Flowers

I've had flowers on my mind today. I saw Caitlin's post about wisteria and I love how everything is beginning to come into bloom! The wisteria, tulips, dogwoods, irises and even the bradford pears are all opening and in color. It's gorgeous.
I love flowers and so Matthew has bought me live flowers in the past so that I could grow my own flowers to enjoy. Unfortunately, I've had a really tough time to keeping them alive and it always made me feel terrible, but luckily he didn't give up hope on me. He bought me this beautiful purple miniature orchid and I gave myself no hope of keeping it alive. This one however came with little directions, and this has helped a lot I think. I keep it in the kitchen window with the blinds cracked, so that it can get sunlight. I periodically check to see how damp the ground is. It's all working! I've kept an orchid alive for over a month now. I'm quite proud, especially considering I'd had such a hard time with seemingly easier plants like a mum and a tulip.
Also this morning Matthew showed me a new game on the Playstation 3 called Flower. It's so wonderfully relaxing! There's no losing or dying or starting over. It starts out with a little wilting flower in a New York apartment and as you get closer it takes you into this meadow, perhaps where the flower came from and a little petal floats off in a burst of wind so starts the adventure. You just float around gathering other petals from the flowers and as you gain more and reach new flowers more of the meadow blooms and the skies clear. It's just peaceful and relaxing. I'm enjoying it! In my past video game experiences, I tend to get really stressed whenever my character dies or the game tells me "you fail", but this is peaceful and happy and there are only good consequences.
So that's me and my flower power connection today. The photos are of my orchid in it's window, and of one of the wreaths from the wedding that we hung on our front door.



Matt & Jess

Family Recipes

Matthew and I were cooking Wednesday and I realized we were each making family recipes from the other's family. I was making Matt's mom's chicken pot pie for dinner and Matthew was making my mom's chili for the chili cook-off at Best Buy. I liked seeing elements from each of our families mixing. Recipes to follow.
Matthew and I over the years have tried to turn every moment into a date, because we feel like we just can't have enough time together, so we like to make the most of the time we have. As a matter of fact, while taking out the trash, Matthew just took me on a walk. We walked around the apartment complex holding hands and just catching up. I had a headache and just walking in the cool, fresh evening air and sharing with Matthew was perfect to ease my headache. It was just a great married moment, so I thought I'd share.
Today was my last day on orientation. I managed my labor and delivered my baby before my shift was over, so that was a good feeling before I begin to go out on my own. Pray for me as I move to evening shift next week. I'm excited about the change, but nervous simply because it is a change. I love the ladies I've met on day shift, but I know that I will make friends on evening shift too. This my baby count up to the 40's. Isn't that amazing? I have the most amazing job in the world. I witness miracles everyday!

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
2 cans of chicken
2 cans mixed vegetables (low-sodium)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 refrigerated regular pie crusts
2 refrigerated deep-dish pie crusts
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Mix chicken, veggies and soup (salt & pepper to taste) together on stove top to warm throughout. Lightly brown deep-dish pie crusts in 350 degree oven. Pull out deep-dish crusts and fill with chicken & veggie mixture. Free the regular pie crusts from their pans and lay over top of pie to form top crust. Cut slits to vent. Bake in oven at 350 until golden brown (35 minutes-1 hour).
*This is great to use with any left-over vegetables as well. Matthew and I have done this before and it works well.

Chili
1 lb. ground beef
1 lg. onion chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic (crushed or minced)
1 tbs. chili powder (may use more or less to adjust heat-my family uses 1/2 tbs so it's less spicy, but Matt & I use whole tbs)
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. cocoa
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper sauce (optional)
1 can tomatoes (diced, do not drain)
1 can red kidney or pinto beans

Cook ground beef with onion and garlic on stove top. Add in tomatoes and spices. Allow to simmer for one hour. Add beans and allow to simmer for another 20 minutes.
*We usually serve this over rice with cheese and sour cream available as toppings. Fritos or chips also make a great addition.

Enjoy everyone! We sure are!

Matt & Jess

Tiramisu

Matthew and I accidentally discovered cheater's tiramisu and so I thought I'd share! We went through multiple variations including whipped cream rather than actually making the custard with the egg yolks. We've also used ladyfingers as well as shortcake cups.

Here's what you need:
Coffee
3 Egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbs. Sugar
8 ounces Marscapone Cheese
Shortcake cups (or ladyfinger cookies)
Cocoa powder

Beat 3 egg yolks and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar for at least 5 minutes. The mixture will become pale and thicken. (The original recipe suggested using an electric beater with the whisk attachment but since we don't have one yet, we just got an arm workout and beat by hand with a whisk). Then beat in 8 ounces marscapone cheese. Refrigerate this mixture for at least 2 hours to allow it to solidify and become almost a custard texture. Then we spoon a little coffee over the shortcake to absorb the coffee. Then fill the cup with the custard mixture. Apply a light dusting of cocoa powder and enjoy!
We're planning to jazz it up by trying to add some espresso or perhaps vanilla extract to the custard mixture.

Enjoy!

