To Chop or Not To Chop

I tend to go through 'hair phases'. I had short hair for quite a while, and then I decided to grow it out. There have been a couple of times that I went short again, but I didn't like the cut and could help but feel like I looked 16 so I grew it out again. It's a vicious cycle. Haha! Currently my hair is at the longest I think it's ever been and I see all these adorable cuts and want to try short hair again, but I'm scared I won't like it, not to mention it's taken quite a bit of time to get it this long.

But then I became inspired by a post I saw on Instagram. I've decided to continue to grow my hair out and then sometime next year I'm going to chop it off -- I'm going to donate it! What better reason to cut it off, than to give it to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. And...if I hate it, I can rest assured that it went for a good cause!

I thought it would be fun to kind of update my hair growth progress until I donate it. So here's how long it is now, and I'll probably update every few months or so. I'll also be researching organizations and deciding/praying about which one I want to give to.

Have you ever donated your hair?

365 Days of Thanks || Week 4

1.22.14 - An encouraging sermon - challenging me to make sure I'm giving my best to the Lord!

1.23.14 - Skype/Google Hangout

1.24.14 - Reconnecting with a former student. She was in the kindergarten class that I subbed in before I started teaching on my own. I feel old! lol

1.25.14 - The opportunity to teach piano lessons.

1.26.14 - One of our teen girls came to church after being away for 1 1/2 years! Praise the Lord!

1.27.14 - My God provides for all of my needs!

1.28.14 - Peace that passes all understanding!

What are you thankful for?

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 

Colossians 3:15

365 Days of Thanks || Week 3

1.15.14 - Cows...because they give milk, and milk makes ice cream! :)

1.16.14 - My wonderful, loving parents. They're the best!

1.17.14 - The weekends

1.18.14 - Nail polish. Such a small thing can instantly make you feel girly. 

1.19.14 - The great church the Lord has us in

1.20.14 - That our Pastor's wife is improving from her pneumonia, and hasn't needed to be transferred to a bigger hospital. (Update: she was able to go home!)

1.21.14 - A God that we can trust! He'll never leave us or forsake us! (Heb 13:5)

What are you thankful for?

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 

Psalm 100:4

A Different World

I grew up in a Christian home where the Bible was read and consulted for life's problems. We went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays and any other special times the doors were open. I attended youth group and the many fellowships, camps, conferences, and missions trips that were offered. I will forever be grateful for the life the Lord blessed me with. 

Before you think I lived a perfect life, I'll be the first to tell you it wasn't. I had my share of mess ups despite my 'sheltered' upbringing. I made decisions and acted in ways I wish I had done differently, but praise God for His mercy and forgiveness during those times!

As I look back at the way I was brought up, my heart is burdened. It's burdened for the youth in our church that aren't getting the same upbringing I did. You see, with the exception of a few occasional appearances, none of their parents come to church. They're being taught the Bible for a couple of hours a week at church and bombarded with worldly influences for the rest of it. They don't have someone in their home to say, 'let's pray about this matter you're struggling with' or 'what does the Bible have to say about this?' They're the only ones getting up for church in the morning while everyone else sleeps in. Instead of being encouraged to attend all youth activities, I imagine it's more like 'Well, if that's the way you want to spend your weekend, go ahead.'

In the past year, the Lord has really been showing me how important it is to invest in our youth - particularly our girls, since I can't really invest in the guys as a single woman. :) They need someone they can look up to for an example of how to live a godly life as a young woman, and that it's a good thing to be a feminine woman in this increasingly gender-confused world. They need someone who can pray with them and share Scriptures with them about things they are struggling with. They need someone to encourage them and cheer them on to do what's right when everyone else around them says, 'Give in to the temptations. God isn't worth your time.' They need someone to show them just how special they are and how much God loves them and how He wants to be a part of their lives.

I pray I can be that someone in their lives. 

