My God is Greater!

Recently I have been going through a bit of a difficult time in my life. Things have been brought to my attention and I have had to make some very difficult decisions. Decisions that I never thought I would have to make and never wanted to make. It seems to be the beginning of a difficult chapter of my life as I begin to address certain areas of my life and begin a process of healing. I am having to separate myself from certain people in my life and it's hard because I know that it is something that has to be done, however, that doesn't make it any easier. It's difficult to describe what all I'm experiencing because there are so many thoughts and emotions that are swirling around my mind. About a week or so ago a lady at my office was sharing with me a devotional book that she is going through, the name of which I don't remember. She told me how much she loved it and how much it was speaking to her. She let me borrow it and told me that she loved the devotional on July 2 and that I had to read it. As I read over the passage I could not help but praise the Lord! That passage spoke to my heart and brought me peace in the midst of this phase of my life. I made a copy of that passage and put it up on my desk because I knew that this portion of my life was one that was not going to be over with in a week. Today was another day that I needed to read those words. This is what it says.

"Let me show you My way for you this day. I guide you continually, so you can relax and enjoy My Presence in the present. Living will is both a discipline and an art. Concentrate on staying close to Me, the divine Artist. Discipline your thoughts to trust Me as I work My ways in your life. Pray about everything; then, leave outcomes up to Me. Do not fear My will, for through it I accomplish what is best for you. Take a deep breath and dive into the depths of absolute trust in Me. Underneath are the everlasting arms." The verses that went along with it are Psalm 5:2-3 and Deuteronomy 33:27

I love this because it is a continual reminder that God is in control and I am simply to follow Him and submit to His leading in my life and He will take care of the rest. Even in the most trying times He is with me and only wants what is best for me. In this time that is both comforting and difficult for me to grasp because of all that is going on. However, I choose to believe it and choose to cling to it because with it there is hope and apart from it there is no hope. My God is greater than my circumstances and I know that He is for me and that there will be a day when, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Rev. 21:4

Sacramento Trip

Jordan and I just got back from Sacramento, CA where we were visiting my dad. We went for a quick three day weekend and had a wonderful time. The beginning of our trip, however, did not start out so wonderful. Our flight out of Denver was supposed to leave at 8:00 PM but was delayed and hour and a half due to the hail and thunderstorms in Denver. They actually weren't going on while we were there but took place earlier and threw tons of flights off so they were playing catch up. So an hour and a half wasn't that bad but then we got delayed again. When it was all said and done we ended up leaving Denver sometime after 11:00 PM. We didn't get to my dad's house until sometime after 2:00 AM and when we did we had a quick tour and went straight to sleep.

The next day we just took it easy and slept in a bit. That afternoon we went to the wonderful Farmers Market/flee market.



They had so much yummy produce and then a whole bunch of random things, most of it being a whole bunch of crap to be quite honest. Anyway, I loved all the fruits and veggies they had for cheap! That's the great thing about California; the weather is so nice that just about anything grows well there. After that we went to the K-Love headquarters and got to see where my dad works and the rest of the station. That night my dad made some yummy enchiladas and homemade strawberry ice cream which is one of my favs! We went for a walk around his community which was a lot of fun too. On our walk my dad showed us this tree that he always hears an owl. He then proceeded to make owl noises so that the creature could respond back. He succeeded. He then told us how he wishes he could see him one of these days which spurred us all on and we began to hunt for this owl in the tree. Low and behold it was my amazing hubby that found the great owl! It was really cool. He was at the top of the tree and all you could see was his silhouette before he quickly flew off. We finished our walk by taking some lovely pictures on the golf course that goes around my dad's community.

The sunset was beautiful!


I was in a funny mood and had a strong desire to take a dip picture!


Then it was back to the house for homemade ice cream and Avatar. I finally saw this movie. My brother-in-law Ethan has been telling me how much I need to see so I did. I thought the graphics were definitely amazing but that was pretty much it for me. I thought the story was just ok and pretty typical. Anyways, a fun movie!


