Life changes!

You know how there are things in life that you pray and pray for? You always want it so badly but it's just never quite given to you? The Lord just keeps telling you to wait. Wait. It is so hard, but what other choice do you have?

Then finally, years down the road, the Lords timing is finally evident. You finally see what you have been waiting for.

Jake is changing jobs! We are moving! And in the next few months we will (hopefully) be welcoming a new little puppy to our lives!

Jake has been in a very bad job situation for the past year and a half. I don't think there hasn't been a day where he or I have prayed that a new job will be provided. Over the last few months we heard about a possible new job situation, but nothing really ever came of it. Then finally, last week, it was all finalized. Jake put in his two weeks today. The day after Easter, Jake will start a new job. New boss. New company. New start!

We are also moving! We love our apartment that we currently are in. It is owned by lifelong friends of Jake's family. While that was great, and such a blessing at the time, it had it's downsides. We never truly felt like it was our home, because people would say "Oh, Jake and Joanna live at Sam and Jess's." No, we live in our apartment. But no one was very able to separate the two. So this coming Saturday, Jake and I are packing up and moving to a smaller, but more comfortable apartment out in the country. Still close to town, but far enough out that we probably won't be hearing sirens every night. We get our own private yard, even though there's still no fence. But we're probably going to do a dog run of sorts. It's a downgrade in many ways; no dishwasher, no laundry, we have to pay our own heat, and it's only one bedroom. But Jake and I felt so comfortable there instantly that we couldn't pass it up. It is so cozy.So us!

I'll try my best to post pictures next week after the move. I know I've never really done well at following through, but I'm going to try!

So to all those people out there who may think that God isn't hearing your prayers, He really is. He's just asking you to wait for His perfect timing. If it's in His will, it WILL happen. :)

HAH!

What a nasty little piece of work I am. Here I am, on a blogging role, telling how I'm going to write as often as possible about my volunteering at the humane society, or my last escapades in the kitchen. And now it's been what? Two weeks since my last post? Hahaha, oh well.

In reality, I have a decent excuse. I've only been able to volunteer once. Life changes quickly, and now Jake is having to take our car to work most days. So obviously that leaves me carless with no way to get around but my two legs. And I'm not walking that far just to walk some dogs. :) But the one day I have been able to go was lots of fun.

It was just my first day, so as is protocol, I wasn't actually allowed to walk the dogs. I got to watch though! They do this thing every afternoon called Dog Walk, where yes, they walk dogs. Haha. A bunch of volunteers and staff walk all the walkable dogs in the building around a path that takes about five minutes (of if you're not a good walker on ice, more like ten minutes). There were probably 8 staff walking, and myself and another volunteer. Unfortunately there were only about 10 dogs to walk. So it went really quick. But it was still fun. Of course, very different from what I'm used to. But I knew that going in and don't have any complaints!

Hopefully I'll be able to go back again soon, but life is pretty hectic right now with a possible move to a new apartment and Jake hopefully starting a new job. So we'll see! I promise to try to do better about blogging still though. :)

Oreo Truffles

Look at them! In all their glory!

I found these babies on Pinterest. They are so easy, so fast, and so fattening, I'm sure! All it is is a package of double stuffed oreos, 4oz of cream cheese, and white chocolate for melting!

I ground up the oreos by putting them in a bag and rolling a vase over them (hey! You gotta be creative sometimes!), but you can also use a food processor. ;) Then I hand mixed them with cream cheese, which is huge for me cause I hate, hate, HATE getting my hands that dirty. But it was worth it! Then I rolled them in little balls and put them on wax paper and in the freezer to freeze.

About half an hour, and a decent amount of white chocolate melted, later I took out the truffles and rolled them one by one in the white chocolate. I put them in the fridge when I was done to let them set, then waited...

I was afraid I wasn't going to like them. The smell of the cream cheese was so strong it stunk up my entire freezer, and I could barely stomach it. But one bite into them and I was in LOVE! So was my husband. So were his coworkers!

They are a hit! It made around twenty or so, and I know that's not enough to last us more than a few days, but it's probably a good thing. I'm sure they're not the healthiest things out there, but I'm thinking it just might be worth it. :)

Valentines treats!

