Merry Christmas

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my blog. I've been busy busy making Christmas gifts! I'll post lots of pics after Christmas so you can see what I've been up to. This our last night at home for awhile. Starting tomorrow we have Christmas parties, trips (yes, that's plural, we will be coming this weekend AND next week) to Alabama then it's Christmas! I've got a lot to do before we leave...mostly in the realm of housework. I just wanted to let you know that we're still here and loving celebrating the birth of our Savior together as a couple this year! It's the first Hays' family Christmas!

The Thanksgiving Meal

I must say that the turkey turned out quite nicely! I had researched several recipes and sort of created my own and I am definitely sticking with it! Here was our menu:

Turkey
Stove Top stuffing (I didn't want to get too adventurous and make a turkey and real dressing...that's too many firsts for one day)
Wheat Rolls
Steamed Broccoli
Corn Pudding (another new recipe that is now one of Dane's favs)
Salad
Sweet Tea

I must add that we have enough food to feed us last night, today, tomorrow, Wednesday and still more turkey to freeze for later. Looking back, we should have had friends over for dinner because there is so much food.

In somewhat sad news, I had to miss Thankgsiving with one side of my family tonight...yea, this living far away is not all its cracked up to be.

I'm off to bed for now...it's late. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Pre-Thankgsiving!

I'm making a mini pre-Thanksgiving dinner for us today. I must say I'm kinda nervous about cooking my first turkey...not because of it being hard, but I have this thing about touching raw poultry. I'm pretty disgusted right now at the thought of going into the kitchen in a few minutes to start rubbing a raw piece of meat with spices. I just needed to share my fear.

Love the fall leaves

Today is a strictly a continuation of last night...more sewing, more laundry & dishes, a quick run and maybe some Christmas shopping! I love days like today! I don't have a lot to say this morning...I just wanted to show you this picture of our backyard from a couple of weeks ago. The leaves turned so many beautiful colors so I took a pic so you all can see! The picture is a little fuzzy because I don't have the greatest camera and because the window screen kept showing up in the picture.

What a wonderful night!

I must say that tonight was so much fun! When Casey came to visit us last week he brought me a wonderful Christmas Village Tortilla Soup mix. I must say that one of the things I miss most about Christmas Village is buying homemade soup mixes! So after work today I went grocery shopping for just a few things and we all know that I do enjoy this most of the time. I then came home to do a few chores while our tortilla soup cooked. I must say the soup was AMAZING!!

After dinner I sat down to do a little sewing before Dane and I went on a Starbucks date. We love to do the "5 questions cards" on our coffee dates. We each take a notecard and write down 5 questions that we can ask each other. We both have to answer each question. This is something we started when we were dating and love it so much that we've continued it into married life. Some of the questions from tonight were "If there was a St."YOU" day, what would the celebration be like?" or "If you write a book, what would it be about and what would the cover look like?" To make this date even better, we both had coupons for free coffee so it was a totally free date! I had my first Christmas drink, a non-fat, no whip cream Caramel Brulee Latte and it was pretty good; but, I think I'll stick to my non-fat, no whip Peppermint Mocha in the future.

Now we've arrived home and I've sat down to check a few blogs, tell you all about my wonderful night then move onto some more sewing while watching The Office and Friends. I must say this has been one winner of a Friday night!

Here's a pic of one of my recently finished sewing projects. One of our friends here is having a baby boy, who we like to affectionately call "Baby G." These were a gift for his shower last week.

Buenos dias!

I'm on the brink of some much awaited free time in which I am going to even further embrace my inner crafitness. I've done some sewing these last couple of weeks and I have much more to do that I am SOO excited about! Christmas gifts are on the way!! I'll post a few pics of my crafts once the gifts have been given so you can see what I'm spending all of my free time on.

I hope to update more later, but today is a busy busy day. Tonight is the last night of my Seminary Wives' Class and it's been good but I'll be soo glad to have my Thursday nights free again.

Until later...have a great day!

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to say yes, I'm still here and I'm sorry I haven't blogged in o...say... 3 months! I'm so excited to have my own home to decorate for Christmas this year that I have already decorated! Some may judge since it was done last week which is far before Thanksgiving; however, I stand firm in my nesting attitude and think that Christmas is far too wonderful to celebrate for only 3 weeks!

