Can I just get a little sympathy?!!

I hurt.

Every muscle that is in my body is screaming at me today.

I could barely get out of bed.....it hurt to roll over and turn off the alarm.

I painted my bedroom on Saturday.

Really, I thought it would be no big deal. Steve is out of town, perfect time to get it done! Move a little furniture.....I purchased good paint, the wall color is a very neutral color, should only need 1-2 coats....no primer, it's neu.tral.

hmmmm........that neutral color was the color from ____! It took THREE, yes three coats to cover it and I can still sort of see it through the yellow. I got wise after the first wall and primed the others.......still needed two coats and if I wasn't so tired, it could have used a 3rd too!!

Then Sunday, after church, we built and "painted" all our sets for Jonah. After that, I came home and put the last coat on the last wall............

ya'll, I have muscles screaming at me that I didn't know I had. I literally can barely make it down to sit on the toilet (I know tmi, but it's true).....getting up is a whole other problem.

I hurt!!!

And I am not getting any sympathy from the teenagers in my house......they are too busy flitting (yes, boys can flit) around and wondering what's for dinner..........whatever I can make from this sitting position on the sofa. I'm thinking that would be pizza!

However, the pain is balance by the fact that the room looks GREAT!! I will be posting pictures on sept. 7th when I join Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for her Before and After blogging party.

Until then.........can I get some blogging love........and maybe 5 advil?

Project 365 - Week 35

Here we are at week 35. It was a crazy week for me. I had soooo many great photo opportunities and many times forgot to get my camera out. After 35 weeks, you'd think that would not happen.....it was so frustrating!!! On Tuesday, we fed the homeless under the downtown bridge. The teens decided to serve nachos and I got the cheese dip. I had an electric roaster FULL of cheese dip....what an awesome picture....nope, didn't get it. That's how it rolled this week.

How about you. Is it becoming second nature or are you still having trouble remembering your camera?

Here's my week:

Sunday

We had the privilege and honor to pray over a family in our congregation that is heading into the mission field in Niger. They leave tomorrow and this was bittersweet. So hard to say goodbye, but so exciting to see God work in their lives!

We also had the privilege to celebrate with the Korean Grace Church on their first official Sunday worshiping at our church (Grace Church)
How incredible to worship with them, sing with them (2 languages singing one song), and fellowshiping with them over a traditional Korean meal.

God is good....all the time!

Monday

Today was my first day back at work...I took the summer off.
I knew I would be tired so I put dinner in the crockpots!!
Roast in one, baked potatoes in the other!

Tuesday

Jared has been craving cornbread.
There is nothing better than homemade cornbread in a cast iron skillet!!
that crispy outside crust......oh my heavens!!!

Wednesday

My new blog design was installed today!
I love it!!
It was designed by Jackie at Memories by Design

Thursday

What a day.......
....this is an example of how it went.
I needed to send jelly to Mama Belle (she won my giveaway)
the only box I could find is one that already looks like it has been to Kosovo and back.......
....so I take time to tape it ALL over so it will not fall apart and when done, see the cute little card I made for her on the counter.......

Friday

Went out on my front porch and this little guy was visiting....
....yikes!

Saturday

Painting my bedroom today....
old color on the right, new color on the left.

I am sooooo tired!
but not done yet...

So how was your week? Link up and let us see!!

finding new glasses = finding new bathing suit

That's right.....

Finding new glasses is about as easy and about as fun as finding a new bathing suit....ugh!!

If you are a guy reading this.........you don't get it!

But if you are a woman........and you wear glasses..........you sooooo get it!

I am there! I need new glasses. But here's the problem. I LOVE the ones I have and get so many compliments on them. Why is that a problem? #1 they are falling apart!!!

I have had these glasses for 4 years and they have repaired them (I am just a tiny bit rough on my glasses) almost as much as they can! And I can not find a new pair like them anywhere. I have even looked on-line.

So, I need to find a new pair. Problem # 2: All the cute glasses now are tiny! Small lenses are back in style! That is a big issue for me, not because I like big lenses.......but because I have really bad eyes and have to wear progressive lenses. I not only need bifocals, I need TRIfocals.

I know what you are thinking.......she is WAY too young to have to wear trifocals!!! And you are SO right!!! However, they are the eyes God gave me and it really doesn't go over well when at church (remember I am a pastor's wife) some one comes up to speak to me and I have to take a step back to see them.......yep, they immediately think they have bad breath!! not good.

