Works for me Wednesday

I came across this fun blogging idea on another blog that I enjoy reading and I thought I would share some of the things that work for me with my family and friends. Feel free to join me!

Meal planning works for me! The thing most of you already know about me is that I am a planner. I love to plan because for me personally it makes my day to day life more enjoyable by eliminating stressful situations. I usually start planning next week's meals by around Wednesday or Thursday because I go grocery shopping on Friday for all the food we need for Saturday through Thursday of the next week. I also keep a running grocery list on a chalkboard hanging in my pantry. Once I have my meals planned out for the following week, I complete my grocery list and ensure I have all of the ingredients for my planned meals.

Some of you may be wondering what we do for breakfast and lunch. Well, for now, I am able to simply cook enough dinner for us both to have left-overs for lunch. So, whatever we eat for dinner, we also eat for lunch the next day. I am very thankful that Nathan enjoys left overs as much as I do. Sometimes I will mix it up by making simple sandwiches for us like tuna or turkey and cheese. As for breakfast, Nathan loves eating one egg, one peice of toast, and two peices of turkey bacon almost every morning. On Saturday, I cook pancakes instead of toast :). I often eat peanut butter toast, raisin bran/fiber one, or Nathan's special. As you can see, we I try to keep our meals pretty simple!

There are several benefits to meal planning. One, I have found that meal planning and sticking to my grocery list saves me time and money at the grocery store. Two, it also allows me to plan meals where I can use fresh ingredients for several meals, which eliminates waste. For example, this week, I made fajitas Monday and homeade pizza Tuesday. I purchased three peppers (they can be expensive) and a bag of shredded cheese to be used for both meals. I used half Monday and I used the other half Tuesday. Third, I am able to plan our meals according to sales, which again SAVES US MONEY (are you seeing a pattern here?). Lastly, we eat out less because we know we have "healthy" meals prepped for the evening.

So, are you convinced yet? If you aren't a natural planner, it may seem a bit odd, but just try it out. IT WORKS FOR ME!

Some of our close friends gave Nathan and I this chalkboard as a wedding gift. I keep it on the kitchen counter so Nathan always knows what to expect for dinner :).

This large chalkboard hangs on the wall of our pantry. I keep our grocery list, my to-do list, workout progress, and other fun lists on it without having to display it to everyone.

My meal plan for this week:

Friday-Dinner Party for Dasha: Hamburgers and Hotdogs

Saturday-Date Night: Using Gift Cards from our sister for a night out

Sunday-Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Monday- Fajitas

Tuesday- Homeade Wheat Pizza

Wendesday-Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Thursday- Talapia and Rice

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Learning...

"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night." (Prov. 31:17-18)

This week, I really enjoyed listening to this podcast regarding marriage and our call from the King to serve our husbands and families! To listen, click on the following link-http://www.goodshepherdcc.org/ministries/women/momtomom.htm, then scroll down to the little audio box on the bottom and click on the message from Alan Hlavka.

My Love

I must admit that I am not too big on "Valentines Day", but I do like to take the day to think of how blessed I am to have my best friend, my leader, and my love. I know that most of you know Nathan because the majority of my blog readers are close family and friends, but I feel the need to tell you all about how wonderful my partner for life truly is and how grateful I am to have him. I have been blessed beyond measure with a man who I trust to lead me and our future children throughout life. To some he may look like the ordinary man, but to me he is extraordinary. It is funny how whenever I explain Nathan to people, I always leave the conversation feeling so proud of how God created Nathan. In his very nature, he builds me up.

Nathan is my Mr. Steady! For the most part, he does not worry, stress, or carry guilt. I am so thankful for these qualities because I have the tendency to do all three of those things and he often reminds me that there is no place in our lives for those things. Nathan also has a great job that he absolutely loves. I have the pleasure of being supported by a man who has an incredible work ethic. He works hard, he is a man of integrity, and he pours into a business that he truly believes in. Even when times are tough at work, he is diligent and thankful for his position. He is also honest and tells it like it is, which is why I trust his guidance. In addition, Nathan has always shown me love that is not dependent on my behavior or role. His grace towards me has taught me so much about forgiveness. He believes that it is his role to support me and and our future family physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I am excited that it is my role to be his "help meet" for life through thick and thin.

