That Happened

Two years ago today, this happened:


My Dad cried.

Mr. Gill "almost" cried.

We exchanged vows.

We took communion.

We danced.

And we partied!

!

Traditions

Tomorrow is Dec. 1st.

Which means.....Christmas is just around the corner!

I feel like is was just labor day-I mean, for real.

But as a *relatively* newlywed, Mr. Gill and I have been trying to formulate what our Holiday Traditions will be.
Growing up my (Jenny) family would always do the tree and on christmas eve we'd come home from church and have a little buffet and watch silly christmas movies. We'd also get to open one present before we went to bed to hold us over until the next morning.
For Mr. Gill and I though we haven't had much time to start traditions. Our first year of being married we had a christmas tree that was filled w/teal and silver ornaments from our wedding only weeks earlier.

Our second christmas together we didn't have a tree because we packed up our little apartment to move across the country the morning after the holiday and decided that dealing w/a tree would be just too much work.

This year, we will probably put up a tree, but as we are in the process of purchasing our first home (!) we'll wait until we're all moved in. While waiting for that fun event, we have something that we've been participating in for a couple of days now that we think we'll keep as a tradition for our family-an Advent Wreath!

The wreath has been great because we get to take time right before dinner and light a candle, read the scripture for that day and remember the waiting of people for thousands of years and then we get to eat by candlelight! It's fun for us as a couple, and we've been inviting friends to join us! It makes for great conversation and who doesn't love eating around a tiny little table by candlelight with their friends!
It also kind of forces us to eat at the table together (which we don't normally do) and we really like it. We might even keep the candlelit dinners as a norm!

What are your Christmas Traditions? Are they new or have they been passed down in your family for a long time?

Happy start o' the holidays!!

*Jenny G

This time

Two weeks from yesterday Mr. Gill and I will be married for 2 years!

Crazy.

Two years ago this past weekend I was attending a sweet party put on by the beautiful ladies in my house church....which now one has a baby, one is pregnant and one is moving to Morocco in just a couple of months!

One year ago from last weekend Mr. Gill and I decided to have a little date.

Look at that HAIR! Oh man, if he wasn't all professional-I'd beg him to grow it out again :)

How fun to look at what was going on in our lives this time last year.
What about you? What were you spending your time doing last year, or the year before?

On a saturday morning

Two Things

#1. I made strawberry rhubarb jam in May and today I ate the last of it on homemade bread. And I'm really sad because it may have been the best jam ever!




#2.

I LOVE MAKING CHRISTMAS CRAFTS!!!!

Jenny G

May or may not

We may or may not have bought a house.




What's that?



Um....




Maybe yes?!?


.....oh goodness, yes we've bought a house!

Newlyweds?

Mr. Gill and I flew from Indiana to Idaho a couple of days ago.
On our way to Indiana AND on our way back to Idaho there were a couple of flights where it was too full for us to sit together....which was a bummer.
I thought about telling people that Mr. Gill and I are newlyweds-and wouldn't they scoot over so the newlyweds could sit together? Brilliant I thought, and I told Mr. Gill that I was going to say this next time we were going to be forced to sit apart to spare myself the sitting next to a stranger so I'm afraid to fall asleep for fear of drooling-ness.....and he told me that we were no longer newlyweds!

What?!

Of course we are....we haven't even been married 2 years....and then we started discussing the finer details of what constitutes newlywedness.....which I'm still not sure we totally agree, although he's now convinced that we are indeed still in the newlywed phase.

So after having Mr. Gill agree with me we had a happier flight!

Some of the flight happiness may be due to the fact we got to sit together and that my new purse and the sweater for the iPad (my first try at cabling) got to have the window seat!

I want to know what you guys think though, when does newlywed-Dom end? With kids? But some people have babies before they're married.....
Is it a time frame thing or a certain shift in behavior? Cause all I know is I want to spend all my time with Mr. Gill....and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Let's have a poll.....when/how does the newlywed phase end?

Looking forward to your answers!