But I digress..... you can't do progressive lenses easily in the small lenses, at least not mine.

Problem #3, I have bad eyes. I have to basically put my face one inch from the mirror to even get an idea of how the frames look on my face......seriously. Fortunately, I have a very good friend and very good family members that will go with me and give me the honest, and I mean honest, truth about how each pair looks!!

I have been all over this city looking at glasses. Either I can't find a pair I like, or I find one and the lens is too small for my prescription, or .....have you priced glasses lately? ya, or it's one I can't afford.

Honestly, at this point I think a bathing suit would be easier to find.

for.sure.

Friday Fill-ins

1. He was and is and always will be a mystery to me.

2. Cooler weather is what I look forward to most this time of year.

3. My best friend has been married to me for 25 years.

4. I really dislike any form of housekeeping, if I have to be honest with you.

5. Appearances can be more than deceiving.

6. The last person I gave a hug to was my hubby, just minutes ago (he bought me ice cream!).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending the evening with my neighbor, tomorrow my plans include possibly the farmers market and painting my bedroom and Sunday, I want to get a lot accomplished on the sets at church for Jonah!

Reason behind my new look..

As you can tell, I have had a makeover on my blog.

Jackie from Memories by Design (you may know her from Our moments our memories) did an amazing job on it!! She also made me a button.....so cute! If you want to, I would love for you to grab it and post it on your blog!

Thank you so much, Jackie!!! It is me and I love it!

There was a reason behind my blog change.........

God has been working on me in the area of prayer.......hard!

You can read about some of it, here, here and here.

One of the things I love about my blogging community is the prayer support! Many years ago, God laid on my heart not to tell anyone that I will pray for them if I can't. Unfortunately, if I don't have it written down.....I forget. And so I have been trying figure out a way to better share our prayer requests, to have them in one place so that I can go down the list and pray.

Thus the addition of the "praying for you" tab.....

When you have need of prayer, for yourself or someone close to you, you can click on this tab add it as a comment.

One day a week, I will be spending my quiet time going through the comments and praying for each of them..........I hope you will join me, too.

When you receive an answer to your prayer, post it in another comment. Once a month, I will write a post on the answers we all have received and then remove those prayer requests from the comments.

I tried to think of ways to make this as interactive as possible. If you have any better ideas, I would love to hear them!!

Just email me.

Until then, let's continue to lift each other up in prayer!

And if you haven't visited Jackie's blog, go over and check her out!!

You ask......I deliver!

Recently, I have been on a new recipe cooking kick!! You've seen pictures of the fruit of my labor over the last several weeks and many of you have asked for the recipes. So here goes:

This recipe came from Darla at heARTshare

KING RANCH CASSEROLE

1 lg. pkg. tortillas
1 c. cheese, grated
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. chicken broth
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 chicken, deboned
1 can of mild rotel

Cut tortillas in strips. Make layers of tortillas and chicken. Make sauce of the soups and rotel. Pour sauce over layers.cover with cheese the last several minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Better if it sets for a while.

This recipe came from Kim at Just a southern girl
the pork itself was AMAZING!!! then the sandwich.......oh my!

CUBAN PORK ROAST
4-5 lbs pork roast
3 cloves garlic peeled and slivered
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon oregano, ground
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt, to taste
1 large onion, sliced

