Living in community

You know, I always sort of understood the idea of living in community and "doing life" with people, but until we joined our small group, I didn't ever experience that in a real way. It has been wonderful to get so close with all of our small group friends and to share everything about life with them. We really are "doing life" together. And its awesome.

I knew I felt this way for a while, but we had an early Thanksgiving dinner together, and as I sat at a huge table with 12 of my closest friends, I felt so thankful for what God has blessed us with. Looking around at everyone laughing and just enjoying each other's company got me a little sentimental about how lucky we are to have such great people in our lives. People we can count on in good times and bad. People who will drop everything for us if we needed them. People we can trust, and people we can lean on. This is not to say that we are not thankful for those who are outside our small group, but this particular event struck a chord with me about living in a community of believers.

And that is a wonderful place to live.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving this year was AWESOME! Normally we go to 3 Thanksgivings in one day (no kidding) and it is so stressful, but this year our families were so great to work with us on the scheduling! We had all 3 of our families Thanksgivings on different days this year, so we actually got to ENJOY the food. It was great. And we ate a lot.

We have so many things to be thankful for and its so nice to have a holiday season that is centered around just being thankful! Things happen so fast and we get so busy, it is easy to forget about the many blessings we have every single day. I am definitely thankful for a complete season to be conscious about being thankful!!

What are you thankful for this season?

Me with my two sisters

Happy birthday Calley!

Happy birthday to our sister-in-law, Calley! We had a great celebration with lots of family- Calley's family even got to come down from Iowa and Paris (thats right, Paris. Her sister and brother-in-law live there. How cool is that?)

Jacob's dad made this HUGE 4-layer chocolate cake!!

Devouring the 4-layer chocolate cake...

Look how big that slice is!

The birthday girl!

Operation Christmas Child

Many of you know by now that Jacob and I lead small groups through the high school ministry at North Point Community Church. We just finished up a series there called Love Moves, which was all about how to make your love "move". Not just about what we THINK about doing to help others, but what we can actually DO to help others....putting it into action!

So last weekend, our group got together and made Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. If you don't know anything about this organization, they "help meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ." They have lots of different ministries through their organization, but one of them is Operation Christmas Child. Through this ministry, you fill a shoebox with all sorts of toys, then they ship it overseas to children in impoverished nations. It is just a simple way to show love to a child who might not get much for Christmas, and its a way for them to hear God's word and know the gospel. It's really an amazing ministry, and it was so fun to get together and make those shoeboxes, knowing it would brighten a child's day on Christmas morning. Its like packing love in a box.

Our couples small group made boxes together as well, and I had the fabulous privilege of taking a total of 20 boxes to the collection center. That's enough boxes to provide a Christmas to children in an entire village. Amazing.

So here's some of our girls with their sweet boxes....how are you going to make your love move this holiday season??

One of our favorites...

During the winter, Jacob and I have a complete obsession for making homemade soups! There is just something about the cold weather that makes you want to eat soup, right? So we found and made a ton of great soups last winter and are starting it back up now. One of our favorites is homemade tomato-basil soup. It is SOOO good! So of course, we want to share it with you!

Tomato-Basil Soup

What you need:

4 cups tomatoes, chopped and seeded

4 cups tomato juice

1/3 cup basil leaves

1 cup low-fat milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

4 oz cream cheese, softened

What you do:

Bring the tomatoes and tomato juice to a boil in a large pot. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Place tomato mixture and 1/3 cup basil leaves into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pot. Stir in the milk, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the cream cheese until smooth. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 5 minutes). Garnish with basil leaves and french bread.

*Jacob and I LOVE to cook some cheese-filled tortellini pasta to throw into the soup- it tastes delicious!!

*Makes 8 servings

Our little guy is growing up!

Tucker had his first birthday on Sunday! I cant believe that he is already one year old...it seems just like yesterday when we brought him home for the first time. Craziness.....

And if you were wondering if we are "those people" who celebrate their dogs birthday, we are. We got him a really great bone that he LOVES and hasn't put down since we gave it to him.

Happy 1st birthday Tucker!

Then- when we first got him @ 5 weeks old

Now- at 1 year old!

Happy birthday TIm!

Jake's brother, Tim had a birthday this past weekend, and we had a great time celebrating at Josh and Calley's new house with family! The best part about the whole night was watching the GA/AU game there with everyone. Jake's family from Alabama was there, and of course, they are Auburn fans (all 5 of them showed up to the birthday party wearing orange shirts), so the game was extra special for us since UGA won the game!! And yes, we did rub it in :)

Tim, playing with his new birthday toy- a lens for his camera!

Jake's dad with our little niece, Mackenzie

Me and Loren- check out that obnoxious orange shirt! :)

Get started on that Christmas shopping

Etsy has some GREAT items that you can give as Christmas gifts, so get to shopping!! Some of my current faves...

Southhampton earrings for $28.80 by jdeandrade

Found via Gift-Ink

These are so beautiful and right now, everything in her store is 40% off (some of it is even 50% off)! These earrings were originally $48.00. What a deal!

Bunches of Blooms calling cards by stationaryboutique- $30.00

I think that these calling cards are so cute! You can personalize them to say whatever you want and they come in a pack of 40.

In Touch Clutch by downstairsdesigns- $27.00

Found via Gift-Ink

This little item is probably one of the best things going right now. You can get it custom made to fit whatever you want it for! You can use it to hold just about anything you can imagine (there is a huge list of uses on the item page). You can also choose the fabric that you want on it. So cute.

Gold filigree earrings by luxedeluxe- $16.80

Love these. They are just such a fun, classic gold earring. Cant get enough of that!

Custom children's silhouette portraits by prettybabyportraits- $29.95

I really want to get this for all the moms in my life. You send in a profile picture of any child, and they will make this beautiful silhouette portrait for you. What a fun, personalized gift!

Cosmetic bag by eadybeady- $12.00

These cosmetic bags are awesome. I got one for my friend, Liane, for her birthday and I was so impressed by the quality of these bags! They come in all different kinds of fabrics, too! Also a great idea for bridesmaid gifts.

Italian Rooftops by LaurenCastillo- $25.00

Alright, so I am totally obsessed with this girl's artwork. It is so beautiful. She has all of these really great drawings of Italy and Rome landscapes, and they are just awesome....and at a reasonable price, too!

Happy Halloween!

Mariachi band member- and yes, I have a mustache (the costume wouldnt be complete without it!)

Jake was a little weirded out about the stache....

Our friends Matt and Lindsey, who took the cake on the best costumes! She was a puppet and he was a puppeteer! So awesome.

Welcome Josh and Calley!

Jake's brother and his wife, Calley, just joined the blogging world! Welcome, guys!!

You can check out their blog HERE.