Steps

Two years ago today, I stepped on a plane bound for Africa. It was a step that changed my life.  As I look back on that day, I’m amazed at how that one step had such a powerful and direct impact on the steps I take today.

When I walked into training for my upcoming Africa trip, I had just finished my final presentation for my bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.  I spent three days meeting my teammates, learning about Africa, and preparing for a month in rural Kenya.  In the month between that training and the actual trip, I returned to Austin to walk across the stage and receive my diploma, walked down the aisle at four weddings of close friends, and walked along the beach as my now husband asked for my hand in marriage.  No doubt, these were all pretty big steps in my life.  But I had no idea that stepping onto that plane to another continent would be equally as big.

I spent the next month in Kenya hosting summer camp for hundreds of kids in a rural village close to the Tanzanian border.  Many mornings, I went for a walk with a friend, watching the sunrise over the Chyulu Hills.  I walked down many dirt roads visiting schools and homes of the people in the community. I ran (ok, I jogged) up and down the fields attempting to play soccer with the Africans- not an easy task. I had the profound privilege of walking alongside these people I hardly knew and I fell I love. I walked away with a desire to know more. More walking, more steps toward a life I never imagined for myself.

I got back to the states, went to one more wedding, and spent the next day driving to Nashville to pursue a career in the music business.  A few months later, I found myself walking into Blood:Water Mission, not as a publicist, but as a finance assistant. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but here I am, still walking alongside some incredible people, both here in America, and across the world in Africa.  We are all walking together toward the same goal and it’s a beautiful thing.

So I continue to take steps, not always knowing where I’m going or what lies in front of me. But I know I can’t stop, because wherever I go, I have to believe there is a reason, not only for the destination, but for the journey itself.

Dusting Off the Sewing Machine

Remember that time last September when I took a quilting class (if not, read about it here.)? It's only been about nine months, but this past week, I finally made progress!

If you've been keeping up with the Womacks, you know that Marcus has been doing a lot of traveling the past two months.  Last week, he was in northern Alabama on a mission trip with his Jr. High youth, and when I found out my friend and co-worker, Pam, was an experienced quilter, I recruited her to help me move forward with my little old t-shirt quilt.  Pam is our Africa Field Manager and, therefore, spends about a third of her time on the field in Africa (imagine that!).  You can read about her many adventures on her blog, Pam the Nomad.  So, my goal is to finish the quilt by the time she jets off to the other side of the world again!

The first thing I did was lay out all my squares on the bed to decide how I would place them:

Next, Pam reminded me how to work the sewing machine! Even though I've had the machine since I was about nine years old (it was a Christmas present from my uncle one year), I clearly haven't put it to good use in quite some time. Needless to say, my sewing skills were pretty rusty, but with a little help, I picked it right back up (it's like riding a bike!). 

After a refresher lesson, it was time to start putting the squares together!

I made two rows of five squares, then ironed the seams before putting the two rows together.  And here's how it turned out!

I am so pleased with my work! I ran out of the backing material, so I have a few more squares that need that ironed on, then I can put the rest of the rows together and finish it!  

While I was busy sewing away on the machine, Pam was also hard at work crocheting this beauty:

(As you can see, Max was a fan.)

I am so thankful for new hobbies, the fun times I'm reminded of when I see all the different t-shirts I'm putting together, and good friends who teach me new things (and keep me occupied when the hubby's away!). This was our first, but surely not the last of summer nights filled with frozen pizzas, yummy cocktails, good friends, and lots and lots of crafting!

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Summer 2011 is officially in full force! The Womacks (mostly Marcus) have been on the go for the past month and are ready for more!

Summer started with Marcus traveling to England for a school trip! Marcus spent several days in class in Salisbury, and visited Oxford, Bristol, Stonehenge and London. He returned with a wonderfully tacky William and Kate umbrella for his royally obsessed wife.

While he was gone, I spent a fabulous weekend with these two lovely ladies:

Learn more about that trip on Leisha's blog here.

As soon as Marcus got home, we headed off to Texas to celebrate with some dear friends who were tying the knot!

Meet the Pitcocks:

and the Litzlers (off to Hawaii!):

We were so blessed to be a part of these amazing celebrations! The weekend was extra special for us as we celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  After the weddings, we headed back to Nashville, but not without a couple days at the beach! The road trip continued with a pit stop in Baton Rouge to see this pretty girl...

