Sojourning Stranger

A Good Read

2012-02-09T19:27:00.004-06:00

Hop on over to read this wonderful post by my friend, Nicole, at You HEARD Me. It will be worth your time. I'm sure you'll find yourself nodding your head and a saying a few silent (or not so silent) "amens!"

Bradley's Journey

2012-02-07T15:50:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share with you a remarkable story of God's power and mercy. Bradley Thomas was born February 7, 2011 at just 23 weeks and 4 days. Weighing only 1 pound 9 oz and 12 1/2 inches long, he has fought for his life. Little Bradley faced months of infections, tests, procedures, therapy, and setbacks. More importantly, by the grace of God, Bradley achieved milestones.

Bradley's arm with his parents' wedding rings. 3 days old.

Bradley Thomas. 13 days old. 1 lb. 14 oz.

Bradley's mom, Corinne, is a childhood friend of mine. I have been blessed to get to know her on a deeper level through Facebook the past few years. At just 23 weeks into her pregnancy, Corinne started having contractions which could not be stopped. The doctors gave her the choice to deliver her baby via c-section, which would most likely prevent her from having any future pregnancies, or to deliver naturally. The risks involved with delivering naturally were the baby could come out feet first, its head could get stuck if it came out feet first, or its umbilical cord could be wrapped around his neck and possibly losing the baby. Corinne writes about that moment, saying: "I asked if I could pray and think about it and while doing do I realized that God already had His plan for Bradley and that if it was in God’s will for Bradley to survive then Bradley was going to survive any way that he was delivered. Against the doctor wishes I delivered Bradley naturally and guess what… he came out feet first, his head did get stuck and the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice. I knew that if God’s plan was for us to lose our baby (at this time we still didn’t know if he was a boy or girl), that our baby was going to be in Heaven with Him. I didn’t want to try to go against God’s will and have a c-section because it’s “safer” and hope that the baby would survived."

5 weeks old. 2 lbs.

Following this family through their journey with Bradley has been inspiring to me. Corinne and her husband, Robert, have shown tremendous trust in the Lord with their son's life. They know Bradley is a beautiful gift from God with his own testimony to share. In all of her updates on Bradley, Corinne gives the glory to God for each of Bradley's accomplishments and seeks for God's will when he is struggling. It is especially touching to me to hear experiences of nurses or other parents asking Corinne and Robert how they can stay so positive when dealing with everything going on with Bradley. They are quick to answer that it's by the grace of God and they just trust in Him.

Bradley with his momma and big sister, Libby. 4 months old.

Almost 4 months old.

In one of her updates about Bradley, Corinne wrote:

"In the past 6 months I have had several people ask me, “How do you do it?” or “I couldn’t do it if I were you.” My answer has been “It’s just my life, so I just do it.” The truth is that I do it with the help of God. Bradley Thomas is God’s child and He has blessed me with him. God has trusted me to take care of his children and in this situation; God has trusted me to take care of his sick child. Having Bradley has done nothing but brought me closer to God. I may miss a few church services because I’m visit with Bradley but while I’m at the hospital I am able to read my Bible, talk to people about God, and lift up His Holy Name. This whole situation has also brought some strain to the rest of my family but we are able to pray and talk things out and just take it day-by-day and week by week.

People have also asked me “Why does Bradley keep getting sick if you believe in God so much and if everyone has been praying for him so much?” I don’t fully know the answer to this but I believe that it is so that we can learn to lean even more on God and trust that He is a just God and has a plan. I have faith that this is all in God’s plan and that this is not a punishment for something that we did wrong in the past but it is a gift to help heighten our faith in him for the future."

Bradley stayed in the NICU for several months before being transferred to a trasitional unit. Today, Bradley and his family will celebrate his 1st birthday by bringing him home to his parents, big sister, and big brother. The first year of little Bradley's life has been full of trials, joys, and growth. Bradley still has a long road ahead of him. We know that it is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. We have confidence that the Lord who has worked miracles in the first year of Bradley's life has the power to continue working in his life in a mighty way. Be praying for this sweet family as they transition to caring for Bradley at home. Pray for them as they have months and years of decisions, treatments, and therapies. Pray for the Bradley to continue to grow stronger and healthier with each new day. Pray for strength and grace for his parents. Pray for his sister and brother as they face the transition of having their baby brother home. Pray for the Lord to continue to be magnified through the life of this precious gift!

Bradley Thomas. 11 months, 23 days.

Bradley at home in his bed on his 1st birthday!

2Corinthians 12:9-"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Baking Adventures

2012-02-06T16:57:00.005-06:00

Sister Danielle and Miss Ruth came over today for a little baking fun. I wanted to make some biscuits and cinnamon rolls to put up in the freezer for when we have company during the Florida Fellowship Meeting. I'm figuring out the more than can be done ahead of time, the better!

We started with the cinnamon roll dough. It was quite a sticky, yeasty adventure!

While the dough had to rise, we worked on the biscuits. This was Sis. Danielle's first time making biscuits.

Miss Ruth was a good girl while we were busy in the kitchen. She had fun playing with Wesley!

When it was time to roll out our cinnamon rolls, we thought we had ruined them. The dough sort of exploded in the bowl!

We were able to add some flour and get them to the right consistency. Add a little (or a lot) of butter, sugar, and cinnamon and roll away!

We had read about the floss method for cutting the cinnamon rolls and were a bit skeptical. The directions were to use unflavored dental floss, but I only had mint flavored in my stockpile. I figured a little mint couldn't hurt too much! Let me tell you, this was the smartest thing in the world! It was amazing how easy it was to cut the roll into individual pieces. I think I'm going to try using the floss method on cookie dough.

Of course, we had to test out a a few cinnamon rolls to make sure they were suitable to feed to guests! They got the stamp of approval!

It was a fun day of laughter, baking, and talking. Sis. Danielle even helped me get some laundry done and my kitchen was cleaned up at the end of the afternoon!

Craft Room Closeups

2012-02-05T16:39:00.003-06:00

As I was planning my craft room, I wanted to do something cute, practical, and cheap. With the hopes that it will eventually be turned into a nursery, I didn't want to spend a lot of money fixing it all up for my crafting. I feel like I accomplished this goal pretty well. Of course, I always spend more money than I was planning!

I already posted about the embroidery hoop wall. Above my sewing area, I wanted to do something that would provide storage along with being visually appealing. I bought unfinished wood boxes at Michael's and picked out paint colors to match the fabric in the embroidery hoops. I used scrapbook paper on the bottom of the boxes and covered it with a few good coats of Mod Podge. I was thankful for Chris' help with hanging the boxes. I LOVE how they turned out! They're great to hold some of my sewing and crafting supplies.

I also needed an area by my desk to hold my countless lists and notes. I found a cork board on sale at Micheal's for about $3 and painted the trim on it to match the boxes. I also bought a small pizza pan at Dollar Tree and spray painted it for a magnet board. I had put together a dry erase board using a picture frame, but it broke in the process of hanging it up. So, I just stuck with the magnet and cork boards.

I've seen this idea floating around Pinterest using a picture frame and wire to display pictures. I love the shabby chic look so this was right up my alley! I was super excited to find a picture from in the clearance/damaged section at Michael's. It didn't have the glass in it (which I didn't need anyway), so it was marked down from $40 to $10. I spray painted it the same color as the magnet board, fastened some wire to the back, and displayed some pictures with adorable clothespins I found in the dollar bin at Michael's.

One other touch of my room that I love is this wall hanging. It was given to me as a gift at the end of my first (and only) year teaching in Illinois. A parent of one of my students made it for me. I absolutely love it!

The poem reads:

The Choice

"You could have chose to teach, where the grades are A-B-C's.
Instead your students make their marks in measured IEP's.

You could be simply standing in front of your classroom all day long,
Instead you're bending, stretching, lifting, while trying to stay strong.

You could have conversations with your students, deep in thought,
Instead you praise the effort of one tiny little grunt.

You may not think I noticed, that you could have had much more,
That you could have chose a different path, a different classroom door.

But you chose to be with us, picked the hardest job to do,
To make a difference in the lives of kids who cannot choose.

Words cannot come out to tell you how much that means to me,
My eyes try to convey the thoughts of how it feels to see.

How I wish that I was able to come to you and say,
How hard it will be to leave you, to grow up, and be on my way.

If only you could hear the gratitude spoken by my own voice...
Instead, just know how much I love you for making this choice."

By Sherry Schultz

I love it because it perfectly describes the wonderful, life-changing year I had teaching students with severe disabilities. It's a great reminder and inspiration to me!

Craft Room

2012-02-01T10:35:00.003-06:00

The craft room is mostly put together and ready to be used! I am really liking the way it turned out. It's cute, inspirational, functional, and didn't cost a fortune to decorate! There are still a few small things that need to be done, but those will happen with time.

Looking into the room from the door.

Extra twin bed and hutch for fabric storage.

Closer look at sewing area...I will do a post about the boxes on the wall soon.

Inside of hutch with fabric storage. I need to organize this a little better and find a better storage solution for all the ribbon on the top shelf.

Book shelf on the wall coming into the room (you can see the door on the right side of the picture). I need to find some fabric to put in the window.

Stay tuned for more detailed posts about the projects I did around the room and my favorite touches!

Now I'm off to do some sewing!

Book Review - "Grace for the Good Girl"

2012-01-29T16:32:00.007-06:00

I had read about this book on several Christian blogs I stalk and was excited to add it to my list for this year. To be honest, I am completely enamored with book covers. I love the art of a beautiful book cover. If the cover captures my attention and the title sounds interesting, I will usually read it. I don't like to read the little summaries on the back of books, or read very much detail about the book. I like the suspense and mystery hidden inside the pages.

This is the description from Amazon:
"Many of us believe that we are saved by grace--but for too many, that's the last time grace defines our life. Instead of clinging to grace, we strive for good and believe that the Christian life means hard work and a sweet disposition. As good girls, we focus on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods. When we fail to measure up to our own impossible standards, we hide behind our good girl masks, determined to keep our weakness a secret.

In Grace for the Good Girl, Emily Freeman invites women to let go of the try-hard life and realize that in Christ we are free to receive from him rather than constantly try to achieve for him. With an open hand and a whimsical style, Emily uncovers the truth about the hiding, encouraging women to move from hiding behind girl-made masks and do-good performances to a life hidden with Christ in God."
****************************************************************
Even though I was quick to add "Grace for the Good Girl" to my reading list, I was a little apprehensive. I don't like typical self-help books or books that give you a list of 10 steps to fix a problem, most of those steps eluding to "finding the power within you." Blah blah blah. This book was nothing like that. It addressed a real issue many women (and I'm sure some men) face day to day and turn to the Bible for the solution to deal with the issue.

Without giving too much of the book away, I will give my brief summary. The author, Emily Freeman, addresses the issue of living life with masks on. Masks of strength, responsibility, happiness used to hide the true emotions brought on by the events of life. It is alright and natural to have emotions and reactions to life. Freeman gives encouragement to choose if we are going to deal with those emotions by putting on masks or trust God and let His peace rule in our hearts. We are not to let ourselves sin with our emotions, but find the balance in acknowledging them and relying on God's peace to properly handle them.

This book was extremely easy to read. Freeman has a beautiful way with words. She turned to Scripture constantly and was able to describe God's Word in a way that was real and applicable to me. Granted, not every explanation and use of the Word was accurate and true, but most was.

As I was reading, I wrote down several passages which spoke to me in a powerful way. I want to share a few with you.

"If what I do is done in complete dependence upon the Father, then it doesn't matter what that thing is, rather who the one is doing that thing. Is it me? Or is it him? Colossians says that by faith, it is beautifully and mysteriously both. (Col. 1:29) Who am I to decide what is extraordinary? The Father has already decided. He says he himself is extraordinary. So anything I do as I depend on and partner with the Extraordinary One, I suppose that is extraordinary too." - Grace for the Good Girl, p. 61

"Quiet time is no longer something I do. Rather, it is a description of what happens when I am with God. Time can be a loud, chaotic, rushing-around companion. But as I sit in the presence of God, he quiets my time. No that I know what the truth is, I long to allow space for my soul and spirit to begin to believe it." - Grace for the Good Girl, p. 149

"When my patience is gone, he offers to be patience for me. When my strength is spent, he becomes strength in me. When my faith is small, he believes on my behalf. Every time." - Grace for the Good Girl, p. 215

Recipe Reviews

2012-01-27T08:05:00.005-06:00

So, remember my goal of trying one new recipe a week and posting a review? Yeah, that's not going so well. I have tried a few new recipes so far this month. I'll do my best to combine reviews in this post.

Chicken Rollups

[source]

This was an interesting recipe. I was a little skeptical about it from the start, because of the issue with the crescent rolls being baked in a sauce. Can you say soggy bread? But, the picture looks so yummy that I wanted to try it.

My additions:
I added bacon into the cream cheese and chicken filling mixture. I also added a little sour cream to the sauce and the filling.

Taste:
The flavor was alright, but not exceptional. I got it a little too salty, probably because I added the bacon. Otherwise, the flavor was a little one-dimensional. It needed something to jazz it up or add a little pop.

As I was afraid, the texture was a bit icky. The crescent rolls were soggy, which wasn't so yummy in my mouth.

Ease:
This was a fairly time-consuming recipe. I sauteed some onions and cooked the chicken as I was making the dish, which added some time. If you had pre-cooked chicken and didn't add onions, the prep work wouldn't be as time consuming.

Overall:
2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Hawaiian Sweet Roll Ham Sandwiches

[source]

I made this dish for Friday night supper of our annual meeting. I had been seeing it float around Pinterest for quite some time and was anxious to try it. The ingredients were a bit expensive, but not outrageous.

My additions/changes:
I didn't use the Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. I could only find a small package and they were super expensive. I used small potato rolls instead, which I thought were good.

Taste:
This was a winner in the taste category! Every last crumb was eaten. The combination of the sweetness from the rolls, spiciness of the Dijon, and the zing from the poppy seeds was a perfect blend.

Ease:
The great thing about this recipe is that it can be put together earlier in the day, kept in the refrigerator, then just popped in the oven before time to serve. It's a perfect potluck dish or would be great for Superbowl Sunday.

Overall:
Five stars!

Cabbage Rolls - - my combination of two recipes

[source]

I was visiting with my Grandma when they were here over the holidays and we got to talking about ideas for suppers. I asked her what kinds of dishes she likes to fix with ground beef. One dish she said she fixes often is cabbage rolls. I had never heard of them, but it sounded good from her description. I hunted for a good recipe and ended up combining two recipes.

My additions/changes:
I sauteed half an onion in butter and added a pound of ground beef to let it brown just a little. I don't like putting raw ground beef in the crock pot. It just weirds me out. I added 1/2 cup brown rice, one small can of tomato sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, oregano, celery seed, dill, paprika, and a dash of cayenne. I didn't have a package of onion soup mix like the first recipe calls for, so I just threw in some spices I thought would taste good. Once I rolled the filling in the cabbage leaves (I had to look up a video on how to core cabbage!), I made a sauce out of tomato soup and beef broth. I cooked it in the crock pot for about 5 1/2 hours.

Taste:
I really liked this dish! It smelled delicious as it was cooking and made my mouth water all day. I thought the flavor was just right, but Chris said it was a little too sweet. I really liked the taste of the cooked cabbage with the meat filling.

Ease:
This was a little time consuming to prep. The good thing is that you can do it earlier in the day and have supper done. It does make a mess and uses a lot of dishes to get it together. If you don't brown the ground beef, then you could mix the filling up in one bowl and use another bowl to steam the cabbage. Then you wouldn't have as many dishes. But I seem to like to dirty a lot of dishes as I'm cooking.

Overall:
Four stars (I would give it 5, but I gave it 4 since Chris wasn't a huge fan.)

Closet Organization

2012-01-20T16:29:00.011-06:00

One of the first things I did after we moved in was hang all my clothes in the closet. After that, the closet didn't get much attention. I just tossed my things in there, sometimes putting them in a logical place, but not usually. Every time I would walk in, I would tell myself I needed to work on cleaning and organizing it. I finally got around to it this afternoon!

