Happy 2012!

It's been a while! I really have missed blogging! But I've been praying and seeking God. I truly want my place here in the blog world to honor Him, so I took a break. I'm not sure I'm ready to be back at it at full speed but there will be posts here and there. I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Happy New Year! I don't really do resolutions because I feel like they are made to be broken! I do think that the mark of a new year is a great time to look back at things in the past and learn from them. Here are some things (and there are many more) I plan on praying over for the new year. Be patient with me, I'm a work in progress! ;)

My tone towards my children~ I find myself speaking harshly to them more often than I'd like. I want my words to be gracious and loving (even in discipline and training).

Being more mindful of my time~ Oh me, I am queen of time wasting! So this is a biggy!

Sticking to our food budget better while still eating real food~ Plain and simple.

Eating well and exercising~ I feel so much better mentally and physically when I'm exercising and eating well. I can serve my family better when I'm healthy!

Simplify life- I want my home to be a place of simplicity, not chaos. Of course, I do have two boys!! But I want to focus on keeping our home more simplified. Less stuff, better organization.

Being filled with the Spirit~ I want to live the glorious in the seemingly mundane. May my sink be my sanctuary. I can meet Him in all places!

And lastly I'll leave you with the beautiful words of Ann Voskamp,

‎"Contentment isn’t a state of organization, a weight on the scale, a state of better: better kids, better marriage, better health, better house. Contentment is never a matter of circumstances; contentment is always a state of communion — a daily embracing of God."

I may make a mountain out of a molehill....

But I'm probably not gonna die on that mountain.


I have lots of passions... from being a stay at home mom, to homeschooling, to breastfeeding, to eating real food. I talk often about those passions here.. in my space. My prayer is that I never come across as haughty or judgmental to those who may not share the same passions. My prayer is that I'll share with others the journey that I'm on, get others to thinking and most importantly see Jesus, whether we agree or not. My passions are deep, and most are even convictions I hold but they are not Scriptural laws. I try hard to not make them laws in my own life but that's hard for this former legalist to do. I continually fight that flesh and pursue living in the freedom that Christ brings. As Luke said the other night, "I'll punch that sin in the face!"

But there is one passion that supersedes all others and that is Jesus Christ and my faith in Him. He is everything and life is nothing without Him. I will not waiver on the truth set before in Scripture. I am dependent on everything He ever said and did and is.

So, readers, please know this, I'm human flesh who loves Jesus (and one day this flesh will be no more!!). And I sometimes make mountains out of molehills. I pray that any information that I ever share is useful in some way. I pray that ultimately my life (and there is much more to my life than what you read on this screen!) will encourage and make much of Jesus.

Remember me??

I just wanted to pop in and say that I have had zero desire to blog here lately. Zero. I haven't wanted to make time for it... and honestly, I haven't really had the time for it. I truly don't understand how so many find the time to blog regularly without giving up something else. So, the blog is on the back burner. And it probably will be for a while longer. I'm thinking and praying about where it fits in my life. I enjoy sharing about my family and what the boys are up to. But honestly, who reads this? What impact am I making through this blog? Many use their blog as a ministry or a source of income.. but mine is neither of those things. Many have lots of followers and enjoy a 'blogging community' but I don't. Why do I blog? That is a great question.

I've been re-evaluating a lot of things I 'do' and trying to figure out what of the 'stuff' I do is really important. And blogging fits into that category, for me anyways. I just have a lot to think about concerning it... among other things! So, there you have it! :)

Until next time... maybe!

It's Monday... it's December and it's COLD outside!

