Your Love Is Strong

Howdy folks!  I hope you all have had a great week so far.  This past weekend was good and bad.  Friday night Chris and I decided to invite some friends over to watch a movie!  It had been a few weeks since we had been able to spend time with some of our friends and thought it would be fun.  Megan, my SIL, and Simon, one of Chris's old roommates, came over to watch Date Night.  We LOVE that movie - it is a must see!  We had a lot of fun just talking, sharing stories, and updating each other with our lives.  We can't wait to do it again sometime :)  Saturday morning we woke up STARVING and I was planning on making a big breakfast to start off our day, then Chris surprised me and wanted to take me out to Peach Valley!  I immediately jumped on that bandwagon :)  It was great to spend time with each other and enjoy a meal without having to cook or clean up afterwards.  So far, the weekend had been great!  Then we enjoyed an afternoon of college football - and an awesome Gator victory, which made it even better!  Saturday night I went to bed not feeling the greatest, but still planing on going to work the next day.  When I woke up Sunday, I was having a rough morning.  Let's just say I was making several trips back and forth to the bathroom....thankfully my preceptor let me go home early.  I spent the rest of the day re cooperating and was able to go in Monday and Tuesday. 

Wednesday night is my pod group night (yay!) and tonight we met at Bonefish for their $5 Bang Bang Shrimp!  Delicious!  I forgot my camera at home or else I would have taken a picture :)  It was great to be able to fellowship with each other, discuss God's word, and see how He is already working in all of our lives.  I was a good wife and got food for my hubby, but here it is 8:30 and he's still not home yet - should be soon though! 

Tomorrow we are going to Bradford High School's Tornado Whirl as apart of their homecoming week!  I don't know what it is yet - some sort of pep rally I believe - but it should be entertaining.  For now, I want to leave you with lyrics to a song that has been a great encouragement to me recently...listen to it :)

Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Chorus (3x):
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens
Is now advancing
Invade my heart
Invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens
Is buried treasure
Will you sell yourself
To buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

(Chorus 3x)

Our God in heaven
Hallowed be
Thy name above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Your Love Is Strong - Jon Foreman

Friday Fives

I'm starting something new on my blog!  Every Friday I am going to answer five random questions from Beth's blog! 

1.  What is your "comfort food"?

This a tough one for me!  I LOVE sweet potato casserole.  It is my favorite part of holiday meals, both to eat and make!  I have a delicious recipe that I have made every year for Christmas and Thanksgiving for the past several years!  Delicious!

I also love me some brownies.  If I had a choice between ice cream and a brownie, I would go with a brownie (or brownie with ice cream hehe).  They are definitely one of my favorite deserts.

2.  One thing that is on your mind right now?
PICTURES!!  I am obsessed with organizing pictures on my computer.  I am WAY behind on that, and I haven't ordered pictures to be printed in several months.  It is driving me crazy!  I wanted to wait until I had my wedding pictures back to do one massive order, but I still don't even have those back!  I am anxious to put new pictures in my frames and finish decorating the apartment so I think I am going to go ahead and order from what I have so far. 

3.  What's the best advice you've ever received?
I'm going to put a twist on this one and base it on something I've learned recently from my Heavenly Father.  I've been struggling with feeling comfortable and confident at work.  I still have 5 weeks on orientation working with another nurse, but I have been doing most of the work independently.  I've had some rough days...and some good ones, but in my quiet time earlier this week, God brought me to these verses:

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along" - Psalm 40: 1-2

Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again - my Savior and my God! - Psalm 42: 11

Wow - how encouraging.  The first verse reminded me that God WILL carry me.  He hears my cry and rescue me.  The second verse was very humbling to me.  It reminded me that I need to praise God for blessing me with a job in the first place!  He has gotten me through so far, even during the rough days He has been with me.  I've started something new - each time I am at work feeling discouraged (and just whenever I feel like it!), I've started to silently praise Him for bringing me where I am, thanking Him for this job, and asking that He work through me and get me through the day.  It has given me a greater sense of peace and hope! 

4. If you found $10 today, what would you do with it?

I would go out to Starbucks and buy a Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin Muffin!  No question on this one :)

5.  What is your least favorite thing to clean in your house?
Bathtubs!  I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I really do not look forward to getting on my knees and scrubbing the tub.  I will do everything else without complaints (except maybe the floors sometimes lol), but not the bathtubs!

I hope y'all enjoyed this week's Friday Fives!  Any special plans for this Friday out there?  I've already done the cleaning and laundry for the week, so I'm hoping to catch up on pictures this weekend!  It's homemade pizza night in the Chaplin house - yummy! 

Happy Friday :)

2 months!

Today is our 2 month anniversary!  Chris is going to try to leave work as soon as he can today so that we can spend some quality time together and go on a date!  We're both going through adjustments in our own jobs...and still getting used to this whole married thing!...so we haven't had as much time together recently as we both want.  Hopefully today will make up for that! 

