Rejection and the Wait for Something Better.

Well guys, once again it's time for another update of my super exciting, ever-changing life! Ha! Jokes. My life is definitely not that stimulating. In fact the exciting parts of my life seem to come in waves. And of course the rare time I actually do something fun and out of the ordinary, is the time when my co-workers don't decide to ask me what I did on my day off. Pfft. People only seem to ask me about it when it was a fun-filled day of scrubbing toilets...eating...grocery shopping...pulling out the long hairs from my vacuum cleaner head...and Netflix. Therefore making me appear to be just another run-of-the-mill-boring adult. Haha. We're all the same, aren't we?

Anyway, a couple of months ago I wrote a blog post about how I applied for a job (Click here to read)--one that I really really wanted. I experienced a very thorough interview and a high-hoped waiting process, only for it all to end with a crisply-folded rejection letter in the mail. Although your resume and qualities were impressive, we have decided to go with another candidate.Ick.

Whilst reading that letter and the few moments that followed, I was fine. OK, it's all good. Obviously this wasn't meant to be and now I can move on because God has closed this door, and now I don't have to think about it anymore!

BUT I DID. It was all I thought about for the next month. I'd been trying to ease my way out of the food industry and I thought this library job would be the PERFECT start to a new career. It's comfortably indoors, the environment is quiet, I get to wear nice clothes and do my hair every morning, be surrounded by books all day, interact with people, no more early mornings, and get paid to execute my obsession with organization! I even had the perfect Instagram bio already written out in my head: "librarian by day, baker by night". (LOL, not really.) Sigh. But those words of rejection stung, and of course I took it all a little personal.

God, am I not meant for something more? Is this my lot in life? To work at a job I'm unhappy at, one that makes me both mentally AND physically exhausted every single day? Am I no better than this?

Giving Up.

Hello friends!

This blog post is dedicated to the fact that I can't get the new Unicorn Frappuccino from Starbucks to save my life--SOLD OUT. I'm officially giving up. OK, I'm totally kidding. I've only attempted trying to order that drink once in my life, which was 10 minutes ago, and I'm never going to give up trying to get a taste of that pink and blue beauty. There are other Starbucks in the area I can try...and once I get my hands on one, you'll know!

ANYWAY, what has my life come to, where I only write a minimum of one blog post a month? Or worse than that, NONE at all?! As I took a quick peek at my archives I found this to be such a sad realization, mostly because I love writing and blogging. I feel like blogging is my one chance to share my true self with the world without losing my train of thought, not quite saying what I meant to say, being constantly interrupted, or stumbling over my words.
I feel like every conversation with an acquaintance or even a friend is a rough draft of what I'm trying to say, and my writing/blogging done in solitude is my final draft. It's my final flawless piece, my perfectly executed chapter of this dramatic and extra-lengthy non-fiction novel that I like to call my life.

I Have This Hope.

As I walk this great unknown

Questions come and questions go

Was there purpose for the pain?

Did I cry these tears in vain?

I don't want to live in fear

I want to trust that You are near

Trust Your grace can be seen

In both triumph and tragedy

I have this hope

In the depth of my soul

In the flood or the fire

You're with me and You won't let go

But sometimes my faith feels thin

Like the night will never end

Will You catch every tear

Or will You just leave me here?

But I have this hope

In the depth of my soul

In the flood or the fire

You're with me and You won't let go

So, whatever happens I will not be afraid

Cause You are closer than this breath that I take

You calm the storm when I hear You call my name

I still believe that one day I'll see Your face

And I have this hope

In the depth of my soul

In the flood or the fire

You're with me

I have this hope

In the depth of my soul

In the flood or the fire

You're with me and You won't let go

-Tenth Avenue North

My 2016.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE! What a crazy, exciting time of year and I can't even believe the beginning of January is about to hit us!

For someone in my shoes, the months of October to December are nuts. I say "in my shoes" because I'm a Canadian who married an American and is living in America. Therefore, in October Jarryd and I celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, in November we celebrate American Thanksgiving, in December we celebrate Christmas, and now we celebrate New Years Eve/Day! There are four major holidays all within the span of three months for us! (Thank goodness Christmas is the only holiday where gift-giving is expected, or else we'd be sooo broke!)

