& I love the soul of Summer

As the close to the Summer draws near, I've been thinking about all the different memories I have from the glorious months of June & July, August & the beginning of September.

From my many adventures with G, to even the simplest things like sleeping in til 9 a.m. most days - it's been a really great summer for us. But it's also been a challenging few months as well. For example, every summer I make a list of things I want to accomplish or try out throughout the Summer days, but like most summers I try only one or two things, start a book but don't get to finish it, never get to the project I wanted to work on...and that frustrates me. & this is why I love God, because He is patient & loving with his children, always. So getting into the school year I am reminded again that God is working in my life and I don't have to cross out things from my "Summer To-do" list to feel happy about myself. Instead, I'll be proud of what I did begin, experience, or accomplish along the way.

Our happiness & security should never been in what we accomplish, but in who we are IN Christ. It has been a struggle for me to not value myself based on what I do & expect perfection from myself. But this is an area I'm choosing to allow God to touch so true healing can come.

Do you have any personal struggles, needs, or frustrations you need to give into God's hands today?

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30,
  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you  rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

As I learn this lesson of giving my burdens to Christ, I can be truly happy & content as I look back on this past summer & the experiences He allowed us to have. Here are a few photos from my most favorite memories of the Summer of 2013.

I just love the soul of Summer...

Love, t Olive

dozens of walks along the lake

celebrated two years of marriage the 25th of June!

spent lots of time outside with my favorite little girl!

Experienced again, the weeks of free concerts at Millennium Park. Seeing Glen Hansard perform was the most fun & exiting show we went to! It was foggy & magical. For me, a dream come true.

Saturday mornings at the farmers market a few blocks away

tried out lots of new places to eat around the city.
Hash House a Go Go was one of our favs!

we were part of one of our best & childhood friends wedding day (We love you, Britos!)
(all wedding photos posted are by melissayoungphotography.com) 

& I got to see my baby brother graduate the same day

mornings & afternoons on Oak Street Beach

the new Starbucks down our street opened with the cutest balcony.
& not to mention, is only steps away from Urban Outfitters, Madewell, Sprinkles & BHLND.
So obviously, this Starbees is my fav. in all the city. 

many trips to the pier to see the weekly fireworks

glorious sunsets

visits from loved ones

rented the new bikes in the city & rode for almost 14 miles! (& passed out when we got home)

vacationed in paradise with some of the best people I know 

& got to be part of  witnessing & celebrating my grandparents
sixtieth wedding anniversary

Trader Joe's Yum!

Sometimes I make pretty bad assumptions, and for the past few years I've made one about Trader Joe's. 

My assumption of Trader Joe's was that is was an expensive super market that had healthy things I would probably love but couldn't afford. This idea cost me one year of living walking distance from Trader Joe's and never stepping inside. I mean, I would pass by the store almost on a daily basis at one point a couple summers ago, but did not even look to see what they had. OH EM GEE! What a mistake that was because after my first visit in over 5 years, I was head over heals for this place that is filled with awesome food at great prices. Not to mention their organic, all wooded-out style! I love it & now I stop by on a weekly basis!

I love Trader Joe's for their unique & delicious selection of food items. And the awesome thing is I have loved everything I've tried from there so far! So with the excitement I had about loving so many different things (is this sounding a little too good to be true?) I decided that every time I visit TJ’s I would purchase something new I hadn't tried before. This was not a hard decision because I love exploring with new foods & flavors. G's not as big of a fan of this, but he liked my idea all the same. And you know what? We have not been let down with the new foods we've tried so far! (except he hasn't tried everything I have, but that's ok too! lol) Because of this really cool experience, I had the idea to write a post about the newest foods I've tried, loved, & repurchased from TJ’s. I'm planning on writing a post once a month for the next year. Let's see how far I actually go!

I am no food blogger, so I may not be too detailed about ingredients or nutrition. But I wanted to do this to encourage you to try out new foods and new places to purchase food for you and your family! It’s been a great eye opener for me to realize I just should not make assumptions about even the simple things I don’t know, and not to fear trying new things - because the worse that can happen is you don’t like what you try, but thanks to TJ’s awesome policy you can return what you don't like & get your money back with no problem!

So here are my top 5 "yums" for this month!

1. Organic Dark Chocolate Truffle
If you're a dark chocolate fan you'll love this! If your a milk chocolate fan you'll love the milk chocolate version of this. I love having chocolate at home because if I know it's available to me I don't crave it all the time. Except when I'm craving a dark chocolate cupcake from Sprinkles, but that's a whole 'nother subject!
Wanna try out this chocolate delight? It's $1.99.

2. Spicy Black Bean Dip (fat free!)
I tried this dip thanks to the free samples of new items TJ's has in the store. Even though I am not a huge fan of spicy food, this dip is so tasty I can gladly put up with the slight tingling that occurs in my mouth when I eat it. Also, its only 30 calories for 2 table spoons! I'm not a calorie counter, but when something that tastes this good is so little in calories, I get excited! If you want to give this black bean dip a try (that tastes great with a quesadilla, or sweet potato chips - my favorites!) it'll cost you about $1.69.