The past few mornings in Gainesville have been beautiful!  Yesterday I was able to enjoy my breakfast on the balcony while making my grocery list for this week.  I tried the Yoplait Greek Yogurt Strawberry & Vanilla (I had a coupon) - it just wasn't as good as Chobani to me.  Have any of yall tried it?  After enjoying my breakfast and searching for coupons for this week's Publix trip, I headed out to run errands.  I FINALLY bought a pair of Dansko's to wear to work.  I couldn't stand on my feet for 12 hours a day wearing my 4 year old sneakers (bad, I know) anymore.  These will definitely take some getting used to, but I know in the long run they will save my feet and my back.  I then headed to Bath & Body Works!  I had a coupon for 20% off my entire purchase and 1 free travel size product!  I got a wallflower refill, 2 candles, and a small body spray for $13!  Yay for sales & coupons!  Then I did the dreaded Publix shopping adventure...they really aren't that bad if I have a list.  Over the past few years of living on my own, I have discovered that I HAVE to make a list before I go to Publix or else my mind will be all over the place and I will probably go down every single aisle.  Not only do I have to make a list, I have to check out the ads online too.  I only like to buy things that are on sale and plan my meals around the sale items.  It doesn't always happen but at least I try! 

Wednesday night was the first night of my women's pod group for church!  The pod group is like a small bible study/accountability group made up of either 3 women, men, or couples, that meet once a week.  Chris and I were in a couple's pod group a year ago (during the time we got engaged), and loved it.  Neither of us were able to do one in last spring, but I am excited to be doing one this semester!  One of the girls, Nancy, was in my first pod group, so it's cool that we were put back together in one again.  All 3 of us are newlyweds and can relate to all of the exciting and new things during this time in our lives.  This week's focus was on getting to know each other, setting up a weekly meeting time & place, and practicing how we would witness to those in our lives that don't have a relationship with Christ.  I am looking forward to these next several weeks and seeing what God is going to teach us!

Well, I should be off!  I have more things that need to be crossed off the to-do list :) 
Love yall!

Game Day

It's been a victorious weekend for both the Bradford Tornadoes and the Florida Gators! Woo hoo! Last night we drove to Starke (about 45-50 min drive) to watch the Bradford High School football team take on Fernandina Beach High School football team.

My hubby and I

Kickoff!

The team played really well, and it was fun to reminisce back to the high school marching band days.

BHS Band

FBHS Band

We left in the middle of the 4th quarter, but we knew who was going to win!  We won 40-0!  Go Tornadoes!

We woke up this morning and decided that we both needed a day to rest and recoup at home, so we didn't end up going to the Gator game.  We were both disappointed that we weren't there, but know that it was for the best.  After last week's game, I had to work 4 days straight and I was a zombie (plus I had gotten burnt which may me more exhausted).  We decided that we eat burritos for lunch during the game - yumm!

Chris finishing up a few things for the burritos!

Yum!

In addition to the burritos, we had chips & salsa, and I had a margarita (they go so well with Mexican food!).  It was very relaxing to enjoy the game in the a.c. next to my hubby without having to worry about soaking my shirt in sweat, getting burnt, and having enough elbow room!  The game started off a little slow, but the real Gators showed up by the end of the game!

Chips & Salsa - in our Gator platter of course :)

Chris wanted me to put this picture in here to show off our TV!  My parents bought us a new tv and a XBOX 360 as apart of their wedding gift to us.  It is awesome!  Excuse the bare walls....we've been slightly busy recently and haven't had time to hang things!  After the game I got my things ready for work tomorrow and made chocolate chip cookies! 

Alrighty folks, I'm off to go eat dinner and relax for the rest of the evening before craziness hits for the next 3 days!

Go Tornadoes!

Tonight we are going to support the Bradford High School Tornadoes!  It's where Chris teaches - and he has several students on the football team.  It's been YEARS since I've been to a high school game, so I'm excited.  For now, I am going to leave you with some pictures that the Disney photographers took of us on our honeymoon!  We ordered a CD of all of the pictures instead of individual prints (the individual prints are SO expensive) and we just recently got the CD in the mail!  Here's a sneak peek..

I want some comments!  Which one is your fav? 

What's new with the Chaplin's

It's been a while since my last post!  There hasn't been too many exciting things going on, except the fact the Gator Football is BACK!

