• Life,  Marriage

    Our Birthday Recap

    January 27, 2017

    As I’ve mentioned here before, mine and Tommy’s birthdays are just one day apart. His is January 21st and mine is January 22nd. It’s been a fun three years as we have gotten to have two full days of celebration together. This year I wanted to recap our birthdays to have it here for memories mostly, but also so you can peek into our lives and learn a little bit more about us. We are both admittedly introverts so low-key, simple birthdays are usually how we celebrate and honestly is all that we both really want. I debated on not doing this also because I don’t have pictures from either day (blogger fail, I know), but both days were special and fun so I think that will be enough to keep you entertained, whoever may be reading this. 😉 Oh and this year both our birthdays fell on the weekend so that was extra special and fun!

    Saturday, Tommy’s Birthday

    A picture from our first birthdays together three years ago

    Saturday morning we slept in a little bit because we stayed up until midnight (which is very unlike Tommy), mostly so I could wish Tommy a happy birthday when it turned twelve. We woke up and I made us one of Tommy’s favorite breakfasts, Acai Bowls. Then we spent a lot of the day just relaxing, watching Parenthood, our new favorite show. We had it planned to go out and buy Tommy a pair of shoes (my birthday present to him), so we headed off to the mall around three.

    We unfortunately didn’t find any shoes that Tommy liked, except for one pair but the store didn’t have his size. The mall we were at had a Michael’s (craft store), near it so we went to that afterward because I wanted to see if they had any porcelain paint.

    After that I had planned for us to go to a skate park because we were experiencing abnormally high temperatures for New Jersey in January, and Tommy’s favorite thing to do is really anything active, and he loves skateboarding. He also had just gotten a new skateboard for Christmas. So we drove to a skate park and he got to skate around while I set in the car and watched vlogs (lol).

    SOURCE

    Once we headed back home I made Tommy one of his favorite meals, Sweet and Sour Chicken (pictured above), and a yummy dessert that we had made before and he really liked. It was a nice and quiet day, but was still really fun. Oh and right before we fell asleep, I had checked the website of the store where we had found the shoes that he liked and ordered them in his size! He was really excited.

    Sunday, My Birthday

    A picture of us from my birthday last year

    On my birthday we woke up somewhat early to go to church. Right when we woke up Tommy gave me my present. (He was super excited about it since he bought it.) There was a pretty good reason why he was too because he bought me a digital camera! Best. gift. ever. I’ve been wanting one probably ever since I was little but even more so now so I can take nice pictures for my blog. Oh and I have to share the first picture I took with my camera of course! (Sorry it’s blurry, he moved.)

    so cute 🙂

    So anyway after I opened up my gift we got ready and had it planned to go to a new church to see how we liked it. We drove there for the first time and loved it. It is much smaller than the church we attend normally so we decided that we were going to go back the following week and see how we liked it a second time (but are pretty sure we are going to switch to this church).

    After church, we went home and hung out. I played with my new camera and watched more vlogs, while Tommy watched videos on his computer. For dinner we went to Olive Garden and had a really nice dinner together. It had been a while since we had gone out to dinner so it was extra special. It was a really nice first married birthday.

    So that’s what we did on our birthdays. They were nice and quiet days, getting to do things that we really enjoyed doing. What more could we ask for! How do you prefer to celebrate your birthday? Going all out? Or something simple and quiet like us?

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  • Faith,  Marriage,  Wedding

    Zinhobls Say I Do: Our Engagement Story

    January 26, 2017

    The long-awaited day is finally here! I’m going to do a wedding series and I’m so excited! I have been talking about sharing our engagement story and wedding pictures for so, so long and I’m finally ready to take the plunge. I guess I haven’t done this before because I really wanted the posts not to be rushed through and to accurately display how awesome these days were and I never really felt ready to sit down and put the work in. I think I also wanted to keep putting it off because once I share them, then it’s really over and I’m just not ready for this newlywed season to be over!

    So the way I’m going to do this is to share a post once a week from our wedding season, starting with today, Our Engagement Story! Then every Thursday after I’ll share wedding photos, and end off the series with a recap of our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic! I’m so excited to share all these details with you guys. I may even do a little series about how we planned the wedding as well, let me know what you guys think about that/if you’d be interested in hearing about it.

