real housewife of orange county

Hi! Remember me? I did not drop off the face of the planet though it may seem that way. The last two months were busy, busy, busy with Christmas, packing, moving, and improving. I am quite sad that I did not get to blog through Christmas. It’s my favorite time of year and I took some really great pictures that I was really excited about posting. Who knows? I still might. I didn’t feel much like blogging. Christmas felt weird. We only pulled out an 1/8th of our decorations and we were so busy with travel, saying our goodbyes and packing that it just felt…different. I think the crazy mix of emotions over leaving Miami and moving to Orlando did me in, too. So here is hoping next Christmas is bloggerific with much more reflection on it’s importance and celebrations.

I am officially a real housewife of Orange County. Not the type with a glorious tan, pouty lips, designer jeans, and luxurious locks with a whole lot of drama. Just the unpacking boxes still and trying to make our first house feel like a home type. I completely adore our neighborhood. We are just 10 minutes from downtown and we live in a place that feels like it might have back in the day. Quaint and charming. Parks everywhere. Shops and restaurants a stones throw away. Complete with friendly, welcoming neighbors! AND I am a proud owner of an annual pass to the Happiest Place on Earth. Life is good! 

I’ll have to post pics and posts about the improvements going on around here. Don’t hold your breath for anything nearly as amazing or insightful as Young House Love. Those types of things we leave for the professionals. I am off to delve into Acts and my BSF study questions. In all of this busy, busy, busy I have not had nearly enough time to be quiet and still. I’m going to go make time for that right now. I need it!

the day of luuuuurve

I know that there are a million people who think that Valentine's Day is really dumb. I know Hallmark, Target, Godiva, and florists love the suckers who fall into the trap. I know a lot of people think that the day brings on this awful pressure for guys to be the romantics they may not be and the women who want that romance let it be known to their men that they have great expectations. {Enter the 485 men at Publix at 7am feverishly reading the 7 cards left over.} And I'll give it to you...the holiday that claims there is one special day to declare love has its' absurdities and we ought to be romancing and wooing our One and Only's every day. With that said...I still love Valentine's Day! What's so bad about boxes of chocolates in the shape of hearts and loads of cards to choose from with BRIGHT PINK envelopes! Hey, I know it's Valentine's Day everyday in my house...but I will always love the 14th of February.  

On the Day of Love I spent some time assembling wedding invitations for my sister. Such fun!

I also received this beauty! Which I was not expecting even though I had been gushing about it for days! We don't normally do gifts on Valentine's Day so I was thrilled when I heard the hubby say that I had one waiting for me. Our friend, Rachel, has a very talented sister who makes and designs jewelry. I love, love, love her stuff and her style. I usually want pretty much everything she lists and whenever I see that my favorite pieces have been sold I feel so sad! So imagine my heart break when this necklace was gone within days of it first being listed...little did I know! All of Rebecca's jewelry is handmade, one of a kind. Check her stuff out at Spencer Morgan Designs!

I tell you we don't do gifts and then I tell you about our gifts. Confusing, right? Look, Andrew is always giving me things, surprising me, giving into me (I might be persistent and persuasive, a little) and doing things for me. With all of that in mind, I decided I would surprise him with a gift. A few weeks ago Em over at Today's Letters posted about the neatest thing! She and her husband had received a tiny letter that was made by the company Leafcutter Designs. I loved it so much that I decided to send one to my Valentine and to give him a clue in it about his real gift...a segway tour. He's always wanted to ride one of those things and since I want to be his adventurous sidekick I bought us tickets.

For dinner I decided to try making something he really likes to order at restaurants. This is the quicker and cheaper version of that sort of thing since I was trying to pinch the pennies. It's a french dip sandwich. I found the recipe I really wanted to make over at Pioneer Woman {love her}, but had to try this recipe from Rachel Ray due to time and money and was not disappointed at all. SO DELICIOUS! But next time I have 40 bucks burning a hole in my pocket I am going with the Pioneer Woman! (For the record...I am assuming that huge slab of meat in her pictures cost about 30 bucks...but I could be wrong and it could be cheap...I didn't even go look in the meat section when I went to the grocery store...feel free to enlighten me.)

Happy Love Day!



home is where your heart is

If you know me well at all, then you know that I talk about the 407 as if it is the Promised Land. Although I grew up in Miami, the six years I lived in Orlando were enough for me to make it and call it home. When I left Miami I didn’t look back and I had no intention of returning. Then I found out that I would have to move back because of Andrew’s job. I was not happy about it. I came back here with my heels firmly dug and dragging in the dirt. I held onto my 407 area code as if it would save me from my reality, and the day I had it switched to 305 I went into mourning. Would I ever get back home? Was this really it?


