2013 in our rear-view

With 2013 coming to a close and a brief pause in nursing school granted to me by Christmas break, I decided it was time to update friends & family on the Miller life. I know, it's been forever since I last posted. But let's be honest- somehow blogging just doesn't make it to the top of my priority list on a day-to-day basis (or weekly or monthly basis obviously).

That's okay though, because this post is going to bring you up to speed on the Miller life over this last year!

Last picture together before Logan left for basic training last December.

2013 began on a bittersweet note, as Logan joined the Navy Reserves and was at Navy basic training in Great Lakes, Illinois from December 10 to February 10. He had to endure the holidays away from family and friends and I had to learn to live life without him for awhile. We wrote handwritten letters which was a sweet time of growth in our relationship... We will keep those letters forever. However, it made me SO appreciate modern technology and not take for granted the fact that he is usually just a phone call away. While he was away, I had an incredible amount of support from family and friends. In fact, Logan's parents accompanied me to Chicago in February to see him graduate from basic training! We had a fun trip navigating/sightseeing Chicago in the snowiest and coldest time of year and spending a little time with Logan before he left for A-school at Ft. Lackland in San Antonio for an additional 2 months.

Graduation ceremony! Logan can be seen in the front between the blue and white flags. He worked his way up in leadership as Starboard watch.

Logan's division. The ceremony was so impressive, but my pictures simply do not do it justice.

Panera right after his graduation ceremony!

We took him to the Cheesecake Factory in downtown Chicago for dinner.

Great Lakes is pretty cold in February. But beautiful!

We went exploring all the quaint little neighborhoods in the suburbs of Chicago.

Beautiful cathedral! (I had just gotten a new camera for Christmas so I had fun playing with it on this trip!)

Starbucks-- a must while exploring in the freezing cold!

My wonderful tour guides (they'd been here a time or two). Aren't they the best?!

Even though they had been up Sear's Tower, they let me drag them across town, on foot, in the freezing cold, to do touristy things. It was very neat, and I'm thankful I got to see Chicago!

Sunset from Sear's

LeAnn and I on the top of Sear's

 A-school was an intense time of schooling for the Master at Arms (military police) program, but Logan had more freedom than when he was at basic, so we spoke daily, and I even went down to visit him in San Antonio over my Spring Break. It was a long four months apart, but I'm so glad that Logan was able to pursue his dream of serving in the military.

San Antonio visit in March

 

Logan had to stay on base overnight, but I had the blessing of the hospitality of Stephanie and her family. They let me stay in their guest room as I commuted back and forth to see Logan on base :) It was a sweet trip!

This was Logan's first Sunday back at church in April. If you can't tell... I was so proud :)

He absolutely loves serving as a Master at Arms Navy reservist. He drills one weekend a month in Springfield and will train two weeks every year anywhere in the world. In his free time, he LOVES serving in the honor guard at military funerals. He probably performs one funeral a week! In fact, he just received his first Navy Achievement Medal (NAM) for his service at a remarkable number of funerals this year.

After nearly a year of service, Logan was finally attached to a unit (the unit he would be deployed with if need be), which is based in Broken Arrow, OK, but they actually drill at Seal Beach, California (southern California outside of LA). He will go to the beach quarterly for his drill weekend, which he is super excited about! Although he is Master at Arms, he will be trained with a Riverine Squadron. Riverine boats are the little boats that surround and defend the larger ship. They have 50 caliber guns aboard, and their primary mission is defense. It's a very exciting and sought-after position, and Logan is excited to begin learning.

While Logan was away, I had nursing school to keep me busy, which was a blessing. In April, I was honored to be nominated by my nursing professors for Nursing Student of the Year in southern Missouri. I ended up being chosen as a runner up by the Missouri State Board of Nursing!! I was invited to a fancy banquet to honor those from all nursing areas for their stellar work as nurses. It was such an honor to be among such awesome people. I received an award, and Logan even made it home in time for the banquet. Too fun!

