day one accomplished

I cooked beef stroganoff in the crock pot. It was super super easy and very yummy! I meant to post the recipe but I forgot my cook book. And Chad grilled some asparagus to go with it, yum :)

I'm thinking tonight I'll make meat loaf though I haven't decided the sides yet.

Oh! I also made some pumpkin bread...put of course it got burnt. I hate hate hate my oven! It burns everything! I even wised up this time and set the timer for five minutes less than it was suppose to cook, but yet still the outside got well done. The inside of the loaf tastes very good. I cut off the edges and it's good to eat now but it just doesn't look pretty. I told myself when I put the load in that I needed to check it every five to ten minutes to make sure it didn't burn...but that was during the hour Heroes was playing so that didn't happen. Next thing I knew the timer was going off.

My goal for the week =

To cook supper every night



I love this picture.

My favorite wedding picture/pictures

I can't decided if I like the color one better or the black and white. So here's both. More to come.

My wedding dress...almost

People were always asking me what my wedding dress looked like and if I could send a picture of it before I got married but it was really hard to describe because I had never seen one like it. Now of course after the wedding I find a picture of a dress that looks very very similar, almost identical.

I want a maid.

Someone please buy me one for Christmas.

Glorious fall!!

It's starting to get cooler here. Every year I can never decide if I like spring better or fall. I love spring because after the long cold dead winter (though I guess in Mississippi it's really not that long at all), it's so nice to feel warmth and to know that flip flop season is just around the corner. And I love fall because after the really really long hot muggy summer it's so releaving to feel the cool air and take your hair down from the frizzy pony tail that it's been forced to be in for the past five months. But as for today, I say fall is my favorite season because it feels wonderful!

So I have to be a good secretary and brag on my boss. He killed a 12 ft., over 400 lbs., alligator this weekend. It's the second largest that's been caught in Mississippi. He's quite proud. I got to look at the top of the alligator's head in the back of his truck. I think anyone that's going to purposefully be anywhere near an alligator is aboslutely crazy.

I guess I should start working.

If you were the only person on the earth......then that would make God a liar.

I like to think. And I especially like music that makes me think. This past Saturday, while in the midst of cleaning the house and washing five :( loads of laundry, I found Derek Webb's cd, "She Must and Shall go Free." I had heard a few songs on there before, but not all of it, and let me just say - INCREDIBLE! Like seriously, go get it.

During the song,"The Church" was playing (which lyrics I have posted below), I realized how false that ol' familiar saying is that everyone uses while sharing the Gospel - "If you were the only person, Christ would still have come to die for you." First of all, where in the Bible does it say anything remotely like that? Secondly, that could only be true if basically everything in the Bible was wrong and God was lying. From before the beginning of time it has been God's plan to redeem a people - His chosen people, His bride. All of Scripture points to that fact. So if you were going to suppose that you were the only person to be saved, then you would also have to suppose that God had an entirely different plan going on and do away with the entire Bible. But then, if you suppose that God had a different plan, then who knows if He would really die for you? It would be an entirely different plan so who knows what He would do.

When Chad came back from studying, I had to rush to tell him my discovery and he told me that several years ago he had gone to a youth winter conference and the speakers were Josh McDowell and Voddie Baucham (absolutely amazing, I heard him preach last year). Anyway, Josh preaches this long moving sermon basically based on that saying, "if you were the only person...". So Voddie gets up to speak next (this was unplanned by the way) and his talk is on Christians' arrogance (very fitting). And he tell this story:

He and a guy were out witnessing and the guy is sharing the Gospel to this person and uses that saying, "if you were the only person..." etc. Voddie lets him finish talking and once they're leaving says to him, "I want you to do me a favor."

Friend:"Sure what?"

Voddie: "Do you remember while you were sharing the Gospel you said 'if you were the only person, Christ would still die for you?"

Friend:"Oh yeah! Isn't that great?!"

Voddie: "Well, the favor is that you never say that again." End of story.

So Voddie tells that story after McDowell's whole sermon on that. Pretty funny is you ask me. So when Josh was asked about it later, his excuse was "Well I was emphasing God's love and Voddie was emphasing something else." Whatev'. So now the Word of God contradicts itself? Stop preaching a warm and fuzzy man centered Gospel and give me a Christ centered Gospel.