Es viernes!

This morning for some reason I've been thinking a lot about Jhesica. For those of you who don't know, Jhesica is our child that we sponsor through Compassion. She lives in Bolivia (South America) and is absolutely beautiful and so smart! I got another letter from her yesterday with the best picture she's ever drawn! I wonder what she's doing today. She had a wonderful Mother's Day (the letters are delayed a bit with the mail and translation process)and made a picture frame to give her mom! How creative she is! She also went to her cousin's house to celebrate her cousin's 11th birthday! She has a wonderful family that loves her and teaches her about Jesus. I pray she has a wonderful day today!

In other news, we've been cleaning out all of our books and selling them on half.com. It's a great way to make a little extra income...I do emphasize little. I've discovered the secret to actually selling the books is to price them at the lowest or next to lowest listed price. You have to let the pride of "my book is worth at least $8" go and decide that the space you free up by selling 4 books for $2.50 each is better than selling 1 for $8. You send everything via media mail so shipping is a flat rate and you get reimbursed for it as well! I love getting rid of our excess stuff ...it's refreshing!

Target Finds for the week

I'm so excited about these finds that I must share them with you.

Airwick Motion Aircare $5.99
Use $6 coupon from 8/9 SS
Final Cost: Free

Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, 8 ct, $1.52
Use the .55 coupon from 6/7 RP
or the $1/2 Fuel for School insert from 8/2
Or the .55 online coupon
Combine with the $0.75 Target Coupon
Final Cost: as low as $0.22

Nexcare Bandages, 8 ct (travel size), $0.97
Use the $1 online coupon
Final Cost: Free

For more great finds at Rite Aid, Walgreen's or Target see the $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge blog on my "most read" list on the left of this page.

School Supplies

Can I make a confession? There are little bursts of excitement that begin to swell up inside me when I see the time of year to buy school supplies come around! Especially this year I've seen notebooks for $.01, BOGO markers and crayons and even $.20 crayons! No, I'm not in school this fall; but, yes I will be buying some new $.20 crayons... you just never know for which craft project they might come in handy!

Just so you can see a little peek into my Sunday afternoons, here's what's happened so far today. After church this morning, I buy a Sunday paper and clip all of the wonderful coupons. I then have come to love researching recipes and sales to plan out my meals for the week. It's one of my favorite times of the week! What can I say, it's like a puzzle that I get to solve!

I also got my first free issue of Cooking Light in the mail this week and read some great recipes last night. If you like flavored tea (unfortunately neither Dane nor I do), there are great recipes for peach tea, mint/lime tea and even lavender tea.

That's all for now, back to menu planning.

Favorite Quotes #4

David Platt, SBC 2009:

Christians today, like the original recipients of the Book of Hebrews, have 2 options: They can retreat from the mission God has given them or they can risk everything for it. "There is so little risk for the mission. We have retreated into our nice, big building where we sit in our nice, cushioned chairs...where we are insulated and isolated from the inner city and the spiritual lostness of the world. We can either retreat from the mission of declaring the glory of Christ to all nations into a land of religious formalism or we can risk everything for the mission. Let's risk it all."

He goes on to tell of how Christ followers around the world are meeting in secret in underground house churches and are embracing Christ and not religious formalism. He says "[T]hey have gotten the idea that the Word of God and the Spirit of God are enough to accomplish the mission of God, and they are right."

God, help us and our churches to embrace you alone!

Wow it's been awhile

I'm never going to make great claims about how I'm such a wonderful blogger and keep all of my friends in the know because well...let's face it...I update twice a month maybe? Yea, sorry about that.

This is our first week for like a month where we are home, but most importantly with no plans to travel anywhere for at least a month. We're so exhausted from traveling.

I've rediscovered this blog by "The Pioneer Woman" and made some of her recipes last night. I made Steak Bites and Homemade Mac n Cheese with my own recipe of green beans. I must say she is a brilliant woman! You can check out her blog at www.thepioneerwoman.com and see thousands more of her amazing recipes along with everything else!

I hope to be able to post pics of our new apartment soon...I know you are all on tip toes waiting. ;)

Alas, today is a work day so I am off to work now. Small group tonight! Dane and I love our small group here!

