Project 52 Date #52

So with family coming into town, work, man trips and just life, we had to squeeze this one in. What we did was take our New Years resolutions from the beginning of our project 52 and see if we accomplished what we wanted to or at least made a dent into it! Very eye opening and motivational to see all that we wanted to get done 365 days ago and what really did get done! All in all a great way to finish up our Project 52! Thanks for following us along this year, and hopefully we gave you some great ideas on how to make simple ideas into great date times no matter what your situation (busy work, kids, etc) Happy New Year!

He says: So at the beginning of 2011 we both sat down and made New Years resolution lists and today we got those lists out to see what/if and how many of them we actually accomplished. I'm not going to lie, my list has rather humbled me. I barely crossed half my list off! Rather disappointed in myself for not making certain things priority this past year. Granted I did some pretty incredible things and those were on my list but some of the things for my personal life got left on the side of the road so to speak. So expect some internal inspection and a little bit of legitimate change from me this next year. Happy New Year!

Love is ... what you make of it (Week 52)

So I was just reading over all the different love is posts that all these wonderful women took the time to write over the past year and I realized that my goal was met... not only did we complete our goal by blogging about what love is once a week for a year but I learned to see other peoples amazing way of showing, receiving and being a part of the love is! Everyone's viewpoint was so different and so inspirational at the same time!

The most that I can take from this year is that Love is where YOU are and what YOU make of it. It can surround you at all times or it can seem to be so very far away. There is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that says " No one can make you feel inferior without your consent! I absolutely love this because it can be used in so many ways in our lived. No one can make us feel a certain way unless we let them, and that goes for good ways and bad!

I got an email yesterday from a very sweet dear friend of mine that I haven't seen face to face in years.... yet her kind words brought tears to my eyes and she lifted me up, encouraged me and just spoke sweetness into my day. So remember that you are all apart of someone's love story, every little thing that you say or do and you may not even know it! So make your impact into your friends and families a positive one, let them always remember you as the one that can always be counted on to lift them up or encourage you! This is your challenge for the next year :) I know that you can all do it. So I hope everyone had a great Christmas and we wish you the best New Year possible! Make it Exceptional!!

Project 52 Date #51

So this date was alot of fun. It was a date night for Grami and Jocelyn and a date night out for JT and I. We got all of of Christmas shopping done, picked up of Christmas pajamas, sent out our Christmas Cards, had an amazing dinner out and narrowed down baby names, PHEW.

All in all we were pretty much done with our Christmas shopping but we had a little left to do and after we finished that, we did a little baby preparation shopping too :) Then we headed out to Luciano's for dinner. We had a gift card that some of my co-workers gave me and I just never got around to using it. The restaurant was beautiful and perfect for a dinner for 2. Part of the date night was to narrow down on some baby names. We have our boys name picked out but we were struggling to narrow down the last few names we had for a girl and we have less then 50 days to make a decision! So as we were picking out our meals, I asked our waiter what was his personal favorite between three dishes, he made an excellent suggestion THEN I gave him our three girls names and asked him his favorite as well.... What?? Everyone has an opinion so I figured I would give him a chance to give his :)

Anyway it was a great dinner and the environment was perfect for a quiet conversation between the two of us. After dinner headed home and my Christmas cards had come in, so we started addressing them and got them all out in the mail today, wahoo, better late then never and we loved how they turned out! So a great Christmas date and we can't believe that we are one date away from finishing our Project 52 commitment!

He says: Tonight's date was finishing our Christmas shopping and having dinner out together. We managed to hit Best Buy, Michaels, Toys-r-Us, Target, and Kohls....and have dinner at a decent hour. We went to Luciano's for dinner, one of the best Italian restaurants in town. Its usually quiet and cozy...and it was after the crazy lady at the table next to us finally left(lets just say a bottle of wine and being perturbed at your husband shouldn't be shared with the rest of a restaurant...) We spent dinner talking over baby names and eventually getting the list down to three that we really like. We grabbed a tiramisu(it was incredible!) to-go and got home to find our long awaited Christmas cards on the front porch. We caught up on one of our t.v. shows and stuffed envelopes so we could get our cards out the next morning. I really like Luciano's and who better to spend time with over a great meal! And we got our Christmas shopping done and our Christmas cards out! And we may actually have a name for Tidden baby #2...and wouldn't you like to know what that name is...

Love is . . . a definition for everyone! (Week 51)

Since it is a very broad term, the ancient Greeks managed to define love and in their language there were four different types of love: agape, eros, philia and storge.

Agape is unconditional love with a deeper sense of "true love". Usually referred to as the way God loves us.

Eros is passionate love. It is mostly sexual but can also be passion for anything, such as hobbies.

Philia is displaying love through loyalty to friends, family and community, usually by sharing resources and expecting something in return.

Storge is natural affection that is often felt by a person for related family members.

It's amazing that within one language there is several different definitions of what love is and that is kinda what this whole project has been about. Looking at all the different ways we can love one another and show love and its been awesome to see how everyone views love in a different way. So this week as we approach up on Christmas I want to challenge you to print out this blog and find time to exibit each type of love! There are so many people in need out there that I don't think that you will have a hard time showing Philia. And with family being near and far, finding a way to show Storge shouldn't be hard either. Agape love will be perfect to share with a loved one, best friend or spouse and eros may be a gift to yourself for christmas to encourage a passion you have in a hobby. Anyway I'm interested to get the feedback on what you did to show "love". Merry Christmas everyone!

