Christmas Sneak Peak

I have so much to type about our exciting trip to Louisville... BUT it isn't over! We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, we got to visit Highview, my home church, to share in Christmas Eve Service, and we have just had fun relaxing, laughing, and spending time with people we love. There are many pictures to come thanks to the Christmas present my sweet Husband got me... A Sony Cyber-Shot W120....

(The back is black too in real life :))

So stay posted because there is MORE to come!

Louisville Bound

We are finally heading out! I am so excited to be in Louisville and to see my family and friends! If you are in town give me a call and lets get together! Pray for us (well Jon mostly) as we drive... we should be pulling in around 7am! woohoo....

Christmas #1

Last night (Sunday) we celebrated Christmas with Jon's side of the family. It is so hard not being able to be in 2 places at once. Since we did Easter and Thanksgiving here with Jon's family we are heading up to Kentucky tomorrow to spend Christmas with my family. We had a great time with Jon's family. His step-dad James made a HUGE lasagna (He is Italian so he made the sauce and everything from scratch) - and when I say HUGE i mean literally like 6 inches deep! It was so yummy. I made bruchetta, salad, and an amazing Chocolate cake that I got the recipe from my cousin Courtney. We had a TON of food, and a great night just spending time together. We also exchanged gifts! We got too much stuff! Everyone was so generous. We got a ton of giftcards to places we love, I got a sandwhich press from Jon's mom and step-dad, and Jon's Grandparents also got us a fire pit for our patio (pictured below). I can't wait to set it up - I have been wanting one, and the one they got us is beautiful! We had a great time giving out gifts too! I almost think that is the best part!

So Christmas is already in full swing for the Malko's! We are heading out for Louisville tomorrow around 3pm, and will be driving through the night! Pray for safety in travel and good weather! We can't wait to see all of our family and friends in Louisville, and to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Our church has been talking this month about how Jesus is MORE than a baby. This time of year it is so easy to focus on the precious baby Jesus and the miraculous virgin birth - but remember that the Greatest miracle of Christmas is the God came in human form to die for the sins of the world! What an amazing God we serve!

Wonderful Husband

The Lord has blessed me more over the past 7 months than I ever would have guessed. Last night Jon and I "celebrated" 7 months of marriage - well it was more like a mini-celebration. Jon's Grandparents bought some steaks from Omaha Steak and decided to share a few with us! We grilled those and made scalloped potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. Jon brought me a lovely bouquet of flowers, and we just enjoyed a dinner at home together! Then we went Christmas shopping and accomplished so much! It is just great to spend time together - and I am loving this first Holiday Season as a wife!

One thing I have seen the Lord do over the past seven months that stands out so clearly to me is to mold Jon and I in our personalities to fill the roles the Lord created us to fill. Jon is so gentle and patient, but through the gentleness and patience that the Lord has given Him Jon leads us as a family in such a Christ honoring way. I on the other hand may at times lack gentleness and patience, but the Lord is so faithful, and in ways that I cannot even understand the Lord has placed in me an intense desire to follow Jon! I am so thankful for the way the Lord guides us. It is more and more clear each day that the Lord is in control - not Jon and especially not myself - when we place Him first in our lives!

Jon and I BOTH continue to pray together and individually that the Lord will fill our heart and our home with his presence, peace and provision because when we are weak He is SO strong! Join us in praying for our relationship - and your own relationships today!

I love my husband :)

Weekend Christmas Parties

This weekend we had many Christmas festivities. I went to an ornament/cookie exchange hosted by Carol Redmond - Janal's mom. Jon and I also went to an "Ugly Sweater" party and Jon and Janal Hughes' house, and caroling with our Sunday School class. Here are some pictures (in reverse order) BUT first I wanted to post a picture of our new front door decoration - the snowman! Our door is so long that if we hang a wreath it looks crazy high up, so we got this long snowman that hangs down the whole door and we love it!

These are a few of our friends in our Sunday School class

And Jon and I in the church van going caroling - these are the only 2 pictures we took.

Here is everyone at Jon and Janal's about to play a pretty heated game of catch phrase!

Here are Jon Hughes, Tony, and Jon hanging out in their super cool sweaters!

Here are the Christmas Tree cookies Jon and I decorated

And here is Jon hard at work decorating his...

Here is the host and hostess, and Janal's sister Lovey haha!

These are the cookies I took to Carol's cookie exchange - Meringue cookies - they are really fun and easy to make - and to cook them you preheat the oven to 350, put them in, and turn the oven off - you then leave the overnight! They are simple and yummy!

Here is Carol and Jen - Jon Hughes' sister in Carol's kitchen - Carol did not want her picture taken :)

Here are all the cookies that I brought home from the cookie exchange - well not ALL of them - Jon ate a few before I could take the picture :)

Here is Janal and I at the cookie exchange

And last but not least Jon and I in front of the Hughes Christmas Tree in our lovely Christmas sweaters - haah!

I'm not really sure how these pictures got all out of order - but I hope you enjoyed them! We had a great weekend which led to a very exhausting Monday - but it was well worth it! We are so blessed with great friends - but mostly with a GREAT Savior who we can worship and celebrate not only at Christmas, but all year around!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Here are some of the Christmas decorations around our home!

This is my stocking holder - a girl snowman

This is Jon's stocking holder... a boy snowman

And this is Jon's stocking - mine is the same.

Here is one of the plates of our table decoration - they are every other one this design

And every other one this design

And this is the centerpiece...

Here is the bow on top of our tree

And some details of our tree - we made the yarn balls and the M's

And here is our tree! We LOVE it!

This weekend we have 2 Christmas parties - one last night, one tonight, and then Caroling to the shut-in's of our church with our Sunday School Class tomorrow night! Stay posted for pictures of the festivities!

