Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Bible Study Week 7

 This week in Bible study we talked about spiritual gifts... There are three primary lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament. 

1) 1st Corinthians 12:7-11; there are 9 examples in this passage. They include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophesy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. 

2) Romans 12:6-8; there are 7 examples in this passage. They include prophesy, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and mercy. 

3) 1st Peter 4:10-11; there are 2 examples (more like categories) in this passage. They are speaking and serving. 

Something interesting she noted when we looked at these three passages was the fact that in reference to all three lists, within a few verses of either the beginning or end of them there is an exhortation of LOVE. Without love we will never be able to truly use our spiritual gifts for the good of the Body of Christ! 

Some notes she made about our spiritual gifts are that they are not the same as our talents, we may be talented at certain things, but those are not necessarily our spiritual gifts, you may be a wonderful singer, but that is not your gift, its your talent, which you can also use to glorify Christ. Also, your gifts will energize you, not exhaust you... even if you feel exhausted after a day of using one of your spiritual gifts you also feel energized and exhilarated. They build you up, don't tear you down! 

At the end of the lesson she presented Romans 12:6-8 to us out of The Message, and it was interesting to see how the gifts and their use was described, so I'm going to put it here. 

"let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't. If you preach, just preach God's message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if your put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face." 

-Romans 12:6-8 MSG

For those who preach or speak, it is easy sometimes to go off on your own thing and not stick to God's word. One way she said to know if you have the gift of help is if you often want to help people who often don't want help. If you learn something and cant keep it to yourself, you just want to share it, you may have the gift of teaching. Those who have the gift of encouragement need to be careful not to use that gift in such a way that it discourages people, don't use it to tell people where they have fallen short. You may have the gift of leadership if you have a tendency to take over and people are glad that you did, but people with leading gifts can lead many many people astray if they are not intimate with God.

So those are just some things to think about in terms of spiritual gifts. 

God Bless!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Bible Study Week 6

 In the sixth week of the Beth Moore study "The Inheritance" she hit on some awesome points that I want to share here. This week she focused very much on the 'boundary lines' of our lives, since she has been talking about inheritance and where the 'boundary lines' fall for our inheritance just as the boundaries fell for the Israelite's in the promise land. She was helping us to define where the boundaries fall for our lives and here are the guides she gave us. 

1) The thing that gives our 'property' height is our Intimacy with God. Only through this can we truly inherit the Kingdom of God. If we have great Intimacy with God we will unlimited height to our property and the boundary there will be limitless! 

2)One of the most important boundaries is Our Pasts. We often don't want to claim what has happened in our pasts as ours, we would rather forget it, but by claiming it for the Glory of God we are making it our property and it falls within our boundaries. When she was talking about Pasts, she was specifically talking about the painful things and failures of our pasts. The areas of our lives we would rather not possess, but the huge point she made here is that if we don't possess those things ourselves, it leaves it open for the Enemy to take possession of those parts of our property and use them against us. God puts those difficult things in our lives so that we can use them for his Glory later. I think this was the best concept of the night, because its so true, we don't want to keep those hard things in our lives and claim them but if we don't and we don't try to use them for God's glory, the Enemy will possess it, he will stand on that property and use it against you until you decide to take possession of it and kick him off! If there is an area of your life where you feel defeated in life, the enemy is standing there on that part of your property and you need to take it back! 

3) The third boundary to our property is our Life Experiences, and this includes EVERYTHING! This is everything in everyday life that God has entrusted to you. This includes where you went to school, where you work, your family, basically anywhere that you have done life and what you have done with it is part of your property, it is part of you! This area/boundary gives us depth, this is where we get everything that is who we are and what we are. 

4) The fourth boundary line is our Spiritual Gifts... this she covers more in the following week, but the big questions she asked in reference to them this week were, Are we striving to find out what they are? and Are we living them out? God gives us spiritual gifts so that we can use him to his Glory and to bring Fame to his name!

Our pasts, our life experiences, and our spiritual gifts are all given to us by God as our property, where the boundary lines have fallen for us and we can either claim that property and use it for the greatness of God's kingdom or we can not. What we do with the things God entrusts to us here on Earth will affect what he will entrust to us in his Kingdom. Just as in the Parable of the Talents, if you are given a little and do great things with it and multiply it you will be given even more, if you are given a little and do nothing with it, you will have squandered the opportunity God gave you! Be faithful with what God gives you and claim every last inch of your property!

God Bless!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Bible Study: Week Five

Week 5

I'm going to start with this tidbit... "Not only can God change your life, but he can change your day, and not only can he change your day, but he can change your mood." God isn't only in control of the big things, but if you not having a good day, spend a few minutes focused on God and he can turn your whole day around, and the same applies to your mood! WOW! That is inspiring! 

