Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The House.

More pictures for you. I'll post more pictures as I clean more of the house. haha


The right side of the living room/entry way. The door goes to Mum and Dad's bedroom.

The right side of the living room. 

Living room ceiling. 


Left side of the living room. The door in the picture goes to the Master bedroom.

The messy dining room. The Front door is on the left and the kitchen to the right.


The Kitchen. Its small but efficient.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Our little family

Zelda was born September 30th at 2:45am.

She turned 3 wks last Friday and soon to be 4 wks. She very much takes after Jared but has my facial expressions.

I thought I'd post pictures of Zelda. She is growing so fast. She has already grown out of her newborn clothing and is working on growing out of her 0-3 month clothing. She is also in 6 months socks and shoes. (She takes after her Dad - long narrow feet with long toes)

Motherhood is awesome with the exception of very little sleep. :)


Jared and Zelly fell asleep while watching Sunday football.



Seriously, isn't she the cutest?!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Vegan Recipes

Alright so as promised to Elisha, I have unpacked my vegan cookbooks and am ready to share. :) I'll add more as I go through more cookbooks.

Farmhouse Vegetable Soup

1 T oil
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped into half moons
1 celery rib, chopped
2 to 3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 can of green beans or same amount in fresh green beans
1 zucchini, chopped into half moons
1 yellow squash, chopped into half moons
1 large garlic clove, minced
6 C of vegetable stock
1 1/2 C of cooked beans (any type will work)
2 t dried parsley or 2 T fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, carrot and celery in oil on medium heat. Cover and cook until softened (about  5 mins)
Add potatoes, bell pepper, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic. Cover and cook 5 mins. Add stock, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add beans and season with salt and pepper and simmer until vegetables are tender about 40 mins.
Stir in parsley, then taste and adjust seasonings.

Super-Rich Vegetable Stock

1 T oil
1 large onion
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes
2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
1 medium parsnip, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 C peeled and chopped celery root (or regular celery ribs)
8 C water
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/2 C coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 t black peppercorns
1 T tamari (Japanese soy sauce)
Salt to taste

Saute onion, potatoes, carrot, parsnip and celery root in oil on medium heat in a stockpot. Cover and cook until slightly softened about 5 mins. Add water, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, peppercorns, tamari and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 1 hour.
Strain the stock if wanted. Use at once or refrigerate covered for 3 days. Freeze the stock for up to 4 months.

 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Pray Continually

When I graduated from Film School in May of 2008, a dear family friend Carrie Sackett gave a picture. It consisted of hand stitched quote from Abraham Lincoln and a scripture below that. I remember thinking it was a lovely gift and I adored it but I didn't fully understand the true meaning of this gift of words. I didn't put it up for a long time as I moved to Texas and wasn't sure where to put it. However, every time I would see it underneath the piles of stuff placed in front of it, I would reread the words. They made me feel better but still I didn't know the full meaning.

When Jared and I were engaged, we were trying to pack up/ sort through my mountains of stuff to move to his apartment, he asked me about the picture and if I still wanted it. All day I had been going through things I had saved for years like a true pack-rat. Upon meeting Jared things had changed dramatically for me emotionally. I realized I had kept silly things for no reason at all but for one reason an emotional security blanket. The stuff made me feel safe for whatever reason. Man, I had collected piles of stuff.

Jared handed me the picture and we looked at it. I couldn't get rid of it so I packed it to move to the apartment. It was one of the first things I put on the wall. I knew I needed this picture but had no idea why.

Months passed, and it sat there waiting. Finally, it all makes sense.

Three weeks ago, Jared's work picked up to the point of exhaustion. I hardly saw him. It was started to make me feel insecure and alone. I wasn't upset with Jared but the situation. We hate being away from each other for very long. It has been something we try if possible to avoid. Even our haven of weekends was taken away from us, work or something else always took priority.

So Fourth of July weekend happens.

Thursday - I'm packing up things in the apartment going on little sleep and I start to cry and I can't stop. I'm exhausted and Jared worried comes home to cuddle me.

Friday - I still feel really weak but I decide to have a homemade date night for Jared and I. I did the works, candle lit dinner, clean-ish apartment, homemade manicotti, Jared's favorite beer, my hair straightened, make up on and a polk-a-dot dress. It was all completed by our band Coldplay playing softly in the background. It was lovely to spend an hour being able to talk and just smile at each other before Jared had to go to bed.

Saturday - Jared had to work. He left around five am. I met him for lunch and after lunch was done I was planning on going home. I couldn't leave him. I was near to the point of tears so he told me to come in the office and sit next to him while he worked. He assumed I wouldn't stay long after getting bored. I stayed seven hours until he was done for the day. It was wonderful but I still felt exhausted and overwhelmed. When we got home I looked at the picture and later I asked Jared to pray for me. We prayed and the next day prayed and the following day. The picture finally made sense.