Trim excess fat from roast (but not all!) and then make tiny slits all over the roast with a sharp knife and insert the slivers of peeled garlic.
Mix remaining ingredients in a zip lock bag, add roast and marinate in fridge overnight.
The next day dump it into a crockpot, on low, and forget about it until evening. (Well, forgetting about it isn't technically possible with all the wonderful smells wafting around your kitchen!)

~~~~~~~~~~

If your family doesn't devour the entire roast in one sitting (which has happened to us a time or two) you can thinly slice the leftover meat and make...

CUBAN SANDWICHES
~ 1 loaf Italian or French bread
(or Cuban bread if you're lucky enough to have a source!)
~ mustard (the original recipe calls for plain yellow but I've used stone ground when it's all I had and it worked fine -- obviously I'm not a purist)
~ thinly sliced leftover pork roast
~ thinly sliced ham (any kind you want; it's YOUR sandwich)
~ thinly sliced dill pickles
[are you getting the idea that things HAVE TO BE THINLY SLICED?!]
~ thinly sliced swiss cheese (okay, so that's not so easy to find where I live now; I've used Fontina, Holland and Havarti -- I don't think it really matters; whatever floats your boat)

Slice the bread horizontally so you create one looooooong sandwich. Smear mustard liberally on both slices. Along the bottom half layer ingredients any old way you want. I like to put cheese on the bottom and top, right next to the bread to sort of prevent it from getting soggy from the juicy pickles which I slap right smack in the middle. I'm sure there's probably some kind of law in Cuba about the order in which to correctly place these ingredients, but I'm a rule breaker from way back. Then put the top piece of bread on and start mashing the whole thing as flat as you can. I am not a small person and I put all my weight into the effort, palms down flat against the top of the sandwich and mash, MASH, MASH.

In my U.S. oven I could take the whole sandwich, put it on a cookie sheet, cover it with a little piece of tin foil and then slam my heavy old cast iron skillet on top. We want this sucker FLAT! Here I have a much smaller oven so I have to cut the sandwich in half and lay the two pieces side by side on the smaller cookie sheet I'm able to fit into the itty bitty oven. Then I pop it in the oven at 325° for about 20-30 minutes until the sandwich is hot and the cheese all bubbly. Remove from oven, take the skillet off the top, slice and enjoy! Preferably with chips of your choice.

This is my new favorite recipe to wow company with!

Pesto Scallops in Roasted peppers

4 red or orange bell peppers halved and cleaned
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
olive oil
Scallops
prepared or fresh pesto (I prefer to make it myself)
grated Parmesan

place pepper halves in an oiled roasting pan cut side up. Drizzle each 1/2 with olive oil and place a few slices of garlic in each. Roast in oven at 400 for 30 minutes.

When peppers are done, take out and add 2 cleaned and dried scallops to each 1/2 and top each scallop with a spoonful of pesto. Place back in oven for 10 more minutes or until scallops are done. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and serve with a salad!!

Enjoy!!

God is good........ALL the time!!

Can I get an Amen?!

Today was just the most amazing day.

Those of you in ministry know that at times you get weary. You begin to only be able to see the trees and not the forest. And sometimes you get discouraged.

But God is always, let me repeat that....always, there at those times to give you exactly what you need to know that what you are doing in His name counts. That He is working even if you can't see it. He gives you just the encouragement you need to see the forest.

Today was one of those days.

First, we had the privilege this morning to pray over and send off a family from our congregation to the mission field. They are headed to Niger. It was bittersweet. Hard to say good bye but so exciting to watch them step out in faith and obedience. We had a beautiful time of prayer as we laid hands on them and prayed God's blessings on their ministry.

This is church.


Second, we also had the privilege to celebrate with the Korean Grace Church.

They have been meeting in a house for many months and praying that God would lead them to a church building. One day, their pastor drove by our church and saw the sign, Grace Church, and knew that God had provided them a home! They are now worshiping on Sunday afternoons in our church after our service is over. Today was their official launching of their church and I can't tell you how awesome it was to be worshiping with them, hearing one song sung in 2 languages with hearts united.......it gives me chill bumps just thinking about it.

This is church.

Pastor Yoon

Worship band

Their choir
It's so amazing how you can "feel" the song...
...even when you can't understand it.

I don't know what instrument this is, but it was so cool.
She played Amazing Grace.

Some of the women were dressed in tradition Korean clothes.

After the service, we were invited to join them for a traditional Korean meal. WOW! so.good!! The food just kept coming and coming!! and we used chopsticks! :)


I am not sure what all I ate, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I asked one of the ladies what was in the little pancake things I was eating and...

......she answered me in Korean.

I said "I guess I don't want to know what's in there?"

She said "did you like it?"

I said "yes!"

she said "then, no you don't" :)

