watermark

First of all, WOW...I can't believe it has been a month since my last post! This month FLEW...which is awesome because I took two sections of the CPA exam and Ryan had two-a-days, so needless to say we weren't exactly thrilled about how our days were spent haha. We are both starting to see the fruits of our labor though. Ryan is doing GREAT with coaching corners and is feeling encouraged by their performance. I am so proud of the work he is doing...he amazes me...especially by starting his day at 5am and not getting to bed until after 10pm. I'm a girl who needs her sleep, so I've officially ruled out varsity football coach as a profession. That was easy. I have been encouraged by passing two of the three sections of the exam I have taken! I am still waiting on the third score, but I am so incredibly thankful for my success. God is good. His hand was absolutely in this.

Now that we got that out of the way... the actual point of this entry was to write about what an amazing influence Watermark is beginning to have in our lives. We attended a kick off for Foundation Groups on Sunday. Foundation Groups are a group of 4-6 newly married couples gathering together with a mentor couple. At the meeting they stressed the fact that their approach was offense rather than defense. Meaning that they are proactive in their ministry toward newly married couples rather than fixing problems as they arrive...how refreshing! We are so excited and can't wait to be placed in a group. I start my women's bible study on September 9th and cannot wait to dive into that. On September 12th Ryan and I will start serving on Frontlines (as greeters). We feel so blessed to be a part of such a great church home. Todd's message on Sunday was my absolute favorite sermon that we have heard during our attendance since last August. His focus was on your story not being over yet. He gave 10 practical ways to be a disciple. What a humbling and truth-revealing sermon! Here is the link to the podcast if you have a little bit of time to listen: http://www.watermarkradio.com/index.php?id=153

blessed

On a daily basis Ryan and I express both verbally and non-verbally how blessed we feel. We were absolutely blown away by everybody's generosity at our wedding. Whether it was a group of wonderful women going together to get our pots and pans or a scotty dog jelly jar, a set of dishes or a set of dish towels, bathroom towels or home decor---we feel blessed. We also feel blessed by our steady jobs, our amazing families, having working cars, being healthy. God has been good to us!

We are having so much fun using our new home accessories as well as re-arranging our new home accents! Some of our most used items are our Pyrex (both sets...they are awesome), our kitchen utensils, our pots and pans, our blender (so money!), our dishes of course, among other things. I got to use our new Kitchen Aid hand mixer the other day and died laughing because I pressed the "eject" button and the mixer went flying right into the cake pan full of cake batter...it was awesome.

Ryan and I were talking with my mom on Sunday about what we might want for Christmas (the Mentzel family starts early...it's serious business). I mentioned that I really wanted the Kitchen Aid stand mixer that we registered for, but that I also knew that I would be "needing" stuff for my new job (clothes, shoes, cute bag, you get the idea). That night my parents went to dinner with some absolutely wonderful friends and were able to reconnect with them for the first time in over 7 years!!! They were a huge part of our lives and unfortunately our families lost touch over the years. At the end of dinner they told my parents they had a gift for Ryan and I and since my parents were in Dallas they decided to go ahead and just bring it to us. To our surprise and gratitude....it was our stand mixer. We were absolutely amazed by their generosity. Our family and friends have been so supportive, loving, and encouraging as we are experiencing this incredible time in our lives.

So for that, thank you!

apple maple turkey burgers with maple-dijon sauce

I never thought I would be one to share recipes based on the fact that I've never really cooked, but I have been having so much fun getting acquainted with the kitchen. I still get really nervous with the timing, juggling, judging, etc. But last week I tried this recipe and they turned out great! They were really flavorful and filling which is the real trick with Ryan and I haha. Another great thing is that they are definitely on the healthy side!

Ingredients

For Maple-Dijon Sauce:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup (we got light)

For Burgers:

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast

1/4 cup real bacon bits

1/2 cup chunky applesauce

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

2 tablespoons real maple syrup (once again light)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Hamburger buns (we got wheat)

Condiments

Directions

Set up grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Oil grate when ready to start cooking.

For Maple-Dijon Sauce: In a small bowl, stir to combine mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup; set aside.

