Book of Ruth #1

Over the month of February my church did a series on the book of Ruth titled, "Songs of Love". It was split into I think a 5 part series but I can't find my church bulletin for week 5...so there may only be 4 but for some reason I think there was 5.

The song of FAITHFULNESS

I was pumped up about this series. I have always wanted to study the Book of Ruth, but never have. Not sure why. Either way, I couldn't wait. I have told you before about my church and how awesome the music is. Well, for these series' they picked fun songs to lead into the regular worship music. Since the Book of Ruth was split into several weeks, each week there was a a focus theme. Week #1 was Faithfulness. So this awesome choir member sang this song, this is the actual video from the service. Love it! His name is Donovan Duke, I encourage you to follow him on you tube.

Wasn't that awesome? I seriously think he should be on American Idol.

Ok, back to Ruth.

I knew that the book of Ruth was a love story, but I think I expected a twilight version. Boy, was I wrong! LOL! However, I still loved the series and learned so much.

Being Faithful.

Faithfulness- a conviction based in truth that shows up in action.

Nancy Reagan was once quoted, " A woman is like a tea bag; you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. " I love that, and I think that has a lot to do with faithfulness.

From church bulletin- 'In every relationship, particularly marriage, there are times when those in the relationship must be faithful, regardless of the challenge.' In my opinion this doesn't mean infidelity. This means every day faithfulness. faithfulness to BE THERE.

Thick and thin. Better or worse.

My challenge every week is going to church alone. Just me and Hayden. I love it once I am there and in my seat, but I strongly dislike walking into the church and walking to my seat alone. There is even more uncomfortableness when a couple sits on my row pretty close to me. I feel like everyone is looking at me wondering why I am alone. Truth is, my husband would go with me if asked, but that is not the right reason is it? He still goes occasionaly, but a majority of the time I am alone. I have struggled in the past with this, but you know what. God is always there for me, and he teaches me faithfulness. I will be there for my husband. I will pray for him diligently, I will be praying for his spirit. I will not pray that he goes to church with me because that is selfish. I will pray for his spirit and for God to lay something on his heart.

Psalm 37:4 He will provide all the desires of your heart.

The hardest thing for us as followers is to realize that God will provide, only, in his time. Not mine.

Stay tuned for Week two of the Book of Ruth: the song of Grace.

Couch to 5k, round 2!

I graduated the Couch to 5k program back in October. I continued to run for about 2-3 more weeks. Then I lightly sprained my ankle and got shin splints, and used that as an excuse to quit. I am so VERY mad at myself. I had worked up to 3 miles. I had lost 42 pounds, I can't believe that I quit!

Well, today started day 1 of my restart of the C25k program. I am 15-20 pounds heavier, but I was able to finish it. MAN...it was HARD! I can't believe i am saying that. Sad day. Hopefully I can stay strong like I did before. I would like to run the Polish Pickle Run 5k, at the end of June. *heres to hoping I can finish this.

The app has changed sooo much since I did it last fall. It now has a built in Pace, and Distance feature. Love it!

REVERSED

I didn't make this video, however, I absolutely LOVE it!

I'm such a Brainiac!

Hayden has been attending her little Private Montessori preschool now, for almost two years. She has learned so much and I am thinking of letting her stay there for Kindergarten. She still has one more year of Pre-K before Kinder, but she is already surpassing the Pre-K standards. I give all this credit to her wonderful school, well, and to me! teehee!

Back to my 'Smart' moment.

Hayden's school is housed in a church that is selling their building due to low member numbers. If her school does not find another building, they will be forced to close permanently.

I have been in contact with her director trying to give ideas on where they could move to. She expressed her issues with the codes that they had to follow being an all day school. Such as a sprinkler system etc. I listened and still the wheels in my mind were turning. Two weeks later I was picking Hayden up and had a friend from work with me in the car, she asked, "why is it so hard for them to find a building?", I replied, " some silly code about a sprinkler system, I mean, who really cares if they have green grass or not". My friend began to laugh hysterically and could not talk from her chuckles...she began to point to the roof. It then dawned on me...it wasn't a sprinkler system it was a FIRE sprinkler system they needed. LOL! I felt sooo stupid! But it was soo funny, and I am still laughing at my MOMENT of pure Smartness!