  

We kicked off summer with the annual Miller family vacation to Destin, Florida. As always, we spent the week laying on the beach soaking in the sun with most of the Miller fam. Also, my sis-in-law, Tamara, took some photos of us on the beach on our last night! She is so great.

  

These are just some panoramas that I took on my phone as I was so in LOVE with the scenery.

I was so blessed to receive an internship position at a local hospital for the entire summer. I was a nursing student intern in the Emergency Department for 4 weeks and in the Intensive Care Unit for 4 weeks. During this time, I basically had the opportunity to perform the role of an RN, under the supervision of an actual RN. I gained so many skills and got to utilize everything I had learned in school over the past three years. Not only was I learning, but I also got 6 credit hours AND got paid! It was a perfect summer job.

In late June, I had the incredible opportunity to travel with College of the Ozarks on a medical missions trip to Belize! We worked with an organization called Row Kids (Reaching Our Worlds Kids), setting up medical clinics in a different village of the Cayo district every day. It was the first time that I was able to combine my nursing skills with foreign missions, and it was such an awesome experience! If you want to read more about the trip, you can visit this blog, which is the blog that we kept for the trip (http//:youbetterbelizeit2013.blogspot.com). All of the photos were actually taken from my camera :)

Towards the end of the summer, after much prayer and contemplation, Logan and I decided against renewing a lease at an apartment and to purchase a home!! We wanted something small and inexpensive so that we have the opportunity to pay it off quickly. SO we found a CUTE 2 bed, 1 bath home built in the 1950s. It had some renovations recently done, so it was move-in ready! It has all hardwood floors, new paint, and newer appliances. However, it also has the potential for other projects in case we want to increase its value. Logan's parents came up a few weeks after we moved in to help perform a few projects that were at the top of our priority list (installing garage door opener, relocating the dryer from garage to mudroom with washer, etc). We absolutely LOVE our new home. Even though it's small, its really all we need, and we are thoroughly enjoying the simplicity of this stage of life :) PS. We also have a guest room if anyone wants to come stay with us!! We have already had tons of company (from school friends to out of state family), and I am loving practicing my hospitality skills!

We LOVED getting to decorate our first home for Christmas this year!!!

Around the same time that we purchased our home, we also sold Logan's beautiful Nissan Titan :( It was a sad day, but we were able to pay cash for a more practical vehicle for him (Nissan Versa). By doing this, we got completely out of debt before getting into a mortgage, which we knew was wise.

Literally within the same week that we moved into our new home, Logan got his DREAM dog- a Great Dane named Riley. She is merle, and she was 6 months old when we got her. Now she is 10 months old, 130 pound, and still growing! 

This was taken in October at a "Pets and Pumpkins" parade- somewhere I never imagined myself in a million years.

For all of you chuckling right now because of my dislike for dogs throughout my life- go ahead (my parents said they laid in bed laughing about it for a week). I'm still amazed at God's sense of humor, giving me the biggest dog on the planet. However, my husband is so very happy, which brings me joy and motivates me to attempt to like dogs more. To my dismay, it is working. She has such a good temperament, house-trained quickly, and she doesn't bite, drool, or jump. She is definitely a sweetheart. (Who am I?)

With Fall came a new school year, my LAST year of undergrad, to be exact. This last semester was fun for me-- I took Pediatrics, Labor & Delivery, Community Health, and Nursing Research. Although it was a busy semester, I learned a lot and developed a passion for areas of nursing that I had barely thought about before. I enjoyed research immensely and also enjoyed learning about community health, vaccines, disaster preparedness, epidemics, etc... These were actually my LAST real classes of my undergrad! This coming semester is simply preparation for graduation and taking boards (NCLEX). I will spend two 6-week sessions in different areas of the hospital following a nurse and developing the confidence and skills that I need before graduation on MAY 10!!!!! I cannot believe how fast the last four years have flown, but I could not be more excited to finally have the opportunity to spread my wings and fly into the career that I have been dreaming about and working towards for YEARS now! More than anything, I'm ready to be a normal adult with a career and no homework to come home to at night.

