Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

A few of you have asked for the recipe I used to make the chicken pot pie that I made on Valentines Day for my hubby, so I am excited to share it with you today.

Honestly, when I made this pot pie I had no clue what I was doing, I had never attempted to make a home made pot pie myself before. I was thrilled to find that it was fairly easy, and I will be making many more in the future (to my husbands delight!)

I got the recipe from my sweet sister, and we are both really bad at measuring stuff, so I totally winged it.

(I had a cute picture to insert here but have tried numerous times and it keeps uploading wrong, not rotated like I need it to, so, we won't show the picture of all my ingredients together. boo)

Ingredients
- chicken (cubed or shredded)
- 2 pie crusts, 1 for top and bottom (sorry, I didn't make this from scratch. Pillsbury pie crusts are our friends)
- Veggies of your choice (I used carrots, green beans, and corn)
- Olive oil
- Thyme or Rosemary seasoning
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 cans of cream of chicken
- 1 can of cream of mushroom
- 1/2 can of chicken broth (may need more or less depending on how thick or thin you want your mixture)
- 3 cloves of garlic (optional)
- parsley (optional)



Directions
-set the pie crusts aside to reach room temperature

-saute the chicken in a skillet with olive oil and your choice of thyme or rosemary until chicken is cooked through

- boil each of your veggies separately as they will all cook at different speeds. (after my veggies cooked, I chopped some of them down so we wouldn't be eating huge chunks of carrots or green beans)

- combine your cubed or shredded chicken, cooked veggies, soups and broth in a bowl until it reaches desired consistency. 

- fold out your bottom pie crust into your pie pan

- pour your mixture into the pie pan filling to the top

- cover your pot pie with the top pie crust, tucking the edges into the bottom pie crust and then making little indention's all the way around with a fork so it "looks" like a pot pie. I covered the very end of the crust with aluminum foil to protect it from burning

- bake according to pie crust directions, until golden brown

- ENJOY!

* note since I don't use exact measurements, I was told you want more chicken than veggies. I used about 2 cups of chicken and 3/4 to 1 cup of each of my 3 veggies


* I listed the garlic and parsley as optional because I totally minced mine all together and then forgot to use it. Oopsie. BUT, that was a blessing as I've never really used fresh garlic before (just garlic powder) and I didn't really know that 3 cloves meant the smaller pieces that broke off from the big garlic chunk. Let's just say I woulda used a little way too much garlic and it likely would have ruined my Valentines Day surprise. Haha!

* I made mine a lovey dovey pot pie by putting on the top pie crust and then cutting a small heart out of it. I also used additional pie crust to cut out letters to spell words on the top of the pie

11 things

I haven't had much time to blog this weekend, but caught a break at work and saw that two of my favorite bloggers (Danielle & Kaelah)  had participated in a little 11 random things meme and I figured it'd be fun :)

There are five rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

My 11 Random Things

♥ I'm a world traveler! I've not only been to multiple big cities in the US such as San Fransisco, New York City, Atlanta and the sort, but, I've also been to Italy, London and France. LOVE TO TRAVEL! though more recently I've suffered from severe sinus pain when flying and that's a bit scary.

♥  Though I don't have any children, my dogs are like children to me. Seriously, I am a furmomma 100%! Mess with my babies, and it's on!

♥ I've received many compliments on my smile over the years. I thank my Dad for that as he paid a pretty penny for the braces that I wore for almost three years.

♥ I drive a bright blue Mazda 3. Zoom zoom zoom.

♥ I have a birthmark on the front of my right leg, just above my foot that looks like a bunny rabbit.

♥ I rarely wear makeup. And by that, I truly mean rarely, like maybe once a month if that. Funny, because the picture I chose to post above, I DO have makeup on. Haha!

♥ I've been asked multiple times if I have a tongue ring. This is because I have two silver crowns on my right side that apparently show once in awhile when I speak. They will soon be replaced with adult ones as these were never meant to last as long as they did. Oops!

♥ I love music but ask me who sings what and I will be at a loss. I am horrible at knowing who sings what, even some of my favorite songs I have no clue who sings. Bad fan, I know.

♥ I've worked with my current employer since 2002. Wowza!

♥ My mom passed away in 2001. It's hard to believe it's been over 10 years. :( 

♥ My husband and I were best friends for just over a year before we started dating.

Questions from Danielle

1. If money, schooling or time was no obstacle, what career would you choose?

This is so easy. I'd run my own animal shelter such as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. What an amazing place!

2. What's the one thing you look forward to every day?

A 'Good Morning Beautiful" from my sweet hubby ♥

3. What is your number one, all-time, favorite blog?

Oh goodness. I really don't think I could choose. I have a few that I frequent and that if I missed a day, I try to read back and get caught up on.

4. Biggest online pet peeve?

People being mean and ugly online, and purposely saying negative things about others.

5. What is your all-time favorite book?

I love all the Mitch Albom books. The 1st I read was "Tuesday's with Morrie" and I bought the rest of his after that one.

6. What would your "last meal" be?

Ummm... I am a big foodie. Love me a good meal. I guess I'd say some type of hispanic dish, or sausage and rice something of that sort.