Love is... stepping out (Week 50)

For me, stepping out of your comfort zone is a huge sacrifice, but to do it for someone else, especially a child, it is so worth it. We did that this morning by meeting up with a great kid, that we had never met and went Christmas shopping together!
Today I was honored to be a part of Shop with a Cop in our area. This is an amazing community project put on by the Fraternity Order of Police to where they choose needy kids in the area and Police Officers get to take them shopping.
It was simply amazing this morning to drive up to Walmart and walk in to about 50 cops and spouses in uniform, waiting to serve their community in a different way. We had our brief and I was so excited to hear how they were going to organize everything this year. First of all every child has a $100 spending limit that we were responsible for keeping track of. $80 had to be spend on NEEDS (shirts, pants, socks, underwear, shoes, toothbrushes, deodorant, etc) and the other $20 was to be spent on toys. I absolutely loved this idea because not only did they get something that was for fun but they got the items that were really NEEDED.
So we all stood outside as the bus dropped off the excited kids. It was simply awesome to see these kids get all excited to spend time with cops. Not all of them have the best perception of cops so to be able to spend time with them in a giving way, was a great community project. Jonathan stepped right up and got our kid and we were on a mission.
First thing he said was his name and then "cool taser!" :) He was great, he knew what he needed right away and we were off to get him his items! We got hoodies, sneakers, socks, underwear, undershirts, toothbrush, deorderant and then 2 toys! He was so gracious to what we were able to get and how if we got one more thing we had to trade for something else in the basket. The entire time, he was talking about himself, his school and his family. Of course with respect to him and his family I didn't take any pictures but it just melted my heart to see my husband in uniform leaned over a cart of clothes, while chatting with a little 2nd grader like this was an every day thing!
Afterwards we stopped by McDonalds and grabbed an early lunch and just got some more time to chit chat with the kids. This was just such an amazing experience for me and for Jonathan, it just felt so good to be a part of such a fantastic project. The Caller grabbed some great photos of the event that you can see at http://www.caller.com/photos/galleries/2011/dec/08/shop-cop/57408/#section_header
So what I meant by stepping out of our comfort zone was, I didn't know what our kid would be like and if he was even going to enjoy shopping with Jonathan and I. But if we, and all those other cops, didn't put ourselves out there to just be a servant then these kids, and we, would not have had such an amazing morning. So take a moment and see what you can do today to help someone out, even if it makes you uncomfortable!

Project 52 Date #49

I've been looking forward to this one for a while. It was choosing a bunch of different ice creams and deciding which one it was that you could eat a whole bowl of. I had fun picking them out at the grocery store because you can now get the ones that are about 6 good bites and then its gone and I thought that would be perfect for us to try, BUT they didn't have alot of new flavors so we kinda mixed it up. I got some of the classics, some of our favorite and some of the newest flavors. Wouldn't you know it, the top two were ones that we have never tried before! The winner was Ben and Jerry's (and Jimmy Fallon's) Late Night Snack, it was the perfect blend of vanilla bean ice cream, salty carmel and chocolate covered chips! A very close second was Ben and Jerry's Red velvet, it was like have a cold melty piece of red velvet cake, it was amazing. So great date all in all!

He says:I love to eat and I'm really not very picky about what so I loved this date. & different ice creams all at the same time?! And allowed to eat em all at the same time?! Pinch me I must bedreaming!!! Anyways, yeah so 7 different flavors with the goal of finding out which one is the best. We took a spoonful of a flavor and then rated it before moving on to the next. It was a hard choice in the end. We were both torn between Red Velvet(it really does taste just like a piece of red velvet cake) and Late Night Snack, both Ben & Jerrys flavors. In the end Late Night Snack won out because it was something we would both actually eat a whole pint of. Good ice creams all of them, great date with my mate.

Love is.... supporting the right thing (Week 49)

So I am doing an extra love is today because one got left out in October and I need to catch up and it's great to know that God already had this planned out. From July of 1998 - May of 2002 I was honored to be able to attend the US Coast Guard Academy and I had the pleasure to meet and get to know an amazing man to whom I am asking for his help today. He was always one to bring a smile to anyones face and if you really knew him well then you know he got us in trouble a few times for that goofiness :)

But today he is facing a much more serious day. The Coast Guard has brought charges against him for the loss of a Coast Guard helicopter in July 2010, and the deaths of two of its crew members. He is facing three charges from the Coast Guard: One says he failed to navigate away from charted hazards. Another charges him with the destruction of the chopper. Those are both misdemeanors. The third charge consists of two felony counts: It says that he negligently caused the deaths of two petty officers that were working in the helicopter with him.

He was the lone survivor of this crash and has had to go through his own emotional and physical recovery. I'm sure its been a long road but he has made it through with the help of his supportive family and friends. All that I ask today is that you lift up him and his family in your prayers today, especially his wife. She is currently pregnant and I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster that she is personally going through especially today! So if you could take a moment out of your day and help me pray for the right thing to shine through!

Love is.... warmth with personal sacrifice (Week 48)

LOL okay so this one is so simple but for us Texans I think that it is a big one! Today the temperature this morning was in the high 30's which as Texans we don't know what to do in that weather :) So this morning was Jonathan's and Jocelyns morning to go to school together, so I bundled myself up and braved my way with the windy walkway and into the freezing garage! Opened up the door, started up the car and cranked up the heat. I also packed up the car with everything they needed so they could get out the door on time. I know its not a big thing, but you don't understand I was FREEZING doing it, but to know that my little girl and my husband would ride to school in warmth was so worth it! Okay and I'll admit, once they left I made myself a small mug of hot tea to warm me and T2 up :) So take a moment this morning and do something that will warm up your family inside and out !

