This was in my Bible study today. I am doing a study of Mark (written by John MacArthur).

"The Canadian scientist G. B. Hardy once said, 'When I look at religion, I have two questions. One: Has anybody ever conquered death? and two: If they have, did they make a way for me to conquer death? I checked the tomb of Buddha, & it was occupied. I checked the tomb of Confucius & it was occupied. I came to the tomb of Jesus & it was empty. And I said, 'There is one who conquered death.' And I asked the second question, 'Did He make a way for me to do it?' I opened the Bible & discovered that He said, 'Because I live ye shall live also.'"

I was tagged...

...by Becky to go to my pictures, click on the fourth album, then the fourth picture, post & explain it. So here ya go!



& I'm not even in it! ha. This is Josh & his bff Zac at the Nationals vs. Braves game back in September from our trip to visit Zac in DC. What a fun trip! So fun we are going back this fall as well!

So, I'm supposed to tag four people, but there is only one person that checks my blog consistently that also blogs (that I know of), that has not yet been tagged... WHITNEY!

productive saturday

The junk room looks so much better! All that's left is Josh's big pile of hunting stuff, old school stuff, etc. that he needs to go through. Then our junk room will need a new name - Toby's room? Does a cat get a whole room? Green room? I'll need to paint over that lime green one day.

Public Service Announcement: if any of you people need office supplies, check with us before you head to the store! We may have what you need! We have tons of stuff leftover from college, tons as in, we will probably never go through all of it, even in the lifetime of our children's children's children... you get it.

I made a good crock-pot lasagna the other day, courtesy of Betty Crocker. Here is the recipe. Tip: it doesn't make for amazing leftovers, so perhaps make it when you will be having people over - it serves 6-8.

Our freezer is now full of deer meat & sausage, fish, & some turkey. We have had breakfast tacos for dinner with the deer sausage, & I'm making my stoup for dinner next week. Have any good sausage recipes? Please share!

We are going out for my first birthday dinner tonight with Brad & Haley (& Grayson of course). I get a free meal at a local restaurant since it is almost my birthday so we're going tonight. My next birthday dinner will be the real one with Josh, then the last one a week later with my parents - a joint birthday dinner for me & my dad. I love birthdays that last at least a week!

Paint & prayer

I finished painting the bathroom walls! Finally. It's only a slight victory tho, because I still have to go paint all of the cabinets white (they are an antiqued yellow - yuck). Not to mention eventually painting the baseboards again (that will be a whole-house project). & I would like to buy iron towel racks to replace the white ones. So, there is still much work to be done to make that bathroom look good.

This weekend we have NO plans (which is really rare!) so we are going to be working around the house, specifically in the junk room, raking leaves, & Josh will be working on his bench in the garage so we can hopefully get the garage looking nice again. Maybe we'll be super productive!

I would love some prayers for my knees. They had seemed much better in the past few months, but in the past couple of weeks they have started hurting again. Yesterday I was having to limp because one of my knees hurt so bad. It's pretty frustrating. Instead of spending time & money finding a doctor that can only MAYBE help, I am praying that The Ultimate Physician will heal my knees! I am begging really. I would love to run without pain again one day.... that is my hope.

God has been doing a lot lately, & maybe I'll be able to actually write it all out one day. I'm not sure I could put it all into words right now. I am thankful that He is growing us big time.

my brain is full!

I woke up today with a heavy dose of motivation. Probably too heavy, as it makes me want to ignore all other duties & responsibilities in order to do what I am motivated to do - ORGANIZE OUR HOUSE!!!

Our house is usually pretty clean & presentable. But my office could use some work, our junk room is driving me nuts, we need a big bookshelf for our room & somewhere to put all our games that are piled in our living room... etc. So I almost cannot stop my mind from thinking of under-the-bed storage, color coordinated fabric boxes, & selling things on Craigslist.

I have this issue where when I get something in my mind, REALLY in there, I cannot stop until it is accomplished. If only I had the time! I'm sure if I stopped doing church work, laundry, & cooking, the world would survive... right??

feelin good

Today I feel like a Domestic Diva! Oh yes. Not only did I sweep AND mop, but I made ELEVEN phone calls for work, without my heart rate going up or saving some calls for later! Can you believe it? I have also done 3 loads of laundry (& folded said laundry), made the guest bed, & sent several work emails. ALL after my usual workout & spending time with Jesus. I love being productive!

I am going to go reward myself with a diet vanilla Coke & the Ellen show!

Easy Chicken & Dumplings

I got this recipe off the Rachael Ray show, but it is actually Jessica Simpson's recipe. I was pleasantly surprised at how much it really tasted like chicken & dumplings! Super yummy. Here is the recipe, with modifications of course.

3 rolls of crescent rolls
1 small rotisserie chicken, skin discarded & meat removed
Cream of Chicken soup
Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
pepper

-Pull apart crescent rolls. In each crescent roll, place a small handful of chicken, then roll up the crescent roll & pinch the edges together to create a dumpling. Cut excess crescents into strips.
-Line a greased 9x13 pan with dumplings (I ended up with 18 dumplings).
-Mix soups & broth together along with pepper (to taste) & pour evenly over dumplings.
-Place strips of crescent rolls in crisscross pattern on top.
-Bake at 400 for 22 minutes (the original recipe said 30 but mine was ready before that) until crescents are brown & edges are bubbly.