Brush down

Friday's have become a real treat for the Stringer house hold. Cain spends the weekends here at the house and whenever he is around I am so happy! And I know my dad loves the help around the house. He saves all the hard work for the weekends now so that Cain can be there! After my run this morning I came down to Cain making my eggs for me! Yummy! ... the eggs of course ;)

Haha seeing right away that I have my camera in hand he has to make a joke out of the picture! 

Gotta love him.

Today turned out to be brushing day for Nova. Anyone with a husky or long haired dog knows about this! Cain takes her outsides and gives her a brush down! Nova actually seems to enjoy it. But she could hear us making fun of her long hair and husky butt I think.... 

"Lorri, tell them to stop making fun of me! I can't help it that I have all this hair...." haha 

 Right here. Nail between her back legs, ears lobsided and those eyes talking to us... that's Nova Blu.

This week we don't get to enjoy Cain being around due to it being Drill weekend. But seeing how I have to work all day tomorrow it worked out that I will be busy! If I get off work soon enough though I might try and get to the apartment and make Cain supper for when he gets back from Drill Saturday night! Hope so at least!

Good night from here,
Lanette

First walk of the year... sore feet

Nova looks forward to Wednesday just as much as I do! We get to wait in line (we are always first) to pick Graci up from preschool! Once Gracie is in the car Nova is right up in her face giving kisses and normally sits beside her. But yesterday was nice enough to roll the windows down. As you can see, Graci was really enjoying the ride haha...

My lunch! Salmon, Asparagus,  Peppers, Cucumber and mashed avocado!

After I dropped Gracie off at Grandma June's I decided to take a walk! It was 35 degrees outside and it felt amazing compared to what we have been used to! I thought it would be best to wear the hiking boots Cain got me over last summer because of the snow still on the ground. But I didn't think to wear high socks. So half way down the road the back of my heel were in pain! 

I was so mad! I walk or run almost everyday so if I got blusters that wouldn't work our well for tomorrows walk. So I thought... hmm... no shoes would be better then a bluster! So yes, I took the boots off... and walked the rest of the mile and back with just socks. My feet weren't cold, but once I was home I realized the bottom of my feet were sore! Can a girl catch a break here?! It was a lose, lose. But I was still excited about my first walk outside of the new year! Many more will follow!

I got some goodies in the mail! My favorite Almond Butter!!! I love eating it with a banana!!!

And my reusable bags! A total of 10 all in different colors. I thought plain colors would be nice so that Cain could help me carry them and could pick a more "Manly" color :)

Well this is short and sweet. Cain got cut hours again this week so he is on his way to my parents home now. Happy to have him home, but hate his work at the moment! Oh well, God will provide!

Lanette

The Rules of Communication

I always knew how lucky I was to have my father also be my pastor. But it's even more of a blessing to have him be the one to marry me and Cain. It's been very rewarding to have him around both of us for the past year, we get premarital counsel at random times and tips on making the right choices as a couple. We are both open to learn how to be better for each other and my dad is the only one I trust with marriage counsel. I have seen first hand the amazing relationship my parents have kept through out their marriage. Cain and I wish the same on our marriage so love when we get one on one time with him.

So the other night my dad sat down with us at the island in our kitchen and went over the Four Rules of Communication. We went through it pretty fast but there were so many things that we were able to easily understand. It's so simple, anyone in any kind of relationship should be able to grasp this.

Here are the four rules taken from Ephesians 4:25-32

1. Be Honest

What this means is, don't say you're fine when you aren't. It's so easy to say, "No I'm fine" and walk away wanting the other person to know that you are not "fine" but this is not a mind reading relationship. Because to be frank, guys aren't good at reading our minds! So, be honest. Say, "That hurt my feelings" Open up so that things can be fixed right away.

2. Stay Current

How often do we want to bring up the past? When really it only adds to the problem you have at hand already. Also this means don't let todays argument be tomorrow's problem. We've all heard it before, "Don't let the sun go down upon your wrath" (verse 27) Deal with the problem at hand, don't bring up the past. Be able to forgive and stay current with your feelings. Matthew 6:34 says "Tomorrow will have problems of its own" So stay on topic, don't bring up the past and remember to speak your words in love.

3. Attack the Problem not the Person

If you asked your loved one if they could pay the phone bill last week and you find out today that they forgot. Instead of attacking them as a person and calling them names that will bring them down to show that they messed up, such as...  "Wow, that was real smart of you to forget to pay the phone bill, don't be stupid!" (Words hurt, choice them wisely) Focus on the actual problem, the phone bill needs paid. So many times we start attacking the person so fast that before you know it 10 minutes have gone by and you have to go back to the beginning of the argument to remember what made you upset in the first place!

