What Am I Loving?

My hubby and I are looking forward to our marriage conference this weekend! I love it that we feel it's necessary to work on our marriage. Check out One Marriage! Thanks to Danielle & Chels for including me and Doss in their couples group! What a great group.


I love my daddy and always sharing laughs with him! This is our father-daughter dance over a year ago at the Doss wedding! Talk about a memory I will never forget!

I love Danielle's cute hair! Check her new "do" out! I have been waiting for her to do this. :)


I love how stinkin' cute Ash and Drew are together! Check out their preview pics here!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...I stinkin' love my Mom's new adventure! She just opened her sewing boutique. It is called Just Sew! Studio. The class is offered on March 25th and 26th! It is $40 and you will get all of the materials and tools to use to make your very own project. What a great idea to spend time with your girl friends and learn to sew something for your home!

Here I go about my favorite book again...stay with me!

While doing our community group study at church we stumbled upon this treasure.

I cannot say it enough how different a man is from a woman. We need completely different things. It's like we speak Portuguese and our husband speaks Dutch. How can we expect marriage to be easy when we do not understand the other language.

Here are 6 things that men need:

Remember CHAIRS!

Which stands for: conquest, hierarchy, authority, insight, relationship, and sexuality.

Ladies, here's what we need:

Remember COUPLE!

This stands for: closeness, openness, understanding, peacemaking, loyalty, and esteem.

All of those look different from what our spouse needs. This book has impacted several marriages that were broken. What "Love and Respect" taught me was the method behind Fireproof and how the daily actions you take within the book show love and respect to your spouse. God will bless this, change hearts, and GIVE MIRACLES! Just when you think it can't happen, it will.

Here's a verse that I love: ¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Phil 2: 1 - 4.

I just signed up at The 40 Day Love Dare to continue ensuring my marriage remains Fireproof. I encourage you to read "Love and Respect" or rent "Fireproof". When we make a promise - especially with our Creator - work to honor it!

Here's an amazing last thought!



I also just found out this movie will be out this year! YAY! http://www.courageousthemovie.com/home

One more video. This is my daily prayer.

Life. What do you call life? Is it all happiness, laughter, simplicity and fun? No, there are bad things that happen to good people. Some ask, "how can God allow this to happen". I was one of these people.

As I typed in LoVe, my life took a dark turn in 2002.

It still feels unreal to me that it was my life and is my life. God has BIGGER plans than us. We are his tools to share the Eternal Life he gives us.

Two weeks ago I received an email from a sweet friend. Ginger emailed a link of a friends testimony. I was thinking I knew whose it may have been, but I didn't know for sure. "Life" has been busy...that's not a good excuse from the girl who doesn't say no to commitments. I waited until this evening to watch it. I had plans this evening to head shopping with my sister and mom this evening, but Lyla gave me a scare and I am home watching her. I was going through my emails when I saw Ginger's pop up again.

Watch the entire sermon here. Watch Erik and Matthew's testimony here. Watch Mandy's testimony here.

So, while I was supposed to be spending time with the women of

my family, instead I spent it with God. God is still God, and God is still Good.

Enjoy your weekend and allow God to use us for His bigger picture.

So, I cook...yes, not much, but I do! I must say that I am not my mother and definitely did not get her cooking love. If she could be anywhere in the world...cooking in a kitchen may be on her top 10 places!

The other day we had chicken in the fridge ready to cook, but I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for. We certainly had some Trader Joe's whole wheat pasta in the pantry, but what could I do with the noodles? Well, don't you worry...my favorite blog-cowgirl to the rescue. The Pioneer Woman saved the day. I did a search on Chicken Spaghetti and she came up! Check out her recipe here...http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

I do want to mention that I didn't put in all of the veggies she had; instead I put in a can of Rotel. I also didn't use as much cheese, and it was still quite amazing. It's our favorite meal I have made since we've been married...ok, EVER!

I hope your family tries it soon!

So, I am jumping on the bandwagon!

Today I am loving the new suit I bought for the AP meeting tomorrow! I hope I look as cute as I think I do! (Sorry Danielle - I wasn't as strong as I was yesterday - cuteness always wins)
Banana Republic at Tanger pretty much rocks!

I also love my EDS classes. I know, I am a nerd, but they get me pumped for my dream job! The conversations and thoughts we share in our cohort of 6 are thought provoking and necessary to one day lead a school.

I love my husband (that was him when he was a cute baby). When I got home from class he was finished with our taxes (it pays, haha, to marry an accountant)! If you need a good one then let me know!

Blogging is another thing to add to my list of things I love...I have really - FINALLY - gotten in to it, thank God! It's such an outlet...where will it take me? I am loving seeing all of the neat ideas people have to offer and cool contests there are! What an endless amount of crafts, pictures, and thoughts!

Lyla girl is another love. Even though she totally tore one of our super duty welcome rugs - we're talking nice - yesterday, I can't help but love her. It was literally pieces of rubber in quarter-size pieces all over our yard. You would have never thought we won yard of the year last year! So, I totally made that up, but if Doss wasn't an accountant he'd make a rockin' landscaper. He had his own company in high school with shirts and all!


