Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vacation
Well, we are here on vacation finally! We got here to Gulf Shores Saturday and have been relaxing and recovering from the last couple of month's chaos since then. The weather has been amazing, the kids have been great, and my hubby is so cute to look at. :)
We have managed to do absolutely nothing and it's been great. The days have consisted of coffee, breakfast, laying out while watching the kids play and my man fish, eat lunch, laying out while watching my kids play and my man fish, eat dinner, play games with the kids, go to sleep and do it all over again. Here's a few pictures from all that excitement:
My brother-in-law Mike and his family will arrive later today and be with us for the rest of the stay and we are very excited about spending some time with them. I'll post more pics later! Time to cook breakfast for the hungry vacationers!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
the mad rush..
I have only a few minutes to blog something so here goes...
We are going to be so busy the next few weeks!!! My man and I are going away to Vegas this weekend and then next week we get packed up for our move. It's during this time that I know that we will be eating quickly and grabbing food out and about and I am having very strong urges to cook some yummy food and can't do it!! I don't know if anyone else does that, but I get waves of creativity in the kitchen. It isn't there everyday. Somedays the last thing I want to do is step in the kitchen and put together a meal, especially knowing my kids are super picky and will probably complain about whatever I cook. But other days, I see some yummy recipe or think of some concoction on my own and I just can't wait to get in the kitchen and try it out! I'm inspired by some summer recipes I've seen lately and by all the freshness in food that summer brings. I can't wait to have a grill again and a schedule that will allow me to get in the kitchen and be creative!!! I've been spotting some yummy recipes and here is one that I saw this morning that I think I'm going to have to make when we go to the beach later next month...I'll leave you with the link!
http://www.heatherchristo.com/entertains/2011/06/20/peach-quesadillas/
We are going to be so busy the next few weeks!!! My man and I are going away to Vegas this weekend and then next week we get packed up for our move. It's during this time that I know that we will be eating quickly and grabbing food out and about and I am having very strong urges to cook some yummy food and can't do it!! I don't know if anyone else does that, but I get waves of creativity in the kitchen. It isn't there everyday. Somedays the last thing I want to do is step in the kitchen and put together a meal, especially knowing my kids are super picky and will probably complain about whatever I cook. But other days, I see some yummy recipe or think of some concoction on my own and I just can't wait to get in the kitchen and try it out! I'm inspired by some summer recipes I've seen lately and by all the freshness in food that summer brings. I can't wait to have a grill again and a schedule that will allow me to get in the kitchen and be creative!!! I've been spotting some yummy recipes and here is one that I saw this morning that I think I'm going to have to make when we go to the beach later next month...I'll leave you with the link!
http://www.heatherchristo.com/entertains/2011/06/20/peach-quesadillas/
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Corn Yumminess
I made this for dinner tonight (along with some fried deer steak and speckled butter beans) and it was delicious. Let me know what you think...
4 slices of bacon
2 Vidalia onions, chopped
kernels cut off of 8-10 ears of fresh corn
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper
Nature's Seasons
2 Splenda packets, if desired.
In large skillet (I used my cast iron), fry bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside. Saute onions in bacon grease for 5-7 minutes, until tender. Add corn and butter to skillet, stirring often for 4-5 minutes. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup whipping cream and tablespoon of flour with a fork. Pour over the corn and onion mixture, stirring well. Slowly add the remaining cream. Season with salt and pepper and Nature's Seasons. Stir in crumbled bacon and let simmer for 4-5 minutes on low heat. You can also add 2 packets of Splenda (or a couple spoons of sugar) if you want it to be a little sweeter. SO GOOD.
4 slices of bacon
2 Vidalia onions, chopped
kernels cut off of 8-10 ears of fresh corn
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper
Nature's Seasons
2 Splenda packets, if desired.
In large skillet (I used my cast iron), fry bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside. Saute onions in bacon grease for 5-7 minutes, until tender. Add corn and butter to skillet, stirring often for 4-5 minutes. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup whipping cream and tablespoon of flour with a fork. Pour over the corn and onion mixture, stirring well. Slowly add the remaining cream. Season with salt and pepper and Nature's Seasons. Stir in crumbled bacon and let simmer for 4-5 minutes on low heat. You can also add 2 packets of Splenda (or a couple spoons of sugar) if you want it to be a little sweeter. SO GOOD.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Speedy Summer...
It's only just begun and I feel like it's almost over all ready. It seems like there is so much going on over the next 2 months that it will be August before we know it and we won't have been able to slow down at all. Right now is kind of the calm before the storm. Richard and I are going to Vegas in a couple of weeks for a short getaway, just the two of us. We are tentatively scheduled to get packed out of this apartment the last week of June. That will start the day after Richard and I get back from our trip. Then, we'll be staying with my sweet Mama and Daddy until we leave (be praying for them!), which is looking like 14 July now, so that we can hopefully have our household goods delivered on 15 July. We'll have the weekend to get somewhat settled and then I'll be able to start work again on Monday. Sometime during that week, we'll get the kids signed up at their new school and hopefully find a TKD and gymnastics place for each of them. The week after that will be our slow down week, we'll be hitting Gulf Shores with the only agenda of soaking up sun and lots of laziness. We'll have one more week after that until Richard's classes start and the kids won't start school until 22 August. Our summer in Louisiana is going to go by quickly..our summer in Alabama will be a little more relaxed, which will be nice since I'll probably be in a deep depression over leaving my family and friends here...We will be back often, though, especially once hunting season starts, and it will be fine. We are looking forward to whatever God has in store for us next!
