No more roids....

So it turns out the infection is actually shingles. Nice, right?

So i have to stay home this week and catch up on my movie watching rest.

So...no more roids.  :(

Roids....

I have an infection in the lymph nodes on the left side of my face. They have made the nodes swollen and uber painful. Prolly won't be posting much this week due to what I call "roids week 2011" due the meds the dr has me on.

I plan on resting as we are also supposed to go on a mini vacay this weekend.

Hope your week is better than mine seems to be. :)

Pinterest

I have recently discovered Pinterest and my friend Dana from Reading Rosie suggested I give it a try with my fireplace dilema. 

So I got an invite and joined.

Can't wait to get my boards going. 

Fireplace blahs

We live in our church's parsonage.  Its a 1960s ranch.  Very cookie cutter.  Not so gorgeous. 

We've been here for over 3 years, and I haven't painted any of the walls (a sad cream) or taken down the hideous wallpaper (ranging from mauve vertical stripes with magnolia border to sea foam green & pink sea shells) from the previous folks.  The main reason for this has been that we weren't planning on living in this house for very long.  But here we are, 3 years later and I'm feeling blah about the decor.  I haven't really changed things up with our decor since we got married almost 10 years ago (wow!) and have been craving some change. 

So last night I cleaned my living room and decided to clear off the ginormous hideous fireplace (which is the one thing I loathe about this house).  It's huge.  No joke, its as tall as me and its 3 feet deep.  I would love to get rid of it, but its not my house and it has been handy the one snow storm in which we lost power over night.  (It kept our house so hot, we had to turn it off in the middle of the night.)

Here's the fireplace:

Not so great.  I wish you could see how deep this thing is. 

I've been scouring the world wide web for ideas.

I even asked my Facebook friends for help, which I have since learned is a terrible idea.  Only 2 people took my plea for help seriously.  Never again will I make that mistake.

My colors:

They are much more vibrant in this picture than in real life.  The red & the greens look closer than the other colors.

Any ideas?  Serious ones please....

Recipe Winner

A few weeks ago moneysavingmom posted her weekly menu and she had a link to Taco Chicken Bowls from budget bytes (which I L.O.V.E.).  I decided that I needed to make this recipe.  So I made it for our weekly Bible Study.  We feed the students who come early (which has been averaging 13, so with the hubs & I we are feeding an army), and we do have parents who take a turn too.

So I doubled the recipe (except for the beans cuz the students are picky), got my crock pot working, and headed off to work.  When I got home, I made the rice...way to much rice.  Oh well.  The chicken was so tender it fell apart as I tried to pick it up to shred.

The verdict?  Winner!!  The students ABSOLUTELY loved it!  Many of the picky eaters went back for seconds.  This one is definitely going to go on our rotation.  So delicious and easy peasy.

An Epiphany...

Today, I was reading the intro for week one's lesson for the Bible Study Fellowship study of Acts.  At the end of the reading, which was about Luke, the author of Acts, the statement was made that for Luke the indwelling of the Holly Spirt far surpassed the external presence of Jesus (my really bad paraphrase).

And I just sat there.

It was like God smacked me.

I've always said that I would love to have been alive when Jesus was here on earth.  To see him, maybe even touch Him. To hear him teach, to actually hear his voice.  What a privilege that would have been.   To be in the physical presence of God the Son would have been incredible.

But the disciples walked with Jesus, and they didn't get it until the Holy Spirit came to them and showed them what Jesus had meant.

How much more awesome to have God the Holy Spirit living in me!!!!!!!!


I realized how much I take for granted.  I forgot that I am blessed with the Holy Spirit.  Thank you Lord, for your Holy Spirit living in me.

Ahhh Saturday

Making Taco Soup in my crock pot (recipe from a year of slow cooking).

Laundry is going.

Dishes are clean.

And an afternoon full of knitting.  Great Saturday!

Scarf for the Mission Auction

Love this!

Helping the Hubs

Recently the Hubs had a mini melt down.  He was basically feeling overwhelmed at work and unloaded a ton of frustration at me.  And I realized that he needed my help, in a different way that I thought he needed.

I read a lot of blogs & articles and listened to many podcasts several months ago on how to be a better wife & helpmate to a husband who is also a pastor.  Everything was about taking care of him at home: his health, his eating, his sexual, uh-hhmm physical (because pastor's don't have sex; that's sinful) needs, and ministering to him.  And so I tried doing what was suggested.  I've been intentional with the meals we eat, listening when he needs to talk, and making sure his physical needs are met.

As it turns out, this isn't necessarily what he needed from me.  He does need me to do these things for him, but not to the extreme extent I was going.

The biggest thing he needs from me is help with the administration part of his job.  The Hubs is terrible at this and I am great at it.  So we figured out how I could best help him with this stuff.  I'm going to help him plan events, make flyers & registration forms for trips, and other administrative stuff that tends to suck the life out of him.

I have learned that taking ideas from others is a great thing, but you always have to adjust them to you & your situation.  It won't fit if it's not tailored for you and your needs (just like your favorite jeans).  :)

Scarf for Missions

Every year, our church hosts a mission auction, in order to raise money for missionaries around the world.  We have lived in our small town for four years now, each year I have made a scarf to be auctioned.  Our first year here, the scarf I made sold for over $60 (which was awesome considering I paid about $2 for the yarn; it was on sale)!

The last two years I have made scarves as well, but with the economy hitting our town so hard, they have only made about $20-$30 (which is still awesome, in my opinion).  

This year I scoured the internet for free patterns, looked at knitting blogs for yarn ideas & inspiration, until I finally found the perfect scarf.  It's a pattern I found on the Noble Knits blog.  And its gorgeous!  

So I bought the yarn (Plymouth Yarn's Haciendo) - one for the auction and one for me :)

I can't wait to get started on this one!  

Current Knitting Project

Last winter I began to knit myself a hat.  Most of (ok generally all) the knitting projects I do are for others and I had decided to make something for me.  And so I decided on a hat.  I found a pattern on lionbrand.com (click here for the free pattern), bought some yarn, and started to work.

Then spring came.  I find it hard to knit in the warmer months, and tend to pick up unfinished projects occasionally.

A week ago, I picked up the hat and have been working on it off and on.  I like the way the colors are knitting up and the way the yarn feels (its so soft).

a picture of the hat - in progress

Football

It's the first day of Tennessee football.  This means that every Saturday, the Hubs will turn into this crazed UT fan, all decked out in orange, watching the teams every move, analyzing every play, and eating lots of snack foods.

For me, it means its time to kick my knitting into full gear, because I loathe football.

With that said, I feel that I must end this post with this:

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!  (Someone kill me please.)  :)