The secret to skinny jeans

Ladies, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Something I wish someone had told me long ago.

There is a secret to wearing skinny jeans. Now, if you already have legs like toothpicks and a tiny hiney, then this post isn't for you. But if you have some meat on your tush and some (ahem) strong thighs, like a certain girl I know (wink, wink), then you too can wear skinny jeans.

Take it from a girl who tried to find a pair of skinny jeans for a year. Mr. Right, my fashion-forward husband, kept trying to get me to go to the skinny jean dark side and kiss my bootcut jeans goodbye, but every time I tried a pair on in the dressing room, and watched my insides become stuffed into my pants like sausage being stuffed into its casing, ready to explode at any moment, I was always on the verge of tears as I tried to wiggle my way out of those impossible pants and left cursing the horrible man who invented such a torture device.

It was downright depressing. And then I learned the trick.

Take whatever size you typically wear in pants, and go up a size. Or two. Don't even take your normal size with you into the dressing room, or you'll feel like an elephant. 

Just ignore the number on the tag, go a size up, and be amazed at how wonderful they feel. And how much skinnier they feel because they don't look like they're painted on. Nobody has to know the real size.

You think I'm kidding. But you know you want to try it.

PS--My favorite skinny jeans have come from Banana (try the outlet) and LOFT. Sign up for their e-mails and just wait for their 30-40% off everything special - they run them about once a month. 

New job

We are happy to announce that Mr. Right has taken a new job - in a few weeks he will start working as a real estate agent in Fort Worth.

It does not mean that we are quitting ministry. 
There are some crazy statistics out there about how many people who graduate from seminary are out of ministry within five years. I think it's an unfair statistic. Because a lot of churches can't afford to support their ministers full time. There are church plants that routinely use bivocational ministers - they work to support their family but their main mission is ministry. In fact, some people say that this is the future of church ministry.

This will be us for now. Mr. Right will have a "regular job" albeit a very flexible one so that he can support our family and still do ministry. We now consider ourselves bivocational.

The kind of ministry we like to do isn't very clean. Mr. Right likes to work with internationals. The down and out. The poorest of the poor. The people that society tends to write off. You know, the kind who don't have any money to support a minister. And there aren't a ton of jobs out there for that.

But that doesn't mean we can't do it. We're already voluntarily running an ESL ministry at our church, working with refugees from around the world. And Mr. Right volunteers with our Spanish-speaking ministry. And he is uniquely gifted at sharing Jesus with random people he meets in lines at grocery stores. The funny thing is, he's never pushy, rarely brings it up - but people just see him and immediately open up and tell him their life stories. At the pharmacy. And the gym. Just about anywhere he goes.

So he will continue to do ministry. And he will continue to finish school. He's scheduled to graduate with a Masters of Divinity (a 98-hour degree) in 2013.

It does not mean we will never again work at a church. 

It does not mean that we won't someday end up living on the mission field, finding ourselves as the outsiders who need someone to teach us the language and the culture. 
But for right now, we're going to do that for others, in the name of Jesus. We'll just being doing it for free.

It does not mean we're leaving our church.
In fact, we plan on staying for a very long time. Our church is our home, we love the people there, and we feel like we have great opportunities to minister there. It just means that instead of working through every service, Mr. Right will get to sit next to me, worship with me, maybe even ride together to church (something we have never done since we've gotten married). It means that we're in a good position to find some new ministries to do together. As volunteers.



We need your prayers.
Change is exciting but also scary, especially for two people who are planners to a fault. We need prayers as Mr. Right changes careers and builds a new business. We really feel like this is what God wants, and we assure you that this is something that we have prayed over for quite some time. But navigating through change and finding new roles to serve in can be challenging. And I need your prayers because as always I battle against fear of the unknown - pray that God will continue to give me big faith and the wisdom to know how best to support Mr. Right through this transition.

We need your friendship.
We are thankful for friends who love us no matter what our jobs are, who trust us to follow the Lord's leading for our family. Mr. Right will need your encouragement (and your referrals... wink, wink) as he starts a business from scratch.

We need rest.
If you go to church with us, you may not see us for a few weeks. Mr. Right hasn't gotten to attend a single worship service in ten months. He needs to hide in the back of a sea of unknown faces and just worship. And so we have plans to visit the church where our brother-in-law leads worship. The church that Mr. Right's parents helped plant. We may take an out of town trip that doesn't involve us driving back at midnight Saturday night so Mr. Right can make it to work the next morning.

But we will be back, with batteries recharged and hearts excited for a new chapter.

