A Walk Down Memory Lane...

Lately, I've been reminiscing about my relationship with my husband.

I love looking at our dating photos.

And our engagement pictures.

And our wedding photos. 

And then the first several years of our marriage pictures.

Honestly, it's hard to believe that in just 5 short months, we will celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary.

So, take a walk down memory lane with me!

Our first "couple-y" photo taken in July 2009. We look like babies! Especially Kelly. Why does he look so short in this photo? Was I wearing heels?!

Standing on top of the world! Right before Kelly went home to Oklahoma for several months.

Reunited a few months later in Colorado for Thanksgiving 2009. My FAVORITE picture of us!

In spring of 2010. Apparently it rained a lot because the grass is a nice, bright shade of GREEN.

We spent July 2010 in Oklahoma. This is us on the 4th of July. He still wears this shirt EVERY Saturday. 

Just a couple of sweet engagement photos from December 2010. 

May of 2011. A few weeks before our BIG DAY!

A few wedding photos. *sigh* BEST DAY of my life!

The day after we got married. We had brunch with the crew and then sat outside chatting. It was such a sweet time. I was so happy to leave Vegas a MARRIED woman. 

I have no idea what is going on with his hair--OR MINE. Thankfully, we have new hair styles. Was this only 2 years ago?!

This picture pretty much sums up our marriage. We can't keep it together for longer than 5 seconds!

Every time I look at this picture, the song "I Wanna Grow Old With You" from the Wedding Singer comes to mind. I really do want to grow old with him; no, he is not allowed to hold the remote control when I am watching TV ;) Please do not be alarmed by his total look of disinterest in me. He was shivering like a BABY because it was "too cold" to be taking pictures. I told him to suck it up. He did not like that. Which led to me laughing hysterically as he said "No, you suck it up". Picture was snapped. Memory made.

Hope you enjoyed my short walk down memory lane. Ah...I just love my hubby! 

--Jessica

Cold As Stone

I stumbled across this picture a few days ago and found myself staring at it for a long time. 

I don't really recognize the girl in this picture anymore. It was taken a little over 7 years ago. I was still in high school. A struggling Christian trying to figure out life with divorced parents. 

It's funny how deceiving pictures are. American Young sings one of my favorite songs, "Love Is War", and the lyrics go a little something like this: 

Nobody hangs hard times on the wall/You won't see it in an 8x10/But there's a storm every now and then

I smiled pretty in this picture despite the storm wreaking havoc on my life.

On the outside, I look happy. But on the inside? Well...I was cold as stone.

Just trying to breathe.

Just trying to survive.

Just trying to keep from drowning.

I remember crying a lot. Then not crying at all. I remember many conversations where my father asked me if I wanted to talk to someone--a counselor.

Looking back now, I wish I had. I wish had sat down with someone who wanted to listen to me and help me work through my heartache.

But I brushed it off. At the time, I pushed aside my feelings and felt nothing at all. Because if I had let the floodgates open, my emotions never would have stopped pouring out. And I wasn't old enough to understand them.

One day, the floodgates did open and emotions flooded my life for many years with unanswered questions. Questions I still don't have answers to. Maybe I'm not meant to. Maybe I was always meant to make peace and let go.

And I have.

But this picture unnerves me. Because I remember this distant memory. I remember who I used to be. Someone broken. Someone trying to just survive. Someone the world had severely wounded.

I'm not that same girl anymore.

Now, I'm a woman who no longer wakes up in the morning feeling numb.

I feel alive!

I cry and laugh and live and love.

I have learned that surviving life isn't just enough; I want to thrive.

Pain comes; that is inevitable.

We all walk through dark seasons.

But they should make us better--not bitter.

--Jessica

Budgets, Bills, & Dave Ramsey

Ah, the topic no one loves to talk about.

Well, no one but me.

I could talk about budgets and bills all day.

And I know one thing is for sure, you have to talk about this topic if you want to be successful with your money.

One of the greatest resources we were given when we began our marriage was Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover.

We read it. We talked about it. And we decided that I would be in charge of budgets and bills in our home because my husband knows he doesn't do well budgeting. Thankfully, I'm the Budget Queen so he ended up married to a woman fully prepared to handle his finances.

We also made some other huge decisions.

The first being that we are not a credit card couple. We don't get credit cards. We don't use credit cards. And we don't accumulate credit card debt. That was our first decision.

Our second was that if we took out loans, we would discuss, pray and decide together how much we would pay monthly for a house and a car. And we would only ever have one car loan at a time.

Those are--and have been--our two biggest decisions when deciding how to handle our budgets and bills over the course of our marriage.

To date, we have stuck with our decisions and have made sure we always discuss large financial decisions.

However, the day-to-day small decisions, my husband leaves to me. Our system works. And I enjoy the hours spent laboring over numbers.

But I think it's crucial to your financial success to take a positive approach and action toward this area of your life.