Let's add Norah Jones and Ray Charles to that list...btw...Ray Charles version of "Fever" I must say is better than Michael Buble's. Wow, can't believe I said that, but it's true!

Tonight on iTunes...

Tonight I placed my itunes on random and here are some of what has come on. Enjoy!

Chris Tomlin
Church at Brook Hills Worship
Michael Buble
Frank Sinatra
Rod Stewart
Big Band Memories
Sarah Groves
Aaron Ivey

What's on your itunes lately?

Beautiful Day

Today is a day when I realize that I cannot love at all without God's grace.

My Savior King

We love you, Lord
We worship you
You are our God
You alone are good
You asked your Son
To carry this
The heavy cross
Our weight of sin

I love you, Lord
I worship you
Hope which was lost
Now stands renewed
I give my life
To honor this
The love of Christ
The Savior King

-"Savior King" by Hillsong

We praise you God for you are sovereign!

Dane is coming home!

I'm so excited Dane is coming home tonight! In case you missed the last post, he's been in Birmingham visiting his grandfather this weekend. It's so quiet and boring here without him. I'm very excited to have him here again! I've been doing the usual cleaning and doing laundry tonight while waiting on him to arrive.

I must tell you that I watched another amazing movie today. Before you think I've changed into some person that watches movies all the time (because if you know me then you know I only see like 3 movies a year), just go with me for a minute. I'm sure you've heard of the famous book "The Kite Runner." I've read 1 book by the author,"A Thousand Splendid Suns" but never read "The Kite Runner." So today I watched the movie on tv. I would rate it right up there with Slumdog Millionaire...great stuff! So now I'd like to add Afghanistan to the list of countries I'd like to adopt from...can you even do that? :) There's just something about the nations that makes me smile.

I've been watching more tv lately...I've got to stop.

I was browsing some summer photos on photobucket in search of some ideas for the header on my blog when I came across this gorgeous gem of a photo which I posted below. If this doesn't bring a summertime smile to your face, then you must be a summertime scrooge.

Dane is in Birmingham this weekend visiting his grandfather who is in the hospital again. (Please remember to pray for his grandfather.) Since I'm here with the apartment to myself this weekend I've done the usual cleaning, laundry and errands. I don't like my husband being gone. He's absolutely so much fun to be with that I really miss him when he's not around! He'll be home tomorrow and I'm very excited!

As many of you already know, I got a new job working as a secretary in the Admissions office at the seminary! I've already worked 2 days and love it so far. I can't wait until I actually learn everything and don't have to ask 1000 questions. :)

In other news, the Travel Channel has become one of mine and Dane's favorite channels. With shows like Bizarre Foods and Man vs Food it has found it's way into our little home several nights lately. Anthony Bourdain just did a show on Mumbai, India...the city where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. If you know me, then you know this is one of my new favorite movies. You should see it! If you have, what did you think?

amandaminnixhays

Also...officially changing my blog name to amandaminnixhays@blogspot.com

I think 3 months after marriage is long enough...don't you?

Enjoy!

Just a little update

So I'm sorry for still continuing the delay of posting pictures of our new place. We made the trip back to Birmingham and Centre this past weekend for a friend's wedding and got to visit with more friends and family. In spite of what sometimes seems like a super long drive, it was definitely worth it to get to visit with everyone! God has blessed us with certain friends that whenever we are together, we are challenged to be more like Christ and to be on board with Christ's command of discipling the nations. We are so thankful for God placing people like this in our lives!

In other news, Dane is loving working at the Lifeway on campus. He enjoys getting off by 5 everyday which is a very welcomed change since he was rarely home before 10pm when we lived in Birmingham. Have I mentioned that our apartment is close to everything?! When we lived in Birmingham it was at least a 20 min drive to anything and now we are 2 min from school/work for Dane, 5 min from Walmart Market, 10 min from Kroger, Target, 2 malls and 12 min from church. It's absolutely amazing at how much longer a tank of gas lasts!

I am searching for a job and am temporarily working part-time for Student Life. I really miss my coworkers there! Working from home isn't nearly as fun when you do it everyday. I'm not complaining though. I'm thankful for any job God has given me.