7. Do you believe in love at first site?

I think I lean more towards lust at first site, though, I have never experienced love at first site, and maybe it's one of those things you won't believe unless you experience it yourself.

8. What would your ideal Sunday morning consist of?

Sunday mornings usually consist of Sunday school and sometimes service if I don't have to rush to work after SS. An ideal morning would consist of SS, sermon, and a brunch with family

9. Why do you blog?

to preserve my memories :) Seriously, a blog is kind of like an online scrap book. I love that I can blog about something that happened, big or small, and it is permanently stored online for future generations to see, and also that when I need to remember something I may have forgot minor details to, I can do a search on my blog. I also adore the community and meeting others with similar interests.

10. If you had to choose one color to wear forever, what would you pick?

I think I'd go with black because I could accessorize it with every other color, and make new looks all the time.

For funsies I am also going to answer Kaelah's questions as well!

1. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?

I don't often read my astrology reports anymore, however, when I used to read them, it was always eerie when one was right on par! I've never given it enough thought as to if I truly believe in astrology or not.

2. If you could teleport to any time and place, where would you go and why?

My mother had me when she was older (40) so I'd like to go back to the 1964ish era, when she would have been in her 20's and see what life was like for her. :)

3. What are the three closest items to you right now?

cell phone, botteled water, laptop

4. If you had a spirit animal, what would it be?

I've honestly never heard the term spirit animal, so will just skip this question.

 

5. What is your earliest childhood memory?

I can remember a hospital trip in Kindergarten when it was discovered that I had asthma.

6. Where do you hope to see yourself in 5 years?

My husband and I just moved into our first house this year, so I still see us there, making it a home.

7. Have you kept in touch with your childhood best friend(s)?

Yes. While we live in different states and don't see each other often, we do still keep in touch. 

8. If you had to describe yourself in 5 words, what would they be?

compassionate, shy, gullible, emotional, happy

9. Describe your idea of a perfect day: Where would you go, what would you do, who would you do it with?

I'd love to go to AMI on a warm (not hot) and breezy day. I'd have a good read in hand and lay out at the beach half the day. The other half would be spent shopping, eating at a good beachy restaurant and enjoying some ice cream at a local shoppe. This day would be perfect with my husband or girlfriends.

10. What kind of "weird" foods do you like? (They could just be weird to your friends/family, kind of like my pickle sickles!)

Corn on the cob with mayo and chili pepper, popcorn with chocolate syrup and honey drizzled over it. Yes, I am weird, I know.

11. Do you collect anything? If so, what?

 I really can't think of anything that I purposely collect.

Questions for the ladies I will be tagging:

1. Do you have any memories from elementary school?

2. What is your absolute favorite outfit to wear, and why?

3. Have you ever had to stay in a hospital overnight?

4. What is the farthest you have traveled?

5. Does your family have any type of traditions?

6. Is there any type of tradition YOU would like to start?

7. What fills your heart with joy?

8. If you could change your first name would you? and if so, what would you change it to?

9. Is there a day you would relive over and over if given the chance?

10. What is your favorite part about blogging?

11. If money was not an option, what is the one thing you would do today?

I tag:  DaisyJo, Erin, Laura, Jen, Sara, Noelani, Steff, and Mandy. Keep in mind ladies, I know you are ALL busy, and I am NOT offended in the least is this is something you don't participate in.

Happy Sunday Friends! Hope you have a blessed day! ♥

 

Thankful Thursday V6.4

Howdy Friends! <3

I wanted to say a quick thank you for those who left encouraging words, emails, and tweets to me yesterday after reading my post. You are so uplifting and I value each and every one of you. <3

And now, before I get into my favorite post of the week, I feel it necessary to go over a little blogging link up etiquette. I don't make it a requirement that you take my Thankful Thursday button and post it up for the link back, but, I do ask that you somehow link back, whether it be via my button, or a quick text link back such as "linking up with Heather from Brown Eyed Bell(e) today". This is part of the fun of a link up. To meet new bloggers! It is my hope that some of my followers may see your link and go say hello, as well as maybe a few of YOUR followers will see you linked up with me and want to swing on by my little blog to say hello. This can't be done if there is no link back, they'd never even know you were even participating IN a link up if you don't mention it. Make sense? Sorry if this comes across as rude, I really, really don't want it to. Regardless of a link back, I do appreciate each and every one of you that link up with me as I truly enjoy reading your thankful posts. They always brighten my day. A thankful heart is so beautiful. Anyways, let's get to this.

<center><a title="Brown Eyed Bell(e)" href="http://browneyedbell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu46/HeatherLC02/thankfulthursday3.jpg"/></a></center>

This week I am thankful for:

♥ My Dad's laser eye surgery went well yesterday. He should be completely healed within a few days, and his vision in that eye should be so much better! He had glaucoma in one eye and it was making his vision very blurry on that side. He is so excited to get rid of the "cloudiness" :)

 

♥ getting all moved into our new home. now we are just working on making it home. Friday night was our first night, and it was such a surreal feeling. I kind of feel like I am on vacation, sleeping somewhere new. Haha. And, my husband on his first day home from work since moving totally drove right past our new home and was heading to my Dad's house. Oops! The picture below was of our 2nd night in our new home. I totally forgot to take a picture of us our 1st day at home :( BUT, as I was about to fall asleep and Ryan was pretty much already asleep, I begged him to take a picture and this goofy pic is what we were left with. Mind you we were in bed at 1030pm on a Saturday night and it felt GREAT!