Matthew & Jess

Officially "The Johnson's"

Hello everyone. It has been an awfully long time since I've gotten to post. Wedding planning and starting a new job pulled me away, but we have been doing great in the meantime!
The wedding was just beautiful! I got to marry my best friend, Matthew with my other best friend, Caitlin at my side supporting me and incredibly excited for me! I was so happy with how everything turned out! I have the best bridesmaids in the world by the way! They through me quite the fun bachelorette party including dinner at Hooters, feather boas, crowns, Krole the Warrior King, karaoke, drinks, laughs, lingerie and a great locations, just name a few. They melded together so well! I was so glad to see that the Texas and Alabama girls all found common ground and were hanging out as if they'd known each other forever. Caitlin was very right when she said this was a testament to the kind of girls I keep around me. You are all amazing!
The other interesting thing about the wedding was Anne, our wedding coordinator through the church. She had been so sweet in our meetings, but the day of the rehearsal and day of the wedding we saw another side of her, that was not quite as pleasant. Again, my amazing husband and terrific bridesmaids kept me calm through this as well.
Day of the wedding it did rain, but that didn't stop anything! The whole team really made everything happen so perfectly I couldn't ask for better! The day was absolutely everything I had dreamed it to be! Special thanks to Cindy for making the beautiful flowers and Afton for her beautiful singing of the Ave Maria. Father Holloway, Ashley and Jeremiah I can't thank you guys enough for being a part of our ceremony. We love all of you! As for the bridesmaids and groomsmen, they were all so amazing and supportive of both of us. We just have the best group of friends and I thank you all for being a part of our day.
The reception was a blast. I loved seeing everyone dance, mingling and having a great time!
Married life has just been great! We're so happy together and blessed to have each other!
Getting back to everyday life, Matthew's job is going great. He is now full-time at Best Buy in the Digital Imaging department (which includes cameras and portable electronics like MP3 players). He also works in gaming and car audio still. Full-time at Best Buy means that he's now part of the leadership team. He's really loving Best Buy and is still planning to move up and stay with the company. He also now wears the hats of Employee Experience Team Leader, EOL captain as well as helping out wherever he can.
This next week will be my last on orientation in the Birth Suites. I can hardly believe I'm almost through this! They're about to let me out on my own as an RN. I'm surprisingly beginning to feel kind of ready for this. It helps though that everyone is so supportive so I know I'm not truly on my own, because I can always ask questions. They've got a really great community there in the Birth Suites. So next week I switch to evening (3-11pm) shift and my 7 on/7 off schedule. Wish me luck! I'm very excited to end the early morning drives, especially now that we've had daylight savings time and it's dark for my whole morning ride.
Yesterday we went driving around Tuscaloosa for the best opportunities to find SUPERMOON! We called Matthew's parents while we were on the hunt. Mr. Marty's response to supermoon was "Is that like when a superhero flips up his cape and drops his tights?" I cracked up hysterically at this, so I thought I'd share. Thank goodness there were no bums to be seen! Our whole evening was just lovely together though. Throughout our relationship, we've always tried to turn as many moments as we can into dates and one of our favorite things to do is just go out and drive, so last night was especially wonderful.
We've also been watching our way through Scrubs. We're in Season 6 now. It's just great!
So that's the update from us! Hope you're doing well!

The Johnson's

Home-making

Hello everyone! Jess here!

As I mentioned earlier, I've been cooking more and still having pretty good success. I made chicken parmesan last night and it was very satisfying. Matthew and I have also been entertaining more friends recently which is really wonderful! I love having people over.

On Wednesday, Matthew and I finally had the time to do a few things here at my place that we'd been meaning to do. He hung my crosses. To give a quick story of these, I have a small collection of crosses that I hope will grow over the years. I have a painting that I made for my 21st birthday at Sips N Strokes and the other crosses are gifts or mark special events in my life. The Africa painting Matthew bid on at an auction to benefit Invisible Children. I think it all works very well together. We also discovered Gorilla Hooks. No studs required to hang things with these wonderful hooks and everything is held up very securely. Here's a photo of how it looks. I love it!




I also got an iPhone recently. My parents gave me one for graduation and I just picked it up this week. I've really been enjoying it. As part of all this fun, I joined the world of Words with Friends. Matthew and I enjoy board games but we don't really have any, so we ended up playing Words with Friends, which turned into quite a fun game of scrabble. What a technological world we live in!

Be praying for the weather this weekend. They're predicting some pretty serious snow and ice. St. Vincent's called to let me know that there's a chance they'll postpone orientation if the weather's bad. So be praying for good decisions on that front. I'm excited to start work, but I do really love snow!

Also in wedding news, we reserved a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn Airport. The code is Mata/Johnson Wedding. A room with 2 queen beds in $63.74 and 1 king bed is $67.99. The hotel offers continental breakfast and an airport shuttle at certain times of day. The hotel is about 10 minutes from the church and the botanic gardens (reception site).

"God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God."
-1 John 5:11-13

God bless!
Matt & Jess

Welcome to the Real World

...and we're glad to be here.

