I’m very relieved that my first stint as the Southgate Church Wedding Coordinator went well! It was a beautiful and successful wedding ceremony {wondrous thing!}
Frames showing their family’s heritage of faithful marriages.
Right before he walked her down the aisle.
My view after releasing them. :)
The ceremony.
Excited to be Mr. & Mrs.!
Congratulatory hugs.
Now on to my two receptions for work tonight!
First, and not very important, Wednesday my mom, dad, and I picked peaches from two peach trees my dad and I planted a few years ago. I find it very cool that they have grown their own fruit on trees right in their back yard. I know it’s no big deal, but it still strikes me as an obvious sign of our Creator. Fresh fruit from a tree, grown by the Master Gardener with the hands of his children.
Seriously, only God could create this from nothing! Only our Heavenly could grow a sweet, nourishing, juicy piece of fruit from rock-hard dirt. It amazes me.
So, I enjoyed a fresh peach at work yesterday. And admits my crazy busy day yesterday setting up for two receptions and planning one rehearsal, I was refreshed & reminded of God by a simple peach. Mmm. {And yes, that’s my 27 item long to-do list for yesterday afternoon. Fun.}
So, I’m the wedding coordinator for my church, and I have my first ceremony today. I’m actually nervous for this one, because to me, the ceremony was the most important part of my wedding day. I want Annie’s to be amazing, God-filled, and exactly what she hopes for – so please, if you don’t mind, say a prayer for the ceremony tonight. {Thanks!}
Rehearsal yesterday, ceremony today, Jordan has a bachelor party tomorrow, and I have two receptions for work tomorrow. Yup, it’s the season for brides!
Yesterday, Eugene was offered a full-time teaching position with a school about 10 minutes from our place. He’s accepting because it’s full-time and offers much better benefits. Amen. Amen. Amen! I never thought I’d be so relieved to have health benefits {something I definitely took for granted until I lost my job!}
Although we never expected him to be placed there, Eugene feels Catholic Central is where God wants him to teach this year. The principal was supposed to do a full week of in-person interviews over the next week, but after a phone interview with Eugene, he said he knew he wanted to hire him. The principal then called his boss to ask if he could scrap all the in-person interviews to speed up the process so that Eugene didn’t have to commit to the part-time job offer he had from CTC. Basically, all things came together much quicker than they normally would because the principal didn’t feel the need to interview anyone in person. {It worked out to Eugene’s benefit that he stopped by in person to drop off his resume & introduce himself, and then later in person to drop off a thank you card for his phone interview…big plus.} All this to say, it is clear God’s fingerprints were throughout the hiring process.
We’ve had so many “U turns” over the last year or so, that I’m honestly afraid to get too happy – bad, I know. I’ve learned {again and again} that cannot be dependent, or bank my happiness, on the idea of an easy, comfy, new couch/new house/big yard type of future. We will be happy and content with what we need, and God will provide what we need {He always does!}
Even though I’m still uneasy wondering what our next “U turn” will be, I cannot help but to be absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude for all who prayed for us, for all who recommend Eugene, for all who helped us search, for all who encouraged us. I’m so grateful. We thank you {so much} from the bottom of our hearts {and our wallets, ha!}
I’m really feeling this song right now. God is good, and He cares for Eugene & me. {Big praise for that.}
You Are Good by Nichole Nordeman
When the sun starts to rise
And I open my eyes
You are good, so good
In the heat of the day
With each stone that I lay
You are good, so good
With ever breath I take in
I'll tell you I'm grateful again
When the moon climbs high
Before each kiss goodnight
You are good
When the road starts to turn
Around each bend I've learned
You are good so good
And when somebody's hand
Holds me up helps me stand
You are so good
With every breath I take in
I'll tell You I'm grateful again
'Cause its more than enough
Just to know I am loved
And You are good
So how can I thank You
What can I bring
What can these poor hands
Lay at the feet of a King
I'll sing You a love song
It's all that I have
To tell You I'm grateful
For holding my life in Your Hands
When it's dark and it's cold
And I can't feel my soul
You are so good
When the world is gone gray
And the rain's here to stay
You are still good
So with every breath I take in
I'll tell You I am grateful again
And the storm my swell
Even then it's well and You are good
Yesterday, with the encouragement of Eugene {thank you}, I took the day off from work. Plus, we didn’t have any plans – amazing! So we slept in a bit, then met my best friend, Libby, and her husband, Scott, to go swimming a his neighbor’s pool. Three hours outside with the sun shinning and a pool to dip my feet in…such a wondrous thing.
I love spending time with these two friends {plus the itty bitty baby inside Lib!} We don’t get much time together, but the little we had yesterday was wonderful. True friends are such a blessing from God.
