Portrait of Christ

This weekend (and past few weeks) I have been avoiding a lot of responsibilities (and blogging). I don't really know why. Call it a midlife crisis. Haha. Anyways, I am back, and hopefully more frequent. I hung out with Hailey and Taylor Saturday. We went to Purple Cow. (yumm!!) and then to church. See, I was having pics done Saturday, so I hadnt eaten much Friday or Saturday... so I pigged out. I ate a BBQ bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, side salad and this...


all by myself.

Hailey and Taylor shared a milkshake(aren't they adorable?!)
Anyways...church. It has been a LONG time since I have felt so good at church. Don't get me wrong, I loved CLife. It has been a battle trying to find somewhere that is relatively close to as amazing as that church. It has been interesting visiting different churches, hearing different styles of music, and different pastors. Well, I am seriously saying this. I think we found the one (or I did at least). Saturday was my third time visiting (Colton was playing at a Dnow). I seriously cried. I cried the first day I was there because I felt that God had FINALLY gave me peace about where i needed to be, but I was hoping Colton felt the same. I would love to be called to the same church Colton is, but I know sometimes that doesn't happen. Anyways, Saturday was the end of the series Jesus for Sale. The message was very powerful, and yet simple. It was back to the basics about how to explain our faith to people when they ask. I know I have heard it 100 times, but I was still fascinated and captivated by the sermon. The thing that got me this weekend though was one of the songs they sang. I had NEVER heard it before, but I think it is my new favorite worship song of all time. It is called "Portrait" by a band called Freely (www.myspace.com/freelymusic)

The faith to wash, the feet of another
Is a faith that's not, undercover
What can I do, in a world that's hurting
But live like you, always serving

I wanna be like you, I wanna be like you

Chorus
This is a loud faith
A sacred devotion
Reaching out to know who you are
It's not, a fake life
A religious commotion
But a living breathing portrait of Christ

I give my life, for the sake of others
Lay down my pride, to help my brother
There is no end, to what can happen
When all our words turn to action

Whoa we're livin for you God

Wow. It is so moving and so amazing. I love that "It's not a fake life, a religious commotion, but a living breathing portrait of Christ." And when it comes down to it, that is what I desire to be...a living breathing portrait of Christ. :)
I hope that song will inspire someone like it did me. I swear. I can't get it out of my head. I love where I am in life right now. I love the man I married, I love my new friends, I love the city I live in, I love the school I go to, and I love the church I'm visiting. I am so blessed and thankful to be where I am today

Oh, and I am now SUPER excited because Sam moves into our apartment complex Sunday, and Jen moves in once they are married in May. It's official. :)!! Yay!!

Colton's back!

He has been playing at DNOW in Mesquite all weekend & he's back.
yay!! :)
I wish I could play an instrument.
More to come...I promise

Fooooooood

So the past week, I have been an extra good wife. For no other reason, then I got my hands on some good recipes and began to cook them. I thought I would be nice and share them with you...
Thursday---> i made Garlic meatball & cheese subs. Here
Friday------> I made BBQ muffins. :) Here
Saturday---> I made smothered chicken & greenbean skillet w/ homemade mashed potatoes here.
Sunday-----> Leftovers.
Monday----> I made BBQ pork tenderloin sandwiches. Here.
Tonight----> I am making taco soup. Here.

Now, here are my reviews:
Garlic meatballs...WOW! It was the perfect amount of sweet. Honey and garlic together? it sounds scary, but it rocked. Colton doesn't like sweet dinner foods too much, but he loved this. It made so much too. We had TONS of leftovers. (which by the way, it reheats well too).
BBQ muffins...These were great also. I don't think they were as good on leftover day, but the first day they tasted fantastic. I really like the BBQ beef recipe. I couldn't stop eating what didn't fit in the muffins.
The Kraft smothered chicken and green recipe is probably one of colton's new favorites. I am in love with the Kraft recipe books (Thanks amber!!) and website. They are so easy to make, and have all the nutritional info right there for you.
BBQ pork tenderloin was real good too. I brought some of the leftovers for lunch today, so I will tell you how they are. :)

I know, I pretty much rock (haha, just kidding)...but i have a whole lot more planned. Even a romantic Valentines dinner. :)

Good Things in 2009...

Jan 1- Got to sleep in with Colton for the first time in a long time
Jan 2- A pedicure for the first time in years!
Jan 3- Work went by really fast since it was registration day!
Jan 4- Got a milkshake from Steak & Shake
Jan 5- One Tree Hill is back!
Jan 6- No work today! =)
Jan 7- Had a good sleep in with Chuck
Jan 8- God was protecting us today in many ways!!
Jan 9- Chuck was back to normal just a day after his surgery
Jan 10- Got to spend the evening with Hailey
Jan 11- Made a HUGE breakfast with Colton in the morning
Jan 12- Put off washing laundry. J
Jan 13- Made wonderful fajitias
Jan 14- 7 month anniv
Jan 15- Hotel ZaZa!!
Jan 16- Got to be a part of a wonderful event.
Jan 17- Got to see women grow in confidence all day
Jan 18- Amazing night with Colton
Jan 19- Had a whole day to catch up on cleaning before school starts
Jan 20- Got to work today (need to make money, and it is a blessing I have Tues day times)
Jan 21- First day of school went swell
Jan 22- Didn’t work, so I got organized for school
Jan 23- Discovered I CAN make it to work from school on Fridays.
Jan 24- Quite possibly could have found our new church. Thank you, Lord.
Jan 25- Still super excited about our church!! J
Jan 26- I still don’t *hate* my classes yet. tehe
Jan 27- The weather was so amazing and icy. I loved it. (Even though I still had to go to work)
Jan 28- No school!! Snow day!!
Jan 29- Surprised Colton with a chicken and pasta dinner and got all dressed up
Jan 30- God was amazing today!
Jan 31- Had a fun time at the Knottie/Nestie G2G

I am officially a blog-procrastinator

I am SOOOOOOOO Sorry. Seriously. I should have been waaay better than this.


I left off before Zaza. Let me just say it was awesome!! I wouldn't recommend staying there because for what you pay...they should have been waaaaaaaay nice, waaaaaaaaaaay better and EVERYTHING should have worked, but w/e. I mean...we were staying in the MOST EXPENSIVE hotel in Dallas. We should have been treated like, uh... rockstars. tehe.


Here are some pics:







(Top to bottom: Kandice and Nush at Jake's after the first night, Jackie and me at Jakes, Nush and Janette & Nush on work day, Colton & Jackie (the boys got to come see us on the last night), Jackie, Kandi, Sarah and me at the Dragonfly VIP.

We also had an ice day that cancelled school




Top to bottom: chuck outside trying to figure out what the heck is covering the grass, ice hanging from my side mirror at my car when I had to meet at IKEA to get a new phone (yes, that is ICE on the ground).

Colton and I were bored one night (while it was still cold) and headed out to Mockingbird Station...

I do have fun pics from a date night with a bunch of friends for Nush & Janette's birthday. We went to Chaucers in frisco...







Chuck's ear was great for a few days after taking the stitches out, but it split back apart (guess they werent in long enough) but it isn't as bad (half of it stayed closed up, just part of the bottom). I am trying to not let it bother me (except for the part that we paid all that money and now its back apart). :(

Also, I started something this year that I am real proud of. It is my "Good things in 2009" That I will post monthly. Of course I have it done, but it is at home and I am at work. I will post it later today.