...(and the Kappa Delta house at LSU!!)...

...and finally arrived at the fancy schmancy Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi!

We spent one glorious day at the beach, stuffed ourselves with delicious seafood, and of course, squeezed in a quick stop the outlet mall!

It was so nice to have some time to ourselves and celebrate the past year. What an incredible year it has been! Yes, there have been trials and lessons learned, but it has been full of the Lord's goodness. I am so thankful for a husband who puts God first and loves his family (and me) unconditionally. As my parents celebrate their 30th anniversary tomorrow, I think about the next 30 years with Marcus and am so excited for the journey ahead. 

For gifts, we decided to make each other something, but to give the traditional first anniversary gift of paper.  Marcus made me a sweet photo album with his favorite pictures of us. He also cheated a little and gave me a beautiful necklace he picked out in London. I guess I also cheated a little- I painted a canvas for Marcus, which technically isn't paper, but it's close enough, right? It was my first time making anything like this, and I was really happy with how it turned out!

The words are from one of our favorite songs, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."

Before I go, I have to give a shout out to the other man in my life, my amazing daddy.

I love being your Sweet Baby Girl! Happy Father's Day!

Pot Roast Take 2

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since the infamous pot roast incident that resulted in hot oil splattered all over my face.  I'm happy to report that I've survived and haven't left the kitchen yet! Our first year of marriage has included some ok meals, and even some that had to be thrown out (thank goodness we have a Little Caeser's close by!). But we've also enjoyed some really delicious dishes too and one of our new favorites is pot roast and roasted veggies! My mom passed this roast recipe on to me and it's not your traditional pot roast, but it's super easy and goes really well with roasted carrots and potatoes. Yum!

Easy Crockpot Pot Roast

4 lb. pot roast

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 packet onion soup mix

1 cup water

Place pot roast on two pieces of foil (make a cross out of the foil). Mix together soup and soup mix.  Spread mixture over the pot roast, making sure it covers all sides.  Wrap the roast in foil and place in crockpot.  Pour water around the roast. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Roasted Veggies

potatoes (depending on size, 1-2 for each serving)

carrots (3-4 per serving)

small onion (we don't actually eat the onion, we just like it for flavor but you can add more if you want)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon rosemary

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Cut veggies into small pieces and place in single layer on baking pan.  Mix together olive oil and spices (may need to adjust depending on amount of veggies). Pour mixture over veggies and toss to coat each piece in the mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes at 450 degrees.  Test with fork and continue baking if needed until soft.  Some of the smaller pieces will get brown and crispy- so tasty!!

Hope you enjoy!

Hoppy Easter!

I had hoped this post would be all about the amazing Easter wreath I have been working on for a few weeks now...but I didn't finish it. Womp womp.  It's hard to get any work done with a pesky little puppy who wants to be in the middle of everything. Thus, I could only work on it when Marcus could give Max his undivided attention, and with school wrapping up, those moments were few and far between.  I will finish it though, and I know you'll all be sitting on pins and needles until it makes its grand debut next year!

Despite my crafting failures, Easter was nothing short of wonderful.  With a three day weekend and Good Friday falling on my dad's birthday, I convinced him and my mom to come celebrate with us.  The weekend was way too short, but we had a great time.  It's always fun hosting family in our home, sharing our favorite parts of Nashville (and exploring new parts!) and it doesn't hurt to have a super handy dad to help out around the house.  He even baked up some Amish Friendship Bread.  My only regret is that I didn't get a picture of them with their favorite grand-dog!

We did manage to get a few photos of our adventures, although I forgot my camera almost everywhere we went. That calls for another womp womp.

Easter Sunday!

Breakfast at the famous Loveless Cafe. I refuse to ever pass up a stick-your-head-in-the-hole picture.  Is there a technical name for those?

We celebrated my dad's birthday by taking him to the Grand Ole Opry! So much fun!

...and I was able to mark something off my bucket list...

MARTINA MCBRIDE!!

This woman is my idol. :)

I hope you, too, were able to celebrate this special weekend with family and loved ones. Stay tuned for a special post on pot roast...take 2!