♥ my furbabies. We haven't moved them in with us yet, for a few reasons. We had hoped to get the back yard fenced in as they are used to being able to roam free throughout the day, in and out as they want, and I don't want to take that from them. And two, we need to make sure the home is 100% puppy proof with no miscellaneous nails, etc laying around.  We received our first estimate on fencing the back yard, and let's just say, that will be waiting for a bit. Puppies will be coming before then. I can't leave them at my Dad's that long, I miss them terribly as is. The good thing is my Dad lives less than 5 minutes away from us. What a blessing.

♥ a car with a sunroof. I don't use it nearly as often as I thought I would when I first got this baby! BUT, I did use it over the past week, as the weather was just glorious outside!

♥ My room mate and one of my very best friends, Ashley. She got to experience my mini break down last night over how overwhelmed I have been feeling lately (see yesterday's post). She knows that Ryan and I haven't had time to hit the grocery store since we've moved in, hence our fridge being empty. Today when I got home from work she had bought some of my favorite groceries, as well as stuff to make spaghetti tomorrow (mmm). Our pantry + fridge now has items in it. Yay! She is such a blessing in my life and I hope she knows how much I love her!

♥ getting to meet my first blogger in person! I met Noelani from Our Beautiful Little Journey this week. What an amazing experience to be able to connect with someone you are already close to via the internet, in person!  I blogged about the experience, with a few on Tuesday.

♥ finding even more nature at my house. I saw a gopher turtle jump/slide into his hole/home that is apparently under my driveway. Now I have a pet turtle, haha. The picture below, while not of Mr. Turtle, is another horse that came to greet me on a walk this week. He's SO soft and SO sweet. I feel bad because his pasture isn't that great, and there are LOTS of roots that make it really hard for him to walk around. I was worried he'd trip just coming to the fence to greet me :(

Side note: I have the ultrasound on my neck today around lunch time. I try not to be a worry wart, but, who am I kidding? I am a bit scared. I just keep reminding myself it's in God's hands and that he IS healer and no matter what the outcome, everything will be just fine.

Happy Thursday Ya'll!!

On Slowing Down

I tend to take on more than I can handle at times. Part of this is because I love coordinating events, and am good at it, so people often come to me and ask me to handle organizing this or that.

Tonight (just about an hour ago actually) I had a mini break down session with my room mate. I came in already ready to cry, and of course when she asked those simple words "what's wrong?" the faucets came on.

I am just overwhelmed. And I need to slow down.

This time of the year is always a busy one, and when you add the fact that it's a presidential election year which means my job is MEGA busy, plus moving, it became 100x busier.

Right now I literally have so many things floating around in my head that I need to do in the next few days, that I can't even keep up with my own thoughts.

A quick view into my mind would show that the following thoughts are floating around:
* My Dads lasik eye surgery today
* Ryan and I need to go to a city about 30 minutes away to the elections office to report our new address and get our updated voters registration card with that info -- we have to do this in person because we waited until the last minute to file for homestead exmeption, and now we don't have time to wait for the elections office to mail us our new card.
* Ryan and I also have to go to our local courthouse to file for homestead exemption
* I have an ultrasound on my neck scheduled for Thursday to check out the lump I feel.
* Ryan has a dentist appointment
* I have a hair appointment for a trim
* We have our Florida Bapstist Children's home ministry Friday night
* A good friend of mine is flying in Friday night and we may be picking her up
* I need to find time to tidy the house up a bit (still boxes everywhere) as another good friend is driving in Saturday and will be staying with me Saturday night (yay, our 1st house guests) :)
* We are celebrating one of my best friends birthdays on Saturday night, hence the friends flying and driving in
* Work has been extra busy (this stems back to it being a presidential election year)
* I HAVE to make time to walk atleast 2 miles daily to help ward off issues from my Spondylolisthesis
* I have a few fundraising events I need to set up within the next few weekends to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and an SPCA Walkathon. Both of these events take place in April so time is ticking. I want to set up at least one yard sale and one car wash. I already have a bake sale lined up at my work. Usually we do a couple of yard sales and car washes however this year everyone has been so busy we will be lucky to squeeze in one of each event. Since finding time to fundraise is looking to be so hard this year, I have asked for my birthday next month, that in leiu of gifts, if someone was planning to buy for me that they instead make a small donation to one of those two charities.
* I have to shop around for a new house insurance for my Dad's property since apparently Statefarm is phasing out that policy.
* Property taxes are coming up soon
* Figuring out a way to come up with $3000-$4000 to get a chain length fence installed along the perimeter of our new backyard so the doggies can roam free soon. Currently they are still at my Dad's house as they are used to roaming free in the fenced in yard. I don't want to bring them here and have the cooped up all day.

THAT is what is going on in my head right now, right before bed. TOO MUCH, EH? I agree.