I have been distraught over this. I have no idea where I would send her that would give her the education she is getting now. I am also sad for their legacy, they have been in business for 33 years. It is just an awesome school. I have looked into other places that in my opinion are close to the same in their educational expectations, and my tuition rate would increase by $5oo! Which is worth it, if her school doesn't not find another building. Right now, there is a good lead on a building and I pray that all works out!!

Bon Appetite!

David and I watch a lot of the food network shows. One of our recent shows to TiVo is America's Worst Cooks. I think I should apply to be on the show. David has a lot of culinary background and actually attended culinary school for a little bit. I cannot however, seem to cut or saute anything without his help. However, today I decided to surprise my hubby with a dish that we say on our new show this past week. Here it is. It was actually pretty simple and he LOVED it! SCORE!

Sweet Potato hash

Roasted Chicken with a sweet glaze...

Here is the recipe in case anyone wants it... i left out the onions, and shallots as well as the pumpkin seeds. He still loved and this quite possibly could be his new favorite dish of mine! Yeehaw, momma did it!

Ingredients:
2 (3-pound) chickens, wing tips, spine and breast plate removed, cut in 1/2
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 cup real maple syrup
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make a small hole in the extra skin on the legs and poke the end of the drumstick through to form a perfect package. Toss the chicken generously with olive oil and salt, to taste. Arrange the chicken on a sheet tray or baking dish lined with parchment or silpat. Roast the chicken until it is about 3/4 of the way done, about 20 to 25 minutes. The skin should start to brown and crisp.
While the chicken is roasting, combine the maple syrup and cayenne in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the syrup is reduced by about 1/2 to 3/4 or until the syrup is very thick and syrupy.

After the chicken has roasted for 20 to 25 minutes, brush each piece of chicken generously with the reduced syrup. Continue to roast for another 10 to 12 minutes, brushing the skin with the syrup 1 or 2 more times while cooking. The skin should start to become very dark and sticky. If the skin starts to get too dark, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let rest about 10 minutes before serving.

For the hash:

Ingredients:

2 garnet yams, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
4 to 6 slices thick cut bacon, cut into lardons
1 large onion, cut in 1/2-inch dice
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1/2 cup green pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add the sweet potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, to taste. Toss to coat and arrange them on a baking sheet. Roast the sweet potatoes until they are soft but not mushy, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the bacon and put the pan over medium heat. When the bacon has started to get crispy and brown, add the onions, season with salt and saute until the onions are very soft and aromatic. Add the apples and the scallion whites and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the sweet potatoes, and saute until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and starting to become crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the scallion greens and pumpkin seeds.

BON APPETITE!

Mom of the Year

what? what is that you say? Mom of the year? **blushing** me? Ahem, why yes, thank you...its an honor to be nominated this year and for it to be so soon in the year has me beaming.

Now, on a more serious note...I made POPCORN BALLS! Yeehaw~! Hayden has her class Valentine's party tomorrow and I am normally so on top of things to make sure she brings something unique and cute, however this year, momma has been kinda lacking in the motivation on the weekends. I am counting down until summer when Hayden and I can spend days in the pool, park, and whatever else we decide to do on our whim!

Ok, back to the popcorn balls! My grandmother, Maw, used to make them every year at Christmas-time and color them green, red and white. It was very festive. I tried making them years ago, pre-Hayden era. Come to find out, you are suppose to make sure there are no kernels in the bowl before you start pouring and balling them up! LOL! whoops! So this time, I sent my dashing hubby to the store for some microwavable popcorn and marshmallows. Yup, Marshmallows, this new recipe I found called for marshmallows and I thought, YUMMO! I also decided to be festive and make them more Valentine colored. So when he came home with Kettle Korn, I decided HEY WHY NOT! The sugary the better.

( Doesn't this look like a bowl full of Fatty Yumminess! )

(and this just looks like a Valentine Massacre)

Cooling!~

Let me tell you, balling these bad boys up before they cool is no easy task. THEY WERE HOT! Now, I am off to find some cute baggies to put them in and make her some awesome labels to attach. Love being her mommy!

Church today was on the book of Ruth...more to come on that later. It was very eye opening.