3. Spectaculous Crunchy Cookie Butter
This stuff is a life changer! It's as simple as that. I remember Julie and Michelle both telling me to go to TJ's to try the regular cookie butter spread, and after I finally went there was only ONE jar left. That definitely told me there was something special about this product and I was so exited to try! But when I got home and opened the jar, gasp!! It had already been opened! I could not believe it! I called Julie to tell her about the tragedy that just occurred, and I had to go back the next day to exchange for another jar. Since then, I've tried the crunchy version (pictured above) of this delicious gingerbread cookie spread & love it even more! If you don't want your taste buds to miss out on life anymore, try this! It'll cost you about $3.69.

4. Chile & Onion Flour Tortillas
I am a quesadilla lover! The Panini presser we got as a wedding gift is one of my favorite & most used cooking items because I love toasting quesadillas on it! This tortilla has a unique and yummy flavor that does have a bit of spice to it. So if you want to give it a try it'll cost you about $2.29 (comes with 10 tortillas).

5. Kettle Corn (popcorn)
Chicago is home to the famous Garrets Popcorn, and the Chicago mix is it's classic flavor: cheese popcorn mixed with caramel popcorn. SO GOOD! I love it because anything that combines sweet & salty flavors excites me, and the kettle corn from TJ's does not disappoint! Wanna try? It's $1.99.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of having access & the ability to buy nutritious food. & please have mercy on those who starve everyday.

love, T Olive

visits from home: Julia & Elimar!

This is our third (can you believe it!?) Labor Day in Chicago! G & I especially love this holiday because it comes around after our first week of classes. So before the second week begins, we already have a day off & it is great!

This year we had the pleasure of having long time friends Julia & Elimar with us in our sweet home! They have seen us both grow up, me from infancy, so we were excited to invite them into our home for the first time & spend some with them! They stopped by Chicago on their road trip to their new home in California and wanted to see our city. It was really fun giving them our "on foot" tour & being able to show them the place we've grown to love & call our home. The weather was perfect & the clouds were glorious; it was a great morning with them! The night before is when they actually arrived & we took them to famous, Giordano's for delicious Chicago style pizza which they loved! I didn't take any photos from that night, but it was really special because we met up with other old friends from church who were in town for the weekend too! G & I have so many good & godly role models in our life, it is truly a blessing.

Elimar & Julia definitely inspire us to keep going where God leads, no matter where He leads us or at what time in our lives He calls! We love you Julia & Elimar! God Bless you on this new chapter of your lives! & please stop by, anytime!

Here are some photos from our time together!

we could not have asked for a more beautiful day!

fall colors are here!

Julia's first time riding the bus since she's lived in America! She was very excited! 

Chicago, we love you!

sweet Septemer loving

Every Sunday on our walk from the train station to the church we attend, we walk by these very tall & pretty sunflowers, & every week I tell G I want to take a picture with them. But week in & week out it has never happened, for one reason or another. Until the first of September!

We were just leaving the church service & G was walking me to the Red Line, so I could get home & prepare to welcome Elimar & Julia who would be stopping by later that day! (A post about our day with them will be up soon!) During the service, the pastor preached on those lovely verses in Colossians 3:18-19 that say,

          Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 

          Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

So after that message, I think G was feeling even more gracious & loving than he already is, and made sure we walked back to the station on the same street we came, so I could get my picture with the pretty sunflowers! (He's mine, just wanted to remind you.) So we get to the flowers, and I'm telling him to stand farther away and to angle his phone this way to get a better photo, while he laughingly reminds me if he goes any further he will get run over by traffic. 
Oops!

But as he's taking the picture this car comes next to us, and the woman in the car is yelling, "Beautiful! Just Beautiful!" over & over again! & I was so taken back because she sounded so much like my mom. But it wasn't my mom encouraging me and loving me like she often does, it was a stranger driving by showing me more love then she probably even realized. So my thoughts after this very unexpected blessing and display of love is this: show love to others! Just love people the way God made you to love people; it's that simple. I'm sure that lady didn't debate in her mind if she should tell me I'm beautiful, or think about what she could say. She just loved me in a tangible way by telling me I was beautiful. That was her natural way of loving me at that quick moment in time. 

God has really been impressing these profound words into my heart for a few weeks now: love God, love others. I know these words in my mind, but I think He's working on guiding them into my heart, so they can genuinely & naturally come forth through my actions and my words. 

Lord, help me to You and to love Others the way you have called & created me too. 

The photo below is the moment when the car drove by us so quickly & I could hear the woman talking to me. All I could do is laugh... & now I want to purposefully make someone smile! 

Self, let's not complicate things. Love God & love others.

Love, t Olive