My nursing class! 14 students to graduate in '14! We are a tight-knit family, and I'm so thankful for each and every one.

A Community Health project this semester- a health fair at a school. Our booth was on safety. 'Twas a fun semester.

I have begun filling out job applications for the two major hospitals in Springfield--Mercy & Cox. I'm applying for positions in all the Intensive Care Units in both hospitals... so we will see what job offers I receive and where the Lord leads... :)

Speaking of careers, Logan has some big news!! He has been in the application process for 9 months for a career at the Springfield Police Department. He jumped through so many hoops from written exams to thorough background checks to physical tests, interviews, polygraphs, psych evaluations, etc... Who knew it is so tough to become a police officer!

BUT today, he received the official call letting him know he got the job!!! Praise the Lord! There were only 20 positions and over 300 applicants... I wasn't worried, but for some reason Logan didn't want to advertise his desire to get on the PD to everyone until he knew he had the job. Boys. ;) Anyway... he begins the Police Academy on February 10th!!! We are so very blessed!!!!

We are insanely excited that he begins his first "big boy" job in February, and I begin my "big girl" job in May! So much to look forward to. 

Oh! I almost forgot. I went to Korea! Yes, that's right... the country. I had the incredible honor of being one of seventeen C of O students chosen to accompany nine Korean War vets back to Korea, their battlegrounds from 1950-1953. My veteran was Mr. Joseph Nance, who was in the US Air Force and flew over 100 combat missions against North Korea and China during the war. It was such an honor to hear his stories and receive the blessing of being in the presence of a true American hero. I will never forget my experience. If you'd like to hear more about the trip, you can visit this blog, which is where we posted every day to tell people about our trip. There's pictures, too! 
(cofokorea2013.blogspot.com)

Meet nine definitions of American Patriot.

We found the exact model of the plane he flew in the war. Highlight of the trip!

We had the opportunity to spend the week of Thanksgiving down in Ft. Worth, Texas with the VanCuren family. Both Logan and I ran our very first 5K at a Turkey Trot there. We both want to increase our distance in races in the Spring, so we bought a gym membership and began training even before it was time to make New Years Resolutions. Crazy, huh?! Logan is going to do a half marathon, and I'm going to do a relay half marathon with a friend (half of a half, haha).

The entire Thanksgiving party.

Family picture at Top Golf. Logan didn't get the color scheme memo.

We spent 5 days in Tulsa for Christmas as well and enjoyed loving on two brand new nephews, as well as our six nieces :)

Miller Family- Christmas Day 2013

So there you have it- 2013 from our rear-view.

Here's to 2014 and all that the Lord has in store!

The Miller's

summer's end

I am so reluctant to face the inevitable: summer's end.

But regardless of the way I feel, school begins in a mere two days, and my life will be consumed with schedules, classes, homework, clinicals, convos, and everything else that comes with nursing school. I have to admit that I'm excited about this semester... just reluctant to wave goodbye to all the freedoms that summer brought (like reading books for fun, cooking dinner anytime I wanted, and spontaneous naps). I'm thankful for sweet summertime though and all the ways that we were blessed through it!

Let me introduce you to my best friends for the next three months or so.