Jenny G

Indiana we love you

Mr. Gill and I are in Columbus IN today visiting our family. We've had a really great time visiting all of our family and friends.
A couple of highlights include:
1. Spooky Memorial! My family has a golf outing every fall and it's like a mini family reunion for the Lentes side, I'm really glad Mr. Gill and I were able to see so much of our family while we were here.
2. The covered bridge festival.....which was like a big flea market (I got a CUTE big green purse on the cheap). I got to encourage the aggressive driver that's been hiding in my mom as we were trying to get out of the parking lot and then We got stuck in traffic for 2 hours....and the house was only 20 miles away.....but it was quality car time.
3. We've spent SO much time visiting with old friends! It was so great to hear how everyone is doing and to talk about how God is shaking things up for us in Boise.
4. Seeing all the baby mommas and new babies! There is something in the water....it seems like everyone we know in Indiana has or is getting ready to have a baby!
5. Karaoke with Mom and Pop Gill and Ronald! Mr. Gill and Ron each sang a song on their own and the they did If I had a million dollars by the bare naked ladies....Mr. Gill sang the higher part (but not a real green dress that's cruel) and it was AWESOME!

We still have a couple more days here in the Midwest, and I'm sure we'll have more fun stories to share.

In other news....I'm posting from our new iPad, which I don't think I really know how to use very well at all. It's all this app stuff, I can't really figure it out....but maybe someday soon I'll at least figure out how to move pictures off the iPad onto the blog or picasa...so, unfortunately no pictures today......which would have been of Mr. Gill playing video games since thats how he's spent 80 percent of his time here at the Gill house ;)

Anyway, pictures to come in the next post when I'm back at a device I know how to use!

Jenny G

Fun with Yarn

Today Mr. Gill and I fly to Indiana.

But I want to share with you picture of one of my new craft projects!

A Yarn Wreath!
I've seen these all over the blog world so I decided to make one for our little apartment!

And ALMOST everything was from the Dollartree!
The yarn is left over from the Bears scarf I made my brother, and the sign I made myself ;)
So if you come to Boise to visit us (which you should!) this is what would greet you when you get ready to knock on our door. That and the smell of the worlds best chocolate chip cookies! You'd come over for cookies right?
Next you hear from us we'll be in Indiana!!!

Woot!

*Jenny G

Miss You

So about 2 months ago I went to Jackson Hole Wyoming to meet up with my Aunt Amy and my Grandma Lentes! I would have told you about it earlier....but I wanted to spend some time working on practicing my photoshop editing skills.
But then I didn't practice at all, but I did edit them a little bit.

Anyway, it was super great to spend a weekend with them. It is absolutely beautiful in Jackson Hole. Even just the drive from Boise was gorgeous, I felt like I was traveling through all these small mountain villages nested into the valleys that were just sleepy and peaceful.
The town is a ski resort for sure but it's set against the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone is just a short drive.
We took some driving tours of lakes and rode the Gondola up to 10,500 ft!
AMAZING! I can see why people move west....not just to run from the law (although I'm sure that happens).

It was such a gift from God to be able to have the time and money to take that trip.
Mr. Gill and I moved to Idaho from Indiana the day after christmas. We haven't been back in the midwest since then and I haven't seen anyone in my family in 10 long months.
We are blessed to have 2 of Mr. Gill's sisters here in the treasure valley with us, and his mom and one other sister were able to visit in May-which was awesome but a girl misses her Mom you know what I mean? I talk to my mom every couple of days-and sometimes even my dad will yell hello on the other end of the phone but-its not the same. I miss the smell of their house, the sounds my siblings laughing all together....the way that my mom likes to twirl my hair when she's sitting next to me....I like it when anyone does that btw. And this is weird but ALL my siblings will agree that stealing a sip of coke from my dad's glass tastes better than if we have our own (I think it's the sweetness of the forbidden fruit....since dad did not like us drinking his pop).
All this to say that having a chance to be with my family for a weekend was wonderful. I stayed w/my Aunt Amy for a summer after high school (convinced me to go to school for therapy) and w/my Grandparents right after college when I started my first job in Chicago.....so I feel like I am pretty close with those two wonderful ladies. I mean, once you live w/them they know how messy you are in real life and love you anyway-so that's close. I was just myself and enjoyed hanging with them knowing that I was already known and loved by them....that's a gift that family *biological or not* can give you.

Moving to Boise has been a beautiful thing for Mr. Gill and I. Not only an act of obedience to being called here to start the church but also we've learned a lot about who we are as individuals and as a married couple. It has not always been easy......but often beautiful things do not come from the easy route or a 10% effort.

Things that show beauty are things that had to push their way up through the dirt, that were pushed in pain and strenuous effort into life and often things that require a lot of sacrifice to continue to grow. Worth the effort?
Yes! A million times yes-the beauty God give us is always worth the effort...but-hello, it's effort.
And I miss my momma! and sisters and baby bro.
And my dad with his sweet cigar smell and golf stories....and all our friends....and seeing where Mr. Gill and I had our first date/dance/run/picnic....all of those beautiful things. :)

I miss Indiana.


