3 months. 22 days.

Update: We are finally starting to feel settled in both upstairs and the downstairs portions of our little 2 bedroom/2.5 bath home (pictures to come). It's taken me a while to adjust to being a full-time working woman and a full-time wife. Jake has been very patient with me. Amidst the learning curve, we just started up again with our middle school small groups for the Fall that meet once a week, are starting our own community group with other newly-weds, and are attempting to lose 10 lbs and complete a triathlon. Just FYI the 10 lbs is "a piece" not "collective."

This is harder for us than many because we love to eat. For about a month now we have been slowly tweaking our diet to include more real foods, more natural foods and more local foods. We love how we feel. So here's our dinner tonight which we thoroughly enjoyed - no processed foods, no sugar, no butter, no creams. Just plain old good food.

Dinner: Our main dish was straight off one of my favorite foodie blogs (theclothesmakethegirl.com) - Moroccan Pork Chops. I paired it with a side that I adapted from her Cauliflower Rice Pilaf recipe.

Moroccan Pork Chops (found here)

1 lb. pork chops

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

salt and pepper

Cauliflower Mushroom Rice/Risotto

1 head of cauliflower (riced in a food processor)

1 tbs minced garlic

2-4 tbs coconut oil

1/2 sweet onion

1 c mushrooms chopped finely

salt and pepper

I sauteed the onions, mushrooms and garlic in the coconut oil and let them simmer. Then I added the cauliflower and tossed for about 5 minutes to soften. In hindsight I would add more mushrooms to the rice and possibly some coconut cream or olive oil to create a richer/creamier texture. I'll have to tweak it and try again because it was delicious and has a lot of potential.

And who wants to skip dessert? 

Fresh Strawberries, Greek yogurt and cashews


Not to mention the view...

Flowers from Jake...just because :).

That's all for Monday! Have a great week. Tomorrow night we are having our good friends Allyssa and Eric over for dinner and serving up some lettuce wrap burgers with a twist!

Engagement Excitement!

Jake and I were privileged (thanks John!) to be a part of our friends' wonderful start to their love story!  Tiffany is a bridesmaid in our wedding and one of my very best friends -- we were roommates in college and spent pretty much all our time together. I just love her and am so thankful we were there for this momentous event in their lives.

Tiffany and John - Jake and I wish you the best, and look forward to celebrating with you and enjoying friendships! Enjoy this time and take it all in! It's a blast :).  We love you!!!

30 days!

What's it like to be 30 days out?? Well, most of you who have been here know how crazy/hectic/stressful planning a large event can be.  Not to mention making the biggest life-adjustment ever!!!

Jake has been a trooper - unbelievably supportive and patient and caring. We both just cannot wait for the big day to get here.

Update: Jake has moved into the condo that WE will be living in as of June 3! We are slowly and steadily trying to paint, organize and prepare it for occupancy of 2 :).

I passed my exams and am set to graduate May 19! Whoop!

I got a job!!!! I'll be a Speech Therapist at Baylor, working with an amazing team of people - I feel so blessed that the Lord has given me this opportunity.

Jake spilled the beans and I know where the Honeymoon is!!!! (Oops...:). Secretly, though, it's super fun to know so we can plan and be excited together!). We are going to ST. LUCIA. Google it. It's pretty amazing.

Other than that, just nailing down last minute details like what kind of cookies we'll be having, song lists, order of ceremony, day-off schedule, plans for fun....wait, who am I kidding? We won't need to plan for fun :).

We can't wait to celebrate with you all!

Happy Birthday to Jake!

Today is the day! My sweet fiance was born 24 years ago today. Today is the day God completed the process of forming him and making him perfect.  "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139: 15-16).


It is crazy and wonderful to me that before Jake was even born, God had ordained this birthday in particular for him - a birthday that is 82 days away from when I get to start a new life with him. Wow! For lack of more poetic words - that is so cool.


I am so thankful for Jake - thankful for his parents who raised him well, thankful for his heart that loves the Lord, thankful that God called him to a better way of living, thankful that his relationship didn't stop at believing but that he continues to grow.

I know that he continues to grow because I see how he treats me, and I see how his heart is constantly changing.  I am convinced that a marriage relationship is just about the hardest thing. I am also convinced that it can be just about the best thing on this earth. I recently read an article that had a line in it that I loved: "The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the Gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once. The Gospel is—we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, and at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope." (original article) There is no one who sees my flaws more than Jake does (other than Jesus, of course), and who loves me so well in spite of them. 