My Summer Bucket List Update

It's time for a little Summer Bucket List update (if you're new, here's 2011). We have been busy bees over in the Right house, crossing things off our list and dreaming up new and unexpected adventures. We've done pretty well, considering summer brought some unexpected new items to the bucket list (like starting a new business, building a patio, and a few other things that deserve their own blog posts). I'm choosing to think of this list as pure fun, and if I don't hit all the items, then I'm not going to stress one iota. In fact, it's my goal to add a little slacker-ness to my summer, which is a bit out of my nature. More than anything, this list helps us come up with ideas for fun date nights so we avoid the "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" rut of marriage. Mr. Right and I want to be FUN.

Here's a list of what we've done, with just a few weeks to go before the end of summer.

Eat dinner on a patio

Dinner at the ultimate patio... Joe T. Garcia's

The at-home version - a leisurely dinner on our back
patio one night while Mr. Right was working late -
just me, my ice tea, and The Bachelorette on my laptop. Bliss.

Have a picnic on Trinity Trail

Trinity Trail is like a little oasis in the middle of the city. If you want 
to get some fresh air, have a CHEAP date night, and enjoy a 
little romance, I highly recommend it.

We even brought Harley the Wonder Schnoodle along.

Learn to bake a pie

I learned to make peach cobbler (from fresh peaches no less!). My
definition of "pie" is something that you'd bring to Easter, Thanksgiving
or Christmas dinner. So cobbler definitely falls into the pie category.

I loved my peach cobbler so much I made it over. And over. And over.

Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach

Marco Island, Florida

Wear shorts and heels

I actually did this quite often. Each time I felt kind of silly
but also kind of awesome. 

Ride my bike

I may be one of the few people who has a bike with cup holders.
Don't be jealous.

Mr. Right and Harley came along for the bike ride
(they go every single morning).

Plan a secret date for Mr. Right

I surprised him with tickets to Concert in the Gardens in Fort Worth. It was
one of the last cool weekends in June before the Heat Wave of 2012 hit.

Hold my new nephew

Luke James, born June 11, 2012

Man, he's a cute kid.

Go to a Rangers Game

We had a big debate before this game - is it trashy to wear workout clothes 
(running shorts and a t-shirt) to a Rangers game? Do you get a free pass 
if it's 104 degrees? We chose to go with the all-wick-away fabrics. 
And we chose right.

Rangers lost. But I got a lemon chill. So it was a good night.

Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks

Bucket list fail. I have no pics because I was too busy a-smoochin'. And excited because we hosted 35 friends for a fireworks watching party. But trust me - we crossed this one off the list, and have a few witnesses who will vouch for us.


Learn to sew something new

Want one of your own? 

Finish my husband's quilt

This was a quilt top we bought at an antique mall for $10 - the steal of the century.
The whole thing was hand-pieced, which took hundreds of hours. Mr. Right
picked out the quilt backing (his old sheet from college) and we bound it with
the shirt he bought for his first job at a Young Life camp in Colorado.
The whole thing has a ton of sentimental value.

This is Mr. Right modeling the finished product.

Host a dinner party

We hosted about 27 dinner parties, including one for our visiting preacher 
(that was pretty cool), dinner for about 35 people on July 4th, dinner 
for 15 girls at a bachelorette party, and a bunch with 6-8 guests. 
Each one was a blast - one of the highlights of our summer.

Dip my toes in the ocean

Marry off my dear friend Katie

Photo Source for both photos: www.mcgowanimages.com

Confession: I'm showing this one because it shows off my calf muscles, which I've never had before. Finally, those 800 million bazillion box jumps from crossfit have finally paid off. Oh, and it was a LOVELY wedding.

Do something spontaneous

We did a lot of spontaneous movie/sushi dates. Especially after we 
found out our local movie theater offers $5 Tuesdays. Score.

Get a mentor

Done - but this doesn't really lend itself to picture-taking.

Cook with vegetables from our garden

Man, those are some GIANT tomatoes, eh?

Get a pedicure

Eat a sno-cone

Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board

This is not exactly "cooking" but I "arranged" based off my Pinterest board. 
Judge says - good enough.

Eat a candlelit dinner at home
If you don't take a picture, does it still count? We've had a few candlelight dinners including one where Mr. Right surprised me with one (along with a love note). That one was my favorite, and I was way too googly-eyed to remember to take a picture.

Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book

Done - but again, not really photo-worthy

Visit a state park

And here's what's left:

Take a photography class
Pre-plan all my meals for one week (confession: I have zero desire to do this, so it's probably not going to happen)

Go to a museum

Go to a festival

Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen

Take a road trip

Finish making the Christmas wreaths for my mantle

Get a new dog (This will one is probably on hold for a little while)

Have a fish fry (with chicken strips for me, since I don't eat fish)


Two weeks to go - we'll see how many more I can cross off between now and then.