Love is….. teaching the generations part 1 (week 47)

This week's love is kinda wrote itself, I had something else in mind and this just popped up! One of Jocelyn's little friends, had her tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday. Now I had mine removed as an adult and let me let you know that you have to be one tough cookie to handle it. Imagine how much you swallow every minute, well every time you do that you are irritating those stitches every time.... see it requires you to be tough. So Jocelyn was with Jonathan at the store and I asked then to pick up some Ice Cream for the little patient! Jonathan wanting to get the best thing for her, so he called her parents to see what she liked the best. Chocolate it was!!!
So Jonathan and Jocelyn went to drop off the ice cream, but what happened next was the best. Jonathan wanted to teach Jocelyn about loving others, so she got to carry the ice cream in. Once she got to the door, the patients daddy let her in and then she got to take the ice cream directly to one strong little girl! I know it sounds odd but this was just amazing for me. Jocelyn got to learn directly about the little things that matter when being a friend. It means being there for someone and doing the little things that will make someone smile. We've written about it before, how the little things make a big difference in peoples lives and how important it is to teach our kids about this, but to see it actually take place, just thrilled me to pieces. It takes alot of sowing into our kids to eventually see the fruits and I can't wait to see what kind of little girl my sunshine will become!

Check out the videos on my facebook page, blogspot woudn't post them here today but I will try again tomorrow :)

Project 52 Date #46

This date night was to play a video game of some sorts. We actually broke out a gift that we received a few Christmas ago which was an Atari game box to hook up directly to your tv. It was a blast. There was only a handful of games that I knew, but JT seemed to know alot more of them so I can quickly tell you who dominated in the best out of three challenges we had! Great fun and very simple!

He says: So the name of the game was to play a video game. Xbox was out because Mia's not very fond of Call of Duty or Halo etc. So I busted out an old school Atari console (not an original) that has something like 50 games on it. We played Asteroid, Pitfall, Outlaw, and Frogpad! It was alot of fun to go retro and play game where all you have is one button and a 4-way joystick. Loved it!

Love is….. undefinable (week 46)

The last 10 months have shown me that, ultimately,love is undefinable. Trying to write little excerpts for this blog has only reinforced that knowledge. I struggled each time to clearly explain howI understood love.

Merriam-Webstersays that love is:

1 a(1):strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties

(2):attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers

(3):affection based on admiration, benevolence,or common interests

b: an assurance of affection

I am a huge fan of dictionaries. I quite enjoy looking up new words, verifyingthat the one being used is correct, etc. But for the first time, I think Merriam-Webster’s definition is very incomplete. When I am asked what I love about my husband,I can rattle of a list of physical, emotional, and intellectual reasons. And the list keeps on growing. The only problem is that by the end of that insanelylong list, it still feels weak and incomplete. It doesn’t even begin to touch the feeling that I have for him. I cannot happily condense it into a simplestring of words either. If someone wereto ask the same of my family, friends, and puppies – I would be equally at aloss.

I think that is why they say “to each his own” whenit comes to love. Love is undefinableand each person sees and feels love differently. Itmight also be why it is so easy and difficult to determine if you love. You know it when you feel it but you cannot express why you lovesomeone/something because it is ultimately impossible to properly define.

- Therasa

Project 52 Date #45

Desserts in Greece
So this date was done last week and for all those that think you are just to busy to find the time to do a daily date night, please read on! We spent the last 9 days in Thessaloniki Greece on a mission trip with the amazing A21 Campaign Another story for another time but it was a life changing trip! Anyway, every night the teams came together for dinner and of course there was always an amazing dessert. Our date night plan was to choose a few desserts and decide which one was the best, so it really didn't leave us much options. Also in most of the European countries dinner is much later in the evening like 9-10 pm, so even if we wanted to go get extra desserts it was much too late and the places were closed.
Except for one evening, we had a chance to get dinner on our own with the team and we actually went to TGI Fridays ( I know, but it was the only place that would take credit cards). We got some desserts to-go and went back to the hotel to have date night. Honestly compared to all the amazing Greek desserts that we had all week it was nothing to but it was good non the less.
As luck would have it, Jonathan was talking to one of the A21 Greece Team members(shout out to Phil for sending us there) at our last meal together with the team and he mentioned this amazing little dessert place that he referred to as a museum of desserts! Well of course a map was drawn on a napkin and the plan was set. So later in the evening we had some down time on our own and we had such a late lunch (5pm) that we really weren't hungry for dinner but desserts sounded fantastic.
So we grabbed Dee Dee, I mean you really can't leave anyone behind for this excursion, and off we went to brave the streets of Greece alone in hopes of fantastic desserts..... and we were not disappointed. Pictures do not do it justice but it was just amazing, so amazing that we saw these two older Russian women looking in the window and one was so intent on the desserts that she smacked right into the window pane. Of course she laughed it off and came in to get her desserts right away! So we started to pick, and I just couldn't pick one piece for each of us so we ended up with four...I mean think of the baby right!?! :) So we boxed up our desserts and went home to see if they were as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside.





We were not disappointed. Jonathan's favorite was the white chocolate birds nest and mine was the lemon pie. But lets be honest, there wasn't a scrap of food left in those boxes when we were done! Great date night!



Jonathan Says: So Mia alreay explained that we were out of the country and short on available time for a date night due to our crazy packed mission trip schedule. We grabbed some desserts from a TGI-Fridays one night but it left us both feelings like we could have done better I think. It just so happens that at our last meal together with the Greece team that their fearless leader Phil mentions to me this bakery and dessert place called Ble and says it's something like a museum of desserts and draws me up a map of how to get there. And as luck would have it we had some free time that night and it happened to be right around the corner from our hotel. This place was amazing! Almost more art exhibit than bakery. Beautiful desserts under glass diplays like ones you see in a jewelry store. Soo amazing that one lady bent over to look at a dessert and hit her forehead on the glass! It took forever but we finally settled on 5 different sweets. We went back to the hotel and grabbed some forks and let the taste test begin! They were all very different from each other and amazing in their own right but we both finally settled on this lemon meringue square that was hands down one of the best desserts I've ever tasted. Cool date night idea that we were lucky enough to do at the coolest dessert bakery in Greece!

