Mom dancing

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! I went to the most amazing cupcake decorating class that I'll post about later in the week. (Seriously, it made me wonder what I've been doing with my life up until now.)

Mondays can be a bit bleak, so I thought I would share a video that is sure to cheer you up.

I'm not a mom (and hopefully nowhere close to becoming one - love kids, want them one day, but not yet), but I have a number of mom friends and a wonderful mom who I Skype often and miss terribly. This is an ode to them. And honestly, who doesn't love Michelle Obama?

Hope this starts your week off right!

Love,
e.f.

Neighborhood Goods Market, Johannesburg

Happy March! It's autumn (Southern Hemisphere) and spring (Northern Hemisphere)...two really great seasons, and my birthday month. I think it'll be a good month.

It feels like it's been a bit serious around here lately, so I thought I'd write about something that I've discovered recently that makes me oh so happy: the Neighborhood Goods Market, "in town" in Johannesburg.

Now, in most large cities, downtown is a happening, exciting, glamorous, and thriving place to be. (Don't you have Petula Clark's "Downtown" playing in your head already?) You've got the talents of theatre, the high prices (and bargains) of endless shopping, the world's largest businesses seeking great fortunes, and foods to satisfy every culinary desire. Not in Johannesburg. The CBD (central business district) of Johannesburg, and most of its immediate surrounding areas, are not where you want to be. They are worn down, smelly, dangerous, and will make you feel claustrophobic. There are meat shops with whole cow's heads, license plates being sold on the streets, and every time I have to go down there, I carry my tazer and my pepper spray close to me. (Yes, I own both of those. My husband bought them for when we were dating.) Until recently, I loathed going into downtown Johannesburg.

But recently, I was introduced to the most charming, delicious, reminds me of America market; a visual and culinary oasis in a desert of mono-culture and dilapidated buildings.

Neighborhood Goods Market.

Every Saturday morning, this market, filled with Etsy-style individuals selling culinary creations (and some crafts and thrifted clothing) gather in the first floor of a building that I can see serves no other purpose except to host this delightful, Saturday event. Everything from breads and sauces, to chocolate and cupcakes, to paella and homemade beer, to cheese and samosas (I could keep going) can be found, freshly made.

One of my best friends here, Nicole, introduced me to Neighborhood Goods; so we ventured out one Saturday with a new friend who moved here from the US. I fell in love so hard that I took my husband the next weekend. If you ever come visit, I will take you. If you have visited before: my apologies for not knowing of this sooner. Come back and I promise we'll go. :)

Love from the now autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere,
EF

Handsome husband who is about to find that he'll be hooked too!

Right: Homemade beer. Husband loved it. I don't like beer and it didn't taste any different to me from any other beer. Sorry.

A live Jazz band plays on the roof top every Saturday. The music is stellar and the musician's dancing is pretty entertaining too. 

Thrifted jewelry at a really cool shop down the road from Neighborhood Goods.

Nicole and Monika: my city exploring friends. 

God has a plan + our vows

Today has not been the greatest day and the hubs and I are in the middle of some pretty big decisions; so, those weigh on me. It's scary, to be honest - making big decisions, that is. But at the same time, I am reminded of the fact that God is so kind and he has GREAT plans for our lives.

Great doesn't necessarily mean lots of money. Great doesn't necessarily mean easy or super fun and adventurous all the time. I think what it does mean is that God promises us growth, hope, and whatever is best for us. I've learned in my (almost) 25 years of life that what is best may not be what I want. But I've also learned that ultimately, the results of "best" is definitely what I want...so I can deal with the how to get to the result. I'm kind of just writing here to encourage myself - I need to be reminded of these things.

G and I wrote our own wedding vows. We both felt that we wanted something very personal and thought through, but also something that we really meant. I thought about what I was committing to, to make sure I was willing to do it (ha!) but also because I thought of Gordon and our relationship specifically. And he did the same.

You might wonder what that has to do with anything I just said - and with the way my brain seems to be working today, in the logical world, it may have nothing to do with all of that. But I find myself being encouraged and content remembering the vows we made to each other and the growth, hope, and whatever else is best for us that we are discovering, as we grow in fulfilling these vows.