Friday
Chris and I both had to work, but I thankfully got out of class a little early (I was in an ICU class all last week).  I was excited because Uncle Dan was coming to visit!  He got some curtains made for our apartment and wanted to bring them up to us...and go to a football game :)
We ended up going out to the mall to get some curtain rods and then eating at Ruby Tuesday!  I forgot to take pictures of my food, but I had grilled salmon with asparagus!  Yum!  They just started a new menu a few weeks ago, and added several menu options - the grilled salmon and asparagus being two of them!  After dinner we met my parents back at my apartment.  They found out on Thursday that they could get 2 tickets to the football game, and it just so happened that my Dad was off that weekend, so they decided to come up!  They came over to our apartment and dropped off our dog Allie to stay with us since my parents were staying in a hotel that night.  After my parents left to head to the hotel, Meme and Pop (one set of my grandparents) called and were going to stop by to see our apartment!  They were in Gainesville because they go to every home Gator game!  It was nice to have them stop by and visit - I love having friends and family over :)  That night we (as in primarily Dan) hung our curtains!  They are beautiful!  I don't have a picture yet (slacker, I know), but I promise will be posted soon!

Saturday
GAME DAY!  We got up early and headed to the Oaks Mall to catch the Navigator bus to the stadium. 

Chris and Uncle Dan

Chris and I

Once we got to the stadium we met up with my parents and grandparents!

Candid shot of Meme and Pop - aren't they cute with their Gator gear?!

Dad and Chris

I don't have too many pictures of the game, but it was HOT!  That was one of the hottest games I had ever been to, except maybe Tennessee last year.  We didn't play great and the team still has a lot of work to do, but it was still a W!

Coach Meyer

I'm excited for this week's game vs. USF.  I think they will put up a good fight against us and if we don't improve from how we were last week, we may be in big trouble.  So glad that football season is back...nothing's better than Gator Football :)

I guess I should be off to finish the laundry!  Tonight I am going out with my dear friend Katie.  We haven't had much time recently to hang out (with us both starting jobs as RNs at Shands), but we were finally able to set a date!  We haven't figured out our plans for the evening yet- we are going on an adventure!  There are going to be some exciting posts ahead!  I'm going to share several recaps of exciting events...and post pictures of our apartment!

Living like no one else...

Last night was the last class of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at our church, River Cross Church.  Chris and I started the class as a couple in June because we wanted to start off our marriage with a Biblical outlook on how we should manage our money.  We had to miss a few weeks in the middle (with the wedding and honeymoon!), but last night we finished the video series.  They are great and provide us both with a sense of hope! 

For those of you who don't know much about Dave Ramsey's FPU class, he developed a seven step process to financial peace.

     1.  $1,000 in an emergency fund ($500 if your income is under $20,000 per year)
     2.  Pay off all debt except the house utilizing the debt snowball
     3.  Three to six months expenses in savings
     4.  Invest 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement plans
     5.  College funding
     6.  Pay off your home early
     7.  Build wealth and give!

Last night our lesson was on the last step, building wealth and giving.  It was my favorite class by far - the previous weeks focused on the steps to handling finances, but this last lesson focused more on the spiritual aspects. We are only MANAGERS of our money, not owners.  God provides for us financially, but it is ALL His and we are just managing it.  It is so hard for us as people to not hold onto our money once we get it - we work hard and deserve it, right?!  But it's not ours!  Giving moves us to become less selfish, and less selfish people have more of a tendency to prosper in relationships and in wealth.  In addition, because we are designed in God's image, we are the happiest and most fulfilled when serving and giving.  Something that Dave Ramsey kept saying was, "you can't lose by giving".  Wow. 

They shared a few stories of acts of generosity throughout the video.  One in particular was about a young family with 2 kids who had gone through the FPU class at their church, and were in step 2, getting rid of debt.  One day around town, they ran into a couple from their church who they didn't really know, more just recognized their faces, but still stopped to say hello to the couple.  In their conversation, they got on the topic of Dave Ramsey, and the family told the couple that they had about $10,000 in debt left to pay off.  The couple asked them what they were going to do once they became debt free, and the father said he promised his kids a trampoline, but they really wanted to adopt.  The next day, a trampoline was delivered to the family's home!  They were shocked!  The couple called the family and said that they would like to stop by and talk to them about something - of course the young family was really hesitant and instantly thought they were falling for a scam, but they finally agreed to meeting with them.  The next day the couple stopped by the family's home,and after a few minutes of small talk, the couple said that they wanted to write the young family a check for $10,000 to pay off their debt so that they can begin the adoption process!  WOW!   How awesome is that?!  That's my ultimate goal - to be able to bless those around me.

I would encourage anyone reading the post to look into taking his class.  We learned SO much and have set up a plan to have financial freedom.  We still have a ways to go, but we have so much more hope and can see the light!  One of the most awesome things about this is that once you buy the membership kit, you are lifelong members and can take the class as many times as you want, and have complete access to TONS of online resources.  Dave Ramsey's motto is that if right now you live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else!  Chris and I love that concept - the sacrifices we have to make now (living like no one else), will result in more financial freedom and the ability to truly live without guilt.  I would love to talk with any of you about this if you have any questions :)

I am off to clean the apartment!  I have family coming into town tomorrow for the football game - lots of work to get done!  GATOR FOOTBALL in less than 2 days!!!