It reads, "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." - Abraham Lincoln  *Be joyful always; pray continually.* 1 Thes. 5:16-17

It has given me such peace and joy even with all the worries, stress, lack of sleep etc. I praise God for leading Carrie to give me such a wonderful gift of encouragement. It amazes me how God is so loving that he will give you the tools even before you need them. I think about his sacrifice on the cross, he willingly gave in order that even though I wouldn't be born for thousand year or more that I may know and love him. It puts me in complete awe.

Hopefully, this might mean something to you but if it doesn't, keep it in your tool bent. You never know when you'll need it. :)

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Zelda Ardelle Ann Miller

It's a girl! We are super excited!

After months of waiting and lots of guesses from family and friends, we found out that we were having a girl. Jared who was dead-set on having a boy first went into shock after finding out that our little baby was Zelda not Enoch. The first words of out his mouth were "I have to buy a gun." When I laughed and asked why he responded, "I have to protect my women." At first I thought he was joking until I saw the look on his face. He meant it.

It took him a couple days before the shock fully wore off and he was back to his normal self. I can already see that Jared is wrapped around Zelda tiny pinky. Zelda herself is already Daddy's little girl. When he talks to her, she kicks in response. Jared turns to complete mush. My strong independent husband is a total softy! Its lovely.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Baby Thoughts.

So my second post is going to be about another huge change in our lives... Baby.

After much thought and helpful research from my wonderful cousins Shelsea and Elisha, Jared and I had decided that we wanted God to be in control of when babies came. We didn't think that baby would happen so soon but all in God's timing. Praise him.

To be completely honest, my husband and I were surprised when after almost 2 months of marriage we were going to have a baby. Goodness, it was more of a shock. We had both thought that I was pregnant for a week or so before taking any test. Considering that God had my husband and I on a fast track from the beginning, we really shouldn't have been surprised.

So in a month and a half we'll know if baby #1 is a boy or a girl. SO exciting!

Baby Enoch or Zelda at 8wks. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made...

Jared and I

I figured my first blog should be about my husband and I.

Jared and I waited a long time to meet each other but it was all in God's perfect timing.

We met through Eharmony. It is crazy but my mother had been bugging me to join for a year before I did. I wasn't interesting in the slightest in meeting someone from online. I had it in my mind that I wanted to meet my husband "the normal way." HA!

It started on Wednesday September 22nd,  very late in the evening or early in the morning depending on how you look at it. I had already gone to bed when suddenly God literally told me to wake up and join Eharmony. It was around 2am and I was so surprised that I didn't even think to debate. I joined. Not 10hrs later I was matched with Jared and he contacted me. I was completely surprised but at every step I asked God's permission to continue talking to him. After 2 days of constant emailing back and forth Jared and I decided to meet at coffee shop in Denton, TX a solid 1 1/2 hrs from where he lived. We were going to meet at 11am for coffee. Well we missed each other. I was late because my loving mother had to make sure I looked cute and he got there early and left a few mins before I arrived. To add frustration, we didn't give each other our phone numbers but I had an iphone at the time and could email on Eharmony. I waited with my friend for over 2hrs. By this time Jared had driven back home and emailed me. He was completely embarrassed that he didn't ask for my phone number and gave me his phone number. I asked God if it was alright for me to give him my phone number. Of course God said yes and I gave him my phone number. Shortly after I had to go to work. I soon texted him suggesting if he really wanted to meet me we could meet for dinner in Flower Mound. He agreed and we spent the next 4hrs talking off and on through text.

Later that evening, we met for dinner. It was slightly awkward. How do you say hello to something you've just met online and know little about him? Well God completely stepped in at that point. The first half of our date was more like an interview than anything else. Neither of us were interested in a fleeting relationship. We both wanted next the person we dated to be the one. We eventually decided to drive up to Denton and get coffee. I decided to drive since if he turned out to be crazy I could escape to a friend's home if needed. (My father trained me well.) We walked around Denton for several hrs before finally going to a coffee shop. A one-man-band was playing and Jared suddenly relaxed and so did I. We then started our actual date and enjoyed each other's company. By the end of the evening, I knew I could date him. We drove back to Flower Mound around 2am and we didn't want it to end. We talked in a parking lot for another hr before finally calling it a night. It was great.

To make a very long story short. By the following Wednesday we were dating. 2 weeks later on 10/10 we got engaged and married 12/11. It was truly wonderful.

On a side note, we found out after we decided on a wedding date that my Nana and Papa started dating on the same day Jared and I had as well as they got engaged on the day we married. God is so interesting!