    I’m going to take you guys back to December 5, 2015, one of the happiest days of my life. The picture above is from our engagement session, and you can just see the joy on my face. The way I’m going to recap this day is by letting you guys have a sneak peek right into my journal and share my entry from a few days after we got engaged. (I will not edit anything to make it sound less embarrassing or more “polished” so you can get an accurate depiction of exactly how I was feeling on that day.) Hope you enjoy!

    Recap of Our Engagement (Because I Do Not Want To Forget Anything)

    Tommy called out of work on Saturday to spend the day with me. He told me he was going to do this on Friday night and he was so lovey and it was awesome. A thought went through my head that maybe that was going to be the day but I didn’t dwell on it because I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

    So Tommy came over on Saturday morning and we spent the day watching our favorite show on Netflix (Dexter) and we baked Christmas cookies and just laid around relaxing (one of my favorite things to do with him). Then at night we had it planned to go to a Christmas Lights Festival because I don’t think there is anything I love more than Christmas and I was really excited for this. Tommy asked if there was anywhere we could walk around afterwards because it’s a drive-through light show and he also mentioned that we would make it really memorable so at this point I’m still really trying not to get my hopes up, but also getting excited at the same time. So we got there and it was really fun and just what I hoped it would be. I definitely want to go back every year (especially now!).

    Afterwards Tommy and I parked and walked around a bit. There was a cool archway near a restaurant that I didn’t know was near the Christmas light show. Tommy stopped us near that and started talking about how he can’t believe how far we’ve come and how even when we first met he felt like I might be the one.

    Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! And I said yes of course! We walked back to the car and on the way home we talked about how exciting this all was and I told my mom and she cried because she was so happy.

    We eventually went back to my house and my mom was so happy. I told my close girl friends and they called me and were so excited. I was blown away by everyone’s love and support and that was only the beginning. The next day we told Tommy’s parents and were a little afraid what they were going to think. (Okay I was very afraid.) But it went well, everyone congratulated us and his mom had me try on her wedding dress.

    Later on that night, I posted about the engagement on Facebook and Instagram and I was blown away with everyone’s love and support. It was beyond exciting. And the same continued at work the next day. My friends and co-workers were so excited for me.

    Starting out, before we made the choice to get engaged, Tommy and I were afraid of everyone’s reactions because we weren’t sure if everyone would understand. But we took that big step of faith and God showed up in a huge way.

    Oh I almost forgot – Sunday at church was an exciting time too – I have never felt God more than on that day. I felt Jesus pouring down his love on me and showing me that he really does care about me and the things I care about. We ended up playing two of my favorite songs at church and I was so overwhelmed, I tried to keep from bawling my eyes out. It was all just so wonderful and I am incredibly grateful that God allowed such goodness in my life. Now onto wedding planning!

    Typing that all out made me so happy and excited all over again! I prayed for so long for an answer to this prayer and as you can see, waiting on God for something this big brings about so much joy when he finally answers your prayer. If you are still waiting for a husband (or wife), please let this be an encouragement for you that God does see and hear your prayers! They are not lost on him! Waiting for his blessing when it came to dating was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.

    Also, I mentioned in the recap about how we we’re nervous to tell others, (especially Tommy’s family), about our engagement. It wasn’t because they disapproved of our relationship, it was because we we’re both pretty young and we knew that they thought it was better if we waited longer to get married. (Tommy was 21 and I was 23 when we got engaged.) We felt God was calling us into a deeper relationship, and we learned that it is not wise to date for too long because of temptation. We also both believed that dating was for the purpose of marriage and we both were at the place where we knew we wanted to marry each other so we knew waiting to get married would not be wise. As you can see from the story though, everything worked out because I feel like when we take a step of faith, God really works out the rest for us.

    If you’re interested in seeing the rest of our engagement pictures, I shared them here. I also did an Engagement Confessions post here. Check back next Thursday for our Ceremony Pictures!

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  • Life

    What’s Up Wednesday: January 2017 Edition

    January 25, 2017

    Hi friends! I know that this is very similar to my currently post yesterday, but I’ve been wanting to get back into posting regularly for What’s Up Wednesday so I’m going to start this month (and try not to duplicate too much information from yesterday), and continue on with this series every last Wednesday of each month.

    WUW Questions

    What we’re eating this week:

    This past week has been a lot of bad eating habits, but in our defense it was our birthdays this weekend! We also have been eating very heavy meals, I guess because it’s been cold out and we have been just wanting some comfort food. Either way, I’m hoping to jump back on the healthy eating train and really work on cleaning up our diet a little bit more over this next week or two.

