Three Years!

Tomorrow, Matt and I will celebrate 3 years of wedded bliss!! It's been a whirlwind 3 years! 

July 31, 2010

Honeymoon in Jamaica

Home to WV for 2 days then packed up the Penske truck for Chicago, IL. 

We explored Chicago area for almost 2 years. Then, Matt graduated with his Masters of Divinity! 

We packed up the Penske truck again and headed north east to Grand Rapids, MI. 

We got the cutest puppy ever and Mildred Agnes taught us way more responsibility!! 

We've managed to do some traveling in between all the crazy! 

We visited several places in Germany! Cologne, Trier, Koblenz, and several other places! 

We went to South Carolina with my family! 

We've been home to WV, visited family in OH, and several states in between! 

I started my 4th job in 3 years 2 weeks ago and you are always so supportive and loving!! 

This is the boy I fell in love with in 2005 and became my husband, the man I fall in love with more and more every day we get to live life together! I love you Matt! 

So excited for our weekend up north in Michigan celebrating at an adorable B&B! 

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of the Frooba popping bubbles giveaway is: 

Christina Carrera from

Sundae Brunch blog! 

Her blog is so cute and her recipes are mouthwatering! 

(Christina, I will be e-mailing you and asking for your address to send to the company so they can ship your Frooba variety pack!!)

Send along some pictures of the delicious things I know you will make with them!!!! 

Seeing as how she was the only person that entered... it made picking the winner pretty easy. 

So here I am, Looking for some feedback as to why others did not enter and shamefully asking for any advice from other bloggers out there. I had hundreds of page views and one entry... this is where we're at now here at Lace in the Kitchen.  

Beach Day & Blueberry Picking

I spent my day yesterday on the shores of Lake Michigan with two girl friends. 

It was a gloriously windy day! 

Last night we had our bible study and then this pup and I snuggled a lot! 

This morning I went blueberry picking with some girls from my new job! 

I brought them home and my husband immediately whipped up some blueberry pancakes with my friends boyfriend's Michigan made syrup smothered all over them! 

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So yummy! 

Tonight, I'm off to dinner with a friend then we're packing up the pup and heading out to another friends house for a bon fire! 

Love summer days off here in Grand Rapids! 

Also, don't forget about the giveaway going on HERE! 

My First Giveaway--FROOBA BUBBLES

In my last post, I talked about Frooba popping bubbles! 

(source: froobabubbles.com)

I served these popping bubbles in cocktails at our little party this past week, and they were a huge hit! 

They are different than the tapioca bubbles you get in bubble tea. 

From the frooba bubbles site: 

"American Poppers is an innovative company based out of beautiful Boulder, Colorado. We strive to introduce every consumer to the new food experience  of bursting fruit bubbles. Frooba, as they are called, are little sphere shaped bubbles filled with delicious Real Fruit Juice. Frooba bubbles can be put on or in almost any of your favorite foods or drinks. Whether you present them as a treat for your next house party or your kids enjoy them as an enhancement to ordinary snacks, Frooba can be used by everyone!"

They were definitely a big hit at the party! 

I had gotten a few comments saying that they had never heard of them, or they had them at there local fro-yo establishment. 

So I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity for my first giveaway here on Lace in the Kitchen! 

I contacted Tim, at the company and he offered to give away a FROOBA variety pack with a mix of flavors to the winner of the give away! 

I am so excited that this is the first opportunity for a giveaway here! It's a great one! 

Here are the suggestions: 

1.)Visit the Frooba website! 

2.) Follow Lace in the Kitchen on bloglovin or via blogger.

3.) Spread the word! Post about the giveaway on your blog or Facebook! 

Here's the rule: 
MOST IMPORTANTLY: 

4.) Leave a comment here on the blog saying what flavor of frooba you would love to try and where you are following!
(Make sure to leave an email address please! this is how I will contact you if you win!!) 
(ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE!)

All the comments will be placed in a generator (or in a hat depending on how many entries) and chosen randomly and 
announced on Friday July 26th! 

Due to shipping costs: this giveaway is limited to US residents only!

Good luck and thanks for stopping by!!! 

A Little Shower

Our "house church" meets every Tuesday. Our church believes that "the church" happens in our homes on a weekly/daily basis and not just on Sunday mornings... we have a great group of folks that meet every Tuesday at our place! I absolutely love hosting people and having a bible study and living our lives together. Matt loves teaching and after an MDiv and 1 year down of his theology PhD he has some knowledge to share...so it's so nice to have him when we have questions and to go deeper. 

We also live life together. We mourn together in the tough times of life, and celebrate the good times! 

Dana and Alex are getting married next week, and that called for celebration!!! 

So yesterday we had a little party/shower for them. 

I was running low on drink skewers... so I made my own... 

 I broke some grill skewers and then used washi tape to make them cute. 

The result. 

I bought some jelly jars and decided to have a cute drink station. 

 

I made several drinks and put on those cards the directions of how to make them... although for most people, I still ended up being bartender. haha! 

I made: 

Pineapple Lime Cooler- 

Blueberry Fizz (i made the name up) 

Peach Green Tea 

I made those 3 things as bases, and then bought the sodas to mix with the juices and then people could add whichever alcohol they wanted. I offered tequila (the #1 choice), cherry vodka and vanilla vodka. 

(photo from Gabe's phone)

The best part of these drinks?!?! I ordered Frooba bubbles!To add to the drinks! They are like tapioca bubbles, but they are filled with fruit juices that when you pop them in your mouth you get a little explosion of fruit juice! They are soooo good and so refreshing in my iced beverage on such a hot day!  