Monday, May 30, 2011
teary-eyed...
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
That was the scripture verse in one of my devotionals from this past week that I didn't get to read until today. This weekend was a great one on so many levels, and a sad one on others. Richard and I took the kids to Hot Springs with another family we are blessed to be friends with and spent the weekend fishing on the boat, eating...fishing...eating...you get the picture. It was a great, relaxing weekend. My kids got to go "tubing" for the first time...I could hear them laughing from the balcony of the condo we were in as my husband drove them past the area in the boat. It was such a sweet sound.
My husband and both the husband and wife of the other couple we were with are active duty members of the Air Force, and getting to spend Memorial Day weekend with them was great. I hope you all took the time to thank a member of our armed forces this weekend, and took the time to remember those that have fallen in our country's defense. My grandmother's brother died in WWII in the Battle of the Bulge..here's a link to his memorial page..http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56280135
He never got to meet his child that was born after he left for war. Those were such different times from today..when my husband deploys or goes TDY, we can call each other, Skype, email..all kind of communication that make the separation somewhat easier. When my grandfather and my great-uncle were off to war, all they had was the postal service to deliver what I can assume was far between letters as they relocated from one place to the other. My grandmother took pictures of my aunt that was born after Grampy left for war and sent them to him on a regular basis. He did not get to meet her until she was 3 years old. THREE YEARS OLD. Kind of makes me feel silly for complaining about a 6 month deployment here and there. Those are the heroes that we need to remember..the ones that have put their lives on the line..physically and emotionally to defend our country's freedoms.
This weekend also marked a day of sadness for a local family that had to say goodbye to their sweet angel that had been battling an illness so bravely for several months..Katie Caroline Ward was 6 years old when she went to meet Jesus on Saturday. 6 years old. My baby girl is 7 years old. I can not imagine the pain that this family is going through knowing they will have to go on without her.
I have always been thankful for my children, but somehow this story has caused me to see them in a much different way...I've been slower to chastise for silly things, and have come to tears hearing their laughter with the thought of never being able to hear it again. Please pray for the Ward family.
Please also continue to pray for Rachel's classmate and friend Madalyna as she continues to fight her battle against Faconi Anemia and is recovering from her bone marrow transplant. She has a long road ahead of her.
Please pray for the families in Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama that are rebuilding their lives entirely after the recent tornadoes that have ravaged their areas. Many have lost their homes, but many have also lost loved ones that can not be replaced.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
This scripture is resounding in my heart tonight as I reflect on the lives lost that this weekend honors..the lives lost in the last few weeks to illness and the damage of nature...to the lives that will be saved eternally because in some way they have seen Jesus through these happenings..to the lives that are struggling with their faith because of these happenings...
Pray for your loved ones..reach out to your friends and families in need..hug your babies and listen to what they have to say as they tug at your shirt. You never know when you may not have that opportunity again.
That was the scripture verse in one of my devotionals from this past week that I didn't get to read until today. This weekend was a great one on so many levels, and a sad one on others. Richard and I took the kids to Hot Springs with another family we are blessed to be friends with and spent the weekend fishing on the boat, eating...fishing...eating...you get the picture. It was a great, relaxing weekend. My kids got to go "tubing" for the first time...I could hear them laughing from the balcony of the condo we were in as my husband drove them past the area in the boat. It was such a sweet sound.
My husband and both the husband and wife of the other couple we were with are active duty members of the Air Force, and getting to spend Memorial Day weekend with them was great. I hope you all took the time to thank a member of our armed forces this weekend, and took the time to remember those that have fallen in our country's defense. My grandmother's brother died in WWII in the Battle of the Bulge..here's a link to his memorial page..http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56280135
He never got to meet his child that was born after he left for war. Those were such different times from today..when my husband deploys or goes TDY, we can call each other, Skype, email..all kind of communication that make the separation somewhat easier. When my grandfather and my great-uncle were off to war, all they had was the postal service to deliver what I can assume was far between letters as they relocated from one place to the other. My grandmother took pictures of my aunt that was born after Grampy left for war and sent them to him on a regular basis. He did not get to meet her until she was 3 years old. THREE YEARS OLD. Kind of makes me feel silly for complaining about a 6 month deployment here and there. Those are the heroes that we need to remember..the ones that have put their lives on the line..physically and emotionally to defend our country's freedoms.
This weekend also marked a day of sadness for a local family that had to say goodbye to their sweet angel that had been battling an illness so bravely for several months..Katie Caroline Ward was 6 years old when she went to meet Jesus on Saturday. 6 years old. My baby girl is 7 years old. I can not imagine the pain that this family is going through knowing they will have to go on without her.
