I love to bake!

I have realized that I dont necessarily like to cook, but I LOVE to bake. Even reading through recipe books gets me excited. But I usually tend to bit off a little more then I can chew. I tried baking bread on Monday, but I dont think I was patient enough with all the yeast rising process so I dont think I got it quite right. Mike still liked it, but I told him I can do better. This weekend I have several opportunities to try my hand at some new recipes I will hopefully get some pictures up of how they turned out.

I am going to attempt this one for Saturday! It's filled Pancakes!

All you expectant mothers out there

I found this very cool website called growmodern. Some things on there are a bit modern for my taste, but there are also a lot of very neat desgins. I like a lot of the toys, clothes and furniture, they're things you wouldn't normaly see in stores. Here are some of my favorites from the website.

Office decorating...

I have a ton of wall space in my office and have no clue what to put on it. When I first moved in I was all excited about finding the perfect art work for the walls, and would always get jealous when co-works would come in with the perfect art work for their walls. But as time passed and work got busy, my walls were totally neglected. I broke down over the holidays and bought these. And just got them hung up yesterday! So my quest for office art work is back on. Here's my dilemma though. I don't want to spend a ton of money becausem, its my office, and who knows how long I will have the same office. Also the walls in my office are a beige color not white, so I am a bit limited with the type of colors I can choose, and the furniture is all earth tones. I went on etsy to see if there where any cool prints and I found a few that might work to do in a series of three. I would probably matte and frame all of them to give them a little bit of uniform look. Let me know what you think and if you have more suggestions, I am all ears! I never thought decorating an office would be so troublesome. I had so much fun decorating my house, and thought this would be fun too, but it has turned into somewhat of a burden. I want my office to feel warm and inviting, but also somewhat professional...please help!!

Going on an Adventure!

I'm leaving bright and early (5:45 to be exact) to go to Virginia! I am so excited. But this trip has a very serious purpose...to choose paint color for my mom's new house that she is building. My mom is pretty much color blind and so I will be there to make sure she doesn't pick any ridiculous colors.
I am really excited though because it's my first trip to Virginia and it is snowing there!! Mike is jealous. I cant wait to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. My mom's house has a gorgeous view of the mountains.
And a little side bonus for me is there is an H&M approximately 12 minutes away from the airport I fly into so that will be our first stop! For all of you who have never been to H&M I'm sorry and I hope you get to go soon. This store has some of the cutest clothes at the cheapest prices. Me and a co-worker were talking today about franchising one in Houston as a side project...it could happen!
OK I'm off to pack! Have a wonderful weekend, and spend sometime outside!

I am officially a half marathoner!!!

Julie and I completed the half marathon last Sunday. For all those none runners out there that is 13.1 miles!!! Julie's husband Diego did a really great job documenting the day. This is hopefully the first of many races we will compete in together, we had so much fun. We started out the morning in freezing cold (45 degree) weather, but as the sun came up and our heart rates increased the weather was perfect! We met some great people along the race and heard a lot of great music. My favorite was a DJ on the corner of Montrose playing Soulja Boy. He had a little group of kids dancing to the music. It was exactly what I needed to keep running! Julie found a stray puppy that jogged with us for part of the race and I think she would have taken him home if he would have kept up with us. After the race we got loaded up on Advil and spent the rest of the day watching movies. All in all it was a great experience and we are ready for more races!!

This is us before we left for
downtown at 5 a.m.

Us right before the race with thousands of others!

This was us around mile 9, we were laughing at Diego!

And finally us with our medals and finisher shirts! We were so tired we could barely get off the floor. Can't wait to do it again!!

Christ Church Brenham

This post has been in my head for about two months now and it is time to let out! I am trying to post more on the different ways in which I experience God to help me get out of my box and remind myself that God is everywhere. This idea came to me when we visited Christ Church in Brenham.

Picture, if you will, a beautiful, cozy chapel. The lights are dimmed and there is still a little natural light coming in through the windows as the sun begins to set. The pews are dotted with a handful of people talking together. There are a few small children walking up and down the center isle trying to avoid going back to the childcare room. The atmosphere is light and relaxed, yet genuine. People seem so excited to greet one another and hear about each other's day. No one is in a hurry to start the service...in fact we start about 15 minutes late. The Pastor gives everyone a chance to get settled, and then we begin.

