One child

Yesterday and today it's just been me and my toddler, Madi.
My 5 year old is with her great grandmother and my husband has been in Dallas for work.
Why is it I never realized how easy it was to have one child when I only had on child?
Madi has been perfectly content playing with playdough, watching PBS and napping for the last 48 hours!
Tonight is what Im really looking forward to though. Date night!
It was one of our new years goals to have at least one date night out a month. It almost didn't happen. But Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will be enjoying a nice evening out!
Speaking of the creep rising. Man have we had some rain!
My front yard looks like the lake. I think we had about 5 inches of rain here, but a few counties over got 10 inches!
Then it froze last night and its in the 30's today. So I have to figure out something cute to wear tonight and still be warm!
Well I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, enjoy your time with your family!

How do you Run?

How do you run? Im not talking about exercise here, because frankly I look really funny when I run.
I mean how do you run from God? Is it through false doctrine? Excuses? Living for other people instead of Jesus? Comparing yourself to others instead of Jesus?

When God calls on you how do you respond? Have you read the story of Jonah?

Just as Jonah ran from God’s presence, we run from His presence and just as God pursued Jonah and brought him to the end of himself, so too, God in His grace, brings us to the end of ourselves and offers us Himself instead.

Great Sermons here at the Mars Hill Church website.

Why I choose to believe the Bible.

"I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents, written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies, and they claim to be divine rather than human in origin."
Read more HERE.

WFMW- Homemade Taco Seasoning

I stopped buying those little packets of Taco Seasoning years ago because I started making my own. I store this in a re-purposed glass jar and use about 6-7 teaspoons for a pound of ground meat. Works well with beef or turkey.
This will make enough seasoning for 3 pounds of meat. Its so much easier to keep these around even though the initial cost is more expensive then the packet of taco seasoning, the over all cost is less and these spices can be used in many other ways:

6 teaspoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

If you have a young child or someone who is sensitive to spicy foods you can omit the cayenne pepper and the red pepper flakes.

For more great ideas visit We are That Family!

Im Back!!

Well I'm back after a wonderful week! I have to say I'm surprised I that I didn't miss the internet as much as I thought I would. Now that TV I had a little bit of issue with, mainly because I normally watch the news early in the morning after Big Daddy leaves for work, and I found it to be a little too quiet and well...creepy with out the TV on!
But I got over it;)
Other wise I spent much more time with the kiddos and in the kitchen this week. I actually had an empty...yes EMPTY laundry basket for most of the week. Since I washed, folded and put away ALL of our laundry on Monday!
I have to say that I am much more sensitive to the internet this morning though. Of coarse I wanted to catch up on Facebook and Gmail, but I really didn't want to get sucked in. I highly recommend doing a media fast, it was one of the more interesting and productive things I have done with my time this year so far:)

Anyway, husband and I have been talking more about starting a ministry group. Ill tell you more about that another day.

Media Fast!

7 Day Media Fast

Won't you Join Me?

Next Week January 17th - 23rd

I believe as a Christian we need to cleanse our minds and hearts at times.

A refresher. A time of Repentance. Devotion. A time to regain our strength from Jesus.

Usually it can come in the form of prayer and reading God's Word.

When we prepare for Christ's Death, Burial and Resurrection by fasting before Easter, we limit food and give up things for Lent. It helps us cleanse our body and focus on what Jesus did for us sinners.

The kind of fasting I'm proposing is a media fast. A renewal, refresher, a cleansing of the mind.

We live in a culture of depravity, sex and therefore sexual sin is everywhere!

I think we have become desensitized to it, and there for more accepting of those sins we see and probably even do on a regular basis.

So between Next Sunday and Saturday turn off you TV (no dvd's, or game systems either), Don't use the internet, yup that means not even for Facebook or email (only respond to necessary work emails) or blogging. No Radio, not even talk radio. No MP3 player (its in the music we listen to also!)No magazines or newspaper. And for some this may also mean no text messaging, because lots of things get sent to our smart phone we should not be looking at or reading!

The only acceptable exception to the above rules would be listening to sermons or perhaps some previously chosen music.

I know it will be tough, especially for those who rely so heavily on Facebook, email and blogging to stay connected socially. But I promise you if those people are really your friends, you can pick up the phone and call them! Even for you bloggers this may be a great opportunity to make some real connections.

So what will you do without TV, Internet, and radio? You work like usual, come home spend time with your family pray and read the bible. That's it. What, sound boring? Its not, your just use to those sinful desires being fulfilled. You may even get creative and do somethings with your family you never had time for before.

I hope you will join me. By the following Sunday I believe you will look at the world a little different.

Great Giveaway!

Head over to The Pioneer Woman to be entered in a different kind of giveaway!

Where is your sin?