Budgets and bills are difficult, but you should arm yourself with all necessary tools to learn how to make handling your finances easier.

The best tool to start with? Dave's Total Money Makeover.

I can't tell you how helpful this has been to me over the last 3 1/2 years. It's helped me figure out a way to track my bills and budget for the future.

Do you have any resources you use to help you with your budgets and bills? I'd love to hear them!

--Jessica

Tomorrow's Sunday School Lesson: Can Cowboys Go To Heaven?

I'm getting ready to start a month-long series on Heaven in my preschool class.

So, tomorrow, we are going to start where we left off last Sunday.

I had a great time introducing the topic to the gang.

In fact, it was such a great time that we end up discussing cowboys.

"Miss Jessi," AJ began, "cowboys can't go to Heaven."

"Yes," I responded, "they can go to Heaven in they believe Jesus died for their sins."

"WHAT?!" AJ asked, his eyes wide.

"Cowboys can go to Heaven, AJ," I reaffirmed.

"So...that means I can go to Heaven!" he said excitedly.

If you are a cowboy, let me take a moment to reassure you that you, too, can go to Heaven. In case you thought otherwise.

So, we will spend several weeks talking on one of my favorite topics: God's home. And, one day in the future, my home.

The thing with preschoolers that I absolutely love is their capacity to imagine and create an image of something in their minds without it being tarnished by the world and their opinion.

Not yet, anyway.

The best way to start a conversation about Heaven is to ask them what Heaven means to them. I usually make a list and we hang it up on our bulletin board. We add to it as the weeks press on. The list grows and grows. Until they have a greater understanding of where our Creator is.

You'd be surprised how smart kids are. They have a lot of opinions and ideas. That's why I like to hear them.

And discuss them.

And use the Bible to solidify their view of Heaven.

That's what we'll be doing tomorrow morning over breakfast and some coloring pages. We'll be having real, honest conversations. And though my kiddos are only 2-4 years old, I know the 45 minutes I spend sitting with them, talking about Heaven will be the best 45 minutes of my week.

Tomorrow's verse? "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)

--Jessica

Sloppy Lasagna

It was one of those experiments. The kind where I was pretty sure my husband would look at it and turn up his nose. He's kind of notorious for doing that in this house.

But when he took a bite and said, "Wow, this is really good!" I knew I had a keeper.

"What do you call this?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure," I responded. "I just kind of threw the mess together."

"We'll call it Sloppy Lasagna," he announced.

And so, a legend was born.

And I've decided to share this ridiculously EASY recipe with you. I didn't take ANY pictures but the one above. The next time I make it, I'll be sure to take pictures and add them here.

Here's what you'll need:
3 cups egg noodles
1 24 oz jar of traditional pasta sauce
1 cup fresh spinach
6 oz sweet, Italian sausage
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil egg noddles until tender, then strain.
3. Brown sausage until cooked thoroughly.
4. Toss spinach into skillet with browned sausage. Once it's cooked through, add in pasta sauce. Mix together.
5. Once the sauce is mixed well, mix in egg noodles.
6. Using a 1.25 Quart baking dish, put in noodles mixed with sauce and spread mozzarella over the top. Put in oven for 35 minutes.
7. Take out and enjoy!

Interested in purchasing my Rachel Ray 1.25 Quart stoneware baking dish? You can find it here, at my store.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

One of my favorite ways to describe tiresome seasons is with this phrase:

Sometimes a lifetime can happen in a day.

My world has been pretty hectic that last couple of weeks. Prepping for Christmas. Last minute Christmas plan changes. A dog's ruptured anal gland. Packing up with decorations and closing the business's books out for the year. And preparing for MORE snow.

Wait.

Did I just write a dog's ruptured anal gland?

Yes, yes I did.

Abner is recovering! And doing well!

Before you cringe, let me say one thing on this topic (and no, I will not go into specifics): I have a very weak stomach. So weak that this feat alone makes me gag, makes me cry, and makes me want to go to bed immediately after doing all that the vet has prescribed because I just can't handle it. But I love my dog and I will suffer through knowing that his health depends on me.

I know it's gross. I know this isn't the place for it. BUT This. Has. Been. My. Life. For the past two weeks. Literally. My every worry. My every concern. My every thought.

Alright, now that I have vented and explained the roughest part of my last week, let's move forward.

donavonscreativeinnovations.com

Kelly and I run a small website business that has branched out into doing computer repair and other computer related things for the small business owners in our community.

Here's the thing about Small Town USA: a lot of people own their own businesses. And they so graciously help each other out. I love it!

So, I spent an entire day on the books. And now, I'm just waiting for the rest of our tax stuff to come in so I can do the taxes and be done with it.

I like taxes, but I don't like taxes. I like doing them, but they can be quite tedious. My best friend is a tax accountant and she loves doing taxes. I'm kind of hot and cold about the whole thing. Because taxes are a BIG deal in our house.

