Marriage Tip Tuesday

     A few days ago, as I was looking on the Thankfully Thrifty blog, I came across this printout for 31 days of prayer for your husband. I started this last Wednesday, and I have really enjoyed it. It's not that I don't pray for Jeff everyday, it's just that, this will guide you through more specific prayers, instead of the everyday, "Please be with Jeff today, help him to have a good day, etc." Not that, that isn't important, I'm just saying that it's been nice to go to the Lord with more purposeful prayers for Jeff. Here is the link for the printout: http://www.reviveourhearts.com/articles/31-days-of-praying-for-your-husband/ I would highly recommend that you print this out, and make it a regular part of your daily routine over the next month. On a much more random note, I thought I would post this song by Micheal O'Brien. He came to our church a couple of years ago for a Valentine's Day special, and sang this song, along with many others, from his Something About Us album. The sweetest part about it is that, he made the entire album for his wife. I know, I know, I'm sappy like that. I'm just a girl in love, that's all! ;)

Sunday Worship Song

     I absolutely love this worship song by Jeremy Camp. This was one of the first Christian CD's I ever purchased, and this song quickly became a favorite. What a beautiful, loving, and sweet Savior that we serve. There is truly no better place to be than in His presence. Hope you all have a great Sunday.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

     I had a craving for these tonight and had all of the ingredients on hand, so I decided to make up a batch. Thanks to Crystal at Money Saving Mom for posting this recipe; it's one of our favorites! They are in the oven now and the smell is becoming irresistible. Here is the recipe:

 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 package chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Marriage Tip Tuesday

      I came across these videos on the love and respect blog and found them to be very helpful, so I wanted to share them with you as well. Many times as women, we expect for our husbands to read our minds, or we look into what they are saying to us, instead of just taking them at their word. I for one am very guilty of this, not as much now, but definitely when we were first married. There would be so many times when Jeff would make a simple comment, and in seconds I would take and twist his words into what I thought he really meant. I now realize that, for me, it stemmed from the root of my own insecurity. Men are not women. They do not think like us. Take it from someone who knows, the sooner you learn this, the better. Hope you enjoy these videos. Have a great night!

Miscellany Monday

1.) I am so excited that I finally finished my first canvas project. It seriously took me like a total of  8 hours all together. When you see it you are probably going to think, "How could that have possibly taken 8 hours?" Well, I'll tell you why. It's a lot harder than it looks to get all the letters lined up with one another and get the spacing right. I stenciled the letters on, but kept messing up, so then I would have to paint over the entire canvas and start over. Then I would paint the letters, but would have to let them dry before I added another coat. I think I added four coats to each letter before it was all said and done.  Luckily,  I used spray paint for the gray background, and a big thanks goes out to Jeff as he was so patient and kind every time I would ask him to re-spray it for me. I would have done it, but I knew I wouldn't be able to spray it on evenly. I got the inspiration for this from a David Crowder song, and thought it would be neat to put it on a canvas. Here it is...

 2.) My sister-in-law and I had a fun day out on Saturday. We began the day by going to Starbucks (of course:), then went to the mall, hobby lobby, and to a bridal store to look at bridesmaids dresses. Although she and my brother are not married yet, I still consider her my sister-in-law already. I could not have picked a better girl for my brother and I am looking forward to growing even closer to her in the coming years. While at hobby lobby we picked out some super cute fabric that I am going to use to personalize my TOMS, and make flowers with.

We also decided that we are going to have a craft night on a regular basis. Our first one is set to be on Feb. 6, and I can't wait. I think my project for that night will be my version of this...

 Jeff and I have a chair like this already, so I will basically just have to get a can of spray paint and some fabric. Note: this will only work if you can take your chair apart. The design I'm thinking of is...never mind, you will have to wait and see ;)

3.) Lastly, here is the David Crowder song that I mentioned earlier. Have a great night everyone!

Sunday Worship Song

     Apologies for being MIA last week. Jeff and I were both sick over the weekend, and then on Monday our computer got a virus. A big thanks goes out to our good friend Jeremy for fixing it for us. Anyways, we sang this song in church today and I love the truth that it speaks. Our God is able to make the impossible, possible. No matter what our circumstances, our God is able. For myself personally, I would say, "My God is able to overcome my insecurities and has allowed me to find my identity in Him." What is He able to do for you?

Snow Day Love

     I am so excited to be getting the first real snow event of the season. I just love the snow!! There is something so beautiful and peaceful about it, and there is nothing like curling up by the fireplace with a good cup of hot chocolate. Here are a few snow related pictures that I found on pinterest...

"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." -Isaiah 1:18

 

Sunday Worship Song

     I am so glad that things have somewhat returned to normal, and I am able to post a worship song today. Sometimes I will search different songs for about 30 min. or so before deciding on which one to post. Well, today I went with the first song that came to mind. Bethany Dillon is my favorite female Christian artist, and I love the truth in this song. We are His, and nothing in the world could ever change that. Today I invite you to rest in that truth as well, friends. Have a great Sunday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

      Happy Wednesday Everyone! Since I haven't done this segment in a while, I thought I would take a few minutes to share some things I've been fond of lately.

1.) My new pair of toms. I first discovered these shoes on Pinterest and thought they were kind of cute, but the more I saw them, the cuter I thought they were. Well, they actually sell toms at the Whole Foods Market and when Jeff and I were there, I decided to use some of my Christmas money to get a pair.

