What is your dash for?

I know it has been a long time since I have posted on this and I am not sure if anyone even reads or looks at this but I have really had something on my heart from God and feel the need to find someone/anyone that this can possibly touch as it has touched me. I was listening to a sermon/seminar from a guy named Kent Hovind yesterday. If anyone hasn't heard of him he is a Creation Evangelist. He used to go around and preach about creation and how evolution is a religion and shouldn't be taught in public schools. My husband and I are in the process of starting a creation ministry. Anyways....back to the point! I was listening to this seminar and he said, "All we have in life is a short dash between two dates. What are you doing with your dash?" Basically what is the purpose of our life? Are we living our lives for Jesus or for our own flesh? I was heavily touched by this and started to really reevaluate my life and my decisions. I know I can't change how I have lived these last 20+ years but now is the time to really change and make a difference. I am a stay at home mom but NO LONGER am I going to not share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my job in life to share the good news and bring people to salvation. I hope this statement helps to light a fire in your lives as well. We are fighting a war....a spiritual war and it is time for us Christians to stand up and FIGHT! Like my amazing sister-in-law wrote....God is fighting for us! He will never fail and it is our time to FIGHT with him! Let's all stand together and help win this war! We can and we will win in the end! Let's keep that bigger picture in our mind that GOD IS COMING BACK FOR US ALL!!!!

An excited Mommy-to-be

So today I am officially nine weeks pregnant according to Heidi the author of What to Expect When Expecting. It is such an exciting feeling to be pregnant with our first child. It has been a really fun road so far. I have had very mild sickness so far (knock on wood) and everything else is going smoothly! I have scheduled my first appointment for May 17th and hope that after the appointment we will have a better idea of the due date, etc. I will keep everyone posted through this experience.

A Blistery Cold Day

Today I actually got to act like a little kid. We got to play in snow for the first time (that I can remember). It was the greatest time I have had in a long time. We built a snowman and threw snowballs, we went sledding down a hill that if we would have fallen off we would have been floating in the air for quite a while until we hit the next piece of ground. Not good....Anyways, I was laughing and giggling from the time I got out of the car until the time we got back in. I ate the snow the whole entire time we were there. I learned something new also during this whole experience that eating to much snow DEHYDRATES you haha. Who would have ever guessed that since it is FROZEN WATER hahahahaha! Needless to say I felt a little more thirsty than usual after that. The sledding part was a blast. Matt and his dad John built a little jump at the end of the ramp to add a little fun to the mix and let me tell you, I was the only one who actually got any air. I took the jump twice and both times I thought I was going to need a chiropractor haha! I felt it in every bone of my body after that. Good times. Baby Lucy went with us on this fun trip and at first she absolutely HATED the snow. Once she finally became adapted to this different type of texture (even though she loves "Mice" her word for Ice!) she wouldn't stop playing in it. She loved sledding with Grandma and Papa. It was the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. I actually related to her a lot today in the sense that I have never experienced any of that and we were both experiencing it together for the first time. It was cool to share that with someone so small haha! At least I know one of us will remember it! Needless to say snow is AWESOME!

Squeeky Squeek...

Some might be asking what the title means and I am just so inclined to explain this haha! When I came to visit my in laws in the Spring/Summer of 2009 they introduced me to this type of cheese known as Tillamook cheese. Whoever knew that cheese could make such a difference in a persons life haha. Well it did! When we moved up here Matt's sister Kaylee and Bryce invited us to go to Tiallmook with them and see for ourselves how this said cheese was made. The best part about all of this was they hand out free samples along the way and they make some of the best ice cream known to man! They have 36 flavors but only sale a select few at stores around the area. It was a treat none the less. So as we entered the factory I was automatically amazed by the amount of people who actually had the same idea. I guess it wasn't such a great idea to go when some school somewhere was on Spring Break but enjoyed the scenery just as much. So back to the explanation about the title....there were the free cheese samples and they name their cheese curds as "Squeeky Squeek" because they literally squeek on your teeth! It was the greatest cheese I have EVER EVER EVER eaten! Then I took a sample of all the rest. WOW!!! It was a dairy lovers heaven in that factory. After munching on all the goodies we proceeded upstairs to see how exactly this yumminess is packaged for sale to cheese lovers like myself. This was a very fun process to watch. There were a lot of blades cutting the cheese into the precise blocks that get sent to the stores and let me tell you the people performing these jobs did not act happy about it at all! So I stood in the window to where they could see me and let me tell you they looked up more than anything so I just smiled AWAY!!!! Overall it was a great experience. We ended the day with some of the yummy ice cream that this factory is known for

