30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 1 - Marriage

Goodbye pumpkins, hello snowflakes! Goodbye candy corn, hello candy canes! Goodbye oranges and yellows, hello reds and greens! Time for Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, Christmas cookies, Christmas movies, Christmas carols, and everything Christmas!

While I might seem overly enthused with the Christmas season already, I cannot let the season of thankfulness slip by without daily recognizing the many many blessings in my life.  Today, November 1, is the first in a new blogging series: 30 Days of Thankfulness.

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day One: Marriage

Tuesday (October 29) was our second wedding anniversary.  The last two years have been both the hardest and the best years of my life!  My husband is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I cannot imagine life without him!
He makes me laugh.
He keeps me accountable.
He makes me feel safe.
He encourages me to dream big.
He believes in me.
He spoils me and helps me!
He cooks!
He cleans!
He loves me! He loves Jesus! He loves my family! I know all of this without a doubt.
He is my best friend and we have so much fun together!

Today, I am thankful for the gift that Titus is and for what the Lord has done in and through our marriage.

Thankful,
Jewel

The filippino is here!

The filippino is here!

On Saturday at 1:30pm, my twin sister’s husband-to-be arrived in Indianapolis from the Philippines, with his fiancé visa in hand! Jessie and Aldean applied for a fiancé visa in January 2012 and God was faithful to them as He was faithful to Titus and I one year ago!

“Therefore I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.”
(2 Samuel 22:50)

“Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.”
(1 Chronicles 16:9)

“He says, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.’”
(Hebrews 2:12)
Although I am disappointed that our small-but-growing family can no longer fit in one vehicle, I’m excited to see how Aldean changes the dynamics of our family. He’s already laughing at my jokes… laughing at least… so that’s good! And he seems to have picked up Nirtz pretty quickly, so that’s good! And he loves Jessie, so that’s great! (Although I still have to get used to my sister being in a relationship that isn’t long distance or seemingly imaginary.)

That moment when the guys met [again (Titus & Aldean actually met almost 3 years ago at a wedding in the Philippines!)] ... it was a good moment for me!  I trust that they will become very good friends!  Who else could have more in common but these two??  Not only are their wives twins, but this chapter of their lives are almost identical - leaving home [and everything!] for their brides and transitioning into a culture so foreign!  I hope that they will be an ear and an encouragement for each other.  Nonetheless, both incredible gifts to our family!

Tonight Aldean will meet Dad’s side of the family!

Love, Love, Love,
Jewel

A Gold Medal Husband and a Worthy Wife

After breakfast, devotions, and getting completely ready for work this morning, I crawled back into bed with my husband for a few more minutes of togetherness before leaving for work.  Oh how I love him while he sleeps - hair a mess, face so wrinkled.  Maybe because in his unconsciousness, I can truly see him for who he is - quiet, yet strong; still, but moving; humble, yet so empowered.  I laid my head on his chest - always so warm - and thought, "blessed."

I am so blessed.  My husband is a gift of true grace.  His patience is long.  His sacrifices are many.  His arms are always reaching and his heart is always open.  His love so much bigger than all my failures and shortcomings.  Our first nine months of marriage have not been without hurt feelings and difficult circumstances, but even when my heart feels OTHERWISE, I know I know I KNOW without any doubt that my husband loves me unconditionally and is unselfishly and sacrificially trying to be the best husband and to make me happy. He makes mistakes and wrong assumptions (and I do too! (PROBABLY MORE!)) but he loves me. He really loves me. I hope he can say the same about me.

With my head on his warm, naked chest, my next thought was, "I am the bride of Christ."  Such a beautiful metaphor.

On Mount Sinai, God declared that His covenant was a marriage contract, "The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:31)

This covenant was a marriage contract which was sealed with the sprinkling of blood. As we have partaken of His blood and His body, we enter into this new marriage covenant with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our first and foremost responsibility during this betrothal period - our waiting for His return and our eternal union with Him - is to be faithful to Him. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:2,
"For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Faithfulness is expressed in a life worthy of the Bridegroom. We are to be presented as a chaste or pure virgin.


May I be found worthy in both unions...

Love, Love, Love,
Jewel

Intentional Memories

I have decided to be very intentional about making memories with my husband this summer.  Starting now!   Unfortunately, I am still in the office 8:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday, but there is still some room for FUN!

I'm really excited about this list!  This is Titus' first Summer in America and his first opportunity to do so many of these things (ie. Family Camp, Indiana State Fair, the I-69 Speedway, and even canoeing, camping, yard sales, and baseball games!)  I feel so so so blessed to experience these thing with such a wonderful man, and to see him experience them for the first time!!

If you have any cheap and “any day” ideas, please share them with me!!
 