The second day was by far the best day in my opinion. We woke up early in the morning and headed west for Napa Valley! Oh, my, that place is gorgeous! We went to the Robert Mondavi Winery and had a tour and wine tasting. So much fun and highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Napa area.



At the entry to the winery.





The pretty vineyards.


Our tour took us in the vineyards and we got to look at the grapes when they are just getting started.


They had a couple of these gazebos by the vineyards. So pretty.


All the barrels they make the wine in.


They were huge!


Wine that was in the first stage of the aging process.


Getting ready for our tasting!


It was so much fun to see how they make the wine and learnd all about the process. The wine tasting wasn't bad either! :)

After our tour and tasting we went to DEAN AND DELUCA!!>

You can see my excitement in this picture! I have always wanted to go to one of these and was not disappointed. It was fantastic!

This was the dessert I got from there called "Cupa, Cupa". It's kind of like a tiramisu in a chocolate cup, amazing!


So, I got my first kick of it and now have an itching desire to go to the main one in NY, but that's another trip. After I said my goodbyes to Dean and Deluca we went to this great restaurant called Tra Vigne. The food was amazing!

Outside the restaurant.


Hall winery. We were pretty proud!


Then we headed to a little coastal town near San Francisco called Sausalito. This was such a great little town! We walked around for a while and took in the beautiful bay scenery.



I love all the sail boats in CA.


There was this guy in Sausalito who makes a living displaying the different ways he can balance these rocks. It was pretty interesting.


Pic with San Francisco in the background. I love that city!


Great town to visit if you’re in the Bay area. Then we headed back to dad's, had dinner, more wine, and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Our last day there we went to Old Town Sacramento and had lunch at this restaurant called Fat City. The restaurant has been around for a long time and is so much fun. Then we headed off to the airport and made our way back home. It was a great weekend to finally see where my dad works and lives. Now back its to the old bump and grind.

Caving

Since my husband is in school finishing his masters in counseling he has to do a ton of internship hours to complete his degree. One type of counseling, which is actually the one he wants to do for his career, is experiential counseling. This is where the counselor will take people on various activities and counsel them through experiences. It's actually really pretty awesome the more I have come to learn about. Anyway, this past weekend we had the opportunity to go caving with some dear friends, Charlie and Shelby, to experience this type of counseling. The couple that we went with are also pursuing counseling careers so this was a great way to have some fun while the three of them got in some great hours. I have to say that I was a little apprehensive about the caving thing because I really had no idea what to expect. I tend to make things a bigger deal/worse in my head than they really are. I just pictured myself trapped in a tiny hole unable to get out and stressing making the whole thing worse and so on and so on. Well, Praise the Lord for reality!! The experience was nothing like that. I actually really enjoyed it and in a weird way found it to be pretty relaxing and peaceful. When your in the cave it was totally silent and I loved that because I don't have many moments when it is COMPLETELY silent and you can't hear a thing. Literally. So I really liked that part of it. Also, I really like it when I can test my body in what I think I am capable of. It was fun to see a tiny hole, then go through it and see what you are capable to do. I just think that's great! It was also really interesting to see how this type of activity can be used as therapy/counseling. Doing something like this allows people to face issues they may or may not even be aware of and doing something like this allows them to exercise practical ways to overcome different things. Anyway, here are some pictures from this adventure.

This is the picture of all of us at the beginning of our caving adventure all nice and clean.


Me coming out of the "door" at the end of the caving. At the beginning this hole looked so small to me and at the end it looked a lot bigger.


My hubby coming out.


All of us outside of the cave and much dirtier than when we went in.


Me and Jordan all dirty.


Me and Shelby showing off our dirty clothes. Very fashionable.


Our studly men doing a little bit of modeling.


Another group picture.


It was a great experience!

Warmer Days and Marathon Training

Yay, it is finally starting to warm up here in the state of Colorado!! It's about time is all I have to say. Of course, the thing about CO is that you can never really tell if it is going to stay this way. People who have lived here for most of their lives have said that it can sometimes snow in June and even July. Rare as it may be, it can still happen. For now I am just enjoying every moment of it and drinking in the warmth.

