Homemade Weekend

This weekend I guess we were just in the mood to make and bake things! Raleigh made his homemade granola that he hasn't made in a while, I made cookies (which I also haven't made in a while) and Raleigh made a lot of ice cream, too. The ice cream in the picture is "Heath Cafe", which is coffee ice cream with Heath chunks. He named it. :) Raleigh is actually really into making ice cream these days and is selling them even! He's sold about 7 pints so far and has another 5 pints ordered. He's having a good time with it. We had a good time baking this weekend.

My Favorite Salad..and soon to be yours, too!

This is my FAVORITE salad! It is so good. I slowly have "perfected" it. It's simple yet delicious and I wanted to share it with anyone who wants to try it. :) Here are the ingredients and directions:

Red or green leaf lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Carrots
Orange and Yellow Peppers
Roasted Pine Nuts
Grilled Chicken

Roast the pine nuts in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Cut up all veggies and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Grill chicken with some seasoning (I use salt/pepper and lemon-pepper seasoning).

It's the best with some homemade ranch dressing but I also just do olive oil and vinegar dressing to cut back on calories of course. And if you are going to exclude anything, don't let it be the pine nuts! They are so good and bring out a very distinct and interesting flavor. :) Enjoy! Let me know if you try it and like it!

So many options, so little clue what to do.

Well I certainly can't complain about having a lazy, good-for-nothing husband! This guy is the best. He's such a hard worker and a people-person. The people he works with love him and it's evident in how many opportunities and options are getting thrown his way right now! Since Marriott is such a good company and encourages moving up and out (transferring), we are hoping to get back to the Northwest soon. But it could mean putting in some time somewhere else first. Here are his current options and then the ones he has applied for:

Front Desk Supervisor at Renaissance Esmerelda (the hotel he's currently working at)
Nickelodeon Supervisor at Renaissance Esmerelda while the current supervisor goes on maternity leave
Front Desk Manager at a property in Albuquerque, NM
Front Desk Supervisor at a property in Redmond, WA (didn't get that but did get offered a different position there...which he didn't take it)
Front Desk Supervisor at a brand new property in San Antonio, TX (pretty sure he didn't get that one)
Pursuing "other" options in the entertainment/Nickelodeon industry

So as you can see...we have so many things to think about..so many options of where we could be living. It's definitely a "good" problem to have. But it becomes overwhelming at times. Yesterday in particular I was feeling overwhelmed. My biggest desire is to get close to our families. I miss them SO much and feel like I'm really missing out on part of life by not being near them. But then I read this verse and it hit me:

Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

"Do not anxiously look about you". That is exactly what I was doing. And why shouldn't I? "For I am your God". Such power there! He is my God. Therefore I have no reason to anxiously look around at my life. He will strengthen me and help me. That may mean I'm living somewhere I don't want to live, but as long as He is helping me and strengthening me, I can make it. We'll see where God takes us next!

Back to Blogging

I've been out of the blogging world now for like almost two months. It's been SUCH a busy beginning of 2010! Things seem like they are beginning to slow down at least a bit now and I've really been wanting to blog more...so here goes! Here's a list of things that have already happened in the first 45 days of this year:

Raleigh and I went to see The Tonight Show
My Mother-in-law came to visit
We launched a brand new product at work
I went to a week-long conference for work at Saddleback
Raleigh and I went to Sea World
We have started training for a half-marathon
Raleigh has applied for or interviewed for 5 different positions among Marriott, most of them meaning a move for us
We bought a new mattress
Many more great things!

Hopefully I can catch you all up on everything, especially jobs for Raleigh. More to come on these new adventures!