I finally got the chance to listen to my Casting Crowns cd all the way through yesterday, yes I know this is bad since it's been out for 3 months but usually I have to listen to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, or Wonder Pets so I was thrilled to get the chance to go through the whole cd. The Whole World Hears cd is amazing and I love every song. I kept going back to one song #6 Glorious Day...I was truly moved by the song so I wanted to post it. 
Today has been my hardest day so far getting on track for the day. Maybe I pushed too hard the past couple days with my new diet by i'm doing sooo good! I am for once in my life very proud of myself and I know it's only the first week but usually by now I have given in at least once. I am doing my walking and feel so much better since starting again, I started with a mile and have made it to a mile and half...my goal is 2 miles next week! The devil has certainly been tempting me, as a perfect example I went through good 'ol McD's yesterday to get Logan some lunch. I ordered him McNuggets w/ apple slices and me just 1 grilled chicken honey mustard wrap, I had my water and some strawberries so I was set (so I thought!) I get Logan all set and then go to look in my bag....duh duh duh a whole 10 piece chicken nugget w/ bbq sauce was sitting there smelling oh so delicious and NO grilled snack wrap. Oh the temptation...but I was good I stuck to it and did not give in! I instead closed the bag and kept picturing what I'm gonna look like after I lose my weight. Since I had no back up plan I swung through Taco Bell and got 1 grilled chicken soft taco w/ just lettuce and light cheese:-) My hubby later demolished the 10 piece so that I couldn't be tempted anymore..*thanks honey, how did they taste? Never mind I DO NOT want to know!* So so far so good on the diet front, and I know this time will power is gonna win over my want power! I have some great new recipes to post so hopefully i'll get them up later today!
My friend Christen had an Upper Case Living party a couple months ago and I bought some things to go in the house. If you know my family then yes my brother-in-law does vinyl lettering and is awesome at it but I was helping out a friend and they had some really neat designs...so I went ahead and bought a few things:-) I LOVE them and they were really easy to put up, I was actually proud of myself for getting them up and even! I didn't get to take a picture of Riley's initials since she was sleeping and I do have one more thing to put in my entry but I need the 12ft. ladder to do that but I did manage to get everything else done, my favorite is the chalkboard for my kitchen as you can see I already put it to use!
The half-door for the kids playroom upstairs in the bonus room
I put this on our fireplace doors in the living room
Riley's door...the pic. is a lil crooked I want to get her name to go in the middle of it:-)
Chris and I have been doing the Fireproof 365 day devotional...and it is amazing and has been a blessing to us, we laugh so much at ourselves because it speaks the truth. It has caused us to really think about each other in a new way and because of that we have become closer to each other (which I didn't think was possible) and even closer to God. This weeks dare was to buy something for your spouse to let them know that you were thinking of them...well here is what I bought for my husband:
Now if you know my husband you know he LOVES chocolate and so I thought he would really like to try these. It's nothing big just a lil' something to show I was thinking about him, after all that's what I was suppose to do:-) I walk into my kitchen today to find these:
Looks like i'm gonna have to be thinking of something better to get him..LOL:-) I will say this after a long day of cleaning, scrubbing and laundry it was wonderful to walk in and see my flowers!
Since Monday was holiday from work and school for our household we decided to take a trip to the Zoo, and it was Riley's first visit! She did really good and we had a great family day out:-) 
I've really been contemplating cutting alot of things out of my routine...like fast food, junk food, time spent on the computer (gasp:-), and just all around bad things for me. Starting Monday i'm going on my diet *eek*...I still have my Riley weight to lose & I can't really call it baby weight when my baby is now a toddler:-) So I started with my hair, it is now short! I had it cut to help get rid of my scraggly ends and start with something new & it is much easier and just feels better. I plan on doing a weekly update on my diet progress and diet plan. Chris and I both decided it was time to get back into walking and be healthier for us and our kids. The Hilliard Y is doing a Zumba class on Tues. and I thought about going to try it out and see if I like it..i'm hoping I will! So time to start cutting and hopefully before long everything will be trimmed!
