Goin' On 5

Today is our anniversary...our FOUR year anniversary. One of my favorite stories is hearing Jason tell me (his perspective, of course!) how we first met, how he fell in love with me, and why he chose me. This past year of our marriage was probably the best in my opinion. We've experienced some tough things together, but both of us have grown in our relationship with both each other and the Lord - again my opinion here - more than any other 12 months in our marriage. I'm so lucky to have such a Godly man leading our house. :)

And now for some pictures of our trip...more to come, but these will do for now.

I must clarify that some big changes in the coaching world (not for us directly, though, thank goodness!) were on the horizon throughout our trip. Therefore, the phone rang a lot but I was a nosey wife and made him answer it so I could be in the loop of it all. :)

Here's one such call when I decided to break out my camera in the amazing national park in the downtown area.

 Then Jason took the camera for a bit and wanted to experiment...I forgot to give him a "focus lesson"...but the tree is in focus at least!! :)

 
 
 
 Then there was the Hall of Fame night...my only "duty" on the trip (though I've never considered singing a duty).

 
 Then the series of automatic pictures. Notice Jason never changes poses. And I edited these weird cause the lighting was weird already. I still haven't discovered how to make the self-timer mode take fabulous pictures.

 

 

 

What a fun time with my hot man!!! Loved this trip and look forward to more!!!

Coming to an End

What an awesome trip this has been...it was needed, appreciated, and now is coming to its close.

Hot Springs: We never left the downtown area except once last night. Each day we were here we enjoyed the numerous FANTASTIC restaurants lining the historic downtown strip (Porterhouse was our favorite). The first 2 days, the weather was amazing, so we literally walked all over the entire downtown both throughout the day and into the night. The national park here (which is right off the main drag) is absolutely gorgeous. I love cities where you can walk everywhere. It was great never having to use our car while we were here!

My Days Without Kids: They were cherished. Every morning I woke up, ate breakfast with Jason, workout out in the fitness center here, then swam in the pool before getting a shower and meeting Jason for lunch. Some afternoons we watched basketball...some we walked the downtown area...others we walked through park and explored...and the days where he had conferences, I just relaxed.

On Singing: That part was fun last night. Getting all dressed up was super fun (I loved my dress!!!).

On Changing Plans: The original plan was to have one more night alone here and go back tomorrow morning after meeting up to get the kids. But since we have to be back earlier than expected tomorrow for our dear friend's funeral, I am leaving in a few hours to get the kids and they will spend the night with us tonight in the hotel. I must say I'm excited b/c I miss those rascals like crazy and I think they'll LOVE the indoor pool, the awesome glass elevators, the breakfast in the morning (it's fabulous) and most of seeing us. :)

On Jason: Man I love that guy to pieces. This has been so fun just hanging out - the 2 of us. A perfect way to end a crazy season.

On Lincoln: Apparently, his Gran-Gran has been potty training him the whole week and he has been wearing underwear every day!!! Is this exciting, or what??!

On My Neighbor: My amazing friend, Amanda has taken "dog control" duties for us while we have been gone (saving us from having to expensively board them) and has been amazingly helpful!!! What a great gift for us!

**Now I'm excited to come home becuase our pool will open in a few months, sun will shine brighter, jogger will get more use, and the parks will become part of our daily routines. And the countdown to Destin can begin. :)

Vicki Dees

I woke up in Hot Springs this morning to my phone flooded with texts/missed calls/voicemails. I'll be honest, when this happens and I see such a congested screen, my heart has a tendency to plummet because 9/10 times it's bad news.

But this news turned out to be bittersweet...

A precious, dear friend - Vicki Dees went home to Jesus in the early morning hours after a 3 year battle with lung cancer.

This amazing warrior of Christ inspired me in tremendous ways I hope I was able to communicate at some points along our friendship, but I know in ways she will probably never even understand.

When Vicki was diagnosed with this serious form of cancer, she was given 3-6 months to live. But God used her for 3 years to do full-time women's ministry all around the nation, making disciples of Christ.

He had a different plan for her.