Monday morning list...

that I may or may not go into detail later about... :)

1. We're heading to the Dr this afternoon with Eli. He's been sick for a week now with a runny/stuffy nose and a cough and isn't getting better. Luke's had the same thing but is over it. Eli is just so little and having a harder time getting rid of it!
2. We had baby dedication yesterday! Eli and I left immediately after the dedication since he's been sick. I didn't want to spread the germs! He looked so very cute in his little sweater vest though!
3. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was so good last night! I cry every time! (and so does the Hubs!!!) To hear those little boys talk about their daddy! Gut wrenching! Did anyone watch it?
4. Eli turned 3 months old Saturday! My newborn is turning into a baby!!
5. I desperately need to do some Christmas shopping. I'm thinking about doing some online just so we don't have to get out.. especially with sick kiddos!
6. I made a homemade Angel Food cake this weekend. Was all the beating and folding of the separated eggs worth it? Not really. But this blueberry sauce on top was to die for. Seriously. It would be great on top of ice cream... if I could eat ice cream.. boo hoo... (BTW, I used half OJ for the water in the recipe)
7. I was tagged a while ago by Donna to list 7 random thing about myself and I'm having a hard time coming up with 7... does that mean I'm boring?
8. My memory verses for this week are:

Matthew 6:28-30 - “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

My Rambled Thoughts on a Monday Afternoon

Here is what's up:

Luke has a cough... Not bad but definitely could be. Praying it doesn't turn into anything.

Eli is 11 weeks old. Wow.

I'm learning to be significant in God's eyes. (As opposed to desiring significance in other people)

I made pumpkin bread this weekend that was fabulous. I'll share the recipe later.

My kitchen floor is clean. :)

I'm going to be a rebel and not put up a menu this week. But fear not, I do have a menu.. it's just up there somewhere in my head.

I have a desire to be simple. I'm attempting to learn to apply simple to my life... and wondering if that's even possible.

The Zucchini Stew from last week was pretty good. I did add a bay leaf and some dried basil to it. I also used pasta instead of rice since the Hubs isn't fond of rice.

It's cold in our house! Brrr..

Today's chore: Clean the bathtubs!!!

Today we went

....grocery shopping......

It was an adventure.

First we stopped by Target to pick up a few things... all was well in Target... Next was Publix.

Eli got a full belly so we thought all would be good in Publix. Well, we were wrong. I would like for you to picture this as I attempt to describe it.

I got a regular shopping cart. The Hubs got one of those HUGE ones with the "car" on the end that you push. I have never gotten one of these because they are so big and I can't hardly control a regular size one. Luke seemed to love it though. He really liked pretending to drive the cart. Eli went in the basket part of the "car" shopping cart in his carseat. So, off I go to get groceries while The Hubs and the kids follow me. Shortly, (and I mean less than 5 minutes) into our trip Eli starts screaming so we attempt to hush him with the paci... and after a few failed attempts The Hubs picks him up. So, now the Hubs is trying to follow me, while I shop, holding a baby in one hand and pushing a gigantic shopping cart with the other.

Even being held didn't do much for Eli. He was sleepy and just really wanted to nap but couldn't. So, The Hubs decides he's going to take Eli to the car and leave Luke with me. Ok, so I transfer the few items we had already picked up into the giant cart (that I was so looking forward to steering) and they head to the car. Off Luke and I go to finish grocery shopping.. as fast as we can. So, we shop.. and run into several things along the way. As we are heading to the produce (I should stop here and say that I have a very detailed and precise order in which I grocery shop.. my last two stops are produce and meat, so we were almost finished) I remembered that I didn't have my purse. The Hubs was originally with me.. with a check card.. but now he was in the car. And I was in Publix with a cart full of groceries and a toddler. Oh, and it was raining.. well 'misting' but still, it was wet!

So, I get my produce and my meat and I push the enormous cart over to where the bathrooms are. My logic: I'll leave the cart here and no one will mess with it because they'll think that whoever it belongs to is in the bathroom. So, I carry Luke to the car.. in the mist and get the check card. I leave Luke there and head back in. My plan worked, the cart was still there. So, I go to check out. Me, by myself.. with a gigantic cart.

I was so ready to get out of there! I did mention to the cashier and bagger that I came in with a husband and two children but they had all ended up back in the car.