Sometimes I think that I need more hours in the day, or more days in the week. BUT, then I remember, God created the earth in 6 days, and then had time to rest on the 7th. There is time to get everything I need to get done. And still rest. I just have to learn to better manage my time, and not over commit myself. A wise friend once told me "the first no is the hardest" and she was 100% right. She told me that about 2 years ago and it has stuck with me. I've said no multiple times since she 1st told me that, and it felt good to not overly commit. Sometimes I will even tell a friend "no, I don't want to make plans to do this or that because as of right now I have NO plans for that day, and I want to keep it that way" There is beauty in just slowing down and having days that are 100% for relaxation. Those days are few and far between for me as I am such a busy bee. I'm hoping to get better with that. I want to take more time to do the things I love, the things I am passionate about, and the things that bring complete joy to my life.

Those things are helping others. Making a difference. Shining my light.

I work to live, I do not live to work. The president of the company I work for once told that to me, and it has stuck. That statement came after a conversation in which he was trying to convince me to go back to a positiion that I'd had before that I did not like much as it was salary and had me working way past 40 hours a week. The money was good, yes, BUT, I NEVER had free time to do the stuff that brought me joy, which ultimately made me a not so happy person. The money was NOT worth my happiness and I resigned from that position within 6 months of taking it. A few years later they needed help in that department again, and they tried to lure me with that salaried position again, even asking me what it would take to get me back to which I replied "no amount of money" that is when the president looked me in the eye and told me he respected me for that answer as not many people my age would be turning down a higher paying salary in exchange for saving animals (he always makes fun of me *in a joking way* for my passion of saving animals) and that he really did respect my work ethic as it was obvious I worked to live and did not live to work. That conversation has always stuck with me. He still jokingly reminds me to this day that saving the world is not going to make me money. But, you know what? I don't want the money. I want the satisfaction of making a difference.

Sorry I am a rambling mess tonight, or early this morning I should say. I just wanted to share a bit of what is on my heart lately.

My mind and my heart are on two different pages lately. My husband tells me all the time (quite seriously in fact) to quit my job. He wants me to get out of a place I am content with, and do something I am 100% passionate about, IE, non profit work. BUT, my mind reminds me that we just took on a new mortgage and while yes, we did do our budget so that anything my husband makes would pay bills and anything I made would be extra, I don't want to take away that extra just yet. I want to help us become as financially secure as possible. My heart tells me that sooner or later I am just going to have to take that leap and just DO IT. As scary as it will be at first, cutting back hours at work would allow me so much more time to focus on all my dreams of making a difference in this world. As of right now, everything is on the back burner because I keep coming up with less and less free time to work on the things I want to. Because it's a busy year at my job, an extra day was just tacked on to my schedule, and I now work 5 days instead of 4. Losing this day has really effected my schedule and personal projects I have been working on outside of work. I'd like to ask each of you for prayer in this situation. I know God is in control and that he has great plans for me; however, I'd really appreciate it if you'd join with me in prayer. I just want my eyes to be opened as to what I need to be doing in this season of my life.

I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8

I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Again, if you've stuck it out this long, THANK YOU. I know this post is kind of all over the place. As I said, my mind is a jumbled hot mess tonight. And I am typing this up on the iPad which isn't allowing for much editing. I will leave you with a few inspirational pins from pinterest.

Source: blog.retrofitrepublic.com via Britny on Pinterest

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: the-means-of-life.blogspot.com via Breonna on Pinterest

I just came to say hello....

literally.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Noelani from Our Beautiful Little Journey and it was literally just for a few minutes, to say hello... and to take a few pics, of course. 

It was super impromptu but just perfect nonetheless. I knew Noelani would be in town soon as her and her hubby were taking their sweet daughter to Disney World for her birthday. We had exchanged cell phone numbers just in case it might work out for them to swing by and say hello! I had told her that she would literally be passing by my house whenever she was in transit from where they were staying to Disney. And, yesterday it just worked out. I received a text around 1pm asking what time I got off work. I was set to work the 3-C shift yesterday so I mentioned I was actually just about to start getting ready FOR work. That's when she told me they were in transit to Disney, and were about 20 exits away from my stop. I told her that if they hadn't done lunch yet, we could do a quick lunch at Panera or something, OR, if they'd already ate, they should still just swing by to say hello. I was sure to assure her that if they couldn't stop by, I TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD. After all, this was their family vacation I totally would have understood. BUT, she wanted to stop by quickly.

I WAS SO EXCITED!!

But, this meant I had literally maybe 20 minutes to inform my husband that we were about to have guests. He had problems sleeping the night before and was actually still asleep at 1pm so I said "baby, I just wanted to give you a heads up, my blogger friend, Noelani and her family that I told you about, they are in transit here so you may want to wake up" HAHA. To which he said groggily "okay, how far out are they?" And I replied "um, yeahhhh, we have about 15 minutes before they are here" HAHAH. He woke right up. Now, we are still in the process of unpacking and getting settled, so I just warned her ahead of time that the house was a semi disaster of boxes everywhere.

The best part of this was, as I told her, I knew she'd be dressed comfy and cute (she always is!) and I had literally just got done working out, so I had to apologize if I was sweaty and stinky. Haha!