With the warmer weather comes a certain activity that I am venturing into for the first time this year, marathons. We had to cancel our gym memberships because the price was going up so my husband had the great idea to train for marathons this summer. Granted he will be the one doing the full, but I have agreed to train for a half with him. Since it is finally bearable to be outside, we are starting our training today. I have to say that I am a little apprehensive about this. I have many friends that have done them and say that anyone can do a half, but the most I have ever run before is 5 or 6 miles. 13 miles is a little scary for me but I am determined to conquer every single one of them. I don't know about you all but I love the Biggest Loser and find that show so inspiring. I just keep thinking of the final contests on the show and how they have them run a FULL marathon, and some of them are still pretty heavy. I know that if they can run 26 miles I can surely run 13. So let the training begin! :)

Summer, Where Are You?

So, it is May 11 today but you would not be able to know that by the weather we are having in the beautiful state of Colorado. Right now it is 46 degrees out but it says it feels like 39 degrees. This is the one thing about Colorado that I don't think I'll ever get used to. This past weekend we were in NM for Mother's Day weekend and the weather was beautiful! It was in the low 80's and I was wearing dresses every day. I mean, I don't mind cold weather in general but only when it is appropriate. December, January, fine. May, not so much. I'm hoping that this wonderful state of mine will very soon get the memo that it is now summer time and decide to join in on the warmth. I'm ready to go out and play!! :)

A Facebook Thought

Today I was on Facebook and a thought came to me. As I was looking at pictures of people, in a non stalking way, I began to think about how this journey called "life" is such a funny thing. It's interesting to look at some of these people and remember the time in life when I knew them so well, but now only know things about them based off of what their status says. And how much more distant would we be and what all would I not know about them, if there was no Facebook. This thought has entered my mind a couple of times when I log into this Internet connection world. How did I go from being actively involved in their lives to just a spectator who gets glimpses of it from pictures and status's. Every time I've had this thought, my heart breaks a little. I so wish that I could be where they are, wrap them in my arms, and be close to them like I used to be. What was it in life that causes us to drift apart. I know that their have been moves that have caused physical distances, but what has caused the emotional distance? Was it something I said or did to make these people feel like they could not trust me anymore or can that physical distance be really all it is? To me it feels deeper than just physical distance. I know that God brings people to us at different stages of life, but what I do not understand is how you can be so close to certain people in those stages and then hardly know them in the next one. This is particularly hard for me to grasp when there wasn't anything major that would have caused this gap such as a fight or a specific event that caused this drift.

Of course with some of these people there is still the occasional catch up of our lives, but the depth we once shared doesn't seem to be there anymore. As I sit here and think about a question comes to my mind? Is this just the cycle that relationships go through? Even in my relationship with the Lord I see times where I have been so close and vulnerable to Him, and other times where I am just "catching" up with Him. I know that if this part of life pains me, how much more so it pains Him. After all, I am just a human desiring human friendships and He is our Heavenly Father desiring a relationship with His children whom He has created to be intimate with. Do friends not come or talk to me anymore because they are afraid I will judge them just like how we sometimes don't go to the Father and talk to Him because we are afraid He will judge us. And yet, because we do not trust Him or because of the stage of life we are in, we loose the depth and intimacy with Him we once had. Even if it's just for a season, we miss out in that season.

Anyways, I didn't know this post was going to come out like this, but this is just something that I'm thinking about on this Wednesday morning. I just cherish all my friendships, both past and present, and have a heart to really connect deeply with each one of them because I love them so much and desire a friendship with them that is so much more than what is on the surface. That's all. Wow, who knew Facebook could cause such deep and thought provoking ideas! :)

Mud Pie and Tea Time

This past Friday we had some of our dear friends, Griff and Michelle, over for dinner. It was kind of a last minute decision so as I was thinking of what to do for dessert I got really excited because this gave me the opportunity to make one of favorite desserts, mud pie. I came up with this recipe about two months ago based off of the mud pie that my family always got from Baskin-Robbins. This recipe is so simple and quick but oh so good! Here's what you do, although you'll have to bare with me because I didn't really "measure" the ingredients out.

