Oh My...

Oh my!  I guess I've been a little MIA on the blog lately.  Time seriously does go by so quickly for us!  We are so, so, so busy!  Student choir started back in August, so we've been working on getting back into a routine with that.  We have a great group of students that truly want to learn both about music and about God.  It's such an honor and blessing to work with them each week.  I have left some of my usual Sunday activities so as to cut back on stress.  Currently, I am teaching a 4 year old Life Group and I LOVE it!!!  It's been two weeks and I seriously have the MOST precious kids!  Last week, we pulled them together to tell the story.  The whole time I was telling it, they kept inching closer and closer to me.  I couldn't help but think of how at such a young age, they just wanted to hear more.  I am so excited to be with them again tomorrow.  I am also still a part of the adult choir.  It's been an amazing few weeks of worship with them.  The choir is growing and it is so exciting to see!  We are so excited to have a new Worship Pastor.

My latest craft project was a fabulous door hanging.  I love the brightness it adds to our door.  Plus, it was just SO fun to make!

 I had to say goodbye to my girls this past month.  Not going to lie, it was a very tearful goodbye for all of us.  I have been so blessed to be able to work with these sweet girls over the last few years.  We have been through quite a bit together and have bonded in some unusual ways.  They are all grounded in the Word of God.  I am so looking forward to seeing how God is going to use them not only at their school, but also in their future. I already miss them a lot, but am so thankful for texting and Facebook so I can still keep up with them.

(We made the awesome headbands/bows in our last girls day)

I think that is about it going on right now.  We spent Labor Day at home this year.  It was kind of nice to have a chill weekend.  Matt's birthday is coming up this week.  I've been working on a craft project for some birthday decor, but still haven't finished it.  Hopefully, I'll have it done by Tuesday and then I'll be able to do a post on it.  

Until next time...  :)

Beach... Round 2!

I'm pretty sure anyone who has ever met me knows I have a sincere love for the beach.  Some of my best naps have been taken at the beach.  I love the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.  It's the place where I don't have to think about the craziness of life.  I can sit back, rest and enjoy.

Somehow, I was able to convince Matt to take me back to the beach for a 2nd time this summer.  It was probably because he burned himself so badly the first time.  Haha.  This time we went with his parents, brother and nephew.  It was so much fun to play in the sand, swim in the water and rest a little more.  The best part was that we were there over 4th of July (my 2nd favorite holiday).  There was nothing better that week then laying on the sand, listening to the waves and watching the fireworks go off.  Perfect 4th of July in my opinion.  :)

We ate pretty good too.  Started at Lambert's (as usual) for Matt's rolls, then stopped at Lulu's for my shrimp fix & then our usual final stop in Birmingham at Jim & Nick's.  I probably gained 20 lbs. just from eating. haha.  Good thing we had a couple walks on the beach!

On the way out of town, we stopped at the USS Alabama in Mobile.  It was so neat!  There was so much to look at and do while there.  Not only did they have the Battleship, but they also had some fighter planes and a submarine.  There is no way I would have made it on any of those.  Major props to all those who have & continue to serve!

When we got back it was close to our nephew Ben's birthday, so we had a little birthday party for him. We celebrated with Tacos and Gigi's Cupcakes.  So fun!

Got an Oil Stain on Your Couch?

We have a micro suede couch upstairs in the "man cave". It's a light camel color, so stains are very obvious. We probably need to scotch guard it, but since we don't have kids yet, we haven't bothered. With students being over often, we have had an occasional spill, but nothing too bad. The other day I noticed an oil type stain in a couple places on the couch. This was unacceptable. So, I decided to give cornstarch a try on it.





I poured it on (a little too much) and scrubbed it in with my nails. Then let it set for about an hour and a half. The result?



It's not completely gone, but definitely not noticeable. Yay!


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Pinterestaholic???

This probably won't come as a big shock to anyone who knows me (or who reads this blog), but I love Pinterest. It has made my life so much easier! I also love the Dating Divas. So, the other day when I saw on their Facebook page (and got an email from them) stating that they were looking for 'Pinterestaholics' to help with a project, I knew I had to request consideration. I have been a self-proclaimed Pinterestaholic for about a year now. Haha. This morning, I woke up to find this email in my inbox:


That's right, I'm a Pinterestaholic. That being said, I am going to need YOUR help! If you have a Pinterest and aren't following me yet, PLEASE add me. If you want an invitation to be a part of Pinterest, send me an email or Facebook message and I'll get you an invite. I'm so excited to be able to help out with a Dating Divas project. They have so many wonderful ideas for dating your spouse!