I finished my last week of my full time job at Cox. I am now officially PRN (as needed), and I will probably work a shift or two a month tops during the school year. It will be nice to have during Thanksgiving and Christmas Break though to make some extra money! All-in-all it was such a great experience working in Neuro-Trauma over the summer! I came home one morning telling my husband I had the "best night of my life" after getting to perform CPR on a patient. I saw some intense things like gunshot wounds, open brains, open hearts, drug and alcohol OD's, the list goes on and on. There was always something to learn or something new to see...very few dull moments (except the nights that I had to "sit" with suicide patients and monitor them, which was usually pretty boring). The nurses were all SO great to teach me and want to expose me to as much nursing as they could. However, I was very surprised to see that the majority of our ICU was taken up with drug addicts, drunk drivers, or people who had done something dumb. It was harder than I expected to feel compassion for those people. I found myself frustrated that they are here, being waited on, with our tax dollars...when they had done something intentionally to be stupid. Obviously that wasn't ALL of the patients, but it was definitely a common theme. I'm thinking about trying out maybe the Pediatrics ICU next summer. Obviously the situations will still be sad, but I think I will be able to be softer towards the patients and offer more compassion when the child obviously didn't do anything dumb like overdose on bath salts. Also, I've discovered that I THRIVE in emergency-type situations....so maybe I'll try out the ER? Who knows! We will see what the Lord does with me over the course of this next year though. I will be visiting many clinical sites in the Fall...who knows what will trigger my passion.

I'm so thankful for where the Lord placed me this summer though. I've grown closer to Him, learned a TON, formed some great relationships, and planted seeds. 

Besides work, we had time for a lot of fun over the last month. We made another trip down to Dallas for a long weekend. We watched Macy play "Cha-cha" in Grease, visited Tyler's, ate Tex Mex, watched Olympics, and swam. The next weekend we had a fun lake day with Jordan and BreeAnna. I also got to have my little brothers come swim at our apartment pool several times over the past month, which has been very fun. I've been able to have lots of "dates" with my girlfriends throughout the summer, which has been so nice! I've enjoyed getting to invest my time into them. I think Logan has even had some "man-dates," which is so good for him!

Speaking of Logan, he just finished his first University of Phoenix class and loved it! He has a couple days off, and then he begins his next class. He is also working as hard as ever at Greer's and Integrity. In fact, I can hardly get him to stop working for a minute so that I can spend time with him. I guess it's good that school is about to start so I will stop being a bad influence, asking him not to work and not to study but to have fun and spend money. Yes, I've been a little bored ;)

Now I hope you are bearing with me on my iPhone pics. We have a small snap-n-shoot camera, but we always forget to bring it along when we need it! The iPhone has been my best friend when it comes to preserving memories because I always have it! Plus, the quality of pics is just as good or better than our cheap digital camera. I think it will continue to be iPhone pics until we can afford a nicer camera :)

 Pool days with the brothers. This particular day, Benjamin turned 7 :)

Supplies for a cookout on the lake with BreeAnna and Jordan. Later we went to Cantina Laredo on the Landing.

The last major events of the summer will be our birthdays. I will finally leave the teenage years and enter into my twenties (gosh I feel like I should be older than this haha), and Logan will be twenty-two! However, both birthdays fall on weekdays this year, so I'm sure we won't be doing anything too crazy. Oh well, it still gives us something to look forward to, even though summer's end is near. A nice dinner out with the husband is always a treat :) We'll probably celebrate next weekend.

Sooo...my husband loves Chinese food. I, however, do not. MSG's simply don't settle well with me. Anyways, I was looking for some homemade Chinese food ideas (without the MSG's) and stumbled across a yummy honey chicken recipe. You can make it in the crock-pot and slow cook it, or you can do it in the oven for a quicker meal. I've done it both ways, and both times it turned out great! I serve it with white rice and broccoli. I thought it was yummy to let the chicken slow cook and then add the broccoli during the last half hour or so. Then I served it on top of the white rice. This also makes a great leftover meal....I'm thinking it will be a go-to meal this school year!

Picture and original recipe came from http://mmmcafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/honey-sauced-chicken.html
I made a few tweaks though :)

Honey Sauced Chicken

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes) --( I didn't add this either time)

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, then put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. 