I think a lot of people look at vows as a ball and chain, a burden, a "why would you do that?!" kind of thing. But we've only been married about three months now, and I am filled with hope (and gratitude for God, his scriptures, people that help us) as I see us learning and growing in how to be married and how to be a husband and a wife. I recently heard someone say that a good marriage is not having as little "fights" (bumps, arguments  disagreements...whatever you want to call them) as possible, but rather getting better and faster at resolving them. I loved that and have been so encouraged by it! :)

We didn't read our vows to each other before the wedding; the ceremony was the first time we heard them. But we had them printed on a canvas for all our guests to sign at our wedding (my mom helped us do this so we didn't see them). I loved the idea of everyone acting as witnesses to what we were vowing on that day and to be able to remember them the rest of our lives. The canvas, with everyone's signatures, now hangs in our house. :)

I've had a number of requests to read a copy of our vows, so here they are. (Sorry for all the caps - I just copied and pasted from our canvas template.) And I hope my earlier ramblings make sense - in the midst of big life decisions, things don't always come out quite so clearly.

Love,
ef

Gordon's vows to me:

I VOW TO BE A MAN THAT LOVES GOD WITH ALL MY HEART, TO BE FAITHFUL TO GOD, TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY WALK WITH GOD AND TO PUT GOD FIRST. I VOW TO BE A MAN WHO WILL LOVE YOU THE WAY JESUS LOVED THE CHURCH—SACRIFICIALLY AND WITH ALL OF MY HEART. I VOW TO BE FAITHFUL TO YOU MY ENTIRE LIFE, TO NEVER LEAVE YOU, AND MAKE SURE YOU MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. I VOW TO NEVER INTENTIONALLY HURT YOU, AND TO BE ONE IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST OUR COMMON ENEMY- SATAN. I VOW TO CARE FOR YOU AND WORK HARD TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY TO PROVIDE FOR YOU AND OUR FUTURE FAMILY. I VOW TO BE FAITHFUL TO YOU WITH MY EYES, MY HEART AND MY ACTIONS, TO ALWAYS GET HELP AND TO GROW. I VOW TO ALWAYS LOVE YOU NO MATTER WHAT, THROUGH WHATEVER LIFE THROWS AT US, TO BE A TEAM AND FACE IT TOGETHER. I VOW TO STRIVE TO STAY EMOTIONALLY CONNECTED TO YOU. I VOW TO ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU, TO LISTEN TO YOU, TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE LOVED BY ME AND HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE TO ME, AND FOR YOU TO BE MY BEST FRIEND FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. 

My vows to Gordon:

I vow to whole HEARTILY love and follow God above all else, and above you, until he returns or calls me home. I vow to stay faithful first to God and then to you – with my heart, my eyes, and my actions. I vow to strive to follow you as the church follows Christ. I vow to never stop learning and growing as a follower of Jesus and in life itself. I vow to be fun and spontaneous and try anything at least once. I vow to hug you and kiss you and hold you as much as you need when you are hurting, when you are hard-pressed, when you are happy, and when you are old. I vow to follow you wherever God leads you - where you go, I will go; where you stay, I will stay; and your people will be my people. I VOW TO LOVE YOU FOREVER – THROUGH EVERY WONDERFUL AND AMAZING MOMENT IN OUR LIFE, THROUGH EVERY CHALLENGING AND TEARFUL TIME; WHILE WE ARE YOUNG, WHEN WE HAVE KIDS, AND IF THERE’S EVER A TIME THAT I CAN’T REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE OR YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM – I WILL STILL LOVE YOU. I WILL LOVE YOU UNTIL WE ARE STANDING TOGETHER BLAMELESS BEFORE OUR LORD.

And in our home: 

Our wedding - the ceremony, part 2

In part 1 of our ceremony pictures, I featured the start of the ceremony up until Gordon and I saw each other and were standing together. Today's photos highlight most of the meat of the ceremony - the message and our vows. These really are some of my favorites, as you really see the emotion of the day.
G and I wrote our own vows. It was such a moving and surreal experience to be saying these things (we didn't tell each other our vows before hand) to each other, in front of so many people we love - and it was real! It was happening!
Throughout our whole relationship and engagement, there were times when I wondered, "Am I sure?" "Is this God's plan?" Not because I didn't love G with all my heart, or because there was someone else I was thinking of - not at all! But because it is SUCH a big decision. And as we stood there, vowing these words to each other, and has they now hang on a wall in our house, and as we grow in our marriage and our love for each other, I only become more and more convinced that I married the right person. I married my best friend, the man I am and have been in love with, and the person who helps me grow the most spiritually and will get me to Heaven.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. :)

Love,
E.F.

We had a moment in our ceremony where we turned around and thanked our parents for their love and support and guidance and exchanged hugs. We were going to give the moms roses, but somehow those went missing. I'm actually so glad we did this. It was so wonderful to hug them and I think it meant a lot to them. And to take this brief moment out of the normal order of things really helped me to take it all in.

I love how expressive he is!

I feel like this one of the various moments where I thought, "Oh my gosh, this is real!"