365 Days of Thanks || Week 2

1.8.14 - We got snow! It's not much, but it's snow!! (It melted a few days later...boo)

1.9.14 - For all those years of piano lessons - even if I didn't like it at the time

1.10.14 - Good health. Though there's times I may not be feeling well, it could always be worse.

1.11.14 - My KitchenAid mixer

1.12.14 - Lunch out with one of the teen girls

1.13.14 - Even though I'd love snow, I'm thankful for the warmer weather we had today making it possible for the kids to play outside for a while.

1.14.14 - That my mom (and Mrs. D. through HomeEc) took the time to teach me how to cook. 

What are you thankful for?

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Psalm 92:1

365 Days of Thanks || Week 1

1.1.14 - A day spent with friends

1.2.14 - One on one time with Braxton

1.3.14 - Three girls came to our monthly tween/teen girl Bible study

1.4.14 - This challenge - it has made me reflect more throughout the day of the things I'm thankful for

1.5.14 - One of my Sunday School girls felt like she could talk to me about something she's been struggling with

1.6.14 - The opportunity to watch and invest in the lives of these two precious children 

1.7.14 - The experience and knowledge I gained working as a church secretary for 5 years that I'm now able to use in my new church

What are you thankful for?

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

A Few Things Christmas Related...

I made my very first burlap wreath! I love it so much!

We had an ugly sweater Christmas party ;)

In our Christmas jammies...haha!

Christmas Day!

Tessa & I have been having fun playing piano duets together recently. Here's one that we played in December.

A Challenge: 365 days of thanks

Welcome to 2014! I can't believe it's here! This year I want to purpose to be more thankful. I want to reflect on every day and find something to be thankful for. There's going to be good days and not so good days, but there's always something to be thankful for!

So my challenge to myself is to post weekly what I've been thankful for in that past week. At the end of the year I'll have 52 posts and 365 things I'm thankful for (that I've written at least!).

You can join in too! If you have a blog and write a post about it, leave a link to your post in the comments. If you don't have a blog (or don't want to do a post), you can put what you're thankful for in the comments! I'd love to hear what you're thankful for!

Here's to a year of thanks! Happy New Year!

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

I Thessalonians 5:18

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Click here to see more pictures from this photo shoot.

Buckeye Bark

I love buckeyes (or peanut butter balls), but they can be a lot of work and sometimes they don't turn out 'pretty' because the peanut butter ball (even when frozen) starts melting as you're trying to to dip them in chocolate. Please tell me I'm not the only who has that problem! :) I saw an idea for making bars (or bark) out of them and thought I'd give it a try to see how well it worked. Let me tell you, I'm not sure I'll ever go through the pain of rolling them into balls and dipping them again...it was so quick and easy! 

Buckeye Bark
adapted from Joy of Baking

12 oz chocolate chips

2 cups creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 - 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Melt 6 oz chocolate chips and spread thinly onto paper. Stick in freezer to set up while you make the peanut butter mixture.

Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about one minute or until just soft (check and stir the ingredients every 20-30 seconds). Stir in the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and mix until it has the consistency of a stiff dough (add more sugar if necessary). Spread over chocolate.

Melt the remaining 6 oz of chocolate chips and spread on top of peanut butter. Stick in refrigerator until chocolate is hard. Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Are buckeyes on your Christmas baking list? 

Why not make it a little bit easier on yourself this year and try making buckeye bark?!

Sugar Cookies

These are my go-to sugar cookies. We like to eat them plain, with sprinkles, and sometimes with frosting. I made some the other night after we went Christmas tree hunting and determined that I need to make them with frosting more often! Not only are they more delicious with frosting, but they're cuter too!

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

from allrecipes.com

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Decorative Frosting

from I Am Baker

1 cup powder sugar

1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1-3 drops lemon juice (optional)

Sift powder sugar to remove lumps.

Add all ingredients to bowl and mix until combined.

Add more milk as needed to achieve desired consistency.

There's a couple different ways you can use this frosting. You can just brush the icing on with a small paint brush which is what I did for the Christmas tree cookies, or you can use the outline and flood method - check out i am baker's sugar cookie decorating 101.  