Throughout her cancer journey I often thought of how I would react in her shoes. Would I keep fighting? Would I have unwavering faith? Would I praise Jesus regardless my circumstances and pain? Would I do a 5th round of chemo? Would I remain joyful always or settle into my own depression? Would I push even harder in my ministries to other people or back away because I was "sick"?
I think the real question, though, is:
"Is my God bigger than me...bigger than sickness...bigger than the things of the earth...bigger than life itself in the sense that I need to make sure people know that during my short time on this earth.?"

Vicki Dees believed that. Her life embodied what it meant to live by the spirit.

This year, Jason and I have witnessed the heartache of three close families losing loved ones. I've written many a post this year about these times, about what God has been revealing to us, and about how deep the Father's love is for us.
Thank you, Jesus for revealing Yourself so powerfully through life, death, tragedy, and joy - for revealing that YOU are the only thing worth investing in...that You are Rescuer...that You are Eternal and life is fleeting...and that I, Your child, belong to You.

The Best Cookie Ever...Seriously.

Okay. Here it goes.

I LOVE baking cookies. I mean, L-O-V-E it to the utmost degree. I love baking them more than I do eating them (though eating the dough is very close to a tie). Get the picture? When I was in college, I set out on the "perfect cookie recipe" search. I'm not kidding - I would raid refrigerators and grocery store isles, dumping all kinds of different ingredients trying to "discover the magic" that is in the goeyness of a cookie.

And then one day I found it.

In my opinion - the fluffiest, goeyiest, most delicious chocolate chip cookie. Don't be fooled though - I'll admit there was not a ton of invention here, but a few "extras" added to a good ole original recipe that made ALL the difference. I've been making these for years no and they never cease to be gone within a short time frame and gather gobs of compliments. I've recently been asked for the recipe a handful of times, so I thought I would share and let ya try it out for yourselves.

Again - let me repeat - it won't seem all that magical of a recipe, but I dare you to try it. :)

Here's the 3 main factors that make these things pop:

Now here's how it works:

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the following:
      - 2 sticks of butter that have been softened in microwave for 20 secs (sounds weird, but this is actually a factor I have found - and no other butter has worked better than the cheap ole Blue Bonnet)
      - 2 Eggs
      - 3/4 Cup Sugar
      - 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
      - 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
      - 1 Large Box Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix (DO NOT use Cook & Serve!!!)

Set Aside.

In a separate bowl, sift the following together:
      - 2 1/2 Cups Flour (this is a little extra than most recipes)
      - 1 Tsp Baking Soda
      - 1 Tsp Salt

Slowly mix the dry in with the wet, and then add a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Cook for 9-11 minutes at 375 degrees. (My oven cooks them slightly underdone and perfect at 10 minutes). They will look somewhat underdone. Very important NOT to cook them too long or they don't taste nearly as good.

**Now, something I have found this year, is that if you make the dough and freeze it for later, I think the cookies come out slightly better for some reason! I did this a lot over holidays so I could pull out some dough when I needed cookies in a pinch. I almost always freeze it now...even if for the day.

I promise you'll fall in love with these...ENJOY.

The Daily Grind

What do I do every day with 2 toddlers, you ask?

We play with stickers...well, "play" means Lincoln takes a whole sheet and attempts to cover his body in them:

We take frequent breaks for animal cookies...

We do LOTS of jumping! Luckily no one's been injured yet, so we'll keep jumping! :)

We take time for lots of cheesy, teethy grins:

We watch Lincoln jump in and out of pack-n-plays, crib, high chair, and then hear him exclaim: "I did it!! Hooray!!!"

Sometimes you get to see him really put his muscles into it and lift his whole body up in a horizontal stance - pretty awesome stuff.

But most of I get to watch these 2 handsome little fellows grow up/learn/love every day: not too shabby.