 

Another awesome thing that Beth Moore brought to light during tonight's study of our inheritance was that God is our inheritance, we get him, he is our portion! He is our inheritance, what if the most important thing we passed on to our families was God, not possessions but God himself. Its so amazing to me that I get God as an inheritance, I don't deserve him and his grace and mercy, and yet he gives himself to me freely! Now, the second part of this was that in several places in the Bible (Deuteronomy 32:7-9, 4:20, and Ephesians 1:18) where it states that WE are HIS inheritance! We are God's inheritance; he is our portion and we are his! If we could grasp that and know that to God we are the most precious treasure he has on this earth. He owns the whole universe and yet we are his inheritance! I am going to try to focus on that this week that I am so blessed to have God as my inheritance and yet he considers me important enough to be his most precious inheritance! 

Now to end on, I'm going to put in our memory verse and the verses that follow because it just touched me tonight. 

"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will your Holy ones see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures as your right hand." 

PSALM 16:5-11

GOD BLESS

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Bible Study (I've Missed a few weeks)

Ok, so these last few weeks I have totally spaced and been really busy and haven't been able to post about the last few weeks of Bible study. So here are a few tidbits from last few weeks. 

Week 2

Beth Moore asked the question "Do you believe that God is a GIVER or a TAKER?" And I couldn't believe what a profound question that is. Of course the Christian in us tells us that God is a giver, but her question was if we truly believe that. We are often so afraid of what God could take from us that we don't give him complete control of our lives and therefore we miss out on the wild ride of life that he could give us! God gives to us to get glory, he wants us to have everything he can give us and he wants to provide all that we need, but sometimes there are things in our lives that we don't want to give over to God because he could ask us to give it up to glorify him. But a thought  that occurred to me was that if its something God wants us to give up than it probably isn't good for us and he has something much better waiting for us. 

Week 3

In week 3 we learned that NOTHING IS LEFT TO CHANCE! Because God holds my plan in his hands, everything happens in either the outright will of God or in the permissive will of God, nothing happens just because, it all has a part in where I'm going. She also mentioned that we all have an assigned area of influence that we can do God's work in (it could be work, school, our friends...) and that we need to figure out who else is in our field and work with them to bring light to those around us! 

Week 4

There were several great points made during this week. The first was about how God wants to give us all the greatest gift, salvation, but we have to be proactive and take it! We often just want things handed to us without any work on our part, but God wants us to work for our salvation so that when we are tempted and the Devil tries to take it from us we can hold on to it. If we don't develop the muscle to hold onto our inheritance/salvation, when its tested it can easily slip through our fingers. 

The next point that has really hit me this past week is that we often have press through fear to possess our inheritance and possess the things that God has in store for us. We have to press through the fear to get where God wants to go. And if we cant press through it and feel fine going in, then we just to do it scared and eventually it will get easier! She said that fear can be the ruining of someones calling because they will not push through their fear and fulfill it. This has been a big thing for me this week as I'm trying to figure out some job options. I'm planning to be a substitute teacher, I'm almost done with the whole application process and then I will be able to start subbing. Its exciting but also really scary for me, I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of kids/teaching... I don't know if I can handle it or what it will like, but as I was thinking about it I realized that I just need to push past it and put my faith in God's ability to take care of me and to help me if I don't know what I'm doing, and that helped although I'm still terrified but I'M GOING TO DO IT SCARED! 

GOD BLESS

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Bible Study: Week One

Yesterday I began a new Bible study by Beth Moore. Its called The Inheritance. Its my first step toward becoming involved in our new church in Lemoore, and Im really excited about it. I am really  hoping it will give me the perspective I need this year to see where God wants me and what he wants me to do!

In study last night, Beth Moore made several statements that still have me thinking this morning. The first was that if I really applied what I learn from this study in the next 9 weeks, that this could be the year that changes my life. Wow, that is an interesting concept. This could be the year that I see what God's purpose in my life is, wouldnt that be amazing! Another thing she said that kind of goes with the first is that the dreams I have for myself cant even come close to the things God has prepared for me. That is an encouraging thought, since sometimes I feel that the things I dream for or want are so far out of reach for me, but yet God has bigger and better plans, and he will enable me to reach those plans! 

The last thing that she was talking about was about us being heirs to God's kingdom. This study will be teaching us what that means exactly, but she was talking about how we as women are "heiresses" and that with that, in the words of Paris Hilton no less, we are not supposed to be BORING! Yes I did say Paris Hilton, apparently Beth Moore read her book about being an heiress, and the little tidbit she took away was that Paris felt it was the worst thing to do in life to be boring. Beth Moore agrees that as heiresses of God we should not be bored or boring. We should be full of life and out for a wild ride through life with God at the wheel. I will be pondering this week and probably throughout this study if I am bored or boring and if I am what I am going to do to change that. 

So as I go through this study I plan to blog a little each week about what kind of progress its making, if I am learning new things about myself, about my amazing God, or just my life in general. I'm really excited for this journey and I cant wait to see where I am at the end! 

God Bless

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Its a new year!