What an honor and blessing today was. Thank you, Lord, for the reminder to me of why we do what we do. Thank you for the gentle "redirection" of my attitude. But mostly, thank you.....thank you for allowing me to partner with You, Lord, in your program. You don't need me to reach the people of Little Rock. But you choose to allow me to be part of it and to therefore receive the blessing from it.

I am so in awe.

You are good..........ALL THE TIME!

Project 365 - Week 34

Our first week of school ended with no drama......a.maz.ing!

The boys seem to like all their teachers/classes and everything went smoothly. On top of that, we all seem to have quickly gotten back in our school groove!! I start back to work on Monday (I took the summer off), so it is great to have had it go so well!!

I had a really fun week and am in a "new recipe" streak. So I appologize now if you are hungry when you read this.....you might want to come back later!

Sunday

We had a reception at church tonight for one of our families heading off to the mission field. They will be heading to Niger in a week. It has been so amazing to see God work in them as they have gone through this process over the last several years. And now they are finally going!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to hear how God will use this family to be His hands and feet!!!!
Love you guys!!!

Monday

We had the ribbon cutting ceremony for our new HS bldg last night.
So exciting to see God working on this campus!!
They started on this last spring....I really didn't think it would be completed for the fall. But God is so good and they didn't have even ONE delay....and here we are!!
It's beautiful!!

Tuesday

We had a huge storm blow through in the evening here
and our electricity went out just as we were sitting down for dinner
So I didn't get picture of the AMAZING meal I made of
Cuban Pork from Kim
This got a thumbs up from everyone in the family.....minor miracle!!

Wednesday

I have a tradition of celebrating the first and last days of school
The last day, I always get a pedicure
Today I celebrated at lunch with my good friend, Jill!!

I had to show you this......
this most delicious sandwich was made from the left over cuban pork
this is also Kim's recipe
and also completely a.maz.ing!!!

Thursday

Another new recipe!!
This one came from Darla at Heartshare
and is called King Ranch Casserole

And again EVERYONE liked it!!!
That is 2 recipes in one week that everyone liked..
..if you have 5+ people in your house then you know what a miracle that is!!!

Friday

I went to the Post Office today to mail some gifts
I had to purchase a box, tape and bubble wrap
I got it all together and got in a very LONG line..with ONE very slow worker behind the counter at the busiest time of day!!
After more than 30 min., I had moved up ONE person and was still EIGHT from the counter....yikes!! I couldn't leave b/c I had used items from the PO...........but my kids will be home from school very soon.........what to do?
.......yep, I left with all my stuff.
They are just going to have to trust that I will pay for it when I go in tomorrow...
Do we really want the government running our health care?

Saturday

my son had a few friends over today, just around dinner time!
I was already fixing dinner for some of MY friends coming over, so
Jason grilled his friends burgers and they ate outside!!
Love that kid!

We had good friends over for dinner..
...Chicken Pomodoro, mashed potatoes, green beans & salad
another new recipe.....again, awesome!!
I'm on a roll!

Can't wait to see how your week went!!!

Do I Mourn?

"Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted."
Matthew 5:4

My devotion yesterday created quite a mental workout for me........I can't stop thinking about it.

What do you think about when you read that verse? Do you think about mourning a loved one, friend, lost relationship? Do you think about Christ comforting you when you are sad?

Those words seem to bring comfort. But as I read my devotion, I realized that I had just jumped over a very significant part of that verse.

"God wants us to experience His joy. Yet we cannot experience His joy until we have mourned over our sin. If we do not grieve over the weight of our sin, we have no concept of sin's devastating power. If we treat our sin lightly, we demonstrate that we have no sense of the enormity of our offense against almighty God. Our sin caused the death of God's Son. It causes us to fall short of what God intends. It brings pain and sorrow to others, as well as to ourselves."

Did you read that?

"Our sin caused the death of God's Son."

Have you really ever thought about that? I have faced the gravity of my sin before, but I am not sure I have ever truly let myself comprehend or thoughtfully took in that MY sin caused someone's death............not just someone.............God's perfect Son.

let that sink in.

If a choice I made during the day caused the death of a person, I think it would be almost unbearable to me. I am not sure how I could live with that knowledge.

Yet, I live with it everyday......without thinking about it much, if at all.

MY sin caused the death of God's Son.

"The Bible says that those who grieve over their sin will draw near to God. Those who mourn and weep over their sin are in a position to repent. There cannot be repentance without the realization of the gravity of sin. Regret for sin's consequences is not the same as sorrow for sinning against holy God."

I have asked my children this many times "are you truly sorry for what you did, or are you just sorry you got caught?"

Do I just have regret for the consequences of my sin or do I feel deep sorrow for my sin? Do I take the amazing gift of salvation that Christ extended me for granted? I think most times, I do.