Scary Dr.'s Appointment

So... I never get sick really, and even though I have great medical insurance, I have yet to be to the Dr... until today. I randomly selected a Dr. in an area I was familiar with, and made an appointment. I thought... HEY, they are on the list of my insurance, and I know where that is, it's gotta be good..right? - WRONG! SO i go into this TEENY TINY office with very "sketchy" looking people and I sign in. My initial thought was - LEAVE NOW - but I thought - no Brooke, you should stay. You are sick, and you need to get well - so stay and at least get checked out. When they told me they didn't accept credit cards I paid with cash and took a seat in the faded - not very clean looking waiting area that was about 7x7. I wanted for about 30-40 minutes - which isn't out of the ordinary at a doctor's office. I was called back to see the Doctor. She brought me in and inputted some stuff in the computer - naturally I began to tell her what was wrong - BUT she never asked - she didn't even ask me how long or what the symptoms were or ask me to explain anything further. In fact she just listened to what I said without EVER asking me a single question. She then took out a very dated looking "ears and throat light thingy" and looked in my ears. I had told her I had a soar throat and maybe had some blisters. She didn't do a throat swab or take my temperature or anything! All she did was look in my ears and write me a prescription for FIVE medications - 5???? What in the world... She then asked me if I needed a note for work, and I said no. She insisted that I take one in case i decide to stay home and rest tomorrow, plus she said "You don't want to get anyone sick". So naturally I asked if i was contagious. She said MAYBE - MAYBE? What kind of doctors says that you may be contagious?? Needless to say I will not be filling my prescription and I WILL BE finding a new Doctor - geeesh!

Weekend lack of blogging

Sorry for the weekend lack of blogging... My mom and her dear friend Lynn were in town and we had so much fun! We enjoyed the beach the pool some good shopping and lots of good food! Unfortunately I was sick much of the weekend, but I tried to be a trooper and muster up as much energy as possible to enjoy the weekend, and I think it worked :) Needless to say I am EXHAUSTED today back at work! I have a few pictures - plus pictures of our tree, and a few other holiday decorations we picked up, but those will come later tonight when I can load them on our home computer! Have a great day!

3:45

Today at 3:45 my mom will be arriving here in Fort Myers with her friend Lynn! I am soooo excited for them to get here! I haven't gotten to see my family since the first week of August, and I think this is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my mom! We always have so much fun together, and I am really looking forward to this week! Stay posted for pictures of all the fun to be had, as well as pics of our Christmas tree that I will post hopefully tomorrow!

Warm Potato Soup

Last night for dinner I made potato soup and fried cornbread for dinner. It was so easy and yummy, the perfect cold weather meal (and the leftovers are great too!) So I thought I would share the recipe...

Potato Soup

2 lbs diced potatoes (I used the small red ones - they look prettier and they stay firmer)

4 c Chicken stock

2 T oil

1 medium sweet onion diced

1.5 T Minced garlic

2 slices of velveta cheese

1c milk

5-8 slices of bacon extra crispy (I use the precooked kind that you microwave)- for garnish

shredded cheese- for garnish

scallions- for garnish

In  large pot saute the diced onion and garlic in the oil until the onions are soft

Add Diced potatoes and chicken stock

Bring to a boil, and then turn down to simmer for 20-25 minutes (Until potatoes are soft - but not mushy)

Remove from heat and add milk

With a hand blender - or in a blender if you do not have a hand blender - blend the soup to the texture you prefer (I used a blender and only put in 1/2 of the soup)

Stir in velveeta cheese until it is melted

Serve in soup bowl garnished with shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, and chopped scallions.

Fried Cornbread

2c cornmeal

1.5c milk

1 egg

1/4c oil + more for frying

Mix all ingredients together until smooth

Cover the bottom of a large frying pan with a thin layer of oil 

Allow pan to heat completely until oil is VERY hot

Pour pancake size batter into pan

allow to turn golden brown before flipping

Cook to golden brown on second side

 

Place fried cornbread on a paper towel on a plate

Photos from our Weekend Trip to Savannah

This is in front of our house right before we left!

Liberty St. - this is our hotel- it is impossible to get a good picture of it since it is so tall and you can't get very far from it. It is the Hilton DeSoto in the Historic District of Savannah - we enjoyed our stay very much!

Our room

On Friday we just got out and wandered the streets of Savannah. They are full of the most beautiful shops, and scenery. This little shop was right behind our hotel - "shopSCAD" All of the things in this boutique were hand made by SCAD students (Jon's college)

It was my favorite shop of all!

Forsyth Park - Jon use to have to come here for his drawing class!

Outside of "The Lady and Sons" Paula Dean's Restaurant.

Jon was getting a little friendly with Paula in her shop....

Friday night we ate at VinnieVanGoGo's, Jon's favorite pizza place in Savannah. (Here it is Birdie's, and in Louisville it is Wick's - we love pizza!)

A man was kind enough to take our picture at the CROWDED restaurant.

Jon wanted to eat, but I wanted to take a picture:)

YUMMY pizza

On Saturday Jon drove me around to where he lived - Wilmington Island. We at at a greek cafe called Basil's and then drove to the pier on Tybee Island...

Jon wanted a picture of me, but the wind kept blowing my hair in may face - so this is the best we could do haha

Again, someone was so sweet to take our picture - it is hard on a vaca with only 2

Saturday night we got a reservation at "The Lady and Son's" (we went there at 3 but couldn't get in until 8:15) This is the only picture we got - we were enamored with the food - it was DEFINITELY worth the wait!

On Sunday morning we got up early and checked out of our hotel and walked across the street to a little cafe we had been eyeing all weekend

It was very cute and tasty - everything was made in house.

We had a great weekend. I fell in love with the city of Savannah - I would love to live there! I would recommend a weekend trip!