Crossing Country

This past month has consisted of a lot of fun events which all lead up to the "Crossing" of the country! As a small child I loved playing the game the Oregon Trail but never thought as an adult I would actually get to travel part of it. By now I am sure many are asking questions as to what I mean by this. Well....on March 17,2010 (St. Patrick's Day and no I was not wearing any green) we set out for our adventure of crossing the United States. We went through many states throughout this journey, Florida (where we lived), Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and then finally OREGON! It took us a long four days to make it the distance we needed to travel which totaled to be 2,230 some odd miles. We began our journey at 5:30 am our time on March 17th and arrived at Matt's parents house by 6:00 pm their time, 8:00 pm Central time on March 20th. The days consisted of driving 12-16 hours at a time but nevertheless worth every minute. The first night we stopped in Denton, TX then continued on to drive to Grand Junction, CO! There is a funny story behind this drive as we were trying to out run a snow storm that was due to hit Denver an hour after we were scheduled to pass through so we had to hightail through there. We were going through the Rocky Mountains during nighttime with a trailer hauling my Ranger and not able to see what curves, etc that were up ahead. We used the GPS to navigate our next move through the caynons and so on! It was a very stressful night to say the least. We ended up in Grand Junction, CO after a grueling 16 hour drive. The next morning we decided to sleep in a little bit and drove to Bosie, ID where we stayed with Matt's Aunt Penny and Uncle Richard. We were so happy to finally sleep somewhere other than a hotel and see some friendly faces. The later in the trip the later we were getting up to drive! The last day which was the day we arrived here in Oregon (March 20,2010) was a long but progressive day! I got to see my fair share of snow on the roads starting in Colorado and ending in Oregon. Let's just say a long roadtrip brings out the best in people and it was a great experience I am glad I got to share with my husband! I am also really glad we made it here!

Cake attempt #2

So I tried to make my first cake the other day and it turned out well until I tried to decorate the darn thing, so I was bound and determined to make another one. This time was different because instead of trying to decorate the cake with icing on top of fondant, I decided to decorate using nothing but fondant and the icing was used to adhere it to the other fondant haha. Yeah, I am pretty exhausted so this might not make any sense. I spent five hours making this cake and LOVED every minute of it. Drum roll please........ well the picture ended up on top but you get the point. Hope you enjoy!

Somewhat productive day.

Today has been a long day but sort of productive. I woke up this morning to find out I didn't have to work which was great news for me but not great news for the checkbook. I am not complaining that I didn't have to work because well I just like time off every now and then. So with that in mind I began to think of all the things I needed to get done. Once I finally managed to roll out of bed my feet hit the floor running. I began to clean the house like it has never been cleaned before. I vacuumed the floorboards, the kitchen, bathrooms, the bedroom and the living room. It was pretty interesting how I managed to pass about an hour and a half doing this chore. I also did laundry haha (my worst nightmare). I don't mind putting the laundry in the washer or the dryer it is the part that happens after it is done drying, THE FOLDING and PUTTING AWAY. There are just some days I wish I could just leave the clothes in the dryer and just pull what I need out as I go haha. Lazy, I know. Anyways....after these chores I conjured up Matt and we made a little excursion to the store to get some ingredients for the AMAZING dinner I made for this evening. I made some Butternut Squash Risotto. It was a very tasty and flavorful dish. So I guess you can say I had a pretty productive day!

Testing Faith

These past few days have been a real test of faith. Let's just say that it has been a very interesting start to a brand new year. I woke up yesterday and got ready to go to work and my car was acting up so I got Matthew to come check and see what was going on and then we realized that my car was not working correctly. So after I made it to work (Matt drove me) I had to communicate with these people from AAA and fight with them to come pick up my car to tow it to a maintenance shop so that it could be worked on. I then got the dreaded phone call from my father that the first maintenance shop believes that the engine overheated and cracked meaning that it was going to be a lot of money to fix. So he once again called AAA and had them come tow the vehicle again to another maintenance shop. He did say that the gentlemen that was towing my vehicle got the car to start but then it seemed that the power steering was out. haha.....It sounds really promising. Well this is where the day on the vehicle left off. On top of all this, I was trying to blow dry my hair this morning and my blow dryer started to smoke and smell like a fire so I quickly stopped blow drying my hair before I set the house on fire. So I had to go in literally freezing weather with wet hair. I know that all of this is almost over and it will all work out like planned. Just a little tester!!!!

Picture of my Acorn Squash Soup

Here is a picture of my yummy soup. It turned out very hearty and earthy tasting. Good for a cold day! Enjoy!

Something new!

So I am starting to get pretty ambitious with my culinary skills. I am attempting to make an Acorn Squash Soup. It looked very yummy while being made on the Food Network Channel today, so of course being the person I am, I decided to try and recreate this amazing entree. When my in-laws come in town, I am going to have to keep up my good reputation and cook some of these wonderful dishes. I will let you know how it turns out!

