Updates from the Alexanders

Dear Family & Friends,

It has been a while since I have written!

Drew and I are excited that our time apart is soon coming to a close. He has 2 1/2 more months left in the academy! Woo hoo! I can't WAIT to live with my husband again. We have wonderful times on the weekends, but it's still not the same. In early April we will be able to pick our top 3 choices for him to be stationed (doesn't mean that we'll get them) and late April we should know where we are going.

We have had a lot of change these past few months with moving, now moving again, living apart - a different season of our lives -- but the Lord has been very gracious and compassionate to us during this time. Time and time again, the Lord is reminding us to put out hope in Him - not our circumstances. Drew can't wait to be done with training and really start his job!

For our 4th anniversary (Jan. 22nd), our good friend Amy, took pictures of Drew and I -- she did an AWESOME job! You can check them out here:

Click on this link to see them all: Drew & Jessica's 4th Anniversary Pictures

As many of you know one of passions is nutrition & healthy eating. Some wonderful ladies, Lori Martin & Jacki Nyberg in Tallahassee taught me a lot (especially about the benefits of grinding your own grain) as did a wonderful nutritionist Krystal Gray. I believe and research shows so many illnesses and problems we experience can be helped or cured with eating whole foods & not processed foods. I LOVE experimenting in the kitchen and making healthy recipes. At the beginning of marriage and my experimentation things didn't always turn out ok...but Drew was always gracious!

Here's a compilation of some of my most recent creations:

Homemade Chicken pizza with fresh stone ground wheat

McDonald's Egg McMuffin has nothing on me! Fresh spelt biscuits with flax seeds, eggs and deer sausage


Yummy salad with roasted asparagus

I have learned so much and am continuing to learn a lot about nutrition -- if any of you have good books you'd like to recommend on nutrition, I'd love to read them. Luckily, Drew is as interested in healthy eating as I have become --- and he sure doesn't mind eating whatever I make (now that is)! I am SO excited about the yummy cake I made today that I had to share -- here is the receipe for anyone that wants to try it:

Carrot/Pineapple Cake

(I doubled this and it made 2 9" round cakes that I stacked and put icing inbetween)

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used fresh ground)
3/4 cup sugar (I used Sucanat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste - I like LOTS)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
2/3 cup applesauce (I made mine with older apples I had in the fridge)
2 eggs (I used my mother-in-laws eggs from her chickens!)
1 cup finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup juice packed pineapple (with juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla

The cake is so healthy but it's the icing I used that KILLED it!

1 stick butter

1 pkg creme cheese

16 oz box of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

(I didn't make either of these recipes up, I found them online)

Well, I hope life is treating you and your family well. I encourage you as Drew and I are discovering more and more to rest your hope in Christ.

Much love,

Jessica