25 Years Ago...

25 years ago today, I was barely 4 years old. I was loving ballet, dolls, friends, craft projects.







25 years ago today, I was sitting in my Baptist preschool listening to my teacher, Mrs. Brown, tell me that if I wanted to go to heaven I had to ask Jesus into my heart. I prayed with her and accepted that precious gift of eternal life.

25 years ago today, I went home after school and very indignantly told my mom that if she wanted to go to heaven she had to ask Jesus into her heart too. And guess what? She did!





I love that God placed me in a family where I could hear of His saving grace & come to know Him at such a young age. It's an amazing thing to think of how He orchestrated all of that. It still blows me away. I am so thankful that He gave me a mother that I could share a spiritual birthday with and that we could grow spiritually together. She is a wonderful role model & one of the greatest prayer warriors I know.
God has done so much in my life already and I can't wait to see what else He has in store. God is so good to me- in every circumstance!

I hope each of you have a spiritual birthday where you celebrate the time when you came to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you don't, please contact me. I would love to talk with you about it!

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Taste like mashed potatoes???

Ok, so most of my recipes I find on Pinterest. This recipe is no different, but it was a little riskier than I usually go for.
The recipe claimed this Cheesy Cauliflower Purée tasted better than mashed potatoes. WHAT?!?!? I kept thinking there is no way. I absolutely love almost any form of potato. In fact to ready myself for tonight's dish, I even had a baked potato for lunch. Gotta have something to compare it to right? :) I wouldn't say it tastes like or that its better than mashed potatoes, but it was DELICIOUS! It will be made again.

Here is the recipe:
1 head of cauliflower
1/3 cup of heavy cream
2 tbs of butter
2 oz of sharp cheese (I used sharp white cheddar)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cut the cauliflower into medium sized pieces. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add heavy cream & 1 tbs butter. Heat for 5 min. Remove from microwave and stir- make sure that the cauliflower is covered with the cream. Put back in the microwave for 4 minutes. Then put in the blender with the cheese and 1 tbs butter. Blend until there are no lumps. Then add salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

2011... Part 2

MAY

May was the start of a truly busy time for us.  Wedding plans became more pressing.  There was SO much to wrap up.  I had many moments where I had to just realize that I couldn't do it all.  (I wonder if I'll ever truly learn that sometimes.)  In the midst of finalizing our wedding plans, my sister got married on May 14. It was a fairly nice day for her outdoor wedding.  We only had to endure a few sprinkles that day. :)

We hosted a party for the Class of 2011.  We ate a whole lot of food, hung out & of course played improv. What a fun group!

JUNE

June was the month (ok, maybe just ONE of the months) of pure craziness for us.  The beginning of the month, Matt was at Middle School Camp.

After camp, Matt headed off to school.  By the time he got back, it was wedding time!  His family & Jake came in the same day he got back.  Here are some "pre-wedding activity" photos (taken by Jake):

Before we knew it, it was time for the Rehearsal.  

AND THEN... WEDDING DAY!!!!

The party ended with the dance party I always wanted, thanks to Jake, Joseph & Anna.

And then it was off to New York!

We got to spend our Honeymoon in New York.  It had been a dream of mine to go and see Times Square & Broadway musicals.  We got to see so much while we were there!  Here are just a few shots from the trip:

We wish...

We were back from New York for just a couple nights, when we loaded up and headed to High School Camp.  God really worked out the details for me so I could go.  I was blessed with a great group of girls that I enjoyed working with.

 The Sky Blue Reindeers! 

 We're married, so we can kiss at camp now! haha...

JULY

We hosted a 3rd of July party this year.  It was so much fun!  I think it will be a yearly tradition!

 I love seeing the pile of shoes when people are over! 

Thriller!

Sparklers!

For Chris' going away party, a small group of us went to Melting Pot for dinner.  It was DELICIOUS!

AUGUST

August brought us the beginning of SWAT!  We were so excited to be back and see the kids smiling faces!

Well, as you can tell from this post there will be a Part 3.  May through July held so much for us, that I didn't want to leave out any of the fun photos.  I'm hopeful to get Part 3 posted tomorrow!