Snow Day #1 February 1-4

The first of the snow day of our school year was a blast! Of course I feel this way after a weekend outside and after two days of good weather. Last week I was beginning to understand how people eat their young. Being at home with Hayden is great and a time that I wouldn't trade for the world, but after the "rolling blackouts", our Uverse wouldn't come back on and we were stuck without TV....which wouldn't be so bad if we could go out and play. It was hard! We tried baking cookies, painting...finally daddy came home and rescued us and took us to dinner. Keeping an active 4 year old busy is quite a task, even for a teacher. More pics and video to come after I find more for us to do on this second week of ...duh da da duh....our SNOW DAY...EEK!

I have found a place to call HOME

The Church On Rush Creek

I have been visiting Rush Creek going on about 2.5 years.... I think. I love everything about this church. There are three services but I always insist that I have to be at the first service at 9am. I have a special place that I sit every Sunday and when I am a row off, it feels weird and I will usually end up moving to that seat that is 'just right'. I like to call this my Goldilocks method. After I take Hayden to her Sunday School class, I head to the main auditorium where I will sit by myself, that is a whole other blog in itself and I am not ready to share that yet. If I am not there before the 5 minute countdown starts on the screen, it usually puts a damper on my routine because I love to soak up everything I see going on around me. From the mingling of friends, to the regulars that sit around me, only some of which I recognize week to week. I am usually the loud one, but not at church. I keep to myself. I don't know any names, and I am embarrassingly shy when it comes to anything that causes me to speak or have a conversation with somebody. Its not that I don't want to be more involved, its that for some reason I feel inadequate. Crazy thought, I know. I once contacted the Life Groups leader but when he responded I quickly backed down and shied away. Again, I don't know why. At Rush Creek our Worship Leader, Eric, is this amazing singer who puts the choir together and they come up with the most amazing, chill bump giving, versions to new contemporary songs that get me pumped to hear God's word. That is my most FAVORITE part of the service. I love the music. The church is very contemporary and you can wear whatever attire you see fit. I have yet to dress super casual, that part is not in my bones. I did wear my nice jeans and a cute sweater, but I had to dress it up with heels, which is funny, because that again...is not ME!

My goal this year is to be more involved. I actually felt pride in taking Hayden to the Easter Egg hunt last year and felt even more pride knowing I bought a package of the filled eggs and donated them! Which makes me laugh out loud at myself. I would like to make it official and "JOIN" the Rush Creek Family, however, I want to join and not go through the whole announce me on the stage thing. Wonder if that is possible? Go take a look and listen, rushcreek.org, you can listen online, but its a bummer that the music part isn't on there...one of the other things I love about Rush creek is after the offering, and after the first chorus of the lead out song, Pastor Russ says, "Have a good day, see you next week". I love that...it's like , yes, yes you will see me next week. I will keep coming back for more because this place feeds my soul! Thank you Rush Creek, for EVERYTHING you have given me!

Repent, Restore, Renew

I have been meaning to blog for sometime now. Finding the time seems impossible these days, and figuring out what to blog about is just as tedious. I figure who really cares what I have to say...but I will tell you anyway.

In the spirit of a new season in my life I am challenging myself to a change: Repentance of my sin, Restored Faith, and a Renewed Spirit! About 8 months ago an underlying , selfish but whole desire breathed within me , and I began to pray. Praying so deeply for another being charged a voltage of faith within myself that I always knew was there I just didn't know how to find it. As my journey trudged through turmoil and confusion, God showed me something. He showed me that he will always be there to pick up my pieces when I have fallen apart. He led me to a place where I realized I needed to fully rely on him for all of my needs and desires. He guided me to a path of righteousness that I could only find through him, and he showed me what my true desire was. In the bible it says that God will provide the true desires of our heart. How are we to really know what that desire is until we have prayed for the desire that God wants us to have? As my spirit changes I am sure my blog posts will too...Hop on a pray with me! Repent, Restore & Renew!

Although my blogs may sway from randomness, to complete bragging on my child..I will try and be better about blogging..encourage me to continue blogging by showing me that I am not the only one who reads it!

Remembering 9/11

I am forwarding you guys to a friend's blog. She so eloquently wrote a blog about this horrendous day. Please go to her site and read...

www.ashley-starkstories.blogspot.com

Jumping with Landon

Last week we went to Pump It Up and met my friend ashley and her love bugs to play! She has 8 week old twins, Allie and Emily, and an adorable little boy, Landon, who will be 3 in August. Hayden and Landon are so funny together. They feed off of each other and go wild..I am so glad that one of my friends' kids is an Indian just like mine! I didn't take any pics that day, but Ashley did...go here to look at them! Thanks Ash! We had a blast!!

http://ashley-starkstories.blogspot.com/2009/06/jumping.html

bad Blogger

I finally have gone back into my previous posts and corrected the images. For some reason when i tried to post from my iphone the pics would not post. Either way, I have gone back in and reposted them from my home computer. I hope to be a better blogger..I have a fun filled summer ahead to blog about! 