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:

Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Serves 2. (If you do it with rice and a veggie, it should serve more like 4)

july happenings

Hey guys! Okay first and foremost...for those of you who are looking for ways to be praying for us: Logan is in his last week of classes for the summer. He has two finals...one of which he is extremely worried about (Math). It would be awesome if you could remember him in prayer over the next several days as he prepares! It's going to be extra hectic for him because he has his two last finals this week (Thursday) and he begins his first class at the University of Phoenix on Wednesday. Therefore he is a bit stressed. I know he will do great, and I am so proud of him, but I know he appreciates the prayers and encouraging words.

So what have we been up to besides school and work? Well last weekend was rather eventful, so I thought I would share :)

We started out the weekend by heading to Tulsa on Friday night. We stayed with the Logan's family and had some time to love on three of our sweet nieces. Saturday, we went to lunch with Molly and Derek (Logan's sister and her husband) in Owasso... Then we all went back to the house for a birthday party for our handsome nephew, Collin. He turned 1! We were so glad to be able to celebrate with the family.

This was so cute. Collin just insisted on touching the lit candle. Daddy tried to stop him, but he ended up touching it anyways.

He was very upset to find out that fire burns you. So sad. 

(Which made me think...what an absolutely perfect picture of human nature and our relationship with our Heavenly Father. He may tell us "No" but we insist on our own way because we think we know better. We often end up hurt and upset and asking God why...when in reality He was the one that tried to stop us in the first place.) Don't worry, Collin, it takes awhile to learn that Daddy knows best :)

 He seemed to get over it pretty quick though and dug into his very first birthday cupcake :)

Happy birthday Collin!

After the birthday party, we got all dressed up to go the Bloemker-Jones Wedding!! Now get this- Last weekend, three (yes THREE) of my good friends got married! I had been friends with each of these girls during different stages of my life, and I love seeing them open such a new chapter in life! It also feels good to not be the only young newlywed anymore :) But anyways...I met Kyla Bloemker when my family went to Tulsa Bible Church. We befriended each other in 7th grade and remained pretty close until my family moved to Missouri at the end of 10th grade. We haven't always kept up with each other since then...but I still wouldn't have missed her wedding! It was perfectly beautiful in every single way. I didn't honestly take a lot of pictures, but I stole a few off of Facebook just to share how beautiful it was and how gorgeous Kyla looked! I'm so proud of her :)

LOVE this!

The ceremony was precious. The reception was beautiful as well and SO fun!! Everyone danced the night away! Below is a video of the bride and groom's first dance. It's a must watch!!!

One of the best parts of the wedding was getting to see old friends...especially my bestie Alicia May Wilbins! She was in the wedding so I didn't really get to hang out with her until the reception. Then we all went out to ihop afterwards with her sister Amy and her boyfriend Bryce. We had a blast catching up with them. I love that girl to death...she is one of those people I can go to with anything. Even if we go a month without talking, it's so easy for us to just pick up where we left off. I'm so thankful for friends.

On Sunday we went back to Springfield for the next wedding of the weekend. I met Kara my Freshman year in college. We were both in the nursing program, and we just clicked! She moved schools after our Freshman year, but we have remained close, and I'm so glad! I love my Panera dates with Kara :) I think we get along so well because we are at similar places in life... and I love it!

This was at her Bachelorette Party :)

Bachelorette party fun ;)

The wedding was so cute...I felt like everything should have been pinned on pinterest! The programs were actually fans for a hot July day (so creative!). It was just paper on popsicle sticks with a simple bow tied around....but absolutely adorable!

The front was the names of everyone in the bridal party.

The back was "10 Fun Facts About The Couple"

 Again, I'm figuring out I would be an awful wedding photographer because I get too caught up in watching the wedding that I forget to take pictures! So again...I grabbed a few that have been posted on Facebook by the photographer!

At their reception, Josh and Kara had a different flavor of cake at each table! It was a such a good idea, so that everyone could try different flavors. Plus, it helped everyone to feel comfortable to mingle :)

Unfortunately we were not able to attend the third wedding (my good friend from high school)... but congratulations to Kyla & Adam JONES, Kara & Josh CAMPBELL, and Lindsey & Jared MICHAEL!!! We couldn't be happier for you!!

