goodbye - sort of

so i have decided to combine my two blogs. you can now keep up with brett and me at reneehartford.blogspot.com

in like a lion

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. Our time of staying with the girls went well but I am very glad it is over. Since Mark was out of town, Brett had to cover all his building and so was gone every night. We basically had opposite schedules and I barely got to see him. It is nice to have to have my husband back.

Since then life has only slightly slowed down. I have started volunteering every other Sunday with the new iCampus at our church. Our church services are available on iTunes and podcasts through the websites but 4 times a week we have a chatroom open so people who watch the podcast can be part of a community. We are available for them to ask questions, receive prayer, or just be able to converse about the message. It has been fun and I have enjoyed being able to have even the smallest part in someone else’s life.

Last weekend Brett and I invited out life group over for pasta party part 2. It was a blast. We once again made ravioli and just had the opportunity to hang out with friends. The next day Brett and I made fettuccine with the leftover dough. I am becoming a firm believer in fresh pasta. I honestly think it tastes better and it is so simple to make that I want to try to make it more often. I will post a recipe for pasta dough on my other blog for anyone interested in trying it themselves.

This past weekend was a treat as well. Awhile back Brett and I had been given a gift certificate to a local restaurant and movie tickets for a date night. We used it this past Friday and enjoyed a lovely evening out. I finally got to see Slumdog Millionaire and loved it. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t yet seen it. Then Saturday we went over to Brett’s parent’s house for a cookout and to watch the KU game. The food was fantastic and my Jayhawks won.

So that is what all has been going on with us. I want to wish my Dad and Brett’s brother Cameron very happy birthdays. We love you guys and wish we could be there to celebrate with you.

The group making ravioli

Hard at work

Our dinner

Jen enjoying her food

celebrations

Our lives have been beyond busy lately. Among all the craziness that comes with getting a business on it feet, Brett and I have been having fun every minute we can.

We were able to help two friends celebrate their birthdays. We ate way too much food while watching the Superbowl. And this past Friday we had fun getting together with friends to celebrate the recent engagement of a couple who is part of our life group. I am so excited for them and can’t wait to see where life takes them.

Along with all the festivities, we also learned that the couple from Australia who were only supposed to be here for 3 months are coming back for two more years. We really enjoy hanging out with them and are so excited that they will be back.

Other than all that, not much has been happing with us. Brett’s parents are going to Germany on Thursday for 10 days. While they are gone, we will be staying with the exchange girls so they have rides to school and all that. That should make for an interesting couple weeks.

Hope you all are enjoying the first bits of spring and have a great week.

a day to celebrate

I just wanted to wish my mom a very happy birthday today. I love you and hope you have a wonderful day.

Also Happy Australia day to everyone.

pasta night

I has been snowing a bunch here and I love it. This past Friday night we had two couples join us for dinner at our house. We all made ravioli. Most of the following pictures are from Marje.Rafael working hard on the ravioli

Matt decided that the pasta need to be crimped

our yummy home-made ravioli

our cat is very social and loved having everyone over

picture post

Pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Dinner and then dessert with the everyone.
Apparently there is nothing like Maggie Moos or Coldstone in Brazil or Germany.

For Christmas Mary Ts family took everyone to Cirque Du Soliel

It snowed and we decided to go out and play

We made snow angels - this was right after if started snowing.
It snowed a bunch more after that.

Don't eat the yellow snow

merry christmas

I know it is a couple of days after Christmas but oh well. Things have been going pretty well in our lives lately. We are very much enjoying the holiday festivities. Christmas Eve we went over to Brett's parent’s house for dinner. Then Christmas morning we walked over to some friend’s apartment for brunch and fellowship. Afterward Brett and I came back to do our own little gift exchange. A couple of months ago we had bought each other coats for Christmas, so we limited our Christmas morning giving. Brett bought me a book that I had been wanting and a fun wall hook I liked at Urban Outfitters and I gave him Guitar Hero One so he now has them all. That afternoon we went back over to Brett's parent’s house to do gift with his family and all the exchange girls. We got many fun goodies including lots of food and cooking stuff - they know us so well :).

Last night we went out for a very international dinner. Mary T's (the Brazilian) family is all in town visiting and Lena's (the German) sister and sister's boyfriend are also visiting. So we joined all them along with Brett’s family and a former exchange student from Ukraine for dinner and ice cream after. It was chaotic and fun. I will try to post pictures from that soon.

Today is Brett’s and my 6-month anniversary. We had a relaxing morning of sleeping in and then brunch with some popovers I made. (Check out my other blog for the recipe). Now he is at work and I want to try to figure out what I can make for a special dinner tonight.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

-renee