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One Year Down, A Lifetime to Go!

On June 18, 2011, I was blessed to marry a wonderful man. I was so excited to have one of my dreams come true. Our wedding day was truly one of the happiest days of my life.













God knew exactly what He was doing putting the two of us together. While we aren't complete opposites, we are opposite in just the right places to balance each other out.




There is no one else that can make me smile or laugh like he can. I'm always excited to come home from work just cause I know I'll get to spend time with him.





Matt, there is no one better for me to be on this big adventure with. Thank you for loving me despite my flaws and for always taking care of me. I'm a lucky girl to have you! I love you!






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Pizza Quesadillas

Well, 2 posts in one day... What on earth is going on???  haha...  Last night, I had a couple of friends over, so I decided to make a super simple meal.  I found this on Pinterest the other day.  I never did look at the recipe, but decided I could probably figure it out for myself.  :)  So, here it goes:

PIZZA QUESADILLAS
Shredded Cheese or leftover sliced cheese
Tortillas
Any thing you would normally want on a pizza
Marinara/Spaghetti Sauce

I poured a jar of sauce into a pan to let it heat up while I had my skillet heating up.  (I lightly oiled the skillet before heating it up.)  I took a tortilla put some cheese on it, then some pepperoni and a little more cheese then placed another tortilla on top.  I cooked them until each side was slightly crispy and the cheese was melted then cut it into 8 triangles.  After that, I used a small prep bowl and poured some sauce in.  I dipped my triangles into the sauce and about died from it's goodness.  Ok, that is a slight exaggeration, but seriously, it was REALLY good!  It's perfect for me because I really try not to eat a lot of bread or pasta and let's face it, pizza is lots of bread.

I was planning on trying out another tortilla recipe tonight, but after typing this out I'm thinking I might make this again tonight... maybe with a little onion instead of pepperoni.  YUM!!!!



PS- Sorry for the lack of picture.  This was so good none of us even took the time to stop- we just inhaled it.  :)

Catching Up

Ok, so it's been a REALLY long time since I have posted.  I have written several posts, but I guess I just hit save draft instead of post.  So here's a little bit of what's been going on since Easter...
We took the Middle Schoolers to Chattanooga for their Choir Missions Trip.  I was so excited for this trip since Chattanooga is one of my favorite places.  We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo and the kids even performed a concert there.

I have to say, every year, I am more and more impressed with our students.  They have such servant hearts and really shines through on tour.  This year, the kids got to assist with tornado clean up in Harrison, TN.  We drove up towards the tornado damage and it happened to be very close to Camp Joy.  The college I went to, Tennessee Temple University, worked closely with this camp.  We had many retreats there.  I couldn't believe how close the tornado had come to hitting it.  I wasn't able to walk around the camp, but if they had any damage, it wasn't obvious.  God really protected the camp.  Not too far away was where we worked and the damage was pretty extensive.  Not quite as bad as what we experienced here, but it was still pretty bad.  Anyway, we picked up sticks, logs and trees.  I learned to never underestimate a petite 6th grade girl.  Our girls can do it all!
On this trip, I also got to see one of my good friends from college.  I loved that it was like we saw each other once a week.  I was blessed with good friends throughout school.  As we talked, I was continually amazed at how God had changed both of our lives since we were in school together.  God is so good!
Our SWAT year ended with a party.  The students all prayed with the seniors.  It blesses my heart to see them pray together.  I'm going to miss those seniors!

