Taking a moment to be still

In today's world, it's hard to just sit and be still.

    To not think about anything.

         To just sit and listen for the Lord, and to rest in His presence.

It seems like we are constantly being distracted and bombarded by something - phone calls, To Do Lists, emails, Facebook, media, work. We live in a fast pace world and things rarely slow down.

However, finding time to be still is something that I try to do every morning, before I do anything else. And it's become the most important time in my whole day, one that I thrive on. If I miss a morning with my time with the Lord, then I feel like I have missed something important.

This past month in Jesus Calling, "Jesus" has been speaking to my heart to really trust in Him, especially during the tough times. We all go through the ups and downs of life. We have mountains to overcome and valleys to rest in. During each of those times, we are called first and foremost thank the Lord for whatever situation we are in, and also to seek Him and trust in His Word, His love, and His divine plan.

Today's devotion was very reaffirming to me.

"You are on the right path. Listen more to Me, and less to your doubts. I am leading you along the way I designed just for you."

God is in control and that is so comforting to me. And all He is asking is for me to trust in Him, to follow Him, and to love Him.

Before Christmas I spent some time making memory verse flash cards. I had them all put together except for the ring that holds them together, however they were just sitting on my dresser. Today, I put them together, and started memorizing the first verse. I love being able to recall verses during the day when something happens - good or bad. It's like God is actually speaking to me, reminding me that He is near.

There are 52 cards, one for each week of the year - obviously, I have some catching up to do! My desire is to have these 52 verses written on my heart by the end of the year - reference included. And then next year, to start on 52 more. 

The first verse I chose for a reason:

"I have written your word on my heart that I might not sin against you" ~Psalm 119:105

God Bless

What's Cooking?

Tonight for dinner was fun! 

I found a picture on Pinterest for grilled avocado, bacon, and cheese a while ago, and decided to try it tonight. 

Anything with avocado sounds good to me! 

I got some fresh baked whole wheat bread from Whole Foods, provolone cheese, and bacon (for Paul), and grilled up some sandwiches.

For the soup, chicken broth, fresh tomatoes, onions, a little garlic, basil, and a touch of milk. Boiled them all together, simmered for a few minutes, then pureed about half of it in the blender, leaving half chunky.

Together, the combination was great! Nothing beats a rainy day than finishing it with grilled cheese and tomato soup!

God Bless

Happy Birthday Mom!

My grandmother, who my sisters and I call Mom, celebrated a big birthday in November. My family arranged for us to get together at her cabin in Dahlonega, Ga for a weekend to celebrate.

It was so wonderful to get away for the weekend with family to just sit back, relax, play some games, hike, walk, and catch up. We figured out that we hadn't all been at the cabin together as a family for over 10 years! It had been way too long, so it was great to be back all together.

I love this cabin. I have so many memories from growing up spent here. My grandparents built it in 1988-1989, so it's been around practically my whole life. My sisters and I used to spend a week at Christmas here  every year - and I can't begin to retell all the memories. This cabin will forever be held close to my heart. It is a house built with and filled with love.

When my sister and I were little we buried a time capsule that we were to open each time we were there together. However, we couldn't even remember when we opened it last so we were anxious to get out there and dig it out. The only problem was that we knew the general area in which it was buried, but not the exact location. We had to dig a few holes to find it!

My grandmother called it digging for buried treasure!

You can't see it too well, but there are about five holes in the ground from digging. This is Hanna wondering where our treasure is. 

Yah! We found it! 

I'm holding a plastic bag covered in Georgia red clay that holds an old plastic tub within which is our treasure!

That was a mighty big and deep hole for little girls to dig!

Our note inside. Evidently, we've buried this three times before! 1995, 1996, and 1999. 

The random contents - a speech, a hair rubber band, some money, a "perfect man" key chain, a magnifying glass, and a pack of gum. Hmm...not really sure what all of this meant when we put it in there, but it must have meant something to us at the time.

Of course we updated the paper record, and added new things to it. Then we reburied it. 

Saturday morning we went for a walk down the road. It was a pretty day and good for walking. 

LOVE this little guy!! These are the Carhartts Uncle Paul found for Henry. They were perfect for a weekend at the cabin. 

Saturday afternoon we hiked down the mountain to the river. Vance got to come and had a blast leaping down the mountain, over fallen trees, and of course into the river!

Meredith, my dad, and me. 

The weekend was wonderful. I honestly do not think there is anything better than quality family time. And now that my family lives in three different states, we value and hold on to the time that we can spend together. I am so blessed to have my family.

And it can only get better as it continues to grow.

Here's our group picture before we all parted ways.