Love is ...self-regard (week 45)

I recently read an article that a friend posted on Facebook about a woman who earned money by performing lap dances. As I remember it, she spoke very little about how she got into the industry but focused instead on what it did to her self-image. She was not in the industry long when she opted to have breast implants. Why? Because men were constantly explaining to her why they didn't want HER to give them a lap dance, including that her breasts were too small. She was daily bombarded with the requirement to do more and go farther in order to make enough money and with the obvious disregard the men had for her. This beautiful, confident, and capable woman was unable to hold her own in that environment and eventually grew to believe herself "ugly." And she used that word to describe everything about herself.

I also had a friend on Facebook recently berate herself and her life, quite publically. And all I could think of was The Help, "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." I hurt for her. Her self-regard was incredibly low.

All of this made me think, for about the millionth time, about my own self-image and of the self-image that my friends and family have. It has always been hard for me to see myself in a respectful light – whether it was physically, emotionally, or intellectually. And yet it is easy for me to see so many beautiful and wonderful things about my friends. I know that they see the same in me because they tell me so regularly. And how do I take it? I down play it. I disregard it. I think, "yes, but" or "if they only knew." They do the same. And it irritates me because I want them to love themselves as I love them.

Some time ago, I made what I believe was a momentous decision in my life. Every time I begin to think this way, I remind myself to say thank you and to believe the words being said to me. Thank you to God who made me with my looks and abilities because He loved me and He called me beautiful. Thank you to the person who complimented me. After all, they wanted to give me a gift of their praise or appreciation and to do otherwise is to show distaste for that gift. Thank you to myself for having self-regard. I like thinking well of myself.

It is important and good to have self-regard. Our self-regard teaches others to have it in themselves and encourages others to treat us as though we are worthy of respect. And by practicing it regularly, I found that I have an easier time believing in myself.

As for the lap dancer? She indicated that by the time she got out of the industry she had no self-regard, but I think that she had found finally found it, again.
- Therasa

Love is ...gratitude (week 44)

John 13:34 tells us to love one another. To me, that sounds like an awful lot of effort. How does one show love to EVERYONE? Especially when I am almost hit by a passing car because the lady was trying to text while driving. I don't particularly feel loving in those situations.

But I have incredible examples in my life. While in Wickenburg, Arizona for my wedding, people at stores and restaurants kept on commenting on how "nice" one of my friends was. I heard the same thing in at least 6 places. At every turn she was smiling and saying please and thank you. She showed gratitude for their service and she did it naturally and honestly. She even tried to play it off as being from Texas. To me, her behavior didn't seem odd. Her behavior is normal for her and for all of my friends whether they are from Texas, Alaska, Colorado, or California.

But what they were really saying was that they were feeling loved. Her simple but honest please and thank you meant a lot to them. Apparently they were rarely thanked or praised for the work they did and so my friend's gratitude was greatly appreciated.

We often think of loving one another as performing a service for them or by creating a lasting and deep relationship. But truly, to do that with everyone and for everyone is impossible. The effort required would be too much for a single person. My friend's behavior showed me why it is so important to simply be polite, to be "nice." When we do those things we are showing respect for each person and gratitude for their presence in our lives no matter how small it may be. In other words, we are showing them love.
-Therasa

Project 52 Date #44

JT Says: The assignment for tonight's date night was to create your own private drive-in movie somewhere secluded with just the two of you and a dvd player. I had to bend the rules a bit but we did end up in the back of my new truck on an airmatress under blankets with a laptop and what turned out to be a pretty good movie. I backed my truck up in our cul-du-sac under the big oak in our front yard. If you've never noticed it's pretty dark in our little roundabout at night. We curled up in the back of the truck and watched HANNA. The movie turned out to be much better than I thought it would be. And the weather was perfect(even if Mia was kinda going crazy with her hair blowing all in the breeze...). Super low key and really enjoyable date!

Mia Says: This was a really cute date that JT did up perfectly. I was toasty warm, comfy and the movie was good! He also set us up so that we were facing the house and had the monitor in hand just in case, made me feel even more comfortable! Great job honey!

Love is ... pain (Week 43)

Love is....pain.

Love is so many things. They are the things we love Love to be. It is fun, sappy, romantic, giving, innocent, etc. But let's all face it, no matter who you are or where you go Love is sometimes about pain.

I have seen a parent sobbing in prayer over her wayward adult child, his life riddled with drink, drugs, bad women, and worse environments. I have seen a young girl in her most formative years strive to forgive her mom, a mom she still loves deeply, for neglecting her, permitting drugs and evil men near her, and worse things that I don't even want to remember. I have seen spouses and significant others mentally, physically, and emotionally abused and yet they still love the abuser. I have seen friends hurt themselves with feelings of inadequacy, drugs, etc. I have been hurt by others I loved and called friend. And I have seen siblings fight viciously in the way that only one who knows you well can.

To love is to risk, and to risk inevitably involves pain. We risk so much when we love. We make ourselves vulnerable in all ways to the ones we love. We invest time, money, and effort in them. And we desperately want the loved to be happy and to love us in return. So when those things don't happen, it hurts. And it hurts severely.

I can easily provide a list of a million ways that Love can cause us pain. But I also know something that makes that list seem slight. There is no good without bad, no right without wrong, no Love without Pain. It is the dichotomy of life that even makes us aware that Love exists. We would not be able to recognize just how wonderful Love is if we did not know the pain that is its opposite. And I suspect that if you love already, then you too know this.

