Kitchen Creativity

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A lot of meals this summer have looked like meat, vegetables, and carb/starch. It's easy, requires few ingredients, and quick. However, I'm getting a little tired of singing this song and need a little more creativity in the kitchen. Plus, this girl isn't the hugest fan of chunks of protein (although Loverboy can't get enough). So I did a little Pinterest round-up of my recipe board and decided that I'd like to try these recipes sometime in the next couple months.

I'm pretty excited about the edamame since it's definitely our vegetable of choice right now and if the pizza rolls turn out we might have a stay-at-home option for the Old Chicago Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls we drool over. If I remember to snap some pics and document the process you might get to see some Pinterest fails (let's be real- stuff never turns out this pretty), and why don't you let me know if you try any of these before I do!

The Painful Best

“We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be” —C.S. Lewis

Control. It's freaking hard. Most of the time I don't even realize when it's rearing it's ugly head. Most of the time I think I'm being a responsible adult and planning ahead and having my ducks in a row. But usually it all boils down to wanting to be in control of "my" life.

And then I get reminded. Reminded that it's not really my life after all. Because when it doesn't work, when there really is no way that I can be in control, I start to leak [check out this sweet post by a lovely lady about when your eyes leak]. I come apart at the seams and start to crumble. Honestly, you might even be able to call it a temper tantrum (I bet my mom would never believe that... ha!). 

Because when I'm reaching for control, I'm really just wanting things to go my way. I'm wanting things to be easy and smooth and not cause a lot of ripples. I want what I want. Mature, I know.

But thankfully I have a God who loves me too much to let me stay where I am, and a man who likes to partner with God in that daunting totally doable task. And honestly, I think God gets a little chuckle out of my tantrums when I can't control things. I think that every once in awhile He chooses to put things in my life that I have absolutely no control over so that I can be [once again] reminded who's really in control of this life I am living. So that I can be reminded to trust Him, the only one who knows what the future holds. 

And yeah, that future might be difficult and ripply, and even painful, but at least it will be for my best.
[Photo via Pinterest, design mine.]

Thrift Store Finds & Pretty Plants to Boot!

I am one happy girl! Today marks one year of choosing to live life and see if we want to do it permanently (btw, we did, on March 29, when he put a ring on it) with Loverboy. So this morning I went out to my car and what do I find? That sweet man snuck a box of plants as well as a cute tape dispenser and photo of us that I could spruce up my office with. I've been thinking about getting some plants or decor of some sort to make my little cubicle more homey and that boy's been listening!

I also went to Savers today and scored this great mid-century side table for $5! So I was feeling pretty inspired by all this new fun-ness and had to do something about it!

The mug that I put the cactus in was $1 from Salvation Army... the handle creates a heart with the etched in design on the mug. Plus who can resist white and mint??

My sweet friend Kate gave me this print, which is really a card, for my bridal shower! I picked up a frame from the dollar store (score!) and threw 'er in!

Both the Pride and Prejudice and Pies and Cakes books were from a 10 books for $2 sale at Goodwill a couple weeks ago. Not only are they pretty, but they are also practical! I got the gold polka-dot journal for a few bucks at TJ Maxx a couple years ago.

All these plants go so well together... and I'm super excited to finally own my first succulent! Now hopefully I don't kill it. :)

I hope you're inspired to make some space in your home beautiful. Maybe you even need a little more green in your life!

Very First Apartment!

YOU GUYS. Loverboy and I just signed for our very first apartment last night!!! And it was super scary. Not gonna lie- I may have had a slight melt-down at Applebees afterward. (Not that that's anything unusual... I wrote a blogpost yesterday about these leaky moments when I don't feel in control... keep an eye out for it).

The whole process was super-duper quick (like less than 24 hours quick) and the timeline of all our apartment hunting was just a little crazy-feeling. We missed out on two apartments we loved by that much and then got notified about 30 minutes after we signed for this one that we were accepted for another one we had applied to. Huh. Funny timing. These kind of things wreak havoc on a girl who is prone to second-guessing and regret. Yikes. [Insert lesson about learning to trust God here]

So a couple words on our new place. Sun room. Hardwood floors. Claw-foot tub. Extra bedroom. Built-in buffet. Living space that seems to go on for miles. Adorable neighborhood. These are the things that sold us on the place. I won't list for you the things we were not-so-sold-on, because I'm practicing dwelling on the positive and we are going to totally rock those things anyways.

Here are a couple sneak peaks from the Craigslist ad. Don't worry, there will be lots of future blog posts with pictures as Bri moves in in like 10 days and you know that even though I'm not moving in for another two months I'll totally have my hands all over this place!

We are super excited that the sunroom will make a beautiful office and that leaves us with the extra bedroom (that we would have used for an office in any other place) to play around with. First thoughts are a project and DIY room... we have lots of fun ideas that we can't wait to get working on and this extra little room could be the perfect place.