This is how my closet typically looks....

One reason I've hesitated on getting it organized is that I was trying to come up with a solution to display/store my jewelry. I have a small jewelry box on my dresser for my nicer stuff, but I have a TON of necklaces! I've been browsing around Pinterest and came up with a few ideas.

[source]

[source]

[source]

[source]

[source]

I decided the last idea would be the best use of the space I have and hold the most necklaces. I bought the towel rod and shower curtain hooks at Wal-mart. I started hanging the towel rod on Tuesday night, but didn't get very far. I was determined to do it myself. I took out the instructions (which were clearly for a man because they were just pictures and no words), marked the spot for screws on the wall, and went to find the drill. The drill didn't have a bit in it and there's no telling where I could find them in our garage. So, I got frustrated and stopped.

I am happy to say that I completed this project by myself today! I found a different drill and went to work. Once I had it installed, I stood back to admire my work. It was very much a "I-am-woman-hear-me-roar"moment.

Here's how my closet looks now!

And a close up of my necklace holder.

The one about the mule

2012-01-18T12:35:00.005-06:00

"Your buggy stopped here, so you will just have to sleep here for the night. We'll find your mule in the morning."

Imagine me saying this. Imagine me saying this to Grandma. Imagine me saying this to Grandma at 1:00 AM.

One of the aspects of dementia that we are dealing with in Grandma is the inability for her to differentiate a dream from reality. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she is often confused about where she's at and what is happening. Most of the times she wakes up, it is because of a dream. It doesn't take long to figure out what the dream was about. For long time, she was dreaming about being on a train every night. She would wake up 2 or 3 times wanting to get off the train or wanting to know when it was stopping. Her dreams are often about family members, which she wants to know where they're at when she wakes up. She's had dreams about cows and peanut farming.

While it can be quite humorous, it is often difficult for me to think clearly enough in the middle of the night to get her calmed down. I've tried to rationalize and explain to her that she's having a dream and whatever she is asking about didn't really happen. That doesn't go so well. Most of the time I just try to roll with the punches. I'll usually take her to the bathroom, which works as a good distraction. Then when I'm trying to get her to lay back down, I just say that she'll see that person in the morning or that whatever she's asking about will happen in the morning. Usually, this calms her down enough for her to go back to sleep. Sometimes not and it's a long night.

So back to my line from the beginning....

I heard Grandma talking around 1AM Monday night (Tuesday morning, but that's confusing). When I went into her room to check on her, she said that her mule had run away. She was banging her fist on her bed rail, saying that her horse (the bed rail) was pulling the buggy when her mule ran away. She was very concerned about getting to wherever she was traveling with a group. Enter my comment about stopping the buggy here for the night and finding the mule in the morning.

She went back to sleep after a few minutes. I couldn't help but to laugh a little as I stumbled back to bed.

Touches to the craft room

2012-01-17T16:20:00.004-06:00

I've slowly been adding little touches to my craft room. I came across this idea on Pinterest. Now, I can't seem to link it back to the rightful owner. So I'm stealing someone's idea without giving them credit!

I love how this turned out! It adds just a little extra pop and interest above the bed. This was such an easy and relatively inexpensive project. All of the supplies came from my favorite place, Hobby Lobby. The total for all the supplies was around $25, but that included a lot of extra fabric for future projects. The hardest part of the whole deal was getting it hung up on the wall in a manner that looked appealing to the eye, but not too perfect.

I'm linking this project up to the Pinterest Partayy going on over at What the Graham?!, Baby Gator Den, Design Build Love, Hernando House, Merrypad, and The Stucco Bungalow. Head on over to these great bloggers to see other awesome projects inspired by Pinterest!

Craft Room Sneak Peek

2012-01-11T19:50:00.003-06:00

My craft room has gone from this:

to this:

I still have a lot more organizing, decorating, and sprucing up to do before I do a big reveal. Stay tuned!

2012 Goals

2012-01-07T17:51:00.005-06:00

And now I will share my goals for 2012.

Read through the entire Bible in chronological order. A sweet sister in the church shared this website (Read the Bible in One Year) with me. It allows you to select whether you want to read the Bible through from the beginning, in chronological order, historical order, or passages from the Old and New Testament each day. I'm really excited to read through the Old Testament in chronological order.

Learn to quilt. I'm going to have a new niece or nephew in June, as well as an adopted niece or nephew (my best friend's first baby!) in June. I hope to make a quilt for both of them.

Run at least 25 miles a month, for a total of 300 miles for the year.

Read 50 books. I have a list of books that I didn't get to last year, plus a new long list. I'm sure there will be others added to it as the year goes on!

Try one new recipe a week and post a review. This isn't really difficult for me, because I love trying new recipes. Posting the review might be more of a challenge!

Take one picture each day. I'm already behind on this, because I didn't decide to make this a goal until a few days ago. But, I'll give myself some grace and take a few extras to make up!

Learn more about blog design. I want to learn to make my blog more personalized and attractive my lovely readers. I'm a little tired of the cookie-cutter templates and functions.

Send one handwritten note each week. This is a repeat from last year, but something I still want to work on becoming more of a habit.

Here's to a year full of learning, growth, and fun!

So how about those 2011 goals?

2012-01-05T20:18:00.003-06:00

Like most people, I started out 2011 with a list of goals to accomplish throughout the year. The year brought about a few extra surprises, thus I didn't do so well at achieving those goals.

My goals for 2011 were (how I came out on those goals is in red):

read the Bible through (using The One-Year Bible published by Tyndale) - - I successfully read through the Bible! As always, it was an enlightening experience. There were times when it was difficult and I got behind a few days, but I managed to finish.

eat more fresh fruits and vegetables - - I can now say there are a whole lot of "new" vegetables that I like as of this year! I really like starting my day with a raw spinach, banana, almond milk, and peanut butter smoothie. The produce aisle at the grocery store has become one of my favorite spots! I'm so thankful to be living in an area where produce is easily accessible year-round.

send one handwritten note a week (not starting out so well on this one!) - - Well....this was a good thought, but was not carried out so well. I often thought about people I needed to write, but I would let other things get in the way.

call my grandparents more often - - I feel like I did pretty well with this. I tried to call one of my grandparents every week. I know I need to do better with this. It is always encouraging and comforting to talk with my grandparents. We live so far out from all of them and usually only get to see them once a year. Making a conscious effort to call regularly helps to stay connected.

run 3 miles in under 30 minutes -- I'm not sure that I can say I can consistently run 3 miles in under 30 minutes, but I have done it on several occasions. It is easier for me to run 3 miles than it was at the beginning of last year, but I'm still far from being a "runner."

learn to knit -- Nope, didn't even try to learn!

read 50 books - - I was 15 books short of my goal! Actually, since I read through the entire Bible, you could say that I read 107 books this year! :)

stick to a grocery budget - - HA! I always had a budget in mind for each month and did really well on my big grocery trip at the beginning of the month. But, all those little trips here and there get to us!

intentionally save money - - I'm going to say that I half-way accomplished this goal. I was able to save a good chunk of my Christmas/birthday money (from 2010) throughout the year and still haven't spent it! We were fairly diligent about saving for our Disney trip and a few other things, but not nearly as much as I had hoped.

2011 Recap

2012-01-04T11:43:00.007-06:00

Let's take a moment to recap the highlights of 2011...

January

We were very thankful for the blessing of Chris starting his job with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Even though it proved to be a rather boring and stressful job, I'm thankful for the Lord's provision and for a husband who was willing to work through the stress to provide for our family. With him working full time, I was staying at home with Grandma and keeping busy around the house. I worked on many crafty projects, including making felt food for a dear friend.

February

The end of January and beginning of February brought a big snow and ice storm to Texas. I felt like I was living in Illinois again, except it was worse! We were stuck in the house for several days. It was fun to watch the dogs run around in the snow, but we were very thankful to see the warmer temperatures after a few days!

March

We were sad to experience the loss of our sweet Golden Retriever, Wilson, in March. He brought us a lot of joy and happiness in the four months we had him. I still think of him often and wish I could cuddle with him again! To keep myself entertained throughout the month of March, I attempted to do Weekly Challenges here on the blog. I spent a week deep cleaning the house, wearing a necklace each day of the week, trying new recipes and giving reviews, and keeping my kitchen clean.

April

April brought much warmer temperatures to Texas, which meant getting the garden planted! Chris worked hard to get the plot ready and everything planted. I worked on cleaning out a flowerbed and planting my herbs. It felt so good to work outside after the cooler winter.

May

May was the month for the kitchen renovation! Chris tore out the old cabinets and counters and put in new in order to make room for a dishwasher! I really appreciate his willingness to make my life easier! Unfortunately, we never got around to finishing the kitchen before we moved.

We also took a trip to Mississippi to visit my grandparents. My parents, brother and sister-in-law also drove down to spend a few days with us. We had a great time visiting, shopping, and going to the beach.

June

I took a weekend trip back to Illinois to attend the annual meeting at Little Flock the second weekend of June. It was wonderful to spend time with my family and to visit with our church family there. We were also busy harvesting the garden throughout the month. We put up a lot of vegetables in the freezer and I tried my hand at canning pickles for the first time.

July

Chris and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on July 5. We celebrated by spending the day in Dallas before we headed to Florida. This was our first trip together to Florida to visit Little Union. It was during that visit that I fell in love with the church family and felt the Lord working in our lives.

We also welcomed Bailey into our family in July. We are thankful for the time we got to spend with him. Sadly, he didn't work out well in our family, but we are thankful he is happily enjoying his new home with Chris' mom and her boyfriend.

August

We celebrated Chris' birthday weekend with his family in the Metroplex. The weekend was filled with a lot of fun as we went to two Ranger's games and spent a day at a water park.

September

September was a pretty low-key month for us. We made another trip out to Florida together. I also made a trip up to Illinois and Ohio with my mom. I also started subbing part-time, which was full of interesting experiences.

October

October was a big month for us! We found out that Chris was called to pastor Little Union and made the decision to move to Florida. We are so thankful for the Lord's work and direction in our lives. We were also excited to have my friend, Shelly, visit for a few days. It was a great time of catching up, laughing, and working on craft projects together.

November

November started out with Chris and I making the decision to move Grandma to Florida with us, rather than put her in the nursing home. The month was also full of making plans and packing for the big move. We also enjoyed Thanksgiving with Chris' family. The end of the month brought the big move!

December

We welcomed December in our new home in sunny Florida! The move from Texas went very smoothly. We were anxious to get into our house and begin settling in. It didn't take us long to get unpacked and deck out our home for Christmas. We were excited to host our first church fellowship in our home. We closed out the month and the year by spending a week at Disney World with my family. It was a fun-filled and memory-filled week, a perfect way to end a big year!

Disney Family Reunion

2012-01-03T06:58:00.005-06:00

Two years ago, my family decided to plan a Christmas family reunion to Disney in 2011. It seemed like such a long way off back then, but it sure came quickly! The plans shifted from being just our immediate family (mom, dad, brothers, sister, and spouses) to including all of my Dad's immediate family (grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin and spouse). We saved our pennies and anxiously talked about plans as the day approached.

Chris and I made the terribly long (45 mile) drive to Orlando last Friday afternoon. We were the first ones to meet my grandparents at the resort. They kindly used their timeshare points to get our family a 4-bedroom Presidential Suite at the Wyndham at Bonnet Creek Resort. The suite was beautiful and very spacious!

Our view from the balcony of our suite

We helped put groceries and supplies away as we waited for the rest of our family to arrive. My brother, Isaac, and his wife, Heather, drove from Indianapolis and arrived shortly after us. Throughout the afternoon and evening the rest of the family got in. By the end of Friday night, we had 15 people and their luggage spread around the suite. We stayed up late catching up, swimming, and planning our week.

With my brother, Isaac

My sister, Tasha, and me

Saturday we got up early and headed off to our first park. Most of the family started out at Magic Kingdom. It was super crowded, but still very exciting. The Christmas decorations and holiday spirit added extra excitement in the air. My sister and I stuck together most of the day. We wimped out around 5:00 and headed back to the room. The swimming pool and hot tub were a welcome sight after the day of walking, being pushed, and waiting in lines.

Epcot at night...beautiful!

Sunday was Christmas Day, so we headed back to Little Union for church. I was very excited and thankful to have my parents and sister go to church with us. Chris and I had decided to put Grandma into a nursing home for respite care while we were gone. We picked her up Sunday morning to take to church. We enjoyed a wonderful church service and visited with folks for a bit. Then, we brought my parents and Tasha over to check out the house. After a gourmet lunch of peanut butter and jelly and ham sandwiches and visiting, we needed to get back to Orlando. Grandma Corn had given us strict instructions that Christmas dinner was to be at 5:00 and we didn't want to be late. We took Grandma back to the nursing home and headed back to the resort.

Grandma Corn brought decorations to make the suite more Christmasy!

Before we were able to eat our Christmas dinner, the family attempted to get a group shot. Imagine trying to get 15 people gathered and 5 cameras working with the self-timer function! It was quite the scene! We did manage to get a few pretty good shots.

Group shot...this is all of my grandparents' kids and grandkids

Grandpa and Grandma had ordered our Christmas dinner from Publix and picked it up the day before. The spread of ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, and rolls was yummy! We enjoyed eating, visiting, and opening presents together.

Christmas Day

Isaac and Heather

The rest of the week was spent enjoying all the parks, the amenities at the resort, and spending quality time as a family. It was a week full of a lot of fun and many memories. Friday morning came around too quickly and it was time to get back to reality. It's always hard to leave my family, but I am thankful for the time we were able to spend together. I was able to spend at least one day with each of my siblings and parents at one of the parks. Since my grandparents drove down from Illinois, they decided to spend the weekend with us before heading home. We really enjoyed having them as our first overnight house guests.

Mom and Tasha

A snapshot of one of the pictures they take on the ride.

I ate an entire turkey leg on our last day at Animal Kingdom!

Dad wearing his bug glasses for the 3D movie

Tis the Season

2011-12-21T09:19:00.008-06:00

We were motivated to get all the boxes unpacked and our house set up so quickly so we could enjoy decorating our home for Christmas. This is a favorite time of year for us and we love decorating together. It was so exciting to be able to decorate our new home. Although, I have to admit that it was a little odd putting up Christmas decorations in capris, a tshirt, and flip flops!

Almost 8 1/2 feet tall...314 ornaments

Top of the china cabinet (sorry the pictures are crooked, I'm not using my normal editing program)

Stack of Christmas card waiting to be mailed.

Our Dickens Village set up on the hearth

I love having a mantle to decorate!

Blue and silver mini tree on the hearth

Chris did a great job putting lights on the outside of the house

Wesley fits in with the Christmas decorations perfectly!

So Long, Texas. Hello, Florida.

2011-12-09T18:00:00.008-06:00

This is old news to my lovely readers, but we are now living in beautiful Plant City, Florida. On November 28th, we loaded up our household of earthly treasures and began the journey to Florida. We were so thankful to have the help of the Cunningham Moving Company (AKA: church members from Little Union Primitive Baptist Church) to help us with the move.

I'm going to borrow a few pictures from Danielle to show the highlights of Moving Day.

The guys and Sis. Sheila went to Abilene to pick up the moving trucks while Danielle and I packed up the last of the house. She was a wonderful help! I was to the point where I couldn't think of packing another box. The moving trucks arrived on the scene around 11 AM and we quickly set to work.

Bro. Gary Sr. was the man-in-charge! He is a professional mover and knows what he's talking about. I quickly learned to say "yes, sir" and do what he said.

We finished loading the first truck around 2 PM. After a short lunch break, we set to work on the second truck.

After we finished loading up most of our house, we had to go to a little house Chris' grandma owns where we had a lot of stuff in storage. It was only about 3 blocks down the street, so Danielle and I just hitched a ride in the back of the truck. I felt like I needed some candy to throw out to the little children. Except there weren't any children around.