I didn't purposefully choose the big, humongous cart all by myself.

Sometimes in those stressful moments.. you just have to laugh. And I did... while I pushed the big, gigantic, enormous, huge, green car shopping cart to my car... alone! Luckily, I didn't hit any people or real cars on the way!

This trip wasn't our first... we have all made it before and it worked out okay. But, for some reason today it didn't. It was an interesting few hours to say the least but we survived. Life with two children.... it's an adjustment. It's never boring, to say the least! :)

Progress...

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about the pregnancy.. Unless you count that every moment I am one second closer to Eli being here (I'm trying to be positive!!). I am talking about my plans to organize. Well, my sister did a wonderful job on cleaning up the junk/scrap/computer room. I'm really going to try hard to keep it clean. Seriously.

I did go through all of my shoes and it was a bit depressing. I got rid of a lot! Would you like to see why I am so sad?

Look at these cute shoes! But I had to face reality. I haven't worn them in over 2 years. For some odd reason I was holding on to them like my feet were going to shrink or something.

They are just shoes though.. right?

We didn't get Eli's room painted because we are having paint issues. Evidently the painter who painted our house (a year ago) went back over 3 spots in the room that would be Eli's to touch up. Well, those 3 spots are a different color green than the rest of the wall. That room has been an unused room for a while so it never really bothered me.. until I needed to put a baby in it! I purposefully picked out cute baby bedding to match the wall color. Well, that's great... except that I had forgotten about the 3 different color spots! And I have no idea what color the wall color is... We attempted to have it matched last night.. and it just isn't the same. Why did I not save the paint swatches!??!! So, it looks as if we're going to have to paint the entire room, and then do our little polka dot design. Hopefully, we'll get it done this weekend.

My sister did clean the house for me though, after all the organizing/sorting/throwing away.. and I love her for that. Well, I love her just because, but she really helped me out a lot! Thanks, Aunt B! (BTW, I don't think she reads my blog! So, if you know her.. tell her she should!)

I also had a Dr's appointment today. The update is: I am good, the baby is good. That's all. God is in control, that I am certain of. :)

Pregnancy update and some ramblings!

I had my 31 week appointment yesterday. Now I will start going every 2 weeks until 35 weeks... then I'll be going every week! It was a quick visit, everything looks great! I asked her about my walking (I'm still walking about 3-4 times a week) and she said that I could keep it up as long as I didn't get too hot. The weather has been sooo nice out but I'm afraid it's not going to last much longer. I guess then I'll just do my walking DVD inside in the AC! She also asked me if we were still planning on the VBAC. Yep! I have been thinking about that a lot.. especially since delivery is getting closer and closer! I will admit I am a little scared about it but the thought of scheduling major surgery scares me even more. There are risks to having a VBAC but the risks are very, very rare. Uterine rupture (which freaks me out so I don't plan on even thinking about it ever after this very moment.. well, I will at least try not to think about it!) only happens in about 2% of those who try VBACS. And that is only increased if you are induced. And seriously if you think about it there are definitely risks to having major surgery as well! I know that I have a higher chance of labor resulting in repeat c/s this time around but I've done it before.. and I can do it again! It helps that my Dr is supportive! I have a fear though of getting a nurse who isn't all about VBACs and is ugly or discouraging to me about it. Here is what I do know:

I cannot be induced (but wouldn't want to be anyways, I wasn't with Luke)
I have to progress on my own, no help with drugs
I have a 70-75% chance at a successful vaginal delivery
I can have an epidural (yay!) but should try to delay so that my body progresses well
And most importantly: God is in control!!!

I have been praying about this since the moment I found out I was pregnant. I know that God will be with me no matter what the outcome! I'm praying for a successful VBAC but most importantly a healthy baby (and a healthy Mommy to take care of both of my babies... and R too!).