You take about half a bag of Oreo cookies and put them into a food processor until they are just crumbs. Then you melt about 4 Tbsp. of butter and mix that in with the Oreo crumbs. Again my measurements are not accurate, but you will want the mixture to be a good consistency for your crust. Then you just put the mixture into a pie pan and spread it evenly along the bottom and sides of the pan. Make sure that there are no holes anywhere and that the pie pan is completely covered. Then pop that in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until it is hard. In the mean time, set out a container of Breyers coffee ice cream and let that get really soft. When the crust has hardened, scoop out the ice cream and spread it evenly over the crust. You won't use all the ice cream but the majority of it. Then place it back in the freezer for about another 10-15 minutes until the ice cream is frozen again. While that is in the freezer place about 2 cups or so of whole almonds on a cookie sheet and toast them at 350 degrees for about 5-7 minutes or until you can smell them. Place them on a cooling sheet and chop them once they've cooled. Once the ice cream has set, take a can of fudge topping and pour it all over the top of the ice cream. I recommend being very generous with it because it will only make the pie that much better. Then put it back in the freezer till that has set. Once it is set, take a can of whip cream and make little mounds all around and in the middle of the pie, sprinkle with almonds and put back in the freezer till your ready to serve it. The end result looks a little something like this.





It is so yummy!!! I could seriously eat the entire thing by myself!

That same weekend my sister, Hope, and Seth took me to the Wisdom Tea House in Monument for a belated birthday present. If you live in the Colorado Springs/Monument area and have not been there you must plan a trip soon. This is my new favorite place! It is this adorable tea house and you go order your tea, pick out your tea cup and saucer, and then they bring you your tea. You can also order food and scones to go with your tea. I absolutely love it! I got the peach vanilla tea and it was heaven in a cup! It beats Starbucks any day of the week in my opinion. Stop by and see what I mean. Here is a picture of Hope and I with our tea cups. Well, actually she is holding the cream cup. She seemed to like that better than her actually tea cup! :)

Mail Update

Well, we finally started getting our mail again. This Tuesday I opened my mailbox and there it was! The good news is that I did get my birthday cards that family sent me. The not so good news is that I still have yet to see my Martha Stewart or Julia Child cookbook. I contacted both sellers and the Martha people told me that if I don't get my magazine by May 1st, then I should call them and they will send me the April edition. So, I will still get it but just have to wait a bit longer, and I don't know about you, but I have a hard time waiting. Oh, well I'm sure I'll live somehow! :) As for the cookbook, I contacted the sender and he told me he was sending me another one today UPS so I should get that sometime at the beginning of next week. So, it all worked out ok, as things usually always do, it all is just taking a little bit longer than expected.

Ok, on to something that is much more exciting to me. Recently I changed my major to Human Resources from Elementary Education. This was such a wonderful decisions for so many reasons, one being that I had all of my credits from my previous school count towards my degree. That equals less time and less money!! Anyway, when I switched it my evaluation told me that I only had one elective to finish to be done with my general education part. Well at the time I was registered for a history class and thought, great I'll just take this class and be done!. Well, then I thought, this is silly I should just test out of some class since it's only an elective credit that I need, so I dropped the class. Well, my advisor called me the other day and told me that I actually have all my electives completed!! I guess their system only shows classes up to how many you need and any additional classes it doesn't bring up. So, since I was registered for that history class it must have pushed one of my previous classes out of the way so it made it seem like I needed one more classs for my electives, and when I dropped it, that class showed up. Needless to say I am one happy camper!! So now I will actually have a little over a week and a half of school off before I start my summer semester!! Thank you Lord Jesus for that unexpected blessing!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