Last night in the car, Jarryd and I were just talking about how great of a year 2016 was for us. Thankfully, and I say this with a truly grateful heart, nothing drastic or tragic occurred in our lives. (Thank you, God!) We both conquered some things we wanted to conquer, and accomplished things we never even dreamed we'd accomplish. But, there's also things we wish we would have done more of, or wish we would have done less of. Obviously our lives aren't perfect and therefore our year wasn't perfect. But overall, despite how exhausting and busy the year may have been for us, 2016 really was a good year.

The Lion & The Lamb.

"Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah,

He's roaring with power and fighting our battles;

And every knee will bow before You.

Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain,

For the sin of the world, His blood breaks the chains,

And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb."

This SONG by Big Daddy Weave is amazing, you guys! As a way to conquer some of the negativity in my life I've devoted most of my commutes to and from work to listening to K-LOVE Radio. If you've never heard of it, it's only thee best Christian radio station, ever. And if you don't get it on your radio where you live, you can actually listen online HERE. {They also share awesome stories of people doing random acts of kindness and just helping others; it's so refreshing to hear GOOD things in the news, you know?}

This song very much overwhelms my soul and emotions with awe and gratefulness. I'm in awe of such an incredible God, He's a God who is BOTH a selfless and gentle lamb, and a fierce powerful lion. He came into this world, born in a stable. The most humble of beginnings I would say!
That's just one thing that separates Jesus Christ from other gods and religions; He spent His life serving others and was never on a pursuit of fame, earthly success, or money. His pursuit was servanthood, to love others, to glorify His Father in Heaven, and of course what encompasses the former three: to be the world's salvation!

And I'm just grateful that a God like that loves me and that's he's fighting my battles {like the song says}. To say that I'm GRATEFUL for the Saviour of the world fighting my battles, is such an understatement! Gahhh! How else can I put it though?! No words will ever do it justice! <3

Everytime I listen to this song it just makes me want to know my Lord and Saviour better. He gave everything so that He could know me, so why shouldn't I be doing the same?

Pastel Purple Flower Cupcakes.

Hi friends!! At the beginning of August I was asked by a dear friend of mine to bake cupcakes for her upcoming baby shower. I felt incredibly honoured and flattered by her request! I was also super excited to get things rolling because she asked if I could do my signature buttercream flowers on the cupcakes. {Click here to see my past work!} YAY! Piping buttercream flowers is my favourite thing to do in the world of baking. I find it very therapeutic, fun, and at the same time informative because I learn something new every time I pipe out another petal or flower; I learn what I like, dislike, if my buttercream is too thin, thick, cold, or warm, and if I'm applying too much pressure or too little pressure with the piping bag. If I'm not writing these things down I'm attempting to take mental notes. {I need to get better at taking notes while baking because I'm always telling myself that I'll easily remember every little step that I did...pfft! Nope, not the case!}

I was asked to do 4 dozen cupcakes. {48 cupcakes!!} 24 chocolate, and 24 vanilla. This was the biggest cake/cupcake order I've had yet, so I was super excited!! Learning from past experiences and mistakes, I baked half of the cupcakes {12 chocolate and 12 vanilla} the week before the baby shower, froze them {with my careful and tedious-for-good-reason cupcake freezing method} and then baked the other 24 cupcakes on the evening before the baby shower. I think some people look down upon freezing baked goods, because they're not considered "fresh" to them, but alot if not most cake decorators have freezers full of frozen cake layers/cupcakes because it saves them time on the day of decorating. But more than that, freezing cakes actually makes your cake moister. Seriously. {And if you're curious about how to properly freeze cakes, I'd love to share with you a tried and true way!}
I could have easily baked all 48 cupcakes at once, but one of the recipes I love I had only done for cakes so I needed to experiment how they held up in cupcake form and how many cupcakes it could yield. THANKFULLY they turned out perfectly because that recipe is my all-time favourite and I wanted to use it so bad for this order!

