Life...

At the request of my lovely friend, Beth, I am writing a new post. Things in the Stewart home have been crazy for the last month or so. I have taken a full time job as a nanny, and watch 3 of the sweetest little girls. This is the first time in almost 4 years that I have worked full time. It really was a transition for me. I feel like I'm getting back in the swing of things though, so that is good. Bryce is still doing the IT thing. He seems to enjoy it. He is one of the top engineers in his area, and always has work to do. I tell him that even though he is always busy, it is job security! We are less than 3 weeks out from our first ever vacation together! (other than our honeymoon)! Words could not begin to describe how excited we are. We are going on a cruise with another couple who is very close to us! I have never planned something like this, so there are some nerves that things won't come together, but I know it all will. Bryce and I are starting the process of getting more involved in our church. It was a hard goodbye at our last church when we moved back to CO, so it has taken me a while to be want to get back involved in the church community. But I can't keep going on like I have. I have allowed my heart to become very hard and closed off, so it's time to start talking it out, and allowing God to deal with my hurt and bitterness! I always say this, but I'm hoping to get better at this whole blogging thing. It's good for my head to get things out and write about it!! Until next time...goodbye you little sweeties!!

Partaking in the Buffalo Style Chicken Sandwich

So, the overall flavor of the meal was delicious. It was a success with my family, and it was a nice change up for my taste buds. The recipe called for the chicken to be cut into one and a half inch strips, but this did not lend well for shredding. Because of the bigger pieces of chicken, I put it on a tortilla with some shredded cheese. Very good!
This will be a recipe that I do again, but I will prep it by putting the whole chicken breasts in the crock pot and then put all the other ingredients over it. Whole chicken breasts are much easier to shred.
Yay for trying a new meal. Here's to many new ones in the future!

Thoughts on Preparation for the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich...via Pinterest

Ok...so this was more of a pain to get ready for the crock pot than I initially thought it would be. You have to cook everything outside of the crock pot, just to be able to put it all in there to cook together for 4 hours.
A dear friend of mine gave me this fabulously easy recipe for BBQ chicken. You put your frozen chicken breasts into the crock pot, cover them with your favorite BBQ sauce, and cook on high all day! EASY and DELICIOUS!
I can't help but to wonder if I could do the same thing with this recipe (Martha Stewart Slow-Cooker Spicy Buffalo Sandwich via Pinterest), and it would turn out just as delicious. The great thing about slow cooker recipes is that they are easy and yummy!
So far this wasn't an easy prep for a meal. Hopefully, it will taste fantastic!

New Chapter

So, Bryce and I have recently moved back to CO. Today marks 12 weeks that we have been out here. Bryce got a great job in Denver! He loves it, and they are so good to him. He is able to work from home often, which is great since we are living with my parents in Colorado Springs until we can get a place in Denver.
Seeing as I have yet to find a job, I have become a Pinterest addict. I am hoping to blog about all the fantastic things I am finding on Pinterest and then am trying. Should be fun. We will see how it goes.
Tonight I will be trying a slow cooker recipe for Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches. YUMMO!...or at least I hope it will be!

test

Long Overdue...

apparently time has gotten away from me, and it has been 7 months since my last post. so much is going on. bryce and i have been busier than ever. the biggest thing is just how much we are enjoying life together. we have been taking a marriage enrichment course at our church, and it is amazing how much deeper we have been able to go together. we didn't really think there was a need to go through this course, but there is always room for improvement. we have been having weekly date nights, and our communication has improved so much. bryce amazes me, and he is such a blessing to me.

way past my bed time...

Bryce and I are still awake, and waiting for a phone call from Jonathan (Bryce's older brother). Jensen, our youngest nephew went into the ER tonight for possible appendicitis. We have the other 2 kids here at our house, so they could try and get some sleep tonight. I am realizing more and more that it isn't good for me to stay up so late. While I am worried about my nephew, my mind starts to mess with me, and I end up all over the place with my thoughts. Is that something that happens with age, or is that something that happens when you have gone through a lot in your life? And really, I have had a very blessed life comparatively. The more kids I work with, the more I wish I could help them see how a family is supposed to work. That I could show them how God intended a family to look like. That regardless of what they hear at home, they are loved by their heavenly Father. There is so much hurt in this world. I think it's time I sit down and look at what all it is that I am busy with. That seems to be my excuse for everything. "I am just so busy." But really...what the heck am I busy with? I only work part time at a church. Yes it can be exhausting, but it's 2 days total out of the week. What in the world am I filling my life up with? Am I reaching out to any of these hurting people? I think I might start using a journal to record my time. Let's see what I am really filling my days up with. Now of course...there is hesitation in that because I know off the bat what I could be doing less of. We shall see where this goes over the next couple of weeks.

ready for session 1 to start

hello Iowa

off to SOS we go we go

Conan is sporting the "Jerry Garcia" look!!