Hayden's first dance recital!

Hayden had a dance recital last night at Will Rogers in Fort Worth. I have been looking forward to this so much because I never get to see her dance. David is the one that takes her to dance class on Monday mornings because I am always at work. Since I have been off for the summer I have only gotten to take her once. She did one tap routine, where she was a duck, and one ballet routine where she was a mermaid. I was very impressed at how well she did. She knew all the steps and would do them until she would look at the others not doing it and then she would try and mimick them. Overall I am glad we did it..i am not sure I am going to put her back in dance in the Fall, I would like her to have a Christmas recital, but...I am looking forward to sports. She will be turning 3 in November, WOW~! so hopefully she will be old enough to do some sort of sporting activity. I completely enjoyed seeing her all dressed up...LOVE IT!

 

 

San Antonio Memorial day Weekend!

This past weekend. My family (brother and his family, my parents, and david, hayden and I) wen to San Antonio to visit Sea World. While we were there David, Hayden and I went to Fiesta Texas since we have passes...we had so much fun! I have never enjoyed a trip as much as I did this one. Hayden was fantastic the whole time and our hotel was super nice and brand new. I have never stayed in a Comfort Inn Suites before..but this will not be the last time! I loved it that much! Instead of writing a big ole post of all the details..I'll let the pics explain themselves!~

 

 

 Hayden and bugs at Fiesta Texas

my niece Brooke. Isn't she a doll?

Hayden and her daddy! Two Peas in a Pod!

Sleeping Beauty

Last night when I put Hayden to bed she wrapped her arm around my neck and said, "momma, you're my best friend"! I just about melted! I love my life! Thank you Lord for all your blessings and for making me Hayden's mommy!

Sent from my iPhone

HOBO Dinners

This is one of David's favorite meals that I cook. We call it Hobo Dinners, not sure why though, thats just always what my mom called it. All you do is take ground meat and put it into a good size patty and then all the veggies you want and wrap it in foil. I always do squash , zucinni, onions, cherry tomatoes potatoes and baby carrots,and Salt and pepper. 

Bake for an hour on 375! Very yummy! 

Sent from my iPhone

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall!

This weekend while David was working in the backyard he let Hayden play in my truck ( which wasn't on btw). He went to check on her five minutes later and this is what he found! I couldn't be mad, she knew exactly where the fingernail polish and lipstick went! What a little stinker, but so darn lovable! 

Sent from my iPhone

FRIENDS with Ross

Hayden is growing like a weed. She is so tall and her little once chubby legs are slimming up, which makes me sad and happy at the same time.  She has always measured to be in the 95-97th percentile in both her height and weight at her well visits. We won't get to see if that holds to be true until November on her 3rd year visit. Crazy that she is almost 2.5 years old. I still remember feeding her a bottle and taking advantage of smothering her with kisses while she was still too young to push me away. She is talking up a storm. Last night she kept getting our house phone and pretending to dial then she would say. "Hey, let me see. Okay Bye. " I don't know where on earth she got that from, :). Then all of a sudden we could hear somebody on the other end talking back to her. I grabbed the phone from her and sure enough she had called her Aunt Teresa, who takes care of her two days a week. Hayden misses her the rest of the time and always pretends to call her, only this time she wasn't pretending. Aunt Teresa's number was the last number dialed and Hayden had hit redial. ha!

Hayden has been in need of some tennis shoes for a while now. Buying shoes for he is a task because she inherited the WIDE foot like mine and her daddys. She wears close to an 8.5 Wide. Which all you thrifty parents out there, Wide is hard to come by. I absolutely LOVE stride rites, because I honestly feel like they are comfy on her feet and they measure her foot to MAKE sure they fit properly. Well, I was all ready to head out to the mall and David said, "babe, can we not buy some cheaper shoes this time". I went through my whole spill about them having to be wide and he said try payless. I have never been a payless shopper so I wasn't sure if they had wides or not. Its not that I dislike Payless, but like I said my feet are wide too and I have always made sure my shoes are extra comfy. Well, needless to say we headed to Payless, but as we drove up I saw Ross and I remember my mom telling me that Ross sometimes has Striderites. So I jumped out and ran in leaving the two troublemakers in the car. I found the CUTEST pair of Superball Striderites for.... $12.99!!! 

