Grateful

We have been flooded with blessings lately and my heart is so full!  This whole year Jacob's work has been super slow.  Money has been tight but we are making it through.  The blessings that come from paying tithing truly are there.  Not once have we had to dip into savings and to me that is a huge miracle.  Jacob and I have become so much closer through this.  We have continued to go on dates but with the lack of money we have swapped babysitting with some friends and then gone on bike rides together or hikes.  It has done wonders for our relationship.  Before we were going to dinner and a movie which is good to do too but for us I've learned that we connect more when we do active things together.  We both love being outside so it works out perfectly. 

I have been going through a big transformation since the beginning of the year too.  With every pound I lose I feel like I'm gaining my life back.  I told Jacob tonight on our date that it feels like I've been asleep for the last 4-5 years and I am starting to wake up.  A lot has happened in my life up until this point.  A lot of it I'm not comfortable talking about but it has all shaped me into a new and improved person.  The trials that have come my way have been very challenging and I'm not out of the woods yet with some of them but I am seeing the Lord's hand in them more and more and am so thankful for this learning experience I have been given.

My brother and best friend has just asked his amazing girlfriend to marry him and I am so excited for them!  I love my brother dearly and am so grateful to see him so happy.  I look up to him and love the relationship that we have with each other.  We fought like cats and dogs as kids but now we are the best of friends.  I just really love him. :)

Jacob is going to be leaving for Canada in a couple weeks for a couple weeks.  Then he will be back for about a week and then gone for 6 more weeks.  During this time we've learned that we will have almost zero contact.  It's going to be hard but I believe that is why we have grown so close together lately is to help us both through this time. It is going to be a great experience for him and I am so thankful for that.

Life right now is so unpredictible and crazy but somehow I am at complete peace. I am grateful for the area we live in and for the people we have met and have welcomed us into their lives. I'm grateful for such a wonderful and amazing husband.  He is my best friend and my biggest fan.  And I really love my mom and dad and am so thankful for their love and support too.  They all help me get through the rough patches in life. 

Recipes

I came across these recipes and needed to put them somewhere where I will remember them.

Almond Joy Cake 

Magic in the Middle Cookies

Key Lime Bars

Linnea Turned 2!

I can't believe I'm a mom to a 4 1/2 year old and a 2 year old.  I don't know where the time went.  Linnea's birthday party was Cookie Monster themed.  She loves Cookie Monster (and cookies).  The cake was really fun to decorate and only took me half an hour.  Emma's Sesame Street cake that I did for her second birthday took me 7 hours!  The kids had a lot of fun running around the backyard, coloring with sidewalk chalk and eating cake and ice cream.  I made English Muffin pizzas for lunch and they had blue milk to drink with it.  The blue milk was a big hit.  For the decorations I bought some balloons off of Ebay (A big Cookie Monster, 2 chocolate chip cookie balloons and some blue and brown balloons) and had the local party store fill them, put up blue and white streamers and blew up 50 blue and white balloons and had them all over the floor.  Then since Linnea was only turning 2 her friends came over and they just played in the backyard.  Super low key and easy.  Happy Birthday Linnea!

In other news, work has slowed WAY down for Jacob and it's not looking very good for the rest of the year.  Lucky for us though there is work up in Northern British Columbia on a copper mine and so he will be heading up there to work.  We aren't quite sure how long he will be up there (he thinks between 2 and 4 weeks) and how long he will be home in between his off days but we are just thankful that he will be working.  We've done this before so I kind of know what to expect and I am having a hard time complaining because it's work and we need it.  The only thing that really sucks is we were going to run a sprint triathlon together on the 2nd of July and now he won't be here to race with me.  He is my major support through this whole thing so I've taken a bi emotional hit with that.  But in the end I think it will be good for me to race it without him.  It will prove to me that I can do it.  I just really wish he was going to be there.  We were going to stick together during the race and that was a big comfort to me.  I will just have to get over my fear now.