I feel like we can't be thankful enough for the ones we love. So if you read this and felt a bit bored, know that I was completely jazzed (Isn't this a great word?) to write it!

Updates:

We took a couple of pictures last weekend so I thought I would include them in this post. We really need a recent picture of us together, but this is the best we could do for now.

Our valentines day was a lot of fun! As soon as we woke up, we made a big breakfast together. Nathan gave me a sweet card and informed me that I had a couple gifts on the way. I was shocked when he said that one of them was a camera (we have been looking for a replacement camera since I broke mine on our honeymoon and Nathan finally found a good deal on one) and a dress that you can wear several different ways. I can't wait until they arrive. After breakfast, we went to watch our kids from "The Linc" compete in a local wrestling tournament. This turned into an all day (and night) event, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. We were so proud of the kids! They are new to the wrestling scene, but they did great. It was so fun to cheer them on. After the meet, we planned on getting some take out Chinese food and playing monopoly, but we ended up joining Nathan's sisters and his brother-in-law for dinner. It was a great end to our evening.

Have a great week!

Learning...

In the past year, I have constantly been reminded that I have so much to learn. I thought I would share some of the verses and resources I have been learning from lately.

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18)


For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
(2 Timothy 1:7)


And 'whoever will be the greatest among you, will be the servant of all.' (Mark 10:44)


"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3)


"It is good to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your loving kindness in the morning And your faithfulness by night" (Psalm 92:1-2)


I cannot say enough about this book. I highly recommend it!
http://www.createdtobehishelpmeet.org/



OTHER UPDATES:
I have really been slacking with giving my family and friends updates on all of the exciting things we have been experiencing lately. I guess I will just try to give you all some highlights. I wish I had pictures to match the highlights, but we haven't even picked up a camera for months. We took two pictures before church this Sunday, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer. We will try to do better in the future.

* Nathan traveled with work for a good portion of the month of January. I spent a lot of time with Natalie and other friends. I decided that I was going to have a good attitude about him having to be out of town a lot during the month. I just kept telling myself how thankful I am that my husband has a good job that he loves, especially in this economy. This certainly paid off and it was over before I knew it. Now he is back home for months and I am enjoying every moment of him being beside me in the evening.

* Natalie, Brent, and I hiked to three caves which is only about 20 minutes away. We were not able to enter the caves, but we had a great time.

* We had a girls night at my house while Nathan was out of town. We watched a cheesy movie, ate popcorn, and discussed home schooling until for a good hour, so of course it was a lot of fun.

* My friend Melinda had a cookie exchange at her house. I made 80 cookies, one dessert, and an enormous pot of soup on a Saturday morning, but I really enjoyed getting together with friends. I left the exchange with 70 great tasting cookies!

* I waited for weeks to find out if I would get into a class that I had to have in order to start my clinicals in the fall and on the last day of registration, I was able to get into the class I needed! Praise God! I have been advised that I will be able to finish my clinicals and thus my entire masters this summer. The only catch is that I will need to work an absurd number of hours in order to do so. If I am able to do my hours at the Linc this won't be a problem, but if I get sent to one of the local hospitals, I will not be able to complete the hours and keep my position at the University. Nate and I are praying about this often.

* Nathan and I have started to play monopoly on occasion. Board games are so much fun. I am on the hunt for another fun game for two.

* We are in the middle of "health week" at the Linc. We are teaching the kids about good hygiene practices, their bodies, nutrition, and exercise. On Monday, I had the kids trace their entire bodies and we discussed the many functions of our amazing bodies. They had several questions and we were able to discuss some important issues that our kids are facing.

I know I left a lot of things out, but this is the best update I can give you at this time.