BRIDAL SHOWER

Russell has been home for his spring break and it has been so nice to have him back again. We had our first shower yesterday. The shower took place at Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant. My sister-in-laws Amy, Kelly and Juliann planned the whole thing and we could not have been more grateful for all the effort they put into it. The whole shower was absolutely beautiful and we felt so blessed to have such supportive family and friends there with us. We are so thankful for everyone who came! It definitely made us realize how quick our wedding is coming up and we are getting more excited each day!

Russell leaves to go back to Florida tomorrow and he will not be back until the week before we get married. It will be a bittersweet separation. It will be hard to not have him here while I'll finish up school but knowing it is our FINAL separation from each other is so extremely exciting!

Here are some photos from the bridal shower. More photos will be uploaded soon!

 

 

 

 

 

REGISTRIES

Russell and I have officially completed our bridal registry! It was a little stressful at first because we were not sure about everything we needed, but overall a fun and exciting experience. I am definitely glad to have had my mom there because she knew the appropriate things to register for.
We are registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target for our main home goods. You can find our registries on both their websites as well as on the kiosks in the store!

After a lot of conversation, we have also decided to set-up a registry on our honeymoon page. With having to move everything down to Florida, and not wanting many gifts to be sent down for we may not be there to retrieve them, we tried to keep our registry to an appropriate size. I know many still like to give a tangible gift (I am the same way) so do not feel like you have to. Any amount is helpful so we wanted to give the option for those who may want to give.

Our honeymoon registry can be located at: http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/jenniferandrussell

**You can also click on the two first pictures below and they will direct you to  Bed Bath and Beyond as well as Target's website. The fourth picture will direct you to our honeymoon registry page!

Thank you everyone!

Click the above picture to be directed to Bed Bath and Beyond's website.

Click on the picture above to be directed to Target's website.

Just another thing crossed of our wedding to-do list! Making progress toward the big day and Russell looks so thrilled about this day ;)

Click the picture above to be directed to our honeymoon registry page!

BANANA + CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Tonight I made some easy, healthy'ish and delicious cookies! There are only three ingredients and it only took 20 minutes to bake. I will definitely be making more of these in the near future. Below are photos and instructions - even though it is pretty self-explanatory :)

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas 
• 1 cup of uncooked Old Fashion Oats (I used Quaker)
• 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Extra ingredients I used: a pinch of coconut (I used baking coconut)

**Preheat the oven to 350**

2 medium ripe bananas. I know I will be making these again in the near future because I always have bananas that become too ripe to eat. For these cookies, the ripe bananas are the best and easiest to mash!

 

1/4 cup of uncooked old fashioned oats.

1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

(Optional) I did not measure the coconut, I just put a pinch or two in.

Mash the bananas in a bowl and mix the other ingredients in with it.

Spray some non-stick baking oil on the cooking sheet.

Use a spoon to put the mix on the baking sheet. This recipe only made 9 cookies, however you can make the sizes of them smaller or larger based on preference. The cookies do not expand so you do not have to worry a whole lot about the spacing between them.

**Place the cooking tray in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. The small/medium size cookies I made took about 20 minutes but depending on the size the time may vary as well. I checked the cookies after the first 15 and set the timer for another 5. They were perfect when I pulled them out!

Let the cookies sit for about 10 minutes. After 20 minutes of baking and then the 10 for cooling the cookies were still a little bit soft in the center because of the bananas. I personally thought they tasted better that way. If you prefer a more solid consistency- keep them in the oven for about 5 more minutes or place them in the fridge after cooling!

Hope you enjoyed this quick and easy recipe. I will be posting again soon.

xoxo
-J

SPRING BREAK 2014

These past few days my mom and I have been visiting Russell in Port Orange, Florida. I was able to spend my birthday here in the warm weather and with two great people!

My mom leaves for home tomorrow and I will be here with Russell until Saturday. We have had great weather and it has been so nice being here with Russell and seeing where I will be living in 3 months. 3 months, can't believe it is coming so soon ah! After this past Michigan winter, I am more than ready to have this nice weather all year and the beach SO close. I am beyond excited for the next chapter of my life to start these next few months. God is so good!

 

 Celebrated my birthday with these fine people :)

New Smyrna's Farmer's Market! I looove a Farmer's Market so I am glad I found one close.

 

Downtown New Smyrna. This is the access point to drive onto the beach. If you are familiar with Holland and Saugatuck area, New Smyrna is much like Saugatuck. It is not touristy and all the shops and restaraunts are local. So great for a weekend get-away!

Fresh coconut water from downtown New Smyrna!

                     

My mom and I got some cold treats on the beach!

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite views. This was taken from Sun Glow Pier which is the pier in Ponce Inlet. This is a little further down from the main drive-on beach in Daytona. It is more private and has some beautiful boardwalks through nature! 

The next three pictures show some shots from the boardwalk.

 

 

We never go to the beach without a frisbee!

 

This shot and the next was from a restaurant called Deck Down Under in Daytona. Russell, my mom and I ate here for lunch and sat right in the sun. It was great food and a great view.

 

 

We had great weather right after this fog rolled over! But the fog made the beach look pretty eerie. 

 

 

June 22, 2014 - Only 3 more months!

I can not wait to be here for good with my other half!