God has been teaching me lately the power of his name. His name has the power to save, the power of life and death and commands all praise, honor and glory. Who else can say that? He showed me my complacency and lack of concern for the power of the name of Christ which are outright sins of rebellion. God is growing in me a desire for knowing Him. I am learning every day new ways that I am required to blindly trust in his sovereignty. After all, if I am created to enjoy his glory and my prayer is that he be glorified, then the life of this christian hedonist will be wonderful! I totally stole that from a book I read right after I graduated high school..."Desiring God" by John Piper. If you haven't read it, you definitely should check it out!

That's all for now. I'm going to hang out with the most amazing husband in the world...yes, that's Dane! ¡Buenas noches a todos!

Another day

Not a lot that would be exciting to you has happened since Monday. I sent in some more job applications to the seminary for some positions they recently posted. Pray that we are patient, obedient and wise as we wait on God's timing for us.

In other news I've been working all day today and will for part of the day tomorrow getting our health, auto and renter's insurance set up/transferred from AL. I am normally a lover of all tasks administrative but after 6 hours of phone calls, internet searching and paper pushing I'm ready to be done with insurance for awhile. All will be done soon though.

I also took a break from all of the paperwork today to hang some artwork, frames a coat rack and a clock on the walls of our lovely new home. I must say that it looks much more homely here with things on the walls! The walls are plaster which makes it great for holding in screws and nails but tough to actually screw in screws...so you know what I did? Exactly what every good, strong carpenter does...I hammered in the screws. Yes, it did work...well at least it's worked so far.

Now that you've probably read the most boring blog of all time I shall let you go to sleep as am I. As I write Dane is making a reading plan for the 10 or so books he must read in the next month and telling me not to divorce him even though he's going to date his books for the next month. Welcome to seminary! :)

¡Bienvenidos a Louisville!

Hello all! We're in Louisville now!

We're officially moved into our wonderful apartment and soo excited to be here! We absolutely LOVE the neighborhood we live in because it has such a large variety of everything! So far Louisville is giving Birmingham a run for its money. It's also very nice to actually live close to school, work and the grocery store for once. When we lived in Chelsea we were at least 15 min from anything and 30-45 min from work. Here we're less than 5 min from school, Dane's job, Walmart Market, Kroger, Starbucks along with several local ice cream shops and restaurants. We've used 1/2 a tank of gas in almost 2 weeks...beautiful! I'm still job searching but I know that God has something prepared for me. It's all in his timing.

We've also found a church that we love! We've only been once and still may possibly visit 1 more church this week, but we love Crossing Church. I must tell you about my favorite part! At the end of the service, everyone took communion then returned to their seats to celebrate with worship. The parents left to go get their kids and bring them in to worship as a family. Several families had adopted children from various places and if you know me at all you know that God has given me a huge heart for adoption. It was such a beautiful picture of families made up of every tribe all worshiping their Savior!

Dane starts class next week so that will begin another new time in our lives. During the summer or "J-term" each class meets only for 1 week from 8-4Mon-Fri. As I write this blog he is sitting here in the living room reading away. He has lots of books to read for his Intro to New Testament class that starts next week.

That seems to be all that is worthy of blogging right now. I had my first go at homemade chicken fingers tonight and I think they were a success! Very easy and some may even compare them to Chic-fil-a (ok, well..only Dane says that and he's a little biased).

A rainy Saturday at home...and everywhere else

O what a Saturday! SOO much to do today...I'm hoping I can get it all done. I know I will feel super accomplished if I can. So you can hold me accountable to it, here's my list:

-Groceries at Publix and Walmart
-Go to Belk, Bed,Bath&Beyond and Walmart to find cheapest slipcover for couch and closet organizing kit
-Work out
-Laundry
-Dishes
-Thank You Notes
-Find job in Louisville
-Sewing
-Organize bills

So do you think it can all be done in 1 day? Who knows? I'm up for trying though. I'm trying to convince myself that if I publicly list it all then I'd feel ashamed to come back and list that I only got groceries and laundry done.

I'm also on the search for the best moving truck to rent. Any opinions to share? U-haul? Penske? Budget? Any others?