Rainy blues...

So it is raining horribly here today and it is super super cold. We have a "winter storm" and it is supposed to be pretty severe according to all of the weather channels. So severe that they might shut down the college tomorrow....YAY! Anyways...we are praying for this rental house to work out because it would help with the unknowns that are about to accumulate in our lives. It would be a God thing if it did. I just hope we can afford it and everything like that. Well I am going to enjoy the sound of the rain on the windows and curl up! Enjoy....

Red Velvet..

Last night my father was telling me about this potluck he is having at work next week and of course being the person that I am I volunteered to make the dish for him to take. I was wracking my brain last night and tried to decide exactly what I wanted to make to impress all of his coworkers because I didn't want to make something I have already done. So after a lot of thought I decided I was going to make Red Velvet Cake. Now I can not say that it is a personal favorite but I thought I would give it a shot and see what it turns out like. I hate to say it but it always tastes a little bit better when you put a lot of time and work into it. So tonight I came home from work and slapped together a Red Velvet. From the little taster I just had (a crumb that fell out) it tasted pretty yummy to me. Once again I don't have my camera so the pictures are not going to be posted. Sorry! If it turns out well I will be making it again later down the road. Well I am about to go frost the cake. Have a great day everyone!

Gamin' it up!

So recently..I mean as recently as of 8:30 pm last night I have become an avid gamer! My fiance' and I were playing a game known as Rainbow Six and let me just tell you....this was the most fun thing I have done in a while haha. It was so much fun! We actually ended up staying up until like 12:30 this morning playing. As soon as I woke up I asked if we could play it before I had to go to work and then we played again just a few minutes ago. I like to think that I kick booty at it but we will leave that fact alone haha. We just got a new DVD from Netflix that allows us to do something with the Playstation so we are experimenting with that as I type this. Let us just say that I have a new outlook on the "gaming" thing as of last night. It is pretty darn cool! HAHA!!! I have to get back to it...

Lobstery Kind of Day...

So there is this restaurant in Pensacola which is a town about 45 minutes to an hour away from where I live and it has the best Corn and Lobster Bisque I have ever eaten in my life, and I have decided to try and recreate dishes that I love and want more of so I can eat them whenever I want instead of having to always go to the restaurants....So with that said I decided to make my own Lobster and Corn Bisque with the help of Matthew. It was homemade and I am super proud to say that it is the B-O-M-B!!! I only had a little taste test but man may I say so myself I am becoming quite the little "chef-et!" I would seriously love to explore my culinary talents more but I have other tasks to take care of before that can be accomplished. Anyways...I have included the recipe for such Bisque below if anyone else would like to take a stab at it. (It was not that hard!!!) Well I took a picture of this wonderful creation but can't manage to get it on here because I have lost the piece I need to use to insert the itty bitty memory card into my computer. Sorry. I will try and take a picture with my camera soon! Enjoy this dish and if you don't want to make it you can wait because in a little over 3 months Matthew and I will be moving up there and would be more than happy to make this for you!

Ingredients

-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

-3 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour

-1/2 minced yellow onions

-1 cup corn kernels (2 ears corn)

-2 tablespoons minced shallots

-2 tablespoons minced celery

-1 tablespoon minced garlic

-1 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon cayenne

-1 cup fish stock or water

-2 bay leaves

-2 cups milk

-2 cups heavy cream

-1 teaspoon crab boil (OPTIONAL)

-1/2 lb. cooked lobster meat, diced

-1/4 cup minced green onions

Directions

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until blended. Continue stirring to make a light brown roux, 5 to 10 minutes.

Add the onions, shallots, corn, celery, garlic, salt and cayenne and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, about 4 minutes. Slowly stir in stock. Add the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Add the milk, cream, and the crab boil, if using. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Stir in the lobster meat and green onions and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves. THEN ENJOY!!!!

Interesting week....

Hmm...how should I start this blog. Well let me just start by saying that if it sounds like I am complaining bare with me...It has been a very hard week. I recently discovered that I have a medical issue that could become something very serious if I am not careful, the school transfer is not working out like we had hoped it would and the moving situation for me is not looking to be in May. Lets just say all of these situations have helped Matt and I to reassure the fact that we love each other and will be there until death do us part, which is very exciting to know. I have to say that right now through these situations he has been the rock and I am having to try and hold myself up. I never thought it was possible to receive so much bad news in a matter of a couple of days but I did and now it is crunch time for Matt and I to figure out the solution to this situation. Right now it looks like Matt will be moving to Oregon in March-ish time frame and I will be moving up in December when I finish my degree down here, UNLESS we can find a school who will transfer my credits like they should be transferred. The two schools we have checked into want me to retake anywhere from 60-90 credits over. Even general ed classes and I have my AA. Ugh....it is frustrating! I know it will work out. Matt and I have been praying about it and know that something is going to show up, it is just a matter of when it is right! Today is a new day...and I am going to look at the positives of today!

