Can you say madness??

That's what my life has been like lately...madness! Both in the good kind and the bad kind. However, God is so good and the good kind of madness prevails!
Let me leave you with my favorite verse before I continue...1 Thessalonians 5:16
The best part in all of this madness is the fact that I celebrated a birthday recently. One of my nieces turned one. She is so sweet in every sense of the word. I can't wait to see her grow up, but at the same time I want her to remain little forever.
Also another reason to celebrate...
This genius passed his CPA exams!!! Heck yes, no more studying!!!

We're Back!!!

I've kind of forgotten about this whole blog thing. I read what others post but have failed to post my own, so here goes!
California was amazing. We were both ready to be home but extremely sad to leave. In all of my visits to Cali I have never been this sad to leave before. I cried for about 3 or 4 days in all, some before we left, some after we got home. I was just overwhelmed with sadness about leaving my family.
This time around my niece and nephews were older, and Emily I am happy to report was some what obsessed with me. No complaints here, I loved every minute of it! We did a lot, but I mostly wanted to just hang out with family, which was accomplished. Here are some pictures.

At the beach
My sister and her husband
More to follow :)

Cali here we come!

I am so excited because Wednesday we will be leaving for California to see this family.
We have some great things planned. Since I was in High School I frequently visited my sister and would stay for as much as the summer as I could. I have made some lovely friends and have been to some fabulous places like Venice Beach, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Beverly Hills...This year we will possibly get to see Santa Barbara and Irvine. I love seeing new places! But most of all I love seeing my family. For living so far away Nicky and I are really close, and I love her cute little family. Here's to praying that they move closer!

House Crazy

Yes it's true I am dying to move! Our dreams are to build, however I think we are going to push that off so we can have kids sooner. Which sooner to us is not soon enough for most of our family! HA.There is actually a house that we love, we've seen it online and in person.
Here is what we love about it:
-The location is fabulous, while we would love to live out in the country that is hard to find so the next best thing is a subdivision. This subdivision has nothing but nice houses too!
-The yard is amazing. It sits on a double lot, totally fenced in and beautiful!
-It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths...exactly what we are looking for!
-It has special perks like wood floors, water softener etc.

The downside, or the things I would change if I could are:
- All three bedrooms are upstairs, that is fine for now and when we have smaller kids, but for some reason I think I would like the master bedroom to be downstairs.
-Small kitchen, and this one is sad to me. I love to cook, I love to have lots of counter space and this house just has a small kitchen! I think there is room to improve though.
-Architecturally it is not what I envision as my house on the outside. It's totally fine and up-to-date, but it's boring. It's basically a box. I love a house with a little more character going on.

Anyways we won't even consider buying until March so it could be that this house is gone and that's ok. We trust God has a fabulous house for us! In the meantime I keep looking at cute decor and dream!
How could you not love this kitchen? My favorite color combination is yellow and pink. Then with the gray cabinets, floral print chairs, vintage table...I'm drooling!

Dream Kitchen

eclectic kitchen design

This has to be the most fabulous kitchen I've ever seen!
First let me explain this site that I've found. It's houzz.com, for anyone that loves decorating this is the site for you. They have thousands upon thousands of pictures. I found it all thanks to a fabulous blogger I follow Home&Harmony


Now back to this picture! How about that pantry door...a screen door in a fabulous color. Also the woodwork on the walls, the ceiling, and the cabinet doors, some people may see that as overkill but I see it as wonderful. Last but not least (because I could go on and on forever about this picture because it's perfect) but those counter tops! I'm in love...

Going Carbon Neutral

1 blog, 1 tree....
That's right a tree will be planted to neutralize the carbon emissions this blog is putting off. You could do the same, it's easy! Follow this link to see how it's done.

Healthy Living

I am looking forward to making homemade cleaning products! I read this fabulous blog: Making Chicken Salad. I always enjoy a new post from her and in this tutorial she not only gives you the recipe for some great cleaning products, but also some super cute labels. I made my way to Amish Country last Saturday and bought myself some of the ingredients I need to make these things.

Two years and counting...

The Wedding Party

Yes my husband I are are celebrating two years of marriage today! So very exciting. I can still remember our wedding day vividly, how I felt, what I was thinking. It was so fun and exciting. Knowing that you are marrying your best friend is the greatest feeling in the world.
We are from a very small town and have always gone to school together, but I never knew he existed until I started going to his church. When I met him, I didn't like him. Not romantically, but not even as a friend. I started becoming better friends with his group of friends so we would hang out a lot. Then we became friends, naturally...I mean what's not to like about Kolby? Even in high school, being a big bad football player, popular etc etc he was always super nice. We were friends for a couple of years before we decided we liked each other.
The process it took to actually start dating was long and awkward but well worth it. I remember when went went from just friends to dating and how awkward we both felt because we were just best friends and now we can hold hands and kiss...weird...
Anyway, 4 years later we got married! I couldn't be happier with him, or our marriage.