I said at the beginning that it mattered not Who you were, Love would cause you pain. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (James 3:16 KJV) Jesus came to this earth with one purpose and to achieve that purpose He went through Gethsemane, scourging, being nailed to a cross, being denied, and watching those He loved watch Him die. Is there any greater pain that can be endured in this life than to watch and feel the physical, emotional, and spiritual absence of Love and Hope around you?

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31 KJV) I read this and I remember just how much my Father loves me and that He knows all that happens in my life. And I know that every time I choose other than what He would for me, He watches in pain. Am I, therefore, so special that I can love without it? No. I must simply endure the pain that comes with the blessing of Love. I must accept it and hold on to both in order to feel the one. I must welcome each into my life and know that they are equally important. And I must recognize that Love is sometimes pain.
- Therasa

Project 52 Date #43

Carving Pumpkins,
So we were a little late in the picking of the pumpkins but we both found some "Sleepy Hollow" worthy ones that we liked. JT's was huge and un-centered and mine was smaller and warty :)
I printed out some pattern during the week so that we would have plenty of options to choose from. Got out the carving utensils from the craft drawer and picked up a few new ones to add to our collection so we were all set to go.
I set up the room with two old towels for the actual disemboweling of the pumpkins because we all know how messy that can get. Next we picked our pattern and went to work! JT made some awesome chili to keep us well fed and I recorded a scary movie to be playing in the background. I was done pretty quick but if you know my husband, he is very detail oriented (home school) but I have to admit his pumpkin blew mine out of the water. This date was great fun and something we haven't really taken the time to do in a few years! Yahhh -Mia





Tonight we took Jocelyn to the pumpkin patch down the street for some photos and to pick out a couple to take home. Picking the right pumkin takes years to master so we're starting Jocelyn out early. You have to thump em in similar fashion to a watermelon but with a few differences. No I'm not telling you the difference, family secrets can't be shared. So once Jocelyn was in bed we got down to business. We picked designs and then diembowled our pumkins. Gutting a pumpkin takes awhile. Tracing out a design takes forever!!!!! Well really the more elaborate the design the longer it takes. Anyways, after some intense moments on my part making sure everything turned out right we were finally done. They both turned out awesome. We haven't carved pumpkins together since moving from the old house so thats like almost 4 years. It was a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed this one! -J.T.

Love is…REFILLS! (Week 42)

We often hear the analogy of “pouring into” something. “What you put in, you’ll get out of the class,” a professor might say. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap”I believe that one of the most important things to pour yourself into is your marriage. I know that love is all kinds of things to all kinds of people, but after being given this assignment by Mia, I feel lead to speak…er…write, on the subject of holy macaroni. Er, matrimony. All kidding aside, MARRIAGE IS SERIOUS BUSINESS! This past weekend my husband and I were blessed to spend two nights alone in a hotel in the magnificent hill country. The day before we left, I got the stomach bug that had been going around Corpus, and the first night we were there my sweet hubby got it. But we didn’t let that stop us! We laid in bed and watched football, talked for hours, and remembered our dreams together. We so often get caught up in the day-to-day humdrum of life that we forget to enjoy one another. When we were dating, we would talk about all of the things we might do once we were “one.” We’d try to imagine the opportunities we thought we might have on this lifelong journey together. It was so much fun! It’s nice to be reminded that the person you’re sleeping in bed with every night is your best friend – the only person you would want to spend a weekend away with, and also the person you love being sick with. Spend this week pouring, ladies and gentlemen, into your marriages. Invest time in those relationships which form who you are. May the Lord bless your efforts

Project 52 Date #42

Up With The Sun!

This date night was actually a date morning to watch the sun come up together. So that night we just relaxed and caught up on our shows. We woke up before the sun so we could get some things done for when Jocelyn wakes up. I made us some fantastic hot cocoa that went perfect with the chilly morning. We sat upstairs in a big ole chair and watched the sun come up over our neighbors roof line through our big guestroom window. It was a great sunset too, all purple-red-orangish colored. It was something very simple but something we take for granted and was really nice to stop and be still and enjoy the sunrise together.

Mia Says: When Jonathan and I were dating we used to drive out to the beach and watch the sunset all the time, so this was a great date for us! We enjoyed watching the sun come up together, sipping on some fantastic hot chocolate that he made for us! The sunrise was gorgeous and a wonderful way to start the day!

Project 52 Date #41

So this past week was crazy, every night was filled with either JT working or we were heading out of town, so we really had to work hard to squeeze in a date. Although all of our dates we have tried not to make it a movie, I couldn't resist this time. I REALLY wanted to go see Courageous and I knew that it wouldn't be in theaters for very long. So we got completely unpacked, Jocelyn settled and fed, and everything cleaned up in only an hour and a half, phew. Thankfully, we had a Grami that missed Jocelyn, so she watched her as we went to the movie.
Everyone should see this movie! The acting wasn't that great of course, but the message behind it was pure inspiration! Every guy should aspire to be that kind of father and that kind of husband that makes time for their family in meaningful and purposeful ways. Another movie that I saw recently was "I don't know how she does it" and there is a line in the end that wraps up everything. "There will always be another job but there will only be ONE family of mine!"
Anyway as I get teary eyed just thinking of these movie and the message behind them I encourage everyone to take the time for your family and spend it in meaningful and purpose memory making ways! Awesome date!

JT: We definitely had a booked schedule this week between a visit with Mia's dad and my sister's weekend wedding. But we did manage to squeeze a date in to go to the movies. Mia's been wanting to see Courageous since first seeing the previews online months before it's release. I did too so we caught the 7:00 P.M. show. It turned out to be a really good movie. It doesn't have Academy Award winning acting, or John Woo special effects, but the storyline is really good. And it's not really a cop movie as much as it is a movie about family and what it means to be a good man and a good father. I really liked how the movie portrayed the struggles of father's and how support from other men is essential. I teared up pretty hard during several scenes, it was pretty emotionally moving. We talked alot about the movie on the way home and how they did an excellent job of getting the viewer to feel what the characters were feeling as they went thru things. Good movie and a really good date.