For Turkey Burgers: In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients for burgers. Wet hands to prevent sticking and shape into 4 patties.

Place burgers on hot oiled grill for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until done.

Serve on buns with traditional burger condiments and a dollop of maple-Dijon sauce.

We also made sweet potato fries which are great too.

Ingredients

• 3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
• Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Parcook the potatoes: Place in a pot of water and boil until fork-tender; let cool. Slice each potato lengthwise into eighths.

Preheat a grill to medium or place a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat. Mix 1 tablespoon salt, the lime zest and cayenne in a small bowl.

Brush the potato wedges with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on all sides (including the skin) and just cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter; immediately season with the salt mixture and sprinkle with cilantro.

(Both recipes are from Food Network)

the avocado accident

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH DO NOT READ OR LOOK AT PICTURES.

So as a part of being newlyweds we are still trying to get into the groove of who does what, how much is too much, what's the balance between serving and being served. Well...my husband made it clear to me that "Hey would you mind cutting the avocados while I finish getting ready" is totally too much to ask. He seemed to feel that this was such an unfair favor that he stabbed himself in the hand to get out of it!!!

So here's the story: We are starting to get in the habit of buying healthier food and are really enjoying buying fresh produce and meat from Central Market. I am loving trying out new recipes and trying to learn my way around the kitchen a little better. We had a marathon last week of trying to finish all of the produce and meat so that none of it went bad and we didn't have to freeze anything. We cooked extra chicken on Friday night to make chicken sandwiches on Saturday for lunch. I was finishing up getting ready and we were going to eat and then head to Hobby Lobby, Pottery Barn, and Crate and Barrel to get a few things to spruce up our apartment. While in the bathroom I heard Ryan start yelling and I ran in the kitchen to find blood EVERYWHERE in the sink. There was so much blood I couldn't even tell where he had been cut or how badly. He was trying to get the seed out of the avocado when the knife slipped, cut the seed in half (which neither of us knew was even possible), slipped through and stabbed him in the palm near his thumb.

I immediately start bawling (not cool at all). Ryan was freaking out until he realized that I was freaking out and then he totally kept his cool. He asked me to get him a towel to wrap his hand in so I grabbed the first one in sight which happened to be a brand new dish towel. He yelled "not a new towel whit....get an old one!!!!" My bad. So I ran and grabbed another one. I was trying to get ahold of my mom because I was freaking out and she is my go to girl. She wasn't answering so I called Urgent Care to see if they did stitches so that we didn't have to go to the emergency room. They did. Success. Meanwhile Ryan is holding his hand with the towel while I am running around like a mad woman trying to get dressed and stop crying. When we got to Urgent Care they were awesome. They took him straight back and started prepping him for stitches. I took care of all of the administrative stuff/started breathing normally.

Poor Ryan couldn't get comfortable because if he sat up he felt like he was going to pass out because of the blood loss and if he laid down his hand would fall asleep. He was so awesome though. We had a great PA (it was the same one who told Ryan he had pneumonia back in February). She did a great job getting him stitched up...5 stitches...1.5 inches wide.

She was concerned because of how deep the cut was that he had possibly hit a bone or torn a tendon. The x-ray showed that there was no bone damage, but they gave him a sweet splint from his finger tips almost to his elbow in order to protect it in case there was tendon damage. His follow up appointment yesterday revealed that there was no damage, so I guess you could say he had good aim. Athlete.

We are so thankful that there was no serious damage to his hand outside of the pain associated with the stab. I want to give a shoutout to my husband for being amazing and not getting a single drop of blood anywhere besides the sink where he was cutting...not even on his clothes. Again...athlete. We decide to remedy the situation...we got an avocado peeler later that evening.