Another Monday

So today a new love has been birthed in me...ok well, maybe I just re-discovered this love for...FLOWERS. I went to Lowe's and wanted to buy all of the flowers and plant fields of flower gardens then the sad realization hit me that after I did, I would soon watch their demise because I have had a sad track record with plants. I'm growing some herbs right now in a pot outside (thanks Meghan!); however, I managed to kill the basil within 10 days...what happened? Is basil just finnicky? Anyway, one day I will have wonderful flowers...I hope.

Tonight is a night of dishes, maybe laundry, cleaning and thank you notes. Dane is at work and I enjoy a little cleaning time every now and then...ok, well I enjoy it often simply because I quite despise a cluttered room.

We survived the storms this weekend. I do love storms because they make me want to stay indoors in my pajamas and sleep or watch a sappy love movie - of course neither of these things happened this weekend. I've also found that storms put me in a very anti-social mood. I'd rather keep to myself when it's gloomy out. Does this happen to anyone else? I know it's just me and a storm has no psychological power over me, blah, blah, blah...I'm just saying...do storms make you want to keep to yourself?

A change is soon to come...

First, I'd like to let you know that I will soon be switching my blog name to amandaminnixhays.blogspot.com so yes, I am happily claiming this new name! So if you try to find it under my old name in a few days, check the new one...amandaminnixhays. Have I mentioned that I love being married to the most wonderful man alive?! Just thought you should know...

SOOO many things going on in my head that I'd love to sit and blog for hours about all of the different thoughts, views and beliefs that God is developing in me. First and foremost is the desire for adoption that God continues to pound into our hearts. As many of you may know, Dane and I traveled to Zambia last summer for 2 weeks and God used this time to grow our hearts toward his children who have no earthly parents. The organization I am most familiar with allows adoptions from Uganda and this was the only African country they work with....or so I thought until last week. I was browsing around on their website and came across tons of other countries but most importantly...yes, you guessed it....ZAMBIA. For those of you that are thinking..."woh, didn't you just get married 1 month ago?" Yes, we did and no, we don't plan to adopt this year or even the next...we have no specific timeline as of yet; however, we do want to trust that God will bring in funds to bring our children home to us, even if they have not been born yet. Will we have biological children? If that is in God's design for us then yes, we'd like to do that as well. Who knows what God has in store?

On another note, tithing. I won't go into too much detail b/c this is still something I'm learning about; however, I do want to share with you a chapter from the book "Pagan Christianity" by George Barna (fantastic research goob) and Frank Viola. The chapter on tithing (the only one I've read by the way since that's what Dane handed to me) is very thought-provoking. It discusses some popular topics such as "Why do I tithe 10% when that is an Old Testament practice and not one of Christ?" and "Should I tithe to the church or care for orphans and widows as Christ taught in the NT?" and even tackles "Should ministers take salaries if they follow NT priests?" These are all tough questions and none of which I have an answer to or have even formed an opinion about. The chapter definitely raises some very, very interesting points that are making me think. You should check it out.

Dane is in a meeting at church right now so I'm hanging out in his office until he finishes. I really wish I had brought some thank you notes to work on, but cooking breakfast for church at 6:15am then rushing out the door will cause one to leave important things at home that MUST be done soon. I do LOVE to cook though...today's dish: homemade spiced apples and (store-bought) cinnamon bread.

Just to let you know I'm here...

Here's what I've been up to as of late.

1. Laundry
2. Student Life
3. Grocery shopping
4. Cooking
5. Cleaning out and organizing
6. Prepping for a yard sale
7. Thank you notes
8. Pondering grad school...hmm...where and for what??

Here's what I'm planning to do in the next few days/weeks.
1. Read more
2. Love more
3. Pray more

I introduce to you, Mrs. Hays!

I know this is my first post at Mrs. Hays and it should be something monumental; however, it's late, I'm tired and I haven't posted yet b/c I haven't decided if I will change my blog name to my married name and how to let every know, etc. Who knows....all this to say, hola, voy a dormir...buenas noches.

2 days!

I HAVE to post tonight because I am super excited that I'm getting married in 2 days!!! Yes, 2 days!! Dane and I spent the day together since I was off work today and got so much accomplished in getting ready for the wedding, honeymoon and in our apartment. I love productive days! I'm procrastinating a bit on packing right now because I'm very sleepy and I'm just tired of moving. Both excellent reasons for me to curl up in bed in my pjs with my laptop and then force myself to get up in just a few minutes to pack some more. I don't work until 1 tomorrow so I've got all morning...see, more procrastination.