Here's a few other pictures of cookies I've made in the past using the outline and flood method. 

Don't those just make you want to go make some cookies?!

A Christmas Tree Hunt

For the past several years we've gone out into the woods to cut down our own Christmas tree. You can go here and here to see pictures from previous years. There's just something about tromping through the woods and snow to find a tree, it's very festive and makes for good times and fun memories!

An Interview

We recently had Brother Jeff Copes from HBBC come a preach a revival at our church. All of the messages were very good, but there was one in particular that I wanted to share with you. 

If we were wanting to conduct an interview with someone about how to have a close walk with the Lord, who would we go to? Out of all of the great men and women in our lives and that we read of in the Bible, there is man man that sticks out as being able to give us the best advice. Just like all of us he wasn't perfect, but he's the only one the Lord acknowledges as being "a man after mine own heart." As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm referring to David.

The following is an 'interview' with David concerning his walk with the Lord. 

Reporter: "David, tell us about your relationship with the Lord."

David: "I love the LORD, (Psalm 116:1)"

R: "Why?"

D: "Because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. (116:1)"
{Not only does the Lord hear our prayers, but He also hears our voice - He hears our groaning when we can't find the words to pray.} 

R: "Tell us more. Why do you love the Lord?"

D: "Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, (116:2)"

R: "What is that going to make you do?"

D: "Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. (116:2)"

R: "David, describe different seasons in your life."

D: "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. (116:3)"

R: "What did you do?"

D: "Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. (116:4)"

R: "What did you find?"

D: "Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. (116:5,6)"

David seems lost in his thoughts at this time as he seems to relive what he has experienced, and reminds himself: "Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. (116:7)"

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

If you go read Psalm 116 you'll see that the chapter doesn't end there, but that's as far as Brother Copes went with the interview (or at least what I have in my notes ;)). It was such a blessing to me, and I've read over it several times since then. I hope this was a blessing to you as well!

Thanksgiving '13

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I sure did! It was a wonderful times spent with family and friends. One of the special things about the day was that we got to use my great-grandma's china! I had so much fun setting it all up!

 

 

I wanted to take advantage of this Thanksgiving season to teach the kids what it means to be thankful. I made a thankful tree and we spent many afternoons coloring leaves, asking them what they were thankful for, writing it on the leaf, and letting them glue it on the tree. I also made up a little song about thankfulness and taught them "In every thing give thanks." It was a fun craft for the month of November, and a great way to teach the kids to be thankful!

 

 

Thankful For Trials?

Just like anyone else, I've had some hard times in life. I shared a very personal story with you not too long ago (thank you for your kind words!), and there have been other things that will probably never be on the blog. Do you know what though? I'm thankful for those times! I know it sounds crazy, but it was during those times that I grew as a person. God used those trials in my life to change me and teach me things. And for that, I will always be thankful! 

Ps 119:71 - It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

"Every struggle in your life has shaped you into the person you are today. Be thankful for the hard times; they can only make you stronger." -unknown

Grilled Cheese & Parmesan Tomato Soup

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is definitely one of those 'comfort foods'. I'm not the biggest fan of canned tomato soup, but homemade soup is a different story! I tried this recipe recently and really liked it, although I confess I made it a little different than the original recipe. :) There are a few other changes I would make next time too, so that's what I've written down for you. Enjoy!

Parmesan Tomato Soup
adapted from Your Home Based Mom

3 - 15 oz. cans of petite diced tomatoes, with juice
1 C finely diced celery

1 C finely chopped carrots
1 C finely diced onions

4 C chicken broth
1/2 C flour
1/2 C grated Parmesan Cheese (add more to taste)
1/2 C butter
2 C half and half, warmed

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Baby Spinach

Pulse the tomatoes, celery, carrots, and onions in a food processor, then put in crockpot with chicken broth. 