My First DIY Project!

I'll start by saying that I love our house.  It is small but cozy, old but updated.  We were very fortunate to have an awesome landlord who did some great work on the inside of our house such as adding crown molding throughout and carpet in our bedroom before we moved in (the outside landscaping is another story).  Because we are renters, there is only so much we're able to do around the house. But my recent addiction to HGTV has me inspired to do some small things to make our house more like our home.  I've spent many hours watching shows and following DIY blogs, and this weekend, I decided to take action.

And so, without further ado, I present to you our bathroom cabinets!

Notice the (not so) lovely leaf knobs.  I've stared at them for months and my dislike for them has grown in intensity over the past almost year that we've lived here.  With a free Saturday and a lingering gift card from the wedding, Marcus and I made our way to Lowe's to pick out some replacements.  It didn't take long to pick them out.  We mulled over some different options for a few minutes and quickly decided these were the ones for us.

We like the fact that the oil rubbed bronze that matches most of the accessories we already have in the bathroom.  They are simple and classic, which appealed to Marcus, and at a little less than $3 a pop, they didn't hurt our pocketbook, err...giftcard balance.  With such a small bathroom, there were only five knobs to replace.  After a stop at Buffalo Wild Wings (and Ross, Best Buy, Marshall's, Old Navy, and PetSmart) we headed home to try them out.  They were so simple, I was able to switch them out myself. Only a phillips head screwdriver was needed to unscrew the old ones and screw the new ones in place.  The whole thing took about fifteen minutes.  

And voila! Here is the finished project:

I'm so pleased with the result.  It's not a huge change, but it makes me feel so much better having made the change (and it's easily reversible when we move out).  First DIY project=success!! Have you done any small projects around the house that made a big difference?  I'd love some more ideas and tips that made them successful.

PS Contrary to what the picture shows, Max was of no help to me during this project. BUT he stayed mostly out of the way. :)

March Madness

No, this post doesn't concern my bracket, which to quote a friend, "looks like a page from the New Testament where Jesus talked a lot."

It is, indeed, a mad, mad world. March has been no exception.

We started the month by welcoming our newest niece, Clare Isabella, into the world! She was actually born on the last day of February, but Marcus and I spent the last part of his spring break in Seattle, visiting his brother and sister-in-law and our three (THREE!) nieces.  Marcus's parents joined us, and we all had a great time.

Meet Clare!

Abby, our oldest niece, with a rousing rendition of B-I-N-G-O! Little Lucy is dying to join in the fun.

We spent our first day roaming around the Pike Place Market, then had lunch at Salty's on Alki Beach, where we had dinner before Marcus proposed! It was fun to return to the scene of the event and remember such a momentous occasion in our lives!

After our trip to Seattle, we returned to Nashville and welcomed a new addition to our own family!

Meet Max Womack!!

We (I) have been wanting a dog for a long time, and after much prayer and preparation, we finally felt like we were ready.  Max was adopted from a wonderful organization called All-American Dachshund Rescue.  His mom was found pregnant on the side of the road in Arkansas and was immediately brought to a foster parent in Brentwood.  Melissa (the foster) kept Penny (Max's mom) in her care and saw Max and his three brothers and sisters come into the world.  Max was the first-born pup and he and his brother were the only two to survive.  We feel so blessed to have been able to give a forever home to a pup who otherwise might be wandering homeless and hungry, or not even alive.

It has been a crazy two weeks! Potty training is probably my least favorite thing in the world right now, and it's not fun waking up at the crack of dawn to let the little booger out! It's totally worth it, though, when he comes and curls up in your lap and falls asleep. :) We are looking forward to all that lies ahead with our new family member!

In the midst of all the craziness, we took some time last week to celebrate Marcus turning 24! We really enjoyed having friends over to the house to enjoy the beautiful weather (and the super moon!) and feast on Marcus's favorite meal that his mom cooks, sour cream chicken enchiladas! I must admit, I was pretty impressed for my first attempt.  And of course, no birthday party would be complete without a delicious chocolate cake!

Happy Birthday, Marcus!

March, you have been good to the Womacks! We are looking forward to a fun April and the arrival of warm weather, a visit from my parents for Easter, and a fun-filled summer!

Stay tuned!!