Ok, so its officially 2011 and I cant believe that 2010 is actually over! Its crazy to think that at this time last year I was still living in Mississippi, didn't have a dog, or a truck, or a winged Naval Aviator husband! Wow how things have changed! In the last year so much has happened and it has been a blast and also has had its tough moments. Traver and I got a dog, who we love, a new truck, and I ran 4 races! Traver got his wings in July, we took a road trip in August, we moved to California in September, and have settled into our new town and life pretty nicely so far! 

I had a job for a while, but it didn't work out, so I'm back to being a stay at home wife, for now at least. But I have goals in that area. I'm working on getting my substitute teacher credential for the state of California, just a few steps away from getting that finished. I have decided to get my Event Management and Wedding Planner Certification. The navy will pay for me to get it, and since I really think that is what I want to do with my life I am going to take this course to help my chances at getting a job! 

Traver and I bought another new (at least to us) car a few weeks ago, after our red mustang was totaled in an accident in November. We were rear ended, lame! I always figured we would get in a car accident in Mississippi where the drivers are terrible, but somehow we survived over a year there, and within 3 months here we get rear ended! But nonetheless, we got a new 2006 mustang to replace our 2000, its beautiful and really fun to drive, I named her Stella! 

Other new things going on... I have decided to take up cake decorating and my goal is to use it as a ministry to make cakes for people who could use a pick me up! Also, my goal for January is to have every single box unpacked or put in the attic, if it doesn't have a place in the house (other than shoved in the closet) it will go to goodwill/garage sale or into the attic. I want the house 100% settled by the end of this month! Wish me luck! 

Other than that I'm just really looking forward to a new year, full of new adventures and experiences! I'm going to try to better about blogging about them as they come up! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

So, several of my girlfriends in Lemoore and I have started a recipe swap, each Sunday one of the girls sends out a favorite recipe or something they have been hoping to try and it give us all a chance to try some new things. It rotates every week sends the recipe and its been really fun so far! So I figured I would start posting them on here when they come in. Im a little behind, so there will be three new ones this week, and from now on Ill try to post the new one each week when I get it! 

Sarah's Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Needed

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1'ish per person)

1 lb. precut bacon (I'm sure you could use turkey bacon, I never have)

16oz Sour Cream (you can use lite)

1 can cream of mushroom soup (you can use health choice)

1 can mushrooms (we like mushrooms so I use a bigger can)

Wrap each chicken breast in 1-2 pieces of chicken.

Combine sour cream, cream of mushroom soup and canned mushrooms

Place chicken in casserole dish and cover in sour cream mixture. Put in 350 oven for 1 hour.

Two additions to this:

1) you can use frozen chicken which I do all the time, b/c I forget to take it out of the freezer

2) you can put this in the crock pot on low for 6 hours, stir once or twice during cooking. I do it this way the most b/c it makes the chicken just fall apart!!

I serve this over rice

It's a family favorite, super easy (esp. in the crock pot) and makes GREAT left overs

Jacquee's Thai Coconut Chicken

1 Tbs vegetable oil

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts- cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp grated lime peel (can use lime juice)

1 tsp grated ginger root (can use powder)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 jalapeno chili, seeded and finely chopped (if you want it spicy, use the seeds.)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 can (about 14oz) coconut milk (not cream of coconut)

1 tsp packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 cup sugar snap pea pods

1/2 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in cubes

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 Tbs chopped fresh basil leaves

Hot cooked jasmine rice

In a nonstick wok or 12in nonstick skillet, heat oil over high heat.  Add chicken; cook until chicken is no longer pink in center.  Add lime, ginger, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro.  Stir-fry for about a minute.

Pour coconut milk over chicken.  Stir in brown sugar, salt, soy sauce, pea pods, and bell pepper.  Reduce heat to medium.  Simmer uncovered for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.  Stir in tomato.

Spoon over rice and top with basil.

Kristin's Slow Cooker Pizza Casserole

1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef 

1 lb   Bulk Pork Sausage  

4 jars (14 ounces each) Pizza Sauce 

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese 

2 cups grated parmesan cheese 

2 packages (3 oz each) sliced pepperoni 

1/2 cup finely chopped onion       (Or ultra minced to hide it from your hubby )

1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper 

1 clove garlic minced   (The 50 cent jars of garlic at the commissary . . .  great deal!) 

1 lb Rotini pasta, cooked and drained

1. Brown beef and sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat. Drain. 

    Place meat in slow cooker. 

2. Add all remaining ingredients except pasta; stir til blended. 

3. Cover; cook on low 3 1/2 hours or high 2 hours.

4. Stir in pasta. Cover; cook 30 minutes until pasta is hot. 

Bon Appétit!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Wings, Family, and Vacation

At the end of last month Traver recieved his wings of Gold and is officially a Naval Aviator! I am so proud of him, he has accomplished so much and has worked so hard to get to where he is now. We found out that we will be moving to Lemoore, CA where he will learn to fly the F/A-18 Super Hornet in squadron VFA-122! We were thrilled with this because it was our first choice to go to Lemoore and it was his first choice to fly Super's! We will be so much closer to family and friends and be on the best coast! Now if only they would cut us orders so we could know where we are leaving! 