I loved these photos of our parents. :)

Our wedding - the ceremony, part 1

The more I look at our wedding pictures, the more I love them and the more I'm so glad I married my husband! But it is so hard to choose which ones to share. So, I've decided that I have to break up the ceremony pictures because there are just too many I want to show!

I think our photographers did such a great job of capturing emotion; I hope you can get a sense of that from these, to really experience how special the day was. This post covers the start of the ceremony to the point where Gordon and I are standing in front of each other. :)

Love,
e.f.

This is the garden our ceremony was in. I loved having the ceremony in more a circle - it really felt so much more intimate.

The handsome groomsmen. Top left: Gordon's little brother. Top right: my brother. Bottom left: Gordon's older brother. Bottom right: the best man.

My gorgeous bridesmaids. I told them I want short, black dresses (not strapless) and beyond that, they could pick whatever they wanted. I love how it all looks together! Right: maid of honor and best friend.

Here he comes! :)

Moms. :)

Our ADORABLE flower girls!

I entered from the house (as did our whole bridal party) by myself and with my veil down, then met my dad at the end of the staircase. He lifted my veil back, gave me a kiss, and we continued to the garden together.

My veil kept getting caught on the pebbles, so we just picked up the veil and carried it. Definitely not planned but c'est la vie. :)

I love these. When he first saw me. :)

Seeing each other.

Roreo velvet cookies

I hope you had good day yesterday - whatever you did, whomever you were with. :)

I had planned to cook husband's favorite meal and have a wonderful evening at home. It was wonderful, but not quite what I had planned. My back has been hurting all week but yesterday it became unbearable. I could hardly walk and even if I didn't move, I could feel pain in my back. (This has been quite frustrating as I can't figure out what I did; although, I'm often lifting and moving things at work, so perhaps I had just done that one-too-many times without using my knees.) So, rather than coming home and quickly getting started on dinner, I came home, took an anti-inflammatory, and then husband (who has a history of back problems) helped me stretch some of my back muscles. I was in tears by the end but it sure did make a difference! So we got Thai take-out and watched Valentine's Day at home. Luckily, I had made these the day before, so we still had something that I had planned on. :)

So today's feature is Oreo-stuffed red velvet crinkle cookies: a fabulous Pinterest find! (I'm so proud of myself for actually making things I find on Pinterest.) Or as my husband decided to call them: Roreo velvet cookies.

Love from the southern hemisphere,
E

Roreo velvet cookies (Renamed by my husband. Original name: Red Velvet Orea-stuffed crinkle cookies. My comments in italics.)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. liquid red food coloring
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
24 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos)
1 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with cooking spray).
2. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring. 
3. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat on low until just combined. The dough should be very soft and a little sticky. If it is very sticky then add 1/4 cup more all-purpose flour and stir again (I didn't add more...all seemed good to me). Cover and chill in the freezer until the dough is very cold and easy to handle.
4. Place confectioners' sugar in a bowl and set aside. (Now, I left mine in the fridge over night to save time in the whole baking progress and this seemed to work really well. I made the dough one night and baked the other. The dough was still quite sticky once I started handling it, even after being in the fridge over night.)
5. Using buttered fingers (I used cooking spray) (I used buttered fingers, well hands) scoop out a 3-4 tbsp.-sized piece of dough and press the dough around the sandwich cookie.  Alternate method: flatten dough between the palms of your hands.  Place a cookie on the flattened dough and fold the dough around the cookie. (Butter hands between each dough piece.) (The alternate method is the one I used. I found that the Oreo cookies were not strong enough if I just pressed them into the dough. But I must have used way more than 3-4 tbsp of dough per cookie, because my cookies turned out MASSIVE. See below.)
6. Roll lightly between the palms of your hands to make the cookie-stuffed dough a little more ball-shaped and roll in powdered sugar. Repeat until all the dough and cookies are used. (I also did this over two days because of the little bits of time I was working with. The dough kept fine in the fridge, even over two days.)
7. Place dough balls on a cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.  These cookies will spread, so I suggest placing no more than 5 per cookie sheet.  Tip: re-roll dough balls in powdered sugar just before putting them in the oven.  The crinkled appearance will be more prominent.
8. Bake until cookies are puffed and cracked on top about 14 minutes. Let cool on the pan about 5 minutes (cookies will be soft) then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The main thing I would do differently if I make these cookies again, is to use a smaller amount of dough per Oreo cookie. With mine, you get a few bites of cookie with no Oreo, before you get to the Oreo. They taste really good though, nonetheless, and look so pretty! My husband loved them. :)

Pre-dry ingredients. That red dye is RED. Watch your clothes. 

Cookies on their way into the oven. 

Right out of the oven. I told you they were huge. Granted I have a really tiny baking sheet and only one at the moment, but they really are BIG.

Happy husband. :)