Note: this can also apply to your self! Let's say its YOU that forgot to pay the bill and you bring self-guilt and blame to yourself. That's not right either. Be able to forgive yourself when you might make a mistake.

We need to forgive. Simple as that you have to give up your right or claim to revenge, hold a grudge or get even. Give it up. And do it in love.

4. Act don't react

Everyone has a different way they react. Some will have a outbursts of anger, use words to hurt the other person, you might also not let them know they hurt you and give them the silent treatment, you might seek revenge by doing the "slow burn" or have a desire to harm the person... make them suffer!

None of those are very pleasing to Lord. But we all have done one of those, if not all. No matter how irresponsible the other person is, you must act biblically. You can't control the other person, but you can control how you resound to them.

This can apply to all kinds of relationships not just between a husband and wife.

I wanted to remember these 4 rules that way if Cain and I had a problem to fix that we could easily go to this and make sure we treat the problem and person correctly and in love.

So I made this! I'm going to be hanging it up in the apartment here soon! Feel free to also use it in your own homes. Even if you already apply these things it could be an eye opener to someone else!

Lanette

Monday calls for food.

Can this snow be done already?! Last night on my way home from Waynedale it started snowing really hard and fast! I laughed thinking "it's going to be snowing still in May I bet!" That would be really funny, right? Wrong! Ha I'd like it to be at least 50 out!

Yesterday was food haul day! And prep day for Cain's week! Nova spent the night at Cain's Sunday because I would be there Monday morning. When I got there Monday Nova greeted me with lots of kisses. Not that she doesn't love Cain, but hey... I'm her mom she misses me more ;)


I decided to make pancakes for breakfast! It was a new recipe using Flax meal

I also fried up some bacon for the my Mr.

As they were cooking I went to go get the Maple Syrup out because Cain just can't eat his pancakes without some kind of syrup!


But I couldn't find it, I swear I bought some the first day we went to the store to get food for the apartment. For the life of me I don't know what happened to it. So Cain braved the pancakes without syrup... and he liked it! Haha!

I made my grocery list out for the week and was off to food land. And there I made sure to pick up Cain's Maple Syrup!

Here is all the I got from Kroger's... 

Green grapes

Strawberries

Pineapple 

Celery 

Onion

Diced Tomato

Maple Syrup

Frank's Hot sauce

Olive Oil Potato Chips

Ground Turkey

Chicken Breast

And the Ezekiel tortillas were already out on the table thawing out.  They last longer if you freeze them and seeing how Cain only eats about two a week I have to let them thaw out every week!

So while I prepare the food, they play. And I stop and adore the sight :)

These two, melt my heart. 

So for lunch I decided on Buffalo Meat Loaf. Using ground turkey! 

Buffalo Meat Loaf:

1 lb Turkey

3 stalks of Celery 

1 Egg

Half of a small Onion

3 T Almond flour

3 T Franks hot sauce

1 t Garlic powder

1/2 t cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste!

 And it turned out great! Cain had peas on the side. Yuck. You'd think with all the veggies I eat that I would like peas too... but I don't! And NEVER have. It's the one veggie I can't bring myself to eating. I like avocados raw, I like spinach and kale... but can't do peas. 

 I made this calendar for our apartment over the weekend! It's a countdown to the Wedding! We have 100 days starting tomorrow! Wow, can't wait! Cain will get to mark each day off. But every Monday or any other day I'm there I get to do the marking off!

 I realized I didn't post these pictures from last week, but thought I would now..

Graci and I waiting in line at Walmart. Always so much fun.... not!

Not that you guys care. But I do sometimes take pictures of my food. I don't normally post them though because don't see the point. But I thought how I post Cain's food for the week, but never mine. And I didn't think that was fair :p So here is some stuff I enjoyed last week!

Here is a salad with chicken, cherry tomatoes, avocodo and pecans!

Here is a salad with one salmon patties whole and a half of one chopped on top. There is peppers, tomatoes and avocado mixed in!

This is a greet smoothie I had for a snack! But to be honest I can't remember what I put in it! I will do another this week and tell you!

Salad with tomatoes, 2 boiled eggs, strawberries and apple!

 Well that was fun! Hope you enjoy looking at my favorite things to eat!

 Ruthie sent me this picture of us from Saturday at Derrek and Cat's wedding! Thought I'd share!

This week is looking to be not so busy, I hope I can get a lot done!

And blog more!

Lanette