Here is my handsome husband, this is the first time we saw each other that day.

I may have forgotten what the preacher asked me to repeat...Oops

We had a cotton candy machine, it was so fun!

Mother's Day Cupcake

I am typically in charge of making dessert for special occasions. I love baking and I love trying new recipes. I was on the hunt for something low calorie and relatively healthy for a dessert because my mother in law in on a diet. I found these:
They are Angel Lush Cupcakes...So delicious! And of course they are easy to make, because that's my style.

1 pkg. (16 oz.) angel food cake mix

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2 cans (8 oz. each) DOLE Crushed Pineapple in Juice, undrained

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

2 cups assorted fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries)

Note: I only used strawberries, and they tasted fabulous

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

PREPARE cake batter as directed on package; pour into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake 12 to 15 min. or until tops are golden brown and cracks feel dry. (Note: If baking in batches, refrigerate remaining batter in bowl until ready to pour into lined muffin cups and bake.) Cool cupcakes in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

MIX dry pudding mix and pineapple in medium bowl. Gently stir in COOL WHIP; spread onto cupcakes.

TOP with berries.

Only 90 Calories! Thanks Kraft Foods.

If you haven't been to Kraft's website before you just have to check it out. They have the best recipes, and they are so easy to make. My husband never really cooked before, but I set him up with the ingredients and one of these recipes and he can produce a wonderful dinner.

They will give you a dinner list for a week including a shopping list. That for me has been the best way to stay on budget, and to try new things.

On our way

We are on our way to a fabulous garden! I'm so excited, we got the garden tilled up and planted last weekend. It is over at our in-laws house due to a lack of space at our own. This is no small garden either. My goal is that we have plenty to last us this summer and then hopefully some to freeze for the winter time.
We planted broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, lettuce, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumber and zucchini. After the broccoli and cauliflower come up we might plans some more beans, I heard you can do that.


YUM>

Are you Looking?

In my quest to get our youth to renew their minds and to follow a life that is pleasing to God I've been challenging them to find good music to listen too. I don't think they always have to listen to worship music, but I do think it's important that they are listening to bands that are Christian, and bands that don't glamorize a lifestyle opposite of what a Christian should be doing. This is a difficult task, and it's even taken me some time to see the importance of changing what I listen to.
There are so many challenges that a Christian faces today, and being a teenager only adds to that by about 1000 x's. All of the popular music today glorifies getting drunk, rebelling, sex outside of marriage, hooking up, chaotic relationships and the list goes on and on. Most teens, and people in general argue that they listen to music for the beat. They don't really care or even pay attention to the words. However, if you listen to a song even once how often does the chorus get stuck in your head? Or the next time you hear that song you can sing along to at least part of it? Even if you aren't "listening to the words" you are still hearing them.
I don't think that music is evil or that it necessarily causes people to do things (even though there are studies out there that say teens who are over exposed to sex in the media are more likely to become pregnant or get someone pregnant) but listening to that stuff desensitizes us to it, it starts to seem acceptable, normal and fun. This is no lie-sin is fun, and when we are listening to how fun it is, with no consequences we start to think we can do it too.
If we are one of the lucky few who do not feel we are influenced in that way it's still important to consider the music we listen to. Why? Because it makes our walk with God that much easier. I feel so much closer to God when I am reading my bible, praying and listening to Christian music.
I meant for this to be a much shorter post than what it's turning into. My goal is to leave you with some bands that you may fall in love with. Stop assuming all Christian music is like what you hear on Sunday mornings, if you like a certain genre search for the Christian version...I promise it's not all cheese :)
I have an eclectic taste in music but here is my very very short list, with some new people I've discovered: Paige Armstrong, Carlos Whittaker, Vicky Beeching, Anberlin, Family Force Five, Further Seems Forever, Underoath, Addison Road,Emery... There are way to many to list.

A Garden

I can't wait to start planting a garden! It's been way too wet to get started, but I'm totally looking forward to seeing some of this:

I have helped with a few gardens before, but this will be my first time actually planting my own. I'm anxious to see how it's going to turn out, and I fully expect a couple mistakes to happen the first time around :)

Warms the heart

Youth group was so amazing last night. God is working in some powerful ways and I'm happy to report that the group is growing! It's not huge by any means, but it's a perfect size to work with. We are actually growing out of the small space we are in right now.
Last night we talked about what it means to be a Christian. What it means to live for God, not just believe in Him. I incorporated Cardboard Testimonies. I think these are so powerful, and I thought it went along with what we are talking about. Christians aren't perfect and we don't always have our lives together, but we put that all in God's hands. Here is the video I shared. And then afterward the teens made their own cardboard testimonies to share with everyone.

Warning: May Induce Tears.