So, for all of you out there, please add this to your prayer list! In just 5 & 1/2 weeks I will be considered full term (wow, it is really that close!). Eli will be here soon! :)

Ready for the weekend....

Update- Aunt B's home safely! :) We're heading to spend the day with her and relax by the pool!

Well VBS is officially over for me! What a week! I had a great time but it really wore me out. I think the last trimester 'sleepies' hit me this week.... add VBS to that and I was exhausted everyday when I got home! I took a two hour nap 3 days this week! R was home today, so when Luke went down for his nap we both took a nap too. R said that I was asleep in record time (usually it's the other way around!). We still have commencement Sunday night but I will be missing it because.... my sister is flying home Sunday evening!!! YAY!! I am so excited. She made it safely to New York yesterday and has been resting and seeing all of NYC the past 2 days. My mom talked to her earlier and she was getting tickets for a Broadway show. Lucky! Please keep her in your prayers as she flies home Sunday. My parents, Luke and I will be driving to the airport to pick her up.
A little pregnancy update: I had an apt this past Tuesday with the NP (my Dr was out of town). Everything is going great. I had my glucose test, which I passed. My blood count looks great. She said I was measuring big but that's what I was told last month too. I haven't had much swelling, unless I'm up all day long. She said she would be surprised if I wasn't swelling just a little because of the heat! I'm definitely doing a lot better this time than with Luke. By this time with Luke, I couldn't even wear my wedding bands! I already had them around my neck!! I have walked 4 out of the 5 days this week (despite being very tired). Hopefully I can keep that up because I know it will help. I'm 29 weeks today. 11 to go! I'm really excited because next Thursday I go to have my 4D sonogram! Eli is still squirming around in there a lot. I know the tighter and more cramped things get that his movements will slow down some. I feel like he's changed positions some this week. I could really feel him a lot the past 2 or 3 weeks up in my ribs but the past 2 days he's been lower, almost like he's turned sideways a little. I'm hoping that since he was breech at 19 weeks that he's getting ready to turn head down in the next few weeks!
I was going to talk about some things that I've been reading but I can't find my Holiness of God (Sproul) book. I was reading outside yesterday while Luke played and R brought it in for me. I remember him telling me he brought it in but it's no where to be found. He doesn't remember where he put it. So, since it's late anyways and my brain doesn't work well unless it's been refreshed a little I'll save that for later. I've been studying those who have wrestled with God: Jacob, Job, Habakkuk to name a few. Isn't it funny (or should I say foolish) that sometimes we think we know better than a holy God? Oh, but when we are shown just a glimpse of Him, we fall to our knees in reverence and humility... but like I said, more on that later!

Help, I'm losing brain cells!!!

An extra note from a more rested Crystal: Please keep my sister in your prayers. She begins her journey home from China today! She will fly today to Beijing. After spending a night in Beijing she will fly to New York tomorrow. She's spending a few days in New York and then flying home on Sunday afternoon! Please pray for her safety as she travels!! I can't tell you how excited I am! She's been gone for 9 months!!! I even had a dream about it last night!

I want to write something clever and insightful.. really I do. I just can't at the moment. VBS is wearing me out.. and today is only Tuesday! I have some really awesome things on my mind that God has been showing me that I want to blog about. It will have to wait though... I can't keep my eyes open!

I think Eli is not only sucking nutrients but also parts of my brain. I came home from VBS and proceeded to put my roast in the crock pot. I coated it with salt & pepper and seared it on all sides. I sliced my onion. I mixed my water, Worcestershire sauce and cider vinegar together and poured it over the roast. I topped it off with sliced onion and garlic. I closed the lid and turned the knob to low. I did a few things around the house, checked my mail, etc. I walked over to the crock pot an hour and a half later to realize that it wasn't plugged in.

So, we had pizza tonight.

(My mom claims that the roast will be fine. And I did actually turn it on to cook when I realized what I had done.. and it cooked.. and it's in the fridge now because it wouldn't have been ready by supper anyway. But I'm not sure I want to eat it tomorrow. I tasted a tiny bite from the outside and it was pretty good. That kind of stuff freaks me out though.)