Love is…respect? (Week 41)

Maybe.
We’ll find out this weekend. My husband and I are going to the Love and Respect Conference and spending a romantic baby-less weekend together. I am super pumped for the alone time, but equally as pumped for the actual conference. While I’m not known for my long attention span, or for my love of organized instruction, I am BEYOND excited to see and hear about the relationship between love and respect. You can tell someone you love them all day long (and vice versa), but it is only when love is shown that it is in fact felt. Or maybe that’s just me.
If you read my awesome entry last week, you know that I wear many hats: mommy, wife, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, and everything in between. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s hard for me to fumble through all of my responsibilities. Balance is a mysterious and awkward dance I’m trying to learn. However, I firmly believe that marriage is the most important relationship (in Christ) I will ever have, and it is imperative that I figure out how to be married the way Jesus wants me to be married. The Bible gives lots of instructions for being married, but translating that into my juggling dance can be quite a feat. A man and woman interacting can be the most beautiful or the most awful thing. We are SO different, which is why we complete each other so beautifully and have the potential to make each other happier than anyone in the world. But sometimes it gets ugly. Sometimes men and women don’t communicate effectively (ya think?) and all hell breaks loose, literally.
I challenge you to allow love and respect to bless your socks off all week long!

Project 52 Date #40

Tub-N-Talk was the name of the date, and you guessed we sat in a bathtub and talked. Now it obviously was a little fancier than just that. Bubble bath, 50 tea light candles(do you have any idea how long it takes to light and keep lit that many tea lights?!?) So after a very long day for both of us we eased into a very hot and bubbly tub(I overdid it on the water temp just a bit) in a candlelit bathroom and we just sat and soaked and talked. These days we only take a bath like once every six months so this was a special treat for both of us. We just sat and talked about our day and some future stuff going on and it was just really nice to sit peacefully and relax together. Obviously no great pictures cuz i haven't been working on my tan lately..... but I will show you one picture of my awesome setup.

She says: This was awesome! I am a huge bath person and just don't take the time honestly to do it often enough! It was even better to sit still, no phones, not computer, no tv, no distractions and just talk. Wonderful date babe!

Love is...GRACE (Week 40)

Love is...GRACE.
The older I get, literally, day by day, I am learning. I'm learning that no matter how hard I work at being whatever it is I deem "perfect," I'm just not meant to be so. I'm sometimes a bad wife, sometimes a bad friend, a bad employee, a bad mommy, a bad daughter, a bad sister.
It's human nature to have expectations, to want people to stick to their word and follow through. But grace allows us to forgive other's transgressions. Grace gives us the power to forgive others. What a gift- letting others be free of your judgments and sore feelings!! Often I am disappointed, and I'm reminded that I am called to extend grace. Often I disappoint others, and pray that they too, are reminded to extend grace.
I am unable to function, to make it through a single day, without grace. We are called to love one another, and I firmly believe that grace is a primary manifestation of that love. Thank you Jesus for teaching us about grace.
So love each other, love yourself.
And stop taking everything so damn seriously.
-Allison

Project 52 Date #39

So this weeks date was to teach my husband something he didn't know around the house, so I chose to teach my hubby how to be Type A. I found out early in our marriage that I am very type A and my husband is type A/B, but even more so that his type B'ness drives me to be more type A.

The Type A personality generally lives at a higher stress level. This is driven by

They enjoy achievement of goals, with greater enjoyment in achieving of more difficult goals. They are thus constantly working hard to achieve these.
They find it difficult to stop, even when they have achieved goals.
They feel the pressure of time, constantly working flat out.
They are highly competitive and will, if necessary create competition.
They hate failure and will work hard to avoid it.
They are generally pretty fit and often well-educated (a result of their anxiety).

The Type B personality generally lives at a lower stress level and are typically:

They work steadily, enjoying achievements but not becoming stressed when they are not achieved.
When faced with competition, they do not mind losing and either enjoy the game or back down.
They may be creative and enjoy exploring ideas and concepts.
They are often reflective, thinking about the outer and inner worlds.

So I decided to take on one area that I knew would help him out... the family calender. A while back I bought a huge office desk calendar and 4 markers and started filling it in. We each have a color, a color for together events and a color for Jocelyn's things. The purpose was to put EVERYTHING on there so we knew when we would need a babysitter and so Jonathan wouldn't forget things or be late to things. Also we use this calendar to make sure that we have a date night once as week as well. It was amazing to see how quickly our calendar got filled in but I think it put a reality check into Jonathan's mindset of how busy we are and where I need his help.

The calendar now hangs in the closet and we are committed to filling it a little more so that we can keep up with our busy lives and make sure to schedule in OUR time first :)


He says:

I suppose that I've been accused of being Type B often enough that i should believe it. The truth is Mia is infinitely more organized and structured than I am. So this was a good learning thing. It's not like I don't know how to keep a schedule and mark things on the calender. But having a giant wall calendar in the closet where its constantly seen helps curb most of my absent minded fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-caused snafu's! We are insanely busy pretty much every day between both of us working, having an almost 2 yr old and another on the way, and attempting to keep a social life, and sneak in time with each other and maybe if we're lucky a little solitude as well. You get the idea, we're busy. Anyways, a shared calendar is pretty basic really. But it's definitely helping make life more streamlined for us. Good Job Baby!

Love is . . . A Community Serving Others (Week 39)

Thank you to Mia for giving me opportunity to share something near and dear to my heart today in her Love Is . . . series. My name is Alene and I post over at Positively Alene.