Okay so last but not least...I wanted to share with everyone a gift idea that I used for one of the girls last weekend. I was a little late to buy their wedding gift, which is unusual for me. By the time I opened her registry at Target, almost everything had been purchased except....a bunch of household cleaning supplies. At first I wasn't very excited. However, I got to thinking about how we forgot to register for that sort of stuff and ended up having to buy it all our very first shopping trip...which adds up! I decided to go ahead and stock the couple up on all of their basic cleaning supplies and then purchased a little "Cleaning kit" to put it all in. Guess what? It looked so cute already that I didn't even have to wrap it! I added some tissue paper and ta-da! (I kind of want one now!)

Lately I've discovered (as you can see) that a great way to give gifts is to find some sort of container that they will use and then just put the gift inside that! Number one, they will use the container AND whats in it. Secondly, no wrapping! For instance....a laundry basket that they register for with towels and such inside.  For a child, you could do a toy box. For baby Collin's birthday, we got him a cute little toy wheelbarrow that he can push around and we filled it with toys! It was adorable. Another idea for a teenager girl/woman is a pretty basket with candles/lotions inside. Last Christmas someone gave me a big, cute Christmas bowl and filled it with Christmas kitchen utensils. SO fun and there are so many different options :) Just thought I'd share my "new" discovery even though I'm sure it's not so new to all of you. :)

That's all I have for now! We are about to begin a new work week. Again, please keep Logan in your prayers with all he has on his plate this week. I also appreciate all your prayers regarding my work situation! I have truly felt them, and I would really appreciate if you would continue to remember me as I interact with coworkers and patients over the next few nights. :)

We love you & pray you have a blessed week.

The Miller's

buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake

Our July has been flying by! I want to start sharing some recent recipe favs before I forget and life gets super busy again! A couple of Sunday's ago, it was our turn to bring breakfast for our Sunday School class. I wanted to do something a little different than the norm (donuts and chocolate milk). I remembered seeing a recipe on my sister-in-law's blog that looked soooo yummy. I was a bit nervous trying something out for the first time and taking it to an event... but I took a leap of faith, and I'm glad I did! Everyone absolutely loved it. I ended up using Tamara's recipe for the "cake" part. Then I found a very similar recipe that a dear friend (Jennifer Freeman) gave me that included a streusel for the top....so I went ahead and added that too :) YUM.

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

(I always forget to take the picture until I've already cut into it!)

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

 zest from 1 large lemon

7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

½ cup buttermilk

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

** The 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 350.  Cream butter, 7/8 of the sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Toss the blueberries in 1/4 cup of flour.  Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter alternating with the buttermilk.  Fold in the blueberries.  This batter is THICK!  Grease a 9 inch square pan with non-stick spray.  Spread into the pan and sprinkle with sugar.  

For the streusel- In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and cut in 1/4 cup cold butter. Sprinkle over cake batter and bake it all at 375 for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

ENJOY!

old married couple

Okay maybe not old... but we did just celebrate our first anniversary! To celebrate, we took a little "get-away" weekend to the Plaza in Kansas City. We were blessed to be given a free hotel stay at a Marriott right on the Plaza (super thankful for dad's who have lots of points to give away)! 

Our hotel room just happened to be on the top (19th!) floor...we felt special...especially when you have to swipe your room key in the elevator in order to access the floor :) Anyways, we had a spectacular view and our floor also had a concierge's lounge where you go to get refreshments any time you want! Yes, we are SPOILED.

My Grandpa Van Curen just so happens to live in the KC area, and when he found out we were going to be in town, he insisted on taking Logan and I out to dinner! He said taking his granddaughter and her husband to dinner was on his bucket list. :) Friday evening we met up with my Grandpa and Grandma. They picked us up at our hotel and brought us to a wonderful restaurant called McCormick & Schmick's! We had never eaten there before...but it was SO nice! When we arrived, we were seated in a private dining area. This is what we saw when he handed us the menu!