My mom & sis are amazing. I love that we talk daily and can say exactly what is on our mind! They are pretty awesome.

(Brian, Colt Ford, my donut - Callie)
My rockstar, news reporter, BFF sent me this pic tonight. I love her for thinking of me! She got to head backstage with Colt Ford. Last time I saw him he took his shirt off. I SOOOOO hope she doesn't have to witness that! I live through Callie's career since I thought my 2nd job would be a weather girl. I totally have the name for it!

And last, but not least, thank you God! I am loving our relationship that continues to flourish. I love sharing you with others and seeing a light in them that sparks our new level of conversation - a meaningful one!

Proverbs 3:5 (RSV)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.

Are you running? This is the topic of our church's message for the next two weeks. Two days ago we scratched the surface on what it meant to run from God. We talked about why people run from God. Think about that...God is everywhere, can we honestly run? The bible tells us God has a "steadfast" love which means He will wait for you until you come back. How awesome is He?!

One thing about Andy's message on Jonah was the issue of trust. Trust ... Trust ... Trust. This week has already been about trust. I want to fully rely on God and trust Him who made me. He is my father and takes care of me in everything. Why do I think I can do it alone? I am inadequate compared to our Creator.

Another word I have been seeing (2 times today and twice yesterday) is omnipotent...to have unlimited power. My God is OMNIPOTENT. There's nothing our God can't do.

Just food for thought. Happy day after Valentine's.

I hope you have gotten some LOVE today. Think of something that made you happy today...a funny comment, your quiet time with God, a prayer, a song, the sun, a hug, kiss, a kind word, or a smile. It could be one of these things for you, but for me this was just some of the love I was shown today. There were literally lots of things that made my heart smile.

This afternoon when I got off of work, I ran by the grocery. In case you don't know, I HATE THE GROCERY STORE! It never fails that anytime I go there I pay more than I'd like, see people I can't remember the names of, and can't find one of the items on my list. I always end up calling Mom and she can tell me the aisle I will find the HIDDEN product on. I love her lots. Anyways, at the grocery I bought Pillsbury Pizza Crust, tomato paste, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. My husband's favorite meal is pizza. Lucky me, I know. I have never eaten the amount of pizza I have consumed in the past year and 5 months. **Maybe that's where my extra 5 lbs since Oct. 09 came from!**

So, I drove home to find Miss Lyla Bug playing in the yard with a piece of our tree that Dossinator had planted this summer. I used the dead branch (2 feet long) to play fetch with her. We walked inside and put the items in the fridge and said a prayer her Daddy wouldn't see the lack of his beloved tree.

Next, I decided to clean the house from top to bottom. If there's one thing my hubby loves is a clean house. Happy LOVE day, babe!

Lyla and I even enjoyed a brisk walk and run! I mainly ran because of a sketch car on the road...I am a scaredy cat! This could be because of Rescue 911 watching days in elementary school. Who knows.

Then Dossinator called and said he was headed home. He is in the middle of tax season at work...busy, busy, busy! I started my great idea: a pizza heart. I found the idea here. It turned out fantastic and the smile it brought to his face was unforgettable. He walked in and greeted Lyla, noticed the SPARKLING house, and then turned the corner...the heart-shaped pizza! SCORE!!

We prayed, had dinner, talked about our day and how this easy-going night will be our new V-day tradition! We are now sitting in our respected chairs in the living room watching The Bachelor (don't tell anyone, but Ry loves it).

Thank you God for a perfect evening with the one my soul belongs with and our precious pup. Love to you all.

I am supposed to be getting ready for church , but had to tell you about a photography assignment I just joined!

I have a small side business that I love. It is definitely a passion and I see God through the pics, families, and places when I use my camera. So, God has blessed me through word of mouth referrals and repeat customers. I have been told my sister and I do not charge near enough for what we capture. You can check us out here - Van Nus Photography for more info!

Anyways, I love the Pioneer Woman...Mom got me hooked! She has a "photography assignment" to upload a picture that screams LOVE! Well, I have several, but this is the one I chose to submit for today...


Funny thing about this picture is their name is actually LOVE! Doesn't this picture exude what a mother feels for their daughter?! Miss K looks completely intent in J's arms! So join and upload your LOVE pic!

Happy Sunday Morning!

My mom has always been a crafty lady. We had hand-sewn outfits growing up (still do), homemade curtains, hand-painted gifts, crafty birthday parties, and she is now teaching me! I never had patience until now. I still only do simple crafts because I get frustrated in the difficult steps of some.

We started turning toward blogs back in the fall for some mantel decor inspiration. So, naturally we have done the same for Christmas and Valentines.

In mid-January Mom, Julie, and I got together and got crafty!

Here is what we did:

Frames with hearts, X's, and O's made of clear stones on scrapbook paper...
**click on the pics to enlarge them**


Wreaths made of cupcake liners...

Our mantel in the Van Doss household!So, there you are...our Valentine Mantel at the Van Doss house! How did you decorate for Valentines?

PS - Love the sign? My mom is on Etsy...check her out here! She can make a custom sign for you and yours!

Happy Valentines!