We dealt with a similar tragedy back in January when he fell down the stairs and broke his hand. I can't decide if these dramatic events keep happening because #1 he doesn't want to do P90X with me (both of these accidents have happened within a week of getting serious about working out) #2 he really IS that accident prone or #3 he REALLY likes the pain meds. I guess only time will tell.

summer

Ryan and I are finding different ways to keep ourselves busy this summer. So far this summer Ryan has interviewed with a company which we jointly agreed we did not think was what God had in store for him this summer, he has worked football camps at the high schoool, and he is currently in Abilene doing some work for his dad this week. This timing is complete perfection because I take my first portion of the CPA exam on Friday and having all distractions eliminated is a super big help to getting my studying done. I have to brag a little on my sweet hubbs-when I got home last night he had already left for Abilene but had left 4 cupcakes, starbursts, snickers, reese's, reese's pieces, gum, and monsters on our kitchen table so that I would have study snack pack. What a sweetie!!! He has done such a great job of helping me out since my entire summer has so far been dedicated to stuyding for the exam. He has been so helpful to run errands, return items to PB, C&B, Dillards, Target, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, put together furniture, take apart furniture, do laundry, cook dinner, make lunches. This man is unreal. God has blessed me. I am anxious to get all four parts done so that I can do the household stuff again and bless Ryan by serving him like he has blessed me, start my job free of the stress of the exam, get more involved with Watermark, and go to Rockwall football games to possibly catch a glimpse of my husband since I know free time will be nonexistant when football season gets started.

Ryan and I have had such a busy year and were in such a weird phase (not single, not married) we couldn't quite find a place in our church (besides our 8 week pre-marital class). I served for a while in the children's ministry but felt I was doing the kids an injustice by missing so often by being out of town, having wedding showers, having a group project, etc., so I stopped serving there in February. We are excited to connect with a Foundation Group during the Group Link event the church has in August. Foundation Groups are for newly married couples and we can hardly wait to get plugged into Watermark that way. I also found out about a Women's Bible Study that I would really love to be a part of beginning in September. This fall should definitely be interesting as Ryan has already been told to expect to be working 80 hour weeks come football season! HOLY MOLY. I am so not looking forward to the not seeing him part. I am excited to see what this year is like compared to last. I know Ryan is going to be A-mazing with his guys. They love Coach K. Once I get started with EY I will most likely be having a few of those 80 hour weeks here and there myself.

I feel so blessed that God has given Ryan and I both good jobs and am so looking forward to seeing what exactly He has in store for us next. We know it will be great and right and perfect. We're ready!

It's Official

On Saturday afternoon Ryan and I were ecstatic to find our marriage license had arrived!! Being the accountant that I am I go by the rules...so in my mind getting our marriage license meant we were legally married and now I could legally change my name!!! We were so excited that we took a picture of it to show everyone!

Today I made the treck to the Social Security Office to start the name change process. Boy, is it a process!!!! There's social security card, driver's license, bank account, checks, email address, miscellaneous accounts, our lease, THE LIST GOES ON! I am thoroughly excited to be changing my name...partially because it means I am married to the love of my life and partially because now I don't have to spell out M-E-N-T-Z-E-L everytime somebody asks me my last name. Just this morning I was registering for my CPA Final Review courses using Ryan's credit card and it was so nice to just say "Ryan S Kennedy" without any further clarification! Awesome.

Pictures from the wedding have come trickling in from parents, other family, and friends, so we will update soon with some wedding pictures, but here is one of our favorites that our WONDERFUL photographer (Kelly Hornberger) took after the ceremony...

How handsome is he???

Last weekend we had our good friends Chris and Whitney over for dinner. It was our first time to host anybody in our apartment and we had a blast! Ryan and Chris grilled the burgers on the grill down by our apartment complex pool while Whitney and I finished the sides, buns, etc. upstairs in the kitchen. We feel so blessed to have such a loving, Godly couple as such good friends! Love you guys!

Have a great week everyone!

Honeymooners

Ryan and I got home from Maui last Tuesday, June 1st and have since been working on getting settled and getting into a routine of sorts. We had an absolutely amazing wedding followed by an amazing honeymoon. We were both so sad to leave Maui (I seriously didn't speak the entire last day). We were so blessed to be allowed to have such a great trip.



The Rundown:

We stayed at The Westin Ocean Resort Villas. I highly recommend this hotel! It has all of the amenities of a hotel (pool, room service, spa, restaurants, etc.) but also has the benefits of a condo (full kitchen in the room).



We got in later afternoon the day after the wedding and enjoyed a dinner on the beach. We were ready to get a good night's sleep after the long flight that day. We spent most of the day Monday on the beach and exploring Lahaina.