Serving others is a passion of mine and I will be taking on the challenge in October to blog about 31 Days of Living with Purpose, which by the way I totally see our purpose as serving others. I hope you’ll stop by and join me on the journey – hey I’ll even encourage you to take the challenge with me.



As God has given me a new look at serving, I’m learning that He truly does work in miraculous ways when His people in community come together to serve others.



I’ve been involved with Head-2-Toe, which is an event where our church and community come together to help others in need. It truly is the one of the best days at the Bay Area Fellowship Westside Campus! This annual event is held in August and blesses children from the community with shoes, shirts, and back-to-school haircuts all for FREE. Partnering with many businesses and community services we are also able to offer free eye exams and connect people to job opportunities.



The first Head-2-Toe was in 2010. It was a huge success with 1800 people being blessed. 2011 was even bigger with a total of 220 volunteers blessing 2000 plus children with free shirts, shoes, haircuts, and eye exams.



I was in charge of the volunteers this year and I can truly say I saw God work in mysterious ways through His people. We had volunteers show up from all over south Texas to serve. We even had people that were homeless or living in shelters serve in the beating down hot Texas sun all day. His love was everywhere, despite any heat index.



When I arrived at 5am to begin getting set up for the event that would kick-off at 7am, I was surprised to see families already in line.



Our volunteers were the best. They worked long hours out in the heat and never complained. They registered people, delivered water, helped give out shoes and shirts, and many other things to make this day a success. As a matter of fact, it was so successful many businesses are already making plans to be a part of this event again next year. Now, that is awesome!



The children of this community were blessed. Many who had never had a brand new pair of shoes, not only left with huge smiles on their faces, but with a NEW pair of shoes in hand, and new haircuts. They were ready for their first day of school.



Now that is what love is all about . . . serving others!

Project 52 Date #38

Bring on the comedy,
So last night I turned in our living room into a little comedy club! We had already had family dinner out, put Jocelyn to bed so our date night was a go to start! I set up our little chairs filled with a favorite beverages or snacks and had already pre-recorded a comedy show that I thought we would both enjoy!
It was really simple and alot of fun to laugh out loud for an entire hour! Like I said, super simple but great fun!

He says: Date nite! Mexican food, laughter, and junk food The End! Just kidding...so we went out to dinner which we haven't done in awhile. One of our favs is La Playa, gotta love that green salsa, so we had a nice dinner out just the three 1/2 of us(haha, sorry crack myself up sometimes).(That's a full belly of quesadillas not me being fat in the picture...) After that it was time for the main event. Mia set the living room up as our little mini booth for a comedy show and had a Comedy Central Roast dvr'd for us. Not gonna say who's it was but lets just say it was really funny, if a bit off color at times. Anyways, sweet treats and tasty beverages rounded the package deal out and we had a good time. And laughed alot, alot. Small on prep, big on fun factor! Good Job Babe!

Love is...serving the servers! (Week 38)

This past Christmas, our church put on this amazing Christmas production which required alot of volunteers. The church decided to do a potluck and my mom volunteered to help organize the food and keep it hot. For those of you that know me personally, I work at the church in the finance department so whenever there is a big event I am usually working. This go around I decided to work and volunteer! Since we were all hands on deck, I was able to get my work done and then help volunteer. It was so awesome to be able to work with my mom, and of course Jocelyn was there too.

It was great to serve all the people that were there to serve with their talents and give there time. What was really great was seeing everyone chip in, in different ways! There was a single dad with three kids that dropped off a bucket of KFC chicken. He knew that he didn't have time to cook but he wanted to do his part, so he did what he could.

Another volunteer had a pizza warming cabinet and brought it up filled with pizza. They used what they already had in there home in and put in a little extra money and wala it was done. HOW AWESOME WAS THAT! How great would it be if we all had that type of attitude.... I know I can't go over the top but I know that I can do something that can make a difference so here it is! Every little bit helps... so what can you do today to make a difference and show someone your love??

20 Weeks - Half way there!

Pregnancy Highlights for the Week:

How Far Along: 20 weeks :)


Fruit/Veggie:

10 1/2 ounces now and 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel

Baby changes: (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, Baby is measured from head to toe.) Baby is swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

Best Moment this week: Getting to see another peek of the baby last week :) It always make me smile to have pics and video! Also I love hearing peoples predictions because Jocelyn having a little brother just makes me smile from ear to ear and the thought of her having a little sister just makes me squeal! Oh and she still thinks the baby's name is Wha Wha, its a baby girl but this time when we ask if she wants a baby brother or a baby sister, its a baby brother :) So who knows!

Movement: Tons of kicks and he/she loves is when I go bike riding and is like having a little cheerleader with me!

Food Cravings: I have moved on from Tin Roof ice cream (mostly because it has become scarce) and embraced nutella!

What I am looking forward to: Starting to plan Jocelyn's big girl room and the playroom for the two of them! Also began looking at fabrics to make some sheets and I'm getting really excited at all the beautiful stuff out there!!!

Symptoms: Blessed, the only symptoms I have is movement to let me know that he/she is there!

Sleep : Getting plenty of it with lots of little wake ups, but I guess that is just getting me ready for the future!

Project 52 Date #37

This date night was to do a pub crawl. Yeah kinda hard to do by one's self cuz you're wife is pregnant and can't join in...so we adjusted accordingly. First stop was a place I've heard great things about lately but just haven't gotten around to checking out for whatever reason. It's called Harrison's Landing and it's a little joint down on the water downtown. They have live music and it's an outdoors setup. I was a little curious what tonights tunes would be like and ended up pleasantly surprised. The food is good but nothing to rave about, it's the atmosphere that makes this place rock. It's pretty much a porch with a roof over head right on the water. The nights music was a little bit of everything by a guy with a crazy beard and a guitar. His voice definitely didn't match his image and he really did put on a good set. We loved this place soo much that we actually never made it anywhere else. After dinner and several songs later we took a stroll down the pier to walk our meal off a bit and to enjoy the cool breeze. We finished the night off by stopping at Marble Slab for a cool treat on our way home. Good night, great music, and we might just make Harrison's our new fav downtown spot.