(photo from Gabe's phone)

In the living room, I set up the dessert table. 

 
My friend Alyssa, made these delicious chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, and I made the lemon tarts (recipe here). They were both sooo good! 

Dana and Alex were so surprised! 

We spent the night chatting, giving them marital advice, and opening gifts. 

oh, and this happened.... 

Girls vs. boys toilet paper wedding dress... the girls won.. obviously.. haha! 

It was such a fun night, and I am so blessed by all these people.

Congratulations Dana and Alex!!!  

In other news... the new job started off well this week! So excited about it! 

Sunday Thoughts

Today at church, our sermon was a challenge to me. The speaker spoke on 1 Corinthians 16. The verse that stood out to me the most was 1 Corinthians 16: 14 "Do Everything in Love". 

I strive to live my life this way. At times, it is extremely difficult to love our neighbors. I know in my job, where all I do is care for people, it can become more like a job... and dealing with people can sometimes be exhausting and very trying to say the least.

Today, I thought about how I need to make it a part of my life to genuinely love people as God has called us to, in every aspect of my life. In my marriage, with my parents, friendships, and even with my patients and their families... 

 This past weekend, we entertained a lot. I genuinely love to host people in our home. I love to cook and bake and make things look cute to make people feel loved and to bless others through food, drink and conversation.In our society, gathering around a table is when we come together. It's when our lives stop for a few minutes and we can communicate with one another to build relationships. 

The dream would be to open a bed and breakfast, or a bakery/coffee shop where I could do this all day every day.. to make people feel loved through food and conversation. 

I guess where I am going with this is, to challenge others to find a way to love others. To Love God, and Love People as we are challenged to do. 

Have a lovely and relaxing Sunday! 

We are relaxing after a weekend of entertaining. I start my new job tomorrow in the Emergency Room! Wish me luck! 

Dinner tonight

Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and I went all out. 

I was in the mood to entertain and I was in the mood to cook! 

We started out with this delicious little cocktail. 

recipe here

Then to the main meal. We had chicken roll ups with prosciutto, provolone, roasted red pepper, and spinach inside and covered with lemon and olive oil and dipped in italian bread crumbs. DELICIOUS!!! Thanks skinnytaste for the recipe! 

On the side: asparagus (I cook mine in a grill pan on the stove with olive oil and squeeze a lemon over them with sea salt and black pepper). 

Boiled potatoes with butter and parsley flakes. 

Cottage cheese. 

Dessert: 

So easy and yet so delicious! I cut up an angel food cake and made cheese cake pudding. Put a layer of cake, then pudding, then fresh peaches ( from the farmers market! MM MM!) blueberries and raspberries. then layer again! So delicious and refreshing with that cocktail! hehe! 

Our friends really enjoyed it! It was so nice to visit with them and get to know them a little better! 

Girls Night

This week was my last week at my job on the 7th Floor of the Children's hospital! 

This Monday I start in the Pediatric Emergency Room (at the same hospital). I am pretty excited about it, but also nervous! hehe! 

My parents were supposed to come visit this weekend, but after a quick admission to the hospital for my grandma, my parents aren't going to be making the trek up to the mitten. 

After this news last night, I was so thankful I had already planned a girls night at my place to take my mind off things. 

I headed out to the local cutesy deli with only an hour to spare before my 2 good friends came over. 

They have the BEST french baguettes at this place. I snatched one up and some tomatoes and planned on making some bruschetta. 

Delicious. 

So easy too! I just cut up the baguette and drizzled olive oil on it. Baked it at 350 degrees until crispy. I cut up some grape tomatoes, an onion, and since the store didn't have fresh basil (which I would have preferred) I used dried basil leaves and a shake of garlic powder. Then covered it in balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. 

Took the bread out of the oven. Put it on a presentable platter and covered with the tomatoe-y goodness. MMM MM! I ate so much of it! 

I also wanted a delicious cocktail. What's girls night without it?! 

 I was in the mood for wine... so I wanted it to be involved. 

I found this recipe and thought it sounded delicious! 

I of course had to make them fancy and garnish them. So I used this jelly jar and put watermelon and lime on the skewer. so cute! 

Such a fun and much needed night! So thankful for Gabe and Alyssa and all their laughs and funny stories! It's gonna happen again soon! 

My Roots

The guy on the left there is my dad. The guy on the right, my grandfather. 

My mom posted this on Facebook today and I just love it. I started thinking about my roots. 

I come from a long line of hard working men (and women). 

My grandfather, a coal miner in a small WV town. My dad worked in the coal mines for 30 years. He retired when I graduated high school! 

My uncle, cousins, and many other family members before these, were coal miners. 

My roots are in WV soil. Deep within the earth. Dug by my family members. 

I was always proud of what my dad did for us. He worked hard. Sacrificed. He never once opened a pay check. My whole life. He would bring it home, sealed, and hand it to my mother. As if he was not working for himself, but to provide for his family. This is the true example of a man. A wonderful example of what a man does. But, my dad was not like the image of the 1950s working man that went to work and has nothing to do with his family. He was one of my best friends. 

 He taught me how to play sports. He taught me how to take down someone if they were coming at me. He taught me to joke, to laugh. He taught me patience, and love. 

I am proud of my roots. I am proud of where I come from and where it has brought me now. 

I am a coal miners daughter.