Sitting with Impatience......

So while I write this, I sit at the Christ on Campus office and wait for the snow to start falling. I do like the snow, but I think I like it when it starts falling rather than having to sit and anticipate it falling. Once it starts falling I have a better idea of how much we are going to get and the like. We are supposed to get anywhere from an inch to two inches of ice and then 4 to 8 inches of snow with local amounts being 10 to 15 inches. Different reports say different things though so what really happens is only to be seen in the near future. (I am kinda hoping to be snowed in honestly though.) :)

As of right now, it is just misty and foggy looking outside.

Woo Pig Sooie

Those that are blessed to be from Arkansas know about a little thing we like to call "Calling the Hogs". My sweet husband, being from New York state, had no idea what that was. The nice people he is interning for showed him what that meant. I guess this was at a track meet and he did not get the full understanding of what it all meant because today while we were eating lunch in one of the cafeterias, one of the other interns showed me a video of her niece and nephew calling the pigs and a little while later my husband turns to me and asks so what are the hand motions? He then proceeds to demonstrate what he thinks the "hand motions" are. He throws his hands up in the air and then does a move similar to the running man (which he also had no idea as to what the running man was). I died laughing as well as the other intern, Cory. Oh goodness, I guess I have not been a good wife and introduced him to the Arkansas way of life. Hopefully I will soon be able to get him some UofA apparel and further get him accustomed to Arkansas life in Fayetteville. Oh how the adventures continue. :) 

Cool Website

175 Photos of Day Taken at Night

Remember the picture....

That I posted that I said was a picture of a gift for a friend's wedding? Some of you guessed at what it was and I realized I never have let you in on what it was.


So here you go....

Tips for Taps.....yes just what you are thinking it is, it is.

Things Are A Changin'

Things are a changin' again. We are both in Arkansas & both in the same city in Arkansas now! I have been in Fayetteville with Bob since Saturday night. This has been a great thing. We have enjoyed being together once again! Our apartment is super cute and small. The bedroom is large and has a huge closet which is great. It also has a dishwasher which we are not sure works correctly but it does work. It just seems to stay on the wash cycle. We went to church at The Rockhouse which is where all the action for Bob's internship happens or at least starts happening.

The Arkansas Apartment.......

 This has been lovingly named the phone booth. It has a phone jack in it and has a raised floor in it. Really? 

 This is our bedroom from the door coming from the living room. The door in the back of the picture goes outside to a back patio? 

 This is the dining room/living room. Small but cute!

 The living room/dining room from the front door. The couches & dining room table & chairs are from this amazing lady that the campus minister at U of A knows. 

 This is the teeny tiny kitchen. It has a dishwasher though which is amazing!!

 This is the phone booth after my innovative husband found some cardboard and constructed shelves. 

 Our new sushi making kit from our amazing friends Jeff & Jenn! We were BEYOND excited about this!

 The cute little bathroom

The trashcan my husband MADE from cardboard. Yes, you read that correct. He constructed them (as in three of them) from leftover cardboard from the shelves he made for phone booth. 

The other thing that has changed is my hair. Friday, when Bob got into town (Mountain Home), we met up with my good friend Sarah Hunter and she took her amazing scissors and hands (because seriously the scissors are not amazing unless the person behind them is) and went to chopping my hair. It was a beautiful thing. My hair is crazy thick and it took her about any hour to get my hair the way that she wanted it. (She is a  bit of a perfectionist. =)) 

So this is the new hairs. I LOVE it! So easy to care for! Thanks Sarah!

Simply Sweet Chocolate Cake (with picture)

1 1/2 cup flour

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup

1. Sift the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

2. Melt the butter. Mix it with the vinegar, vanilla and water in a separate bowl.

3. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and stir the batter until it's barely mixed. (Try not to overmix it.)

4. Pour the batter into a greased, square baking pan.

5. Bake the cake @ 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. (Test it by sticking a knife into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.)

6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan. When it's completely cool, frost it with the icing recipe.

Fast Frosting

8 ounce package of cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup butter 

1 cup powdered sugar

1. Mix the ingredients together until the frosting is smooth and creamy

This is the cake frosted with Mocha Frosting (recipe below)

Mocha Frosting

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 to 3 tablespoons expresso

1. Cream the butter and vanilla

2. Mix in the powdered sugar until creamy and smooth

3. Add expresso

Alt. I use normally brewed coffee and then add some dry instant coffee for flavor and eye appeal. 

This Menagerie of Discombobulated Thoughts

I have just had a lot of different things going through my head the last little bit.

*I am really liking the sounds of Bruno Mars & The Script lately as you can see from my playlist at the bottom of the page.

*I can't wait for tomorrow because my husband is coming back from Fayetteville for me & I am getting my hair cut!