ALSO, baking some ahead of time helped me figure out what to price the cupcakes at. <---This part is always fun...not! But I must say, since I started pricing baked goods back in the beginning of the year, I have gotten much better at it! Compared to the time it used to take me to price cakes out, this order took no time at all! You guys, the fact that I've improved and progressed in this area makes me SO happy; I feel so encouraged because pricing and cost is a crucial part to the "business" of baking and I feel like I'm on my way!! :) Thank you, Lord!  <3

The evening before the baby shower {Friday} I finished baking all 48 cupcakes {truthfully, I baked a few extra in case some didn't bake properly, and I'm glad I did because there were a few cupcake liners that I didn't fill with enough batter. Oops!}

After experiencing hallucinations and nightmares all night involving some sort of cupcake catastrophe or distaster, on Saturday morning I woke up to my alarm at 7 am. Thank goodness because I had a nightmare that I woke up at 12 pm, leaving me less than 2 hours to whip up the buttercream frosting and pipe 48 floral buttercream cupcakes. Talk about a stressful sleep!! Anyone else experience dreams like this before a big event?!

In all honesty, I spent an extended amount of time on this buttercream frosting; like, much more time than most people would. I just wanted it to be absolutely perfect; not too sweet {especially this!!}, not too soft, not too firm, not too salty {I love salt soooo....it's important for me to remember that not everyone loves salt as much as I do!}. I'm kind of particular in this way...I have a buttercream recipe that I go off of, but after I adding all of the measured ingredients that are listed I just go with the flow, adding a little more vanilla here and there, another teaspoon of salt, another 6 cups of icing sugar, ect. :P And best of all, it's ALL pure, amazing, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth butter. No filmy-feeling-on-the-tongue shortening.
But most of all, I wanted this frosting to be theeeee most perfect pastel purple ever!!

As I briefly mentioned in a previous blog post, I used my 6 QT Professional Series KitchenAid mixer for the buttercream and it was AMAZING. {I should really be getting paid by KitchenAid for saying this...} I've only had my stand mixer for a few months now, so I'm new to the working wonders of the glorious KitchenAid mixer and I must say it's practically life changing. It's like when you have a baby. All is well before your baby comes into the world, and you can't even imagine life WITH a baby in it. Now, after having a baby, you can't even remember your life "before-baby" and can't imagine life "without-baby". Ergo, I can't even imagine my life "without-my-pastel-pink-KitchenAid-stand-mixer". {bahah, how terrible was that comparison?! I thought it was fitting with the whole baby shower theme...be nice to me in your comments below... :P }

ANYWAY...This particular cupcake endeavour was my most organized and successful one yet, take this photo for example:

I have a clean kitchen {culinary school's classic: clean-as-you-go system}, all of the cupcakes are laid out in their fancy "boxes", and everything is set up in "assembly line" fashion; buttercream frosting, piping tips and couplers, disposable piping bags, cupcake wrappers, and glitter {which I never ended up using}.
I even had it all planned out of what piped flower designs I would do and exactly how many of each design as well. {I've progressed immensely!}

This is just beautiful. When I see cupcakes like this I see delicious blank slates, ready for anything. I get so so soooo excited and nervous {the good kind of nervous!} during this stage of baking because it's my favourite part and also the most crucial part. I just love piping flowers and applying all of the finishing touches!

 My first four cupcakes in the rose design, none of which I had to redo! I got it all perfect on the first try!! Ugh, what a good day.

A few hours later, DONE. 48 cupcakes DONE! I get asked how long it takes me to do each cupcake and honestly, it can go from a few seconds to a few minutes. The rose swirls for example take literally seconds, whereas the tiny-petaled-chrysanthemum designs take minutes because of the tediousness. {But the intricacy of the eye-appeal is totally worth it!}

Due to the annoyingly horrible indoor lighting our kitchen has to offer, the colour of the cupcakes you see in this photo is not true. In fact, they definitely look more pink here than they do purple. That is why whenever I am colouring my buttercream frosting I'm always dipping my spatula in the frosting and then walking over to our living room window and holding the spatula up against the white wall so that I can see the true colour of the frosting I've produced. I think I did this 10 + times trying to achieve the perfect pastel purple {and it SURE paid off}!