Can you believe that!!!! Striderite's are $46 at the actual Striderite store. I quickly began to pray that the size was a wide and guess what...IT WAS!!! I also picked up a SUPER cute pair of Sauconys that were a .5 size bigger. Later that night I got suspicious and decided to go to Striderite.com the same shoes were on there and they were selling them ON SALE for $29.99. Embarassing as it may be, I have never been the one to look at price tags. I know what I need and I just go get it, but I will tell you this. It feels FABULOUS to get a good deal! I am definately hooked now. My mom and hubby have always loved Ross. Me not so much, I mean the clientale that frequents that place give me oogie feeling and I always have to sanitize myself after leaving. While I was in line I also saw a ELMO's World DVD for $6.99. WOw!!! Now..I contemplated posting this because I don't want all of you bloggers to go run out and get my shoes! Leave some for us, at least leave us the WIDES! I'm not too worried though, according to my comments, I only have one reader. Thanks Ash!

Nick, nick, nick, nick, nick ,nick , nick, nick-el-lo-deon

I was pondering all the things that Hayden has been watching on TV and began to think how weird it all was. 

For instance, 

Calliou, which is Hayden all time favorite show. Beside being a brat that whines all the time...

Did you ever wonder why Calliou is always in a T shirt and Shorts, but his mom and dad are in turtle necks and jeans?

 

Max & Ruby- Where the heck are their parents? I mean Ruby can't be more than 6 or 7, and Max, well, he can only put two words together. Not a very safe message we are sending, right??

Handy Manny- just three words for ya.....  Mr. Lopart and Creepy

But on a lighter note, my new FAVORITE cartoon...

Mighty B!!! It is written and acted by Amy Poehler. Its seriously HILARIOUS!!

It comes on Nick Jr. and I love watching it!!

Here Comes the Sun..doo da doo doo

I guess it is pretty obvious that I'm only getting around to posting something about once a month. "Better out than in I always say"-Shrek , oops...I mean late than never! :) Every year I get flowers from my WONDERFUL hubby for Valentines Day and this year was no exception. I came home to this beautiful arrangement. 

They are always my favorite too, the multicolored with orange, red, hot pink, light pink and yellow. It was so pretty. 

Hayden loved it to, so we shared them from our Valentine, Daddy!

This month we also took a trip to the Dallas Aquarium and David wanted to take Hayden on the train. I contemplated because it is not a GREAT experience but we both thought Hayden would really enjoy it and she did. 

She liked the aqaurium but I think she was more 

amazed with the other kids that were there. 

My little stinker bear!

The weather was pretty nice the past couple of weeks and we 

also went to the park with Hayden's boyfriend, Landon.

Landon is about to be a big brother with 

TWO little sisters! We can't wait for Allie

 and Emily to get here!!

We now interrupt the regularly scheduled blog for this breaking news announcement.

::::BREAKING NEWS:::::

Last Friday I got a call at work from David, and he told me that Hayden started climbing out of her crib. I of course started freaking out because Hayden sleeps upstairs and I could only imagine what that was going to be like when she can get out of her crib at any time?? I have a video monitor but I still DO NOT like it. What if I can't hear her get up?? Either way...Hayden is in her big girl bed!!! She really had NO problems at all with this transition. For the most part I can hear her, but I am still not getting much sleep for me checking her monitor every hour to make sure she is still in her bed. It has only been about 5 nights and she has only gotten out one time without me hearing her and she came straight to my room to wake me up. Which really does make me feel better. I need one of those mini door alarm things that dings in my room when her door opens. 

    

Knock on wood but she has yet to fall out! 

We also took a trip to Central Market, Aka David's FAVORITE grocery shopping store. They were having a Mardi Gras parade, which was kind of scary for Hayden but they threw beads at her which she loved. She also got her first cup of Gelato. 

This past weekend we went to Seasame Street Live, which was NOT worth it!! I do however, VERY much encourage you to go see THE WIGGLES when they come to town again, VERY FUN!!

Until we meet again!!