Either way, I was just excited to get to meet her (and her sweet family). She is the very first person I've met in person from blogging. It's funny because many don't understand the friendships you can form over blogging, even before you've met someone. I already considered Noelani a friend before we met, BUT, now we can officially say "we are friends in real life" :D

I will leave you with two not that great pictures from cell phones. I hope hers turned out better :)

As our husbands were jokingly talking about starting their own blogs "Husbands of Bloggers" Noelani had the genius idea to get them to pose for a picture! Great thinking! :)

Anyways, ending this post I just want to encourage you to reach out to the blogging community. Make friends. I for one enjoy meeting new people, and if you send me an email, I will take time to reply. I try my hardest to reply to most comments though as you know that's not always possible. I just hope that each and every one of you know that I truly do appreciate you following my blog and taking the time to check in on me and my life, and to care. That's such a blessing to me. You all provide me with great encouragement. 

THANK YOU.

MOVING DAY!

It's finally here!

MOVING DAY!

Yes friends, finally. We closed on December 29th and since then we have been slowly working on getting the house move in ready (weekends only). Yes, we are slow. We took our time as we were blessed to not have to be out of our current home (my Dad's) by any certain deadline. There have been a few weekends we lost due to other circumstances that arose, but it's finally time. We moved the last major items today (beds, perhaps?) and will sleep in our new home for the first time tonight. EEK! I can't even describe my excitement to you! The downer today was that it was rainy, so we had to move a couple of things in the rain, but thankfully we got our tempurpedic bed moved before the down pour. YAY! Anyways, with that being said, I am off to work on making our house a home. Busy weekend ahead of us. Ryan's granny from Ohio is in town and we are doing a family dinner at his parents tomorrow night. Yay for family time. I come from a small(er) family so to be able to get his side together as well as my Dad is always a blessing to me and brings me much joy! SO, even though tomorrow will be super busy, and then it's back to the working grind on Sunday, I am excited! Bring it on weekend. I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed one. Remember, kindness spreads, do something nice for a stranger this weekend :) I will leave you with a few pics from pinterest that caught my fancy.

 

                                                                           Source: enthusiasmdaily.blogspot.com via Kate on Pinterest

                                                                                    Source: brightbazaar.blogspot.com via Mandi on Pinterest

                                                                              Source: flyergoodness.blogspot.com via Daphne on Pinterest

Oh, and I have two link ups still open:  

Thankful Thursday a post in which you can link up things you are thankful for! I host this every Thursday and it's open from Thursday around midnight through the following Wednesday.

Our Story a link up in honor of Valentines Day. Share your love story and meet some new bloggers! :) This is open through Sunday. The actual post written on this day was from my husbands point of view of our very own love story! Be sure to read and leave him some love. He even asked me the other day if he'd received any feedback to his post. Aw, so sweet! He makes me smile daily! <3

Thankful Thursday V6.3

WOW. Can I just say last week flew by?! I know, I know, I wasn't around the blogosphere much as I had guest posters all week sharing their love stories; but, I had sincerely hoped I'd be able to catch up on some reading of my favorite blogs during my down time, however, I had no free time. Literally. As most of you know, my days off have consisted of working around our new home so we can finally move in, but last week I lost another day off. I got asked to work on Friday, and I knew I was desperately needed so I couldn't say no.  SO, that left one day, Saturday, to have any free time at all, and I spent it moving stuff into the new home (eek). We will move the last bit of our stuff this Friday, and our first night at home will be Friday night. I can't even express how super excited and blessed I feel.

Anyways, here we are on Thursday, and before I start rambling (it's easy, I know) I am going to get straight to the point.

This week I am thankful for:

♥ a really good weekend for Kidney for Kristy. As I mentioned last Thursday, Kristy has met her financial goal to get put on the transplant list. YES! but, since Shand's is giving her until the end of the month, we will continue to fund raise as any extra money will go towards travel cost which will be outrageous with the price of gas continually rising. This weekend Kristy hosted a yard sale in Orlando and brought in $270ish on Friday and $240ish on Saturday. AMAZING! Please keep spreading the word about this cause, as you can see, the giveforward page doesn't reflect the $5000 yet since it doesn't show the funds from the Wells Fargo account. How awesome would it be to hit the total need on the giveforward page?!

♥ that my 1st attempt at a home made pot pie was a huge success thanks to the help of my sweet sister via texting.

♥ That my sweet husband guest posted on Valentines Day. He doesn't really understand this whole blogging thing, but he always supports me 100% in whatever I put my mind to, so he was happy to type up a post when I asked if he would :). You can read his version of our love story by clicking here. Also, that same post is where you can link up YOUR LOVE STORY if you haven't already. The link up is open through Sunday.

♥ technology. even though I have only met my sister face to face a handful of times (she was adopted as an infant and we didn't meet until about 23 years later) we are able to remain so close thanks to daily texting. This is something I am so thankful for on a daily basis.

♥ free stuff. On Valentines Day I ran to a local farmers market (that is walking distance from my new house) and ordered a strawberry milkshake (hey, I wanted something pink) I ended up walking away with my milkshake + one extra that they gave me for free. The lady making it was trying to use the last of her fresh strawberries for the day and it ended up making way too much. so sweet that she gave it to me. I was able to give my husband a sweet surprise to top that pot pie off.