So this year I'm much more health conscience than normal. The idea of getting loads of chocolate for Valentines Day made my stomach turn. So all I asked from Jake is a new book, and I would make some treats for the both of us! But I wanted it to be healthy... kinda. Pinterest (which is going to make me FAT) had some great Valentines day ideas without making you super tubo. Enter chocolate dipped pretzel rods, with little pink sprinkles! I got the dark chocolate because it's supposedly "healthier", and even though I searched and searched for whole wheat pretzels, I just couldn't find them. So I made do with normal.
It took about forty minutes. I just melted the chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave until it was done, then rolled the rods on a chocolate covered spatula. Laid it on a baking sheet covered in wax paper, sprinkled some pink yummies on it, and wa la! After I was done I placed them all (three sheets worth!) in the fridge to firm up.

I just took them out and they came out perfect! I am so proud. I tried two little ones (rods that had broken). One with the pink sugar and one without. They were very good! It is a good thing I did dark chocolate, because I really don't like it. This is more of a treat for Jake. So I won't be too tempted to eat and eat!

I've been trying to be a better baker/chef for my hubs. I started last week and I think I'm doing pretty well. Just wait till you see what snack I make next week! :)

Quick Update

Just a quick note saying Belle is doing great! She was super angry for about 24 hours, but now she's back to her normal self. She has even been asking to play fetch with us! Jake was hoping she'd be more lovey, but she's still a brat when he's around. She HAS been snuggling at my feet all night, and while I love it, I feel it is my job to protect her from Jake's legs while he's sleeping. So that makes it difficult for me to really get good, deep sleep. But I love that she snuggles with me. :) Oh look, Jake is in the other room and Belle is now sitting on my lap. :)

Also I had my volunteer orientation today. I think it went great! I should be getting an email soon with my training schedule!

Baby Belle

Have I ever written about how great Baby Belle is? Fondly called BB. Often also called Beelzebub, or Bellatrix (after Bellatrix Lestrange). As much as I love her, and as long as I could rave on and on about her, there's no getting around one simple fact: She is a BRAT.

Oh but I love her. She cuddles with me and only me. She has it out for Jake, she hates him. And usually anyone else who may claim my attention. Well, I shouldn't say she hates Jake. She has started snuggling with him in the mornings, but only if I'm right next to him. It's sweet. But when Jake leaves for work and I go back to bed (it's way early, people), Belle is always there. She snuggles right in the nook of my arm, purring so sweet. She falls asleep and we snuggle for about an hour before she decides the birds outside chirping are too great a distraction. I love those moments. Even Fala tolerates the snuggle (Fala sleeps on the beds sans Jake, also).

Even during the day, if Belle is really feeling nice, she'll come snuggle me. And she has been such a good fetch player from day one. Lately it has been with a little red milk tie thing. She LOVES it. She'll bring it to me in the shower, when I'm sleeping, or going to the bathroom. She always wants to play.

Anyway, all of this to say that my little kitten is getting spayed today. I am so nervous for her. She is so tiny and the idea of her being under anesthesia and being cut open is so... ugh. Please believe me when I tell you I KNOW everyone (well, clearly not everyone) spays their animals. I've had tons of kitties and they were all fixed and all came home in one piece. But this has been a truly terrible month for me. Most of the things that could go wrong, have gone wrong, in the past three weeks. So of course, I worry.

I'm sure she'll be fine, and I can't wait to get the call in a few hours saying she came through surgery just fine. And despite how many times I rebutted Jake on it this past week, I really am excited to not have to deal with more heat cycles! I just already miss my kitty's presence, and I am hoping everything goes perfect. Good wishes and thoughts are appreciated!

(Do you think I'm crazy?)

Superbowl Sunday

Jake and I really, truly, are not football fans. But we will take any excuse to make yummy food and eat our hearts out for one day! Admittedly, we did watch two football games before the Superbowl. We had heard all about Tim Tebow and wanted to see what that was all about; so we watched his team get slaughtered in the playoffs by the Patriots. Then we saw the Patriots win in a jaw dropping finish against the... Ravens? Not sure. This led us to the Superbowl.

We live in New England, so we were rooting for the Patriots. But we know a better team when we saw one, and the Giants definitely played much better. Obviously, seeing as they won. Plus I had heard about Eli Manning years ago and always liked him for some reason, so I wasn't sad to see his team win. I felt more bad for my sister, a huge Patriots fan, than I did for the actual football team. And I felt a little sad for all the members in my church who wore a Patriots jersey to the service that morning.