Miami is so not me. I am not flashy. I am not designer. I am not artsy or well cultured. I am not rich. I do not have the body it takes to walk around in Spandex as if it were considered an acceptable outfit. I do not speak Spanish. I am not of Latin decent. I do not have a fancy car. I do not desire to have a night life. I don’t party. I do not know how to dress the part, act the part, and speak the part of a Miamian.

I need community. I long to have friends that are willing to be vulnerable and real. I need a church where the Gospel is preached and not diluted. I want to live in a neighborhood where the neighbors actually speak to each other. I want good schools for my future children. I want to be surrounded by people, who for the most part, are nice and considerate of others. I want to live in a quieter place where the mantra of me me me isn’t heard in the buzz and the go go go of the city.

So for a really long time I lived here in Miami, but I only loved Orlando. I wouldn’t even think about giving Miami a chance. I thought about Miami as a very temporary place for me to lay all my stuff down for awhile. I had written it off and was just looking forward to the day when I could pack up all my stuff and finally take it home. I didn’t think that all the things I “needed” to consider a place home could be found here. So I never looked.

I am an extremely relational person. Andrew will tell you that the first time I meet practically anyone, I am making plans to become the very best of friends with them or thinking of ways that I can help them and he has to bring me back to reality and remind me that it isn’t always best or possible to be great friends with everyone we meet. Miami people tend not to be relational at all. So I whined and complained and cried about how much I needed a kindred spirit. I had never had a season in life in which I did not have a best friend close by and I did not know what to do with myself!

So I got desperate. I finally turned to the God who claimed me long ago for comfort and for friendship. I am stubborn so this complete and not just partial reliance on Him to fill this void in my heart only took 3 years or so. I began spending more time in prayer seeking His presence and asking Him to change my heart so that I could love others through His eyes. I sought His Word more, like I did in the old days, and it calmed my heart. I still thought about Orlando, but I didn’t feel panic for not being back there yet. And then the strangest things began to happen. I found a kindred spirit right here in Miami. I began to appreciate and love my church. I found community. I started seeing what a gorgeous city Miami is and how much it has to offer.

God is sweet, good, and faithful like that. Psalm 37:4 says, “take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying here. God is not a genie in a bottle. He did not give me what I wanted because I did something right. I sought Him out. I let go of my wants and realized that He needed to come first and that I needed to change my heart and the only way I could do it would be through prayer and reading His Word. Yes, He did give me the friend I had longed for, but I wouldn’t have made that friend if it wasn’t for going to BSF to study His Word. Yes, He gave me a great church and community, but I didn’t see what I had in them until I began to seek Him out in the matter. He gives us the desires of our hearts. He realigns our hearts. When we seek Him we gain new perspective and we learn that home is where He sends us and has us right now.

have you heard of that little place down south?

This morning the hubby and I got out of bed and got going pretty early. There are only 3 things in this world that can get me out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed early in the morning. (I am SO not a morning person.) Those three things are:

1. A trip to the happiest place on earth

2. Christmas morning

3. And driving 25 minutes south to pick up some world famous cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven down in the Redlands of South Florida

Here in South Florida we have quite the gem. In a city known for it's high fashion, fancy cars, night life, and strange interesting people, this place sticks out and is a diamond in the rough. I have been going there since I was a kid and I hope to take my kids there some day, too. Have you been to Knaus Berry Farm? Please say you have, and if you can't say that, then please make it a goal for you and yours in 2011. You won't regret it!

It doesn't look like much from the outside...but as you can see there is a line forming outside and this picture was taken 20 minutes before they opened the doors.

At Knaus Berry Farm you can enjoy the bakery, home grown produce, and the best strawberry milkshake in the 305. You can also go there and pick your own tomatoes and strawberries when they are in season and thriving. I love that!  

They also sell delicious jams and jellies. This year I am investing in their honey.

And here you have 2 dozen beautiful, hot cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven.  

We immediately went to my parents house to surprise them and my sisters with the best.breakfast.ever.

You can read a little bit more about Knaus Berry Farm here. And look at way cooler pictures here since my camera is not of the awesome kind.

As I finish writing this I am fighting the urge to go eat one of those cinnamon rolls right now. It's so late!

Must.wait.til.morning.