US Postal Service

So, I have a little bit of a bone to pick with the US postal service. For a little over a week now, Jordan and I have not been receiving our mail. At first, we were getting our neighbors mail but ever since last Wednesday, we have not been getting a single piece of mail. This is odd because we always get at least junk mail. What makes it even more odd is that it is really only us and at least one of our neighbors that this has been happening to. On top of that, what makes the situation even more annoying is this. Last week was my birthday so my mom, grandma, sister, and uncle all sent me a birthday card which I haven't gotten and don't know if I ever will. In addition to that, my mom got me the Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook by Julia Child, which I have been DYING to have, and I that might have come this last week. Plus, my Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine was supposed to come this last week as well. All of which I have yet to posses and am convinced one of my neighbors is just hording my Martha and Julia literature from me and cooking amazing things in the meantime. :) Of course we also have bills and that stuff, but those aren't nearly as important as my cooking material! ;) Yea, I'm sure that's exactly what my husband is thinking too. I know it may seem like a childish thing but I've been super bummed this entire week and everyday I eagerly run to the mailbox to see if any of it has come. Why is it that it's always when you're really excited for something to come in the mail that your mail person decides to take a vacation and you have a sub?

But seriously, I have been convicted about my attitude towards this mail sub and was praying this morning for God to give me a more gracious heart towards whoever this person is. No matter what has happened I have no right to think such wretched things of that person in my mind. I'm just praying that our mail is in a pile somewhere in the post office and that they haven't just put it in someone else's box, because if that's the case, I don't think I'll ever see it. Lord willing if one of our neighbors does have our mail though, they will return it to us soon.

Sorry this wasn't a very upbeat blog, but thanks for letting me whine about it in writing! :)

Fruit Anyone?

Ok, so this past Tuesday I received a whopping 56 pounds of lushes fruit! Down the street from my house there is a wonderful all natural market called Taste of Life. The woman who owns it is such a doll and she is where Stacey and I order all of our grain that we grind to make flour. Well, she also places bulk orders for the most wonderful frozen fruit from Bithell Farms in Oregon. This fruit is great for making smoothies, pies, ice cream, and jam (which I am going to make whenever I finally buy the jars). Anyway, this farm is all natural and doesn't use any pesticides on their fruit. The result, beautiful, great tasting, and healthy fruit! Each type of fruit you order comes in a 14 lb. box. This time around I ordered strawberries, red raspberries, blueberries, and peaches! This is how I was able to acquire 56 lbs. of fruit. Totally it took me 12 and a half gallon and 2 quart sized freezer bags. Here is the final result when it was all said and done.



Just look at how vibrant the color of that fruit is!! You can just tell it's going to taste better(And it really does. I snacked on some while I was bagging! :)).



Don't these peaches look amazing?! I can't wait to make some homemade peach ice cream this summer! And look how red those raspberries and strawberries are!



So, if your in the Colorado Springs/Monument area and have not yet been to Taste of Life, I HIGHLY recommend you go. The taste and quality of the food is amazing. Plus, since it is small and quaint, it allows you to step back into time when people actually talked to and knew their customers, and vice-versa. Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy my delicious fruit! All 56 lbs of it! :)

Easter Weekend and Breakfast

We had such a wonderful Easter this past weekend! Both Jordan and I had off of work on Friday, one of the great perks of working for a Christian non-profit ministry. Friday and Saturday Jordan went snowboarding with his brother so I hung out with my sister, her husband, niece, and nephew on Friday. We had so much fun! We went up to the Children's Museum up in Denver and boy is that place amazing! I can just imagine being a kid playing there, probably because I enjoyed so much as an adult! :) I pretty much spent our time there running after Miss Hope, my niece, which was very entertaining!

Later that night I got to hang out with a wonderful friend of mine, Kristin. I really don't like staying by myself when Jordan is not there, so Kristin humored me and spent the night with me. It was so much fun! We just hung out, watched a movie, looked at her Julia Child cookbook(which my mom got me for my birthday and I can't wait till it comes! It's amazing!!) and chatted. I absolutely love getting to have some quality girl time!

The next day was baking galore day! I had to make some stuff to take to an Easter lunch that we went to on Sunday and our dear friends', Charlie and Shelby, house. These are some of the outcomes that came from this day.