Where did all this stuff come from?!?!

As the guys were loading my grill and a few other things into the back of the pick-up, us girls worked hard on making sure the self-timer worked right on the camera. It was a hard, hard job.

Both trucks are all loaded and we're about ready to pull out. I wonder why the men look so much more exhausted than the ladies? We did work hard, I promise!

Thankfully, Grandma and I were able to fly from Dallas to Tampa. I was very sad to miss out on the 22 hour road trip, but someone has to make the difficult sacrifices. ;) Grandma and I left Tuscola around 7:30 PM to drive to Dallas. We stayed in a hotel and flew out around noon the next day. Chris and the moving company pulled out around 8:30 PM. They made it just past Dallas on Monday night. Tuesday they drove to Panama City, FL and finished the drive on Wednesday. They pulled into Lithia around 6:30 PM Wednesday night. I'm pretty sure none of them wanted to sit in the car for a very, very long time.

The Day I Went On A Date With My Pastor (Part 4)

2011-11-15T09:42:00.005-06:00

Just tuning in? Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of our story before reading the end.

Continued...

The carriage ride was over and we headed to the car. We crossed back over the river toward home and stopped for gas. As Chris was inside the gas station, I gave myself a little pep talk about what was going to come next. I had to be bold and do what I felt was right.

Chris was still carrying on casual conversation as we headed back home. I was becoming more irritated with each passing moment and trying to work up the nerve to say what was on my mind. Finally, as we got about 15 miles from my house, he finally spoke up.

"So, what did you think when I asked you to go out with me tonight?"

Gulp! Here it goes! He's opened the door and I'm charging in!

"Well," I said as I looked out the window away from him, "I want to know what your intentions are."

Now, that's about as bold as I get right there! I thought about being meek and innocent, but I couldn't afford it. I'm pretty sure I caught Chris off guard with this, as he replied with a little chuckle and asked me to clarify. My way of clarifying was to simply ask the question again.

"I want to know what your intentions are."

Then, it all came out.

Chris, very sweetly, told me that he had been watching me for quite some time. He watched me grow, interact at church, make decisions in my life, and handle difficult situations. Throughout that time, he became interested in me and saw a lot of qualities in me that he would like his future wife to have. As he shared with me the feelings of his heart, mine was being captivated. The tears were building in my eyes as I tried to soak in his words. I couldn't believe that after 4 years of battling inward feelings, praying for the feelings to be taken from me, and distancing myself from him, I was hearing these words. It was surreal.

After Chris shared with me his feelings and intentions, he wanted to know my thoughts. I openly shared with him that I had obviously been interested in him for quite some time - like, an embarrassingly long time - and had dealt with many struggles. I shared with him the thoughts I was having and the feelings of my heart. I wanted him to know that I don't see dating as something that is done carelessly. I fully believe in dating with the intent of marriage. Having that view, I wanted to honor my future husband. I strongly felt that Chris was the man I was to marry and felt the Lord leading us in this step. I wasn't quite so bold in telling him those feelings that night, but made it pretty clear. He also made it clear to me by telling me that he wanted to begin this relationship with the intent to marry, but obviously seeking the Lord's guidance every step of the way.

Once the heavy discussion was over and I felt like I was soaring, Chris shared with me the details behind planning our date. My parents knew that we were going out tonight. In fact, he had talked with my parents several months before, getting their permission to court me. Remember my discussion with my mom at the supper table a few nights before? Well, she called Chris after that, concerned that I didn't know it was a date. She thought that I wasn't interested in him and was worried about how it would all play out. Oh, and remember Brittney's phone call that Wednesday night? Yeah, she was also privy to the plan! In fact, Chris had been talking with her, getting her permission, and bouncing ideas off her. Chris had called her after he got off the phone with me that Wednesday to let her know that he had asked me. She later told me that she was dying to let me know she knew what was going on and that I was a horrible actress!

Not only did my parents and my best friend know, but most of the church knew! Many members had been trying to play matchmaker behind the scenes. Chris had been fielding interrogations from different members and had let a few know of his interest. In fact, a few weeks before, one sister came to me as I was cleaning the bathroom at church and wanted to know how I felt about Chris. In attempts to hide my feelings, I simply replied, "he's too high maintenance for me!"

We drove around the little town I lived in for quite a while enjoying the time talking and laughing together. Our perfect evening had to come to an end, but I was ecstatic to know that it was just the beginning of something wonderful. My heart was completely captivated that night. I went to bed, thanking my merciful Father for blessing my life. I was, and am, completely amazed at the perfect peace He filled me with that Wednesday. His timing is nothing but perfect and His plan is amazing.

3 months and 4 days later, Chris asked me to marry him. 4 months and 26 days later, we were married. Now, 4 years after that wonderful date, I am blessed to be spend every day with my pastor, my brother in Christ, my friend, my companion, my encourager, my husband.

As William Cowper wrote, "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the seas, He rides upon the storm."

Menu Plan - Nov. 14

2011-11-14T10:04:00.003-06:00

This will probably be the last week of actual cooking before I pack up the kitchen. I've been putting it off, but considering the move is in 2 weeks, I think I should get a move on things!

Monday: Chick-fil-A copycat Chicken Sandwiches
Tuesday: Broccoli Cheese Soup, grilled ham and cheeseWednesday: Church fellowship - taco salad
Thursday: Steak fingers & fries
Friday: Sloppy joes

The Day I Went On A Date With My Pastor (Part 3)

2011-11-13T20:03:00.005-06:00

Need to read Part 1 and Part 2?

Continued...

The next 2 days were the longest days ever! I'm pretty sure I didn't even get a total of 10 hours of sleep in 3 nights. I attempted to focus on my school work and carry on about my normal life, but it was extremely difficult. Still not sure if Chris and I were going out on a date or just hanging out as friends, I played the scenarios over in my mind. I knew that whatever happened, my life was going to change that night.

If we were just hanging out as friends, I was going to have to be bold and have a discussion with him that I couldn't keep going on like that. The struggle to guard my heart was becoming too difficult. In order to honor my future husband, I knew that I couldn't keep getting closer to Chris as "friends." Our relationship was becoming more than that to me, and if it wasn't more than that to him, then I needed to draw some extreme boundaries. It would be very difficult to have that discussion with him, but I was convinced it needed to happen.

If, on the other hand, Chris was intending for it to be a date to begin a relationship, my life would also be changing in a big way. I prayed for guidance in this situation. My heart was being pulled toward Chris, but I did not want to begin a relationship with him if it was not of the Lord. I begged God to make His will clear to me, but also to Chris. If this was of the Lord, then I knew that He had to work in both of our hearts and lead us together.

While I was sorting through the mixture of emotions, scenarios, concerns, and excitement, I tried to put on my poker face in front of my family and friends. The only person I had told about my interest in Chris was my best friend, Brittney. I sat in her basement one night shortly after Chris moved to Illinois, crying because I was a 16-year-old falling for my pastor. How ridiculous was that?!?! I was embarrassed, confused, lost, and frustrated. But that was the last I had said anything about it in 4 years. So, it was kind of ironic when Brittney called me that Wednesday evening after my phone call with Chris. She was away at college and wasn't one to call me out of the blue very often. Brittney was very curious about how things were going in my life and if I had anything exciting coming up. I wasn't quite ready to open up about the plans to go out with Chris, so I just played it cool and acted like nothing exciting was happening.

My parents also showed increased interest in my life. That Thursday evening at supper, my mom asked what I had planned for the weekend.

"Oh, I think Chris and I are going to do something together on Saturday night," I nonchalantly mentioned.

"Really? Like a date or something?" mom replied in a more excited tone.

"No, just hanging out." Phew, got through that one by the skin of my teeth!

Saturday morning eventually rolled around. Chris had emailed me, letting me know that the show at the Fox looked like it had inappropriate content, so he was going to figure out something else to do that would be a surprise. This was starting to sound more and more serious! As I was preparing for the evening out (C'mon ladies, you know I started getting ready at 7 that morning!), I talked myself through the game plan. If he shows up with flowers, then it is most definitely a date. In such case, I would do my best to enjoy the evening and wait for him to make his move indicating this was the beginning of something more than just a friendship. If he doesn't have flowers, then it was just hanging out as friends and my wall of emotional defense was going up higher. I wasn't going to let the night go on very long before I put an end to the torment.

Around 6:00 (it was 6:04, but I wasn't watching the clock or anything), I heard Chris talking with my parents in the kitchen. In attempts to not seem too anxious, I took an extra few minutes in my room before making my appearance. As I came down the stairs into the kitchen, my heart sank. There, in his hands, was the most beautiful bouquet of purple flowers. "Lord, guard my heart, lead our hearts, and be with us tonight," was my petition as I stumbled to find the words to say to Chris. I gracious accepted the flowers and turned about 450 shades of red as we prepared to get on our way.

We enjoyed casual conversation as we drove to downtown St. Louis. Still not knowing the plan for the evening, I filled the quiet moments in between conversation with thousands of silent ideas of where we could be going. I was shocked as we pulled up to Union Station and Chris told me we were going to have supper at Landry's Seafood. The conversation over supper was casual and enjoyable. My mind was racing at this point, wondering when he was going to get to the point of the evening.

After supper, we headed back to the car. I was anxious to know what was next, but was too nervous and excited to ask. Chris started driving toward the part of St. Louis know as "The Landing," which is where the Arch is located. He was taking an indirect route to get there, almost seeming as if he was lost. I was thoroughly confused about where we were going. When he pulled into a rocky parking lot on the edge of the Mississippi River, I couldn't figure out what he had up his sleeve. He asked if I knew what we were going to do, but I had no clue. Then he told me that we were going to go on a carriage ride through downtown! I nearly jumped out of my seat as I shouted, "Are you serious?!?" You see, ever since I was a young girl, we would go to St. Louis and see the cute little couples going on a carriage ride. It always looked so romantic! I dreamed of having that perfect date one day.

"Lord, I don't know where this is going or how you're working in this, but guard my heart. I am falling and doing so quickly. Make your will known," was my prayer as we gathered the blankets Chris had brought and got up into the carriage. The ride through downtown was absolutely beautiful. I felt like a princess, except I didn't dare get within arm's reach from Chris! For all I knew, we were just going on a nice ride. He was talking to the carriage driver more than he was talking to me, for Pete's sake!

As I was trying to enjoy the moment, I was becoming concerned and filled with doubts. If he didn't step up and make his move quickly, I was going to put a stop to this. Doesn't he know that I'm not strong enough for this? How dare he think that we can just have this casual night out together without me thinking it's something more? Does he not have any idea of the hurt this is causing me?

To be continued...

The Day I Went On A Date With My Pastor (Part 2)

2011-11-12T20:05:00.004-06:00

Missed Part 1 of our story? Read it here.

Continued....

I spent that Wednesday morning in prayer and fasting for the Lord to lead our church, lead me in His perfect way, and to free my mind and heart of the distracting feelings I was having about Chris. It was a busy day at school for me, but I tried to spend every free moment in prayer.

By mid-morning, I could feel the Lord working in miraculous ways. God, in His abundant mercy and grace, was filling me with the most incredible peace I have ever experienced. A great feeling of relief came over me as I felt my Lord speaking to my heart to trust Him. I don't ever recall a time when I felt the Lord speaking to me in a clear voice, but I could just feel it on my heart. As I prayed that morning, "trust me" kept coming to mind. Trust me, trust my perfect timing, trust my leading.

I continued to spend the day praying, but my prayers were focused on the church. I no longer felt the need to beg God to take away the thoughts and feelings about Chris, my desires to be married, or my inward struggles. I wasn't distracted by those thoughts the remainder of the day. My heart felt full and at peace.

We met together for a prayer service that evening at church. I remember the feeling continued throughout the evening. It was a great blessing to meet together with my church family, many of whom had also spent the day in prayer and fasting. It was a sweet prayer service and discussion. I spent a few minutes after services visiting with other members about how the week was going. I don't remember specifically talking with any one about my experience that day. I remember feeling like I wanted to share, but also wanting to keep those intimate moments with the Lord close to my heart. Not only did I want to keep that special experience to myself, but I had not talked to anyone about my feelings for Chris. I didn't exactly want to open up and spill the beans, especially not since I had been feeling such great peace and relief from the thoughts.

As I was visiting, Chris nonchalantly told me he needed to talk to me before I went home. Normally, this would have freaked me out! I would have been torn with feeling total girly excitement, but also anxiety about how this would tear up my heart. But, on this night I didn't think much of it. I continued to enjoy visiting a while longer. For some reason that I don't recall, I had to leave quickly and Chris was busy talking with someone else when I was ready to leave. I caught him on my way to the car and he said he would give me a call later. Again, something that would have normally thrown me into a pure panic attack, but not that night.

Chris and I had gotten to be fairly close friends by this point. We would often ride bikes together with my friend, Shelly. We would also go with a group from church to Sacred Harp singings together. Chris didn't call me very often and when he did it was usually about making plans to ride bikes or go to Sacred Harp. I figured that's what this was about.

My phone rang as I was driving home. After the boring formalities of beginning a conversation, we had a good discussion about the prayer service. Chris then asked me about my experience of the day. I do remember feeling a slight panic at this point. I had a strong desire to be open with him about what I experienced throughout the day, but I didn't want to be too open. I can't remember exactly how our conversation went, but I do remember being fairly open about my experience. I remember sharing with him that I started the day with a burden to pray for the church and also the things I was dealing with in my life. I had talked with him some previously about my struggles with school and with feeling confused about my focuses in life. So during our phone call that evening, I did share with him about the peace I felt in those areas. Our discussion was enjoyable and encouraging to me. It lasted until I got home and for a while longer as I sat in my truck outside my house. We were getting to the end of talking about our experiences of the day and I thought we were wrapping up.

As I was preparing to hang up and head inside to visit with my parents, I heard him ask me something. He asked me what I was doing that weekend. My mind started to go fuzzy, but then I tried to get a grip on reality. My brother was going to Indiana for the weekend to visit a friend (who is now his wife) and had asked me a few weeks back to go along. I had mentioned it to Chris in a conversation, saying that I hadn't decided if I was going to go or not. So, I figured he was asking me in reference to whether I was going with Isaac to Indiana. I told him that I decided not to go with him. I was an expecting him to say, "Good, well I'll see you at church on Sunday then," but that's not what came next.

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to do something with me on Saturday?" (*Note: This is not an exact quote. I'm sure he was much more polished and suave in his questioning, but my memory is a little fuzzy about the details.)

Now, my heart started going crazy at this point and my mind was spinning. I wasn't sure if he was asking me to hang out as friends or asking me on a date. Surely he wasn't asking me on a date, because I had been feeling such great peace throughout the day. Maybe it was just Satan trying to have one up on the Lord working on my heart? That had to be it.

I stumbled around to find an answer that sounded good...you know, interested in doing something but not desperate. Chris that he was thinking of going to see a show at the Fox Theater. He was going to check into the show times and give me an email about the time on Saturday. Somehow, I managed to blubber my way through the end of the phone call and headed in the house. I remember walking into the house and being in a state of shock. I couldn't figure out what had just happened. I visited with my parents a few minutes about the day, then headed up to bed.

As I laid in bed, I closed out my day of prayer. I thanked God for feeling His presence throughout the day and for the sweet peace He gave to me. I also begged God to continue leading me. I wanted so desperately to guard my heart. How could God have so boldly spoken His peace to me just a few hours earlier, yet now I had to deal with the feelings more than ever? Once again I cried out to the Lord, and once again He answered me with "trust me." Trust me, trust my perfect timing, trust my leading.

To be continued....

The Day I Went On A Date With My Pastor (Part 1)

2011-11-10T16:58:00.007-06:00

On November 10, 2007, Chris took me out on a date that would begin our courtship. I can remember the day so clearly. I can feel the emotions just as if it was yesterday.

Our story actually begins several years before this date...