But we are headed back to visit in just a couple of weeks! So....I'll be good to go for another 10 months ;)

Its kind of surprising the things you miss when you are gone for a while? What are the things you notice yourself missing when you aren't with your family? Or in the place you grew up?

Betsy's Granola Bars

Hey Guys!
Today I'm going to post my first tutorial.

**I Know so exciting!!**

My friend Betsy gave me this recipe a couple of days ago and I'm trying to convince her that she should totally start a blog because she's SUPER informative about food and....don't tell anyone but blogging is pretty easy.
So if you like this, make sure you comment below so Betsy can see how great her recipe is so she'll start her own blog!!

Ok-here we go.

Homemade Granola Bars

So pretty right? And super easy.

Preheat your oven to 325*.
You start with 2 cups of oats. Measure them out and throw 'em in a big bowl because we're going to mix everything together in one spot.

Add 3/4 C of Flour to the bowl.

And 1/4 C wheat germ and and handful of ground Flaxseed. The flaxseed is totally optional though, but-hey we're trying to be healthy-ish here, why not?

Then add 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder (I didn't have any soda....so I used 1 tsp of powder and I think it was fine). Isn't the measuring spoon pretty? My little sister got me those for my birthday!

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C Honey, which will come out of the measuring cup better if you spray it w/nonstick spray first...trust me.

1/2 C Chocolate Chips

1/2 C Peanut butter (which I didn't have. I looked everywhere-so I added more honey and a splash of maple syrup instead).

1/3 C Dried Fruit. I used tart cherries and golden raisins.

Handful of nuts. I used chopped almonds. (I let Mr. Gill pick the nuts out since I'm mostly making these for him to take to work on the days I don't have a lunch packed for him......which is almost everyday.)

Mix it all up and smoosh it into a 9x13 pan. I lined it w/parchment paper to get it out easier.

Bake @ 325* for about 20 minutes. Let it cool completely and then lift it out of the pan by the parchment paper and cut into desired size bars!

Doesn't it look wonderful? And *somewhat* healthy? No transfat included folks!

You could totally customize this w/whatever mix-ins you wanted. Shredded coconut and dried mango? Mmmm :)

Here's the recipe

2c oats

3/4 c flour

1/4 bc wheat germ

some ground flaxseed (optional)

1/2 tsp b. soda

1/2 tsp b. powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2-3/4 c honey

1/3 c choc chips

1/2 c peanut butter

1/3 c raisins (i use golden)

nuts (optional)

Smoosh into 9x13 pan and bake @ 325* for 20 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars. 

Mmmm

Lunch!

Reasons To Smile

The beginning of September has been a busy one for Mr. Gill and I.
We've started to take on some new responsibilities with the church and are branching out into some new ideas as well.....but I just want to share a few photos of things that make me smile here in Boise.

These are cowboy boots (they may or may not be plastic) that I picked up at the Free Store. Maybe it's being in the West that makes cowboy boots that much more appealing but-when I saw these beauties @ the Free Store when my sister in law Steph and I stopped in...I just couldn't leave them there.
The Free Store is a shed here in our neighborhood that people bring stuff that they would normally take to Goodwill and people can shop. You don't have to bring something to take something...and there are people that volunteer to keep it organized.
Reason #72 why I love where we live.

This picture is not so much about the gelato (although is was the BEST RASPBERRY Store bought gelato ever thank you very much) it's about the ADORABLE ramekins.
I got them at Winco....which is pretty much like the West's answer to Aldi's.
I love them and I bought 6, two of each color....yellow, orange and red. I can just think of a hundred things to do with them, and maybe 3 don't involve baking :)

This photo is all about the food. It's my new favorite snack. Regular plain greek yogurt (Thank you Laura for introducing Mr. Gill and I to the wonders of Greek Yogurt) w/a drizzle of honey.
So good and creamy and tart and sweet all at the same time.
And one spoonful = portion control......right;)






And Last but not least....

Mr. "I'll sleep when I'm Dead" Gill!












That quote is what he says to me all the time when I mention being tired or wanting a nap. I just couldn't pass up a chance to catch him in the rare act of snoozing during the day time....hehehe.
He did though, bring home those flowers for no reason at all. And I actually love that he can take a nap.....because then I can either lie down and take one too OR get some serious stuff done around the house!
Hope you had a great weekend friends!

3-2-1

Because August is almost over.....!....and last week I declared August the month of movies-I have another fun video to share with you all.
These are random clips from when Mr. Gill and I met our good friends Tom and Jess out in Portland in February.

