Only God knew what type of travels we would embark on when we named this blog...

Oh my goodness!! I cannot believe we haven't posted since SEPTEMBER!!! Sorry about that, friends.

Well, JD and I have been quite busy over the past two months. We've spent two weeks in Hawaii and three weeks in Israel since the last time we posted. A lot of people have asked us, "Are y'all working in the mission field? Vacation? Where are these opportunities coming from?" The answer to the question is none of the above.

JD's job requires him to travel to some pretty cool places all over the world... and because I have an absolutely fantastic husband that loves and enjoys his wife, he lets me travel along with him. He can basically chose how many trips we go on and his co-workers have been so nice to offer him mainly the ones where I can go with him. To say the least, we're trying to live it up as much as possible and travel while we can!! We have both always had a passion to travel, and we are freely given the chance to travel

together

... how amazing is that? It is truly by the sweet grace of God that we are able to do so. He has certainly engulfed us in His protective hands - you'll hear more about that in the near future.

My main job is to take photos, journal about our adventures and make sure our trips run smoothly (sometimes, this allows for some lovely laying-out time). As it's been with our travel schedule, I unpack our bags, do laundry and repack them in the minimum of two weeks spent at home in between our trips. We are inconceivably blessed (if you're thinking of The Princess Bride, "inconceivable"

is

used in the correct context here).

We are thrilled to share our adventures with everyone. I will try to post as often as possible. Because of the security procedures in Israel, I was unable to take my computer so we're pretty far behind on our content, but we will try our best to keep everyone in the know!

Also, please note that we will post photos on Facebook and describe them briefly but you will only get full exposure of our trips on our blog. We've saved a lot of funny stories and such only for the eyes of our readers; therefore, don't just rely on Facebook for the whole story.

In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite photos from the trips we've been on. I decided not to add many photos of us below because you will be seeing lots of them in the upcoming weeks. :)

I had to post at least one photo of us... :)

An Evening of Pure Charm and Sophistication


This past weekend, we did one of our most favorite things to do together: attend a wedding. We love seeing two people in love embarking on the greatest adventure in their lives; families and friends being brought together because of a Holy Union; and most of all, reminiscing on the memories of our own wedding day. The groom was one of JD's good friends {Brandon Cavell} from Beach Project. It was such a blessing to finally meet all of the people he talks about from Beach Project and put a face to all of the names. :)

This particular wedding was in Foley, AL, which is located about 6.5 hours south of Huntsville. We do love our road trips!

We also found out a new favorite thing we love to do as a married couple: spend the night at a Bed & Breakfast. This particular one, The Hotel Magnolia, was referred to us by our friend Amanda Younce at The Tasty Teaspoon. This place was absolutely exquisite, serene and charming. We don't have video footage but I hope these photos will suffice!


We stayed in the Swan Song room... also known as "Room Nine."


So this was the coolest part of the hotel: the old chandeliers! The one on the right was massive and hung right where the sun was shining through. Breathtaking.

By the way, we wrote "jitneysjourneys.blogspot.com" on the beam while we were putting together the spread... we didn't want you to think it was really on there. :)


Isn't the dragonfly perched on the sign so precious? These are a few photos of the interior and exterior. The dining room was delightful and the breakfast was scrumptious! There are also two outdoor fireplaces they have burning during the Autumn nights.


Here are a couple of shots from the bedroom and bathroom. {sigh.} It was delightful! I loved the swans acting as the posts for the bed and especially the faucet on the jacuzzi.


This was JD's favorite part of the room... the TV!!


Haha - Kidding. The only reason it was really one of his favorite parts of the room is because we laughed so hard when we saw how small it was. When I was getting ready for the wedding, I walked in the bedroom and he was standing about 5 inches away from the TV watching Alabama football. It was so funny!!

Even the TV made for a charming stay though. The staff was fantastic, knowledgeable and so excited to tell us the history behind Foley and The Hotel Magnolia. If you make it down that way, be sure to make your rounds through this sweet little hotel with tons of history hidden within it.

The Todd Health Campaign

Have you ever seen the Hanes commercial where the dad is dipping his kid in the "special paste" to replace socks? You know, this one...?



Don't you just love this commercial!?