Cover and cook on Low for 5-7 hours.
Approx thirty minutes before serving make the roux.
Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add in flour.
Stir constantly for about 5 minutes
Slowly add in 1 cup of hot soup.
Add in 3 more cups of soup and stir until smooth.
Put all back into the crock pot.
Stir and add Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt, pepper, and oregano.
Cover and let cook on low for another 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Add desired amount of baby spinach to individual servings.

What I'm Using: Makeup

1. almay cc cream // 2. mary kay mineral powder // 3. mary kay mineral blush in sunny spice // 4. almay intense i-color bold nudes for blue eyes // 5. ecotools eye brush set // 6. maybelline eyestudio gel eyeliner // 7. cover girl flamed out mascara // 8. revlon nearly naked pressed powder 

What I use for makeup can change throughout the year - there aren't many products that I'm 'faithful' to. I like to experiment with different things, and sometimes I change products because my needs change. 

Normally I have an oily complexion, but with the change in weather my skin has been very dry. I've had to change my skin care routine, and pretty much stop using powder all together. Right now I'm using almay cc cream as a foundation which I really like, but when I'm able to use powder I LOVE mary kay mineral powder. I've tried so many different ones, and that's by far my favorite. I like to have pressed powder in my purse in case I need to 'powder my nose', and revlon nearly naked is perfect for the job. :) 

For my eyes, I'm really liking the trio for blue eyes by almay. Typically I do a smoky eye by using all three colors, but when I don't feel like doing that I'll use the two lightest shades. I don't like using the little applicator that comes with eye shadows, so I have the brush set by ecotools that I really like! In the past I've used a pencil eyeliner, but I was having problems with it leaving it's mark on my upper eyelid by the end of the day...not pretty. So, I picked up this gel eyeliner and I'm pretty happy with it so far although it seems my eye shadow is finding it's way on my eyeliner. Maybe a primer would fix that? Mascara is probably the thing that I change up the most. I usually try something new every time. 

Hopefully this wasn't too boring. :) I like seeing what other people use, so I thought it would be fun to share what I'm using right now! 

Mia Familia

I love my family SO much and am thankful for the wonderful relationship we have. I know not every one has a great relationship with their family, so I definitely don't want to take what we have for granted. It's definitely because of the Lord! I am so BLESSED!

What's For Dinner || Healthier General Tso's Chicken

I'm a big fan of Asian food. I like trying recipes at home, but a lot of times they call for strange ingredients that are hard to find and/or expensive, plus they don't always taste as good. However, this recipe for General Tso's Chicken is easy and really yummy. It's a win-win situation!

Healthier General Tso's Chicken

adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

1 pound chicken

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

8 garlic cloves, minced

4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups snow peas, trimmed and halved diagonally

Salt

Pepper

For sauce: Mix together water and cornstarch until smooth. Stir in remaining garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and snow peas. Set aside.

For chicken: Cut into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

To cook: Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in a small amount of oil. Once chicken is done, add sauce to skillet and cook until snow peas are tender and sauce is thickened. 

Serve with rice.

What Makes Me Happy

It's hard to believe that it's already November. Am I right?! The year has absolutely flown by! 

As soon as November hits, we start seeing lots of posts, status updates, tweets, etc about things that we're thankful for. Even though we are thankful all year round, there's just something about the month that holds Thanksgiving that stirs up in us a desire to express our gratitude even more. 

I was looking up some quotes about thankfulness and I found this one...

:: It's not happy people who are thankful, 

but thankful people who are happy ::

How true is this?! I know in my own life, I find that I'm more happy when I'm thankful rather than complaining. Funny how that works! 

There are several things that I want to talk about this month that I'm thankful for, but the first one is the Lord. I don't even want to imagine where I'd be without Him. Not only has He saved my soul, but He is with me guiding me and directing me every day. Seriously, how do people go through life without Christ? He's all I need! 

He loves me when I'm unlovable. He gives me mercy when I don't deserve it. He gives me grace to get through the hard stuff. He gives me peace that surpasses all understanding. There is such joy in knowing the Lord! 

What about you? Do you know the Lord and the joy that He brings?