Just so you know.....we're all a little goofy-but we're fun :)

Love

*Jenny G

Yes I did

Ooooo-look!

I made these!

Pickled beets! 

Aren't they beautiful?

*Jenny G

Happy Campers

The Month of Movies!

A couple of weeks ago Mr. Gill and I tried to go camping.....emphasis on TRIED because we never actually made it to camp.

We got lost in the mountains instead.

Because I told Mr. Gill to turn on an unmarked dirt road on top of a mountain.

The road was so narrow and seemingly endless we kind of thought we were either going to careen off a cliff or have to spend the night on the road in the middle of the woods next to the *CREEPY* trailers that said no trespassing w/electric fences (heaven help us).


And I recorded it.


A couple of things to note before you watch the video:

1. Mr. Gill and I will have children who clearly annunciate when they speak.

2. Sometime I laugh uncontrollably when I'm freaked out and maybe I sound like a weird dying bird when I'm laughing/crying at the same time....which, just so you know happens a lot.
Just be happy YOU didn't marry me.

3. We made it home. I recorded this whole schpeal about how we made it out safely but then I didn't actually hit the record button when we were saying it....and so, you don't get it see it. Sorry!

Enjoy!

*Jenny G

Rock Star

About a month ago Mr. Gill played a 'gig' where he opened for a touring band Mon Cheri.

He played @ the District Coffeehouse.

So....here's a video of his Indiana song. It was recorded by me....on top of some stacked books on a table so, it happens to have kind of poor sound quality AND it's shaky AND I kind of missed the first lyric....so it starts out in the chorus....but.
HEY at least I got a video right?

It also happens to be a little long.....like 5-ish minutes.

Sorry the video is a month late :/

Enjoy!

*Jenny G

Wasting Time

I have no obligations today.

I had none yesterday.....or the day before that.

I have had no schedule, no pressing things to do.....other than shower, and sometimes I feel like that is also optional (or could happen @ 3 in the afternoon).

You may not remember but, lack of structure is not a good place for me.

I have spent TOO MUCH TIME on the Internet, discovering new blogs, looking up home repair stuff and just not being a productive person in society.

But, in other news.....I've had plenty of time to take pictures of what I've been eating!


.....because I know you are so interested.

This was my lunch for today! Mixed greens from our CSA-which, next time we get it I'll take a picture of all the beautiful veggies we get from them,-craisins, sunflower seeds and a lemon vinaigrette I made a couple of days ago. Also, left over coffee from this morning.

Sooo Good and refreshing! The greens are slightly bitter, the vinaigrette is tart, the craisins slightly sweet and the seeds add a great amount of crunch. Yum! It did not pair well w/the coffee....which is french pressed espresso from Costco but, I just can't let it go to waste.

I
Love
COFFEE

oh and food.

 I also love food.

just in case you thought I survived on just coffee no, there is a healthy dose of sugar and butter in my diet too!

*Jenny G

Try It

Happy Last Day of July!

Wait....last day of July?

Really?

How fast did that happen?

That means we've been in Boise of 7 months! Which then means I should probably write a blog post about how our 7 months of living out west has been............um....maybe next time.

Today I want to tell you all about how I'm kind of super obsessed with a couple of Podcasts/websites/my long lost friends.

Ok-so......there have been others I've talked about before, others that I will always love like

This American Life w/Ira Glass

The Pioneer Woman

Deb of Smitten Kitchen

But, friends!!! Wait, this crazy world-wide-web of ours has so much to OFFER when it comes to interesting people talking about fun things!

What is my newest love you ask? Oh, I'm glad you asked because I've been waiting to tell you!

Joy the Baker! She has a food blog (yuM!) but I am enthralled with her podcast that she does w/her friend Tracy of Shutterbean (another AWESOME blog).  When I listen to them I feel like I'm listening to a conversation I would have with my best friend and my sister. They are hilarious AND informative and interesting.
When I first heard one....and then kind of how you have one piece of pie and then 10 minutes later you've eaten  the whole thing (what? you don't do that!?!?) I spent like 6 hours listening to everything they had!!
I laughed so hard AND cleaned our apartment while I was at it!

Mr. Gill even heard 1/2 an episode and enjoyed it!

So.

I highly suggest you get over to www.homefries.com and look @ Joy and Tracy's stuff, and browse while you're at it. If you have OR are about to have some babies maybe check out the simple mom podcast/blog (I don't have or will have babies in the near future....but I like it because it talks about cleaning and organizing and other fun housewifery things).