A new day...

It has been a while since I have actually been on here. Let me just update on what has taken my attention from this activity. Well first of all the LOVE OF MY LIFE....finally came home from Iraq and trying to get back in a routine with him back in the states has been interesting. I took a lot of time off from work and school when he first got home to get back into the swing of having him in the same town as myself. After that time went by he began a class called ALS (Airmen Leadership School) which has taken a lot of time from our relationship and being able to spend time together but we are making the best of this situation. It has been working out pretty good for the most part. And then we have also been plannin' this weddin'! We are almost finished or at least what I hope is almost finished with the planning haha! It has been let me see....from May until now which is October and pretty much everything has been done or at least the subject has been discussed. I have to say this is one time that being organized is coming in handy for me. It is interesting trying to go to school full time, work part time or everyday I do not go to school and planning a wedding....oh and pretty much being a full time wife! I have been taking care of Matthew..making sure dinner is ready by the time he gets home from school and picking up their house. Boys...!!!!! Whoever thought a bathroom could get dirty? hehe....Gosh I am just so excited that in exactly 5 months from today I will be walking down the aisle to say "I do!" to the guy I have been waiting for. Today we were watching tv and he looked up at me and said, " I am just so glad that I get to marry you." This is what I get to live with and be married to for the rest of my life. It is such a great and exciting feeling! I CAN'T WAIT!!!! I will probably be doing a count down here pretty soon! Well I am off to do some homework and then head to bed. I have a long day of classes and homework ahead of me tomorrow!

A new experience.....

So today I tried something completely new and different that I never thought in a million years I would ever make. I made sushi....I guess I should say more like that I attempted to make sushi! This is a very hard task to accomplish. It tasted good according to my father but I never tasted it myself. By the time I got done making it I was less than interested in eating it! Isn't it funny how that things like that work? You spend so much time making something so elaborate and then you don't have any interest in eating it. It is Matt's favorite food and I was trying to see if it was something I would be able to reproduce and make my own so that we could save money and not have to buy it out at a resturant. We will see. I think food like that takes a lot of practice so I will keep that up and then go from there. This was a fun experience even though it was really hard. If I have learned one thing from all of this cooking and trying new things involved with cooking it is that there is no harm in failing. You just suck it up and move on but you don't give up. It has been a great experience for me.

A brand new day...

Today August 14,2009 began as a normal day and then I saw something that I never knew could have such an impact on my life. This something was the movie "Julie and Julia". I have found a new passion for cooking ever since my fiance' deployed to Iraq but this movie has inspired me to take this passion to another level. It has taught me to make mistakes in my cooking and be okay with it. To never apologize for making a mistake in my cooking. This movie has inspired me to continue cooking and look for life lessons in each and every dish I make. This passion will not be a short lived passion but one that continues to play in my life each and every day.

Before this movie I had made an Asparagus Quiche and Garlic Cheese Drop Biscuits. It was a simple meal but a very good one at that. I do not have the recipes next to me or I would post them and the camera I took the pictures with is not here either but just trust me it was a very healthy* and tasty meal. I hope if you ever watch this movie it inspires you as it has me to continue a passion that has been started with such a small spark and has turned into something so great. I can honestly say that I have a new way of looking at cooking. I love this hobby and am excited to see what there is in store!

A little something I threw together....

Well today I felt like trying to make my own Red Pepper Pesto Pasta! Tongue twister I know!!! I also burnt the toast under the broiler haha! It was an interesting dinner. I cooked a bunch of chicken along with this meal and it was really yummy. I coated the chicken in Italian seasoned bread crumbs and then sauteed it! The red pepper pesto pasta was really a simple dish. While you are making the pesto sauce you can be boiling the pasta. I used bowtie pasta so it would hold the sauce a little better but any type of pasta would work. The only ingredients used in the pesto are: fresh basil, red peppers, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Then you mix all of these ingredients in the food processor and then it is complete. It tasted better than it looks in the picture haha! If you try this meal I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Lazy summer days....

The last few days I have taken off from cooking and all kinds of other fun activities. I have been taking finals and picking up extra hours at work just to try and earn a few more bucks. Only 3 weeks or 28 days left until the Love of my life returns. THANK GOD!!! This deployment has been a very interesting experience. I will say that now that I have completed this summer term of school it feels very odd to be able to enjoy some down time. I actually can play the Wii with my father and not feel guilty because I should be studying for an exam or something of that nature. Needless to say today is the beginning of my summer haha! I finally get to have some lazy summer days! These are very much needed. I hope everyone is having a great day!