So Jake, as a tribute to your birthday, I wanted to share with the people around us that our relationship is far from perfect, far from easy, and far from simple. It is, however, the most wonderful thing ever, because you are so kind, so loving, so sincere and gentle, so strong and so sweet. Most of all you make life more fun and the difficult times enjoyable, with your cute humor, your spontaneous dance parties, your genuine laugh and smile, and the selfless way you drop everything at all times just to make me laugh. 

YOU are wonderful, and a man to be celebrated every day, but especially today!

quick fix: brussel sprouts & yams

Threw together lunch for Mr. Finch and I today. Took a grand total of 10 minutes, and I've got leftovers. Win.




B. sprouts & yams
1-2 tbs. coconut oil
garlic
1/4 c. yellow onion, diced
1 yam
5 large brussel sprouts, sliced


Sautee in the pan and cover until slightly steamed and softened. 


B. sprouts are some of my favorite veggies, and their bitter crunch complimented the sweet, soft yams. Jake and I ate a large helping of the veggies with some homemade, all-natural venison/pork sausage. Delicious.

wedding schmedding...let's eat!

Wedding planning has been pretty smooth sailing. That comes from having one heck of a fiance and one super organized and thorough Mom. I won't jade you, there have definitely been moments of frustration and crying in the car with Jake, and him holding my hands so I won't pull my hair out because there's just so much to think about when you're planning an event for 250 people. However, aside from all of that, Jake and I have still made time for things that we love...and we love to eat. Correction: we LOVE to eat.


We love eating just about anything that tastes good, including but not limited to cookies, Chick-fil-a, tacos, Blue Goose fajitas, chips and guacamole, pasta, steak, etc. But we really love eating what I like to think of as good food, not just food that tastes good.


Good food: all-natural meat (preferred: killed it, cleaned it, put it on the table good), fresh produce of lots of colors and varieties (preferred: organic and local but our budget requires that we make choices), yummy yummy nuts and seeds, the occasional dairy treat (I especially like fatty greek yogurt and homemade mozzarella, and Jake has a new love for raw milk...I do too actually), good red wine, dark beer, and dark chocolate


We try to stay away from anything processed that's not good for our bodies, and I love experimenting with all of that "healthy" stuff to concoct something incredibly tasty that's good for our bodies. Being in the kitchen together is really our favorite thing, and it's a fun date when we get to go to Sunflower (our local market), pick out the weekly special, head over to one of our respective kitchens (gosh, it will be nice when we're married), and create a culinary treat.


Last week I experimented with eggplant, making a mediterranean dish out of my roommate's cookbook called Moussaka. It's basically a lasagna with eggplant (and I used ground venison that my brother so graciously hunted last Fall). It was delicious.

Bok-Choy

This week, for lunch, I decided to experiment with Bok Choy. I saw it at the store and was intrigued and bought it. I'm glad I did. I tossed it with some tuna, red peppers, avocado, and a homemade mayo-vinaigrette.  I used several recipes as inspiration, including one from a new cookbook I got Jake called Well Fed. My Bok-choy inspiration came from Stone Soup Virtual Cookery School.


It was delicious! I added a little zing and changed up a few things here and there as you can see in my final recipes below. All the textures made for a delicious and nutritious lunch. Jake approved! I wish I had a picture of it, but before I could think to take one, we had cleaned our plates.




Bok-choy Tuna Salad
1 head of bok-choy, sliced thin (use all except the very base which you can cut off and discard)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 avocado, diced
2 cans of tuna


Homemade Mayo-Vinaigrette
4-5 tablespoons of Homemade Mayo
1-2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
1/8-1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper, as preferred (we like it hot!)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste


Mix together and then toss with salad.


Homemade Mayo (can be tricky)
1 egg at room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon juice at room temperature
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt (or more to taste)
1 1/4 cups Walnut Oil (or plain olive oil, not EVOO, but I didn't have any in my kitchen)


*I used Walnut Oil to make it taste less olive-y since I only had EVOO. Plain olive oil has a milder taste.


Combine the egg, lemon juice, mustard and salt in a blender with a 1/4 c. of the oil. Blend until creamy. Slowly add the remaining oil while blending to create an emulsion of the oil with the liquid. It's amazing! It comes out thick and creamy for spreading, without all that processed junk and gross fat. Only good, heart-healthy fat here!


Try it! Promise there will be pictures next time!






Love from the (almost) Finches.