Dad, Hanna, Mom, David, Meredith and Henry, Mom, Pop, Me, and Paul.

"As for me and my household, we will choose to serve the Lord"

God Bless

Check in

It's been awhile. Honestly, not much has been going on here in Birmingham...at least not blog worthy, I guess.

Paul is working hard at the hospital, staying really busy, learning new things, and helping many people. He's started the process of looking for a job in South Carolina, so any extra prayers would be welcomed.

I'm still working at the church on Mondays and Fridays and babysitting Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The kids that I babysit for have found a special place in my heart and I will be sad to leave them in June. It's been fun to watch them grow over the past 7 months. It makes me look forward even more to having our own kids some day.

Here are just some fun things...

1. Over Christmas my mom pulled out some of my grandmother's old jewelry. My grandmother Moll died in 1998 when I was in the 8th grade. She was a wonderful woman and lived a full life. My sisters and I were able to pick some of her jewelry pieces that we would like to have. I wear them with honor. This is a ring that I picked. It has opal stones in them, which is my birthstone, and I just love it.

2. Last weekend Paul and I went to Nashville on Saturday to see my family. It was a quick trip up and back on Saturday, but we had a great time seeing everyone and spending the day together. Henry turned 9 months old this past week, which is crazy to think about! He's getting so big and is such a sweet little boy.

3. I have discovered Plum Amazins! These are so good! I put them on my Greek Yogurt in the morning for breakfast instead of raisins, and it's pure goodness in a bowl! Compared to raisins and cranberries, they have 50% more fiber, 20% fewer calories, and 50% less sugar!

4. I'm running again. But this time, I'm tackling the hills behind and around my apartment. Not an easy task. Sometimes I just have to keep telling myself to keep moving. This mornings run was 4.83 miles, with an elevation change of almost 300 feet. It may not sound like a lot, but trust me, you can feel every step up! I may not be walking tomorrow.

5. I'm reading a lot. Big surprise there.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

Matched and Crossed by Ally Condie

6. I am loving this amazing weather! We've had 60s and sunny for a while now, and even the trees are starting to bloom! It's beautiful! I know the groundhog saw his shadow, which usually means 6 more weeks of winter, but if it means 6 more weeks of this weather, I'm fine with that! 

7. Valentines Day came early! I'm speechless. Truly without words. Except for Thank You! I love you, Paul. 

I hope you are doing well. 

God Bless

Raviloli

I will admit, since I haven't been working full time, I've been having some fun experimenting in the kitchen.
Call me old fashioned. Call me traditional. Call me whatever you want.
Maybe not "chef" quite yet...but I'm working on it!

Tonight Today I made ravioli. Homemade ravioli.

From scratch. Eeehhh! YAH!

Paul's grandparents gave me a pasta maker for Christmas, and I was have been waiting to use it. So today I finally pulled it out and found a recipe.

I've never used a pasta maker before. I've never even really seen one used. But I read as many blogs about them as I could. It wasn't that difficult actually. And quite fun. I'm telling ya, it's the simple pleasures in life that make it all worth it.

I found a couple of recipes for pasta on line. Have I mentioned I love reading food blogs. Cause I do.

Unfortunately, when baking, most chefs use weight for the measurements. For example, one recipe called for 1.5 pounds of flour. Well I don't have a food scale, so I had to find other recipes that used volume measurements - i.e. 3 cups of flour.

And then, the recipe that I found said something along the lines of mix all ingredients and knead "until it feels right". UGG! What does that mean!? I've never made pasta before so I didn't know what it's supposed to "feel like". Another blog then said to "knead till it's a little tacky but not sticking to your hands". Ok, well that makes a little more sense - I guess.

So this is what I ended up with. It was a little tacky. But didn't stick to my hands. Sounds about right.

Then came the fun part! Rolling it out. Divide the dough into portions "bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball". Start on the highest/widest setting, and then roll through, decreasing the size each time. Not too hard to do. (the hard part was taking a picture while rolling out the dough!)

This is what I ended up with!

The filling I made up!
On my own!
I mentioned in a previous blog that I found a recipe for a roasted tomato basil pesto that was really good! I wanted to create a filling that would go along with the pesto. So I came up with a spinach, goat cheese, and walnut mixture. I put an egg in it as the binder, so I couldn't taste it before actually filling the pasta. I just prayed it turned out well.

Once the filling was mixed together, I placed a spoonful on the pasta, folded over the other side, and then cut them into squares.

I don't have a ravioli cutter, so I used fork to press the sides together.

They weren't all uniform in size, shape, or form. But honestly, I don't really care. I think they still looked good for a first-timer.