This is the pound cake I made which I used for this strawberry shortcake dessert that I made. I forgot to take a picture of the actual finished strawberry shortcake dessert but you can find it here. Let me just say that this dessert is AMAZING!!!! Everyone loved it so much that there was none left at the end of the day. If your looking for a quick and wonderful dessert, you must try this! There really are no words for how delicious this dessert is! So, I used the pound cake in the recipe in replace of angel food cake because I just like it better! This pound cake is also delicious just by itself.



This was the quiche I made. I made a basic pie crust for this dish, but you could always use a premade pie crust as well. I grind my own flour and the flour that I used for this was the soft white wheat. It makes this the most flaky and wonderful crust! Then I really just threw stuff in the quiche, no real recipe. I used crispy turkey bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, caramelized about 5 shallots and half a small yellow onion, spinach, and then sprinkled the top with Swiss cheese. For the egg part I broke 5 eggs into a 4 cup holder and whisked those together and then added milk till it got to the 2 cup line (This is a trick I got from my friend Kristin the night before)and poured that over all the other ingredients. Then I baked it at 350 for about 40 minutes. It turned out pretty darn good if you ask me!

Our Easter service at church was amazing! We are so blessed to go to such a wonderful church and have such an amazing pastor! The Easter message is really what it is all about. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity would be like every other religion. Praise the Lord that it is not!! My God is a living God and reigns in Heaven, and because of that I am able to be His daughter! There really isn't anything better!

These next two picture are what I made Jordan and I for breakfast this morning with the leftover ingredients I had from the quiche.


I just used 2 eggs for this omelet and added turkey bacon, tomatoes, spinach, and Swiss and Parmesan cheese! Great way to use up the rest of the leftovers I had in the frig. Jordan loved it!



Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Rejoice that our Savior has risen!!

Great Harvest

Ok, so if you have a Great Harvest Bread Company in your area and have never been, you should go! They just put one up by where I work so I have been going there a lot. Not only do they have different types of bread, but they have wonderful soups, salads, and sandwiches. The best thing about them is that they use all natural, whole grain, ingredients and no preservatives so their food is, not only delicious, but super healthy for you! So far I have tried the Tuscan chicken sandwich and the broccoli cheddar soup, both threw a party in my mouth! :) They also make this pumpkin chocolate chip loaf and, the one I just tried yesterday, blackberry swirl bread. There are no words to describe the yumminess! The last type of bread that I have tried, so far, is their cinnamon chip blast. They, of course, put cinnamon chips in but then they make a filling that would go into cinnamon rolls and stick that in there too. Oh, so good! This bread would also make the most incredible french toast!

Another great thing that they have there are different types of butter. The sinful cinnamon butter is my fave (which is amazing on the cinnamon chip blast), but they also have a garlic and herb and vanilla butter. Well, yesterday after I bought my blackberry swirl loaf I realized that it would have been even more great with the vanilla butter. Rather than going back to get some I figured I would just make my own. I'm so glad I did! The butter on the bread was absolute wonderful! All you do to make it is whip 3/4 cup, or 12 Tbsp, unsalted butter, very soft at room temperature, about 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 2 Tbsp of vanilla extract. You could probably use a little less of the vanilla if you wanted to. The 2 Tbsp gave it a very definite vanilla taste so next time I may try to use a little less. Either way the butter was amazing! So good on the blackberry swirl loaf, but would be great on any type of bread. So, moral of this blog, if you have a Great Harvest near you make it a point to stop in and at least get a free sample from them! Your taste buds will be happy you did!

Snow Days

So, yesterday I got to experience one of the perks of living in Colorado, a snow day! I must say that I enjoy warmer weather much more, but my thought is, if it's going to be cold it might as well snow and give me a day off of work! The only sad part was that my hubby had to go into work. :( It's funny how the day seems to fly by though. I wake up thinking I am going to get so much done and then I look at the clock and it's already 4:00! I did, however, get some much needed tasks accomplished. I spent the first part of my day by writing my world view paper for my final, which will allow me to actually have some what of a weekend! I don't know about you, but I love learning about all the different worldviews that are out there in our culture. It is interesting, to say the least, to see what some people actually believe. I find it crazy to think that people can put their hope and faith in things that don't make sense to me, but they would say that believing in God is ridiculous. I'm sure they would probably say the same thing about me though.

