Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Friday friends! I don't know about you, but this week has felt long around here. I'm looking forward to a mentoring coffee tomorrow morning followed by another bachelorette party tomorrow night! Two of my dearest friends are getting married a week apart next month and the celebrations are flowing! I couldn't be happier for them and cannot wait for them to experience married life!

Do you have any fun plans for the weekend? Here are a few things I found on the interwebs this week. Enjoy!

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1// I found this article on 'The 36 Questions That Lead to Love' quite interesting. I'm secretly hoping to talk through a few of them with Loverboy tonight. There's always room to know more about the one that you already love!

2// I can't wait to try these copycat Trader Joe's "Gone Bananas!" I discovered these gems while babysitting and we got a couple boxes last time we were at TJ and they are so delightful! Unfortunately the store was out of the kind of coconut oil I needed yesterday, so it will have to wait until another trip.

3// This post on the 'Top 10 Ways to Make a Marriage Retreat Meaningful' will be very helpful as Loverboy and I look forward to our #keepthelovealive weekends [you can read more about when we went to Stillwater here]. Out first trip wasn't super intentional, but really good to have some time away with just us. But I am looking forward to some more intentional weekends in the future... and we are going to an actual marriage retreat next month in Red Wing that I am super pumped about!

4// One of my lovely friends, Andra is co-owner of With Grace and Gold, a business that "creates purposeful and authentic branding for small businesses." [They are super awesome, so ya'll should go see what they're all about!] Anyway, I love that they recently posted about ways to balance your time online (read: SOCIAL MEDIA!) and gave a couple of suggestions of websites/apps to control and track how much time you are spending on sites. Check it out!

Weekend Wrap-Up

It's Friday ya'll! Bring on the weekend! Tonight and tomorrow morning we have a membership class for our church [no, it's not a slumber party, but how awesome (and weird) would that be?!]. Then tomorrow afternoon and evening we're hittin' up Nickelodeon Universe at the MOA with a couple friends! I am super psyched since my love for amusement parks is up there on the list with my love for my husband, sleep, and food. [in that order].

Sundays around here are automatically football afternoons during the fall, which means I get a couple hours to spend time with my hubby, nap, and eat [hey! see how that works out with my favorite things?? No rollercoasters though...bummer].

So that's what I've got planned for the weekend... along with a couple things we need to do like set up our new printer and get going on the name change process as well as order thank yous for our wedding. Cheers to the weekend! Here's some inspiration for you!

Truth to Rest In

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Isaiah 46:4 - ” I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds

1 1/2 C. Sugar 

1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar 

3 Tbsp. Cinnamon 

1/8 tsp. Salt 

1 Egg White 

2 tsp. Vanilla 

3 Cups Almonds 

1/4 C. Water

[Here for recipe directions and cook time]

Cute Seasonal DIY

I love these little stumps turned candle holders... especially with the added gold touch. We had similar candle holders at a our wedding... thanks to a wonderful friend! :)

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Hope you all have a wonderful weekend... resting in the truth that God sustains you, and maybe even trying out the recipe or DIY if you're weekend isn't looking quite as busy as mine [but let's be real... life is NEVER too busy for delicious slow clooker recipes!].

Firsts

I'M IN COLORADO! Oh this beautiful state, how I love thee! I am once again headed to the Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs for our semi-annual Summit Training. And although this will be my third time there, today has been a day of firsts

My very first time flying alone! It definitely helped that I was flying out of Lincoln, NE... home of the Lincoln airport with approximately four gates and one tiny, non-threatening security area. I enjoyed the tiny little puddle-jumper sitting squished next to a middle-aged man flying to Canada. When I got to the Denver airport I was surprised by its size- not quite the same as the four-gated Lincoln airport! :) BUT, I am proud to say that I figured everything out and maneuvered my way through many long hallways, down a few escalators, on a train, more hallways and escalators, and to the door where I waited for my aunt to pick me up.

I went back to my aunt's house, where I currently am waiting for a friend to pick me up to take me the rest of the way to Colorado Springs. This morning has been productive and LONG (I woke up at 5am and CO is an hour behind NE). We decided to whip up some yummy dessert and I got to enjoy my first time making baklava! It was crispy and gooey and oh so delicious! It was also super fun (if not a bit time-consuming) to make! We forgot to cut ours before baking it, so it ended up falling apart when we did end up cutting it, but I don't care! I still think it looks beautiful and it tasted delicious! Try out the recipe here.

Soon I will be headed off to the Glen where I will enjoy a week of spiritual encouragement, leadership training, and more! So I am happy to say that the day is only half over and I've gotten to experience some new things- some scary and stretching, others fun and experimental. What "firsts" have you experienced today?

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday! We hope you all had a wonderful [rainy] weekend! Here are some little tidbits to get you started off on your week! :)

[BTW, if you're in the EC area and didn't get a chance to splash around this last week, there will be opportunities for you this week it looks like!]

+ Check out this awesome and oh-so-easy recipe for a grilled chocolate banana melt! Yummm!

+ Here's a nifty little tip for you... how to not have to pay for a Redbox EVER again! [We're not sold on the  ever part, but these codes have definitely done their job for us in the past!]

+ As extroverts ourselves, we're always wanting to work on the way we relate to our lovely introverted friends. Here's a nice little graphic with 12 ways to care for an introvert. [Introverted readers out there... whaddya think?] :)

+ Enjoy this little quote:

"I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God- it changes me."

C.S. Lewis

+ And last, but certainly not least, click here for a FREE download of Jenny and Tyler's album, Faint Not. You just have to enter your e-mail and zip code, and they'll send it right to you. Fully legal and fully awesome! [Psst.... they accept tips as well!]

Get listening as tomorrow we'll be kicking off our first Music Monday! See you tomorrow!