First, coat each strip in the flour and salt mixture. Then dip each into the eggs/milk and finally coat each in panko and shredded coconut.

• Place about 3-4 strips in the pan at once. There should only be one layer in the pan and there should be about an inch between each strip. If you over crowd the pan it will get too cold and the strips will soak up a lot of oil instead of frying. Fry the strips for 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Place them on a plate with paper towel to drain and move on to the next batch.  Because the strips are thin, they should be cooked through by the time both sides are browned. You can tell by the texture of the chicken; it should be stiff when pressed. Use a digital thermometer to be sure.  If you cut your strips thicker, you will need to bake off the chicken after frying to make sure the insides are cooked through.I definitely had to bake them because I cannot seem to get chicken in a skillet cooked all the way through without burning.

• Enjoy!

We loved it. I paired it with rice and green beans but meant to grab broccoli at the store but just forgot, so whatever you want with it will work!

The other new recipe this week is cheesy chicken and rice bake. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

To trying new recipes and loving them,
Tera

Weekend Review

As I posted yesterday, we had a fantastic weekend. It is so hard to start a week after your weekend is so sweet, but all good things must end. Friday we went on a double date with our favorite couple in town to see the Batman. I was surprisingly impressed and very entertained. I am still terrified of Bane and am confident that I will have nightmares for probably ever, but it was worth it. We snuck in lots of candy (shh) and froze our butts off because the theater was 5 degrees.

Saturday, we were super productive. Of course we slept in, but then we both went our separate ways and got lots done. I finished two whole orders, mailed them off, went swimming with Ryan, relaxed while Ryan cooked it up, and then we went to get sno cones. While Ryan was cooking, I made some burp cloths for a friend.I can't wait to make some for myself...but I'm patient. One day. :)

Burp cloths.

orders I completed this weekend

his and hers

After dinner we watched one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I'm too embarrassed to even write the name, but just know it was that bad. Sunday we went to church, out to eat for sushi with our favorite couple again, and then I was lavished with love as Ryan served the heck out of me. I did some more sewing and we watched Olympics and then I found this picture and am now convinced I found Kai's brother in the shelter:

Kai on left, Micky on right.

I want to bring Kai to play with Micky to see how they play together. How can they not be brothers? They both have super long tongues, bobbed tails, short hair, everrrything.

Kai got so hot this weekend that he'd come inside and lay on the tiled floor. I guess the coolness felt good to him. He's a sleepy puppy and did this a lot this weekend:

He's just such a cutie. I love our small family so much. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together this weekend and I long for next weekend just to be able to spend more quality time together. If this week is half as wonderful as our weekend was, then it's going to be one heck of a week.

To having wonderful weekends,
Tera

Learning to love

[Caveat: this IS one of those posts solely bragging about how awesome my husband is.Don't say I didn't warn you.]

I absolutely adore my husband. Yes, we've had a lot to adjust to in our first year and a half of marriage, but I love him more now than I did when we first met. He is such a strong leader in our family: spiritually, mentally, and physically. His heart is so big it makes me smile thinking about how deeply he cares for me.

If you don't know us or haven't heard our story, we had a very short dating period and even shorter engagement. We just knew from the beginning where our relationship was going and didn't see the purpose in slowing it down. I'm so thankful for the way that Ryan has challenged me, shaped me, and made me more of the woman Christ has called me to be.

Since being married to him, I feel so much more confident in my own skin. I feel more okay to just be me. He makes me feel like I matter. He makes me feel like I have a voice. He makes me want to be better at everything. I would have never in my life thought I'd open small side business, but Ryan believes in me. He supports me like no other.

This weekend, he lavished so much love on me that I'm still trying to take it all in. Saturday he said he was going to cook out, and he wanted me to just relax. Now, I do not relax very easily, but he was adamant that I do not enter the kitchen. He surprised me with a lovely dinner, one of his best meals yet.

Then on Sunday, after going to eat with one of our favorite couples, Ryan insisted on doing the cleaning. Yep, you heard me. ALL OF IT. He did the sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, deep cleaning bathroom, etc. while I went grocery shopping. Then when I got home from the store, he had a bouquet of beautiful flowers waiting for me. He knows his way to my heart. He knew I'd be stressed if we went to eat with friends because Sundays for me consist of couponing, shopping, cleaning, and prepping for the week. I love doing life with him. Then, to top it off, he hung my teacup measuring cups up on Sunday night. Love that man.

The cooking, cleaning, flower-buying man.

One more picture, just because we're so proud

We are slowly but surely learning to how lean on each other and love each other the way we are loved best. I feel most loved when Ryan does things for me-(service)- helps clean, cook, chores, buys flowers, etc. Ryan feels most loved through affirmation. He feels loved when I respect him, appreciate him, and value his time. It took me over a year to realize that me cooking, cleaning, and doing things around the house were in fact not the way Ryan feels loved. Yes, he does appreciate it, but it doesn't make him feel loved. I've had to adjust my mindset to transition what I focus my attention on, and I'm definitely still working on that. We've had to learn that the way that we feel loved is not necessarily the way our spouse fees loved.

This weekend was so good for us. So refreshing, and such a good perspective. We had a great balance of time together and time apart being productive.

To striving to be a better mate,
Tera