"Jesus said that those who are heartbroken over their sin will find comfort. They will experience new dimensions of God's love and forgiveness. His infinite grace is sufficient for the most terrible sin. Do not try and skip the grieving process of repentance in order to move on to experience joy. God will not leave you to weep over your sin but will forgive you, comfort you, and fill you with His joy."

What's Your Answer Wednesday and a WINNER!

**excuse all references to Wednesday.....starting back to school this week has me all turned around. Actually I did start this post on Wednesday and I didn't want to redo to....no time! So just pretend it is Wednesday.....for me......mkay?!

I loved hearing about all your canning experiences! And for those of you that said you had the canning tools, but never canned.......give it a try!!! I'd be happy to walk you through it!!

I do have to clarify one thing....(thanks to my friend Wendi for commenting on it) .... you can only use the upside down method with jelly. For everything else, you really need to water bath it or pressure can it.

I have to say that I was so surprised by how many of you have never tried jalapeno jelly.....you are so missing out!!

However, one of you will not be missing out for long!!!

The winner of the jalapeno jelly giveaway is:
from random.org

17
Mama Belle

email me your address and I will send out your yummy jelly!!!

I haven't joined in this for a while and I miss it. I am in a cooking mood. Have fun!

1. what is your favorite dish that you make at home.

2. What is one dish you would really love to learn how to make.

3. If you could and $ was not an object, would you have a personal chef?

4. Ever had any cooking catastrophes?


My Answers:

1. Probably my favorite dish that I make is a Pasta with Broccoli that I learned to make in Italy. It is not necessarily my family's favorite, but I LOVE it!!!

2. After seeing Julie & Julia, I want to learn how to make Boeuf Bourguignon.

3. No, I love to cook. However, it is one of my dreams to BE a personal chef!!

4. Besides last weeks green sauce shooting all over the kitchen when the blender wasn't screwed in well........I once used salt in a pie instead of sugar.......ya, bad!

Happy Wednesday!!!

Great friends make hard jobs easy........and a giveaway!

I had so much fun canning with my friend, Wendi, on Saturday. Canning is not hard, but it is time consuming. And doing it with a friend makes it go so much faster and makes it a lot more fun! And I love giving my jelly, etc as gifts. It is something special and personal!

We ended up canning more than 70 jars!

How hot do you think these jalapenos are?

sometimes they are very mild and you need to add more....
ya....she was sorry she did that!!!

First batches of jalapeno jelly is done.
If you use hot jars and then turn them upside down after filling them,
then they will seal and you don't have to water bath them.
It's a lot faster and not as hot!!!
seeing as it is almost 100 degrees out, this heats up your kitchen pretty fast!

one thing about jelly...
...it uses a LOT of sugar!!
you almost don't want to know how much!

and you get a very messy, messy kitchen

this is the start of the peach jam
I used peaches I had frozen last summer and they weren't
completely thawed...it kinda looks like a dreamsicle!

This was the hardest job..peeling the garlic
I think my hands still smell like garlic!

we had so many jalapenos, we decided to pickle them with
garlic and red pepper.
this is a new recipe and I can't wait to try it out
It will need to sit for a few weeks first.

even though you are exhausted at the end of the day,
it is such a sense of accomplishment to look out over
the table and see this!!!!

So many of you said you had never heard of jalapeno jelly!!
honestly, it was hard to believe because we love it.
It may sound weird to you, but I have never met anyone who didn't like it

most people serve it over cream cheese with crackers,
but I LOVE it on bagels or toast!!!
sweet with a little kick!

So, I have decided to give a jar away!!!

yep, one of you lucky bloggy friends will get one of these precious
commodities by just commenting on this post.

I would like to know if you have ever canned before,
and if yes, what is your favorite thing to can.

I will pick a winner on Thursday....
....sorry, but I can only send it in the US.
However, if you are like Kim and live outside the US,
you can comment and leave a loved ones or friends name to win!!!

Happy Commenting!

Meetings, Marriages & Memories

Well, I think this will be my final chapter of how I met and married my wonderful husband. I have so enjoyed participating in Rachels MM&M carnival!!! Who doesn't love to read about a love story? And what I love is how God brings us together in unique ways!!! No one story is the same!!

To read part 1 of our story go here, part 2 go here and part 3 go here.....

......when I left you last week, I had just told Steve that I wanted to marry him and he had basically just nodded his head......because inside his head, he was thinking "she is just infatuated"!

Well, it only took about a month for Steve to realize I was right!!! (you'd think he'd remember that more often! ha!)

Steve's grandfather came to visit Steve right after that. Steve did not grow up with a father, so his grandfather had a huge influence in his life. One night, we were watching Steve play softball. His grandfather and I were in the stands together and he turned to me with a smile and said "you kind of like that guy, don't you?!!" It took me off guard b/c Steve had said that his grandfather always told him "get an education, get a job, buy a house and get married when you are 30"!! But Pete and I really hit it off and I enjoyed getting to know him!!