On our way home, we stopped to get another free {thanks to the Shumaker’s!} Papa Murphy’s pizza. We baked it at home and savored each piece {well, probably more like devoured, not savored} while watching Season Two of 24.
Then we went to the golf course down the road to hit some balls, but unfortunately the driving range was closed. We still putted & chipped some…I think I improved {very slightly maybe} on my game. ;)
Finally, when we were getting ready to go to bed, I was asked to put some lotion on my husband. He didn’t seem to care when I told him while we were at the pool when we had this discussion:
Me: “Wow, your freckles are really coming out.”
Him: “Oh yeah?”
Me: “Ok, now you’re really burning. Did you bring the sunscreen?”
Him: “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. It’s fine.”
*Fast-forward 8 hours. {It actually looks worse in person}*
Him: “Oh {cry} my skin hurts so bad {sniffle} can you please help me {whimper}!”
Me: I love you, Lobster.
Are you surprised? Another jam-packed weekend for us. I’ve had another really busy day today, so this post will have to convey enough of a message with pictures.
Friday evening, I stayed late for work for a rehearsal at our venue. Left straight from there with Eugene to go to a surprise 50th birthday for his uncle.
Played corn hole. Lost because I was having a rough time keeping the beanbags on the darn boards. {I take full responsibility for the loss – sorry Eugene!}
He was surprised…even though we were told not to yell “SURPRISE!” when he walked in the door. {That made it a bit awkward for me as he stared straight at me when he walked in and all I did was smile and say “hi” like a nerd!}
Saturday, Eugene played in a church golf tournament while the pup and I tried to clean/sit outside a bit. Then, I went back into work for a ceremony & reception – both seemed to go well, thankfully.
Another family birthday party Sunday after church for Eugene’s little cousin, Owen. He had a fun Toy Story cake made by his Grandma Dottie.
We went from Owen’s party to my parents’ place to visit with Grandma Goldie who is staying there for the next week. I requested a chicken, rice, mandarin orange salad my mom makes & it was very yummy.
We took the pup for a swim, as usual.
Then we enjoyed the ride home with a pup that smelled like catfish. Mmm.
Another psycho-busy week coming up – small group tonight, rehearsal & dinner Thursday for church {I’m the wedding coordinator at my church}, then a wedding ceremony at church Friday, then two receptions for work on Saturday, and a baby shower for my cousin from Germany on Sunday. Yeah, that’s why I said…
exhausted.
Last night, our bananas were too ripe, we broke down and turned on the air {so I reasoned that it wouldn’t roast us if I turned on the oven}, plus Dillan was stopping by and he always gives me big props when I bake for him, and I promised a guy I work with that I’d give him some treats because he helped me out of a crisis situation for a wedding last week. All that to say, I tried another new banana bread recipe. I realized yesterday that I’ve made so many loaves of banana bread, but I haven’t ever used the same recipe twice! I really liked this recipe though, so I just might have to break that streak.
I found the original recipe here, but tweaked it after reading some comments and looking in my cupboards. So below is my version of the recipe…and it turned out great. It was a little crumbly, but the taste was fabulous.
Banana-Oatmeal Bread
First, you preheat oven to 350°. Then, combine the oil, brown sugar, and eggs in a large bowl {I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.}
I decided to add some vanilla that Eugene’s parents brought back for us from their cruise to Mexico.
Mix that on medium until it’s blended well.
In a separate bowl, add your oats and milk.
Mash your bananas {I use a fork…easy peasy.}
Add the bananas to the oatmeal and milk mixture. Stir it together.
Then pour this mixture into your sugar, oil, and egg mixture.
Blend on medium until it’s all mixed in.
In another bowl {I used the emptied bowl I just used for the bananas and oats.} Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
P.S. using the white and whole wheat flour worked well – gave it a nice texture.
I went ahead and used a heaping scoop of cinnamon ‘cause my boy loves him some cinnamon.
Mix those dry ingredients together well to be sure the baking soda and baking powder are all blended.
Then, you add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and blend one last time on medium, until it’s all mixed.
Finally, you’re ready to pour it into your greased bread pan {mine was just larger than a 9” by 5” pan.}. Don’t forget to spray the pan first! ;)
This recipe made one large loaf. Delish.
I added a sprinkle of brown sugar and crumbled pecans for a little topping to the bread. Totally not necessary, but I loved it.
Bake it for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clear.
Set the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to begin to cool, then empty the bread on the wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
Slice it up and serve it to your overly-eager husband and brother-in-law.
Watch it turn into crumbs in a matter of seconds. Um, I’m pretty sure they liked it.
Got a text from my other brother-in-law. Baby Cate took a field trip with her daddy to the aquarium.
You can tell by her big beautiful eyes that she had lots to look at…pretty girl!