The winging week was great because both Traver and my parents came out for it, so we got to see family and celebrate all together! We all got the chance to go into the T-45 (the plane Traver flew here in training) simulator, which was really realistic and much more challenging than we imagined it would be. It was fun to show the parents around the squadron and for them to see where Traver works everyday. We also got the opportunity to go out to the runway and watch other students come in for touch-and-go landings! It was incredibly loud but awesome at the same time! They even had a family day at the squadron where we got to meet Traver's CO and they gave out awards to the guys for different things they did throughout flight school. Traver got an award for excellent bombing skills and also for having the highest grades at the aircraft carrier when they went out to land! I even got an award for my wonderful work as a student naval aviator spouse, haha, it was funny but also greatly appreciated! The winging ceremony itself was great, it was fun to get to pin Traver's wings of gold on his chest, he even got me a wing pendant that I wear all the time now!

After all the official stuff was over, we went to lunch with the other guys from VT-9 (Traver's squadron) at one of their houses and got all the family together and it was great! That night was the winging party, which my mom, Janice, and I had arranged for all the food and cake. We BUILT and aircraft carrier cake, it was AWESOME! Everyone was super impressed that we had made it because it looked pretty realistic! We even had plastic airplanes landing and taking off of it, which ended up either stolen or crashed into the cake by the end of the night! The party was great, all our best friends were there and we got a chance to celebrate with everyone! The next morning we all (Traver and I and the parents) took off for Pensacola, FL. It was nice to show them where we so often go for weekend getaways. They got to see the beach, which was luckily all cleaned up after the oil spill and we took them to a favorite restaurant of ours, Mcquires, its an awesome Irish Pub that we go to most times we are there. We even got to take them to the Naval Aviation Museum. All in all it was a great trip and it was great to have the parents here for it! 

We didnt have long after the parents left before we left on leave to drive up to Annapolis. We camped our way up (Boeing too), stopping in Ft. Payne, AL for one night (worst nights sleep ever, hott and muggy, gross) and then we stopped in the Great Smoky Mountains for another night which was awesome, it was beautiful in the mountains (and cooler). We then drove up to Reston, VA to stay with my cousins and go to a wedding in Annapolis. The wedding was great and it was fun to see some of Traver's classmates we hadnt seen in a while. Boeing made good friends with my cousin's dog T-Bone and they got to swim and run and play alot, I think he is lonely and bored at home now, haha! We spent three nights there and then went down to Lake Anna where my great aunt and uncle live and stayed two nights with them. We camped one more night on the way home in the Great Smoky's, which was almost a disaster, since the campground we planned to go to was up a deserted, overgrown, dirt road, we went almost all the way up when we decided it wasnt worth getting stuck, crashing... where there is no cell service and no way anyone will ever find us! Boy it was nice to get home after that! 

All together we traveled 2251.5 miles on the trip and spent a total of 40 hours and 52 minutes driving (that isnt including stops that is actual driving time)! 

Now we are just trying to get the house back to normal, and Im preparing to go out to Cali for a job interview in Fresno and to do some house hunting in Lemoore for when we finally get orders and get to move! It should be pretty exciting! Ill let you know how it goes! 

Live it UP!!!!!!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Busy Busy

In the last few weeks since we got Boeing, things have been pretty crazy. Things with Boeing have been awesome, he has turned out to be a pretty great puppy. He is pretty well housebroken at this point, with the exception of the last two days when he has been having trouble. He is crate trained and loves his crate. He has cutest quirks. Like he loves to play with his food, he will take one piece out of the bowl and chase it around the floor, pushing it with his nose or paws, and then he will cover it with a paw and look for it and push his paw around with his nose and then have an "ah-hah" moment when he lifts his paw up and eats it. We have also learned he loves to play with water bottles and that the broom scares him. He sleeps like a champ now though, he will sleep through the night and not have to go out until we get up to let him out, its awesome! He did however find a dead baby snake in our backyard last week while Traver was gone, yuck! 

Traver has been really busy the last few weeks with training, he spent last week in El Centro, California to do several flights that require really good weather that we just dont get out here. It was pretty sucky week for me, I missed having him home and having to deal with Boeing all by myself for a week was trying. The worst part of it was that he got zero cell service out there so we hardly got to talk at all, bummer! Oh and I was sick, which was really lame, because I never get sick, and I was! But he finished out there with good grades and made it home for our trip to Pensacola we had planned for this past weekend. It was great, there was a ball down there that we went to which was fun and a whole bunch of guys from our base got their wings and had a big party down there which was really fun. We stayed in a not so great hotel because we took Boeing with us, and nice hotels dont generally allow dogs, but it was alright. We took Boeing to the dog park for the first time, he loved it and there werent really any other dogs around, so he just got to run around and have fun! It was a great way to exhaust him before the 3 hour drive back up to Meridian. 