Strengthening our before-baby-bond this summer:

Walk to Sophie's for frozen yogurt

Start a garden

Bike the entire Cardinal Greenway 1x/month

Go canoeing

Ride our bikes to church on Sunday morning

Make homemade ice cream

Keep a Scrabble leader board

Go to a zoo/aquarium

Watch a movie on our own lawn

Picnic at the park

Swim

Watch fireworks (Scheduled: July 4)

Get away for a weekend

Camping

Fairmount Family Camp (Scheduled: July 22-29)

Campfires

Yard sales

The Indiana State Fair (Scheduled: August 3-19)

Have our own photoshoot

Go on double dates 2x/month

Slumber party for two

Hike

Go to a baseball game

Borrow movies from the library

Go to the beach - (Scheduled: August 17-19 in LA!)

Mini golf

Find a creative way to learn Khmer

Watch a race at the I-69 Speedway

Volunteer - regularly and together!

Memorize Bible verses together

Eat at new restaurants (heck out these local favorite places to eat)

Keep a picture journal of all of the above 

Note: All these pictures are from showmegrantcounty.com - helping me discover new adventures in my own area! 

Love love love, 
Jewel

This little chicky went to market and wobbled all the way home!

Monday night, Titus and I had chicken feet for dinner at my house.

Chicken feet...
for dinner...
at my house.

"These morsels of skin and bones are a unique combination of textures: the wrinkled, puffed up skin on the surface and the soft, gelatinous tendons within."

My husband had all the toes cut off before I got home, so I sadly do not have any pictures of the claws. [Click HERE to see a picture from the fabulous www.]   However, I did get plenty of other INTERESTING pictures to initiate your curiosity, and a recipe to satisfy your craving. The following are three simple steps to creating a fabulous feety feast:

• First, I recommend that you start by removing the claws (you can do this by simply cutting off the toes) as they do not “swallow well.”
• Next, season the feet in 2-3 cloves of garlic, a few pinches of salt, a few more pinches of pepper, and 3-4 tablespoons of brown sugar.
• Finally, fry the feet in oil over medium feet. The minute the chicken feet enter the pot, the hot oil will begin to sputter and growl like some form of primordial lava, engulfing the feet until all you can see are the bubbles of the oil.

Something's afoot here...

One foot in the right direction...

Footloose and fancy free...

Put your best foot forward...

Holding one's feet to the fire...

Tip-toeing around...

The shoe is on the other foot...

Going toe to toe...

Putting one foot in front of the other...

Fancy footwork...

Anyone want leftovers??

Love love love, 
Jewel

I eat fish because my husband is Cambodian

I've been trying to get more creative in the kitchen. I can't say that my husband doesn't enjoy boxed or frozen meals (in fact, Creamy Broccoli Tuna Helper has been one of his favorite meals in my kitchen,) but there's just something about browsing cookbooks, buying ingredients, and measuring and mixing that makes me feel like a better wife. Why on Earth is that??

So, about a week ago I tried this recipe:

Coconut Chicken with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce [Recipe HERE]
and it was delicious. So so so delicious!  It wasn't quick, but it was easy, and it may become a frequent meal cooked in my kitchen.  So last night, I tried the same recipe with frozen tilapia fillets.  Now this is interesting because I do not typically eat fish.  Only in the last few weeks have I been "brave" enough to try fish sticks and canned tuna. [Note: fish sticks are fine, tuna helper is good, tuna salad sandwich from Jimmy John's is NOT good.]

As I am cutting the fillets, I am gagging; and while I am breading the strips, I am asking myself, "Why did you think this would be an okay idea??!"  Because I love my husband.  This man traveled to [literally] the other side of the world, alone, leaving his country for the first time... and I can't even cook a fish for him??  [By the way, my husband brought a LARGE DRIED FISH with him on the phone from Cambodia.]

For those who are wondering, my homemade coconut fish sticks are not as good as Great Value frozen, breaded fish sticks, which do not taste like fish at all.  However, if you like fish, and you like coconut, you might would probably think that my homemade coconut fish sticks rock the house.

This discussion leaves me still pondering two potentially unanswerable questions:

1) Why do these filthy birds taste so much better than cute little fish?
and more importantly, 2) What am I going to do with 6 more fillets?!?

Love love love,
Jewel

Four Months of Marriage

Happy 4 month anniversary to my husband - my best friend - Romdenh Chamnol!

4 months of bliss. 4 months of cHalLEnGes. 4 months of learning, and growing, and LOVING.  Marriage is both the hardest and happiest experience of my life thus far.

