{Pumpkin} Pasta Dish

On Valentine's day I shared with you that Nathan made a delicious pasta dish with some pumpkin puree. Now, I really like pumpkin but I am picky if there is too much. This dish had the exact amount it needed to give it the pumpkin flavor without it being over-bearing.

 It's also the easiest dish ever. You just have to throw some stuff in a pan and wait until it thickens.

This is the BEST homemade sauce I have ever tried. I couldn't resist making it again a week after our Valentine's date and it was just as good as the first time. Enjoy friends! :)

 Gather all your ingredients and take a picture for your blog.

Measure out your yummy ingredients.

Stick em' all in a sauce pan (except butter) and simmer until sauce thickens. (10-12 minutes)

Be sure to throw some bread sticks in the oven!

Go outside & take some pretty pictures since the lighting is better.

What's in it:
1 Cup Heay cream
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 Cup Fresh Parmesan (or not, I only had the grated)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp unsalted butter 
*Recipe calls for sage leaves but we left them out & loved it

How to make it:
Combine all ingredients, except butter, in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Simmer until sauce thickens (about 10-12 minutes) Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted. 
Toss with your favorite noodles and serve with some garlic bread sticks.

Original Recipe can be found here. 
  

{SO} What Wednesdays

Linking up with the lovely Shannon this week

SO What If:

 I wrote a post for today but decided to post this one instead. Maybe another time.

I have 26 unpublished posts. Sometimes I just write for me and decide I don't want to share. 

I caved and created a Facebook Page for my blog. I already have 50 likes. Isn't that sweet? It would make me sooo happy if you liked it too :)

I got some iced coffee from a friend who works at Starbucks. To be exact 2 trenta cups full & I have had some every day for a week. I'm saving money here folks.

I spent a number I refuse to admit at Starbucks this month, thus the coffee at home. 

 I have entered a million giveaways this week. I used to enter so many and never won. I am really hoping I can win just this one.. called the iPad mini giveaway ;) -Um no joke, I wrote this last week and then won the iPad mini!!

I promised myself I would start working out today right after eating 2, 3, 4 peanut butter cookies last night!

I bought a work-out shirt at Target just to get me motivated. Who else wants to keep me accountable? PLEASE.

I also bought some other stuff..like a really cute maxi skirt and adorable little shorts that the hubs picked out. #ilovetarget.

 I forgot to clean the mirror before I took those pictures. 

My legs are stark white. It's winter people. 

It is really hard to hit that publish button considering I just uploaded some pictures of myself. 

Happy Wednesday Loves. :)

Target Gift Card Giveaway

 I've teamed up with my blog bestie and the sweetest gal ever to bring you an awesome giveaway. I mean, who doesn't LOVE Target?! So enter away on the Rafflecopter below to your hearts content :) & remember, the more entries you have, the more chances to win.. Like that one time I won an iPad mini, YESTERDAY! :)

Rules & Information:

--No Purchase necessary to enter

-- Giveaway is open to U.S. readers only & must be 18 years or older.

-- The winner will be verified, so please enter honestly.
--Winner will be selected at random and notified by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen.  
--Void where prohibited by law

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{Fab Friday}

Hi Friends!! :) Linking up with Laura today for one of my favs :)

These Fab things are happening in my life:

I have a Starbucks in my hand! I held out for a couple days & rewarded myself with a chai. I feel like there might be something wrong with that sentence. ;)

The hubs and I are going away next week. One of the BEST things about working from home, is you can pretty much work from anywhere. We are switching houses with my parents and staying in their lovely home in Show Low. It's beautiful & snowy this time of year so I can't wait to get away and be outdoors! 

I've made some new friends this week blogging and that always makes me happy. 

We actually got a tax return. I was pretty shocked & very excited. It's not much but it means we don't owe! 

I won a giveaway! I enter probably a bazillion and almost never win.. but I won a cute little one with some ad space and blog design. Yay me!