Well, we're not exactly inventing anything new during our health campaign but we were moved to begin the campaign because "we're sick of it." We're sick of living a lifestyle where I have migraines and stomach problems several times a week because of what we eat. We're sick of living a lifestyle where we buy groceries that do not add substance to our health. Moreover, we're sick of not fighting for a lifestyle where we can honestly better ourselves daily by encouraging one another in our actions and habits.

Prior to sharing our campaign goals and happenings with you, we'd like to share certain steps we have already taken towards a healthy family and lifestyle (because we all know that a healthy lifestyle isn't simply eating healthy; rather, it's striving toward healthy living habits in all areas of our lives).

We are certainly not experts on marriage, finances or healthy eating but we at least hope that some of our habits will encourage your family through our future blog posts.

STEP 1: FINANCES

It's a beautiful subject, right? Well, it is if you have similar beliefs about money and how it is handled. JD and I started seeking financial advice from Dave Ramsey. Whether your family is overflowing with what seems like endless debt or is at financial peace, we encourage all couples to seek out his wisdom on all things finances. The church we've been visiting here offers his Financial Peace University class. This is a fantastic class to take, especially when building the foundations of your marriage! However, I believe we could all learn a lot from it, even after 40 years of marriage.

Budget

During our engagement, we collectively decided to be financially sound and to never be in debt. We owe a lot of that to our parents. Both of our parents blessed us and also our marriage when they paid our ways through school. Because of them, we were able to lay a foundation of hope rather than struggling to pay off debt in our first years of marriage.

It hasn't been until we moved to Huntsville that we really needed to begin budgeting because of rent and all of the bills that normally come with becoming one. {And we owe that to our grandparents for blessing us with the opportunity to live in the bungalow for a year rent-free.} Oh, how the Lord continues to bless His children through others. We have such a gracious and merciful Savior, as well as family members!

Thus the time has come to figure out our budget. It truly has been quite tough to figure out. If you're in the beginning stages of allotting your budget, we highly recommend Dave Ramsey's suggestions:
  • Giving: 10-15%
  • Saving: 5-10%
  • Housing: 25-35%
  • Utilities: 5-10%
  • Food: 5-15%
  • Transportation: 10-15%
  • Clothing: 2-7%
  • Medical / Health: 5-10%
  • Personal: 5-10%
  • Recreational: 5-10%
  • Debt: Hopefully zero, otherwise 5-10%
Of course, these percentages are taken from your household monthly income. "Don't spend more than you earn" is our family motto. Dave suggests the envelope system which is an extremely wise choice (put only the allotted amount of cash in individual envelopes and don't spend more than what's in the envelope).

We follow his suggestions for the budget yet JD and I take a different route for the envelope system... mint.com. If you have not used this program, you are missing out!!! The website is free and 100% secure. Basically, you connect your bank account(s), debit card(s) and credit card(s) to this program and it categorizes all of your expenditures. You set up your budget for each category and it displays bar graphs and pie charts (sigh!) so that you can see where you are on your budget. Sometimes I look at it simply because the organization of the site is absolutely impeccable and it makes my heart happy. :)


The goal is to obviously stay in the green and to never let the bar go red! You can also set goals for yourself (i.e. buy a home or emergency fund). We're currently in the midst of building our Buy a Home fund. :)

That's the sum of our finances post. We hope that you receive inspiration and hope from the programs we suggested above.




The Todd Nest : Apartment Livin'



Wherever we are, we love making a place our own. This means lots of character, lots of distressed items but most of all, lots of objects with stories behind them. Enjoy the tour of our Nest!


--> Please note this is from our apartment. We have not updated the blog for our house...


If you walked up to our door, this would be the first thing you would see. :) I was inspired to make this wreath after seeing a similar one on Pinterest. You should check out the tutorial here. This would make a wonderful "welcome to your new home" gift for newlyweds or a neighbor!


Our Bedroom:


The bedroom. We just got this comforter from Macy's on sale! It is absolutely stunning and makes it nearly impossible to get up in the mornings because it is just so comfortable! One of my favorite parts of our bedroom is the banner going across the headboard. My mom and I made this together. I'm thinking about selling a few on Etsy... would you buy one?


We bought this cool lamp and the little grass jar from Pier 1. It adds a contemporary flair to our vintage nest. I made the "I Would Be Lost Without You" piece as a surprise to JD. It was super simple: a wooden canvas, paint, sandpaper and vinyl. The "TODD" letters were a gift to us from my brother and his wife - also one of those unique wedding gifts that you proudly set out for everyone to see. The seashell has an image of the Philippines sketched into it.