Wedding Day

In regards to marriage, Mark Driscoll (yes, I just referenced him for the thousandth time on this blog!) talked once about how as little girls, a lot of us spend years planning our wedding day. We buy bridal magazines at young ages, dreaming of the princess gowns, fantasizing over princess cut vs. round diamond fashions, practicing the isle walk/the kiss even, the dance, and go back and forth over the years from beach/outdoor/church/ setting for the big event.
His challenge was "How many of you girls spent all those years planning your marriage vs. planning the 'event'?"
That maybe the "Big Event" isn't the day but it's every day after?

The actually "Ceremony" is only 30 minutes on average versus the actual marriage being 30+ years...
So though the ceremony is significant, in comparison to the marriage, it pales in comparison!

This further parallels to the whole Kingdom Perspective that's gripped me this past year...
How much time/money/effort I spend on a daily basis fixing up my:
1.House
2. Body
3. Image
4. Clothes/Appearance
5. Possessions
6.
7.
8.

There's more blanks to fill in of things you might think of and things I know exist but don't currently spin off my mind...
You get it?

Then I stumbled on this passage a few weeks ago. PLEASE read it b/c it's so rich! It's the message version (which I don't use that much, but I liked the picture it gave):

2 Corinthians 5
1-5For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we'll never have to relocate our "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it! We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.
6-8That's why we live with such good cheer. You won't see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don't get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we'll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.


9-10But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what's coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad.


11-14That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It's no light thing to know that we'll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That's why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care. We're not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we're on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ's love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

AMAZING.
Do y'all fall into the comparison/envy trap? I do. Facebook and blogging tend to have a way of igniting this sometimes!!!! (Dang you social networking).

But in these verses, it talks about how everything earthly is merely shacks...SHACKS, people!
Some may try and make those shacks not look like it, but THEY STILL ARE. Our homes are, our bodies are, our possessions are...everything is dirty trash compared to our "spacious living" lifestyles we'll receive in glory someday (sooner than later, mind you!).

As Jason often says about how his basketball team doesn't take showers after games but just spray Axe on themselves (gross, I know) - "If you put sugar on a turd, it's not gonna make it taste any better!!"

So is true for how we use of time/money/efforts on all things earthly. At the end of the day (THE day), it will all be a pile of rubble compared to our eternal dwellings...no matter how much money and time we spent trying to make it look nice!

I just LOVE this. It means I don't have to compare...that envy and trying to impress with what I have and how I look is just irrelevant. What freedom then to do more for reaching the Lost.

I struggle...sometimes on a daily basis to recognize that "little piece of Heaven"...that glimpse of what's to come...forever present in my heart. But that glimpse is so powerful and I pray that it becomes more and more relevant in my own life.

Because it's the marriage...not the day - that I really do desire.

Growing

Noah's growing up:
He is now riding frontwards in his new big carseat, drinks "Cow milk" (as Lincoln calls it), and is getting more communicative and playful on a daily basis. When Lincoln strated getting older, one of my most favorite things to do was watch him play in his class at church when he didn't know we were watching (this is still one of my favorite things to do!!).
But now, I get to watch these two interact and play every day and it is AMAZING.

 
 We still play a lot of couch at our house. I got some fun shots of Lincoln jumping off the couch today. :)

 
 
 

lincoln has been singing a lot lately (which of course, I'm LOVING). His favorite songs are:
1. Frosty the Snowman
2. Rudolph
3. Jesus Loves Me
4. Deep and Wide
5. I've Got the Joy Joy Joy (this is his favorite)
6. This Little Light of Mine (I taught him this one today)
7. Veggie Tales Song at the end of the shows
8. Star-Spangled Banner.

*Yes, he can sing the 1st 2 lines of the National Anthem. I did NOT teach him this song, but I've sung it a few times recently and I guess he picked up on it?? He calls it the "Oh Say Song". Funny.

Speaking of singing, I was asked to sing at an athletic director's banquet the weekend after next in Hot Springs. Jason will be there anyway for the state tourney and a conference and I was just going to stay back (the kids will be at the grandparents for that weekend!!). But since this new deal, I now get to go to Hot Springs with Jason and have 3 nights of food/hotel/entertainment with just me and Jason -  no kids!!!! I'll sing for that for sure! Even better is it's our anniversary weekend - perfect. :)