I bought these BEAUTIFUL laser-cut lace cupcake wrappers off of Amazon and I wasn't completely sure if I'd even use them, just because I'd never used cupcake wrappers before. But the moment I placed the first cupcake in one of those lacy-white beauties I fell in LOVE.

The cupcake wrappers made these cupcakes go from "pretty cute" to "GORGEOUS"! They add a whole different dimension to the cupcakes because they hide those wrinkly transparent cupcake liners.

AND OF COURSE, anyone who knows me at all know that I need to photograph all of my beauties!! :D Note the colour difference from the photos taken in my kitchen to the photos taken beside the window! If there's any advice I can give to foodie photographers, please take photos of your food in natural light--you'll give so much more justice to the work you put into your creations!!

Unfortunately I didn't have alot of time for a photoshoot, so setting them on this marble tray was all I could come up with.

 ^The cupcake with all of the little petals is the one that takes the longest to pipe. {Can you imagine piping 4 dozen of just that design of cupcakes?!}

 I also ordered these amazing plastic cupcake boxes off of Amazon {Amazon Prime is my best friend--what is better than free 2-day shipping?!}. These boxes are perfect because their domes have a high height and their compartments are wide enough to fit cupcakes plus their cupcake wrappers-although it was a little snug in there. I'd ask for compartments with a teeny-weeny bit more circumference if I could...

All ready for transport!! Delivering them is also a nerve-wracking part of the whole ordeal.

Now, normally I drive to the destination, open the boxes to show them to my client to make sure they're pleased, return to my car, drive home and sigh a huuuuuuge glorious sigh of cake-decorator's relief. But this time was different as I was actually attending the baby shower. Not only did I have to bake the cupcakes, but I had to be present for when people were trying them and eating them for the first time! {GAH!!} So many fears and insecurities snuck into my brain at this time such as, "what if they're actually horrible? What if nobody likes them?!" but I just have to remind myself that I KNOW what I'm doing. I've done this before! I've had friends and family taste-test all of my recipes and give me honest feedback. I've tasted this batch of cupcakes at every stage of the baking and decorating process, and most of all, I have put so much love into this it's not even funny! I don't think I've ever put so much love into a cake order yet {mostly because my love grows surprisingly deeper and deeper every time! Haha!}.

Despite driving to the wrong house and not remembering the actual address of the baby shower and having to call Jarryd at home to go look at the invite to tell me the address and then mentally freaking out because I was arriving late to the baby shower and feeling horrible because this is an important cake order and it probably looks so bad for my reputation that I'm LATE, it was all good because it was so busy inside the house with everyone standing and greeting one another that nobody even noticed I was late! * gasp * WOOOOW that was a long run-on sentence!! {Plus, I think when my "clients"/friends laid eyes on the cupcakes it distracted them from me being 10 minutes late}. Phewwwwww!

And then there's THIS!! I always say that piping the flowers on my cupcakes is my favourite part of the process, but seeing the look of approval and joy on people's faces when they see and taste my cupcakes is actually my favourite part. It's the reason I even DO all of this!!

It felt incredible to have complete strangers come up to me at this shower and ask me "was it you who made the cupcakes?", and after an enthusiastic squeaky "yes!" from me, for them to say how amazing they were, that they not only looked gorgeous but TASTED incredible and that they'd like business cards, felt so so so good!! I honestly can't even tell you how many people came up to me to compliment me because I completely lost count {haha!}. I'm pretty sure I looked like I was permanently blushing the entire time. And it's not like I went around the room approaching people with a "sooooo how'd you like the cupcakes?!" just fishing for compliments {believe it or not, there ARE personalities who do this!}. Like, total strangers approached me; total strangers along with friends and acquaintances went out of their way to talk to me about the cupcakes. They didn't have to say anything, but they did, and I'm so glad!

I've always been a person who can take criticism well. I'm very teachable and can learn from my shortcomings; therefore, I appreciate ANY kind of feedback, especially on something that I'm most passionate about!