You are welcome.

*Jenny G

New Clothes

Hello Friends!
We have a new design around here....or really, I just made a header and changed some stuff up just a bit.

I am not so tech-savvy, but I was VERY jealous of all my friends that have pictures up as their headers!
I am not only jealous but also embarrassed at my lack of computer knowledge so I spent HOURS....yes HOURS figuring out how to make this picture thing work.

I know enough about Photoshop to tweak photos and add font....you know-it's done...easy peasy.
But actually USING the picture as a header, a much different story.
I've only ever used this format as way to blog, so trying to change it was, um.....less than easy.
I couldn't figure out how to change my header without having to making things invisible and then I said-why not just totally change it up!

So here we are, let me know if you like it. Notice....I did keep the polka dots! Who doesn't love polka dots?!?!?

A nice way to waste time on my friday afternoon!

Love,

Jenny G*

The Perks

Mr. Gill is a musician.
He plays the guitar, drums, piano...spoons....pretty much anything that can become an instrument really.
He also really likes to write his own songs.....and then sing them.
Which, I guess makes him a singer/songwriter.

At the park

This is a photo of Mr. Gill writing a song @ the park down the street from our house.
The songs he's been writing almost all have some deep profound truth in them....which suits the seriousness that is Mr. Gill.
Not that he's not fun but I'd be surprised if he ever wrote a song about sunshine and butterflies.


If I were to write a song, it would be about the feeling you get in your toes when you've been sitting with your legs crossed for too long.
It just feels so funny!


Or perhaps about cupcakes......but only the pretty ones.

I feel like songwriting is a great outlet for Mr. Gill though.....he's not a huge conversationalist...although speaks passionately about things he cares about, he's not much for chit-chat.....but he lives with me so he's used to it by now. With his songs he gets to tell a story or even process through some of the things he's been learning/thinking about....I bake, he sings.
It's interesting....he started writing last fall and since we've come to Boise he's not only written many songs, he's also been performing them.
He's has played @ The District a couple of times.....but his favorite place to play/practice or even write new songs is out in the street.
He likes the park but, on the street corner is where he likes to go. He gets feedback from people walking by and last time he made $5 (going toward our italy fund), two suckers and a Otter Pop (otherwise known as Fav-or-ice back east)!

Also, he gets to make new friends and even have people play along with him.....which is probably the best perk of all!

Mr. Gill's personal drummer

*Jenny G

Photo Fun

So today I'm going to share some fun photos I've taken since we've been in Boise.

This is a picture of Mr. Gill and our friend Leaman. We invited him over to do yard work...aren't we nice? You can barely see Le floating in the top of the hedge.

Yard Work 

This is one of our favorite places here in Boise....we discovered Tree City smoothies during Lent when we didn't count smoothies as food.....hahaha.

One of our favorite places

 I saw this little guard poodle while walking into the Library!

Yes, he's growling

Tumbleweeds do exist in Boise! This one attacked our car one stormy day.

Tumbleweed

Hope you enjoyed my little collage of random pictures here in Boise! :)

Have a great tuesday. 

Jenny G

One or the other

The last several months I've been going back and forth in my head.

You see.....Mr. Gill and I are considering purchasing a house.

****I KNOW*****

in Idaho.

****I KNOW*****

Here's the thing though.

It's mostly Mr. Gill who wants to buy a house.
He says things like, its a great time to buy, we won't have to share walls w/smoky smelly neighbors, we can play (meaning really HE can play) music as loud as we want without disturbing "quiet hours"....not to mention we can do whatever we want to the place we buy.

And those are all really good reasons to buy a house.

But I want to go to Italy.
Right.
Now.

Or at least, next year.

And I feel like we can't do both of those things.
Either we buy a house.

images

Or we visit the Tuscan countryside.

Laura L's photo!!

We get ready for those babies that are chasing me into my 30's and get a home for them to grow up in....(eek!)

http://www.landmcustomhomes.com/images/HOME_drawing.jpg

Or we have our 'last hurrah', an epic Italian adventure down those cobblestone streets before those babies catch me.

Laura L's photo!

I just want to make sure I get to Italy before I have kids because who knows if we'll ever make it after that.  I feel like I have to choose one or the other because the two are not compatible....right?
Unless of course you'd like to help us raise extra $ for our trip/house!
If I have to choose though.....
I want to see Italy more than I want babies.
Right now anyway.
Ask me again tomorrow and see if I've changed my mind!
What would you do?