The menu was specially made for us!

 Anyways, we had a fabulous dinner and a wonderful time catching up with family. We also got introduced to an amazing restaurant!! Thank you Grandpa and JD!

Grandpa, JD, me, and Logan at McCormick & Schmick's in Kansas City

Friday evening after dinner, we walked around the Plaza and even went exploring down town. KC is a hoppin' place on a Friday night! ;) Anyways, Saturday we slept in and then enjoyed a delicious meal at the cafe at our hotel. Then we decided to walk/shop the Plaza! We hit just about every store, haha. It was so fun!

We had Panera for lunch on Saturday. Logan has always given me a hard time about my Panera addiction, but after lunch Saturday he was hooked! He even asked if we could go back on Sunday for lunch. I was a pretty happy camper.

Our anniversary present to each other....total spurge...but then again they were having their annual 25% sale so it was basically a must ;)

After our morning at the Plaza we decided to hit up a couple of other KC attractions! We went to visit the Crown Center. We enjoyed the indoor shopping there and also toured the Hallmark Visitor Center. It sounds cheesy but it was actually really interesting! We saw them making the priceless cards that go out all over the world! We also got a few freebee's which is always fun :) We also ended up over at Union Station which is such a neat building! We truly enjoy just exploring new things.

They gave us a complimentary set of greeting cards (which I love)! So...if you receive one of these from me you'll know where it came from :)

The cute little bow that we got to take home after we watched it be made!

After our little afternoon excursion, we ended up back at the hotel to clean up for our nice anniversary dinner at The Cheesecake Factory! It's funny how meals become the highlights of vacations so easily. This meal was a highlight and rightly so! We went all out that night with appetizers, drinks, entrées, and of course....cheesecake. I think the only thing we actually ate all of was the cheesecake, haha. We tried our best to eat it all, and we even were sick later that night from practically gorging ourselves (I'm telling you, this food was AMAZING). Let's just say it's a good thing we only do The Cheesecake Factory on special occasions :)

I was so excited to be there!!!

Outside The Cheesecake Factory waiting for our table :)

Later that evening (after gaining a few pounds ;))

 

We ended our last night with some hot-tubbing and hanging out on the deck of the hotel. The next morning we (again) had an amazing breakfast at the hotel. We decided we wanted to steer clear of the heat that day, so we saw a movie instead. Yes, those tickets were really $4 a piece! Crazy! Oh and I have to mention that we felt incredibly guilty for going to see a movie because half of the theatre was rented out to a church so everyone around us was going to church while we watched a cartoon. Yep. We felt awful. Haha.

Anyways, in case you couldn't tell, we had a wonderful weekend away from our everyday routine, which is exactly what we wanted. Through our getaway I think we both realized how easy it is to underestimate the power of alone time in marriage. We had been so busy this summer with work, school, church, family, friends, etc... Don't get me wrong...all that has been really great. However, it's so important to have time to get away from the distractions and focus on each other for awhile. I honestly forgot how much I love my husband and saw some things in him that I don't get to see on a daily basis in our busy lives. Let's just say we didn't want to come back. But I guess that's what's so fun about vacations :)

As far as our actual anniversary day, it was Monday. We both had to work, but we did have a couple of hours together in the evening and we made this yummy recipe for Chick-fil-A chicken and sauce! A friend had recommended it to me, and it was SO yummy! I was nervous that it would totally fail at the "Chick-fil-A" expectations but the chicken and sauce both resembled Chick-fil-A's well! So next Sunday when you are sinking into depression over Chick-fil-A being closed...have no fear! This was super easy and a big hit! Very fun anniversary meal..again, it all centers around the food! :) Recipe below!

This was our chicken ;)

http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2012/02/27/chick-fuh-lay-nuggets-sauce/#