The Lord has been using me in really cool ways in this little blogging world. Recently I have just been seeing Him take things I have dealt with or lived through to encourage others. I just love that I can be a part of anything He chooses to do through my blog or experiences. 

I created a Facebook page! This is exciting stuff guys! It would be even more fab if you went ahead and liked it :) 

I went for a run yesterday. Ok, fine.. I went for a minute run, 20 min power walk. Baby steps people. But I have been doing sooo good with my exercise and healthy eating! 

Oh and I took this AWESOME picture. Creepy? Yes. FAB? yes! :) Happy Friday loves! 

(you can even see some cookies baking in the background. #jess'sbakingaddiction)

Who I am.

I can't shake the need to write a post about who I am or equally important, who I am not. My desire is for you to know these things so we can be "real" friends. My hope is that you'll know I don't have the perfect life and that I don't always have it all together. Not because I necessarily want to share all my faults but because I want to encourage you that I am just a work in progress & I definitely don't have everything all figured out.

I am a child of God.

I don't always believe that. I 'super' struggle with not being good enough. Not being holy enough, sinless enough. Even not loving Him enough, giving Him enough. I know the truth, and I know none of those things matter, I do, but I sometimes tend to believe other wise.

I am not too far from grace. I am not hopeless. I am not left out, forgotten or without love.

I used to be full of fear. Sometimes, I still am.  If I shared with you some of the things I have had anxiety about, you'd probably "unfriend" me. That's ok. I still have Jesus & a husband whom both love me dearly. An unwavering love for me. Regardless of any of that stuff.

I am not even sure why I blog. Really, I'm not. I wanted to & that was good enough motivation. I'm still figuring this one out.

I struggle with my identity, who I really am. Who God made me to be & if it's even possible that He does really have a plan for me.

I am silly & love to laugh. Specifically at myself or with my husband.

I am a wife who can't get enough of her husband. I mean, really, I don't mind spending every day, all day with him. Then I miss him like crazy when we are apart. 

I'm super imperfect. like, SUPER, DUPER, imperfect. I sin, I kick myself. I sin again, I curse myself. I sin again, I give myself anxiety. I'm telling you people, it's not fun.

I am someone who is working on life. Being who I was meant to be and not worrying about who I am not. 

I am someone who goes weeks without having real time with Jesus. Real prayer, sincere prayer. 

time in the Word. Real change.

I am a wife who gets super mad at her husband for farting too much. Like, mad, I'm yelling now, "for the love, quit being so gross, Nathan!"

I complain a lot. Too much and I hate it. I'm working on it but it still sucks. See, complaining. 

I'm the girl who is too stubborn to look past an issue and just move on already. This doesn't always happen, but if I feel super wronged by you, I will be super awkward around you. I want badly to fix it, but I am too bothered to.

I am a crier. Oh you thought you were the only one? Ya, no. I'm like a waaa, I'm a baby, kind of crier. Because I get my feelings hurt easily. so be nice.

I am righteous. Yes, me. this dirty rotten girl was made righteous through Jesus. Because HE says so. Not me.

I am not a morning person. If my husband so much as looks at me, I'm already plotting his death. He thinks it's fun to wake me up when he gets up & love on me. You're thinking awe that's so sweet.. I'm thinking if you don't shut up and let me go back to bed I'm going to punch in the mouth.

I am a wife. Who absolutely, 100% adores her husband. I believe he was made specifically for me and that God planned for us to be together all along. I am my husband's biggest fan.

I am a realist. As opposed to a optimist. This means when someone has an idea, I'm the one who wants to know what about a, b, c, & d?? How will that work? Did you think about this? What if this happens?

I am an avid advice giver.  Didn't want my advice? Too bad, I gave it anyways. Sometimes this is bad. Sometimes this is good. I do however, try and give the best advice I can according to God's word. That really is the truth.

I am called to be in youth ministry. I love students. I love their hearts for Jesus. I love seeing them change, grow, and serve. I long to shelter their tiny hearts and protect them from the bad this world is bound to bring but I know better.