School Lunch

The documentary Food Inc has just been the beginning of this new food expedition for me. Now there is a new show on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. He went to the unhealthiest city in America and is trying to show school's how they can improve their food. I think we can all recall the lunches served in school and how disgusting they were. He is out to prove that you can serve fresh, healthy ingredient that kids will eat and is cost effective.
Along with that I've run across two blogs that are very interesting. One is Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project. A teacher from IL is going undercover (for fear of losing her job) and blogging about the school food epidemic. How unhealthy, not to mention, unappetizing it is. There is also a student who is trying to do something similar. She's been trying to contact her school's food distributor just to get a simple ingredient list. That sounds harmless right? Well it's proving to be a very difficult task.
Here are their blogs you should check them out!
http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/
http://healthytara.blogspot.com/

Fruit Decor

This is right up my alley! I shared my love of fake fruit around Christmas time. I love to decorate with brightly colored pears especially. Pink ones, glittery ones, red ones, you name it. I also have some glass fruit and bright yellow lemons for spring time. I ran across this flip book on Country Living's website. Enjoy!

Really blown away

Kolby and I have Netflix, which is totally fabulous. We don't have cable or bunny ears, or a box or anything so Netflix really comes to the rescue when we are bored. Now some people can't believe we don't have TV and are in shock and always ask what we do with our free time... There are plenty of things to do for sure, and with the money we are saving from not having cable we can afford to do them. My dad is one person that really gives us a hard time about not having TV, he just can't believe it.

Anyways, I heard about this very interesting documentary that I really wanted to check out so during my lunch breaks at work this week I've been watching Food Inc. In the process of watching Food Inc and sharing that online someone told me about The Business of Being Born. I had to check that out as well! They both really changed my perception of the food/baby industry. I loved the wealth of information they provided and I feel compelled to change some things.
I don't want to be looked at as a hippie or an environmentalist or a naturalist or anything else. I just think the things they were talking about made sense and now I want a garden, and locally grown meat and a midwife instead of a doctor someday. If placing a stereotype on those opinions helps someone understand it, then I guess it's okay. I'm just the type of person that when I have information, I can't ignore it. If the facts say one thing, then I can't ignore it. I would check them out if you get a chance!

Love it...

I love Spring fashion! I love dresses and skirts and I especially love floral print. I've always adored floral print but I would typically shy away from it because I don't consider myself to be girlie enough I suppose. This year will be different. Aside from the fact that we are currently not spending any money, when I do break I want something floral.

Here are some lovely things I would like to own:
I love purple, this dress is so casual and cute! The flowers are not over-kill.This one is more formal, I love the length of the sleeves and the shape of the dress.Perfect top to pair with cropped jeans and flats.This tank makes me happy...It's very subtle and beautiful.

Spring!

I'm getting more and more excited about spring! I've been impatiently awaiting it's arrival for a while now. Then the weather has been looking more and more fabulous. The sun is shining brightly and it's slowly warming up. And as I've been catching up in the blogging world a lot of them are about the anticipation of spring.I'm completely looking forward to packing up all of my sweaters and busting out the flip flops. The warmth of the sun makes me so happy. Just the thought of being able to go outside without a jacket on makes me smile!
In other news the youth group is working on a fundraiser. Or at least they are suppose to be working on a fundraiser. They have been warned that if zero effort is put into this, they will never see another one coming from me. We are selling personalized kitchen ware. I personally have received two of these as gifts, one for my bridal shower and one for Christmas. I think they are perfect as Mother's Day gifts, and wedding gifts.

Ack! What am I getting myself into?

My youth group needs to grow! From the day I took over I decided I didn't care about the quantity as much as the quality. If I only have 5 kids, but they are solid God loving people then that's great!
For the past few weeks though we have been talking about witnessing to friends. This is one of the last things Jesus told the church to do before He went to Heaven. He told us to go make disciples who make disciples. It's so very important that we all do that, but I also know how terrifying that can be for not only an adult, but for an insecure teenager.
So I'm putting our lessons into action and we are having a "fun night". Not your typical Wednesday night youth group service, but a night to just play games and relax. This is also a super easy way for the teens to invite their friends to church. I hope it will all come together, we are suppose to have Wii's, Xbox's etc hooked up and ready to go as well as board games available.

Verbal Beating

I am currently reading a book called Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs. At times it can be a verbal beating, but the information in it is pretty amazing. Now, I think my husband and I have an amazing relationship. He was my best friend for 2 years before we decided to date, we dated for 4 years before we got married, and we are working on our 2nd year of marriage as we speak. I don't read these books so I can fix a strained marriage, but I read them to try and become the best wife I can be and to try and prevent anything major from happening.(This was on our way to Florida for our honeymoon!)

The book talks about how woman have this deep desire for love. If you are a woman reading that you are probably thinking, duh yeah... Well then it goes on to say how men have a deep desire for respect. When I started reading this book I thought to myself "well I want to be respected too." What women don't understand is that men need the respect like we need to be loved, it' s on another level for them.
I'm not able to explain as well as this author does, but I would encourage any wife to check it out. It has so much insight and I'm thankful to be reading it.