♥ all of the animals near my new home. I know I say this a lot, but seriously. This week I saw the donkey that my friend saw a few weeks ago! This is a huge deal for me as I adore donkeys. Seriously. I will pull over to pet a donkey if I see one, haha. I also snapped a pic of the brown horse that normally hands out with the white beauty I posted a few weeks ago on a Thankful Thursday post. Also, Buddy the friendly cow has completely won my heart. He seriously gallops over to me tail wagging half the time when he sees me. The sweetest thing!

♥ These pretzels that a coworker brought in to work and got me addicted to. This is not a good thing!

♥ that the house has been coming right a long. This will be a blog post soon, plenty of house stuff to chat with from updated pics to bloopers of a new home owner. :D

If you have a moment, I encourage you to share what you are thankful for as of recent. I'd love to have you link up! If you've never done a link up before, they are simple. Just grab the button code below and past it into your blog, OR, it's as simple as a simple "I am linking up with Heather from Brown Eyed Bell(e) today".

<center><a title="Brown Eyed Bell(e)" href="http://browneyedbell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu46/HeatherLC02/thankfulthursday3.jpg"/></a></center>

Our Story - My husband's POV

Happy Valentines Day!

If you've stopped by today to join the 'Our Story' Link Up, scroll to the bottom, the list is below! If you participate, just be sure to either grab my button, or do an text link back here! Spread the word. The more the merrier. Meeting new bloggers is always fun! And I for one love a good love story!

<a href="http://browneyedbell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu46/HeatherLC02/ValentinesButton.jpg" alt="http://browneyedbell.blogspot.com/" width="125" height="125" /></a>

I am excited to have my husband here on the blog today!

I asked him to type up his version of our story, and here it is:

On February 26th, 2008, I met the love of my life. It was at a mutual friend's birthday party. I walked in, my normal, goofy self, when I spotted that beautiful smile and brown eyes. I had to do a quick self check. Shirt tucked in-check. Nothing in teeth-crap no mirror(hoping for the best). She was absolutely beautiful, I took a deep breath, and in my lowest(trying to sound sexy)tone, could only manage, "hello". I spent the rest of the night trying to act cool. My friends can see right through me apparently, so they made fun of me anyways.

I had just gotten out of a pretty rough relationship, and wasn't looking to date anyone for a long time. But I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like. It turns out so did she, so we made great friends! We just happened to have similar schedules, so we would hang out all the time. We would go on walks, or watch movies, or go explore Florida parks, or sometimes we would just do nothing. It got to be that all I wanted to do was be with her. She continued to date other guys, and I would find myself getting more and more jealous. I would say to myself that I could do so much better than those other guys. And then one day, I finally made up my mind.

Lake Louisa State Park

charity car wash 2 weeks before we started dating

Easter 2009, a week before we started dating

It was a very difficult thing for me, because as much as I wanted to be with her, I was terrified of scaring her away, and losing my best friend. I spent every night wondering what to do, but I knew in the end I had to know. It was worth the risk to be with the most amazing person I've ever known.

We hung out one night as usual and watched a movie. I didn't say much that night, and she knew something was on my mind because she kept asking. I wouldn't tell her but I was a complete nervous wreck inside. After what seemed like the longest movie ever. I got up and she walked me to the door. "This is it." I told myself now or never, so I said, "goodnight beautiful", and she closed the door. I just stood there in silence, I shuffled my feet and turned around and headed for the car. "uggh maybe next time" I told myself. I reached in my pocket to grab my keys and suddenly dropped them, as if something took control of me I said , "NO NOW". I walked back up to the door my heart racing in my chest and proceeded to pour my heart out to her. I told her that US was worth the risk and that I needed her in my life. But she wasn't so sure, and I walked dejected to my car, and drove home in silence.

I felt like I had died, or maybe I just wanted to. And for the next week I was a complete mess. She called and asked if I wanted to hang out, and so we did. We watched a movie, and sometime during that movie, she sent me a text, which said "I want to be your girlfriend, if you'll still have me."

may be our 1st 'couple' photo. about a week after we started dating

And the rest is history, I popped the question on February 13, 2010 on top of the Sears tower in Chicago, Illinois and we were married on our two year anniversary, April 17th 2011. 

I will never regret the risk we took together, to move from friends, to best friends, to lovers and everything else. It's been a tough road so far, and it has been far from perfect. I broke her heart and made horrible decisions I regret. But with her I have found redemption, and she has stuck it out when others could have, and should have left. She stayed and prayed and helped a man change his stripes. I am so thankful for her in every way. She has taught me patience, and the meaning of forgiveness. And what it's like to care for someone more than yourself. Love is not perfect, and it's hard, and, like all couples, we have our fights but that's okay. Because we fight for what we love. Because love is worth all this and more.

Love is the only thing we have left in this world that no one can take away.

AND LOVE IS ALWAYS WORTH THE RISK!

Happy Valentine's day baby. I love you. --Ryan


***

A big thanks to my hubby for sharing that! Of course, I can fill in a ton of blanks in between. Why is it us women always remember the most minuscule details? If you'd like to read even more details on our love story, click here to read the Wedding Bells section of my blog!

