Saturday, March 31, 2012

Day one. home to so cal (in pictures)

Captions to come later when I am not on my phone but here are some of the things that happened in the first day. (;


Lord, thank You for such a wonderful first day of traveling. Thank you for protecting us and our vehicle. We give you all the praise and honor today, God. We truly are a blessed couple. Go before us to our next stop Lord. Prepare the way for us. We trust You as You guide us in this journey. Continue to surround your angels around our vehicle. Touch every part of this vehicle with Your hand and bless it. Bless this day Lord. Thank you for grace and mercy. In Jesus Name -Amen.


Traveling love- Monica

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Friday, March 30, 2012

Our journey begins!

As I type this my hubby is driving. We are headed to our first stop in Southern California.

We bought our starbucks, gassed up, got everything in the car (after purging a lot.. and deciding "well.. we can buy oh when we get there.") and now we are off. (:


Father, I pray that You are preparing the way for us. I declare that angels surround our vehicle and protect every inch of our car. Lord, I pray that my husband and I will glorify you in our attitudes and speech. I pray that throughout this long trip we will take the extra moment to respond instead of react. That we will choose to love and respect one another.

Thank you for this fun and exciting opportunity in our lives. We give you all the honor and glory.

In Jesus Name -Amen.


Driving, starbucks, and love. -Monica

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Monday, March 26, 2012

cleaving and memories.

"Therefor shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." 
Genesis 2:24 (KJV)

That verse has been on my mind a lot lately. With hubby and I leaving in about 5 days it is making the phrase "leave and cleave" a lot more real. We are about to leave our families and everything that we are familiar with and to completely cling to one another and our Lord. 
We are about to truly learn what the Lord meant when he spoke this over Adam and Eve for the future husbands and wives. 

We are excited for this new season in our lives and we are expectantly waiting on God. 

Packing is pretty much done. It took about 2 days straight of constant packing. I procrastinated a little and found some pictures that are dear to me. 
This is my Papa so lovingly placing his hand on my Gram while she blew out some birthday candles (as i joined her). I adore how the love between my Gram and Papa is so incredibly evident. 
I would see them bicker from time to time (especially when my Papa would open up the pot that my Gram was cooking in. hehe) but their love was always true. They are an inspiration to me. They would be married over 60 years if they were still alive today. I wore my Gram's 40th anniversary ring as my 'something old' at my wedding. 

These are my twin little brothers outside my Gram's house. I am not sure how old they were here... probably about 4 maybe. They are sooo stinking cute! They are 21 years old now. I love them sooo soo much and miss them lots! They can be little terrors but my sisterly love for them never alters. 

This is from the same day as the last one with my Gram and Papa. This is my Gram, myself, and my baby brother (all 49-ered out hehe. My Papa was a fan too.. I know he would get along with my hubby) at my Gram's house. We ALWAYS had every birthday party here! Our whole family would cram into the house that my Papa built in the 70s and have dinner, cake, and argue over who would do the dishes. Every Christmas and Thanksgiving memory of my childhood was held at my Gram's house. A million special memories that bring small swells of tears to my eyes even as I type this. 
I love and miss you Gram and Papa! 

fond memories, new memories, and love. - Monica
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Thursday, March 22, 2012

..procrastinating...

Hubby and I have been procrastinating on packing for our big move to Alabama.


BUT I have reserved all of our hotel rooms, typed up all the directions, made super cute envelopes for receipts to budget, and put them all in an organized binder. I feel pretty accomplished with that!


This weekend I am off and Martin wants get as much done as we can packing-wise. Bleh.


Lord give me strength!


The journey begins and love. -Monica

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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Hope and prayer

With all the stresses of trying to find a place to live in Alabama and all the opposition I am facing for this decision I am so glad that my hope and faith is found in the Lord.


If you are facing trouble (large or small) please don't stop hoping or praying.

Remember that you have a God who loves you deeply and who has a divine plan for you. (:


More hope and love. -Monica

♥ . ♥ . ♥


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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Sweet Home Alabama

Well the decision is made!!! (Not that many of you even we were trying to make a decision. He he)


My love and I have been talking about moving and places we would like to go since we have been married. 7 months later... we are about to move!


We have some friends that moved to Alabama about a year ago (the husband is originally from there.) and they really like it. We started talking to them about the area and how we were interested in a possible change after summer as long as Martin and I could find work. Well the husband called Martin very early the other morning saying if we were willing to move sooner then later Martin could have a good paying job NOW!


So... we prayed about it and had peace..... so we will be there in two short weeks! We are packing, planning out the drive, and finding a place very quickly!


It will take us about five days to get to Alabama from Northern California. We are stopping along the way and will see things we have never seen before (hubby has never been out of Cali and I have only been to Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA).


We are ready for this new adventure!


