A new favorite.

I know you're not really supposed to have favorites... but my favorite Christmas present this year was from Josh - he got me an original painting from my dear friend and favorite artist Megan. Over the past few weeks I've been trying to figure out how I wanted to hang it and I found the piece on the left at a local art shop in St. Louis this past weekend and it all came together in my mind. I'd also seen the idea on Pinterest of an artist who had made some geometric pieces so I stole that idea to make something small that tied in the simplicity of the quote and the color of Megan's painting.

Anyway, it makes me happy every time a look at it so I thought I'd write about it. A big thanks to Josh and Megan for the lovely gift.

(To check out more of Meg's work, here are her Etsy, Minted, and Facebook pages. She's pretty amazing...)

Good friends.

I went and visited my friend Valeria in St. Louis this weekend. It was a way overdue trip and I spontaneously decided to make it happen the weekend before. Luckily Valeria (and her husband Jonathan who was out of town the majority of the weekend) are gracious and equally spontaneous hosts so it worked out!

V and Jon are special friends. We all became fast friends in the first weeks of our freshman year of college and despite the distance and time, the second I walked in their home and we were reunited it felt like old times. Confession: I suck at keeping in touch with people. But I am so thankful for good friends like them that you don't see forever but it feels like you didn't really skip a beat. I always thought it was funny when people said that about their friends - but Valeria and Jonathan are living proof that it can happen. I'm blessed enough to have friends like that!

Jon had to leave Saturday morning for a business trip but V and I got to do things that I love to do. Eat good food at some fun restaurants in the city, go shopping, watch chick flicks, catch up... It was just a great weekend. Thanks, V, for letting me come and visit!

Try-It Saturday: Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

My mom makes the best chicken noodle soup. My opinion may be a little biased because I grew up on the stuff, but I think it's pretty good. The only problem is, she doesn't really have a recipe for it so it's hard for me to make on my own. "Put in some chicken bouillon until it is the right shade of yellow..." That's a problem for a baker like me - we like exact instructions. So I've pretty much given up on trying to recreate my mom's chicken noodle soup. But occasionally I try other recipes, recipes with clear measurements and instructions, to satisfy my chicken noodle soup cravings until I can have my mom's.

Tonight was one of those nights. A crazy Saturday night as a 28-year-old - doing laundry, watching Cinderella, and trying out a new chicken noodle soup recipe. Lightened-Up Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. It indeed was not my mom's, but it was still pretty dang good. Lots of flavor and I really liked the creaminess! If you don't have the pleasure of trying out my mom's - I'd say this is a good second place recipe for you to try out on your own.

Hope you enjoy!

Lightened-Up Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

A Quick Review: 2015.

I, like the majority of the population, tend to get a little nostalgic around New Year's. I like to look back over the year and see everything that God has done and everywhere that He has taken me. Thanks to social media, it's easy to see the highlights... the special things that were worthy of announcing to the world. But God did a lot through the non-Facebook/Instagram/Twitter moments in the last year - and I'm thankful for that.

Here are some of the social media highlights. If you want the good stuff, that's more of a conversation to be had over coffee. (Which I'm game for... you just say the word.)

I got to go on quite a few trips.

New York with the PAALs (Phillips, Agee, Abby, and Leongs). Yep - we're cool like that and have named ourselves.

Bahamas with three really cool ladies.

Colorado with the family.

Two of my brothers got married to some wonderful ladies and I had the pleasure of singing at both weddings.

Cory's wedding here in KC.

Joel's wedding outside of Austin.

Here's me trying to reminder the words. :)

I don't know if you heard, but the Royals won the World Series. This kind of took over our entire city for a month or so...

I got to go to the ALCS championship game!

I got to do life with this guy. He's teaching me a lot and I'm pretty lucky to have him by my side.

Other noteworthy things that I don't really have pictures for...

-I got a promotion at work on March and now manage a team. It's been a tough year at work but God is teaching me a lot through it.
-My roommate Becky and I moved to an apartment in May. No more dog Dietrich or old roommate Audra but it's not a bad place to live.
-I love my church - LifeConnection. It's given me such a cool place to learn, serve, and have community with others.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot... but 2015 was a good year.