    What I’m reminiscing about:

    Always, always reminiscing about our tropical vacations when we’re in the cold, dreary months of winter. What I wouldn’t do to hop on a plane and be back in the Bahamas or the Dominican right now!

    What I’m loving:

    All the freeeeedom I have now that I’m not working full-time. It’s been so fun to be able to plan whatever I’d like into my day without worrying about being too tired or busy to really get done what I need to get done around the house. I’m also really loving having more time to spend cooking and cannot wait to really dive into it and cook more nutritious meals.

    What we’ve been up to:

    Celebrating a lot this month! We celebrated our birthdays this past weekend (like I mentioned yesterday) and our 8 month anniversary on my birthday. I plan to write a post just about what we did to celebrate this week so keep a heads up for that if you’re interested!

    What I’m dreading:

    I’m not really dreading anything at the moment, which is a great thing!

    What I’m working on:

    Learning how to post consistently here! It’s been tough keeping a Monday-Friday schedule but it’s stretching me and teaching me more about discipline too. I’m hoping to continue to push myself slightly out of my comfort zone and write about things that I think will be helpful to others, like marriage advice that I’ve learned.

    What I’m excited about:

    Just the season of life that we are in. It comes with a lot of freedom and flexibility and I’m really learning how to just enjoy the season instead of wishing things were different. There are of course some hard things, as there is with any thing, but I’m really trying to just enjoy and focus on this season because all too soon it will be over before I know it.

    I mentioned this yesterday too but I’m really excited about doing more research to open up an Etsy shop. The first thing I want to work on is this awesome mug. What’d you guys think?
    SOURCE

    What I’m watching/reading:

    As I mentioned yesterday I’m reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and For The Love and I’m really enjoying both of them. I just need to devote more time to actually reading instead of working on the computer.

    We’ve also been watching Parenthood and it’s such a great show. Easily one of my all time favorites, and were only on Season 2!

    What I’m listening to:

    Honestly not much since I don’t even really drive all that much and that was when I would normally listen to music. Sometimes I’ll put on music when I’m cleaning or doing the dishes but for the most part it doesn’t really cross my mind.

    I have been wanting to get into Podcasts though so let me know of some suggestions!

    What I’m wearing:

    Lots and lots of comfy clothes since I’m home most of the time now. I actually really need to go shopping for something nicer than sweatpants, but not quite as nice as I needed to dress in the corporate world so I have things to wear without staying in my pajamas all day.

    What I’m doing this weekend:

    Honestly not the slightest clue. Maybe we’ll plan to have some friends over since it’s been a while since we’ve done that!

    What I’m looking forward to next month:

    SOURCE

    Our first married Valentines Day! We don’t usually go big for Valentines Day or anything but since it’s our first one married I’m sure we’ll do something. Maybe we’ll order a heart-shaped pizza! I’ve seen some people do that and it seems like so much fun!

    What else is new:

    Transitioning over to being a stay at home wife this month was huge. There have been some ups and downs but I’m still very much excited about the newness of it. Tommy and I have had so much more free time together and it’s been great. We’ve actually have had two unexpected days of him being off due to a holiday or the weather and we’ve gotten to spend all day during the week together so it’s been super fun!

    What’s up with you guys? I’m linking up with Shay, Shaeffer, and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

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  • Life

    Currently, January

    January 24, 2017

    This post contains affiliate links.

    Reading// I am currently rereading the Harry Potter series and am on book one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I’m also reading For the Love by Jen Hatmaker, which is a really light, funny read and am really enjoying it. I’ve also been reading plenty of blogs of course! (Probably spending most of my time doing this over the books.)

    Watching// Tommy and I just recently finished How I Met Your Mother, and just started watching Parenthood after seeing many people talk about how good it is. I’m really enjoying it. It’s a nice show to sit down to at the end of your day.

    Trying// To really stay on top of my household chores this week. I usually put them off until I absolutely have to do them, but then I end up doing 5 loads of laundry at once, or cleaning the entire house in only one day, and this just wears me out and I’m usually dead for at least the next day or so. So instead of that, this week I’m trying to do one small thing each day, like today I cleaned the bathroom. Let’s hope I stick to it the rest of the week.

    Cooking// This past weekend I cooked Sweet and Sour Chicken for Tommy’s birthday. It’s one of his favorite meals. It’s definitely different from what I normally cook so it was fun to do something special for his birthday.