I am downing some orange juice today for a Vitamin C boost. Dane's parents have been sick with a 24 hr stomach bug and we are praying that neither of us catch it!! Please join us in praying that we will be sickness free during the wedding and honeymoon!

Back to packing, I really feel like I am carrying WAY too much. I found a "Master Honeymoon Packing List" on theknot.com and it listed just about every medication for every sickness that could possibly happen. Do I really need all of that? I mean we aren't leaving the country. I'm trying to be smart in packing b/c I HATE having tons of stuff that doesn't get used. O well...I'm going to fight the temptation to pile on a sweat shirt and snuggle into bed and get up and pack some more...maybe.

What's the real deal with sound waves?

O what a beautiful sunny day! I LOVE days like today and the past 2 or 3 we've had!! They just make me want to pick daisies and smile! Ok, I admit, I really am that cheesy because that was an honest quote from my soul and not just some random sarcasm...go ahead, make fun if you want. :)

My Tuesday and Thursdays consist of not working until 1 so it's quite the lovely morning to stay home and work on wedding plans. I must admit that I am ready for the wedding to be here! So now I am sitting in my cozy bed with blankets at 10am working on programs, pictures and music.

At work there are always lots of discussions about theological and political debates such as stem cell research, Rob Bell, the infamous stimulus plan, etc. Yesterday was the day for discussions; however, my favorite and the one I will present to you is this.

If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?

Now you may be quick to answer that yes, it does because sound waves/vibrations are emitted by the action; however, the rebuttle of "are waves sound if not hitting a sound device (i.e. the ear)?" So...what do you think? If you know me, you know I love discussing controversial topics, but this is one I'm not willing to ponder long over. But tell me, what do you think?

Great Quote #3

“He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow christians to be anything more. He overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in the creature, and , therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find it.”

Charles Spurgeon

Who knew churches were so obsessed with time change?

This weekend has been a fun one so far! Well, you may not find it all that interesting but I have. I ran my first 5K this morning and absolutely LOVED it! My time was less than record-breaking but the best I've done so far so I was pleased although I think I can do better. The run was at Berry College in Rome, GA, a college of 26,000 acres of pure natural beauty! It was such a perfect morning for an outdoor run! A little cloudy, around 55 degrees. So needless to say, I am wanting to work on my time and run in another one soon.

In other news, I'm getting married in 2 WEEKS! Let me repeat, 2 WEEKS! I am super excited and must add that my mom is the most organized perfect wedding planner EVER! I told her she should do it on the side. She's fabulous!!

Still working on wedding programs this week and reception design so hope to finish that soon so I can coast in....yea, I'm sure that'll happen. :)

On another note, here in Alabama we have had absolutely gorgeous 70 degree weather for the past few days! It's a welcome change from the cold and the once-in-a-lifetime snow that came last weekend! O Alabama weather, you never cease to amaze me (or as I more often say, "you cease to amaze me") Yes, sometimes I get a little confused and Dane enjoys pointing it out. It's always great when I'm in the middle of a golden moment of sarcasm and then I defeat myself with jumbling up the final line. Well...that's me.

Don't forget to "spring forward your clocks!" I can honestly say that if I've heard it once then I've heard it 1000 times. Between people, reminders AT church, 2 emails from Brook Hills, 2 emails from Crosspoint and 1 email from Pine Grove I can fully assure you that churches are doing their job to let EVERYONE know that the time changes and they should be on time for church tomorrow. Alas, someone will forget which will warrant extra reminders for next year.

16 days

I have some super exciting news! I'M GETTING MARRIED IN 16 DAYS! Yes, 16!! Wow!!

Also, you may remember back in December I wrote about the Middle School Ministry at Crosspoint doing a missions project called change4change. Well, long story short, both the girls and guys tied and raised $182 in change! Dane and I were overwhelmed at their participation and God's faithfulness to provide for his children in Haiti. We sent this money to the Rescue Center http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/and Licia wrote us back with some options that we could set the money aside for. After much thought we decided to pay for 1 child's tuition, books, uniforms and all supplies for schooling for 1 year. Praise God that another child can go to school!