I have come with one purpose
to capture for myself a bride
by my life she is lovely
by my death she’s justified

i have always been her husband
though many lovers she has known
so with water i will wash her
and by my word alone

so when you hear the sound of the water
you will know you’re not alone

(chorus)
‘cause i haven’t come for only you
but for my people to pursue
you cannot care for me with no regard for her
if you love me you will love the church

i have long pursued her
as a harlot and a whore
but she will feast upon me
she will drink and thirst no more

so when you taste my flesh and my blood
you will know you’re not alone

(chorus)

there is none that can replace her
though there are many who will try
and though some may be her bridesmaids
they can never be my bride

(chorus)

Just for Claire

My Falafel Recipe

-buy a box of falafel mix, follow directions. (to show you how good I am, here's the directions: dump mix in bowl, add water, stir, fry.)

-buy a box of hummus mix, follow directions. (dump mix in bowl, add water, stir, chill.)

-stuff falafel's in pita bread, along with letttuce (we use spinach), feta cheese (and/or whatever cheese you like), hummus, and tomatoes (we don't like tomatoes though so we skip this step).

I found a recipe here that looks simple enough:
http://mideastfood.about.com/od/maindishes/r/falafelrecipe.htm
One day I want to make my own falafels and hummus instead of box mixes, but this is really all I have time for now. And really, it's good. It's one of our favorite meals. Especially mine because Chad makes it (I hate frying things).

Enjoy :)

Bummer

I promise I didn't mean to lie to you. I was lied to too. On the box of Season 2, it said that Season 3 of Heroes was going to premier on Sept. 8. Well, it didn't happen :( It premiers on the 22nd. All that excitement for nothing. But it probably ended up being a good thing. My house got some good attention which it desperately needed. It was so so messy. But it's all good now. Well except for our bedroom, which will get that attention tonight while Chad is night flying with a student.

Chad sent me this new's article today: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26513442/?GT1=43001. It's title is: "Eating too much? ‘Law & Order’ may be guilty. Must-bleed TV fans consumed with thoughts of death — and groceries?" I thought it was hilarious and scary at the same time because I think someone's been stalking me and written the article about me. I love, love, love food and I love, love, love Law and Order and any other "must bleed" tv shows, as they call it. I pretty much have an unhealthy addiction to both.

"In the study, titled “The Sweet Escape,” researchers conducted four experiments revealing that “consumers who have been recently reminded of their own impending mortality” spend more on groceries — and actually eat more of those groceries. We found that when people think about the fact that they’re going to die someday — not now, but someday — they want to consume more of everything,” says Naomi Mandel, co-author of the study and an associate professor of marketing at Arizona State University. “We find this with snacks and drinks but also all kinds of different foods: frozen foods, meats, vegetables, everything.”"

I do not think this preoccupation with death, whether subconcious or not, is true of me. I don't fear death, I know what lies ahead! I just watch these shows for the sheer entertainment. I love the suspense of it all and solving the case. And I just so happen to be a glutton. Is there I link between the two? I don't know.

Speaking of death, I saw my life flash before my eyes this morning (humm, maybe that's why I wanted to go out to eat for lunch today...it was yummy :) Anyway, a truck pulled out in front of me close to where I work on Lakeland. I was going 50 mph (speed limit). I slammed on my breaks, but he still would have hit me so I jerked my car over to the next lane. If there had been a car there....well, it would have been really bad. The two biggest things I miss about the town of Natchez are:

1. The small roads (no interstates) and lack of traffic
2. Dirt Cheap

Tonight's menu: Breakfast - eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and hashbrowns.

Heroes tonight 8:00

This makes my day. I've been counting down for the past week. The new series of Heroes premiers at 8:00 tonight. I can't believe I like this show. I used to tease Chad for liking it. Basically it's a bunch of people with super powers that are trying to save the world. Well, some are trying to destroy the world. I know, I know, sounds so lame. But really, it is so good and put together so well. It has to be for something like that not to be completely retarded. I was hocked on the first episode. I guess this is what I get for teasing.

I'm so excited! Oh, and filafils and hummus tonight for supper! This should be a very very good night :)

For my little refugee ;)

Mot's Ranch Potatoes

15 new potatoes (washed and boiled - don't peel them)
1 package hidden Valley ranch dressing mix (dry)
Go by directions on the package - but use....
2 cups mayo (or sour cream, Claire)
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup bacon bits (homemade are better)

Place cooked potatoes in casserole dish - leave skin on and cut in half
Pour ranch dressing over potatoes,sprinkle with cheese over dressing. Next bacon bits on top
Bake in oven (or microwave) until bubbles. At 350 for about 20 minutes