We want to make sure they're done right. We want to make sure we have paid what is owed. AND we want to make sure we are returned what was originally ours.

To put it mildly, tax season is literally a 'season' in this house. One I'm hoping to pass on to my children. Please, people, DO YOUR TAXES. Don't teach your children its OK to do not abide by the law. You'd be doing future generations a world of good!

Kelly's strawberry cake!
I think I'm going to make cupcake versions for my preschoolers!

Kelly's birthday was on the 4th and for his Christmas/Birthday present, I am buying him a video camera. Which is really funny because the moment he said he wanted one, the company he works for discovered that Kelly is quite good at making videos. Plus, we will also be able to use it for our church services to test out the type of camera we will need to record services. All-in-all, this gift will probably be just the thing Kelly needs for this year.

We went to Chili's for his birthday dinner. Normally, we go to Outback Steakhouse because that is our birthday place. BUT we were too lazy to drive to Tulsa. So we made a Lowe's run (my hubby's FAVORITE store) and then had a quiet dinner. Then went home and crawled into bed. We act like old people sometimes. But we're just tired people who really like sleep.

The Hansen huskies have been up to the same-old, same-old. You can check out the post I did on "The Day in the Life of the Hansen Huskies" here. These dogs have THE life. Really, they do. Sleep, eat, play, sleep, chase each other around the yard, watch the neighbor lady's cats through the fence, sleep some more, eat some more.

Well, that's about all we have been up to the past couple of weeks. I'm hoping our lives slow down here soon. I'm really starting to wonder when a down season will be upon us next. I'm in need of some simple, relaxing times!

--Jessica

A Day in the Life of the Hansen Huskies

Well, we slept in yesterday. Which is a MIRACLE. Because Abner, Niko and Zailey like to wake me up at 7:15 sharp.

But we slept in til 8.

And I was grateful for the extra 45 minutes of sleep I got.

But can I really tell you what I'm grateful for?

I'm grateful that my grandmother sent me a HUGE bag of Starbuck's Blonde Roast (which is my FAVORITE roast). Because it is really the only reason I get out of bed at 7:15 to let the dogs outside for their morning play time in the 20-degree weather. To brew that delicious cup o' Joe!

Breakfast yesterday morning was hard-boiled eggs and rice. Sadly, I had just ran out of ham and turkey from our Christmas feast, so they had to go one meal without meat.

Here's what's great about a home-cooked diet: you really can feed them whatever is on hand. We are big on protein because they are Snow Dogs. They need lots of protein. So our outside fridge is stocked with 5 dozen eggs just in case we run out of meat. But I also want to fill their bellies with warmth. So, we have rice, potatoes, yams, beans and other winter foods that are designed to keep them full.

Waiting impatiently for breakfast.

Niko.
He always looks at me like I'm an idiot when I say,
"Niko, are you ready for breakfast?"

Yesterday morning, the pinto beans were defrosting and the yams were not cooked. So, they had a light breakfast and dined big on dinner.

But we'll get to dinner later...

The dogs spend the majority of their day playing, chasing cats along the fence line, teasing the lonely neighbor dog (who whines ALL DAY because they refuse to run the fence line with him) and napping. They usually do each for 15 minutes at a time.

Please excuse the dirty windows.
But here are the boys outside.
No, they do not want in.
They just like to watch me from the window while I work. 

Then begin again.

They have a great time begging me to let them in every 5 minutes as well. And then right back out again.

Afternoon snooze session.

Niko unhappy that the weather has been cold.
Yes, those are muddy pawprints on the tile.
Yes, I sweep and mop almost daily.
Three dogs means that my floors take a beating. Every. Day.

When evening comes around, its DINNERTIME. Since Kelly had the day off from work, they didn't run to the door when they heard his car like they normally do every day at 5:20. Instead, they stand in the kitchen and watch me while I cook.

Niko talking.
"Mom, I'm HUNGRY. Feed me NOW!"

Abner yawning.
He's over Niko's howling.

Yes, I make their food FRESH every day. Yes, it is time consuming. But I want to make sure that the food they are eating doesn't go bad and that it's good quality.

After dinner, it's back outside again until 11:30. Zailey usually comes in at 9:30 to go to bed. She curls up on the couch until I tell her to "go to bed", which means "Mom's going to bed so follow her and snuggle til Daddy comes to bed."

Evening cuddle session with Daddy while he works.
Yes, his room is a mess.
No, I don't care.
I just keep that door closed.

Then, she either sleeps on my legs or on the carpet right next to my side of the bed.

Right before I go to bed, I have to clean Abner's ruptured anal gland. Yes, it's gross. Yes, I refuse to talk too much about it. Let's just say he's a great sport and I do my best not to gag.

And that is a day in the life of the Hansen Huskies.

Or should I say the SPOILED life of the Hansen Huskies?

--Jessica