    SOURCE

    Eating// Extra light today because my stomach has been feeling kind of funny. Although last night we went out to Olive Garden and I had my favorite, 5 Cheese Baked Ziti. Yum. Tonight we had chicken soup!

    Drinking// Homemade sweet tea! So delish. I’ve also been drinking lots of hot tea today too. 

    Pinning// New, yummy recipes. I love getting dinner recipes from Pinterest.

    Going// To start planning our vacation to Florida soon! My cousin called me and asked if I’d be interested in taking a vacation to visit my grandparents when she has spring break so that’s what we’ll be doing in April and I am so excited. We are definitely going to plan on going to the beach at least once during the week because come on, just look at how nice the beaches are in Florida!

    SOURCE

    Loving// All the free time Tommy and I have now that I’m not working full-time. It’s been great spending so much time with him without the stress of having to worry about when I’m going to get everything done.

    Hating// That adjustment periods can be really tough sometimes. As much as I love getting to stay home and work, it does come with getting used to it, and I am struggling a bit some days.

    Discovering// New vlogs! I’ve been watching Blair’s vlog and am loving it. I also want to try to find other’s vlog’s as well. I’m finding them to be so fascinating. Let me know if you know of any good ones!

    Thinking// About a lot of things. I’ve been thinking a lot about the changes in our life and deciding how I feel about them.

    Feeling// Hopeful. Even though I may be feeling a little lost because of the huge transition from working full-time to staying home, I am hopeful that I will get used to it and love it. Tommy prayed for me about this at dinner tonight and it really helped.

    Hoping// That spring would hurry up and get here. Although I really can’t complain about the weather. It’s been such a mild winter this year. I just really can’t wait to be able to do things outside again.

    Listening// I’m really excited to start listening to Podcasts. I have a few lined up that I think I’m going to love. I just need to find when is the best time for me to do it. Maybe daily as I work on those household chores that I’m trying to commit to! That should help keep me on track.

    Celebrating// Mine and Tommy’s birthdays!! Tommy’s was Saturday and mine was Sunday, and they were a lot of fun. It was also our eight month anniversary on Sunday too. We’ve had lots to celebrate this month!

    Smelling// The slight lingering odor of bleach. Yuck! I accidentally bought a shower cleaner with bleach, and would normally never use bleach to clean. But I was all out of shower cleaner and I figured it couldn’t be that bad, but boy was I wrong! Our apartment is very small and there is barely any ventilation, and absolutely none in the bathroom. So what that meant was that the entire apartment smelled so strongly of bleach we actually had to leave for an hour because it was so awful and killing our heads. The tub is now sparkly but that is the first and last time I clean with bleach. #nothankyou.

    Ordering// My Young Life Essential Oils starter pack soon!! 

    Thanking// God every day for this life that he has so greatly blessed me with. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how much he has blessed me.

    Considering// Starting an Etsy shop with hand painted coffee mugs (like this one below) and maybe eventually t-shirts! I really hope this happens!

    SOURCE

    Starting// Thinking about how to actually start the Etsy shop and what supplies I need for it.

    What are you up to, currently?

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  • Faith,  Self Care

    Be Gentle With Yourself

    January 23, 2017

    Since I am posting a lot more lately, I want to be intentional about what exactly I’m writing about. I could easily turn this into just another blog about what I think people want to read about. But that’s not why I started this blog. I started this blog in hopes to bring light to what a great Savior we have, and share about what I am learning from him or just what he is doing in my life. With that being said, I am going to make it a point to write a devotional type post/what God is teaching me at least once a week.

    A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
    – Isaiah 42:3-4

    These verses were first introduced to me at a conference that I went to a few years ago, and they completely opened my eyes to who God is in a way that I had never seen him before. I am currently reading through the bible from start to finish, and have been for the past year and a half or so. I am in the book of Isaiah now and just read these verses the other day and it reminded me of the truth that I learned years ago at that conference.

    That truth is that we have a gentle God. That is such an awesome truth to me and one that I need someone to remind me of daily. I don’t know about you, but when I think of God, gentle is never one of the first adjectives I use to describe him. But it’s true, our God is a God of love and mercy and according to this verse, gentleness.