For several years, I had been dealing with a multitude of struggles. I was enrolled in college, yet struggled with seeing a purpose. I wanted grow to be a Godly and virtuous woman, yet struggled to fit in with my peers. I desired to be a wife and mother, yet struggled to trust in the Lord's perfect timing. Inward battles were fought daily, often ending in emotional defeat.

In the midst of searching, learning, and praying about who and what the Lord was calling me to be, I was dealing with having an interest in a young man. To add to my torment and confusion, this young man also happened to be my pastor. From the time Chris moved to Illinois to pastor the church in which I grew up, we had a brother-sister relationship. Our relationship changed over the years to brothers and sisters in Christ and friends. Having a brother and friend in Christ is a wonderful blessing. But like most blessings in our life, Satan viewed it as an open door.

I had an interest in Chris from early on in our relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ and friends. Knowing I was too young and not nearly close to being ready for marriage, I fought to overcome my feelings. It was incredibly tough, but the Lord was merciful. My daily (and usually hourly) prayer was for the Lord to remove these feelings from my heart and mind. I just knew they weren't honoring or justified. Not only was I young, but Chris wasn't showing any interest in me, so it was pointless!

Dealing with the struggles of my heart brought me to a very low point in the fall of 2007. At the same time, the church was also going through some difficult times. Chris encouraged the members to spend a day fasting and praying for guidance. I spent a better portion of Wednesday, November 7, 2007 fasting and praying. I prayed for the Lord to lead Chris as our pastor and the church to do His will. I prayed for the Lord to guide me in making decisions about school and in my walk with Him. Finally, I begged God to give me a peace of mind and contentment with being single. I cried out to Him to take away my thoughts and interests in Chris and fill me with honoring thoughts. I was cast down, weak, and barely hanging on.

To be continued...

Menu Plan - Nov. 7

2011-11-07T15:15:00.008-06:00

Supper Plans for November 7-11

Monday: Cheeseburger Macaroni
Tuesday: Chicken fajitas, guacamole, chips
Wednesday: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Thursday: Chicken Parmesan, sauteed veggies
Friday: Patty melts, seasoned fries, carrots

Recipe Recommendation:

Last week I tried this Crunchy Chicken with Pasta recipe.

[Picture Source]

Like usual, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I didn't have Philadelphia Cooking Cream, but I did have cream cheese and a package of sun-dried tomato and herb seasoning. I coated my chicken pieces in a flour, Ritz crackers, spices, and butter mixture. Then I used the drippings from the pan and made a roux with flour and chicken broth. I added cream cheese, the seasoning packet, cream of mushroom soup, and more chicken broth to make the sauce creamy and the right consistency. I served it with rotini noodles covered with the cream sauce, topped with the crispy chicken, and sauteed veggies. It was quite scrumptious, if I do say so myself! Definitely a recipe I recommend!

One night this past week, I got up to take Grandma to the bathroom around 2:00 AM. Once I got her taken care of and settled back into bed, I had a little trouble falling back asleep. You know why? I couldn't shut my brain off. I was thinking of recipe ideas. I was planning out meals that we could have with using up ingredients we already on hand. I was also craving some kind of cream cheese/chili dip and wondering when I could make that.

Then my mind turned to our move to Florida. I got panicked wondering if there was going to be a Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabric close to our new house. I had to finally force myself to settle my brain and get some sleep! But, I did make a mental note to look up the nearest Hobby Lobby and Joann's in the morning. No worries...there are stores within 15 miles! Yippee!

Visiting with Friends

2011-10-31T13:45:00.004-05:00

My good friend from college came to visit last week. It was so much fun to be able to visit, spend time together, and enjoy the little things in life. Shelly is great to just have fun with anything she is doing. We don't leave super exciting lives, so I get a little concerned when we have company. I had a lot of fun and Shelly didn't seem bored out of her mind.

After I picked her up from the airport on Wednesday, we spent some time at the Abilene Zoo. I love our zoo! It is small, but they have a lot of different animals. You can also get really close to the animals. We had a great time walking around, watching the animals, and laughing together. After the zoo we had a yummy lunch at Jason's Deli, then picked up some groceries. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out at the house.

Thursday we had to run to town for some errands and also stopped by Hobby Lobby. I had a craft project in mind and needed to get some supplies. Shelly was going to a costume party over the weekend and wanted to make a costume, so we got supplies for her too.

We spent the afternoon working on her costume. We put our minds together to come up with a plan. Then we got busy cutting the fabric, sewing, altering, cutting some more, until we were finally happy.

A few hours later....Shelly is transformed into Pocahontas!

Shelly and I took a break from crafting to make our fried chicken supper. She was a great help and really made the time in the kitchen so much fun!

After supper, we got to work on my project. I saw this idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago and was excited to try it out.

Old tie+beads=new necklace

The rest of the evening was spent watching the intense, nerve-wracking, dramatic 6th game of the World Series.

Shelly had to leave on Friday morning. I was sad to have her leave, but very thankful for our time together!

Fried Chicken

2011-10-30T16:58:00.007-05:00

One of my favorite memories of visiting my grandparents in Mississippi is of Grandma Kate making her fried chicken. After Chris and I got married, I asked Grandma to show me how she makes her chicken. My recipe is similar to hers, but I've changed a few things to suit us. I took advantage of having my friend, Shelly, visiting to make some fried chicken. I usually don't pay close attention to measuring the ingredients, but I did this time! Shelly was great to write out what I was doing and take pictures of the step-by-step process.

I use about a 3-4 lb. chicken, which is always plenty for the three of us. I buy my chicken whole and butcher (cut up) it myself. I have tried buying the pre-cut chicken, but it was too expensive! You could use this same method if you would rather just fry up a half or quarter of a chicken.

First, you need to wash and cut up the chicken. If you don't know how to cut up a chicken, I would suggest watching a few videos about it. Grandma showed me how to cut it up, but I've since forgotten the right way to do it. So, I end up doing a crazy butchering job on the poor bird!

Once the chicken is cut up, soak it in 1/4 cup of salt dissolved in 6 cups of warm water. (This doesn't need to be exact, but it's what I measured out.) I soak it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. This helps make the chicken extra moist and salty throughout.

When the chicken has soaked and you're ready to fry the birdie, you need to get the battering process prepped.

We like a double crust on our chicken. I coat it in the flour mixture, dip in the milk/egg, then coat in flour again. If you don't prefer this, you can just do the milk/egg mixture, then the flour.

You want to pat the chicken pieces dry as you pull them out of the salt water. This will help the batter stick better.

The first flour mixture is: 1 cup flour, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika.

Mix eggs and 1/4 cup milk with a dash of salt and pepper.

The final flour mixture is: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 2 teaspoons pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. (Just a note: I use sea salt in my mixture. I really like how this turned out, because the salt is rather prominent when it is fried up. We like salt, just saying.)

There will be flour left over when you're done with battering the chicken. I'm sorry if this bothers you, but you'll just have to get over it. I have tried starting with less, but I hate running out and having to add more as I'm going along. It really ruins the proportions.

As you're chicken is getting prepped, heat the oil in a skillet. We have a large cast iron skillet that is especially for frying chicken. I fill the skillet about 2/3 full of vegetable oil. Whatever size skillet you use, just make sure there is about 2-3 inches of space at the top. You don't want your grease to spill out or splash out once the chicken is added. My grandma fries hers up in an electric skillet and it works great too.

Once the oil is hot, I put in a few pieces of chicken. I try to get a good mixture of pieces in each frying batch. That way when it's time to eat there is a good variety that is hot and fresh.

Fry each batch for about 15-18 minutes on med/high heat, turning halfway through. If I were really good at this, I would have used a thermometer to tell you how hot the oil was. But, I'm not that good.
While you wait on your birdie to cook, you can take pictures of yourself in your super cute apron. Mine was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law last Christmas. I just love it!

Or of the dog looking oh-so-cute and hopeful that he will get to taste the bird. Too bad, so sad.

Once the chicken looks golden brown, take it out to drain. I drain mine on a plate with a paper towel. However, I recently read that it's best to drain it on a wire rack inside a cookie sheet. I forgot about that little tip. This helps it stay crispy while the other batches are cooking.

And now the best part....

I recommend serving with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes.

I would also recommend this recipe for dessert.

Double Crusted Fried Chicken

Ingredients::

3-4 lb. chicken

Salt water mixture:

¼ cup salt

6 cups warm water

Batter:

2 ½ cups flour

1 T. salt

3 ½ t. black pepper

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. paprika

4 eggs

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Wash chicken and take out insides. Cut into pieces, discarding skin as necessary.

2. Soak chicken in salt water mixture in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

3. Prepare batter in 3 dishes:

1st flour mixture: 1 cup flour, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Egg wash: 4 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, dash of salt and pepper
2nd flour mixture: 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon paprika

4. Pat chicken pieces dry from salt water mixture. Coat in first flour mixture, dip in egg wash, coat in second flour mixture

5. Heat oil in large skillet, leaving 2-3 inches of space at top of skillet

6. Fry chicken on med/high for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown

7. Remove from oil and let drain on paper towel or wire rack

Recipes to Share

2011-10-20T10:02:00.004-05:00

I've mentioned before how much I enjoy trying new recipes and love sharing a good recipe! I've tried a couple new recipes in the past few weeks and have been meaning to share them.

Picture Source

Homemade Chick-Fil-A Nuggets - I LOVE Chick-Fil-A! Who doesn't?!? I was excited to try this recipe and it did not disappoint! They were super easy to make and the flavor was so close to Chick-Fil-A. I couldn't stop eating the cute little nuggets. They are especially good with a little honey mustard to dip 'em in. Yummy!

Picture Source

Slow Cooker Jambalaya - - I didn't actually cook this in my crock pot. I also didn't use shrimp in it because I'm a cheapo and didn't want to spend the money on the shrimp. I used chicken and sausage. It was a little spicy, but I loved it. It was very easy to make on the stove top. This could also make a good dish to take to church.

Picture Source

Slow Cooker Bacon-Apple Chicken- - I was a little suspicious of this recipe at first, because I usually don't like sweet barbeque flavored dishes. But, it had bacon, so I had to try it. I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor. I used a chipotle flavored bbq sauce, so it didn't get too sweet. The sweetness of the apple was a nice compliment, but not overwhelming. The recipe says to cook it on low for 8 hours, but I felt like that was a little long. The chicken fell apart as I was trying to get it out of the crock pot. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it would have been fine after about 6 hours.

Picture Source

Cheddar Bacon Dip or "Crack Dip" - - Ok, so there's a reason this is called Crack Dip! I made this for Friday night supper for our annual meeting. There was a lot of it left to bring home. Once I had it at home, I couldn't stop eating it! I ate it with broccoli, carrots, and pita chips to make me feel a little healthier. :) Using the bacon bits from a bag makes it super easy to throw together. Just be warned that the whole bowl might be empty before you know it!

Let me know if you try any of the recipes and what you think!

Photography Challenge: Week 10

2011-10-05T14:44:00.005-05:00

I've been missing the Photography Challenge for the past several weeks, but I wanted to be sure to make it this week.

The assignment for this week was hands. I couldn't pick a favorite, so I'll post a few.

One of Grandma's favorite things to do is to look through her old hymnal. She likes to find the songs that were her husband's favorites.

Sadly, her eyesight is failing and she's not able to read the words as well as she once could. This causes her a little frustration, but she still seems to enjoy thinking back on the memories.

Dried Herbs

2011-09-21T12:45:00.005-05:00

Earlier in the summer, I blogged about my herb garden. As with most other vegetation in this part of the world, the ridiculous heat did a number on my herbs as the summer went on. About a month ago I gathered up what was left of my herbs that I hadn't used or hadn't been fried by the heat.

I did a little research as to the best way to dry them. I prepped the herbs by washing them and tying them in bundles. They needed a relatively cool, dry, and not dusty place to hang for a few weeks. Finding a place that matches all of those requirements is quite a task! I read somewhere that over the water heater is a good place to hang the herbs, so that's what I did.

Fresh herbs hanging over the water heater

They hung out for about 4 weeks and I finally got around to jarring them up this week. The smell as I was crushing them up and putting them into jars was yummy!

4 weeks later...dried, crispy, and very aromatic!

I bought the jars at Ross for $2.99 for the set! I used dry erase marker to write the name on the lid.

Thyme, sage, oregano, parsley

I now have dried thyme, sage, oregano, and parsley to enjoy through the winter!

Oops...broke the corner of the parsley jar!

Side note: As true to my typical form, I managed to break one of the jars in the process. No surprise there!

When the husband is away...

2011-09-19T11:50:00.006-05:00

...the wife gets to play....with craft projects, that is.

Chris was gone on a preaching trip a few weekends ago and I needed something to keep me entertained. This mirror was hanging in our office and I had been wanting to do something with it for quite some time.

Here's how it started:

Thankfully the mirror part came out so I didn't have to worry about covering and taping it. I spray painted the wood black. I am a horrible spray painter and the end result isn't great. I really need to go back and put another coat of black. Perhaps I'll get back around to that one day.

In between coats of spray paint, I got the mirror cleaned up and ready to go. I cut the "Welcome" out of black vinyl using my Silhouette. Adhering it to the mirror was a bit tricky to do as a one-man show. I did my best, but it still ended up a little crooked. As I mentioned in this post, I have trouble with straight lines.

Here is the finished product hanging on the wall.

I really like how it turned out...other than the letters being crooked and needing another coat of paint. I'm planning to fix those things soon. It also needs to be hung in a different place. Where it's hanging now is in front of the door, but it's hanging kind of low. When you walk in the door, you see the reflection of your waist down to your feet. Not all that helpful!

Card Making

2011-09-16T16:53:00.004-05:00

One of my latest endeavors is attempting to make cards. I'm still learning how to use my Silhouette SD to do all kinds of neat things. This includes learning how to use it to make cards. I really enjoy thinking of ideas, figuring out how to get the Silhouette to do what I want (well, that's not always fun), working to put it all together, and seeing the end result. The best part about this crafty hobby is that a card can be made in one sitting. I have a little bit of a problem with attention and keeping focused on one task for very long. So, a project that can be done from start to finish in one time block is perfect!

Here are a few of the cards I've made recently:

Perhaps I need to try something with colors other than purple and green?

Did you miss me?

2011-09-16T08:51:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you haven't missed me all that much! Thanks to my computer not letting me on Blogger, taking it to the computer repairman, and being out of town, I was forced to take a little sabbatical from the blog. But, the computer is fixed and life can continue as normal!

Meal Planning Monday - Aug 22

2011-08-22T11:38:00.003-05:00

Reviews:

I made this tilapia recipe a couple of weeks ago and it was really good! I'm not a huge fish person, but I like it occasionally. This recipe has a dill sauce that goes over the top of the fish. I wasn't sure how it would be with the spices of the fish, so I didn't serve it on top of the fish. I did add it on mine to see how it was and I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor combination! I will definitely be trying this recipe again!

This week:

Monday: Smothered chicken (search for "smothered chicken" at bottom of page), rice, broccoli

Tuesday: Roast, potatoes, carrots

Wednesday: Stuffed peppers, salad

Thursday: Skillet tacos

Friday: Grilled chicken, grilled potatoes, salad

Saturday: Chili dogs or turkey club

Sunday: church - taco salad, vegetable; supper - to be decided

Find more great menu ideas here!

DIY Laundry Detergent

2011-08-19T21:14:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my obsession with Pinterest, I recently discovered a tutorial for making your own liquid laundry detergent. I'm all about trying homemade recipes, learning new skills, and saving a penny, so I wanted to give this a shot. We go through tons of laundry detergent and the price always kills me. This gave me extra momentum to try this.

After checking out the tutorial, I set out to gather my supplies. Here's what I needed:

I had the bar of soap on hand, so all I had to buy was the Borax and Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soap. Those were easily procured at Wal-mart, for less than $6. (Just a note here: I detest going to Wal-mart. However, this particular experience was evidence of a miracle. I was able to get from my car, pick up 3 items, through the check-out, and back to my car in 6 minutes!!! 6 minutes, folks! I'm telling you, if they still had that Supermarket Sweep show, I would definitely win!)