Chocolate wisdom and leopard ruffles

Isn't that just one of the greatest quotes ever? What a treat when I opened my beloved little chocolate from a secret stash bequeathed to me by a coworker. That stash is only for the most special of occasions... like when I try to cut back on caffeine. Which I'm trying to do - not an easy task when you average about six cups of coffee a day... on a good day.

My goal is two cups a day. Today I made it to two cups of coffee and a Diet Coke because I met a dear friend at Chick-fil-a, and I just couldn't bring myself to order water. I was so strong on Paleo and so weak now that I'm off of it. I think I'm a total all-or-nothing kind of girl. Dang it.

This past weekend I threw a classy bachelorette party for one of my dearest friends who is getting married next week. I absolutely can't wait, it's going to be one of those weddings of the year, helped by the fact that it also happens to be a dear, dear friend. And there will be good food. And my dress is somewhat forgiving. And I'm wearing nude pumps that would make Kate Middleton swoon. It's a win-win.

I promise to post new pictures soon, but wanted to show off my fancy new ruffled tablecloth. I learned how to make this on YouTube -- ahh, YouTube, you have changed my life so. Mr. Right wasn't a fan of the leopard print and pink ruffles, somehow he doesn't find it as neutral (and awesome) as I do. When I assured him that I could re-use some of the fabric I purchased for the party in our house - he wasn't so game. So I may have to make some leopard ruffle pillows for my new etsy shop.

Speaking of etsy shops - I promise you I'm working hard on creating inventory so I actually have something to post. Because as beautiful as an empty shop is... well, it really isn't very beautiful. In the meantime, I have a few friends who have inquired about special items... if you have something you want, I am happy to create something ahead of time before I launch the store. Just leave me a comment and we can discuss. 

And to the sweet person who stopped Mr. Right yesterday at church and told him that she can't wait to buy something from my little shop - you are officially my very favorite person. You know who you are (ahem, Michelle--BLESS YOU). 

Speaking of Mr. Right - I got to help him out at church yesterday. He's usually busy running all over the place and we never actually see each other at church, and I've busied myself by volunteering behind the scenes with the production staff - mostly because I get to wear a cool ear piece and headset and look official and stuff.  Kind of like a member of the FBI, but in a dress. But now, one week out of the month I'm officially Mr. Right's right-hand-gal helping him with a new member class he teaches. I do very important things like sign people in, hand out books and pick up response cards. Basically the class couldn't run without me. Okay, it could. But I like to be helpful and it's nice to serve Mr. Right and my church at the same time. Besides, I love to hear him teach and love on people. 

And since my sweet nephew Luke has been hogging all the pictures on the blog lately (my goodness, isn't he adorable?) I thought I'd include a picture of our beloved niece Ella. We got to hang out at the pool yesterday, swam with our favorite girl, I watched Mr. Right do flips off the high dive, and then we ate a huge dinner on the patio overlooking the pool. It was a pretty great outing.

Ella will be a big sister in October and we will gain another adorable nephew who will probably hog the blog with all his cuteness. And of course I'm about to start his baby quilt, which may also delay my pillows. Thanks for your patience, I can't tell you how much fun I'm having getting geared up.

I love a good sappy romantic gesture

I'm a sappy romantic - if you are too, you need to read this article about the man who planted a heart-shaped meadow for his late wife.

For Mr. Right's birthday his parents and I flew him to Knoxville, Tennessee to visit his best friend. This trip was a lot easier than the two weeks he spent in India, but even after four days I am so, so happy that he is coming home today! For some crazy reason when he's gone my schedule goes out the window and I end up staying up way too late doing random things. I definitely do well with a routine.

Since everybody I know seems to be out of town this week, I used the time to do all sorts of projects I had been wanting to do but didn't have the time. And I fit in a few movies and bubble baths, of course. 

Summer Bucket List - Month One Completed

Before we get into my summer bucket list, I need to share with you what's going on in my world right now. Today, May 29, I begin my 30-Day Paleo Challenge. I'm doing it with Mr. Right and my sweet mother-in-law. 

30 Days of no sugar. No chocolate. No bread. No potatoes. No cheese. No cereal. NO SUGAR!

Have I mentioned that I've never in my life gone more than a day without bread or sugar? That is, if you don't count the days I've spent lying on my bathroom floor with the stomach flu. Otherwise, I'm a sugar-loving, bread-eating girl.

So say a little prayer for me. And maybe keep your distance as my body adjusts. It might not be pretty with two people in the same house going through sugar withdrawals together. For better or for worse, right?