Well, after I finished writing the bulk of my paper I decided to something much more enjoyable, cooking! I started by making two loaves of home-made bread! I truly love the process of making bread. My sister, Stacey, and I share a Wonder Mill and have been grinding our own flour, and let me tell you, it makes the most delicious bread! Also, the bread is super healthy because you don't loose any of the nutrients! For example, I grind hard white wheat, millet, and either quinoa or brown rice and I have a complete protein bread! Can't beat that! I love how making bread makes me feel like I am stepping back into time when life was a bit simpler. To add to my atmosphere of simplicity, I watched Pride and Prejudice. I felt like I was in that era, minus the television I was watching it on and all the electricity I was using! :) Hey, you do what you can!

After I got done making by bread, I started on, truly a mix of random ingredients, soup. I haven't been to the grocery store so I pretty much just threw what I had into a pot. I call it sweet potato and lentil soup! The end result was actually pretty good! My hubby loved it so that it really all that matters. So what I did was saute one yellow onion, one shallot, 3 cloves of garlic, and one sweet potato. To them I added some of Jane's crazy salt and an Italian herb mix. Then I added 4 cups of chicken broth and a bay leaf and let that simmer for a bit. After that I put it in the food processor and blended it till it was a bit thicker in consistency. Oh, before I did that I took out the bay leaf of course! Then for the protein part, I added a mix of cooked lentils and millet and Voila, a meal!

All in all a very relaxing and much needed day off!

Still Figuring This Out

Ok, so obviously I am not the best blogger yet. To give an update from my last blog the wedding was great!! I was able to sing for the big day which was such a praise! This was the first time Jordan and I got to put our musical talents together and it was so much fun! He played the piano while I sang. God has definitely blessed me with a wonderful husband who shares the same love for music as I do!

This past weekend was such a blessing for Jordan and I. In February we were able to attend the K-LOVE friends and family cruise with my dad and on it we met a couple who worked for Familylife. This couple was so kind to us and offered to send us to one of the Familylife's Weekend to Remember marriage conference whenever we wanted to go. So, this weekend we went to our first Weekend to Remember conferences and boy it was good. If your married and have never been I HIGLY recommend you attend one. Whatever state your marriage is in. To find if one is coming to you go here. We were so blessed to have such wonderful speakers who spoke the truth with such love and passion. It was a great weekend of good quality time for us, which is hard to do with all the craziness of life, and we don't even have kids yet! Anyway, hope you had a great weekend!!

The Blogging World

Hello!! Well, I have finally given in to this thing called blogging and have entered into its world. I have to say that I have been a little nervous to start one of these because I'm not sure if my life is very interesting at the moment. My husband, Jordan, and I have been married since August of 2008 and are both working and going to school full time. I love cooking and singing and am passionate about so many things it seems, all of which I'm sure will make their way into this blog at some point! I feel like the majority of people I know who have blogs already have kids so they always have stuff to talk about. When you have kids you always have interesting stories to tell. So, I will do the best with what I've got to keep whoever reads this thing entertained.

I guess I'll start by saying that I seem to have caught whatever it is that is going around in terms of sickness. It all started this past weekend with a scratchy throat and turned into a full blown cold. Any other time it would not be a big deal, but it just so happens that I have to sing in one of my dearest friends wedding this weekend! YIKES!!!!! The funny thing is that I hardly ever get sick. God really does have a funny way of getting us to depend on Him sometimes! :) Fortunately, the sore throat has gone away and I'm just a bit stuffy now. However, I am heavily medicated so I should be ok for Sat. Any prayers on this issue are greatly appreciated!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Phew, got that first blog out of the way. That wasn't too bad! :)