I'm reading a book called Excellent Wife by Martha Peace and I must say that it is incredibly challenging. Seeing all of the things that I am called to be by God as a wife makes me want to crawl under the covers sometimes. I do KNOW that the power of Christ lives in me and that is the ONLY way that I can be the wife I am called to be.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday! I get to have dinner tonight with a friend I haven't seen often since high school and I'm super excited!!

Also running my first official 5K this weekend...don't expect any record time updates.

Turkey Cheeseburgers

I'm returning to the blogging world since I've been absent this past week. I've just been busy with moving and starting a new job so the blog has taken the back seat, but no worries, I rarely skip a day of reading my favorite blogs so I'm still reading yours.

One thing in particular I have noticed is that I am so out of the loop when it comes to television. Because of my schedule I don't get to see much of American Idol and I don't watch the Bachelor which are the 2 shows that are all the rave in blog world. O well, I'm content to confine my television watching habits to Jon & Kate, Food Network, Full House and Fox News. Yes, I know I'm real cool.

Tried a new recipe last night, New Mexico Cheeseburgers, except for us it was Turkey Cheeseburgers since I like to try to substitute ground turkey for beef whenever possible. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give it a 5. Pretty good, just needed more seasoning. Here's what you do.

Layer 1 lb. ground turkey, 6 sliced, peeled potatoes, 1 chopped onion, 1 sm can green chilies, 1 can cream of mushroom soup and 2 c. cubed velveeta in a crock pot and cook on high for 1 hr, then low for 6-8 hours. We ate it with a spinach salad and crescent rolls. I might suggest throwing in a packet of taco seasoning next time, but still pretty good. A great cold night meal.

I'm off work on Wednesdays so I'm driving to Gadsden today for a dr. appt and some errands. I really do love my new job so far! I guess I better get ready if I'm leaving in 30 minutes. Good day everyone!

אלוהים סיפק

That says "God has provided" in Hebrew. I wonder how many times the Israelites said that after they'd sinned, repented, doubted then repented again while looking for God's grace and provision. That's certainly been my life the past few months but I can say that God has provided. He has provided a home for Dane and I and a wonderful job for me working at a ministry I wholeheartedly believe in. How great is the grace of our God! Many questions still lie ahead but I will continue to trust in his sovereignty and grace. In case you haven't heard and didn't psychically get where my job is from that last sentence, I'm working for Student Life again! It's part time but I am super excited to be there! No doubt this is what God has for me at this time. I'll be doing lots of data entry helping update the database for camp registration and product orders. Yay!!

This next week will be SUPER busy. 2 showers, helping do inventory at 2 Lifeway stores, babysitting, training at Student Life along with all normal weekly activities. Wow...I just packed my suitcase to stay with Meghan for this next week. I'm super excited to get to spend time with her but also know I'll be so busy.

I'm getting married in 30 days and it's finally seeming like it's a reality! So many small details to still be done. Here's part of my list: get garter for garter toss, buy napkins, design reception decoration, mail recipes to caterer, finish thank you cards and invitations and I'm sure there's more.

Now that I THINK I'm prepared to live out of my suitcase for a week I'm going to sleep. I have no clue when I'll update again since who knows where I'll end up in the next few days that has free Wifi.

Continue to pray that we (Dane and I) trust God wholeheartedly because we so desperately need him!

Happy __________ Day

How was your Valentine's/Black Hearts/Singles Awareness Day? Between all of my friends, there are so many names for this day. My favorite is actually Black Hearts Day...just seems so rebellious, because if you know me you know that's what I am, rebellious :)

Well my Valentine's Day was absolutely perfect! Dane had several sweet surprises for me throughout the day along with a trip to Barnes & Noble to check out the Savannah books to plan our honeymoon, a movie at our beloved $1 theater and dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in Vestavia, Sol Azteca. He thinks I'm crazy but I still say and Payden agrees that no Mexican restaurant anywhere can beat La Cabana in Centre, AL (formerly known as Mi Casita). All Mexican lovers should travel from afar to this amazing establishment and discover its wonderfulness for themselves.