Anyway, back to making the laundry detergent. I decided that since I only had 2 small containers saved up, I would make 1/2 the batch that the tutorial makes. It was super easy. It took me about 25 minutes, not including letting the detergent cool before putting it in the bottles.

Detergent mixture cooling and waiting to go into the bottles.

All finished and ready to be used! (I had a blonde moment while making the detergent. The directions called for adding 2 gallons of water to the mixture to make 2 gallons of detergent. Well, I was only making 1/2 the batch, but my containers weren't 1/2 gallon each. Not thinking, I added 1 gallon of water anyway, thus it wouldn't all fit into the bottles. Duh!)

I used my detergent today to do 3 loads of laundry: towels, sheets, and a vintage tablecloth. I am quite impressed with how well it cleaned. The vintage tablecloth had some set-in coffee stains on it, but when it came out of the wash it was spotless! It took me a while to get over the fact that it doesn't have a strong scent. I loved the scent of the store-bought laundry detergent I usually use, so it was a bit of a shock when I pulled the clothes out of the wash and they didn't have that scent. They definitely smelled clean though!

Since I only used 1/2 cup each of the Borax and washing soap, I have plenty to make more batches. I'm going to keep track of how many loads this current batch does, so I can better gauge the savings. I think I'm definitely sold on it and can't wait to use it more!

Photography Challenge: Week 4

2011-08-18T21:23:00.004-05:00

Dinner is the subject for this week's Photography Challenge. At first, I was really excited about this assignment. I love cooking and I love taking pictures. So, what better than taking pictures of what I've cooked!?!? Come to find out, we have HORRIBLE lighting in our kitchen and I didn't want to fool around with trying to get a good picture when I'm starving! So, I took pictures of the food I took to a church fellowship supper Wednesday night. I carted everything into the laundry room, which has the best natural light, and went to town snapping away!

Mixed greens, strawberries, pecans

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Stuffed Jalapeno Pepper Dip

Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries
(Half of the strawberries were left after church and I ate all of them today!)

Photography Challenge: Week 3

2011-08-11T20:21:00.003-05:00

The assignment for the Photography Challenge this week is BOLD colors! This one was a bit challenging for me to think creatively. There aren't many bold colors this time of year in west Texas. Everything is brown, brown, brown!

1/750, F4.0

This is a lap quilt that a dear friend from church made when we got married. I love so many things about it. It's just the perfect size, I love the bright colors, some of the squares have Bible verses, and just thinking about the sweet sister who made it always brings a smile to my face.

Just another note about this picture....it's hard to tell, but the quilt is blowing in the breeze just a bit. At the time I was taking this picture, a little cold front was blowing through! The temperature dropped from about 102 to 97!! I could hear thunder in the distance! We're praying hard for some rain and cooler temperatures.

Crouse Family Vacation 2011

2011-08-08T20:56:00.012-05:00

We went to the Metroplex this weekend to celebrate Chris' birthday and our 2nd annual Crouse Family Vacation. It was a busy, busy weekend and so much fun!

We arrived in Arlington around 4:30 Friday afternoon, got settled in our hotel room, and headed out to supper with the family. We enjoyed a nice steak dinner at Trail Dust Steakhouse and did some catching up with the family.

After supper we headed to the Ranger's game. Now, I am a Cardinals fan at heart and always will be, but the Rangers are pretty high up there. I just love baseball and especially love going to games. I love the fans, the excitement of seeing and hearing the game first hand, and the smell of stadium food. We had amazing seats for the game and really had a good time.

The game was intense and exciting! The Rangers won in extra innings! Woohoo!

That's a winner! Rangers win!

We watched the firework show as we walked back to our hotel after the game.

Saturday morning we headed out to Hurricane Harbor. It was a good way to enjoy the 100+ degree temperatures we've been so thoroughly loving this summer! We all had a blast swimming and going on the water slides. I was excited that the whitest person in Texas didn't become the reddest person in Texas! I was diligent to apply lots of sunscreen throughout the day!

After spending most of the day at Hurricane Harbor, we all worked up an appetite and were ready for some good food before heading to the Ranger's game again. This time we enjoyed a seafood supper at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. I tried fried calamari, frog legs, and fried alligator bites. I loved the calamari and alligator, but wasn't such a fan of the frog legs. The taste wasn't so bad, but when I picked it up off the plate it just dangled there. It was just like when I would pick up frogs as a kid, except the body and the rest of the legs weren't there. It totally weirded me out!

It was at Pappadeaux that I experienced one of the best meals I've ever eaten. I ordered the Jumbo Shrimp Brochette. It was jumbo shrimp stuffed with Monterrey jack cheese and jalapeno, then wrapped in bacon and grilled. Oh. my. heavens. We all know how much I love jalapenos, but cheese and bacon are two of my other favorite foods. I also had a loaded baked potato, which I love. I wasn't able to eat everything and it killed me! I wanted to keep stuffing my face, but knew I would face serious consequences. We were getting ready to sit out in the 104 degree weather watching a baseball game after all. Please do yourself a favor and find the nearest Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen and order the Jumbo Shrimp Brochette. It will change your life. Seriously.

My amazing meal....yummmmmmm!

After our lovely supper, we headed out to the game. We enjoyed the same seats that we had Friday night. Chris' dad and sister wanted shirts to celebrate our family vacation and I was assigned the job of shirt designer. I think some of the guys thought it was ridiculous, but I thought it was so much fun! There was no denying that we were together.

A Dad and his sons.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

At one point in the game, most of the family left to go get drinks or do some shopping. Chris' niece, Katelynn, and I were left to have fun together!

Katelynn and her foam finger.

Showing off the back of our shirts!

Showing my enthusiasm for Josh Hamilton!

Katelynn told me to have a serious face.

C+L=love (I know, I'm cheesy!)

Me and the Birthday Boy!

The game was exciting, but sadly the Rangers lost. It could have been a better ending to our weekend, but it was still a lot of fun!

Meal Planning Monday - Aug 8

2011-08-08T09:45:00.003-05:00

Reviews:

Well, I didn't exactly follow our meal plan for last week. Not at all actually. I only made 2 of the meals I planned, and only 1 of those was on the right day. That's just how some weeks go!

Skillet chicken - - I still haven't found exactly where I got the recipe, but it's super easy. It was basically sauteeing vegetables (I used carrots, onion, green and red pepper), adding in chicken chunks and cooking until done, then dump in a can of crushed tomatoes and spices. I used garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, but you could change the spices around to whatever flavors you would like.

We had a great time in the Metroplex for Chris' birthday and I ate one of the best meals of my life this weekend. But that will be another post.

This week's plan:

Monday: Crock-pot Lemon Chicken and noodles, carrots

Tuesday: Tilapia, rice, broccoli

Wednesday: Taco salad/tacos, guacamole

Thursday: Chicken tortellini, green beans

Friday: Spaghetti

Saturday: Brats, potatoes, vegetable

Sunday: Church - Chicken spaghetti, Oatmeal Butter Tart Squares; Supper - leftovers from church or burgers

***Check this page out for more meal ideas!***

Photography Challenge: Week 2

2011-08-04T16:04:00.004-05:00

The topic for this week of the Photography Challenge over at A Step in the Journey is what makes you smile.

I'm thankful for many opportunities to smile throughout the day. I captured a few things that have made me smile throughout the week:

1/10,F4.0
Fresh strawberries for breakfast

1/500, F5.6
Pottery Barn catalogs...total eye candy!

1/180, F5.6
Laundry blowing in the breeze

1/10, F4.5
Beating my brother at Words with Friends :)

Crafty Weekend

2011-08-02T20:50:00.004-05:00

Chris was out of town this weekend, which means I tried to stay busy working on a craft project. I've been wanting to make a new wreath for the front door for quite some time. I have a bit of an obsession with wreaths and would have a new one each week if I could! I knew I wanted this one to be summery, but also that could work for any time of the year. After getting some ideas from Pinterest, I set out to Hobby Lobby to gather my supplies.

Tada...

Hanging on the door! (My sister informed me that I need a few more small rosettes on the top portion of the flower section.)
I am fully aware that the "C" is crooked. I haven't decided if that bothers me or not. I kind of like it, but them sometimes it really drives me crazy. I might pull it off and glue it back on there straight.

Meal Planning Monday - Aug 1

2011-08-01T09:09:00.003-05:00

Reviews:

Drunken Rosemary Chicken - - This was pretty good. It wasn't very bold in flavor, but that might be because I didn't measure my spices. I like a lot of flavor in my food, so I will probably add more spices next time I make it. I threw some frozen broccoli in at the same time I put the rice in, then let it cook on HIGH for about 25 minutes. One dish meal!

Creamy Bacon and Avocado Pasta Salad - - I really enjoyed this pasta salad. It was refreshing, different, and fairly easy to put together. If I make it again, I will probably add in some dry ranch mix.

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats - - First, let me say that I HATE making rice crispy treats. They're so hard to stir, they're sticky, and they often turn out hard. I was excited to make this recipe, because I love all things cake batter flavored! The recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of dry cake mix, but I added about 1/3 cup. Still, I couldn't taste the cake flavor. They still turned out pretty good and the sprinkles add a nice little crunch!

I did have one little incident while making the rice crispy treats:

This week's plan:

Monday: Skillet chicken (I have a recipe, but I can't figure out where I got it from to link it up.), carrots, salad

Tuesday: Tilapia, rice, broccoli

Wednesday: Smothered Chicken, egg noodles, green beans

Thursday: Chris' Birthday Supper!!!! - - Ribeyes, baked potatoes, salad

Friday: Out of town - - Ranger's game!

Saturday: Out of town to celebrate Chris' birthday - - Hurricane Harbor and Ranger's game!

Sunday: Not taking anything to church because we will be going there straight from Dallas; Supper - - Chicken tortellini

Find more menu ideas here!

Photography Challenge: Week 1

2011-07-28T17:51:00.004-05:00

I came across a new blog, A Step in the Journey, earlier this week and was excited to see the idea for a Photography Challenge. I've seen this on other blogs and have always thought it was a good idea. It's fun to mess around with my camera and I can always use more practice! So here we go....

This week's challenge was to do a self-portrait.

I have a Pentax K2000. I set it on manual and had my settings at: 1/30, F8.0. Then I a little editing and made it black and white.

Book Review - Same Kind of Different As Me

2011-07-27T12:55:00.005-05:00

Synopsis from official website:

"It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana... and an East Texas honky-tonk... and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda... an upscale New York Gallery... a downtown dumpster... a Texas ranch. Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love."

My Thoughts:

I could go on and on about this book, but I will try to keep my thoughts short.

This book is wonderfully inspiring and moving. I've read a lot of books that have convicted me, caused me to spend much time in deep thought, or brought tears to my eyes. Same Kind of Different as Me had such an effect, but to a greater degree than any book before. What a wonderful story of love, grace, mercy, and God's mysterious ways. My heart was touched by the testimony of committing a marriage to the Lord. I was convicted by the example of love and grace shown to someone the world would see as unworthy. Tears filled my eyes as I read of the struggles of life overcome by the unfailing mercy shown by our Lord. The best part about the book? It's a true story. Unlike novels I've read before which have left me speechless, I know that this isn't just a made-up story to please readers. It's real. The fact that it is a true story broke my heart at times while reading, yet filled me with comfort and joy at other times.

Written by two men from polar opposite backgrounds, Same Kind of Different as Me is a unique read. I loved the contrasting language and manner of writing between Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Both men were able to write in such a way that I felt as if I were in the story. I could see the cotton fields and feel the loneliness of Denver's homeless life. I could feel the pain and despair of Ron going through losing his best friend. I laughed, cried, and lifted up praise right along with the storytellers.

Please do yourself a favor and read this book. You will not be disappointed. Then when you're finished, recommend it to a friend. Spread the news of abounding grace, unconditional love, and unfailing mercy.

Meal Planning Monday - July 25

2011-07-25T07:18:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted about our menu for the week. You haven't missed much. Last week I did attempt to make a brisket for the first time. It turned out alright, but still needs some tweaking. It didn't taste nearly as good as my Dad's!

This week's menu:

Monday: Drunken Rosemary Chicken with rice

Tuesday: Grilled pork chops, grilled potatoes (sweet and regular), corn on the cob

Wednesday: Chicken Caesar Wraps and Creamy Bacon and Avocado Pasta Salad

Thursday: Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans

Friday: Chris out of town - Leftovers

Saturday: Chris out of town - Leftovers/sandwiches/scrounge

Sunday: Church - Roasted potatoes, meat dish (to be decided), Cake Batter Rice Krispies

Just a side note...here is a collection of healthy(er) crock pot recipes someone put together. I've looked through it and found several really good recipes. Just thought I would share!

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas!

Baking Failure

2011-07-23T10:45:00.003-05:00

So, I got up early this morning to bake some cookies for church tomorrow. I wanted to get it done before it got too hot in the house. I was going to try this new recipe for Peanut Butter Banana cookies. It sounded simple, few ingredients, and I love the combination of peanut butter & banana.

I should have known it wasn't going to turn out so great when the ingredients were: peanut butter, banana, egg, sugar, brown, sugar, baking powder, and chocolate chips. How does those ingredients make a cookie!?!? I had the brilliant idea of adding some oats in, hoping the cookies would have more uumph.

I got busy whipping up the batter, which only took about 3 minutes. The batter was thin and the recipe recommended leaving room for the cookies to spread. I was a good girl and followed the directions, only putting 6 cookies on each baking sheet. Feeling somewhat skeptical, I popped them in the oven.

10 minutes later....

Uh, I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to look like that.

After scraping and prying the "cookies" off the baking sheet, I'm left with this mess...

That went really well. The sad part is that they don't even taste good!

Book Review - Change of Heart

2011-07-21T19:07:00.003-05:00

Synopsis from Jodi Picoult's official website:

"Shay Bourne - New Hampshire’s first death row prisoner in 69 years – has only one last request: to donate his heart post-execution to the sister of his victim, who is looking for a transplant. Bourne says it’s the only way he can redeem himself…but with lethal injection as his form of execution, this is medically impossible."

My thoughts:

I enjoy reading some of Jodi Picoult's work, simply because she usually has an interesting spin on a controversial subject. This was the second book of hers that I've read this year. The first being, House Rules. That being said, what I don't enjoy about her writing is the amount of foul language and some inappropriate content. Change of Heart was no exception in that regard.

Change of Heart was also an interesting read for me, because religion is a main focus. Without giving too many details away, Picoult explores the idea of how "religion" is defined and who is the authority to say if someone is right or wrong in what they believe. I felt that she got a little blasphemous at certain times, which made me uncomfortable. Judaism, Atheism, Gnosticism, Catholicism, and mainline Christian philosophies are each addressed in the book.

Overall, Change of Heart was an interesting read. I'm still deciding whether I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I read it. There are certainly a lot of twists and turns throughout the book and the ending holds a wonderful lesson in forgiveness. But, like I said, I found myself with an uneasy feeling several times throughout the book.

Just a few of my thoughts about one of my latest reads...

Dallas and Florida Trip

2011-07-20T18:50:00.006-05:00

Chris had an appointment to preach in Florida this past weekend. Since our flight was to leave out of Dallas at 10AM Saturday morning, we decided to spend the Friday enjoying some sites in the city. My husband is so wonderful to take the whole day off work and spend it together. We shopped, ate lunch together, did some sight-seeing, shopped some more, and enjoyed a relaxing night at the hotel.

One of our stops for the day was the Dallas World Aquarium. Not only did it have aquatic animals, but also some animals from the rain forest and other environments. As with most tourist attractions, it was WAY overpriced, but still a good way to spend some time out of the heat. Chris was a good sport to endure it to make me happy!

This pictures is really dark and hard to see, but it's the tiniest monkey I've ever seen. Sadly, I can't remember the name of it. It was adorable though!

Flamingos! They really are gross birds, but I've always liked them.