As I said in my above Instagram post, I'm so thankful for this passion that God has instilled in me; He gives us these passions for a reason. He's given me the patience to wait for cake batter to rise in the oven. He's given me a steady hand to hold a piping bag and for piping intricate designs. He's given me a creative eye for food styling and skill with a camera. He's given me introverted mind that never tires of dreaming, imagining, and exploring new ideas! There's also things that aren't so natural to me such as planning most efficiently and working with numbers, but He's given me the determination and motivation to grow in these areas!! He is so good and I'm so excited and willing to go wherever He takes me with this whole baking thing! <3

A few days later after all of this, my friend sent me photos that she took of my cupcakes {and some with her preggo belly!!} with her fancy-schmancy camera and because I'm so in love with them I just HAD to share them on here with you guys!

 Baby belly! :)

I just love how they look with the wood!

Thank you to everyone for supporting me and for all of your encouragement and LOVE. I appreciate it more than you know! And thank you for reading my bloggy blog. I would absolutely love to hear what you think in the comments below!! Until next time, friends! <3

Dearest Future Self,

August is almost over, I repeat, August is almost OVER. This is absolutely crazy!!
For the past two (or so) months Jarryd and I have been planning my family's trip out to Maryland; most of our energy has gone into anything and everything relating to their visit from  grocery lists, to bed/sleeping situations, itinerary, activities, places to see, and what baked-goods to make.

You spend all of the days leading up to their arrival just planning like crazy--striving for it to be perfect; and then after they leave you say to yourself, "hmm, now what? My brain is oddly quiet right now".

I doubt most people get as excited about their parents' visiting as I did this last time around. The last time I saw them was at Christmas and that was up in Canada! So this time, they flew all the way out here to beautiful Maryland. I'm tellin' you, it is SO cool when your two worlds collide (those being my Canadian world and my American world).
FINALLY my family got to see our new apartment and just see how we live our life here in general. The last time they were out here in Maryland, Jarryd and I had been married a little over a month, so that hardly even counted. We weren't "settled in" at all!

They left to go back home to Canada on Sunday and ever since then I've just felt nothing but thankfulness. I mean, I'm thankful to God all the time for my life, but recently it's been an overwhelming thankfulness. Being with my family again reminded me of how blessed I am to have been raised by two of the most amazing people I've ever known. Through them, God has given me an incredible 25 years of life, experiences, and adventures.

Everytime I look back at photos of myself that were taken on all my adventures in Canada, Europe, USA, ect, I try to read my face as best as I can; I look for any indication, ANY slight indication at all that I'm grasping just how good I have it. So often I want to go back in time, stand before myself, reach out and shake my own shoulders screaming, "do you know how amazing your life is right now?! I don't think so because I remember when this photo was taken and how you weren't actually very happy at the time. Jenny, you are crazy for ever NOT being happy!".

Sigh. I see pictures of myself standing with all of my best friends and wish I knew then that I was probably never going to be in the same room with all of those wonderful people at one time again. I wish I knew then how lucky I was to have so many friends who lived just a few minutes from my house. Nowadays, making friends isn't so simple.

I see pictures of myself lying on the grass on our old farm and wish I knew then that one day I'd be living in an apartment situated between 4 major U.S cities, longing to have that much space to roam again. I often wonder if I'll ever have that much peace and privacy to myself ever again.

I see pictures of myself at my high school graduation and wish I knew then what an amazing chapter of life I was going through. I had finally graduated and I literally could go anywhere and be anything that I wanted to be--and all I wanted to do was rush through it. It's sobering to think how every single choice I made back then was so crucial and life-altering.