At this point things are good, but Im getting impatient to find out where we are going next. We should hopefully have an official winging date for Traver soon, and we are hoping it will be sometime in mid or late July. Then we should hopefully be moving to the west coast (fingers crossed) sometime in August. Although we finally found a church and I have some great friends here, I am ready to move, get a job, and start the next chapter of our lives. But everything happens in God's time and it will work out just like its supposed to.

God Bless!

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

-2 large/4 medium chicken breasts

-1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free is good)

-6 oz. light sour cream

-1 cup of salsa (we use medium heat)

-1 packet of taco seasoning

-2 cups brown minute rice

Preparation:

-place chicken breasts in crock pot and cover with taco seasoning

-mix soup and salsa together and pour over chicken breasts

-cook for 2.5 hours if chicken is unfrozen, 6 hours if frozen

-mix rice and sour cream into the crock pot and shred chicken with forkand let cook until the rice is done

-serve as is or in a whole wheat tortilla

Makes 6 servings

Bon Appétit!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Boeing

So, Traver and I got a puppy! YAY! I have been bugging him for a puppy for quite a while and I finally got one! On monday I got an email from someone at the base that had found a puppy on the side of the road and were trying to find it a good time. When we called there was another couple who was already looking so we figured we probably wouldnt get him but we gave them our info anyway, just in case. Well they called tuesday night and said he was still available if we wanted to see him. We went over and he was just too cute how do you turn that down! We brought him home and did a late night walmart trip to get supplies. The first night was kind of rough, he cried alot, I got up with him 3 times that night and by 7am he was awake and I had to get up with him. He was really good that first day, Traver and I both got some good time with him, but we both had to work at one point or another and they overlapped by like 3 hours, which meant the puppy had to stay home alone during that time, but he did great! He was better that night too, he only got up twice but he was awake at like 6 and ready for the day, so I got up, he is trying to make a morning person out of me, and I am so not a morning person! By the time Traver got up I had made a vet appointment for later that morning and we had to pick a name, because it is just sad to go to the vet with a nameless dog. 

We had gone back and forth about names, we wanted something aviation related and been bouncing names around since we got him and just hadnt found the right one, by this point we were between Ace and Boeing, and we went with Boeing! Its perfect for him, and we love it! So we took him to the vet and he did great, the vet was really nice and Boeing was a trooper! They gave him his first round of shots and an ear mite treatment (and an ointment for us to use) and a de-worm treatment. They weighed him in at 5 lbs and he is between 6-7 weeks old, he is so tiny! We were able to get something to keep the ticks off of him too because they love him! Anyway, he slept most of today after the vet. We even had some friends over and he barely played with them, sleep coma apparently. So he was really mellow and they loved him, I wish he was like that all the time! He is just so cute and we just love him! We are in the process of crate training him and its been hard but he does really well so far!

Cant wait to see what all we have in store with this little guy in the future! I hope he sleeps in a little more tomorrow, I could use the sleep! 

Woof Woof!

Life Happenings: General LIfe Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Church Stuff! 

So, for the last 8 months of being in Meridian Traver and I have been struggling to find a church, we have tried several churches and each one came up short, in one way or another. The biggest problem with each of them, at least for me, was the lack of young people to fellowship with. Fellowship is such a huge part of church for me and there weren't any opportunities for that at the churches we were trying. We did find one that Traver liked, in terms of message, but again no fellowship opportunities, and I got very little out of the teachings. I personally have a very hard time getting up and going to church if Im excited to hear what is going to be said and with all these churches, I had no excitement, I wasnt being fed at these churches so I would sleep through it and wake up feeling guilty for not going, but not that guilty, and that is a bad sign. 

So last weekend, on Saturday, Traver got up to go to this Bible Study and I got up and did one of my own. I started into the book of Romans and was just starting to feel more and more fed and alive with each verse. That night we went to a friends house for dinner and they mentioned trying this new church (Faith Baptist), the church of the family that leads the Saturday morning Bible Study, and we decided we would try it too! The family that lead the Saturday Bible Study, the Blankenships, lead a 9:30 Sunday School class for young adults on Sundays, and then there is the normal Church service after that at 10:45. So we got up and went to the 9:30 service where they were finishing up Galatians, it was great to sit in a room full of young adults and break into God's word! We even stayed for the 10:45 service, which was great and had a great message as well! After church we had lunch with a big group of people from the class (mostly student naval aviators and their wives) and everything seemed to be falling into place! 