*My parents are HILARIOUS! This is not necessarily a new revelation just something I have missed in person these last six months.

*Since I have been home I have been staying up until 1 or so in the morning... hmm, I really am a night owl when I don't have to work & LOVE it!

*I don't miss T.V. at all. Everything I could ever think of wanting to watch is either on Hulu or Netflix.

*I can't wait to get rid of my current cell phone & upgrade to an Android or Iphone.

*I am LOVING the snow! Can we get some more?

*I want to make snow ice cream so bad! It is soo good!

*I have made more food since I have been home than the first six months we have been married. I know that is horrible. I think from here on out it will get better! I promise!

*I was NOT impressed with Florida when we were there in early January. I will take my mountains over the ocean any day of the year!

*Today my mom & I got out and played in the snow and then made homemade hot chocolate to warm up when we came back in! :)

*I have made more mocha frosting for all the baked goods I have made....it is really really really good!

*I found my favorite chocolate cake recipe which is SUPER easy to make & super FAST! I have made it twice in two days! (I will add the recipe later on with a picture.)

*I made the *BEST* chocolate chip cookies today! I could take the credit but I think it belongs to my mom's new oven.

*We have gained a little bit of new support since being in Arkansas which is SUPER exciting!

*I am excited to go to Moberly & visit people a little bit later in the spring!

*May 14th is when a PAR-TAY is going to be going down in Kansas!

*I can't wait to go see friends in Indiana on our way back to New York.

*I have started watching American Idol again with my mom. LOVE the try-out phase.

Well for now I think that is enough random thoughts. I will put the chocolate cake recipe up in a little while!

41 Hours

So we totaled up how many hours we spent in a car over the last week and it totaled 41. That is a little over a quarter of a week. I know, when I think about it, I get queasy as well and no I don't get car sick at all. So to begin with on January 2, we started at 4am and drove 17ish hours to Atlanta Georgia. That trip ended Sunday night around 10:30pm when we collapsed in Atlanta in a two bedroom apartment of friends/boss that have two kids. Yes, the total number of people in the apartment way out numbered the number of rooms needed. January 5th was a no travel day and an exploration day. We went to the Atlanta Aquarium, which is the largest in the world and walked through the entire thing! It was so amazing!

My husband and me in front of the aquarium! The shark is almost swallowing him whole if you look hard! 

This is jelly fish of course. They were/are see through so there were lights in the tank that kept changing. 

This picture I had to make bigger because I really like it a lot! More jelly fish obviously but they were so brilliantly amazing.

We walked through Centennial Olympic Park afterwards where the 1996 Olympics were held and where the bomb went off during the Olympics. That was really neat as well. There was a huge fountain, the kind that sprays up and then goes back down and even though it was freezing cold, there were people playing in it. 

This is the fountain with people in the middle!

 This is the Coca-Cola building. They sponsored the building of the aquarium and are right next door to it.

 This is the statue in the middle of Olympic Park. It is the father of the modern Olympics. 

We also went into the CNN building intending to get Starbucks but to much avail because the Passion 2011 conference was there and there was no way to get it in any timely fashion at all so back to the metro we went to go back to their apartment. 

After the adventures of Monday, Tuesday morning we headed to sunny but chilly (compared to what I thought is should be for Florida). We left about 10:30ish from Atlanta and got to Kissimmee FL around 7ish. We drove down with our friend/boss so I had it wonderful just being about to sleep in the backseat almost all 7 hours down!! The all-staff Impact conference was great, a little overwhelming, okay, 17 people I had never met in my life overwhelming. I definitely had to get away and just chill by myself a bit to make it through. It was wonderful to meet everyone though and make new friends that know the exact struggles of campus ministry and a spouse in the ministry. SO now, I have friends in South Bend IN, Idao-somewhere, an Oregon Duck (Yuck) fan from somewhere out west, a couple Florida people & a couple Salt Lake City people who are a riot. At least when I travel, I will probably never need to stay in a hotel no matter where I am. 

That was Tuesday so fast forward to Saturday and we drove back to Atlanta getting back up there just after the same friend we stayed with before got out of one of her classes for her TRIPLE Masters. Yes, you read that correctly, I did say triple masters. This lady is one smart cookie! I'll let her deliver any of my babies that she is willing to!

Sunday morning we got up super early to drive 9-10 hours to my parents' house in Arkansas. We lost an hour of time so that made the drive a little easier. We got to my parents' house, my husband dropped me off there and he had to continue to Springdale that night just has it decided to start snowing. Great time snow. He made it safe and sound to now it is just a distance game for a bit. I think 15 months of distance while we were dating will get us through this little bit of time. 

So that is how 41 hours is comprised on the road with a little, and I mean little rest in between. (staying up until 12:30 & 3am makes for only a little rest. ) :)

Peace & Blessings

Jonnie