I have always been thankful for my children, but somehow this story has caused me to see them in a much different way...I've been slower to chastise for silly things, and have come to tears hearing their laughter with the thought of never being able to hear it again. Please pray for the Ward family.
Please also continue to pray for Rachel's classmate and friend Madalyna as she continues to fight her battle against Faconi Anemia and is recovering from her bone marrow transplant. She has a long road ahead of her.
Please pray for the families in Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama that are rebuilding their lives entirely after the recent tornadoes that have ravaged their areas. Many have lost their homes, but many have also lost loved ones that can not be replaced.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
This scripture is resounding in my heart tonight as I reflect on the lives lost that this weekend honors..the lives lost in the last few weeks to illness and the damage of nature...to the lives that will be saved eternally because in some way they have seen Jesus through these happenings..to the lives that are struggling with their faith because of these happenings...
Pray for your loved ones..reach out to your friends and families in need..hug your babies and listen to what they have to say as they tug at your shirt. You never know when you may not have that opportunity again.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Luke 17:20-37
I didn't get to go to Bible study tonight because my baby girl is a little sick with sore throat and had a temp of 101. I hate that she's not feeling well, and I hate that I missed out on the study tonight..but I know there are reasons for all things. In doing my study in preparation for tonight (before baby girl got to feeling bad and I thought I was going) I happened on the scripture above and it jumped out at me. You may or may not have heard about the man that is predicting that this Saturday will be the return of Jesus, the Rapture, the end of the world..however you want to name it. If you haven't, here's a few links to articles about him and what he is saying:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/19/dr-manny-end-coming-21st/
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/news/economy/may-21-end-of-the-world-finances-harold-camping/index.htm
http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/harold-camping-doomsday-prophecy-may-21-2011/
I can't say if this is going to happen, but I know this is what the Scripture says that Jesus himself stated when asked about the Coming of the Kingdom of God:
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[a]
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[b] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [c]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
( I copied and pasted that from this website: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17%3A20-37&version=NIV)
You know how you get those emails from websites that you might frequently shop offering discounts and reminding you that the time to use that discount is about to run out?
I don't know if Jesus is coming back Saturday, Sunday, next year or even in our lifetime, but I do know this...we aren't going to get an email from him stating that it's our last chance to use our "get out of Hell free" coupon. There is no wait for tomorrow to get your life straight and then ask for forgiveness and salvation. Frankly, without Jesus, you won't get your life straight.
Romans 10:5-15 (New International Version)
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[f]
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
(copied and pasted from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2010:%205-15&version=NIV)
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/19/dr-manny-end-coming-21st/
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/news/economy/may-21-end-of-the-world-finances-harold-camping/index.htm
http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/harold-camping-doomsday-prophecy-may-21-2011/
I can't say if this is going to happen, but I know this is what the Scripture says that Jesus himself stated when asked about the Coming of the Kingdom of God:
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[a]
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[b] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [c]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
( I copied and pasted that from this website: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17%3A20-37&version=NIV)
You know how you get those emails from websites that you might frequently shop offering discounts and reminding you that the time to use that discount is about to run out?
I don't know if Jesus is coming back Saturday, Sunday, next year or even in our lifetime, but I do know this...we aren't going to get an email from him stating that it's our last chance to use our "get out of Hell free" coupon. There is no wait for tomorrow to get your life straight and then ask for forgiveness and salvation. Frankly, without Jesus, you won't get your life straight.
Romans 10:5-15 (New International Version)
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[f]
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
(copied and pasted from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2010:%205-15&version=NIV)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Let It Go
A little something a friend shared with me today by T.D. Jakes...
There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone.
When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. The bible said that, "They came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us." [1 John 2:19]
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person, it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's over.
Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay. Let them go!!
If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to past hurts and pains... LET IT GO!!!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth... LET IT GO!!!
If someone has angered you ... LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge.... LET IT GO!!!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction ... LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents .. LET IT GO!!!
If you have a bad attitude... LET IT GO!!!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better... LET IT GO!!!
If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him... LET IT GO!!!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship.... LET IT GO!!!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves.. LET IT GO!!!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed ... LET IT GO!!!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you need to... LET IT GO!!!
Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is doing a new thing for 2010!!! LET IT GO!!!
Get Right or Get Left .. think about it, and then LET IT GO !!!
There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone.
When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. The bible said that, "They came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us." [1 John 2:19]
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person, it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's over.
Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay. Let them go!!
If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to past hurts and pains... LET IT GO!!!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth... LET IT GO!!!
If someone has angered you ... LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge.... LET IT GO!!!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction ... LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents .. LET IT GO!!!
If you have a bad attitude... LET IT GO!!!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better... LET IT GO!!!
If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him... LET IT GO!!!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship.... LET IT GO!!!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves.. LET IT GO!!!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed ... LET IT GO!!!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you need to... LET IT GO!!!
Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is doing a new thing for 2010!!! LET IT GO!!!
Get Right or Get Left .. think about it, and then LET IT GO !!!
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