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Today marks the 8,760th day that my J-man has been on the planet. Pretty cool, huh?When I think about his little body entering the world 4 weeks premature on a cold February evening in New Jersey 8,760 days ago, I get goosebumps. God knew, before Jordan was even born, that He was creating Jordan [in-part] for me. Whoa. That right there is enough to completely take my breath away. Want to know something even more amazing? I was born only 13 days after J was. We were just days short of our mom’s sharing identical due dates. God was carefully and lovingly creating both of us at the exact same time…

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

Yep, birthdays with us have always been pretty neat and never fail to remind us of God’s incredible plan that is and has always been so much bigger than our own. So every year for the past nine years we’ve celebrated and today was no different.

Oh, and before I jump in to our at-home birthday bash I want to share a few images from our fried chicken picnic last week. 70 degrees in January and a job offer for J definitely merited a lakeside dinner.

Alright, back to tonight’s birthday festivities…..

Tomorrow we’re off to Tampa for five days to visit the Motleys and the Mendozas and we’re so giddy it feels like Christmas Eve around here! I can’t wait for late night conversations curled up on the couch with my Ashley and a glass of wine, dinner downtown with the Mendozas and photos on the beach. We lucked out with a great Southwest flight deal in December and thus, this trip is our Christmas and double birthday present and I’m so thankful we have the chance to go. Making memories, especially during our first year of marriage, means the world.

I’ll be Instagram[ing] from Tampa. You can follow me if you’d like- I promise to share warm sunshine with you!I hope you have a wonderful week, can’t wait to blog about the trip when we get back next weekend.

in His love,

Laura

Yesterday brought another beautiful 50 degree day to Manhattan and I woke up absolutely sure that I would make it outside at some point during the day for a few photos and some fresh air… createLIVE was offering an all-day wedding photography workshop that I started mid-morning and got completely sucked in to. It was evident we weren’t going to make it out at 5pm when  J and I {who were still in our pjs} realized we hadn’t eaten anything all day except the cinnamon rolls I had made that morning….. So, Saturday didn’t go quite as planned but that’s ok. It was still unexpectedly good & I went to bed thinking “we still have all day tomorrow!”

This morning I got to enjoy one of my very most favorite things: waking up much later than normal to my husband quietly stirring as the unseasonably warm sunshine poured in through the window. {Did I mention was had another Willy Wonka Sleepover so this ‘favorite thing’ was made even better by the sound of the creaky springs in our old pull-out couch.} After putting our place back together from our semi-lazy Saturday, our home was greeted with a sweet {and surprise!} guest. Jess- thanks for swingin’ by chez Foote, it was so good to catch-up. {P.S. Check-out Jess’ awesome handmade treasures here}.

To make up for yesterday’s lack-of-fresh-air, J & I made a slight detour on our way to Aldi for our weekly grocery trip. Just a mile up the road from our little grocery store is one of my favorite spots in Manhattan. J had never been {I still have so much to show him in this town} and a couple of minutes on the trails definitely felt good.

J loved the trail view at Linear Park- not often you get to see an old railroad bridge.

Did I mention it was 55 degrees here today? I am absolutely loving whatever is making this winter so mild.

The fresh air was so good, even if we were only out in it for fifteen minutes before errands called.

“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke. By his power he churned up the sea…. By his breath the skies become fair…. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! How then can we understand the thunder of his power?” Job 26:7-9, 11-14

Yes, i’m glad we stopped for a little detour today. I’m definitely not complaining!

Hope you all had a blessed Sunday. Enjoy the sunshine !

in Him,

Laura

This year I have the opportunity to co-advise an amazing group of students at K-State and I get to see them once a month. This means that once a month I have a fantastic reason to bake for a group of people who are likely to love whatever I put in front of them (did I mention I LOVE working with college students? Because I do. AND I love the excuse to bake).

This month I took the cookie dough part of the cookie dough topped brownie recipe I posted earlier in January and turned them into truffles. Pretty simple, actually (which I was thankful for after a long day, dinner with friends and run to the gym!) If you’d like to try them yourself, take a peak at the directions below. Caution: If you make these for friends, family or co-workers  make sure you save one for yourself because they will be gone in a jiff!

Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 package of chocolate almond bark

Directions:

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually add flower and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill in the refrigerator for two hours. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, form the dough into balls. Once all the dough is rolled, melt several squares of almond bark in a small bowl. Dip each ball into the chocolate and place them on a lined cookie sheet. Garnish the top of each truffle with mini chocolate chips and put back inside the refrigerator. After two hours of cooling, the truffles are ready to enjoy! (Be sure to keep them refrigerated when you’re not serving/eating them)

Yum. YUM!

in Him,

Laura