Matthew's job at Best Buy is going great and he's loving it. This week he's serving as acting supervisor while the normal supervisor is out of town. He's been working hard looking over numbers and getting ready for meetings. He is loving it! Jess graduated from Alabama (Roll Tide!) and will be starting her new job on January 10 as an RN in the Birth Suites at St. Vincent's in Birmingham (Roll Tide!). With the wedding in only 2 months, so many wonderful things are lining up for us as we enter the real world!

The new year began with quite a start for Jess as I was sick the entire evening and did not get to ring in midnight. I spent the next day sick as well, so my new year began late, but it is picking up quite nicely and turning into quite a nice year.

I honestly do hope to get in better shape this year and just be healthier overall, so I started back with P90X yesterday. Also I'm hoping to spend more time in The Word. I'm planning to make this the year I read the entire bible. I am praying and reading with this verse in mind
“If you remain in My word, you will truly be My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Jess has also discovered the joy of cooking recently and has made chicken cordon bleu, potato salad, tacos and been baking breads. The chicken cordon bleu came out really nicely and you can find the recipe on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Cordon-Bleu/Detail.aspx . As I delve more into the cooking world, I'll let you know what great recipes I find.

I had my first major cooking disaster as well. I recently learned how to make flour tortillas. I made them at home and they turned out quite nicely so I thought I'd try it here. I went to the store and bought the masa, but it turns out I bought corn masa instead of flour. They're not the same and seem to require a different touch. Someday I'll learn how to make corn tortillas, but for now I should stick to flour tortillas. Lucky for us, we had some store-bought tortillas in the bread cabinet and some chips to turn it into taco salad. At least it worked out overall.

As we look over last year, Matthew and I are so blessed and thankful for the family and friend we have in our lives and all of the amazing things that happened to us throughout this past year. We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for the new year!

Love and blessings,
Matt & Jess

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This week marks the beginning, end and celebration of many things! We are definitely thankful for it all!
Jessica will be the newest labor and delivery nurse in the birth suites at St. Vincent's in Birmingham! I loved my preceptorship there and it ended this week. I'm so excited to get to continue working in the birth suites! It's hard to believe that 6 weeks have gone by, but I have learned so much! I was blessed with a wonderful preceptor in Jennifer Cuevas and I am positive that I will be learning and benefitting from those experiences and our relationship for years. I'm so glad I'll be back there in about a month! When I started praying about being a nurse, the passion that God put in my heart was to help children have the best chance at life possible and now I get to do it! I am so very blessed!
Matthew so wonderfully reminded me too that people often say "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans", but we have been in prayer over this. We've allowed the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and because of that our desires are lining up with God's desires for our lives. It is such a wonderful blessing to live in the will of the Lord!
For Matthew and Best Buy this is a very busy week. He has been working extra hours setting up for Black Friday and the whole store has been much busier. Because he is working so much, his parents are coming to visit us for Thanksgiving! We're so excited to get to have them here. We'll be celebrating at Jess's apartment. It's been so long since we've seen them and we're excited celebrate together. They're so wonderful to be bringing the food as well as a table and chairs (since I don't have a table and chairs in my little apartment). I'll definitely be taking photos.
With the wedding a 101 days away, we've really been getting some wedding planning underway. We have decided on our cake baker and are finalizing hotels and deals for our family and friends. So many things are falling into place and it's amazing to look back and see what we have planned and even more exciting to look to the future both our wedding and even more so for our marriage. So we can both look our best on the wedding day we have started P90X. Please be praying for that. It is a lot of work, but we find that the instructor, the "X-man" as Jess likes to call him, is very encouraging. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a healthy lifestyle for us.
We would also like to let our family and friends know that we've decided to give back to our community through our wedding. With Jess's passion for giving children the best chance at life, her new career in labor & deliver, our thankfulness for our many blessings and with our wedding being in March, we thought it would be appropriate to make a donation to the March of Dimes. We would like to encourage our family and friends to collect their dimes (or any donation that you feel comfortable with) and bring them to our wedding. We will have a special place set up to collect the donation and we plan to match the collection up to $500. Let's make our March wedding, a March of Dimes. If you would like more information about the March of Dimes, please visit . We're trying to come up with a cute title to combine our March wedding and March of Dimes. If you've got any ideas let us know!
As for prayers, we ask that our family and friends pray for the Hickman family. Karri is one of Jessica's best friends and bridesmaids. Her father passed away this past week. They ask that we be praying for their peace and comfort, but they know that He is out of pain and with the Lord.
Also, we ask that you pray for Jessica's Uncle Danny. He was diagnosed with cancer this summer and tests this week showed that the pancreatic cancer had stopped growing but unfortunately they found 4 new lesions on his liver. They are changing his chemo schedule, but they gave him permission to return to work, which he has really wanted to do. The Mata family is having Thanksgiving at his house this week and I just thank the Lord for the wonderful support I know our family is offering him. I am blessed to have such a loving family.

We are very blessed this year. We are so thankful to the Lord for his faithfulness to us. God bless you and Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 118:1