So i've had another recipe request, here is a recipe from my mother-in-law for Chicken Chili..it is soooo easy and soooo good:
1- Pack of boneless chicken breast (3-4 breast)
1- BIG container of Rotel tomatoes w/ green chilies
1- BIG container of diced tomatoes
1- Lg. Onion
1- Clove garlic (I used the minced garlic in the glass jar and did 2 tbsp.)
1- Pkg. of the White Chicken Chili Mix (I used McCormick brand)
2- Cans of chili beans mexican style (I used Winn-Dixie brand)
1- Box of low sodium Chicken Broth (reg. size)
-Season chicken with s&p and bake at 350 for about 45 mins.
-Sautee garlic with 2 tbsp. of olive oil on Med. heat for 2-3 mins. add chopped onion and cook for 5-10 mins or until Onion is translucent
-While the chicken is baking and the garlic and onion sauteing dump all the other ingredients into the crock-pot and turn on high
-When the garlic and onion finish cooking dump everything into the crock-pot with other ingredients and stir
-When chicken is done baking, let it cool and pull it apart (I shred mine apart pretty good)
-Add the chicken to the crock-pot and other ingredients, stir
-Cook on high for 2 hours and low for 1 hour
-Stir every so often
We make corn bread muffins (Jiffy brand in the box is the best, sorry mom:-) to go with it or grilled cheese..hope you guys like this one too!
I made my Granny's Pea Pickin' cake last night and finally got a taste today when I got home. I must say Granny's was the best but i'm running a close second:-) I miss my Granny and her cookin' so much and wish I would have learned alot more form her while I had the chance. I will always have the memories and luckily the recipes;-) Thank You Granny....
For those of you who want the recipe for yourself here it is:
4 eggs
1/2 cup Crisco oil
1- 11oz. can of mandarin oranges (I couldn't find an 11oz. can so I used 15)
1- Box of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1- Lg. Cool Whip
1- #2 can of crushed pineapple in heavy syrup (I asked my mom what #2 was and it's the regular size, they used to call them #2 cans:-)
1- Lg. box of instant vanilla pudding
Cake-
Beat eggs well. Add oil, mandarin oranges (with juice), and cake mix. Blend well; beat 2 mins. at high speed with hand mixer. Grease and lightly flour 3 round 8 1/2 or 9 1/2 layer pans. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Cool all layers before spreading filling.
Filling-
Use large bowl. Dump pineapple with juice in bowl. Add pudding mix and blend well. Add cool whip and beat by hand until fluffy. Spread on cooled layers, top and sides. Put in cake holder and cover. Refrigerate overnight....
This is the whole recipe and copied exactly from the paper, hope you guys like it!
Wow..2009 is gone and a new year has begun, where to even start! We accomplished alot in 2009 and had many first in our family. We moved into our first house in April and I love everything about it! Chris and I celebrated out first wedding anniversary and I love him more everyday (even when he is aggravating:-) Our baby celebrated her first birthday, and our munchkin went to his first "real" grade in school. The best thing about 2009 was our families growth toward God and finally finding our home church and church family! I have grown so much in the past year and hope to only continue that growth into 2010. Chris and I have become better parents and better people just by growing in God. I look forward to "our" time with our devotional every night and have learned the true meaning to having a soul mate and husband who I love with all my heart and soul. I hope to only continue to grow and prosper in 2010...Happy New Year Everyone!
Family always remains..with new births and even new deaths the one constant we will have every year is that we have our family to share our holidays with. We had a very blessed Christmas around our household and I could not have asked for anything better. We went a lil' smaller on the presents this year (except for the grandparents) and focused more on the true meaning of the holidays and Christmas. We were having a conversation in the car and Logan said "but Santa brings us presents" and I said "yes but Jesus gives us everlasting life and that is the best present ever" so I knew this Christmas we would focus on that fact and give Jesus a proper birthday celebration! Here's a few pics from our Christmas with The Burns...