She says: This place was so cute and I've been dying to try it out but just haven't gotten around to it. I loved it and it was a great night of food, music and chit chat! Great job hon!

Love is ... feeding the need (Week 37)

Hi, my name is Christina and I post over at Cookie Louise Pleaze. My little corner of the internet is about vintage, fashion, food and Jesus!

First of all I would like to say thank you to Mia for allowing me to guest post this week on her Love Is series.

Love Is… Feeding The Need

My husband and I lead the food truck outreach ministry at our church which we lovingly call “Feed the Need”. Once a month we work with the Salvation Army and take their canteen truck out to local shelters to feed the homeless. Not only do we provide those in need with a warm meal but clothing and hygiene products as well.

Needless to say it is a very eye opening experience every time and we feel so honored to be just a little part of what God is doing in our city. Even though our program may seem as though the goal is feeding the homeless it really isn’t about that at all. We want to offer these people something eternal and feed their souls with the bread of life. Not just telling people about Jesus and His love for us but actually showing them that love…openly. We model this love by praying with the hurting and just doing life together. Something I always remind myself when I am out there is that if not for the grace of the Lord there go I.



Over time God has totally changed my heart for the people of this city and it swells for them and the love they deserve. I’m sure that most days these children of God are shooed away and told to get lost and that is where the love comes in. To reach out with open arms and welcome them into a love so big we can’t bear to keep it to ourselves! Find a need and fill it…that’s what love is to me.

Project 52 Date #36

JT says: This date brought back some childhood board game memories! Subs n Submarines which translates to sub sandwiches and Battleship! I highly recommend the Chicken n Bacon Ranch from Subway cuz thats what I had and it was really good. When I was a kid I played a fair amount of Battleship and as decent at it so I was curious to see if I still had any naval warfare skills. I do, just so you know. Our first game I drew first blood and sunk Mia's patrol boat almost right away. After that it was game on! It turned out to be a pretty close game but I won. Game two proved much more challenging so luckily I put some thought into my fleet placement. At one point I'm getting totally killed by Mia and she drops what she thinks is the last shot on what she thinks is my biggest ship and then I say "hit" and go about my next move(cuz I had some slick surface warfare setup going on of course). She looks at me and says "don't you have something to say?" I say yeah "B7" and she looks at me like I'm nuts and then explains that she she sunk my ship. I say "no way Jose" and after much mischief and protest on her part we continue on. Turns out to be a really close game and it comes down to one move away from losing but I pull it together and manage to win just barely. I had fun playing an old childhood favorite and trying out a new sandwich too!

She says: This was great fun! we actually had to switch date plans but it kinda shows that you can make a great date in just 30 minutes or less of planning so thats kinda great to know! He did or course beat me at both games but we had alot of fun while I was losing! I take a little comfort in knowing that in the picture we took, he looks like a TRex, big head and little arms <3 br="">

Love Is... serving, no matter how small (Week 36)

So this months love is... is going to be a little different! It's going to be all about serving others but different aspects. I have some awesome ladies lined up to write about where they serve and the difference it has made and I can't wait for you to read them! So I am going to kick us off with an example of serving!
This past month, the students ministry at our church had a large event, called AWAKEN, to where they invited students all over the city to our church. I knew right away I wanted to be involved but I also knew that my time was limited. The student staff did an amazing job and put so much work into everything that everything was great and the event was amazing. I told them that my mom, Jocelyn and I would be there to serve in whatever capacity they needed. So when I got to the event, students were just starting to arrive on campus from the buses. They had food and drinks set up outside but it was Texas HOT to say the least. So we noticed that the drinks would need constant attention of refill and ice. The kitchen and where the drinks were at were on opposite side of the church, so we made it our mission to handle the drinks.
It was a small small part of the event, but someone needed to do it. With every great event that happens there are alot of little pieces that need to happen as well to make it work without a hitch. My point being... serve! No matter in what capacity it makes a difference, it can be as small as refilling lemonade for people or being the main speaker at an event, you each had a part in it. I luckily had a very small role in 350 students deciding to make a change in my life and all it took was a couple hours for 2 nights! It was definitely worth my time and it was so easy! So everyone, get up and serve... big or small, just do it!

Project 52 Date #35

This date turned out to be a hilarious disaster! The date was to draw each other, yep like a portrait. So I gather up the art supplies and I've got colored pencils, crayons, art paper, and even some artsy markers. We sit down across the table from each other and, with chosen medium in hand, start our masterpieces. I choose to go way old school with crayons while Mia goes refined and uses pencil. This turned out to be much shorter date than I thought. Probably because lousy artists draw fast....Anyways our pictures were so bad that we chose not to post pictures of them(taking a cue from Hollywood and not putting our dirt out on the internet). Lets just say Mia's drawing of me kinda looks like a police sketch of criminal(or maybe I just have beady eyes) and mine of her kinda looks like a hot zombie with huge lips...We never claimed to be artists people. Anyways we had quite the laugh when we showed each other our drawings. And my drawing of Mia might have been accused of having lips lips like Joker from Batman, but we had fun and laughed a lot looking at how silly our portraits turned out.

Mia says: This was a real short date because of the master artists that we are :) It was alot of fun laughing about them after but I think my favorite moment would be when Jonathan looked up to look at my face and I would look up at the same time too, but it was a moment of studying face and then back to drawing! Too much fun!