Our Story - Danielle + Hank

I have Danielle from Sometimes Sweet wrapping up the series of guest posters sharing their love stories with us as we get closer to Valentines Day! Hello, is that TOMORROW? Danielle was a true sweetheart in agreeing to participate in this series of guest bloggers as she is also sharing sweet love stories on her blog leading up to Valentines Day as well. Be sure to swing over and say hello to her and read some of the beautiful people she has sharing their stories.

On an unrelated note, two years ago today, my husband was going down one one knee at the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. Read my version of our engagement story here and my sweet friend Jo's version here .

I can't believe it's been two years since we got engaged. Time truly does fly so quickly, especially when you are spending it with your best friend. Anyways, here I go rambling! Take it away Danielle :)

***

* How did you and Hank meet?

Hank was on tour with his band, and we met when he came through Phoenix, at a mutual friend's house. I walked outside and saw this tall, curly-headed boy with the most gorgeous brown eyes...and fell in love right then and there!

* Were you looking for 'love' or did it just happen?

At the time (it was the summer of 2004) I was not into finding love at all. I had just graduated college and was living with my girl friends in Scottsdale, enjoying the single life. It definitely just happened, and I couldn't have avoided it if I tried. It was like we had this magnetic pull towards each other; love at first sight for sure.

* Was there any specific moment when you just KNEW 'this is it! he IS the one'?

Even though we both say it was in fact love at first sight, I'd say it took me a month or so before I really, really felt true love, and from there it was a quick road to falling head over heels.

* How did he propose?

You can read our proposal story here!

* What do you think the most rewarding part of marriage has been?

The best part of all of it would have to be being married to my best friend. Every single day I feel thankful that I get to spend my days, nights, and all of life's fun adventures with Hank by my side and I couldn't feel luckier.

* Do you have a favorite stage of your relationship that you wish you could live over and over everyday?

All of it. I often think back to the beginning though- it was over 8 years ago- and I'd love to fall in love all over again. We wrote letters back and forth for months, and I can still remember the anticipation of getting to see each other after being apart for months while he was touring.

* Any relationship advice for other couples?

The main thing is to treat your partner just how you would want to be treated. Sometimes it's easy to take unconditional love for granted but it's so important to always appreciate (and do!) the small things. Be on the same team, support each other, and laugh as much as you can together.

*** 

I'd just like to thank all the wonderful ladies who've shared their beautiful and unique stories over this last week. If you've missed any of them, be sure to read and stop by their blog to say a quick hello! You can catch up on any you've missed by clicking below.

Heather + Joshua

Sara + Ryan
Mandy + Kyle 
Elisa & Joshua
Jen + Micah 

Check back in at midnight tonight to read my special Valentines Day post, which may or may not be a random posting from my sweet husband who occasionally likes to make an appearance of his own here. The 'Our Story' Link Up will also be live (and remain live for 5 days) and I am hoping to read some more stories!

Our Story - Jen + Micah

Happy Sunday Friends! 

I pray that it's a beautifully blessed one :) I am thankful to have you here following along in the 'Our Story' series. Today I have Jen here from The Arizona Russums. I can't count on one hand the number of amazing bloggers I've met that live in Arizona. It must be the blogging capital :D Jen is no different, such a sweetie. Take a moment to stop by and thank her for guest posting!

***

Our story is a long one. It started in 11th grade... no 9th grade... maybe 8th grade...

Then and now...

Micah moved to our small town the summer before 8th grade. He went to the "other" middle school, but I had heard about him... the oldest Russum boy of those athletic and good looking Russum kids. I even saw him one day. Our middle school did a leadership event with the other middle school and we rode a bus over to Micah's school. There was THE Micah Russum leaning against a wall when we pulled up. I could now affirm that his cuteness was more than a rumor...

Micah turned sixteen before anyone else in our grade and was therefore the first in our class to get his license. I had never uttered a word to him before, but on the day he passed his driver's test I said "congratulations." A few months later he used that license to drive his buddies around and egg my house. Thanks, hon. {Disclaimer: Micah had nothing against me that caused this egging incident - this is simply what kids did for fun in our town... egging, TPing, interviewing people on film as they walked out of the local grocery store, driving a car into that grocery store. You name it; we did it.}

In eleventh grade, we actually became friends. We were both student leaders for Young Life and a YL retreat sparked our romance. During the second half of junior year, we began dating.

We happily dated for two years, but then college pulled us apart. Really, God pulled us apart by sending us to colleges in different states. Micah headed off to Minnesota and I moved down to Texas, and we quickly realized that God had called us to different places for a reason. We trusted the Lord and decided to break up to see what He had in store for each of us.

We talked on and off during college, less and less as the years went by. It wasn't until the summer after college graduation that Micah called me up and told me he wanted to pursue marriage in a godly and prayerful way. He was still in Minnesota. I was still in Texas. The next two years of dating were full of uncertainty as we tried to discern our future plans and navigate a relationship while living 1000 miles a part. Honestly, it was pretty ugly at times. I was selfish and wanted to go on living my happy little life in Texas for as long as possible. Then I wanted to get married and move somewhere new with Micah so I could attend grad school.  It was all about my plan and my timing. It was not about Micah and it definitely wasn't about trusting the Lord. I had so much to learn...