Neither of our parents had met the other by this time. They both lived in different states. But over Thanksgiving, Steve took me home to meet his mom. I wouldn't say that I was too nervous (I think I was too much in love to really worry about it) on the way up, but when I walked into their house and saw pictures of Steve's HS girlfriend still on the walls......ya, then I got nervous!!! Thanksgiving was to be at Steve's grandparents house. When everyone got there, Steve's grandfather grabbed me and took me in the main room and announced "I want everyone to meet my prospective granddaughter!" I nearly choked!!! And I am pretty sure Steve's mom did! :)

However, we had a great weekend and on the way home decided that at Christmas we would talk to each of our families and kind of set up the idea of us getting married.

Steve got up for breakfast the first morning he was home and was sitting at the table with Pete, trying to decide how to bring up the subject of us getting married, when Pete looked at him and said "when are you brats getting married!?!" So much for easing into it! ha! Pete always loved me (he passed 1 year after we were married) and was our biggest supporter!!

It was a little different with my parents. I think they were happy for me, but they had only met Steve once (before we were dating). As a parent now, I can only imagine how hard that was. How do you get excited when you don't know the person? They tell me now that it was hard, but they had to trust me........wow!

In January, my best friend got married back in my home town. Steve went back with me, knowing he was going to ask my dad for his blessing to marry me. Before the wedding, we spent a few days up at my parents cabin skiing with my family. The first day up, Steve found some time alone with my dad to talk to him and told him of his desire to marry me. However, my dad did not answer him!!! He did not give him his blessing!!! I couldn't believe it.....he didn't say no, he just didn't say.........WHAT?!!! We went through the whole day on pins and needles wondering if he was going to talk to us or ignore it.

That night at dinner, with my brother and his wife joining us, my dad asked everyone to join hands while he blessed the meal. In that prayer, he gave his blessing for us to get married!!! It was beautiful! But the tears in my eyes were not only from happiness........my brother who was holding my hand (we are VERY close and I had not told him yet) squeezed my hand so hard I almost cried out! I knew he would be upset that I didn't tell him, but I wanted dad's blessing first. Unfortunately he would take it out on Steve the next day on the slopes.......

My brother is an expert skier and Steve had only skied a few times before. Steve is an athlete and so had picked up skiing quickly. However, unbeknownst to me, my brother took him on a double black diamond run....the hardest on the mountain. As Larry skied up to me at the bottom of the hill, he hugged me and said "he's ok! I approve"...............this with Steve NO WHERE in sight!!!

He did finally make it down the slope......apparently he tried valiantly to keep up with my brother and at one point hit a mogle, did a flip in the air and kept right on going, thus gaining my brother's respect and a place in our family!

We married the next July and this year celebrated our 25th anniversary. I love this man so much and each day am more thankful that God brought him into my life. I'm so amazed each year that our love grows deeper.......it seems it is as deep and wonderful as it can get and then God takes it to a new level!!!

I am truly blessed!

Project 365 - Week 33

This has been a very full week for me! I guess I have been trying to cram it all in before school starts.......do you do that? You realize that you have just one week left and there are all these things that you had hoped to do. One thing that didn't get done was to paint my bedroom. I have the paint all bought......but never found the time. So I am hoping that will get done once school starts this Wednesday!!!

Here's my week:

Sunday

Went to see this tonight with the ladies from my neighborhood bible study...
......it was GREAT!!!
I walked out so inspired to cook!

Monday

Tough day for me.
Had to say goodbye to my daughter and send her back to college.

It just never gets easier.....
....waaaaaaaaa!

Tuesday

We had a cooking class at bible study tonight
we all just saw Julie & Julia, so notice the aprons and pearls!!

good to make sure your blender is screwed on tight
when making a green sauce!!!

mussels with parsley/lemon sauce

Scallops with pesto in roasted peppers

(I will try to get these recipes posted soon!)

Wednesday

made a quick (very quick) trip to Dallas to pick up some
furniture from my Aunt's house.

Thursday

School schedules are out....
really? grade 12?
How did that happen?!?!?!

Friday

This is what Jason looked like when he got up today.....

.....this is what he looked like after getting "ready" for the day...
......not much difference in the hair! ha!

Saturday

My best friend, Wendi, and I spent the afternoon canning!

Jalapeno jelly is the dark green in the back.
Peach preserves in the front
pickled jalapenos, garlic & peppers on the right
the start of Lemoncello in the vodka bottles
Lemoncello has to steep in a dark place for 15 days before we finish it!

This was a great day!!!

Now link up below and share your week with us!!!