If I never would have felt so career-oriented and brave I never would have gone to University in B.C. If I never would have felt so longingly for a change in scenery/way of life/school dynamic I never would have gone to Germany for Bible school.
If I never would have felt so passionate about continuing my degree in Christian ministry I never would have gone to Bible school in Saskatchewan.
If I never would have had my own kitchen in my dorm room there where I realized how much I actually enjoyed cooking and baking I never would have applied to Culinary School in Ontario.
If I never would have met Jarryd during my time in Germany and committed to long-distance dating and later said yes marriage, I would have never moved to Maryland, US.
If I never would have moved to Maryland, I don't think I'd ever appreciate the beauty of friendship the way I do now. I don't think I'd realize how warm, friendly, and welcoming my home country of Canada really is. I don't think I'd fully appreciate to the extent that I do now, how wonderful it was growing up in a Christian community surrounded by a huge support system of friends and family. I don't think I'd truly appreciate how fantastic it is to meet a person so friendly and genuine, and to realize how infrequent these types of people come around (so when you meet one, make sure you hold onto them).

All of these choices and decisions I made based on feeling "at-peace" with it all, have led me to this place: 25 years old, married for over 2 years, living in an entirely different country, working as a cook, exploring the beautiful country of the US of A, and sharpening my baking skills by doing cake/cupcake orders. Sometimes I STILL can't believe where I'm at right now!

I bet, in 5 years I'm going to look back at this moment, this memory, and say to myself, "you had it SO good Jenny. Your life was incredible at 25. How could you not have been truly happy?"

And my future self is right! There's something exciting about where Jarryd and I are at right now. It's just the two of us, no kiddos yet, and no careers that have the "power" to keep us tied down to hanging our hats in one specific area. Truthfully, we could pack up and move anywhere right now. If we really wanted, we could hand in our two-weeks-notices at work tomorrow and pack up and move within the following weeks. We could live anywhere we want to. It's exciting and nerve-wracking and overwhelming and thrilling! To think, this time next year we could be living in another town, another state, or another COUNTRY even! OR, we could just be in this exact same spot a year from now, here in Maryland (which...truthfully...doesn't give me any butterflies whatsoever, haha!).

God places us right where He wants us, doesn't he? It's only a matter of opening your ears to what He has in mind. Right now we're just praying for wisdom and discernment. Praying to be active in our faith and to be aware of all opportunities He lays out for us. We're exploring our options and trying to grow in Christ in the meantime.

So dearest future self (30-year-old Jenny), I'm here to tell you in August of 2016, I am truly happy and am truly thankful. I have it so good, and I don't have it good because of anything that I've done, but because of what God has done! :) <3

Our Two Year Wedding Anniversary.

Apparently I have this tradition where I write blog posts for all of our many, many wedding anniversaries; all TWO of them! Haha!

In case you're new to this little corner of the internet, {my blog}, last year we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in Washington D.C! Also known as, one of my favourite cities!!

Click HERE if you'd like to read/see it!

It's actually so amazing looking back at that blog post and seeing all of the photos from exactly a year ago. It makes you realize how fast the time actually goes... So much can happen in just one year. I mean, a year ago we were living in a different apartment, we only had one vehicle, we both had different jobs which were both only part-time, no benefits, no savings, and ect. According to society's standard of living we have come so far; but also according to our marriage relationship within our relationship with God, we've KNOW that we've come so far. We have loved each other and have forgiven each other more than ever before. It really is true what Brad Paisley said...you think you loved someone then.... but your love for them NOW is just beyond anything you ever dreamed! :)

Anyway! I want to say that Jarryd surprised me with this year's anniversary trip. I would reeeeeally love to say that...except I would be lying.

Originally, I didn't think we were doing anything for our anniversary. We didn't have a single thing planned, and with my job it's super hard to get days off with such short notice. So the Thursday before our anniversary weekend, Jarryd tears his hamstring at his softball game. We ended up spending the evening at the walk-in clinic. Oh what fun...

While I was in the waiting room and Jarryd was in another room with the doctor, he left his phone behind and when he got a text from someone, it showed all of his past messages. {Jarryd thinks that I snooped, but I really didn't, I swear, the messages were all on display!}

"CONGRATS on your booking with Airbnb!!"

Jarryd surprised me with an Airbnb?!?

After reading that text I felt high with a rush of excitement, which then quickly descended into a low as reality sunk in.

We can't do anything or go anywhere with his leg in this condition. :( Of course, the one time we have a romantic weekend getaway planned, we can't even go. Sigh...so there goes that. Hope he can get a refund...