The jaguar was taking a nap when we stopped by to visit.

Supper anyone? These were some GIANT catfish!

The cute little otters getting fed.

Thanks to Priceline, we were able to score an awesome deal on a hotel room. We stayed at the Hilton Anatole in downtown Dallas. What an amazing hotel! We loved walking around the grounds and admiring the beautiful artwork, architecture, and outdoor areas. The hotel had the Nana Restaurant on the 27th floor. We treated ourselves to a luxurious supper, which was a lot of fun!

[source]

Beautiful room!

Saturday morning we left for Tampa, FL. I was really excited for this trip and the opportunity to meet blogging friends in real life! It was also a lot of fun for Chris and I to finally get to fly together. We both fly quite frequently, but we had never flown together. I'm sure he didn't find it as exciting as I did! :)

Our time in Florida was wonderful. We enjoyed great fellowship with the members at Little Union and a good time of worship. I loved meeting everyone and quickly forming new friendships. It is always great to travel to a new place, yet instantly feel like you're at home. That's exactly how I felt this weekend.

I had intended to take a lot of pictures while in Florida, but only have theseof Chris and his buddy, Brady, sporting their matching cowboy hats and boots.

All in all, it was just a great weekend. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things this week. I had a hard time with Chris being at work on Tuesday after spending the last 4 days together. We needed a weekend like that!

iPhone Photos Friday

2011-07-15T07:48:00.001-05:00

Recent photos from the phone ("recent" as in from the last month or so).

Pictures from my trip to Illinois for Little Flock's annual meeting in June....

A wall hanging I made for my sister's birthday. I really wanted to keep it for myself!

Wesley playing catch with his tennis ball.

Grandma giving Wesley kisses on his head. He always wants to lick her, but she tells him, "No, but I'll kiss you on the head." It's so sweet!

A "new" outfit I put together. I love taking pieces from my closet and throwing them together in different ways. I'm still trying to decide if I like this combo.

Cookies & cream cupcake I made for fellowship supper last night. I may or may not have eaten 3 of them....in one day.

Bailey

2011-07-14T17:39:00.006-05:00

Meet the newest 4-legged member of our family....Bailey!

We adopted him from some friends of ours and we're thankful to have him join our family. Bailey is a 6-year-old Weimaraner. He is very well trained and seems to be settling in well.

Wesley is still trying to figure out his new "brother," but they seem to like each other. We've had a few issues with them trying to understand whose bowl is whose, which led to a few scary moments of me screaming at both dogs. Otherwise, they seem to tolerate each other fairly well.

I'm sure you'll be seeing more pictures from time to time.

An Afternoon Project

2011-07-13T12:25:00.007-05:00

A few months ago I saw this neat crafty project on the Rachael Ray show. I thought it looked fun, easy, and inexpensive. So, I set out to the dollar store and gathered my supplies. Unfortunately, I misplaced my hot glue gun right around the same time and wasn't able to do the project. Fast forward to Monday afternoon when I found my glue gun buried in a pile of junk! Woohoo!

I took a little time yesterday afternoon to finally do the project. It was so simple and took a little over an hour from start to finish, including clean up. The supplies are cheap: fake flowers, plastic wiffle balls, and hot glue.

The finished products.

Hydrangea ball

Pink flowers with a butterfly.

I used them as fillers in one of my apothecary jars.

My group of jars with the flower ball/puff/things, shells collected from our recent trip to MS, loose petals, and apples & pears.

My favorite one!

It needed a special place, so I set it out on the TV console. I love how it looks!

Just a few tips if you're planning to make this craft:

Fuller flowers work the best
You will need 2 bunches of flowers per ball.
When I saw the idea on the show, she glued around the hole of the ball and the base of the flower. I started doing that, but decided it was taking too much time. So, I just glued around the hole of the ball and the flowers held just fine.
I think these would be super cute hanging from ribbon in a room, for a party, or as wedding decor!

Weekly Challenge #8

2011-07-11T20:48:00.003-05:00

I love reading magazines. I have several subscriptions to various magazines and a sweet neighbor passes down some of her magazines. As much as I love reading and looking through them, it does get a bit overwhelming when they pile up.

After a few months of looking through the magazines and dog-earring the pages I find interesting, I end up with this:

(Divided into piles according to magazine: This Old House, Better Homes & Gardens, Various [Real Simple, Martha Stuart Living, Family Circle], Country Living, Taste of Home, Everyday Food)

My challenge for this week is to go through my pile of magazines, tear out pages that I want to keep, and recycle ALL of the magazines. I like to tear out the pages of recipes, design ideas, crafty ideas, and good articles and put them in a binder for future reference.

I realize this isn't a big task, but it's one that has needed to be done for quite a while. Here's to decluttering one small step at a time!

Update on 2011 Goals

2011-07-08T21:02:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of 2011, I wrote this post about some of my goals for the year. I thought since we're over 1/2 way through the year, I would do a check-up on my progress. Most of the goals have been on my mind continuously, but others I have forgotten about. :(

Some of my goals for 2011 are:

read the Bible through (using The One-Year Bible published by Tyndale) - - I am (almost) on track for this. I'm a few days behind, but I will be caught back up early next week.

eat more fresh fruits and vegetables - - I have been doing really well eating more fresh fruit. I could eat fruit all day! I've gone through spurts of eating vegetables. Right now, I'm not feeling it so much. I do have to say that I've been making different kinds of hummus to dip my vegetables in, which makes a huge difference!

send one handwritten note a week (not starting out so well on this one!) - - I have NOT held up on this goal! I've gone through spurts of writing notes each week. I AM going to do better the second 1/2 of the year!

call my grandparents more often - - Well, this isn't a very good goal because it's not measurable and is kind of ambiguous. That said, I have been calling my grandparents more than I ever have before, but not nearly as much as I need to.

run 3 miles in under 30 minutes - - I'm getting there! I can now run 2 miles in about 18:30. I keep working on this goal all the time and really feel like I will accomplish it!

learn to knit - - HA! I haven't even started to work on this goal. We'll see how this ends up.

read 50 books - - I've read 19 books, so I'm not quite on track to finish this goal. But, I do think I will finish it. I've saved some of the "easier" reads for later in the year.

stick to a grocery budget - - I started out really well on this goal, but the past 2 months haven't been so great.

intentionally save money - - Again, HA!

I also have some personal goals, which I feel like are going pretty well. One personal goal I set at the beginning of the year is to put an end to my passive aggressiveness. This is a very bad habit that I've been struggling with for a while. Toward to end of last year, I really noticed how I was letting it creep into my behavior more and more. I was hurting the most important people around me and I was just an unpleasant person to be around. I committed to rely on the Lord and His strength to overcome this behavior. I have been praying for grace to learn to control my tongue. I am so thankful for God's grace and His power in my life. With His help, I am putting this behavior behind me and learning to be a better communicator. I still have some learning to do, but I know this will be something that I need to continually be praying about and making a concerted effort to control my tongue.

Garden Harvest

2011-06-22T15:44:00.007-05:00

Our garden hasn't done as nearly as well as we had hoped, but we have been able to get a few good pickings out of it. This is the harvest from last Tuesday (6-14).

A few cucumbers, okra, and cherry tomatoes.

Squash - - there was about twice as much already in the refrigerator!

Some of the zucchini were HUGE! I was able to get about 5 cups shredded out of each of the bigger ones.

Mess of green beans

Grandma snapping the beans.

A few of the really long green beans.

Heaping pile of black-eyed peas.

Grandma shelling peas. She couldn't ever remember shelling peas (which she's done all her life) and wasn't sure if she would be able to do it. I showed her how it was done and she got to work on her pile. After she had been working on the peas for a few minutes, I asked her if she was doing alright. "This is the easiest job I've ever had!" she said.

At the end of the day...2 quarts of boiled squash, 10 quarts of shredded zucchini, 10 bags of raw zucchini spears, 2 quarts of green beans, and 1 quart of black-eyed peas. We ate the okra for supper that night.

My first-ever batch of bread and butter pickles! Chris and Grandma gave them the stamp of approval. I don't care for them, so I'm working on some dill pickles as we speak (or write)!

Mississippi Trip...Friendship Tree

2011-06-17T21:38:00.005-05:00

Part of our drive along the coast was to visit the Friendship Tree in Gulfport, MS. We have visited this tree since I was a little kid. It's always so fun to go see.

Interesting history..."I was a sapling when Columbus sailed into the Caribbean and was fully grown by Napolean's reign."

The tree is absolutely HUGE!

Grandma Kate, Heather and Chris.

I kind of like him. :)

Grandpa Lester is one handsome man!

Mom and Grandma Kate.

Throwing acorns...

At me...

Grandpa Lester and Grandma Kate

Why is it so difficult to get a good picture?

Mom and Dad

Yes, he rang it.

Mississippi Trip http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

2011-06-17T21:15:00.009-05:00

Chris and I were able to travel to Biloxi, MS over Memorial Day weekend to visit my grandparents. My parents also came down from Illinois and my brother and sister-in-law came down from Indiana. We had a lot of fun together! I didn't bother to pull my camera out for a lot of the visit, but I did a few times.

We spent a lot of time just sitting around visiting. My grandparents have a beautiful home with a nice patio. It was enjoyable to just sit outside and talk.

Grandpa Lester talking with my cousin, Alec.

My aunt, uncle, and cousins live right next door to my grandparents. They have two beautiful cats. They let the cats out every evening and the boys have to chase them around the yard to get them back in the house. It's quite entertaining.

Alec is waiting for the perfect moment to grab up the cat.

Grandpa and Grandma just live about 5 minutes from the coast. One evening, we took a drive down along the coast.

For someone who claims to hate the beach, he sure was quick to walk on out there!

Grandpa Lester wants nothing to do with going out on the beach!

Isaac and Heather taking a nice walk through the sand.

Had to do it....

Mom and Chris out in that nasty water. (Pardon the awful picture, my camera was having some issues.)

Dad, Mom, Chris, Isaac, and Heather.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the coast, an artist came through and created carvings out of trees that had fallen down.

Another carving. I really liked this one.

Chris out in the water.

So pretty!

iPhone Photos Friday

2011-05-20T15:51:00.005-05:00

Back by popular demand (really, just Mom and Dad said they really enjoy the pictures), here's another addition of random photos taken with my phone.

Warning: Be prepared for an overload of blurry pictures with awkward smiles.

My favorite meal in the past few weeks. I made this pizza on the fly and it was SOOOO tasty. Refrigerated pizza crust drizzled with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Then I created a "sauce" with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, and pepper. I topped the pizza with bacon, spinach, pre-cooked chicken (free from a sale!), fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, red onion, and Monterrey jack cheese. It was amazingly tasty.

My little owl friend that I've been working on. He needs some minor surgery done for a leg length discrepancy and a tumor on his hip. Otherwise, I really like him/her.

One of Grandma's favorite chores!

Another favorite meal from a few weeks ago. Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas. I topped it with green onion, fresh cilantro, and lemon juice. I had avocado with salt, cilantro, and lemon juice on the side. Tasty!

Grandma enjoying modern technology. She's talking on Skype with Michelle. She really enjoyed it and it was so cute to watch!

I bought this dress at a consignment sale and love it. It's very comfortable and modest. I love the buttons all the way up the top. The way I'm standing in this picture makes my shoulders looks super broad.

I snapped this picture a few weeks ago as I was walking out the door to some garage sales. It was the first time that week that I had put real clothes on (i.e. something other than my workout clothes).

Silhoutte Projects

2011-05-19T13:48:00.005-05:00

I bought a Silhoutte SD cutting machine a few months ago with money that I had saved from Christmas and my birthday. It had been on my "wish list" for quite some time and I was so excited to be able to buy it. I've had a lot of fun working on little projects using it.

I made these little candle holders for a friend as a graduation gift. The words (glorify, magnify, and praise) and little swirly thing were cut out of vinyl using the Silhoutte.

This little wall hanging was for the same friend. I painted a simple wood frame purple, cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit inside, and used the Silhoutte to cut "rejoice" out of purple vinyl.

More candle holders I made for myself. I bought this beautiful vintage tablecloth last fall, but didn't have anything to put as a center piece on the table. I chose "springy" words to cut out of vinyl (alive, refresh, bloom) and put some green glass stones in the bottom.

A close up

At the beginning of this year I was on a hunt to find some type of to-do list/organizer/chart. I had seen some that were just a notepad and you used one for each week, but I couldn't find a perfect one. Chris came up with the idea to just buy a dry erase board and make my own. What a genius idea! I love this board so much. It is very multi-purpose. It helps me keep track of what needs to be done each day and I use it to plan the menu for the week. I'm a little bit crazy about my to-do lists. Some days I write the simplest things on there, simply because I wouldn't remember to do them otherwise. I often write down tasks after I have completed them, just so I can cross it off and see that I've accomplished something in the day. This is really helpful on days when I'm feeling unmotivated or unproductive.

I made this little clip board for a friend's birthday. She's a 5th grade teacher and teachers always need a clip board! I painted a plain clip board so the edges would match the paper. Then I used scrapbook paper and some mod podge (the homemade version of glue and water) to cover it. I cut out the name using vinyl, again, with my Silhoutte.

The back of the clip board. I tore the paper down at the corner, so I just cut out a little embellishment with the vinyl and stuck it over the tear. Cute and covered!

Herbs and Flowers

2011-05-18T12:53:00.005-05:00

My attempt at gardening is my herb and flower bed. I have flowers planted on one end and herbs down the other. I also planted some morning glories. They're growing like crazy, but have yet to flower.

I planted some cheap, easy to care for flowers....petunias, moss rose, impatiens, and something else that I can't remember the name of. So far I haven't had any casualties. :)

The pot has my basil plant in it. It's not looking too good, so I decided not to take a picture of it. The rest of the herbs are at the end of this row.

A look at the herbs in a row.

Chives. The chives had a bit of a rough start and they're slow to get going. Stupidly, I planted them in a spot next to some pesky weeds/small trees that I still had to get out. I kept stepping on the chives while trying to dig the weeds and trees out.

Thyme

Parsley (with my morning glories in the background)

Rosemary. It was a lot fuller, but I've been using it quite a bit.

My favorite...cilantro!

Oregano

I really need to cut the dill and start drying it. Actually, I need to do this with several of the herbs.

Garden 2011 Update

2011-05-18T12:40:00.005-05:00

It's so exciting to watch the garden grow and start to produce. A neighbor commented the other day that we have the nicest looking garden she's ever seen. Chris works hard taking care of it and making sure it looks great. I appreciate him so much!

Little bitty tomato.

A tiny jalapeno pepper! Yum!

Tomatoes and peppers.

I think those are the cucumbers and the squash.

View from a different angle.

Beans and black-eyed peas. The beans have little buds all over!

There are a few squash blooms too!

Kitchen Renovation

2011-05-09T20:29:00.006-05:00

We have a LONG list of house projects, which is to be expected when you live in an old house. Last Friday and Saturday, Chris decided to tackle the kitchen. The main purpose of the kitchen renovation was to put in a dishwasher! In order to put a dishwasher in, we also had to put in new cabinets, sink, and counter. We decided (or finances decided) that we would only do part of the kitchen for now. We're hoping to complete it in steps over the next few months.

Before pictures of the kitchen:

The kitchen is galley style. You can see part of the stove in the corner. The refrigerator and a small baker's cabinet is on that side as well.

Grandma built the cabinets by herself many, many years ago. They held up
fairly well, but it was definitely time for something new!

View from the other end of the kitchen.

Progress made after working on Friday:

Old stuff ripped out, tons of bugs killed, new cabinets, sink, and counter installed. Chris also had to run some new electrical.

Finished for now:

Do you see that dishwasher!?!?! It's wonderful!

We're going to paint the cabinets white once we have them all in. Up next is to get upper cabinets. Then we'll work on the other side of the kitchen.

Random Pictures

2011-04-27T13:05:00.005-05:00

These are just some random pictures from my phone, which is why the quality isn't great. A glimpse into our exciting life!