To make everything better, Tuesday there was a meeting at the Blankenship's house to plan the start of an Officer Christian Fellowship for the base here. I was super pumped about it and the meeting went great! We got the chance to decide how we want to go about running it and where we thought God was leading it. So now we have not only a church for Sunday's but also a midweek Bible Study! Then to add to that, a few of the girls from the church and OCF are part of a women's Bible Study on Thursday nights and they invited me along. They are working through Beth Moore's book on Esther and so far it has been great, and I went to my first meeting last night and what a comfort it was to spend time with some Christian women and talk about God! I have missed that so much since we have been here! It was always so amazing to me how great it made me feel when I would go home and get together with my two best Christian friends, Kirsten and Christina, they are so encouraging and inspirational in their faiths, and I'm excited at the prospect of building that here as well!

So anyway, I just really wanted to share my excitement at finding not only a Church, but a midweek study, and a women's study! When God moves, he really moves! In less than a week, I feel so much more put together, I feel a 100 times closer to God, and I am just happier in general about life! What an awesome feeling! 

Praise God!!!!!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

LEARNING FRENCH!!!!!

So a while back, my mom and I agreed that we would learn languages and go to those countries when Traver is away on deployments. So our first language is FRENCH! We decided last summer we would start learning french and my mom went out and got all kinds of fun stuff for us. It was actually really fun. I got home from an evening out and my mom had this super cute bag full of little wrapped up gifts all having to do with France.
Including:




A french computer program, not Rosetta Stone, way way to expensive! But its called Instant Immersion and its got lots of awesome stuff in it including a mystery game you play when you are all done and have to solve all in French. Its a great program and WAY cheaper than rosetta stone!



A french book called "French in 10 minutes a day" which has little lessons and stickers to put all over your house and flash card and puzzles and games that help you learn, its a great book for learning!



A subscription to France Magazine which is really fun to look through, its not in French, but has all these sweet articles about places in France and just fun things, and it does have some french in it to help you learn and read in French!





She also got us each these books by Mireille Guiliano... "French Women Dont Get Fat" and "French Women For All Seasons" and although I havent fully read them yet, they are pretty good and funny! She also got us a book called " A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle and Im looking forward to reading it!



And as a fun extra, she got me a copy of "Sex and Mrs. X", dont worry its not anything raunchy, its a movie, a comedy, about a woman who goes to France to write an article about a French woman who basically sets up well established french men with beautiful women.... ok ok it sounds bad, but its really not and its very funny, and very french!

All in all we have tons of fun French learning tools and are making progress towards really learning the language and making a trip to FRANCE! We are so excited and I think its going to be great! I cant wait for our actual trip to France where we can put our french to good use and sit by the Eiffel Tower and drink wine and eat cheese, haha! We even are thinking about doing a race while we are there, since we are currently training for a half-marathon, we figured why not just keep up with it and do a race while in France! But we shall see how that goes, haha!


Au Revoir!

Life Happenings: Entertaining Exercise

Life Happenings: Entertaining Exercise

Half-Marathons




As of the 1st of this month I started training for a half-marathon! My mom and I, and several of her friends and their daughters are training for a half-marathon later this year and its really exciting! I am no runner, like I literally dont run, but I am really excited to become a runner. The first thing I did was buy GOOD running shoes, that is one thing I knew, I could not run in bad shoes, and it makes all the difference. So if you are thinking about running you should make sure you go to a running store and have them fit your foot to the right shoe! There are so many different shoes out there and a running store will be able to find the one that fits your foot just right. For me, I got Mizuno's and they are awesome! I use the Mizuno Wave Rider and they are super light weight which is really important and they are really comfy!





Another good thing to get is a book that will give you a better idea of how to train for a half-marathon. I have "The Absolute Beginners Guide to Half-Marathon Training" and its really great. It goes through the whole process from start to finish, also through how to eat when in training, and it comes with stength training logs, food logs, and running logs. Its a great book and definitely worth the read! I also got a running watch that keeps track of your distance, speed, and even estimates calories burned! All these things are great resources when you start training for races.




Another awesome resource is Hal Higdon's website (HalHigdon.com) . He was a world class runner and has written several books and programs for runners, starting with beginners all the way through advanced runners. His website is a gold mine full of awesome information for runners. Whether you are running a 5K or a Marathon, or a triathalon, or if you live in the cold or the hot. He has a program for everyone and they are all editable so that you can make it work into your lifestyle and time frame!

Ill be keeping everyone posted on my progress through my training! Wish me luck!

GO! GO! GO!

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Fun Football Party Dips!

In honor of football season being in full swing Im putting up a few favorite dip recipes that are great for football parties!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients
-1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Original Sauce
-1/2 cup Blue Cheese Dressing
-1/2 cup Blue Cheese Crumbles
-8 oz. of softened Cream Cheese
-2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken

Preparation
-Mix the hot sauce, dressing, crumbles, and cream cheese in an oven safe dish (I use my 8x8 pyrex dish) and then mix in the shredded chicken.
-Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for appox. 20 minutes or until bubbly!
-Serve with your favorite crackers, Ritz are a good choice!