Ahh, life as a grown-up. But I haven't felt awesome lately - maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've been on antibiotics non-stop for the past 17 months (my new normal after last year's health issues). Or maybe it's because I've been eating more indulgently since marrying my chef husband. But folks have promised that once you ween yourself off of the bread and sugar (and cheese... oh how I adore cheese), you start to feel really good. 

We'll see. 

Besides, the real reason is because I popped the button off of my biggest pair of work pants. If I don't do something I'm going to have to go shopping again. And that's just silly.

But back to the bucket list - here's an update on where I stand after my first month. Remember - I chose to begin summer on May 1 because soon it will be too hot to do most of my favorite outdoor activities. I'm pretty proud of the progress - and I have had a blast crossing things off. This is so much better than New Year's Resolutions - maybe I need to start a new movement toward lists of fun things instead of lists like "Make my bed every day." That's so overrated. (Just kidding mom.)

First... my completed items:

Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach

Read about it here.

Wear shorts and heels 

I've done this several times but haven't snagged a picture of it yet - I promise I'll take one soon, for documentation purposes. Just be proud of me - every time I do this I feel kind of silly. And loud. But I'm starting to get used to the silliness and have been assured that the look is still age appropriate for this 30-ahem-something girl.

Learn to sew something new

I finally got around to making the ruffle pillow (there's a great tutorial here) I've been swooning over for about a year. It took less than an hour and is now proudly displayed on our bed. I am obsessed with ruffles right now - at the rate I'm going, poor Mr. Right may end up living in a house that looks like a giant ruffle threw up. It's a good thing he's a patient man. And at least they're not pink.

Host a dinner party

I was too busy enjoying my guests to get pictures of the folks who came to our dinner party - but here's a picture of our table before they arrived. You can see my ruffle obsession has also attacked my table runner. We served Mr. Right's famous Argentine soup (he spent a summer there in 2009), a big salad, and his famous pear and almond cream tarts.

I can't think about those tarts right now... they're not paleo-compatible. But oh man, are they good.

Dip my toes in the ocean

You can read about it here. 

Do something spontaneous

We found a sign for an estate sale on the side of the road and decided to take a detour. We found all sorts of wonderful treasures - you can read about it here.

But we weren't just spontaneous once. No, Mr. Right and I have been delightfully spontaneous for weeks now. Just Sunday night we decided at the very last minute to go see a late movie. I felt like I was 16 again. And just like when I was 16, I still made it home before curfew.

I love this picture because I kind of feel like a secret agent. And I was having a really good hair day. Can't you tell in the super-dark photo we took right before the 3D movie began? Yeah, I thought so.

Imagine how good my hair will look after 30 days of no sugar. 

Get a mentor

Cook with vegetables from our garden

I should point out that only the tomatoes were grown in our garden - the rest were grown at the garden down the street called Target. That garden seems to flourish a lot more than my own. And since this pictures was taken, one of my tomato plants has been completely eaten by a caterpillar and another has been eaten by some bug that I've yet to catch in the act. I'm heartbroken over the untimely demise of my beloved vegetable garden. When I went to work this morning I still had several tomato plants left - along with some peppers, squash, and herbs that have yet to yield anything worth talking about - but who knows what I will find when I get home. 

Stupid, stupid, very hungry caterpillar indeed.

Get a pedicure 

I don't have a picture of this, but know that it was absolute bliss. I went after a particularly crummy day and it was just what I needed. At least, it was the low-calorie version of what I REALLY needed - ice cream. But the pedicure was better for my waistline.

Oh my word - 12 hours without sugar and it's all I can think about. Can you tell?

Eat a sno-cone

Gasp. More talk about sugar. We went last night with my in-laws as part of our "last supper" before Paleo. Confession - the sno cone run was AFTER we carb-loaded at dinner. Think twice-baked potatoes and giant rolls. We decided to go out big.

Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book 

I talked about that here. And I've been diligently adding it to it. Such a fun adventure.

Visit a state park

You can read about it here.

 Still left on my list:

Eat dinner on a patio

Have a picnic on Trinity Trail

Learn to bake a pie (this obviously won't be happening in the next 30 days... maybe July)

Take a photography class

Ride my bike

Plan a secret date for Mr. Right (happening this Saturday)

Go to a museum

Hold my new nephew (he's due in one week)

Go to a Rangers Game

Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks

Finish my husband's quilt (almost done - I worked on it this weekend)

Pre-plan all my meals for one week

Marry off my dear friend Katie

Go to a festival

Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen

Take a road trip

Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board

Finish making the Christmas wreaths for my mantle

Eat a candlelit dinner at home

Get a new dog

Have a fish fry (with chicken strips for me, since I don't eat fish)

And there you have it - my summer continues.