Our Bathroom:





The jewelry board: I have always hung my jewelry on large nails I nail into the wall. I figured we may need to find an alternative to that... so we went to Target, found a bulletin board and I painted / distressed the edges. The jewelry hangs on beautiful pushpins my mom gave me and I filled the rest of the board with my wedding hanky, art, vintage items and commemorative objects for JD and me.



My Office: 








{another sigh} The stationery held in a vintage suitcase my grandmother gave us. I remember the first time I saw this suitcase... I fell in love with it. When we moved from the bungalow, she gave it to me so I could bring it to Huntsville. Along with many other memories, this suitcase will always remind us of our grandparents and the times we shared with them at the lake.


Our Kitchen:


I absolutely LOVE old bottles and glass of any kind!! When we were packing up from college, I realized JD is a collector as well (his is more of the labeled kind from different countries). It's been fun combining our collections. Fortunately our apartment kitchen has an open area between the top of the shelves and the ceiling, thus making it the perfect little place for all of my collection. This plethora of bottles, glasses and vases come from various antique stores, friends and family.


These canisters are from Bed, Bath & Beyond. They were originally plain and white but mom and I spiced them up with customized vinyl lettering.


Due to lack of storage space, we place all of our kitchen accessories - tools, mitts, towels and recipe box - in a basket so we can easily move everything if we need access to the plug.


{sigh} Ahh. The coffee basket. Our friend Shannon gave us this basket as a wedding gift and I couldn't think of anything more fantastic to place in it than our morning / dessert coffee supplies. As JD and I had our first conversation in a coffee shop, we all know that the Todd Home would not be complete without an overflow of delicious coffee in an elegant display.


 

Oh, what's this? More glasses, eh? Yes, more glasses. Seriously though - don't you just love them!!?? The colors, the tints, the shapes. So perfect. This fantastic vintage pie safe was a gift given to us from my mom and dad. Mom made sure it was refinished before they gave it to us though. It was a little rugged prior to the refinishing but now it's amazing! The lamp on top is an old Mason jar filled with marbles. 

The Big Move.

As the majority of you know, we have finally made the move to Huntsville!! Originally, when we realized that the out-of-country mission field wasn't exactly available to us in the first year of marriage, we went to option #2... we wanted to live in Huntsville. Obviously, that didn't work out in our plans either so we stayed close to my (Whit's) family in Eatonton. Little did we know at that time, the little town of Eatonton would wiggle its way into our hearts and find a place to settle forever.

I traveled back and forth to Lake Oconee my entire life, as that is where my family meets for holidays and gatherings. I never realized the true beauty of the area and the people until I lived there with my sweet husband. We will forever miss the mornings of waking up next to an extraordinary view, living just a few feet from our loving grandparents who constantly let us borrow eggs and milk when we needed it (not to mention everything else they did for us!), working with people that can never be replaced, and dining / gathering with our first married- couple friends - John & Robyn Sutton and Bo & Angie Fowler - for potluck dinners and game nights. To many people's surprise, we will even miss our sweet little bungalow that holds so many memories of mine & JD's firsts as Mr. & Mrs. Todd (i.e. our first snow, the first time I beat a video game, our first time catching a skunk). To everything and everyone we said farewell to, know that you will always be remembered and our times will always be cherished.

We moved to Huntsville because JD was offered a stellar job position, so here we are! We are extremely excited to embark on this adventure together. It has been such a delight thus far. :) However, we do miss our family and friends back in Georgia!

Below is a video full of some lovely tunes by JD and a few memories from Lake Oconee. (Don't let the short line from Eatonton to Huntsville deceive you... it is at least a 5-hour drive.)


Huntsville Bound from Whitney Todd on Vimeo.

And you were wondering how it all began...?

OK... I admit, we have been a bit behind on editing videos and posting them up on our awesome blog. We've surprisingly had a lot going on though! We realized the other day that we had not posted any content about how we met... so for all of you romantics out there, this should satisfy any existing cravings you have for a love story (and it will give some of you hope that love does happen when you least expect it):


Our journey began in a small classroom of about 100 students at Auburn University’s Lowder Building of Business…

JD, the graduate teaching assistant for my [Whitney] Management class, walked into Room #19 to pass out quizzes. As soon as class was dismissed, I immediately called my five closest friends and said, “Wow. I have just seen the most attractive man in my life.”