My new mug from Target. I love drinking my hot tea from it every morning!

Wesley loves to burrow down into the covers. He stayed like this one morning while I did some work around the house. Every once in a while he would look up at me to see what I was doing, otherwise he was snoozing away.

A hilarious attempt to take a picture of my hair clip on Sunday. I was trying to send Tasha a picture, but I'm really bad at taking pictures of myself. Don't you love the face?

Chris was in the bedroom sleeping and Wesley really wanted in there with him. I was in the other room and heard him scratching at the door. When I came to look, I found him like this. It's hard to tell, but his nose is stuck in the crack under the door. He also waits outside the door when Chris is in the bathroom. Wesley sure does love him for some reason!

Grandma sits like this a lot of the time. No, she's not crying. Her nose is cold, so she sits with the handkerchief over her face and breathes in the warm air. It's quite funny.

I found this picture that I had taken a few weeks before Wilson passed away. They were so sweet together.

Weekly Challenge #7

2011-04-25T20:39:00.003-05:00

This week I'm challenging myself to 4 goals all wrapped up in one. Every day this week I will.....

Get up by 7:00 (hopefully 6:30, but we'll say 7 so I don't completely fail)
Exercise every day
Eat healthy (fresh fruits, vegetables, more water, less junk)
Take my vitamins

I realize these goals are probably routine for 99% of people in the world. Sometimes they are routine for me too. However, I've been in a bit of a funk the past few weeks and each of these is a HUGE accomplishment for me. Last week was especially bad. I was doing well to roll out of bed by 8:30, I only exercised one day, I ate a whole pan of brownies in 2 days, and I didn't take my vitamins. Not good.

I failed on one of the goals today by sleeping in until 8:00. But to my credit, I was trying to catch up from only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before. I did exercise, didn't have any sweets, drank tons of water, and took my vitamins. Perhaps I'll be successful this week.

Weekly Challenge #6 update

2011-04-18T13:06:00.005-05:00

Every day this week I will...wear a hair accessory.

I have a box full of different kinds of headbands, flowers, clips, and other hair accessories sitting in my closet. So, this challenge is to help me get more use out of those things and also challenge me to actually do my hair. Maybe I will take pictures. Maybe not.

Today, I have a bandana folded up and wrapped around like a headband. I've been cleaning this morning and getting ready to head outside to do some yard work, so it fits well with my grungy look today! :)

Update: I managed to fix my hair and wear a hair accessory 3 days last week, but didn't manage to take any pictures. I wore the bandana/headband on Monday. On Thursday I wore a headband with a flower. I wore a ribbon/headband with a clip on Sunday. The clip is a tiny hat with feathers and a bow. It was my Easter hat and tribute to the Royal Wedding this week! :)

Random Friday

2011-04-15T17:18:00.003-05:00

Random thoughts for today:

I had a random, interesting conversation with the beautician while getting my hair cut this morning.

Just a few minutes after sitting down:
Beautician: Do you have kids?
Me: No, not yet.
B: Do you want kids?
Me: Yes, Lord willing, we would like to have several.
B: Oh, did you just get married?
Me: No, we've been married about 2 1/2 years.
B: Well, my sister just got engaged to the guy she's been dating for 10 years. She had to wait to get her Tiffany's ring. She said she doesn't want kids until she's 30. She's almost 26 now.
Me: Wow, that's a long time to be with someone before getting married. That's exciting though.
B: Yeah. What color were your bridesmaids' dresses?
Me: Our colors were sage green and cream.
B: Oh.
(after a long, awkward pause) Me: What color is your sister doing?
B: Well, she doesn't know yet. I want her to do black, but she doesn't want to decide yet. She said we will decide this summer. The wedding isn't until November.
Me: That's plenty of time to decide. I do like the idea of having black.
Awkward silence for a few minutes, then more random conversations about weddings, not being busy, and her trying to imitate how a 3-year old was laughing when he was getting his hair cut yesterday.

It always amuses me when I hear someone say: "Good luck. I'll be praying for you," or something along those lines.
I bought a new mug and tumbler at Target this morning. They have pretty spring flowers and butterflies. I can't wait to have some hot tea in my new mug and a nice glass of iced tea in my tumbler!
I've had a bad craving for warm, gooey brownies all day. I might just have to make an emergency trip up to the grocery store.
I've had a Reese's egg sitting in my refrigerator for a week now. I'm afraid to eat it because I think I might want it more in a little bit. I'm weird like that.
It's really windy today. Actually, it's really windy almost every day. Apparently that's what happens in West Texas. Everyday I ask myself, "Self, do you think you will ever get use to this crazy wind?" Thankfully I don't answer myself back. I just wear my hair in a permanent ponytail.

I went to Zumba last night. It made me feel like I was an awkward, monkey-like, standing-in-the-corner-of-the-club, salsa dancer wanna be. I did sweat though, which is the whole point, right?

One Thousand Gifts

2011-04-14T14:20:00.007-05:00

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
(Psalm 34:1)

These two verses have been on my mind and heart for a couple of weeks. I've tried to spend a lot of time meditating and praying on the depth of these verses. What does it look like to give thanks in everything? How does it sound to continually have the praises of the Lord in my mouth?

I was always taught not to use such definitive words in my writings because they are binding. How is the Word of God binding us in these two verses? These verses aren't merely suggestions. They are commandments. As a follower of Christ, I am to give thanks in every situation and continually have words of praise flowing from my mouth. That is a challenge for me.

Keep those thoughts in mind as I digress for just a moment. I will come back to this.

As I mentioned earlier this year, it is my goal to read at least 50 books in 2011. I started making my list at the end of last year. I asked friends for suggestions, checked out some "must read" lists, and got a few ideas from some blogs I stalk. One book suggested on a blog was One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. At the time that I added it to my list, I only knew that it is written by a Christian, homeschooling mom of 6 and it's about living your life more fully for Christ.

I was out running some errands this past Monday and decided to stop into the Christian bookstore. As I was walking around, I noticed One Thousand Gifts sitting out on a display shelf. It grabbed my attention for two reasons: I knew it was on my list and it was on sale! So, I took a copy, found another book on my list, and headed out the door. The cover of the book is so attractive and had me excited to start reading immediately. (I go against the rule of not "judging a book by it's cover." I do it all the time!)

{source}

No doubt, God was working my life through this book. As soon as I started reading, I just smiled and sighed. This is one of my favorite passages from the book so far:

"The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning "grace." Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks.

But there is more, and I read it. Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning "joy." Joy.

...As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible. Joy is always possible. Whenever, meaning - now; wherever, meaning - here. The holy grail of joy is not in some exotic location or some emotional mountain peak experience. The joy wonder could be here! Here, in the messy, piercing ache of now, joy might be - unbelievably - possible! The only place we need to see before we die is this place of seeing God, here now." (One Thousand Gifts, p. 32-33)

I'm only a few chapters into the book, but I have had several moments of deep sighing, smiling in awe, and "yes, that's it." The author challenges herself (and the readers) to have joy and give thanks in all things. She does this by seeing the gifts of God in the small, seemingly mundane parts of life. She begins making a list of one thousand gifts in her day-to-day life. Her words are simply poetic, beautiful, and filled with praises for God's creation.

{source}

Remember the two verses on my mind and my thoughts on them? Perhaps I am beginning to find an answer for what it looks like to give thanks in all things and to bless the Lord at all times.

{source}

I give thanks that God is God and I am not. I give thanks for that His mercies are new each morning. I give thanks for the beauty of the life around me. I give thanks for salvation and the peace in knowing He is on the throne. I praise Him for the strength, mercy, and protection to get through trials. I praise His perfect plan. I praise Him for the storms of life that make us stronger.

{source}

I have started my own list of one thousand gifts from God in my life. I won't share all one thousand with you, but I will share a few from time to time. These are a few on my list for today.

books which speak the words and thoughts of my heart
mornings warm with the sun's rays and ribbons of cool breeze
warm towels to hug my shoulders
the song of birds floating in through the windows
hot tea as the perfect companion during time in the Word
journal pages filled with reminders of those who need the Father's mercy and grace
early morning kisses to carry me through the day
music of praise filling the house
freshly cleaned clothes
a house to tend and keep clean

Our Garden 2011

2011-04-13T15:58:00.006-05:00

Chris and I have been spending a lot of evenings and weekends working out in the yard. Well, Chris has been working hard at it and I just make myself look busy! :)

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to see new growth on the trees, flowers peeking up from the ground, and the smell of freshly worked soil.

I'm thankful for a husband who enjoys gardening and is good at it! There's nothing better than fresh vegetables grown in your own yard.

Here's a view of our garden. Are you thinking that it looks huge? It's because it IS huge! I'm not very good at estimating measurements, so I won't even try to tell you how big it is.

In this main section, we have all the seeds planted. Chris planted black-eyed peas, squash, cucumbers (2 kinds I think), pinto beans (we use as green beans), asparagus beans (super long green beans), okra, carrots, cantaloupe, and zucchini. I might be forgetting something, but not sure.

There is another smaller section off the back corner that has the plants. It can be seen better in the next picture.

This is a view from the other side of the garden. This little section has the tomato plants and peppers. We planted a couple different kind of tomatoes and 3 or 4 different kinds of peppers.

This little corner has some more pepper plants and our asparagus plants. I'm so excited about the asparagus, even though it will be several years before it's mature enough for eating.

This is my contribution to the gardening. My herb and flower bed.

I have my herbs planted along the side of the house. I planted sage, dill, rosemary, parsley, thyme, cilantro, chives, oregano, and basil. I'm hoping I can keep them alive! I also planted some morning glories in front of the trellis.

This shows the flower bed wrapping around the corner of the house. I wish I had a picture of what the bed looked like before I cleaned it up. It was a mess! There were tons of weeds, leaves, rocks, overgrown flowers, and small trees. If you look closely, you can see some of the plants I attempted to transplant. I'm not sure if they're going to make it or not! I'm going to plant some flowers in the next few days. I can't wait to see what it will look like when I have everything planted and it starts growing more!

A Burden to Pray

2011-04-12T08:25:00.008-05:00

[source]

My heart has been burdened to pray for the young men and women serving Christ. As I think about the church in which I grew up, the church where I am currently a member, and the several churches we attend, I am saddened by the lack of young members. I am thankful for the handful of young men and women who are convicted to be at church on Sunday morning and worship our Lord. However, when I think that the youth are the future of the Church, I feel great concern for what the Church will look like in the future.

I know that when I was young, church wasn't always the most "fun" place to go. I can remember sulking in the pew, thinking of all the things that I would rather be doing, and shooting outside as soon as the last "amen." So, I can see myself in a lot of the youth of today. I understand where they're at, yet that doesn't stop me from being concerned.

[source]

I pray that the young members will feel a burden to actively worship. I pray that the young men might feel a burden to exhort, lead singing, pray, or perhaps even preach. I pray that the young women will feel burdened to sing praises, pray silently in their pews, listen attentively, learn from the older women, and help serve the members through lunch. I pray that the youth will feel burdened to commit to a life of serving Christ, in and outside of the church building.

[source]

If the church is going to continue to grow and prosper, it is necessary for the young members to be steadfast, marry fellow believers, and raise their children in the church. I feel an especially strong burden to pray for those desiring to marry. I have many friends and family who have a heart to marry a Godly spouse, yet find the outlook discouraging. My heart aches for those who desire to find the one who will love them as Christ loves the church, who will be the spiritual leader of the home, who will support them in raising children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, who will protect their hearts. I pray they are blessed to be a helpmeet. I pray they will hold fast to their beliefs and their desires; not wavering or settling for anything less.

[source]

When I think of the youth who profess to be followers of Christ, I pray for God put a hedge of protection around them. It was hard to stay strong in my beliefs as a teenager, but I can imagine it's even harder for teenagers today. There are so many negative influences in the world and it's getting harder and harder to steer clear. I pray the youth will feel convicted to dress and act modestly. I pray they will treat the opposite sex with respect. I pray they will guard their hearts, flee from lust, have strength to say "no." I pray they will not be afraid to be different, set apart, strong in knowing what is right and wrong. I pray they will seek God's will in relationships, choosing a college, and deciding on a career. I pray their Bibles don't sit on a shelf collecting dust; but rather be a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path.

[source]

Do you feel burdened? Join me on your knees, begging God to have mercy and power in the lives of young men and women. Pray for strength, direction, and steadfastness. Pray for increased zeal, conviction, dedication. Pray for the Church.

Weekly Challenge #5

2011-04-11T20:07:00.005-05:00

First, an update from WC #4....I was able to have the dishes done 5 1/2 out of 7 nights! One night I left the kitchen a mess when I went to bed. It drove me crazy, but I was just so stinkin' tired! We had worked out in the yard all day and just couldn't work up the energy to do the dishes. The 1/2 night was because a couple of nights I left a drinking glass or two on the counter. I was actually able to have all the dishes washed AND put away 3 nights! That's pretty good for me! I'm trying to stick with it even now!

Now onto this week's challenge. Every day this week I will...make a blog post!

I know, it's not all that exciting, but it might be challenging! I have a few things on my mind and some posts rolling around in my head. This counts as today's post and tomorrow might be a lengthy one. :)

Recipe Review - - Chicken Boudine

2011-03-29T09:56:00.003-05:00

I made Bobby's Lighter Chicken Boudine for supper last night. I had never heard of Chicken Boudine, so I would have never known it was the "lighter" version. Either way, it was very tasty! I served it with roasted asparagus and steamed broccoli.

Review:

Ease: This was a really easy recipe to make. I put it together early in the day and had it in the refrigerator until supper time. It took about 20 minutes to throw together. That includes cooking the chicken. I just sauteed the chicken before I did the onion and peppers.

Cost: This is a very affordable recipe. Just adding it up in my head quickly, I would say this cost around $4 to make. I don't always have "No Yolk" noodles on hand, but they are pretty cheap. Everything else in the recipe can usually be found in my pantry, freezer, or refrigerator.

Taste: Yummo! I left out the mushrooms, but I added minced garlic, pepper, and thyme. It wasn't overly flavorful, but it was very good. I really love spinach and I liked how it tasted with the red pepper. I did use a whole red pepper instead of just 1/2 like the recipe calls for.

Nutrition: I wouldn't say that this is a "healthy" recipe, but it definitely isn't unhealthy. It is definitely a quilt-free recipe. I don't think I used fat-free cream of mushroom soup. I remember that there was a lady standing in front of the fat-free cans in the grocery store and she wasn't moving. I'm usually in a big hurry when I'm shopping, so I didn't want to wait for her to finish chatting. So, I had to sacrifice.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars - - Good, but not a recipe I would crave.

WC #4 Update

2011-03-29T09:54:00.002-05:00

Monday, 8:40 p.m. - - All clean and headed to bed!

Weekly Challenge #4

2011-03-28T10:35:00.003-05:00

If I were being honest with myself and you, I could make this week's challenge be something along the lines of: get out of bed before 8:00 every morning, take a shower every day, put on real clothes, make supper every night, or make the bed every day. However, I'm sure I would be a complete failure. I'm not feeling very motivated today, but hopefully that will change as the week goes on!

Anyway, on to the challenge for this week.

Every day this week I will...have all the dishes done before going to bed.

This is a real challenge for me. I wash the dishes no less than 5 times a day. We don't have a dish washer and we have very limited counter space to let dishes build up. So, I spend a lot of my day washing dishes. I think the thing that makes it hardest for me to keep up is drying the dishes and putting them away so I can wash another load.

The evenings are the hardest for me. I usually try to keep up with the dishes as I'm fixing supper, but that doesn't always happen. Then once supper is over, I have to dry and put away what I've already washed plus wash the supper dishes. I'm also usually exhausted by that time of night and can't find the energy to get it done.

The problem is that I hate waking up and seeing a pile of dishes staring me in the face first thing. It's not a good start to the morning. I have to wash the dishes and clear the counter off before I can get breakfast going. I often think to myself, "I should have just done this last night. It would have been so much easier."