Seriously, please someone tell me I am not alone in things like this.

And that is another reason why I should have been in bed an hour ago.

Night!

Balancing Act

Before I even begin, I must say that this particular post is more for myself. So just let me talk to myself for a while! :)

I am not perfect....

Nor will I ever be.

Sometimes I try.

I want to make the bed every morning. I want to have an empty sink. I would love for my floors to always be crumb free. It would be lovely if all of my junk mail never made it's way to the basket on my kitchen counter.. I mean how hard is it to just throw that stuff away? Isn't that basket suppose to be for fruit anyway? It would also be lovely if those freshly dried towels didn't sit on the couch a few days before being put away. Ok, so maybe I let them sit in the dryer... just so they aren't on the couch. Wouldn't it be nice if that box of clothes that I've been in the process of putting away for storage would magically put itself away, instead of sitting in Luke's floor for the past week? I would love for everything in my home to be organized and always put back in it's place (or for it to actually have a place) but in reality, even if someone organized my house they would have to move in with me to keep it that way.

In honesty, the weeks that these things (you know, the cleaning and constantly putting away and what not) happen, all at the same time, I am exhausted. Literally worn out. I truly love the way it feels to have a clean house. But that feeling is just not motivation enough to make me work like crazy and be exhausted every night (pregnant or not). I just can't do it all. Like Lisa said, "cleaning house from daylight to dark is just not fun", at least not for me. I guess some people enjoy it. (To those of you who do, BLAH to you... just kidding, of course) I am not one of those people.

Now for some more honesty: If you come over to my house and I know it and I have enough time to clean like a crazy lady, you will find a spotless house. I just want to confess that my house doesn't always look that way. I don't want to appear to have it all together... because I don't. If you could see the mess that surrounds this computer you would know what I mean (and if I was brave enough I'd post a picture and show you.. but I'm not). Lisa also said, "There is much ministry in truth-telling" and I couldn't agree more. Her post motivated me to write this by the way.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not a slob, not always anyways! ;) I do try to keep the house tidy. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. I just want to be real. I know that part of my job as a wife and a mother is to make our home a safe haven and I desire for God to continue to grow me in that area. Thinking about the story of Mary and Martha though, sometimes it's just best to sit at Jesus' feet... or sit in the floor and read Luke a book. I can't tell you how many times that little sweet boy has tugged on my pants leg while I was washing dishes and asked me to read him a book. I know that I can't always drop everything for him, he needs to know that sometimes I have to do other things. As a mother though, he is my greatest priority and responsibility. In the same sense my husband needs to know that I am his biggest supporter and sometimes that may mean making sure he has clean underwear but other times that may mean just stopping what I'm doing to verbally be his encourager.

It's a balancing act... one that I'm not quite sure I'm very good at! It's a continual prayer for me.

Lord, help me to be the mother and wife You've called me to be....

Ramblings of a pregnant lady.. and a basement guest

(**Update about the GUEST is below**)
I'm feeling under the weather today. Blah. Allergies. I don't know why they haven't bothered me all spring and now all of a sudden they decide to make me all stuffy! Whatever is bloomin' right now is not my friend! Luke has had a runny nose too but that's pretty normal around here. I'm afraid he's inherited my allergies. Needless to say I've felt pretty worthless today because all I've wanted to do was lay around.

We did get some work done this weekend. We cleaned out Eli's room for the most part and got out the swing. I still need to wash all of the padding/etc on it and get out the bouncer. I've washed a few of his little outfits and I've also went through Luke's things to see what I can use. Surprisingly, Luke does not have ANY newborn or 0-3 months stuff. I guess I didn't keep it. I knew we would be planning more kids but most of what he wore in the very beginning I didn't keep. They were just onesies mainly. He was a big boy so he didn't wear those sizes long. All of the stuff that I kept start in the 3-6 month size range. I've picked out a few little things for Eli but I'm not going to go overboard considering I didn't keep much of Luke's newborn clothing. For the first 2 months you're pretty much home most of the time.. so a few comfy onesies is all you need.