We had a visit from Matt's brother & his wife in May.  It was a short visit, but we had a great time.  We went back to Cathedral Caverns to tour the cave.  I have a pretty deep fear of caves.  I hadn't been in a cave from the time I was 9 until a couple of years ago, due to an unfortunate incident with a pretty nasty fall.  I still don't really like them, but my last couple of times going in have been disaster free so maybe I am conquering that fear.   :)
Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip down to Gulf Shores.  Matt and I hand't been there since before we were even officially dating, so we were pretty excited to go down there again.  Of course, we made a stop at Lambert's so Matt could get his rolls and apple butter.  Lambert's has some GREAT food.  I even got to do some shopping.  I love the outlets down there.  The next morning, we headed to the beach.  I had so missed the smell of the ocean.  We spent the day laying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, building sand castles, and just relaxing.  It was SOOO nice.  However, Matt ended up VERY burnt.  By the time we headed to dinner, he had the flu like symptoms that come with major sunburn.  I didn't think he would make it through dinner.  Sunday, he was so burnt he could barely get out of bed.  Needless to say, we only made it to the beach one day on our weekend trip.  I enjoyed some time by the pool at the hotel instead.  :)  I have to say though, we ate some really good food on this trip.  If any of you ever get a chance to visit Fairhope, AL, DO IT! What a wonderful quaint little town.  We spent quite a bit of time walking around their downtown area.  It was so beautiful.
Now we are in to June.  I'm hopeful to be able to work on a few more craft projects.  I also plan on blogging more.  Our computer is back up and running again and I am re-adjusting to using a Mac.  I'm still new to the whole Apple computer world.  It's just so different from a PC.  I'm determined to get it down though.

Easter Came & Went... So Quickly!

Good gracious! I don't know how two weeks has gone by without my posting! Time really does fly when you are having fun!
I've been meaning to post my latest project, but with high school tour shortly after I finished it, I never got the chance. Here is the Spring wreath I made:




It took a lot longer to finish than I had planned on. Sometimes, I forget how time consuming it is to make those rosettes. They just come out SO beautifully! I wish I could remember which blog inspired me to make a wreath like this. This is why I should post immediately following completion. Haha

The night before Easter, we got a really neat opportunity to go see Casting Crowns in concert & go to a Meet and Greet ahead of time. I love listening to them and was really excited to go to the concert. Problem is, I only hear them on the radio, so next time, I should probably do better at knowing more about the band so we aren't awkwardly standing there going which group are they with. Haha. Anyhoo, here is a photo of us with Casting Crown's drummer:




We had a really great Easter. I really enjoyed singing in the choir for Easter this year. It's always wonderful to celebrate our risen Savior with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Then it blessed my heart to see one of the kids in my 4 & 5 yr old class and one of our students get baptized!

I made some really cool little gift packages for each of my Sunday School classes. I found some really neat Printables online. The one for the 4 & 5 year old class said "No Bunny Loves You Like Jesus", so I added a Bunny
Peep to it. The one for my 8th Grade girls class said "Chick Jesus Out" and had Psalm 34:8 on it. I added the regular Peeps to that one.

For Easter this year, Matt got me the outdoor table set I really wanted. In addition to that, he also gave me the rest of the mantle decor I wanted. I came home from work one night and it was all set up. I LOVE IT!







That last picture is terrible, but it's all I've got for now. Hopefully soon our computer will be back in action and I can get some better pictures.

Here is Matt's Easter basket this year:



I used a fruit basket that I picked up at Hobby Lobby then added some music note ribbon to it. I'm hoping to get it painted and fixed up a little nicer for next year. Maybe I can get that done this weekend.

We spent Easter afternoon with my parents. My dad grilled his fabulous steaks and grilled corn which of course made me super happy. I have been wanting grilled corn for a while now. Now that we have a grill, I'm pretty sure Matt will be grilling up some yummy corn for me regularly. Hehe.

This past weekend was pretty quiet in the Sloma house. Matt's been working on homework as well as Middle School Choir Tour. I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to, but it was nice to sit back and just relax. I've got some fun project plans in the works, so maybe after next weekend I can get started on them.


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We're Back!

We just got back from our annual SWAT Choir Missions Trip! We spent the week with 85 students and sponsors in Atlanta, GA. The students gave multiple concerts and served by cleaning, organizing closets, yard work and any other random task possibly given. They did a wonderful job and blessed many people including the sponsors! The last day of the week, we gave them a fun day and headed to the World of Coke, Fogo de Chau, the Varsity & on a scavenger hunt. It was such a great week! You can read all about it on the SWAT blog.

Here are some pictures from the week:


























































































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