A picture says a thousand words.

This month of August flew by in my opinion!

It had a lot of change involved in it. I started my nanny job, and acclimated to the part-time life. It's basically a before and after school nanny which also includes light housework. The kids are great and are super well behaved! The nice thing is I have hours during the day to be productive, Skype/catch up with family and friends, run errands, try out Pinterest recipes and I have more than enough time to keep the apartment in order.

Along with my job change, I am sooooo incredibly happy to report that God blessed Ryan with an outstanding opportunity. Ryan starts this Tuesday as the new Anatomy & Physiology in addition to being the new AP Biology Teacher at North Lake Christian School. And! It's just minutes down the road! Elated would be putting it lightly when describing how Ryan feels about this. We are so thankful for the diligent prayers of our family and friends who have supported us as Ryan was job searching. THANKS SO MUCH!! I could go into detail about how much a miracle this really is, but instead I'll simply say God get's the glory...completely!

I love taking and sharing photos. And also as part of a photo a day challenge, I figured I'd narrate some of the activities, randomness, and experiences Ryan and I have had in August :) Buckle up..there's lots!!

{Before & After}.. As a little throw back.. we wanted to show how time has passed :)

{Taking a walk after dinner} There was a cool front.. Hallelujah!

{Love from WI} -- Here are some of the notes, postcards and lovely things I've received from back home. I loooove getting things in the mail. It's the perfect little surprise to my day!

{Daily routines} Hahaha.. Ryan is a constant form of randomness and fun.

{Mealtime} White beans, Italian Chicken Skillet, and Flank Steak (this was a treat!)

{More foodie things} My morning smoothie (almond milk, coconut oil, bananas, spinach, strawberries,blackberries, and blueberries...YUM!)

Homemade Bread (which turned out surprisingly awesome)

Baked Oatmeal Cups (perfect serving size)

{Northlake Nature Center} We had some time to explore and enjoy nature..and even found a surprise along the way :)

{Makes me think of Wisco} - 114 days til we visit! Cheese! Packers!

{Sweetie Pie Surprises} Look at what I came home to. And may I say those lilies smelled so beautiful! Thanks love!

{Ducky love} - A mere 10 minutes away from the apartment there are ducks to feed. Now I can get my duck fix whenever I want. We'll be friends soon enough.

{Morning Pick-me-up} As you can see with these turn of events there was an unexpected note in the bathroom followed by my husband programming the coffee maker to have my tea ready to go for me when I woke up {with only a few exceptions along the way... *wink*}

{For The Love!} So story time. I decided to make Baked Apple Chips (which funny enough were amazing) And while using the mandolin slicer, I took the tip of my thumb off. And it was enough to assemble all the necessary supplies to take care of it. I don't wanna get graphic, because it was bad and bloody and well, my left thumb is out of commission for a while. Let the healing process continue.

{Bye Bye Home Depot} With an exaggerated face..Ryan is definitely done with Home Depot

{Hello Students} After a day of shadowing teachers, Ryan was a little tuckered out. Trust me he'll be more than awake when he gets to actually teach!

And LASTLY....

{Home Sweet Apartment} For those of you who might want a better idea of what our apartment looks like.. here ya go! (Let me know if you can find what doesn't belong...lol)

Hope you enjoyed this long parade of photos and let us know what you might like to see in the future. 

We love y'all!

Audrey & Ryan

P.S. Any recipes mentioned within this post are clickable links in which you can follow to try for yourself! :D

Hazy, hot and humid.

    Hazy, hot and humid. Back home, these were the three words you'd never wanted to hear the weatherman say all at once when describing the day you're about to walk into. When asked how I'm liking it down here, my first impression is that...well, IT'S SOOOOO HOT. Surprise surprise. Although I've lost certain luxuries of living in the Midwest, there's other things in life that I've gained in these past two months.

I've gained new friends....                                                      ....More cooking skills...               

New things to make a home....

.....And a new car!

Amongst the things I've gained, I've also built some fun memories over the past month.

Ryan and I have explored Old Covington as well as the quintessential events that take place within it's 200 year old city limits. I love farmer's markets, and at our first attempt to experience the Covington Farmer's Market needless to say.. we splurged! 

Fresh peaches, local honey, and a stuffed artichoke was the evidence of our trip. And we had a wonderful surprise of bumping into friends Sarah and Jason from Souls Harbor within minutes of arriving.

On the weekends and in our downtime we have made it more of a habit to intentionally turn off the TV and spend some quality time with each other. Cards and Farkle are our favorite!

And when playing farkle by ourselves gets boring....

... we improvise and play with family via Skype!

                                                                               I literally laughed outloud when I was in the grocery store and saw the 'cheese' selection. 

Ryan and I have been more motivated to learn Japanese lately. Baby steps is all I can say. Daunting but not impossible. And for the days we are, well, 'less motivated', we find more creative ways to make it fun and intriguing.

ANNNNNNDDDD.. Drum roll please!!!... I got my ears pierced! Finally! It was a little ill-timed because the very next day Ryan and I went with his friends from college on a canoe trip on the Okatoma River. But! We didn't tip over and no infection.. so we're good!

While four wheeling by Ryan's brothers house, we had a couple close encounters with water moccasins..but aside from that, SO FUN!

In other news... I'll close with the fact that God has provided all that we have needed thus far. He has shown Himself more to us as husband and wife and how we are to honor and respect and mold our lives together.

I am starting a nanny job this Monday with a wonderful family that I think I'll fit really well with. Ryan is staying diligent in job searching. We want to be good stewards of our time no matter how God gives it to us. And it's extremely exciting to see how God is moving in this region and how He is stirring up an awakening and revival!

'Til next time... love you! And to all WI readers... you are missed greatly!!!!

~Audrey & Ryan

P.S. We're officially coming to visit December 23rd-December 30th! :D