I honestly thought this guy would be a complete jerk because no guy that looks THAT attractive could have it all together... or even be nice.

A few weeks later, I was sitting in Cambridge Coffee talking with Laura Oliver and JD’s friend, Brandon Eidson. All of the sudden, a fluffy-headed hunk of meat pulled out the chair at Brandon’s table and sat down. He looked over at my Mac and saw Facebook open on my desktop. “Hey. Nice profile pic,” said the guy with the Pac-man shirt on.

He was referring to this awesome pic that my brother took.

I giggled and said, “Well, I’ll have to add you as a friend so you can look at it anytime you want.” And that’s where it all began.

A few days later, JD walked into the classroom again to pass out more quizzes. I of course shouted, “Hey JD!” from the middle of the 100-student classroom. He smiled back with a “hey Whitney” and waved. My professor handed me the quiz and whispered, “How do you know him? You have my approval! He is such an intelligent and well-mannered gentleman… and so handsome!” I giggled as the professor walked away. Weeks went by as we passed in small conversations at Cambridge, JD continually challenging me to a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. The Thursday before Chase [my brother] proposed to Jackie in late April we finally played the game… JD dominated the game, but I dominated his heart. :)

Final exams arrived. I stayed in Auburn but JD departed from the loveliest village on the plains to spend a few weeks with his family only to come back for five days to complete his certifications for his master’s degree. Our first date was exactly one year ago from our wedding day {May 29, 2009}. We went to see the movie Up, cooked for each other and laughed uncontrollably – nothing short from what our relationship is now. Four months later, he proposed… and the rest is history.

Coffee-Mate Baking Bistro Party

Many of you knew that I hosted a "Coffee-Mate Party" on Friday but you were probably really confused as to what that meant. Well, Coffee-Mate is awesome at marketing and asked their customers to spread the good word about their products. What did those special customers receive? Since I wanted to host a Baking Bistro party, they sent me all of these wonderful little gifts:

[free samples of Taster's Choice Instant Coffee, free samples of Original Coffee-Mate creamer, a muffin pan, cups, napkins, coupons for FREE Coffee-Mate, recipe cards (my favorite was the Biscotti), a cookbook and my absolute favorite... a STELLAR red Coffee-Mate apron.]

In the official terms of Coffee-Mate, Free Flavor Friday is:

On Friday, February 4th, 2011, COFFEE-MATE® is saluting its entire roster of flavors, and the people who love them with FREE FLAVOR FRIDAY! A special celebration filled with free product giveaways on Coffee-mate.com and on Facebook, FREE FLAVOR FRIDAY is an opportunity to savor your favorite flavor or try a new one for FREE!

I chose to host the party for the wonderful volunteers, board, and staff at the First Call Pregnancy Center in Greensboro. The women (and man) involved in this organization are solid individuals who have a strong compassion on other women in need. They pour so much love on the women who come through the doors, I just don't know how they have any love left... well, it does make sense that they would because that love comes from Christ... but hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Margaret, a director at the Center, helped me set everything up Friday morning. She had some awesome ideas to carry out the theme of "Life Is Sweet" beyond playing Baby Bingo and the Ultrasound game... we used a clean baby changing table to set the fruit and utensils on and then set the Coffee-Mate station on a high chair. :) Thanks Margaret! She also made a delicious mushroom, ham and cheese casserole. A few of the volunteers brought in cinnamon rolls, hot tea, muffins, fruit and an apple and cheese dish. Thank you everyone!!

Also a huge thanks to Coffee-Mate and to all of my precious friends at the Pregnancy Center for attending the party! Here's a video from the day:

Music by Copeland (Coffee)


THIS is what a Todd Family Christmas looks like...

On this last day of January... we are posting Part 1 of the Todd Family Christmas. We know. That's terrible. It's like leaving your Christmas decorations up after midnight on December 31st (for all you superstitious men and women out there). Well, hopefully us posting these videos will not bring bad luck but rather tickle your hypothalamus and maybe inspire your thoughts in decorating for next Christmas.

We hope you enjoy seeing our first Christmas tree (that almost didn't fit because of the holly
adornment on top), a few of our family traditions, gifts we received (i.e. this book), and finally a delicious and beautiful Christmas recipe that I listed below.