Also on our big-fat-excited list is the amount of space we'll have to work with! This place is a great blank canvas and with the wood floors and beautiful dark original woodwork there's lots of potential here. Let the furniture-hunting, decorating, and DIY-ing commence! 

Phone Dump [AKA thank yous galore]

1// Invites! It's been a long process... and the saga is still continuing... but we're getting there! (Thanks mom!)

2// My seriously adorable niece. HOW has she not shown up on the blog before?? I think I had a 6-month-long lapse of judgment or something. We got to hang out with her for awhile on Saturday afternoon after the shower (thanks Danielle and bridesmaids and everyone!) and got to witness her first crawl... watch out world. Not only is this baby the most adorable one you've ever seen, she also happens to be a genius and leaps and bounds ahead of any other baby in every category possible. Biased? Me?? Noooo.

3// Ohhhh man. He had to know this would show up somewhere on the internet. Loverboy decided he wasn't quite hipster enough for The Oh Hellos concert we attended on Friday night so he decided to add a lil somethin'-somethin' to his outfit. [Actually it was a dare that he valiantly saw through and got us free drinks! Horrah! (Thanks Kate!)]

4// We attended an Imagine Dragons concert on Saturday night (that was about 100% less hipster than afore-mentioned Friday night concert). I had never been at the TCF Bank Stadium before so it was a pretty sweet experience. However, we were so high up that it kind of just felt like we were listening to really loud radio in a really big crowd. Nonetheless, Imagine Dragons. For free. (Thanks Hedbergs!)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Friday! The work-week is over, so let the weekend fun begin! This week I think that these things are...

PRETTY. That couch. (Well, really that whole room). I've been a bit of a craigslist-crazy lately looking for couches. I love the look of these lower, mid-century couches. And the fabric on this one is to die for.

CLEVER. Not only is this display of test tube flower holders clever, it's also oh-so-cute. And as a bonus I think that Loverboy would probably be swooning over this scientific decor as much as I am. (However, I don't think he would call it swooning. Geeking out? Yeah, let's go with that.)

THOUGHT-PROVOKING. The church we've been going to here in the Cities never fails to serve up some hard-hitting truth.

He must crucify our pride so that we will humbly praise the crucified One alone.

—Pastor Jason Meyer, Bethlehem Baptist Church

THRIFTY. Turning an old dresser into a spruced up bookshelf? Yes please!

INSPIRATIONAL. So good, so true. It can be easy to trust God when things are going our way, but what about when they're not? Don't give in to the temptation to doubt when you believed it when things seemed better. (Amen, sister! Preaching to the choir right here.)

This weekend holds quite a bit of excitement for me as I look forward to not one, but TWO concerts, my first bridal shower, the possibility of apartment hunting and some DIY projects, and a fancy date to celebrate my awesome hubby-to-be who just scored an engineering job!! Go him! (But mostly go God!) Have any fun plans for your weekend?

[1. via flickr, 2. via sunset.com, 3. via Etsy, 4. via Kristen Delap]

Freedom Friday: Round-Up

It's been awhile since there's been a Freedom Friday around here, but I found it only fitting [and just a teensy bit cliche- but who can't resist that??] to do one today, on the day that we celebrate freedom as a country.

I thought I would do a round-up of all previous Freedom Fridays here at The Things That Make Us Tick. Check them out, get educated, and take action! And remember, action can be as simple and powerful as prayer.

Stop the Candy Shop
An initiative by Street Grace Ministries, an organization out of Atlanta, GA (the 3rd top trafficking city in the WORLD, by the way) that fights against the exploitation of children in the sex trade.

Sold
A novel by Patricia McCormick- a quick and life-changing read.

Krochet Kids Intl.

A company that empowers people to rise above poverty by creating sustainable economic development programs that support holistic growth of individuals and communities within developing nations and inspiring the knowledge of a generation about their ability to bring change to a world that is in need.

IJM Eau Claire Just Us Run
A run in Eau Claire, WI sponsored by the International Justice Mission. All proceeds go to IJM. This year it's on July 9th... so coming up quickly! Register here if you like!

Love 146
An organization fighting to end child sex slavery and exploitation.

Reject Apathy Magazine
A magazine [both online and in print] shoot-off of Relevant Magazine focused on social injustice, poverty, violence, the environment, etc.

Human Trafficking Stats
Stats and images on human trafficking from the CNN Freedom Project.

Nefarious
A hard-hitting documentary that exposes the disturbing trends in modern sex slavery. 

Freedom Friday Intro
The vision and hope behind Freedom Friday.

Happy Fourth everyone! How will you be enjoying your freedom today?

P.S. Did you see you can get The Things That Make Us Tick straight to your inbox now? Just put your email in the form on the right of the page under 'subscribe' and you'll be all signed up!

[image via Pinterest, typography mine]