We sing several songs together. Some of us just listening to the words, some with eyes closed and hands raised, and still others kneeling in prayer. It is a beautiful sight. Everyone is communing with God in their own way. After the songs, the Pastor (Justin) sits on a stool in the front and opens the Bible to the gospel of John. The congregation has been studying John for a few weeks now, so we begin in the middle of the book. This is when we start to recognize that there is something different about this place.

I was ready for a 3 point sermon, waiting for the intro story that gets everyone laughing. Half way through the sermon I was still wondering when the self-help portion of the sermon would begin, but it never did. None of the things I have been trained to expect in sermons came. We simply read the Bible together and let its words affect us. We even took a moment to share our individual reactions to what was being read. It was a beautiful time, and the most engaged I have felt in a Church service in a long time.

It was so refreshing to see Jesus' words in Matthew 18 come to life; "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." The presence of the Lord is so real, so palpable in these simple settings.

God is moving in Christ Church Brenham.

Let the flea market come to you

I love finding vintage decorative pieces that make my house feel cozy but rarely have time to rummage through flea markets and Estate sales to actually find the stuff. I just found a website that is a solution to the problem. P.O.S.H. Chicago is an actual store in Chicago but also sells their pieces online. They have been around since 1997 and strive to offer something unique! They offer eclectic assortment of vintage Hotel Silver, Restaurant China & Flea Market Finds. I'm drooling just looking at all the pictures! Have a great weekend!!

Oh the Resolutions

I too must offer up my take on the whole New Years Resolution. I have never had resolutions and this year for some reason the idea seemed intriguing. I wondered why this year of all years, and then I realized. This is the first year that my life's goals have not already been set before me. In years past my life goals have been things like get good grades, pass chemistry, graduate college, get a job, do well at job, etc. This is the first year I have felt like I can make some real goals without sacrificing my responsibilities!



Mike and I took a little vacation after Christmas to Austin and really got to reconnect. The holidays were so busy for us that we were need of some down time to recharge. It also gave us time to think intentionally about what we want to accomplish this year. I loved talking and dreaming about our goals for this year.



I struggle a lot with security and trust meaning for me to feel confident I have to feel like I am secure relationally, financially, etc. And my thoughts generally tend to lead me in to wondering and speculating when the bottom is going to be pulled out from under me. I am constantly thinking about what I will do if catastrophe were to strike my life. All that to say, its sometimes hard for me to dream about the future when I am constantly just hoping everything will stay the same. I share this to help explain why I have picked some of the resolutions. Lately the Lord has been giving me more and more confidence to dream big dreams.

So here they are in no particular order:
+Lead someone to Christ (I have been praying about my missionary goals and I know I am going out on a limb with this one, but I want to pray for big things!)
+ Take a French refresher course. (Mike is doing this with me so it will be fun! I love how he tries to pronounce things with a French accent...so cute)
+ Plant a vegetable garden ( I have always wanted a green thumb, but been to scared and overwhelmed to try it.)
+ Pray and seek the Lord more regarding our future (Mike and I have such big dreams that we want to see come true, but it all starts with prayer!)
+ Keep in touch with out of town friends (I realized over the holidays there are several out of town friends that I love so much, but only really see or talk to over the holidays. I would like to remedy that!)
+Continue reading classic books ( Steph got me started last year and I have loved it)
+Learn to sew (I got an awesome new sewing machine for Christmas so I am ready to learn...Morgan...Erin please help!!)

Ok there they are for all to see! I have such high hopes for 2008!

Through a new lens

Happy New Year!!
My resolutions post is still in the works but here is a little glimpse for now of what the Haskew's have been up to lately!

Mike got a fancy new camera for Christmas and we have been having so much fun learning all about it. He has a flicker account where you can check out some of the pics he has taken. A lot of the pictures were taken before the new camera, but he updates it often!