Weekday Paradise

Jake and I are house sitting this week for my grandparents.
I must say, it's nice knowing we are here alone the rest of the week! It's been SO long since we've lived alone for more than a day or two!! Thankfully, it's looking like that may be on it's way to changing; but, with the way plans keep falling apart for us I am not holding my breath.

Best part of this week aside from getting to spend it with Jake.....
Having a kitchen to MYSELF!! And a fully stocked kitchen at that! My Grandmother has every pot, pan, gizmo or gadget you could ever want in a kitchen!! :)

Last night Jake grilled for us and tonight is leftovers. But after that it's all me :)
Chicken fried steak one night, stuffed bell peppers the next. Haven't decided past that but maybe my special pasta dish :)

I am all smiles at the thought of this weeks possibilities!!

New!

Posting for the first time from my new Blogger App so I am not exactly sure how it will work or show up--or if it even WILL!

So, this is just a test....BEEEEEEEP hehe

Testing the photo button also. Incase it doesn't show up it's supposed to be the banana pudding pie I made last night.


J&L

Jake and I may have finally found a place to live!!! Not wanting to get too excited in case it doesn't work out, but it's looking pretty good so far.
Can't wait to be on our own and never have to look back--that's for sure!

On a different note....
It's so wonderful being young and child free! We love the little ones in our life, but it's so lovely being able to just go and do things as we please! :)

If I had the money I would buy houses in Rusk and rent them out. Clearly, there is a big need for them in this town! I had NO idea it would take so long to find something!!! :/
It's starting to get pretty depressing.

Okay, so no apartment..
Jake and I can't seem to make up our minds on where we need to move. An apartment is clearly cheaper, but Jake wants more privacy (understandable) and we wants to be close to his dog (also very understandable). Rent houses in this area are few and far between though. We both agree Rusk has a lot to offer us, but I must admit I am losing faith fast that this will work for us. When I am off Monday I am spending the day making our final effort to locate a place for us to live, after that.......

Our new Christmas "wreath" :)

It's nothing fancy.

And CLEARLY I need a lesson or two in how to make bows. lol

Over all though, I was pleased and had fun planning, shopping and creating this with my DH!:)

This blog will no longer be Jake and I both sitting down typing up posts together. Chances are we WILL still have a few posts like that, but mostly I feel like it will be just me (Lauren). It's too much of a hassle trying to get Jake to sit down and help me write.

Also, it will not just be about what's going on in our lives in hopes of keeping all of our friends and family in Itasca/Whitney/Waco/Hillsboro/ect... up to date.

It is now being written up with the idea that anyone and everyone is going to read it.

 Jake may be getting a new schedule at work. If it does change it means he will no longer have Thanksgiving off but he will get Christmas Eve and Christmas!! :)

His new schedule wont give him Savannah's birthday party day off, but then again his schedule now wont give him that day off either... so I guess nothing really changes there.

Also, we wont have our anniversary off either.. :/

We wont really know anything until Tuesday, at the earliest.

In other news:

 

This was Jake's dinner last night. I had the day off so I fixed him up a well deserved meal.

I even went so far as to make him homemade biscuits! :)

If you were wondering---These are for the hot chocolate I made him to go with his dinner.

I got the idea off Pinterest.

The coconut one was a horrible idea, by the way.

The one with sprinkles was great though. :)



I also had this yummy treat waiting for him when he got home.

It is lemon pumpkin cake sprinkled with powdered sugar. 

I just used a box of lemon cake mix, a can of pumpkin puree, a dash of ginger, nutmeg and all spice, 3 eggs and little veg oil. I didnt measure anything (I usually don't) so I don't know exactly what went into it.

It tasted amazing and moist though:)

 

My next day off I plan to make Jake cranberry glazed ham for dinner.
I've never made it before, but it sure sounds like it should be yummy!

Sweet Potato Fries--Our new favorite treat!

One sweet potato....

 cut up like fries....... (one makes a LOT)

                           

Fried in bacon grease. I fry everything with a little bacon grease....

Out of the grease and sprinkled with sugar (Jake's favorite way)

Or eat them dipped in melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon (My favorite way).

And FYI if you want a somewhat healthier option....they DO taste good plain, too. :)



We are looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend while we are out yalls way!

Just Lauren writing this time....
If any of you would like a copy of Jake's work schedule just email one of us and we will gladly send it to you. If you don't know either of our emails just let us know through facebook and we will go from their.
I know there is a lot of confusion on when he's home and when he's not so we just want to clear all that up, or try to anyway.

Also, for those who have asked (and for those who haven't), my first day of work went well. As I said on facebook I think I may enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would and I can't wait until there is an opening for a full time position! Since I'm already hired I get first pick over new jobs. Jake does too, should he ever choose to leave where he is now. Being the big guy that he is he is in pretty high demand on several different units and gets moved around a lot. Lucky for him 'cause he wont get as bored as most people who are just stuck on one unit. Judging by the stories I've heard he seems to be very popular with the patients as well. It certainly makes me a proud wife--not everyone is cut out for the kind of work he does, but he does it flawlessly. :)

He gets to spend a lot of time talking with the patients who on several occasions have pushed his levels of religion, politics and other popular talking points; something I know he enjoys based on how often he mentions it to me. I've watched this man grow so much in the past few months because of all the new mental stimulation and I couldn't be happier because of it. We often stay up late talking about God and biblical teachings, comparison of different religious groups, politics, popular social debates....and so much more. Things I wouldn't even bother bringing up to him in the past when he still had his "jock mentality" and now to have HIM start these mature and adult conversations blows my mind sometimes! He truly is a smart man and it's nice to see him openly show that to me as often as he does now.

Don't worry though, he's still Jacob. Cute and cuddly, funny and quirky. And the guy everyone wants to come up and talk to, whether they know him or not. He's still God's perfect gift to those around him. :)


-Lauren