Seven Layer Dip

Ingredients
-1.5 lbs cooked ground beef
-16 oz. can refried beans
-4 cups shredded cheese
-8 oz. sour cream
-1 cup guacamole
-1 cup salsa
-1 small can chopped olives
-1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
-1/2 cup chopped green onions

Preparation
-Cook ground beef in large skillet and set aside until cooled
-Spread beans in a large 13x9 dish that is approx. 1.5-2 inches deep
-Sprinkle 2 cups of cheese over the beans
-Sprinkle beef on top of cheese, and then spread the sour cream slowly over the beef
-Spread guacamole over the sour cream and then pour the salsa on top of that and sprinkle with other 2 cups of cheese
-Sprinkle olives, tomatoes, and onions over the top of the dish
-You can either serve it at room temperature or you can refrigerate it overnight and then serve with tortilla chips.

Bon Appétit!

Divine Décor: Décor Tricks

Divine Décor: Décor Tricks

Vase Fillers

A recent favorite décor trick is the use of vase fillers as a table centerpiece. My main inspiration came from a friends wedding centerpieces which were filled with fresh sliced oranges, it was beautiful and the smell was wonderful! Lemons work the same way, and you can mix flowers in as well to make it a floral arrangement!



You can find so many different things to use for fillers. Stores like Pottery Barn carry several different kinds of fillers like Acorns and Cranberries (both great for Thanksgiving) They also have fake fruits, like lemons, apples, and pomegranates (however, I prefer the use of real fruit).





There are also none food types of fillers like leaves, seashells, rocks, sand, fake snow... So many options and so many different opportunities to use them! Holidays are great times to use this trick for your table centerpieces. I already mentioned several good Thanksgiving ones, you can also use small pumpkins for Halloween, fake snow or snowflakes for Christmas, sand and seashells during the summer, leaves for fall...




Decorating with fillers is fun and gives you the flexibility to have a new fun centerpiece for each season, holiday, or event that you have!

HAPPY DECORATING!!!

Life Happenings: Entertaining Exercise

Life Happenings: Entertaining Exercise

SPINNING!!!




A few months ago a friend of mine convinced me to start going to the 6am spin class that they offer on the base on tues/thurs. I was kind of wary, first Im not a morning person, second I had done spin before and I knew it could be a butt-kickin workout. Anyways, I went and it was so much better than I remembered, and getting up early wasnt that bad! So for the last few months Ive gone twice a week and I love it!

Spin is a great form of exercise because even though its a class you can set your own resistance level and pace. Our instructor uses a 5 level system and we get to figure out what are level 1 is and so on up to 5 (which is the hardest), but my level 5 doesnt have to be as hard as everyone else... In order to have a good idea of your pace, the instuctor will tell you a RPM (rotations per minute) that you should be keeping up with, and it changes depending on your level... its super easy to understand and allows you to push yourself but not too hard!

A few of the great benefits of spinning is that it works your legs (ALOT) and your butt too, it can also work your abs if you are holding them in the whole time to hold up your upper body, as opposed to using your arms the whole time. Its a great cardio workout, which I love and after a few sessions you start to notice that it takes alot more to get your heart rate up really high! Another great thing is that there are so many options while spinning (sprints; intervals- slow, fast, slow, fast; jumps- standing, sitting, standing; pyramids- moving up and down levels 1,2,3,2,1...; no hands; being on your elbows...) there are so many different ways to mix up the workout and it keeps things new and changing! Also, an female of average height and weight can burn between 400-600 calories depending on hard you are spinning and your actual size, but thats pretty good for an hour workout!

The only thing I would recommend is getting a pair of bike shorts, if you plan on actually making a habit of it, because those seats are mighty uncomfortable and pair of padded bike shorts makes it about a billion times better, you can also buy a padded bike seat that just slips on over the regular seat! Other than that water and towel and you will be ready to go!

If you have never taken a spin class, its something that I highly recommend, I have also learned that having a fitness class that I go to keeps me going becuase I feel like its more of a commitment to my friends and to the instructor that I be there every class, its highly motivating!


GO! GO! GO!

Distinctive Designs: Fierce Fashions

Distinctive Designs: Fierce Fashions

"They're my 'I dont need a job, I dont need my parents, I've got great boots' boots!"
-Rachel from Friends

Whether tall or short, black or fuchsia, low or high heeled, boots are a fashion statement no matter how you wear them! Every woman needs a great pair of boots! Luckily for me I have several, haha!

I love boots, though sadly I rarely have the opportunity to wear them!

Chinese Laundry

Chinese Laundry has some awesome boots (and shoes in general)! I was lucky enough to get a great deal on a pair of their boots at DSW (if you havent been in a DSW, you are required to find one right now and go at your soonest opportunity!
These are my favorite boots! Im not usually a short boot kind of person, but I bought these to go with my "going away" outfit for after mywedding and they were the best purchase!