    This part of Isaiah is what is known as one of The Servant Songs, according to the pastor that preached on this the night of the conference that I’m writing about. It is a series of verses that are prophesying about Jesus and it is amazing the analogy that Isaiah used. “A bruised reed, he will not break; a smoldering wick, he will not snuff out”. I had no idea what a reed looked like, never mind a bruised reed until the pastor explained this to us what this was, so let me do the same.

    SOURCE

    This is what a “bruised reed” looks like. In other words, it is something that is very fragile. Something that is very easily broken. And the same goes for a smoldering wick. A smoldering wick can very easily be blown out. These two illustrations are of two very fragile, easily broken things. And the parallel between them and our Savior is that he will not break or put out these things. What an amazing truth.

    Have you ever felt like you were just hanging on by a thread? Like if just one more little thing happens that you might just completely fall apart? In those moments, this verse shows us that God accepts you as you are. When it feels like the whole world is against us, but we keep telling ourselves we need to be more, do more, try harder. These verses show us that those thoughts or feelings are not of God. He is a tender God who is gentle to those who are feeling defeated. And more than that, he is a God who will build you back up and care for you in those times where you feel broken or bruised.

    So if this is you now, go to God with your feelings. Spill them at his feet. Express to him how you feel and why. Ask him for strength to do what you know is right. Remind yourself that we have a gentle Savior. He does not expect more of you. Be gentle with yourself.

    And maybe this isn’t you at this time. But maybe you remember what it feels like to be a bruised reed. In this case I think it’s important for us to be gentle to those around us because there is destined to be someone who does feel like a bruised reed that we know, and we now have the opportunity to act like our Savior and bring about his peace to those who need it. Be gentle to those around you.

    If you are interested in hearing more about this, the night of the conference that I am talking about can be watched here. Tim Henderson is a great speaker and goes into so much more detail.

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  • Faith,  Marriage

    The Most Important Thing To Remember In Your Marriage

    January 20, 2017

    I usually would never title a post with such a serious name. I am always skeptical when I read an all-encompassing title such as this one. I’m skeptical because well, how could another person possibly know what is the most important thing for my marriage. Whatever they’re thinking probably is the most important thing for their marriage, but certainly can’t be for every marriage. So if that’s what you’re thinking, I will encourage you to keep reading. I think you will agree with me on this one. And even if you don’t believe it’s THE most important thing to remember, I am convinced that you will at least agree that is in the top three most important things to remember when it comes to a healthy marriage, and will understand why I named it the most important thing for a marriage.

    I actually read this little bit of advice from a book, Love and Respect. (I actually did a book review on it a few years ago, so if you’re interested you can check that out here. It is definitely one of my favorite marriage books. It really opens your eyes to what a husband or wife really needs from their spouse.)

    The most important marriage advice I’ve heard is to remember that your husband (or wife) is a good-willed person, specifically when they do something that hurts you. Remind yourself that he loves you, and whatever he did to make you upset doesn’t change that. Also remember that whatever it was, he did not purposely do it just to hurt you. He might not have even known that it did hurt you.

    I think this might be better shown through an example. Let’s say you ask your husband to take out the garbage the following morning, and he forgets. And let’s also say that you guys have been going through a harder season where it feels like he seems to forget a lot of things that you ask him to do lately. I think it can be so easy to jump straight to the conclusion that he keeps forgetting to do these things because he doesn’t care about you. (I am always very quick to jump to this conclusion.) This is when it’s important to remember that your husband is a good-willed person. Remind yourself that while it may be easy to think that he did this because he doesn’t care about you, he more likely didn’t do it because he forgot, and that’s it. I think it’s also helpful to remind yourself in this moment of the last thoughtful thing your husband did for you so that you don’t jump to the conclusion that he doesn’t care. Dwell on the reason why you know he cares.

    While I’m not saying that this will just make everything better. It still might make you upset or angry, and I am not saying that those feelings are wrong or not justified. I just think it’s important not to run with those feelings. Once we start believing that our husbands do not care for us, we get into very dangerous waters. I believe if we start thinking that they don’t care, that’s when the foundation of your relationship starts breaking down and it can only get worse from there. Without trust there is no relationship. We really need to be able to trust our husbands for us to be able to work out issues or for our relationship to thrive.

    Please note that I do recognize that this may not be true for every relationship and that I am aware that there are abusive relationships where this basic truth does not apply. If you are in a relationship and you do not feel that this is true, and you do not feel that your husband genuinely cares for you or know that he does things to purposely hurt you, please think about seeking help. You do not deserve to be in a relationship that is hurtful or abusive.

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