Finally, Micah called me out. By this point, he had moved back to Washington and he asked me to move back too, so we could live around each other before we got engaged and married. I was reluctant at first, but as soon as he asked me to do it, I knew it was the right thing to do. I left all my best friends in Texas and moved back home to rainy Washington and embarked on one of the most refining years of my life. I lived in my parent's basement, substitute taught at my old high school, and worked through years of pent up pride and selfishness. But it was in my parent's basement, in the most humble and lonely of circumstances, that I clung to the Lord, read His Word with new eyes, and was broken for the first time. I understood the love of Jesus in a new way and He changed me.

Moving back to Washington also marked a re-start of my relationship with Micah. Although we had been dating for about two years at this point, we realized that talking on the phone a few times a week and seeing each other for a few days a year did not constitute a relationship. We basically had to start over from scratch. It was hard, but it was worth it. During those days, weeks, and months, God continued to break me, shape me, and prepare me to be a wife that loves Jesus first and her husband second.

Finally, on New Years Day 2010 Micah proposed and we were married six months later on July 11th. We had a fabulous wedding and an even more amazing honeymoon in Hawaii, and two days after we returned, we packed up a rental truck and headed down to Arizona to become The Arizona Russums. We love it in the desert and have been blessed beyond belief by our new church, new jobs, and new friends in our little palm tree paradise.

But you know what? That is not the most important part of the story. I think it's so easy to focus on a couple's   dating, engagement and wedding as their love story... when really that's just a page in the story of a couple's marriage and just a sentence in God's story of salvation for the world. Our story is actually God's story. Long before July 11th, 2010, God was working in our hearts to convict us and transform us and save us and prepare us to be a husband and wife who follow Him. And our story isn't over just because we are almost out of the newlywed stage. Our story only becomes more important as we grow old and our skin wrinkles and our love stands the test of time and all the trials that are undoubtedly ahead. Our story is what happens when we stand before God someday and give account of our marriage and our family. Our story is the faith, the trust, the love, and the service that happens for as many years as God gives us on this earth, all enabled by the grace given to us through Jesus. And hopefully when that day comes and we stand before God, our story will recount decades of faithful love to God and to each other and He will look on us and say "Well done, good and faithful servants."

Stop by and visit; I'd love to meet you!
Blog // Facebook // Twitter

xoxo,
Jen

***

I absolutely love how she ended her guest post. You are right on Jen. Thanks for that reminder, it is not OUR story, but God's. 

The Valentines Day Link Up will be up at 12am on Valentines Day. 

Our Story - Elisa & Joshua

Today I have Elisa from The Not So Pharaoh Farrows. Her love story is one of my favorites to read. It all happened so quickly! He proposed to her on the 2nd time they had ever met. YES! REALLY! Just another reminder that God truly is in charge, and has things planned out way before we could ever imagine them. Their story is another example of that and I am so thrilled that she is here today sharing it with you all.

***

Hi everyone! My name is Elisa from The Not So Pharaoh Farrows 

 I am so excited to share with you my love story for this Valentines day.

It is near and dear to my heart. Thank you Heather for the chance to share :)

--------------------------

For about a  year I kept feeling like the Lord wanted me to go to this conference in Virginia called Awaken the Dawn. I knew some friends there from over the years, so I decided to buy a plane ticket. I even took off a whole week of school, and everything. At the conference there were roughly about 1,000 people. I remember seeing Joshua right away, but thinking..."I'm not here for boys, Just God." Later I would learn he had thought the exact thing about me, but vice versa ;) After the conference, I ended up delaying my flight to stay an extra day in which we both ended up hanging out at a mutual friends house. Joshua came up to me (which is very unlike him), and said "Hi, I'm Josh, I don't think we've met yet." BAM. I felt like the Lord told my heart without a doubt, "This is the one you have waited for." Joshua talked my ear off that night, and I quietly listened (which is very unlike me). The whole time thinking "Can this be real? How would it work?" We talked till everyone else left, and I had to go get rest for my early flight.

I came home and realized I had already gotten a facebook request from him. My heart fluttered. I also discovered a picture of us together, before we had met. It was right after I was baptized, and I am standing right behind him. The next few months were a world-wind. We quickly became best friends, thank you skype! Josh had a dream quickly after we met which he said was confirmation from the Lord that I was the one.

Two months after knowing each other Joshua bought me a plane ticket to visit him, and his family. It was then (yes the second time we had ever hang out) that he proposed to me! We had spent the day together in his home town, and after a night of worshipping at The Prayer Furnace(A Community of Christ Followers) he got down on one knee, and popped the question!  

& Two months after that Joshua moved to Texas, and we were wed! Our ceremony was very small with close family and friends, and as we all sang worship songs together, I couldn't remember a better moment in my life. 

In the end of the day,

I can honestly say he is the most kind, pure, and amazing spiritual man I know. He encourages me, and helps me become more like Christ daily. <3 I am so blessed to be called his wife.



-------------------------------



Thanks to Heather for featuring me & although I haven't blogged in awhile I hope to again soon....

So come say hi if you want at The Not So Pharaoh Farrows

Only two more days until the Valentines Day link up! :) I don't know about you all but I am hoping to read many more 'our story' posts!