Wicked was FABULOUS!!!

ready for my girls night out with Ginger and Denise

Oh Nelly...

So we have found a new apartment to live in. There is a mixture of emotions going on right now. There is excitement to move into a new place, there is hesitation because we will be losing more than half of the room we currently have, there is peace knowing that our get out of debt plan is now tangible with the amount of money we will be saving, and there is also a little bit of sadness since this duplex has been our home for the last 2 years. It seems like we have done a lot of growing in this place. This has been my "first" place. I have always moved in with roommates, or moved into someone else's house (Bryce's old house that he and his ex-wife had...another blog all in it self). I was really able to decorate this how I wanted, and see what was "us" and what wasn't. While we say goodbye to this chapter in our lives, we welcome the new chapter with open arms!

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is there anything better?

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the mug I made Bryce

Bryce and I at the Sip-N-Savor in St. James

Random Update...

It has been awhile since I have posted something on the blog...and thus here is the random update. Bryce and I have been super busy with life. My parents came to see us for almost 4 days, and while we did something with them everyday, it was the slowest Bryce and I have gone in months. We were in bed by 9:00 every night, and it was wonderful.
We are coming up to the end of our lease, and we have decided to try and get into something cheaper. We have been in this duplex for almost 2 years, but it hasn't really ever felt like home. Probably because it isn't a home, but still. Bryce really wants to get into a one bedroom because we would save a ton of money. I am going on faith and saying that I will get pregnant within the next couple of months, and therefore think we need to get a 2 bedroom. You will all know in the next couple of weeks who wins based on the new lease we will sign!
The never ending question of whether or not I get a second job is creeping up again. I have been at the church part time for 14 1/2 months now. It has been glorious, but I know I should probably be doing something else. I think it would be good for me mentally as well anyway!
Bryce and I met with the Hoven's a couple of weeks ago for prayer, and it's been like we are newly weds again (not in the sense you think, please remove thoughts from the gutter). God has done a huge work in Bryce's heart and mind, and I feel like he has found his smile again. The stress-or's that are usually there don't seem to be as big of a deal anymore, and he honestly walks around like a huge weight has been lifted off of his shoulders...praise the Lord!
All in all...life with the Stewart's is really good right now!

Lemons Are Sour

My heart has been heavy the last couple of days. I have been wondering what is going on, and hoping that it would come to the surface sooner that later. Well...it came up today. As some of you know, 3 years ago, Bryce and I started wondering why we weren't getting pregnant. We went to the doctor to do some preliminary tests, and they came back basically saying that we would need a miracle to get pregnant. At that point we weren't emotionally ready to pursue a diagnosis.
After our failed adoption of a newborn last summer, we decided that it was time to get a diagnosis to see if with any corrective procedures, a pregnancy would be possible. The test came back the same as they did several years prior, and now it has been a battle with the insurance to get them to cover the necessary diagnostic procedure.
As more time goes by, my hope of ever having a baby dwindles more and more. I am constantly surrounded my amazing kids, and while it totally blesses my socks off, it's also a steady reminder of the emptiness I feel. My heart physically hurts at the thought of never being able to tell people that I'm pregnant, or wondering how I can creatively tell my parents that they will be grandparents.
There is a couple in the church who pray for couples with fertility problems to get pregnant. Every couple they have ever prayed for has gotten pregnant...I think we might be their first failure.
I guess my only hope is that this is part of God's plan for us, and He will use it at some point to help others who are hurting.

Why?!

A friend here at the church as recently lost her husband to cancer. They had only been married for 14 months. Through all of this she says, "I will not ask God why he took my husband because then I would forget about the amazing gift he was to me." I am at a loss for words for the amazing strength and faith she has!