Tuesday night we went to the Luau. Both Ryan and I have visited Maui previously and have never been to such a wonderful Luau. The meal was served family style rather than buffet like most Luau's. We would highly recommend going to the Westin Luau if you're ever visiting Maui. We sat with the most wonderful family. The food, entertainment, and company were all perfect! Ryan and I were especially good with integrating into the Hawaiian culture and made sure to tell everybody "aloha" (common Hawaiian greeting meaning: with love) and "mahalo" (Hawaiian for thank you). Ryan thought it was especially funny to say "mahalo" before we left ANYWHERE. We got a really big kick out of a guy stealing Ryan's humor at the Luau. The guy mixed aloha and mahola and said "maloha". So he decided it would be funnier to say maloha everytime instead.



Wednesday was one of our favorite days! We just relaxed during the morning and then went on a snorkel trip in the afternoon. We went with The Four Winds crew. I'm not sure if Ryan had more for snorkeling or laughing because I would either shriek or try to push the fish away if they came close. My grip on his arm tightened depending on how close the fish were.



Thursday was another great day for us! It was our first real pool and beach day. We spent the morning at the pool and then moved to the beach after lunch. Thursday night we went on our "fancy" date to Merriman's Kapalua. It was absolutely perfect!! The food, atmosphere, and "traditions" were awesome. I say traditions because our waiter told us it was a Hawaiian tradition to lick your finger and then wipe the chocolate that read "congratulations" in Hawaiian off of our plate. After practicing this tradition JJ informed us that we had just began a new tradition...what a jerk. Actually, JJ was one of the nicest people we met on the trip and went out of his way to make our "fancy" date special.



Friday was fun, however it led us to a big, resounding WE WILL NEVER GO TO HANA AGAIN! As I mentioned earlier, both of us have been to Maui before. We have also both been to Hana before. For those of you that don't know, the Road to Hana is a long, winding road up the side of a mountain that leads to The Seven Sacred Pools. We left around 10 in the morning and returned back at about 6:30 in the evening. The trip is great on the way there...not so great on the way home considering you have already seen everything already. We did find a lot of entertainment in the signs reading "Narrow Bridge", "Yield to Oncoming Traffic", "Drive Slowly", and our favorite "Winding Road".



Saturday was another wonderful day. We had a great breakfast and Betty's Beachside cafe and then headed to the beach to get some sun before our massages. Our biggest splurge of the trip was definitely the massages-but, hey, you only honeymoon once. The massages were great. After that we got ready and then headed to Lahaina to board the Ocean Discovery (owned by the Pacific Whale Company) for our sunset cruise. The meal on the cruise far exceeded our expectations, the staff was great, and of course the sunset was breathtaking.





Sunday the time to go home blues started setting in, but we still had a fun day. It was our last full day, so we decided to spend the majority of the day on the beach, but that morning after having breakfast in Lahaina we walked around for a bit and stopped by a really neat showcase of Maui artists. We had decided at the beginning of the trip that we wanted to find a really neat souvenir for our apartment, but had so far been unsuccessful. There was a man named Albert selling ceramic bowls and we found two handmade bowls that were painted beautifully and matched the color scheme of our apartment perfectly. We were so excited to find such a neat prize to bring home! We are still trying to find where we want to put them, but are very pleased! After going to the beach in the afternoon, we got ready and walked down the boardwalk to Duke's. This was one of our very favorite meals. We had seen a menu in the menu book at our hotel and had been wanting their kabobs since seeing them in the book. The meal did NOT disappoint! To make things even better we made friends with the manager after Ryan tried to tip him for taking our picture. He refused to take the money and surprised us at the end of the meal with a complimentary Hula Pie and told us that after living in the south he liked to take care of people from Texas.





Monday was a sad, sad day for the Kennedys. It was time to leave a dream honeymoon and head back to reality. We had such a large breakfast at Cheeseburger In Paradise that we decided we weren't going to be hungry any time soon so after walking around Lahaina for a bit we headed back to the Westin to pick up our luggage and head to the airport.



After getting back home we realized...reality isn't so bad when you're married to your best friend...

Many mahalos for reading!
Ry and Whit