Steve Madden

I've never bought Steve Madden boots, but I have other shoes of theirs, and they are amazing and super comfy!


Jimmy Choo

Way expensive, but super fashionable! Dont I wish I could even think for a second about buying those zebra print ones!




Charlotte Russe

You can get great boots for good prices, I have an amazing pair of tan boots from Charlotte Russe and the rasberry boots below were a near purchase, but my mom talked me out of them (I have no idea where I planned to wear them, but they are so fun!) Even rainboots are fashionable these days!






HAPPY SHOPPING!

Divine Décor: Ornate Offices

Divine Décor: Ornate Offices

Pottery Barn's Bedford "Build Your Own" Office System

While flipping through a Pottery Barn catalog that I picked up while shopping with my mom, I came across this picture; I was stunned, what a perfect way to set up an office for two! We hardly have room in our office for one desk, let alone two, so I will have to wait to redecorate, but I love this idea!


Pottery Barn's Bedford "Build Your Own" Office System allows you to select from any of the above components and fit them together into your perfect office, whether its for one person or two, or if you need bookshelves or file cabinets, more or less desk space! The desk tops fit onto any of the cabinets, so you can organize it any way you like!


Here is another way of setting up two desks and best utilizing the space given to you!



Or if you are creating an office just for yourself there are several ways to use this system to best accomdate your organizational needs!

I love that the system can be both feminine and masculine, it comes in white, black, and espresso! There are so many options for how to mix and match the pieces that everyone can find a way to make the perfect office set out of it!


Pottery Barn's Daily System for Organization



There are tons of options with the Daily System to set up calanders and anything else you could possibly need to organize your life! I hope that someday Ill have enough space and money to set up a beautiful office that will be as organized as these pictures (but lets be honest, who is that organized?)

HAPPY DECORATING!

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

This section is going to be one of my favorites by far! With living in Mississippi and not having a job I have had the opportunity to do alot more cooking than ever before and I'm loving it! I have had the opportunity to use several new fun recipes!

Favorite Dinners

Poppyseed Chicken

Ingredients:
- 4-5 boneless, skinless chickbreasts
- 2 small cans (or 1 large) of cream of chicken soup
- 8-10 oz of sour cream (i use low fat)
- poppyseeds
- two packages of ritz crackers
- 1/2 stick of butter

Preparation
- boil the chicken breasts until fully cooked, set aside until cool and then shred into small pieces
- mix the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, 1 tsp of poppyseeds, and shredded chicken together in a large casserole dish ( I use my pyrex casserole dish)
- in a medium bowl, crush up the the packages of ritz crackers and mix in 1 tsp of poppyseeds, add butter (melt first) and mix well together.
- spread the cracker topping over the top of the already mixed casserole
- cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly!
- I serve with rice of some kind as a side dish! Delicious!


Chicken Enchilladas

Ingredients:
- 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large can of red mild/medium enchillada sauce (or two normal soup can sized cans)

- 2 sticks of butter
- 10 tortillas ( i prefer flour tortillas)
- 1/3 cup of flour
- approx. 1 1/2 lbs of shredded cheese

Preparation
- boil the chicken breasts until cooked through, set aside until cool and shred into small pieces. Save about 3 cups of the chicken water for later use (can substitute chicken broth)
- In a smaller soup pan, melt 1 stick of butter over medium heat, add 1/3 flour and stir the mixture to keep it from scorching, for about a minute or two, it is ok if it browns a little just keep stirring it so it doesn't burn. Add 3 cups of the chicken water (it's ok if the water looks cloudy and has bits in it). This mixture should start to thicken, stir for a minute or so and then add the can of enchilada sauce. Stir and turn off heat and set aside.
- In a skillet big enough for the tortillas, melt about 1/2 of the remaining stick of butter over medium heat. Get a fork and a plate and one at a time, add the tortillas to the bubbly butter and let sit on one side for about 5 - 10 seconds and then turn over and repeat. Let some of the butter drip off into the skillet and put tortilla on plate. Repeat with all tortillas.
- Mix about a cup of the sauce in with the shredded chicken, just enough to cover everything.

Assembly
- Get a casserole or baking dish ( one of those oblong ones) and line up the plate with the sauced chicken, a bowl or plate of the shredded cheese, and the prepared tortillas and the pan of enchilada sauce.
- Dip a tortilla in the pan of sauce and put it in the casserole dish. Add a small handful of chicken to the center of the tortilla. Add some cheese (you will want some cheese in each tortilla and then some to sprinkle on top) and then roll up the enchilada and repeat. Once you have them all rolled, pour most or all of the remaining enchilada sauce over the top (not too fill so it doesn't bubble over while cooking). Cover with remaining cheese (use as much or as little as you like).
- Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly! YUM!
- I generally serve with mexican rice, but my Mom goes all out and does refried beans, guacamole, tortilla chips and salsa...

Bon Appétit!