Plus, I already had plans with a friend the next day and I didn't want to have to cancel on her. But this whole hamstring business was sure wearing me out and the temptation to cancel was definitely there. I then received a text from my friend, who has just cancelled on our friend-date night. Hmm.

I decided to "play dumb" to Jarryd about the whole thing and keep my lips sealed. When Jarryd and I drove home from the walk-in clinic, he said how frustrated he was with the timing of his torn hamstring. {Funny enough, he's saying all of this with a half-grin on his face}.

Caving, I say "I think I know what you're talking about..."

And in true LOUD-American-Jarryd-fashion he yells: "YOU SNOOP! You snooped my phone! I knew I shouldn't have left my phone with you back there!!" Hahah! {It was hilarious}.

He said that he did the Airbnb booking the other day right in front of my face too; granted, I was in the middle of photographing a cupcake order so I was WAY in the zone of my own little cupcake world. He also said that he was going to pack a suitcase of my clothes and hide it in the trunk of the car. Aww!!

Later, I told him how my friend cancelled on me, and Jarryd said "Yeah, I told her to do that...so that we could leave for our anniversary trip right after work on Friday!"

"WHAT?!?" I was actually quite impressed with his deviousness. ;)

But my excitement levels remained slim, as I really didn't think we were going to go. If he could hardly walk, what was the point of going on this trip?!

THANKFULLY, the next day he could walk just slightly more normal...so we packed our bags and went on our way.

YAY! Finally a weekend away from our home and out of the norm! Just the two of us. :)

OH yeah, we spent our weekend in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania. The land of Amish, rolling hills, gorgeous farmland, and Smorgasbords. Mmmm!

Following an Amish buggy or two here in PA is a normal occurrence. I just love the "clip clop" sound that the horses feet make.

Here was the outside of our Airbnb {we stayed right up there in the attic. See it??} For those of you who don't know what an Airbnb is, it's a private space in people's homes that they can open up to travellers. It's a unique and personal alternative to staying in a hotel. {And also most of the time it's cheaper!}

Ugh, love the exterior.

Here's the door to our little weekend abode. How cute, right?!

The view as soon as you enter. HEART EYES to everything!!!

They had this pillow there and I just fell in love. In case you live under a rock, it's "Good Night" in German. I'm German, so you can imagine my excitement; anything familiar is something to celebrate when you're living in a foreign country.

:D

My face!! It's as if I just discovered the most beautiful thing.

I LOVE the gold XOXO on the brick. I think everyone's house should have at least one brick wall. I wish!

Complete with a little wood stove!

The rustic door to the bedroom. Some may say it's a door that needs a fresh coat of paint, others would say it's rustic and charming. 

This bed was actually SO comfortable. And the best part is that we slept 11-12 hours in it our first night there. I haven't gotten that much sleep in MONTHS. It was absolutely glorious!

Another view, with a ladder to the loft. Who knew that attics had room for lofts? Not I.

My husband, pretending to be a guitar player. "This sounds good, therefore it must be a chord!"

The dining room! How quaint!! Also, you'll notice that to your left is a decorative sign that says "Taste and See That The Lord is Good"; there are little hints all over this place that show our Airbnb hosts are Christians. We felt right at home. :)

This place had so many skylights--it definitely made it so nice and bright!

I just loved this plant! I could see myself adopting it...

The lovely little kitchen--that we didn't even use. But that's OK, kitchens are my life 100% of the time, so it's nice to have a few days away from it.

And that door right there past the kitchen is the bathroom. I did not take any photos of the bathroom, as it was pretty standard. My apologies to those of you who were on the edge of their seats to see the big bathroom unveiling!

Our Airbnb hosts left us a little "Happy Anniversary" note on the kitchen counter along with roses, which I thought was really sweet. :)

I would buy this rug. I REALLY WOULD!

Cute little shelves. Overall, I probably wouldn't decorate my own home with most of the little pieces in this place, as it's not exactly my style; but it totally worked for a little attic suite. We truly loved this abode and our hearts definitely sank when it was time to leave.