So, here's to having a clean kitchen at night! I'll let you know how it goes!

Wilson

2011-03-28T10:24:00.003-05:00

Our sweet Wilson passed away Saturday morning. It was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. He was so sick and it was so hard to watch his body shut down.

We are missing him and thinking about him constantly. I'm thankful for the time we had with him and the fun we had together. Wilson certainly was a playful, rambunctious, and loving puppy. I am missing having him curl up in my lap or nuzzle his head up against my neck. I miss playing fetch with him out in the yard . I miss watching him and Wesley chase each other around the house. Wesley seems to be missing his buddy as well. He has walked around whining a lot since Saturday.

I'm sure it will take us a while to get over this and get back into a normal routine of life.

WC #3 Update - Teriyaki Meatball Pita Sem-Review

2011-03-28T10:14:00.003-05:00

I attempted to make the Teriyaki Meatball Pita recipe and homemade pita recipe on Friday night. It didn't go so well. First off, here's the recipe:

Teriyaki Meatball Pita

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup honey-teriyaki flavored barbecue sauce, divided
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 large pita breads

Preheat oven to 400. Combine beef, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, egg and pepper in a mixing bowl. Using about 2 tablespoons of beef at a time, roll meat into balls. Place balls in a 9- by 11-inch baking dish. Pour remaining barbecue sauce over top. Bake 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cut each pita in half. Spoon meatballs into pocket just before serving.

Serves 8. Serve with a tossed salad, low fat dressing and fresh fruit kabobs (layer strawberries, blueberries, grapes, orange slices, etc. on toothpicks)

253 calories
17 g. protein
23 g. carbs
9 g. fat
69 mg cholesterol
1 g. fiber
380 mg. sodium

My pitas didn't go so well. I have a lot of trouble using yeast. I usually get my water too hot and it kills the yeast. That must have been what happened this time. They were rising OK, but then when I baked them, they were flat and dense. Also, if you look closely at the recipe for the pitas, it calls for 1 TABLESPOON of salt! That's a lot of salt!!!! I only used about 1/2 Tbsp. and they were too salty! I'm sure it is an error in the recipe.

After the disaster with the pitas, I thought I could still make the meatballs. But, my meat didn't get thawed out all the way. By that time, it was hot in the kitchen and I was frustrated. So, we had sandwiches instead.

I did make the meatballs for church on Sunday. I didn't have the honey-teriyaki bbq sauce, but I made my own. I just combined regular barbecue sauce, honey, and teriyaki. The meatballs were really good. I also added some onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper as I was mixing them up. Tasty!

Perhaps I will attempt this recipe again sometime.

WC #3 Update - No Review for Veggie Burgers

2011-03-25T10:38:00.002-05:00

Due to having a very sick puppy and trying to nurse him back to health, I did not make the veggie burgers for supper last night. Hopefully I will be making the Teriyaki Meatball Pitas tonight.

***Our 5 1/2 month old Golden Retriever, Wilson, is very sick with parvovirus. It is a very serious and contagious virus for dogs. We took him to the vet yesterday morning and they were concerned he wouldn't make it through the night. He was given fluids and antibiotics at the vet and I gave him Gatorade with a syringe through the night. Thankfully, he made it through the night and seems to be on his way to recovery. He isn't out of the woods yet, but he seems to be a fighter.

I realize that most people think, "What's the big deal? It's just a dog." However, he is part of our family and a constant companion to me. He helps to fill a void and provides much joy in our lives. Wilson, Wesley, and Jake are more than "just dogs" to our family. Yes, we're those kind of people!

WC #3 Update - Santa Fe Chicken Review

2011-03-24T08:20:00.003-05:00

Wednesday night we had Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken for supper. I served it with cilantro lime rice and guacamole. I realized this morning that we've had rice for 4 meals in a row. We typically don't eat rice that much, but that's the way it worked out. I know I'm getting a little tired of rice.

I tried to take a nice picture of it on the plate, but this is the best I could do with my phone. It doesn't look too appetizing in this picture, huh?

Review:

Ease: This recipe took me less than 10 minutes to put together in the crock pot. It was really a matter of opening a few cans and dumping it in the crock, adding spices, throwing the chicken in. I just put the frozen chicken breasts right into the crock in the morning. It cooked on low for about 8 1/2 hours. It took me all of about 3 minutes to shred up the chicken before I served it. Super easy.

Cost: Again, another relatively inexpensive meal. All of the ingredients are often in my pantry and freezer, so this would be an easy meal to throw together on the fly.

Taste: I had a little trouble deciding if I liked the flavor of this dish. At first, I thought it was a little bland. It smelled so good cooking and I was sure it would have a lot of bold flavor. I added some fresh cilantro and guacamole right before serving. When I mixed that in, I liked the flavor. It gave it a nice fresh taste. After a while, I started noticing the heat from the cayenne and green chilis. It might have also been good with a sprinkle of cheese or a small dollop of sour cream. It didn't taste bad at all, just not as bold as I was expecting.

Nutrition: I don't feel like this dish wasn't as healthy as the others this week, since it didn't have any fresh vegetables. However, it wasn't unhealthy by any means. I did use low sodium, fat free chicken broth. It didn't really have anything else with a lot of calorie content in it. It does have some vegetables with the corn and tomatoes and chilis. The black beans are also a good fiber source. It's also a good source of lean protein with the chicken and whole grains with the rice. The guacamole I added on top is somewhat high in fat and calories, but it's a good fat in moderation.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars - - With the additions of the fresh cilantro and guacamole, I really liked the flavor of this dish. In the future, I might try to add some more fresh ingredients right before serving....maybe some scallions, fresh pico de gallo, avocado slices, or even a lemon or lime wedge to squeeze over the top.

WC #3 Update - Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry Review

2011-03-22T20:06:00.003-05:00

Here's the recipe for our supper last night. Chris gets weekly emails from work with healthy living tips and recipes. This was one of the recipes from a few weeks ago.

Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry

1/2 cup instant brown rice (measured dry)
1 tsp. canola or other cooking oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup chopped bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 cup chopped raw asparagus
8 oz. frozen shrimp, defrosted
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce
Hot sauce
Salt and black pepper

Cook the rice according to package directions. Add the oil to a large skillet or wok and place over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add the onion, bell peppers, garlic and asparagus. Stir-fry for five minutes until the vegetables have browned slightly. Stir in the shrimp, soy sauce and hot sauce to taste; cook for an additional three minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve half of it over the brown rice.

Serves two

Per serving: 592 calories, 11 grams fat (2 saturated), 36 grams protein, 88 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams fiber

*****************************************************************************************************************************

I doubled the recipe and it was plenty for us for supper with some left over for lunch today. This was a really good recipe and very easy to make. I don't follow measurements when I'm using vegetables. I used 2 bell peppers (green and yellow), about 20 spears of asparagus, 1/4 white onion, and 3 or 4 scallions.

Review:

Ease: This recipe was super easy to make! It took me about 25 minutes total to prep and cook. That also included a brief intermission to clean up after the dog. Chopping up the vegetables was the most labor-intensive part.

Cost: When I first found this recipe, I didn't know if I would try it because shrimp can be kind of expensive. Thankfully, I found it on sale last week for less than $5 for a 16 oz bag. Asparagus has also been on sale lately. I can't remember how much I paid for it, but I think it was around $2.50 for big bundle and I only used 1/2. The peppers were cheap from Sam's and everything else I already had on hand.

Taste: This was really good! I wasn't sure at first because I'm not a huge fan of soy sauce. But, the 2 tablespoons isn't too overwhelming. I didn't have any hot sauce, but I did add some black pepper and cayenne while the vegetables were cooking. I was hesitant to add salt, because I didn't have low sodium soy sauce. After it was done cooking and I tasted it, I did add a little salt to it.

The taste wasn't overwhelming, but it was good. The vegetables were cooked enough, but still had a good crunch to them. I didn't serve it with anything (other than the brown rice), but I wished I had some fresh pineapple and some strawberries to go on the side.

Nutrition: If I had used low sodium soy sauce and didn't add the extra salt, this would have been a very healthy meal. Even with the salt content, I feel like it was very nutritious. Protein, whole grain, fresh vegetables....doesn't get much better than that! I have a hard time understanding how each serving has 592 calories, but maybe that's right.

Overall: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars...We really enjoyed this meal, but it isn't something that I would crave. I would definitely make it again and enjoy it!

WC #3 Update - Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers Review

2011-03-21T20:30:00.004-05:00

I made The Deen Brothers Lighter Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers for supper tonight. I served it with peas & carrots and garlic cheddar biscuits.

In my usual style, I made a few changes to the recipe. I added mushrooms when I was sauteing the onion, garlic and zucchini. I left them in big chunks so the non-mushroom eater could easily pick them out. I also browned the turkey before I put it in the peppers. The recipe didn't say to do this, but I was a little concerned that it wouldn't get cooked all the way in the crock pot.

Review:

Ease: This was a relatively easy recipe to make. It took me about 30 minutes to prep. That time did include figuring out how to use my new slicer/shredder that goes with my KitchenAid mixer.

Cost: Most of the ingredients are staples in our house. I don't always have ground turkey, but I found it pretty cheap last week and bought several pounds to put in the freezer. The zucchini isn't a staple right now, but once our garden starts producing we will have tons! The peppers were the most expensive part, but they are kind of pricey right now. I did find a bag of 6 yellow/orange/red peppers at Sam's for less than $5 the other day, which was a good price. Again, once our garden is producing we will have lots of peppers.

Taste: Chris and I both agreed that it needed more seasoning. It definitely needed a little more salt. I might also try to add some other herbs in the mixture next time. The texture was also odd. I cooked it in the crock pot on low for 6 hours, which I think was a little too long. The pepper was very mushy and the filling was also kind of mushy. I think also leaving the rice uncooked might help with the texture. Next time I will probably only cook it for 4 hours. Otherwise, it was a very good recipe.

Nutrition: The only "processed" part of this recipe was the shredded cheese and marinara sauce. Everything else was fresh, whole grain, and meat.

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

Weekly Challenge #3

2011-03-20T16:47:00.003-05:00

Every day this week I will....try a new recipe.

This might seem somewhat ambitious, but I love trying new recipes. I'm in the mood for new, inexpensive, healthy recipes.

Monday: Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers
Tuesday: Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry (a recipe Chris got from work)
Wednesday: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
Thursday: Veggie Burgers (recipe from March 2011 Better Homes and Gardens)
Friday: Teriyaki Meatball Pitas (another recipe Chris got from work) with homemade pitas

I'll attempt to post reviews and the recipes as I try them each night. Hopefully they will be successful meals!

Weekly Challenge #2 Update

2011-03-20T16:41:00.003-05:00

This week ended up being a challenge, but not entirely because of this challenge. Make sense? The week didn't go as planned, but that's OK. It was a very busy week, but I did get a lot done around the house.

Just to recap, my plan for the week was:

Monday: Clean out humidifiers and prepare to pack away
Tuesday: Pack away winter clothes, throw out what didn't get worn, unpack spring/summer clothes
Wednesday: Wash the curtains
Thursday: Wash all the blinds (YUCK!)
Friday: Wash the walls in Grandma's room.

Well, here's how my week went:

Monday: Didn't clean out humidifiers
Tuesday: Packed winter clothes away, put several things in the garage sale/Goodwill pile, unpacked spring/summer clothes
Wednesday: Didn't wash the curtains
Thursday: Washed the blinds and windows in Grandma's room
Friday: Washed the blinds and windows in the living room, washed the walls in Grandma's room, washed the curtains in the living room

So, all and all it wasn't a complete failure, but not completely a success.

Splashes of Spring

2011-03-20T16:14:00.005-05:00

Even though I had planned to make this post earlier in the week, I think it's fitting for today. Happy 1st day of Spring! I've been in the mood for Spring for several weeks now and the house is showing it! My normal box of Spring decor is in storage and I'm too lazy to dig it out. So I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get some new stuff!

Kitchen table - new tablecloth on clearance from Target, birds from Hobby Lobby, tin bucket from Target dollar bin with plastic eggs

TV Console table - Bird and rabbit from Hobby Lobby, flowers from Hobby Lobby

Living Room - egg wreath from Target dollar bin

Living Room - "Spring" blocks from Hobby Lobby

Living Room - eggs from Hobby Lobby, rabbit from Hobby Lobby, plaque from Mardel's

Living Room - most of the stuff in the apothecary jars is the same that has been there. I did put some Easter grass and plastic eggs in the large jar

Front door - "Welcome" sign from Hobby Lobby

Our lilacs are blooming! I can't wait for them to get very full so I can bring a bouquet in the house!

HaPpY SpRiNg!

Weekly Challenge #2

2011-03-14T08:23:00.004-05:00

The challenge this week isn't going to be quite as exciting as last week's. However, with Spring right around the corner, it's a necessary one.

Every day this week I will...do one deep cleaning task.

Monday: Clean out humidifiers and prepare to pack away
Tuesday: Pack away winter clothes, throw out what didn't get worn, unpack spring/summer clothes
Wednesday: Wash the curtains
Thursday: Wash all the blinds (YUCK!)
Friday: Wash the walls in Grandma's room.

This is certain to be a challenge for me. I only enjoy one of the tasks (packing away clothes and getting out new ones). The others are like pulling teeth for me, especially washing the blinds. I'm sure It will be worth it when I'm finished.

I won't be making a post every day to update you on the progress. That would be a little boring. But, I do have a few other posts planned for throughout the week.

Weekly Challenge #1 Update

2011-03-07T20:05:00.009-06:00

Monday

I've had this necklace a long time. I believe I bought it to go with an Easter outfit about 5 years ago. It was one of those that I had forgotten about and was in the back of my jewelry box.

(Pardon the awkward shadows and angle. I was trying to take a picture of myself with my phone, but not get my face/neck in the picture much. I have this rash thing on my neck and jawline, so I figured you probably don't want to see that!)

Tuesday

This beautiful necklace was given to me by a dear friend for Christmas. I really love it! Turquoise and brown are big down here, so I feel like I fit right in.

(Have I mentioned how much I hate taking pictures of myself!?!?!)

Wednesday

This necklace was a Christmas present from my Grandma Kate. I really like cameo jewelry and I was so excited about this necklace. I love the black, white, and silver combination. It has earrings to match, but I wasn't in an earring mood today.

Thursday

I was looking quite nasty today, but the necklace helped disguise that a little. I was in desperate need of a shower, but decided to wait until I could go for a run.

Unfortunately, I don't remember where I got this necklace. I'm sorry if that fact hurts someone's feelings. I wish I could remember, and I've tried all day, but it won't come to me. Maybe it was Tasha? It's a very pretty necklace. This picture isn't very good, but the necklace is green and blue with some silver running through it. It kind of has an iridescent look.

Friday

I was trying to do something different with the picture this time, but it didn't go as planned. You should see all the "mess-up" pictures, it's quite humorous.

This necklace was from my Mom a few years ago. I love the bright blue and really like for it to stand out. I paired it with this simple white shirt and called it done.

Saturday and Sunday

I didn't get around to taking pictures with the necklaces on, so this will have to do. I wore the necklace on the left on Saturday and the one on the right today.

The necklace I wore on Saturday is made out of blue and brown buttons. It was a gift from a friend when I graduated from high school.

The necklace I wore today is a simple red and silver necklace. I bought it to go with the outfit I wore the night Chris proposed to me, so it holds many special memories.

I enjoyed the challenge this week. I had hoped to be more creative with the necklaces I picked to wear, but that's alright. Just for fun, I counted that I own 39 necklaces! That might be a few too many!

Weekly Challenge #1

2011-03-06T17:09:00.006-06:00

(See post below to know about the Weekly Challenge.)

Every day this week I will.....wear a different necklace.

I was inspired to do this challenge last week when I looked in my jewelry box. I have TONS of necklaces, yet rarely wear them. I love wearing necklaces. They just add so much to an outfit and can really just make me feel better about myself. So, this week I'm going to make a special effort to put on a different necklace each morning.