I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for us in the months and years ahead.  *Grateful that I can experience it with my husband.*


"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.." [Matthew 19:4-6]

"There are three things that amaze me -- no, four things I do not understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman." [Proverbs 30:19,20]

"Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior." [Ephesians 5:22,23]

"The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" [Genesis 2:18]

"And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy." [Hosea 2:19]

Love love love,
Mrs. Romdenh Chamnol

A Covenant of Love

Around two weeks ago, God reminded me in an almost audible way that He has promised Himself to me.   He reminded me that as Titus promised himself to me on our wedding day, so my God has promised Himself to me.  The closest and most intimate relationship that man can experience is that of HUSBANDandWIFE, and the Lord wants this kind of relationship with me! 

As a newlywed, my vows and my groom's vows are fresh in my memory.

"...I Chamnol, chose you Jewel, to be my bride, my love, my life, my ministry partner, and my wife. I promise you with all my heart to take care of you, to support and protect you, and to provide for your needs spiritually and physically.  In spite of the differences between cultures, language, food and weather, I promise you, I'll never leave you alone nor abandon you. I'll be with you until death set us apart. I thank God for creating you and putting you into my life. I'll be faithful to you and I love you forever."

and

"I Jewel, choose you Chamnol, as my best friend, my love for life. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, and my most tender care. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future, I promise to be faithful to you. I promise to love you, and to support you. I pledge to respect your family, your culture, and your talents. I pledge to give you strength for all of your dreams.  From this day forward, you shall not walk, minister, or sleep alone. My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep. Please wear this ring as my promise of faith, patience, and love, for the rest of my life, from here to eternity."

So also my God has promised Himself to me.  I read this passage in Hosea 2:19-20 this morning, and I am humbled - humbled by His covenant of love with this unfaithful bride, whom He will never abandon nor divorce.

And then I'll marry you for good—forever!
I'll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I'll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
You'll know me, God, for who I really am. [The Message]

How thankful I am that God loves me and continues to call me back to Himself. He is so faithful - so so so faithful.  I am blessed to be called 'His'.

Love love love,
Jewel

My Best Friend

Romdenh Chamnol: He's my husband and my best friend



We had such a wonderful time celebrating our first Valentines Day together.  I came home from work [30 minutes early... yay!] and found 10 big helium balloons in our bed, a big homemade "I love you" sign (I love that he does homemade!) and a sweet card hanging from one of the balloons.  I had no idea what to expect from him, and I was beautifully surprised.  I made him a "52 Things I Love About You" book made out of a deck of playing cards and a a magnetic Scrabble board to hang in the kitchen (for sweet love notes.)  Then we dressed up and went to Hong Kong Chinese Restaraunt.. had Starbucks.. and watched Biggest Loser with my mom. :)

At dinner, Titus asked me what other "firsts" we still have to experience together.  Experiencing so many things together for the first time has been fun and interesting. 

- our first road trip (to New York to meet Jessie)
- our first trip to the grocery store
- our first date!
- the first time Titus saw "the changing of leaves" (he thought the colorful leaves were flowers!)
- the first time Titus held the trashcan while I threw up (haha!)
- Titus' first extended family gather
- the first time Titus saw his breath
- Titus' first Thanksgiving and his first Christmas in America
- Titus' first taco
- moving into our first apartment
- our first walk
- etc. etc. etc.

And there are still so many more things to experience!  I am anxious for the "bigger things" but trying to recognize and appreciate all the little things that are happening daily.

- his first Independance Day
- our first Family Camp and Married Couples Retreat together
- celebrating our birthdays together!
- our first vacation
- our first summer
- our first BABY!
- etc. etc. etc.

Life is interesting.  Life is not always fun, but I love it!

Love love love,
Mrs. Romdenh Chamnol

Love & Marriage

Here's to matrimony, the high sea for which no compass has yet been invented!~Heinrich Heine(whoever he is)

My husband loves me. He really loves me.


Husband when he 1st saw me on our wedding day

 Our first three months of marriage have not been without hurt feelings and difficult circumstances, but even when my heart feels OTHERWISE, I know I know I KNOW without any doubt that my husband loves me unconditionally and is unselfishly and sacrificially trying to be the best husband and to make me happy. He makes mistakes and wrong assumptions (and I do too! (PROBABLY MORE!)) but he loves me. He really loves me. I hope he can say the same about me.

Love love love,
Jewel

Engagement Anniversary and Comments on Marriage

On December 26 in 2010, Titus asked me to be his wife.  It was one of the most beautiful and happiest days of my life.

I am a blessed woman.

I can't promise "happily ever after," but certainly "for better OR worse" and NOT FOR GRANTED.

My husband is a blessing and has made our marriage wonderful.  I love waking up next to him in the mornings, watching him brush his teeth and examine himself in the mirror.  I love seeing his waiting face in the window when I come home from work.

I have a hard time blogging or doing anything on my own that doesn't involve him sitting next to me.

And that's all I have for now. :)

Love love love,
Mrs. Titus Romdenh