My husband and I recently sat down and confessed a few sins to each other. This may sound odd, especially to a non believer. But it has been one of the best thing we have ever done in our marriage.
I won't be sharing those confessions here on the blog, there is a time and place for everything, and sin confessed should be between you, God, your pastor and the person you sinned against.
For many years I thought that as long as I confessed my sin and repented with God, all was forgiven. No need to share those things with my husband of all people! But when Im wrong Ill say Im wrong!!! I was wrong. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and was not going to let go until I confessed to my husband. And as painful as it was, once I confessed and repented for those sins, the result was glorious.
If you've sinned against your husband ladies, I urge you to prayerfully seek to be convicted of those sins, confess and repent. My husband has forgiven me for my sin and is lovingly encouraging me to change so I will not sin in those ways again.
I think alot of the time us ladies (well and men, but Im appealing to the woman here) don't even realize they are sinning against their husbands.
Here is a short list of ever so silent yet powerful ways we sin against out husbands.
Gossip- we talk about them behind their backs. We complain to our girlfriends, sisters, moms about all the things our husbands don't get right in our minds. Even the smallest statement. Example- " Oh He forgot to take out the trash, again!" heard by another and thought in our brain will bring negativity to our marriage.
Rebellion- we don't trust our husband's decisions. If your husband has a bad track record I understand you may have some fear of trusting his decision making skills. But lets face it, sometimes we think that the best way to do something is the way we do it. Example- you ask him to help out with something around the house, or with the kids, but you keep on questioning his actions...big no no. Let him do it his way, I promise the world will not come crashing down. And he will feel more confident and respected when you tell him how much you appreciate him afterwards, without jumping in to do it yourself.
Another way we sin against our husbands is- with Shame. We don't let them touch us the way they want, we don't let them see us when they want. Mark Driscoll in Song of Songs sermon, says we should be visually generous with our men. They are visual people and need to see, let him see. Don't let shame creep in and stop you from sharing with your husband that which is meant for your husband.

I would love to go into more about sexual sin on here...but I don't know how well it will be received. If anybody is reading this and is interested let me know by leaving a comment!
I leave with a quote from Martin Luther-
“our Lord and Master Jesus Christ . . . willed
the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

WFMW- freezing milk

Anytime I see milk on sale I always stock up, I live in the country and running out of milk is not an option. Yes I keep powdered milk on hand, but I prefer whole milk. Rarely will we go though more then one gallon in a week, but it depends what's going on in my kitchen.
If I'm making yogurt that week, or ice cream in the summer, we will often go through two gallons. But for those weeks we don't, I don't want my extra gallon to spoil. So I freeze it!
When I bring the milk home from the store I just pour out a little from the jug and put it in the freezer. This is important or else you may find your jug has busted once frozen. You then thaw in the fridge for about 2-3 days, yes this does require planning ahead. So take the frozen milk out as soon as you see your under a half gallon in the fridge. You can also freeze smaller portions in zip lock bags or glass jars so that it doesn't take too long to thaw.
EDIT- To answer some questions, no it doesn't change the consistency of the milk, however the milk does separate. So give it a good shake once thawed and you ll be good to go. Otherwise I find little to no difference in the taste and look of previously frozen milk.

Freezing milk Works for Me!

This post is rated R

Iv been wanting to share this on my blog for awhile now, but I really didn't know how to do it. I know you can find sex and everything you ever wanted or didn't want to know about it with out even searching for it on the web!

But this is about Biblical Sex! Did you know the bible actually has lots to say about sex? Well it does. Go read Song of Songs...and you might even blush;)

I encourage any married or single persons to go Here, Mars Hill Church Website, and watch or download and watch this sermon series on the song of songs. It will give you an eye opening view of sex according to the bible. And if you are a married couple, this series should be watched with your spouse. Trust me when I say that if you start looking at your sexual relationship with your spouse the way God intended it to be, you will have an amazing love life!


To be clear I'm advacating sex WITHIN marriage between a MAN and a WOMAN. And no where else. If you are a single person this sermon series will give you a better understanding of the opposite sex and what to prepare your heart for when you are married.

Here's a clip of some of the questions that are answered in this series.

My Goals 2010

So here is our goals for 2010-

First and foremost our financial goals.

Paying off the rest of our debt outside of our Home and car loan-

Which consists of,

Lawyer fees from last year- $800 ($100 p/mo Jan-Mar, then $500 payoff Mar 26th)

YAY!United Rental $287.97 -Jan. 8(this was the amount after Ins. paid for the accident that we owe)

Hospital balance from L/D with Madi- $1,145.87 ($100 p/mo until paid full)

Suburban- $1,200 ($400 ea mo for the next 3 months)



Put $200 in saving per month= $2,400 in Savings by December



Next Family Goals.



Better nutrition. More variety for all of us. More organic foods, better base ingredients, more fresh veggies.

Work on reading with Madi.

Less TV/internet



Marriage Goals.



Date night at least once a month.

Be more involved with Church groups.

less resistance for each others affection/ideas/plans.



Personal goals.



Me-



And this of coarse is a financial/family/couple goal, but because Ill be the one doing all the work- have baby #3!

improve sewing skills.

exercise regularly (normally I have the lose 5 lbs on my list, but this year Im going for general health since Ill be pregnant in a few months.)

read the bible in its entirety.

become less cluttered and more organized.



Russ-

Get out of debt

exercise regularly

outfit all weapons (okay I know this sounds weird, but what he wants is for his hunting rifle and shotgun to have the things on them/for them to improve their function.

Become more involved in the youth ministry at church

Master Auto LISP (its programming software he uses at work)



Of course there are many other things we want to do in 2010, I would love to take a trip to WA, but I also want to get out of debt, so if finances allow I will also go to Seattle this year.