I am easily excited if anyone says anything about me baking. Want me to bake you something? OK! Send me your info. 

I am a coffee junkie. Let me re-phrase, I like lots of sugar in my coffee please. No, I like lots of sugar in my iced grande 6 pump vanilla melted extra caramel decaf caramel macchiato. I know you're shaking your head at me. That's fine.

I am funny. Listen, I know you haven't really seen the funny Jess much on my blog, but seriously, hang out with me in person sometime, you'll laugh, I promise.

I am too quick to believe a lie. Specifically from the ultimate liar, satan. I am horrified by this but it's the truth.

I am a work in progress. I am in need of Jesus. I am never, ever going to be anything without Him. I am a believer. Through and through. I will not give into this world. I will be His, for good. You'll see.

I am who I was made to be. I am nothing less and nothing more. I am me. Made by the Creator. Being molded by the Creator. Constantly, daily, always.

By the way, ever want me to pray for you? I would love that. Email me at jessmileham{at)gmail(dot)com

{Weekend Love}

Oh the weekend.

Friday, we went out to eat. again. It's seriously becoming a problem.

What we do when waiting for a table.

Saturday morning, we did a whole lot of nothing. It was glorious. Saturday afternoon, I got to hang out with my favorite girls. 

Aren't they the CUTEST ever? I mean really.. I didn't even ask them to stick out their tongues or make silly faces, they volunteered that all on their own.

Sunday was crazy busy, as usual.. and I debated posting this video.. but listen, it's important that you all know the real me.. Jr high crazy leader & all.. Speaking of which... Jr high is the BEST. I can be really crazy, nerdy & weird and they still think I'm cool. It's why I love youth ministry. It's also kinda my first vlog debut.. but keep a look out.. Nathan says he is going to do one with me in the very near future. Happy weekend friends! 

& what's that.. You want to win an iPad mini?? -ME TOO! Pretty Living PDX is giving one away so go enter! 

14 Days of Valentine's {Week 2}

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Hi friends :) I hope you all had a great Valentine's day yesterday! I am excited to share this past weeks Valentine's with you! Wanna know what this is all about? Check out week one's post here & here.

Day 8- We had a date night, grabbed some food where he wanted & he got something for his jeep.

Day 9- We had a service project that lasted through the afternoon but after we came and just hung out all night. We seriously just watched a fav show while he was in and out working on his jeep. Something he really loves to do. Later we grabbed him some coffee & me some Rita's ice.

Day 10-Made his coffee for him in the morning & we grabbed lunch where he wanted to.. Mcdonald's haha :) I also cleaned the Kitchen and vacuumed so we would be prepared for youth that night. 

Day 11- Left him a coupon somewhere hidden. I left it in his iPad cover.. we had small group this night and I was concerned a high schooler would find it ;-) I also vacuumed the whole upstairs. Trust me, this is a big deal to him!

Day 12- I went all out today for some reason.. In the morning we grabbed coffee at his new fav. place, Dutch Bros. He loves their 6 espresso shot ER-911. Weirdo. I baked cookies.. Oatmeal Raisin (it's what he wanted.) I made a scrumptious dinner & cleaned our house. Also, while he was at staff meeting I ran to Starbucks & got him another coffee drink & surprised him with it while he was in his meeting. 

Day 13-Nathan used his coupon for a night in with just me and him & some Jesus talk. I made a pizza and set our table & we spent a long time just talking about what the Lord has been personally doing in each of our lives.

 Day 14- Nathan actually wouldn't let me do much today. By now he had caught onto what I had been doing & said Valentine's day was for me. But don't be fooled, I had a couple tricks up my sleeve. I dressed all fancy for our night in. He had bought me a beautiful dress when we were dating that I had worn to the Phoenix Symphony one year. I haven't worn it since because it's a little too revealing. Last night was the perfect night to wear it for our night in alone though. I also made dessert!