Prep Time: 45 Minutes Start to Finish: 1 Hour 10 Minutes

Servings: 40 appetizers


2 cups finely shredded Swiss cheese (8 oz)

11/2 cups chopped cooked ham (8 oz)

1/4 cup sliced green onions

2 tablespoons honey mustard

2 cans (12 oz each) Pillsbury® Golden Layers® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon sesame seed or poppy seed

2 tablespoons diced red and green bell pepper, if desired

1 green onion fan, if desired


1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix cheese, ham, onions and mustard.

2. Separate 1 can of dough into 10 biscuits; leave second can in refrigerator. Separate each biscuit into 2 layers. Press each biscuit layer to form 31/2-inch round.

3. Place 1 rounded tablespoon cheese mixture on each dough round. Wrap dough around cheese mixture, pinching edges to seal. Repeat with

remaining can of dough and cheese mixture.

4. Arrange 8 balls, seam side down and sides almost touching, to form ring on cookie sheet, leaving 3-inch hole in center. Arrange 14 balls, sides almost touching, around outside of first ring. Arrange remaining 18 balls around outside of second ring. Brush wreath with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seed.

5. Bake at 18 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully slide wreath from cookie sheet onto 14-inch serving platter. Sprinkle with bell pepper.

Place onion fan in center of wreath. Serve warm.

11.20.10 Part 3 - TMNT

This is the final video in our 11.20.10 series. :) JD did such a wonderful job with putting these together. This one is certainly special because this video describes a lot of what we do in our marriage: play video games. I was an "avid" video game player when I was young... you know, with The Lion King, racing games and such.

JD surpasses that though. He is not only an AVID gamer, but he is so good at every single game he plays. I had never even beat a video game until we got married. Some of you may be thinking, "Oh. Well I've never beat a game before either." Well, when you're a Todd, you have to beat EVERY GAME you play... Ninja Turtles included. This was the first game I had ever beaten in my life. It was a joyous moment. Sadly, we didn't catch that moment on video; however, we did catch some other special times displaying our fierce video game sessions.

*Disclaimer: This may or may not interest our readers / viewers. So if you don't enjoy watching people play video games, you may or may not enjoy watching this video. :) Enjoy!

11.20.10 Part 2 - With Milkshakes and Quiche Recipes

After a long hard day of putting together a cabinet... and eating...

Here's the second part of our day on 11.20.10, another fantastic video JD put together. In case you wanted to make pumpkin pie milkshakes or a delicious quiche for yourself, the recipes are below the video.

Also this month, we will be putting up our Christmas videos. It's bad luck to have your Christmas decorations up after December 31st. I hope it's not bad luck to show Christmas videos after the last day of December too...


Pumpkin Pie Milkshake
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/3 C pumpkin, canned or homemade
1/4 - 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/16 t cloves (just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a pinch)
1/16 t nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C.

*Our friend, Amanda Y, inspired this want for the pumpkin pie milkshake. She just started a blog: http://www.thetastyteaspoon.com/ You should check it out!


Ham & Cheese Quche
A Family Recipe... I think.

1 Pastry (Pillsbury Pie Crust)
1/2 cup (2 oz.) Shredded Swiss Cheese
1 cup (8 oz.) Shredded Shard Cheese (Cheddar), Divided
2 tbsp. All Purpose Flour, Divided
1/2 cup Diced Cooked Ham
2 tbsp. Honey Mustard
5 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups half-n-half
1/4 cups chopped green onions
1/4 tsp. salt

Line 9-inch quiche dish with pastry; trim excess pastry away. Prick bottoms and sides of pastry with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and prick with fork. Bake for additional 5 minutes. Combine swiss cheese, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, and 1 tbsp. flour in a Ziploc baggie. Toss gently to coat. Spread in a pastry shell. Combine ham and honey mustard. Toss gently to coat. Spoon ham mixture over cheese. Combine half-n-half, green onions, eggs, remaining 1 tbsp. of flour and salt; stir well. Pour mixture into pastry shell and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until set. Let stand for 10 minutes and then dig in to some delicious goodness!

*My cousin, Lauren K, gave me the Paula Deen Pie dish (color: robin's egg blue). I would not bake another quiche without it. I LOVE it! It's the perfect color too!