6 months of... Wedded Bliss? Lessons In Love? Hard Work?

Today is August 7, 2015. Six months ago Chase and I committed our lives to one another. We can honestly say that February 7, 2015 was the best day of our lives thus far. It seems as if the weeks and months have flown right by. In Sunday school last week we had an exercise where we had to finish the sentence, "It is August and...". Chase filled in the sentence with, "It is August, and we have already been married for 6 whole months!" It hit me right then that this life of love really does go by in the blink of an eye. 

Don't get me wrong, marriage is hard work. Sure there are plenty of moments of wedded bliss, but there are also moments of heartache, anger, and frustration. Through it all we have learned so many lessons about loving one another and just how much time and energy it takes to fulfill our vows to one another. 

Today in the blog we wanted to share some things we both have learned during these past 6 months of being husband and wife. I asked Chase to write down six things, and I also wrote down six things, without sharing them with one another. Our answers surprised us, made us laugh, and made us realize that having one another as a spouse is a dream come true. Hopefully our joys and missteps can be a blessing to others who are married, or who are on the journey to being married. 

Chase's List:

1. Communication is a biggy. Always talk to one another about everything. 
2. Even just an "I Love You" can make a difference in each other's day. Say it often and say it like you mean it. 
3. Sara and I have more in common than we thought. 
4. Sara and I have our own way of doing things. It is a learning process for sure, but its a great thing that we can still be our own people. 
5. Making Sara happy is the most important thing to me. 
6. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. Six months already!!!!!

Sara's List:

1. It is important to continue dating your spouse once you are married. Date nights with Chase after a long week of work and school are always something to look forward to. 
2. Don't sweat the small stuff. So there are shoes all over the entry way, Chase leaves his dishes in the sink sometimes. It is not worth an argument. 
3. I am a needy spouse. I am thankful that Chase still loves me through all of my wants and requests. He really is a great partner. 
4. Living on basically one income while I am still in graduate school has made our marriage even more complicated than normal. However, I would not trade our lives in a heart beat. A small income and late nights of homework have allowed us to grow closer to one another and really discover what true love is. Money is not important in the grand scheme of things. 
5. These past six months of marriage have been filled with new experiences and challenges. I cannot wait to see what these next six months have in store for us!! 

We are more than ready to continue our marriage journey with one another. We thank God daily for the blessings in our lives. Cheers to the past 6 months and to our road ahead. May it be filled with wedded bliss, lessons in love, and more hard work. 

- S&C 

Cast Iron Lovin'

A few months ago Chase and I were given a late wedding gift. Side note...late wedding gifts are awesome. They remind you of your wedding day and bring an air of excitement to the atmosphere. When we opened the box we were utterly surprised to see that it was a large cast iron skillet. The ironic part about this gift was not two days earlier I was complaining to Chase how we should have put a cast iron skillet on our wedding registry. I had seen a few people get one and I was feeling some cast iron envy.

We jumped into some online research as to how to go about prepping our skillet for use. There are so many different suggestions and blogs out in the google-sphere that it was kind of overwhelming. However we came to a consensus and went about making our skillet fit for cooking.  

First pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. This seemed to be the middle rang temperature from all of the blogs that I read. Hot enough to open the pores of the iron, but not too hot to where it takes the skillet forever to cool. 

Then scrub down your skillet very well with soap and water. This is the only time that you will be able to scrub your cast iron with soap to get all of the dust and dirt out of the pores before it is sealed in the oven. I just used plain Dawn dish soap and it seemed to work just fine.

Then you have to find yourself a pan large enough that your skillet will fit on. Chase and I have a large pizza pan that was nearly big enough, but it worked just fine for our purposes. Cover your pan in foil so it won't get scratched or burned.

 Then wipe down your cast iron skillet really well. You don't want the heat to rust your skillet. I just used a plain paper towel and it worked great. Then take some oil (of your choice) and rub down the skillet. Don't over oil it to where it is dripping wet, but oil it enough to where the cast iron is shiny and moist. I also used a plain paper towel for this part.

Then place your skillet face down on your foil covered pan. Get as much of your skillet on the pan as possible so oil does not drip down into the bottom of your oven. This could cause your oven to smoke or even to catch on fire.

Then place the pan on the center rack of your oven. This will allow for maximum heat absorption and  oil seal.

Next, cook your skillet for one hour. Take out your skillet and let it cool completely before using it.

And last but not least, cook something yummy!!! The first thing we used our skillet for was for BACON. Because lets face it, what is better than bacon. 

What are some of your favorite cast iron skillet recipes? Chase and I would love to hear some suggestions. 

- S & C