After we got settled into our Airbnb, we decided to go on a hot date to Victory Brewing Company! Jarryd and I love going to brewery's! It's fun ordering flights of beer and testing out the unique concoctions.

Kettle chips for appetizer!

You can't tell in this picture, but I ordered the shrimp tacos and that was the best shrimp I've EVER had. It didn't have a rubbery texture in the slightest; it was cooked absolutely perfect. Gordon Ramsay would be pleased. ;)

So after getting our 11+ hours of sleep that Friday night, we woke up on Saturday morning SO excited to check out the local thrift store we passed on our way into town. {Well, I don't know how excited Jarryd was, but I sure was!!} After enjoying a cup of coffee together in our cute little dining room, we took off for the thrift store, only to see a big "CLOSED" sign. They close at 12 on Saturdays. Pfft! Worst hours ever, right?

Mini golf in Lancaster, PA was calling our name!!

Fun fact: American water is substantially bluer than Canadian water. Haha jokes! This water was reeeeally blue, like it was almost scary...

I'll have you know that I was winning for the first 9 holes. And then I lost...ugh. Ah well, it was still a good time! Note to self: always eat before playing mini golf in the hot hot sun, so you don't feel like fainting half way in.

WYEBROOK FARMS! So, the only reason we heard about this place is because our friends signed us up for a Martha Stewart Living magazine subscription {as I joke I think?! If so, jokes on them because I love it!!!}, and in one of the issues was a piece on this farm started in the 19th century just off the Brandywine River. They have their own market and restaurant where all of their meats, cheeses, and vegetables, ect come from their farm. So cool! We just had to go!

I get a little too excited every time I see Canadian Geese because, well, you know why. :)

We went for a little walk on this farm and it was oh-so peaceful and incredibly beautiful! Even the smells didn't bother me one bit; it all only reminded me of the farm I grew up on.

Pigs really are dirty animals...

Jarryd's unintentional cowboy stance.

Pigs have the cutest little pink snouts though!!

And the ugliest bums...

This farm was so gorgeous!!

A few of the farm house. How cute is that couple to the bottom left? 

My Jare Bear and I. <3 Apparently he's the biggest Nationals fan ever? (?!)

A photo of the restaurant before it filled up. There is sheepskin at every table!! I was SO in love!!

The view from where our dinner table was. I'm so happy I got that bird in the shot!!

We visited the goats after our meal. Unfortunately there weren't any baby goats, or "kids" as they say.

Feeding the goats the "greener grass from on the other side". I was sooo in my happy place.

:D

The beautiful farm house once again. 

That evening we decided to go see Finding Dory in IMAX 3D! It was AWESOME!! Honestly, if you liked the first one you'll definitely like the second one! It had some pretty funny scenes.

After sleeping our second {glorious} night in our little Airbnb, we packed up our bags and headed back to our real life in Maryland. It definitely weren't ready for our mini-vacation to end. Real life gets tough sometimes. Tough and tiring. Truthfully, I don't like waking up at 5 AM and I don't think I ever will. ANYWAY, one of the ladies from my Bible study group had 4 tickets to the Baltimore Orioles game that Sunday and she gave them to me!!! Because it was Father's day we decided to take Jarryd's parents. Baseball games are so much fun!!!

That evening we celebrated with a nice big ole' bushel of steamed, extra-Old Bay seasoned crabs at the in-laws. An amazing little fun fact is that I have lived here in Maryland long enough to recognize amazing seafood and not-so-amazing seafood. This bushel of crabs were good, but not nearly as good as the bushel we had last summer. I just think it's amazing how far I've come since I first moved here!! :)

So that was our second anniversary weekend! It was a perfect contrast from our first anniversary weekend, because as I said earlier, we went to Washington D.C and that was nothing but city city city! And this was pure Amish, and countryside, and farm. It was just fantastic!

Although the weekend wasn't a TOTAL surprise, the things that we did and the adorable little place where we stayed was a complete surprise. So in conclusion, Jarryd is the best! :) <3

I can't even imagine what our third anniversary weekend will have in store for us!!