Lord, be our guide and may we glorify You in this move and in our trip. We trust that this is Your will for our lives in this season and we praise You. My husband is my best friend and when stress levels are high I pray that I can be reminded that we are a team. When disagreements happen remind us that we are fighting against the issue and not against each other. Thank you for Your love, Lord, and for the love my husband has for me. Bless this move, God. In Jesus Name Amen!


New season, Alabama bound, and love. - Monica


♥ . ♥ . ♥


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Sunday, March 11, 2012

If you love me SPOON ME


Hubby and i tried a new place that i really loved! :) It is a little frozen yogurt place called 'Spoon Me'. Too cute!
On Saturday we got all ready to go use my gift card at a nail salon to get a pedicure (I am STILL trying to convince him to get one too...picture will come if he agrees. hehe.). When we got there it was really really busy and so we decided to try it another time. We were all dressed up and had nowhere to go until my wonderful husband suggested going to a new place to try downtown.
We hopped back in the car and headed to Spoon Me. The place was really really cute. It is a self serve frozen yogurt place.. so there were tons of different flavors. I had vanilla with rainbow sprinkles and cake batter/chai latte with Graham cracker crumbles. Hubby had a nutella, banana, and strawberry crepe. It was so stinking huge! It is so fun to explore new places around a town we have lived in for years. (:
Yummy desserts, quality time, and love. - Monica
♥ . ♥ . ♥

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Melt in your mouth chicken

Last night I tried a new recipe from pinterest. It is called "melt in your mouth chicken" and it was delicious and easy (which is what I love about amazing recipes).

Take 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 tsp garlic powder (I used garlic salt because we didn't have garlic powder...

Don't... it was just a little to salty), 1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt and mix it all together. 


Spread the mixture over four chicken breasts and bake in the over for 45 minutes on 375 degrees. (I sprinkled Italian breadcrumbs before putting in the oven for a little more flavor... but it isn't needed. )


Eat and enjoy!


New, easy recipes and love. -Monica

♥ . ♥ . ♥


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Monday, March 5, 2012

thoughts on the run- slow down

My husband and I just got smart phones. I am still getting used to the keyboard, tons of apps, camera buttons, and all the fan-cay features.

At times I feel like technology is moving way to fast. Once we get used to one phone ... another, faster, more efficient model comes out.

Our generation needs things NOW! Instant popcorn, fast food, lightning speedy internet. I am guilty of the "no waiting" generation. We have e-mails and video chatting to stay in contact with our loved ones. I doubt many relationships would have stayed alive if we had to write letters and be connected through an operator like how it was so long ago.

Because of this super speedy-no wait culture we are in... we expect God to be the same. But He is better then that.

We are called to wait on the Lord. We are called to be patient. We are called to search out the mysteries found in Him.  All of those things take time. A relationship with the Lord isn't a *bing* its done adventure.... it is a slow and steady adventure.

So don't get discouraged if its feeling like God is not answering you fast enough, or you are not on the level you thought you'd be by now... God sends us beautiful letters... not quick e-mail responses.

Learning to slow down and love. -Monica
♥ . ♥ . ♥

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So wherever you are in the world you can read a little encouragement, laugh, cry, and just smile! (:

Happy Monday!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

reacting in weakness

oh how i need grace a lot! from our God. from my friends. my family, especially my husband.

Martin and i have been married for a little over 6 months now and i am learning soo much! Sometimes i get sooo overwhelmed with irritation, or anger, or frustration, or just that my insecurities get the best of me in that moment.
I have said things that i am not proud of.. and most definitely would NEVER repeat. And like clockwork 3 minutes after those words have left my mouth.. i feel the remorse. The sadness that is in my heart because i have tore down my husband with what i have said.
Life and death ARE in the power of the tongue. (proverbs 18:21) and i want to give my husband life and not death!

"And He said, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'...."
2 Corinthians 12:9

My shortcomings make me sooo glad that i have that grace. That God has given me that kind of grace. I am NOT perfect. I am weak... but in that weakness God's strength is perfect. At times when i fall and stumble i am blessed that i have a God who will reach out His hand for me to grab and get back up. 
I am also blessed that i have a husband who can extend the grace i need from him when i am found in that weakness as well. 
At times i do need to just take that extra 3 seconds... breathe... remember who i am, recall how i want to treat my husband (or a friend, or a waitress, or someone cutting me off in traffic) and respond in love instead of react in weakness. 
This is my prayer:

Lord, thank you for Your grace. Thank you that it is more then enough for me. Father, i pray that when a moment arises where i am about to react in weakness instead of respond in love that i can take a moment and remember who You have called me to be. God, i pray that i can offer this same type of grace to the people around me (especially my loving husband) when they need it. Be my perfect strength. Holy Spirit, guide me. I pray for wives and husbands to discover the grace that is available to them and that they can just yield to you and not have to be stuck feeling weak, because we have a strong God living inside of us. 
In Jesus Name. - AMEN!

grace, and responding in love. - Monica
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