I would argue that this was the best Valentine's to date. Nathan made a really yummy pumpkin pasta dish with garlic bread sticks. He set up the table & turned on some music. Later, we danced for a while & just talked. It was really special. Nathan also got me the most thoughtful gift ever & you can read about that here.

Gizzy in his "valentine" attire. 

I have had so much fun showing my hub love in different ways these past couple of weeks. Like I mentioned before, I don't plan on stopping today but continuing this in whatever ways I can all the days of our lives :)

 How did you love your husband this week? 

Link up with us and share the LOVE.
Follow your Hosts, and go find more ideas!

Teressa at Newborn Mama 

Jess at Jmnway

Don't forget to grab our button & hashtag #14daysofvalentines on Instagram & Twitter. 

 

My Valentine's Day Gift

So.. My husband is pretty great. I even have a post saved that's all about him. I just keep adding to it though, so I haven't yet hit the publish button. However, I wanted to share with you something really sweet he recently did for me.

Keep in mind, it's really hard to surprise me. We are together 24-7, literally because of work & of course we just love each other so much ;) But if he ever wants to get me anything or do anything for me, he usually sends me shopping so he can be alone.

This weekend he was all excited because he said he "made" me something (while I was sleeping & he was up at 4am.) I kept begging him to let me have it because I hate waiting for surprises but he said I couldn't. I whined for a little while but soon forgot about it.

Sunday morning rolls around and we are texting.. yes, when he is down stairs and I am up stairs, in our warm, soft, bed.. I find it more convenient to just send him a quick text . Plus by that time he's already been awake for hours. Anyways, he says, "I got your gift. I found it this morning outside." So of course I proceeded to beg ask calmly that he give it to me now. This is how that went down:

There was nothing after this because that was enough to get me to jump out of bed to go get my gift :)

Here's what I found..

They are little mini "business" cards for my blog! Isn't that the cutest thing EVER? I mean, he even got Scrappy on there (the name he gave my owl.) I would have never thought of this on my own. I love my little blog, but I didn't think I was cool enough for business cards but my sweet husband really believes in me and wanted to make sure I had something to give to people so they could read my blog too! :) He really is my biggest fan & I couldn't feel more loved! Oh & look at me getting all fancy with my pictures & using my nice camera, you're welcome ;)

Happy Valentines Day Friends! Be sure to check in and link up tomorrow for #14daysofvalentines!

SO What Wednesday

Linking up again with Shannon for one of my favs.. 

SO What If:

I have had Starbucks every single day for a while now. I keep getting gift-cards from people & it's awesome. 

We have been eating out all the time lately. Now that we have started it's really hard to stop.

I have turned OCD all of the sudden. Our house is getting a major deep cleaning from it. 

I can't stop baking & spending money on buying stuff to bake with. Everyone has a hobby, this just happens to be mine. 

I slept for 10 hours last night. It felt good. 

I have like 10-15 unfinished posts sitting in my drafts. One day, when I feel like finishing them, I will.

I have entered a bazillion giveaways and still am not winning any. Boo!

I am already planning a vacation and we are only half way through February. I really wanna get away alone with my husband with no phones & no one bothering us. Is that too much to ask?

We aren't really getting anything back in taxes this year even though we paid in a butt load. Stupid rental house. 

We are already house shopping and can't move out for another 6 months. I can't wait to find a house we love! 

I am being really picky with this next house. Since we already own a home, I know what I am not willing to settle with for this next one.

Have a great rest of the week friends :-)

The Truth Wins

I feel it's important for me to be honest with you all. Not that I haven't been before, but I really have a desire to share pieces of my story if it means one person will be encouraged. If one person will know Christ because of anything I say, that'd be neat.

..it's been hard for me to get into the word lately. I've just found myself so busy. Telling myself I'll have time later, but never getting to it and even when I do, I feel as though I am just reading and not allowing God to change me.

Even beyond that, I've been feeling so worn out. I don't even know that I have reason to be worn but I just am.