Anyway, for some reason God began to put it on my heart to begin praying for the parents of the child or children that we will adopt one day. I feel safe in saying that the kids are probably not born yet since we want to wait around 3+ years before having children and want to adopt young ones. I want to pray for God's guidance and his grace to be shown in their lives, knowing one day suddenly for some reason they will not be able to provide for their child and allow their child to come live with us. What an amazing thought! I am so excited at the idea of loving a child and making him or her my own through adoption just as Christ adopted me into his family and made me his own!

So tell me about your thoughts on adoption and about your Valentine's/Black Hearts/Single Awareness or whatever you call it Day.

The day before Valentine's

What a long night! I spent the night home alone tonight preparing my Valentine's gift to Dane for tomorrow. Only 5.5 hours of prep but I think lots of people will enjoy it. ;) Can't tell what it is yet just in case he reads this! This will be our last Valentine's Day as a non-married couple so needless to say it only adds to the excitement of the soon-approaching marriage! Yay!! I really can't wait to actually be in the same house, much less the same city as my best friend and husband!

In other news...made a Walmart trip today. I really do like going to Walmart by myself when I have time to do my shopping and browse around. It somehow relaxes me.

Still praying for a job and home. Please join me!

And tomorrow, ¡Feliz Día de San Valentín!

It's a fun time...kinda

This time in my life is working on being devoted through prayer. There are so many uncertainties right now that have the potential to send me off the deep end but instead I've chosen to trust in God's sovereignty and his provision. Just to name the big ones, still searching for a job AND an affordable place to live shortly before and after Dane and I marry in March. Even a recent college graduate with a bachelors degree cannot find a job in this economy. So please, please pray that God will provide for us financially and with a home. Pray God will give us both peace and joy instead of worry during this exciting time in our lives.

C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

Right now I'm still reading through C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity," which is the collection of his radio talks done in England during WWII. At the end of chapter 3 Lewis is finishing up a chapter on proving the identity of Christ as a divine being. I'm not going to quote the whole chapter to you so you should probably read the book yourself to get the full idea; however, I want to share a bit of it.

"Christ says that He is 'humble and meek' and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings."

I agree wholeheartedly with the above statement. What human being can honestly say that he is humble and meek? We might say that about others, but that is only because we don't know their deepest thoughts. Show me one person that truly believes he or she is 'humble and meek' and I'll show you someone who is overflowing with pride because they even dare to make that statement. Christ had to be 100% God to not be overeaten with pride like the rest of us are.

I want to leave you with one last quote from Lewis.

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any promising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Around the world...

Here a few headlines that have surprised me lately...
"...AND OCTUPLETS MAKE 14"

-Young woman, living with parents has six kids then gives birth to octuplets...WOW. 14 kids...o my.

"UNINVITED SISTER ATTACKS BRIDE AT RECEPTION"

- Police say this uninvited 23 yr old sister showed up at her sister's wedding reception and attacked her, smearing her makeup and "pulling out clumps of hair." Now there's some familial love.

"STATUE DEDICATED TO BUSH SHOE-THROWER"

- A statue of a giant, sofa-sized bronze shoe has now been built in honor of the infamous shoe-throwing journalist. Seriously now, even if you disagree with American politics and values, do you really make a statue of a giant shoe? Aren't people in your country in poverty and you build a giant shoe? Really guys...

Well, that's all for now. I must say that I am badly wanting to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Anyone else want to?

Just to check back in

Just checking back in since I've been away from blogging for a couple of weeks. I've become quite the ebayer lately. As of last night I've officially sold 6 things on ebay! Woohoo! I'm not becoming a millionaire by ebay, but $5 and $10 sales aren't bad. So now I'm off to the post office to ship one of my sales.

Can you love, feed, clothe and educate a child?

YES YOU CAN!
There is always a lot of emphasis on helping people at Christmas.
Children always make people smile.
So why not make a child smile year round?
The world food crisis has worsened conditions for families all over the world.
Christ has called us to serve and to care for the orphans and widows.
So why is it so hard for us?
I can honestly say that sponsoring a child through Compassion is one way that we can serve Christ and care for the children of the world.
Look at these faces and pray for them today.
Go to www.compassion.com to find out more about sponsoring a child!