 The best part about it... for every pair of toms that are purchased, they will donate a pair to a child in need. Love it!

2.) I'm loving all of this food our neighbor gave to us from Trader Joe's. I opened up my back door and saw this sitting on our porch...

 Yummo! The box included snap peas, green beans, spinach, Italian bread, pea shoots, broccoli,  and a variety of bran muffins. Someone from his church brought him all of this food, and it was double this amount. He said he knew he would never eat it all, and wanted to share it with Jeff and I. I was very grateful, especially considering that one of my goals for the new year is to eat healthier.

3.) I'm loving this yummy, freshly ground chocolate chip peanut butter that I also purchased over the weekend. Before you all think that I went and lost my ever loving frugal mind.. I haven't. I used Christmas money to buy this as well. However, I will say that since it was only $2.97 for about a pound, and considering that it is so good, I may purchase this peanut butter more often. Jeff and I have a very strict grocery budget, but I think I could squeeze this in, especially considering that it would not be a weekly purchase.

4.) Lastly, I am loving music by Coldplay. I had forgotten just how much I liked this band until I saw their concert on TV Saturday night. This is their newest song called Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall. Have a great night everyone :)

Highlights from our Trip

     Jeff and I had such a good time on our weekend getaway, and I am so thankful that I am married to a man who knows how important it is to invest quality time in a marriage. The hotel we stayed in was so nice; a good home away from home. (Or should I say a good room away from home?) Anyways, here a couple of pictures of where we stayed. 

     We spent our first day in Cool Springs, at the Galleria. It is a huge mall and we spent about three hours there. Trust me, for Jeff and I, three hours is a very long time to be at the mall. It was definitely the nicest mall I've ever been to, and to put it in perspective, it was St. Matthew's Mall meets Oxmoor Mall, plus a little more. Crazy. I did however snag some really good deals at Teavana. They had some of their teas on sale for 75% off, which was really exciting. We choose a Go Go Goji white tea, which is infused with goji berries, lychee fruit,  rose blossoms, and vitamins. Our second choice was an Assam Breeze black tea, which is infused with pineapple, ginger, lemongrass, and coconut. (I already feel healthier just by typing that:) This one is my favorite of the two. I actually chose this tea over coffee this morning. Shocking isn't it?! After shopping at the mall, we went to have lunch at Panera Bread, and then went to Starbucks. Cool Springs is an hour behind us, so we had already done all of this by like 2:00 pm. We knew we wanted to have dinner at PF Chang's, so we had a lot of spare time. We made a trip to Hobby Lobby where I got some items for an upcoming project. 

     After stopping at a couple of other stores and having dinner, we went back to the hotel and spent some time in the hot tub and then went back to our room to relax. By this point it was only 8:00 and we were both exhausted. Somehow we ended up making it until 11:00, (which was really 12:00 am here) so we watched the ball drop on Fox News, kissed, and then it was lights out...or at least I thought it was. The person that was above us used the bathroom more than anyone I've ever known, and when they walked across the floor, it sounded like they were marching around the room. I couldn't sleep so I decided to do some channel surfing. I came across a Coldplay concert, and ended up being awake until around 1:00 am.

     The next morning we decided to go to Nashville, but considering a big New Year's Eve Party was thrown there the night before, the city was empty. We walked around for a while, but then decided to leave since most of the shops were closed. We decided that the next time we go to Nashville, we will wait until later on in the day when more of the shops are open and more musicians are playing. I did manage to get a couple pictures though.

 

     Next we decided to go to the Opryland Hotel. After getting lost, and driving around for an hour looking for somewhere to eat, we finally made it. I was completely amazed from the time I walked in the door, and these pictures don't even come close to giving it justice. 

 There is literally a rain forest that runs through the different wings of the hotel. Keep in mind this is all indoors.

This is a picture of some of the rooms that overlook the "rain forest."

This is one of the hallways that leads to a ballroom.

     So, as you can see we covered a lot of ground during our two day stay. It was a really fun place and is definitely somewhere we will soon again visit.

Miscellany Monday

     Hey everyone! Jeff and I are back from Tennessee, and we had such a great time. The hotel was so nice, and the community of Cool Springs was like some place that you would see in a movie. It was by far the nicest area I've ever been in. My hubby really knows how to pick em'! I really have so much to share with you all, but am so, so sleepy that I may fall asleep while typing. Therefore, I promise a very detailed post about our trip tomorrow. I do want to take a minute to wish one of my best friends in the whole world a Happy Belated Birthday. That friend would be the one and only, Ramber Richardson (Wright). I love you so much Amber, and can't wait until you come back home. Hopefully baby Miles will come soon; I can't wait to see him. I also wanted to thank you for always being there for me. You have been there for me during the darkest time of my life, and have rejoiced with me during the happiest times of my life. I will never forget all the fun times we had such as... Donnie Days, Milk Duds, Track (Strawberry Wafers and Red Bull), Athletic Conditioning, The Phonny Tree, Chuck Dizzle, Ashlee Simpson, Oxy-Clean, Napoleon Dynamite, Popewell, Mr. Hettich, Footloose, Sheryl Crow, Prom 2004 & 2005, Falling on the ice at Sean’s church…repeatedly, Passion Conference 2006, and all the good times at Surrender. (Yes, I know that was a long list and only Amber will know what I’m talking about.) You hold a very special place in my heart and I hope you know I will always be here for you. Well friends, I think that is all I can handle tonight. I will have much more to say tomorrow....so stay tuned.