So, I actually feel a little more ready for Eli than I did. The rest of my list that needs to be done includes:


buy extenders for the cosleeper
buy crib
buy changing table
make Luke's big brother box for the hospital
find swaddling blankets (our lifesaver with Luke)
pick up: nursing pads, lanolin, a few paci's, bottles, infant Tylenol (since Luke uses children's now), Mylicon drops, a few 'things' for the hospital that I know I will need
pick out bedding

I'm having a diapers and wipes shower at church so hopefully that will be covered. I'm also having a shower at my mom's and I'll probably get some things there that I know I need since it's mostly family and I can request certain things. I know that he'll be in our room in the cosleeper for a while so really the crib can wait until the last minute. I plan on buying some kind of bedding but I'm going way less expensive this time. I'm going to pick up a few paci's and just save the receipts. Hopefully he will like the first one we try... unlike Luke who didn't like any until we got to the 4th or 5th one. Monogramming is super cute but after looking through Luke's things, I barely have any burp clothes that I can use because all of the nice ones (that I used in public and didn't stain) have his name or initials on them! So, Eli will need some of his own. It's the same with Luke's diaper bags. I think I only have one diaper bag that doesn't have Luke's name on it. My little Eli deserves some things of his own though! Most of these things I will get here and there, but I know it will take me the entire 13 weeks that I have left to get them all. Yes, that is only 3 months left... three months from tomorrow!


Ok, I had to take a break because my husband came and got me to tell me that something was in the basement. He heard a commotion outside which included dogs barking and growling and some strange noises... well this is what was making the strange noises:

So, how do you get an armadillo out of the basement?.. because as of right now, this thing is still in there. As you can see, R's attempts at hosing it down and throwing things at it did not work.

So... I think it's time to go to bed....

Update: After failed attempts of hosing it out, throwing ink pens/other random objects, and sweeping it out with a large push broom, we decided to just hope that he (or she, who knows??) would just mosey on out... and he/she did. It was gone this morning. How crazy is that though?? Life here in the parsonage is so exciting....

List of my thoughts! (and a recipe)

So, what's been going on?? I've been staying busy the past few days! Here is a little list of thoughts from the past week.. this will be random but hey, that's how I'm feeling today! :)

1. The weather has been SOOO nice, so Luke and I have been spending most mornings outside. We even went for a short walk one day before playing. I love watching him play outside because he loves it so much. I am dreading when the humidity hits, which won't be long! Daddy will have to spend more time with him outside then. :)
2. This week was a volunteer week at the pregnancy center. We have a Walk for Life tomorrow! I'm excited to see the turnout!
3. My son has food texture issues. I know this is why he refuses to eat so many different things (although we have made progress). Last night when he tried mashed potatoes, he loved the flavor and ate several bites. Well, he took one BIG bite and began to gag. That big blob of mushy mashed potatoes was just too much for him. Yeah, you know what comes next.. he threw up every bite of potatoes he ate. Dinner was then over. About thirty minutes later he did have a piece of toast, grapes and strawberries. He just can't handle some things. BTW, the potatoes were awesome despite this whole story! I had some for lunch today!
4. I am attempting to grow my nails back out. I use to be a nail technician, so I know the key to pretty nails! It's easy, take care of them! When I do that, I do have pretty nails. Since Luke came along I have just gotten lazy though. So, last night I took the time to file, buff and polish my nails. I forgot to do one of the most important parts though, rub cuticle oil in before bed! I need to just set the oil on my night stand (I don't think it would be wise to put it under my pillow, like my chapstick!) so I will remember to use it!
5. We're going out to dinner tonight with some really good friends of ours. I can't wait!! We don't get to see each other often so tonight is a special treat! And they are expecting their first child! So, it's fun to talk to them and share stories! She is about 7 weeks behind me!
6. This book is so good! I am loving it and it is going perfectly with my study through Isaiah! Thanks to Xandra for recommending it and thanks to my hubby for already owning it! :)
7. If any of you happened to read the last 3 comments on my 100th Post entry, the last one is from my husband to my mom. They have a crazy, weird relationship where they both pick at each other. I just wanted to clarify so that no one thought 'whoever that was' was being mean. It's all in fun! :)
8. I made some YUMMY cookies today! I'd been craving oatmeal raisin cookies so I decided to do a little experiment and make my own recipe. I did use a base recipe but changed around a few things. I've already had 3 today! Here is the recipe:

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
(5 dozen)

1 c butter, softened
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c AP flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
1 c dried cranberries
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Sift together the flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture slowly into the creamed butter mixture. Stir in oats, cranberries, and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until light and golden. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Store in an airtight container after completely cooled.

** Of course you could add raisins instead of cranberries and you could add nuts (I would say maybe a half cup) as well. You could also use all white flour. I just try to add in a little whole wheat when I can. You do not have to refrigerate the cookie dough. I just think refrigerated dough makes prettier cookies! Refrigerating the dough helps to avoid really flat cookies. They took about 10 minutes in my oven. Be careful to not over bake unless you like hard, crisp cookies. At 10 minutes mine were lightly golden and still somewhat soft in the middle. They set up perfectly after the 2 minutes of cooling on the cookie sheet.

Now, I'm going to post this recipe over at Leah's Recipe Exchange. If you haven't checked out the recipes there you should! Have a great weekend!

Randomness...

Busy. Busy. Busy.

That has been the jest of the past few days for me. Lots of baking and cooking and cleaning. I really do love it.. but I am looking forward to a slow day of doing nothing Monday! Luke and I spent 2 nights with my mom since R had to go out of town suddenly. I do not like to stay by myself. I stayed by myself Wednesday night and was fine but I just would much rather my hubby be with me. I missed him so very much.

Saturday night I had a movie night with the youth/college girls from church. And though it was a small group we had such a good time. We had some really good food.

And we watched The Nativity Story, which is so good! Oh what a glorious King we serve to come so humbly and lowly to save our souls! Ok, I could keep on going.. but I'll just refer you to here!

One more thing.. what in the world is up with this weather??? It was 75 degrees today!!!! As I speak there is a fly buzzing around my head. Seriously, it's about to drive me insane. I thought to myself when I first heard that annoying thing.. 'What in the world is a fly doing? It's December 9th!!' But then I remembered that it has been so WARM... plus our house is surrounded by cow pastures.. so you know...

Ok, that's enough nonsense!! ;)

Ramblings... and my little shoe lover!

It's late.. so I may ramble..
I've been learning a lot of things lately.. here are some of them..

• Target sells Harry and David, Dark Chocolate Covered Bing Cherries!! They are expensive.. but so good.
  
• My son is obsessed with shoes.. his shoes, my shoes, R's shoes... He wants to put them on as soon as he wakes up, even before he is out of his pajama's. His favorites are definitely the black rain boots we bought to go with his fireman Halloween costume. (see picture below)


• I am too old to stay up past 12AM.


• I will never undertand why my husband likes/wants to fold his t-shirts in a perfect square instead of just folding them normally. Who has the time to do that?


• Putting your heart and efforts into something only to find that no one is really interested can be discouraging. This is when I just have to trust that God will work it all out.


• If you have to think twice about whether or not the 'salad in a bag' is still good.. don't eat it!


• True self-worth and perfect love can only come from God. People, even those close to you, will let you down. They are only human, so go easy on them! Praise God for His unfailing love!

Song of Songs 2:4 ~ "His banner over me is love."

My sweet love and his favorite shoes...