The pesto and the ravioli came together really well! Paul was impressed and excited that I had made it all from scratch.

 I do think next time I will roll out the dough one or two more settings. But the possibilities are endless.

 What will she think of next...

God Bless!

Trying new things

I could probably count on one hand the number of times I cooked pasta for Paul and me in the three years we lived in Charleston. I'm just not much of a pasta person. However, I found a new blog that I LOVE reading, and she had some really good and healthy looking pasta recipes. So I decided to try a couple of them. And lo and behold they were really good.

The blog is called "Oh She Glows" and the majority of the recipes are vegan, which I like. However, since I'm also cooking for a man who loves his meat, unless it's a meatless Monday, I add chicken on top for Paul.

The first recipe I tried was probably my favorite. It's a Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta. And it is amazing! It wasn't hard to make at all and the results were delicious. I blended roasted plum tomatoes, basil, oil, garlic, and salt and pepper together, and then poured it over whole wheat pasta. Easy, right?! I got a pasta roller maker thing for Christmas from Paul's grandparents, which I'm anxious to use, and I think I'm going to use it with this recipe. I want to make a homemade ravioli to go with this pesto - I was thinking a spinach, goat cheese, and walnut mixture would be perfect!


The second one I made last night. It's a Creamy Avocado Pasta. It was pretty good too! Like I mentioned before, we are really enjoying avocados, and this was a new way to use them. I blended avocado, oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt together, and then poured it over the pasta - and then added chicken to Paul's, and Great Northern beans to mine.

The other day I also made homemade corn tortillas for the first time. I had found another new recipe which called for corn tortillas, but at the store all I could find were packs with like 30 or more in them, so I decided to get a bag of Masa Harina (corn flour) and make my own. Honestly, nothing could be simpler! Combine the Masa Harina with some water, knead for 3 minutes, roll into balls, then roll out with a rolling pin, and cook in a skillet for not even 30 seconds on each side. And they were good!! I made Black Bean Green Enchiladas with them. Another good recipe.

I enjoy trying new recipes. I would say 80% percent of the time they turn out good. But that's how I learn - by trying new things and experimenting. Some experiments are worth repeating. Some aren't.

God Bless!

Cabin Weekend with friends

We are very fortunate to have made some wonderful new friends here in Birmingham. This past weekend we went to Brant and Brittany's hunting cabin with them, Kyle and Ashley, and Ellen. We had an amazing time. We were able to relax, cook and eat a lot of really good food, shoot some pistols, play games, and the boys even went hunting.

We left Friday evening after everyone was done with work, stopped at Chick-Fil-A for dinner, and then headed to the cabin.

This is the cabin! It was rustic and wonderful all at the same time. I got up early Saturday morning to watch the sun rise and take some pictures.

I also made this fire! My Daddy taught me well. 

Ellen made an amazing breakfast Saturday morning. Baked blueberry french toast, and sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast casserole. 

Nothing like hunting cabin decorations - deer heads and a turkey watching over us all the time. 

This is the view from the front porch. There's a lake and a lot of fields. 

This tree was growing up out of the lake. Isn't it neat looking. 

Vance made a new buddy too! Brant and Brittany brought their new dog Cooper, a boxer, with them. And Vance and Cooper ran and played non-stop. 

Even when Vance had to be put in his crate, Cooper stayed close by. 

Friend's for life. 

Saturday afternoon we got to shoot a pistol. Brant made some targets for up, which we hung up in a tree, and then shot at. Here's Paul, set and ready. 

And here I am! This was the second time I shot a pistol - the first was freshman year in college when I went with my roommate to her family's farm and her Dad taught us how to shoot. I honestly don't like guns that much, and I'm kinda scared around them, but there is a little rush shooting one. And I did pretty well! I hit the target every time. 

We played teams. This was out target after we finished. We actually won! 

Ellen, Me, and Ashley - Charlie's Angels style. 

Paul, Brant, and Kyle - James Bond style. 

The boys got to go hunting Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday morning.

 Paul, Kyle, and Brant - all dressed and ready to go hunting. They didn't shoot anything, but they had fun. 

This game was on the center table in the living room. It's kind of like the golf tee game at Cracker Barrel, you jump over one marble at a time and try to get down to only one marble. I was able to get down to two after many attempts. I had to take a picture to prove it.

Vance was so worn out! He and Cooper played and ran all weekend. He had an absolute ball. But he was so tired on the way home, and fell asleep in the backseat with me. 

We had a great time. It was fun to be able to get away for a weekend and just relax. We are so blessed to have made such wonderful friends.

God Bless