Sometimes, when I let anxiety get to me, when I give it control over my emotions & forget to take care of ignore it, when I think I can figure it out on my own without clinging to God & His true word, things get harder to deal with. 

Go figure. 

& here's another issue. I have this HUGE problem with living by my feelings. If I allow fear in my heart & mind, if I give it any power over me, I act out according to the fear. Instead of truly speaking God's truth over me, instead of really believing His promise for my life, I believe fear.

14 Days of Valentines {Week ONE}

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Hello loveys! It's finally time for Teressa's & I's very first link up. If you're wondering what the heck is going on, you can check out our original posts here & here!

To be honest, I wanted to do this because yes, I love my husband. But also because I don't feel like I am very good at showing him I love him in the way he feels loved (which is mostly by acts of service.) If the dishes are dirty, Nathan does them. If the trash is full, he takes it out. If there is dog poo to be cleaned, Nathan is out there cleaning it.

I've noticed this week, since I have been trying my best to do these things, just how much he does to keep our home clean.

I decided I HATE dishes. I don't know where they all come from! But he always does them, without me asking, with that cute little smile on his face. I was definitely taking this for granted as I realized this week how hard it must be for him to keep up with all of this. He has a full-time job. He is also a full-time youth pastor & fortunately for him, he has a full time wife ;) But on top of all of that, he is so good at keeping things good to go at home!

This week I would work, clean, cook, then bake almost every single night. It.was.EXHAUSTING. By the end of the day, I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for 10 hours. I don't know how people keep up with that kind of life. Remember in the old days when woman would do all of that, all day long? And cook extravagant meals and bake apple pies from scratch after tending to their duties outside?! Crap. No thank you!

With all of that said, after seeing how thankful he was, it was all worth it. I enjoyed doing these things because I know by it, my husband would see how much I appreciated him. & by the way.. I don't plan on ending these shenanigans on Valentine's Day. I am going to continue it until it's a habit & just something I automatically do. Because then my husband understands how much I appreciate him and his heart for our family.

Here's this week's 'details' Enjoy & don't forget to link up with your own ideas this week and next Friday the 15th!

 Feb 1st- Note on the mirror in the morning. Date night at Red Robin! We weren't actually getting along this day.. I almost decided not to go through with our plans but a good friend encouraged me to keep it up. The restaurant had a 20 minute wait and we were forced to talk it out. So actually, it all worked out ;)

Feb 2nd- We did a lot today.. coffee and Bible time at Starbucks, a walk with our pups and a nice dinner :) Later we saw a movie with a couple friends.

Feb 3rd- We had a long day on Sunday. We had a service project from 7am-12:30 & another event at 4. But we managed to nap and cuddle in bed which was part of my plan for spending time alone together.

Feb 4th- I left Nathan a note and downloaded a new CD by David Crowder to his phone. He has been wanting this CD for a while :)

Feb 5th-While he was at staff meeting, I cleaned the whole downstairs, prepared dinner & made him a scrumptious lemon meringue pie. I even cleaned up my mess, friends, this is big! Look at that pretty kitchen! He was pretty happy when he got home :)

February 6th- Nothing says I love you to my husband like a clean house. I organized our pantry & linen closet and cleaned our kitchen again.

February 7th- Left him a coupon for a night in together. He really enjoys just sitting down at home & reading together and talking about Jesus. I am hoping he will be able to use it to help him have a calm night in the middle of our crazy schedule.

Some stuff, I'm not sharin' ;)

& every day I made an effort to get smokin hot for my hubs. Since we work from home, this really does take some effort!

& just for fun.. if you didn't already think we were weird enough.. we like to take pictures with this owl :)

How did you love your husband this week? 

Link up with us and share the LOVE.
Follow your Hosts, and go find more ideas!

Teressa at Newborn Mama 

Jess at Jmnway

Don't forget to grab our button & hashtag #14daysofvalentines on Instagram & Twitter. & if you missed this week, show your lover some love & come join us next Friday!