We have been...

1. putting in new floors. As of this morning, the last board went into place. Now, the quarter round must be installed and then we will put everything back in place.

2. living our own little episode of Hoarders. All of our belongings are piled around us. There are little pathways to get from place to place throughout our house. We are sleeping on a mattress on the dining room floor. My piano is serving as my pantry. Need I say more?

3. living through my first year of teaching all over again. I forget that switching anything that I am teaching feels like taking my first steps in my first days of fifth grade at a rural elementary school in the fall of 2004. Then it was a new subject, then a new grade, then a new school, then another new subject, and now another new grade. Bring on the late afternoons of planning, making/creating everything again for the first time, never leaving my school bag at school or in the car, and coming home with a to-do list every weekend.

4. getting ready for Judgement House. Our church has been doing this for the past two years (this being the third), and this is the first year I have been able to participate. It is so awesome to see so many people pull together and make sacrifices for the same cause. Soooo many people come through each year, and we are bathing the whole process in prayer so that we can do what God leads us to do and so that He can get the glory.

5. filling out lots of paperwork. ("Why?") We have begun the adoption process. As a matter of fact, we will experience our first adoption class with Bethany Christian Services very soon. I guess you would say that the paperwork has been the main reason for the lack of blogging. I spent most of my sitting-down-at-the-laptop time working on a huge checklist of stuff. We don't know much, and no, there is not already a child waiting in the wings that we are aware of, but we do know that God already has it all figured out, and that just makes me say, "whew."

To Save a Life

My church showed the movie To Save a Life this past Saturday night on the lawn at our church. I received this in an email from our youth director this morning:

There’s no better way to start a Monday off than with a praise report! Boy, do I have a good one. I cannot even begin to describe all that God did through our showing of the movie “To Save a Life.” But I’ll try my best…First of all, we had over 300 students and parents in attendance which was absolutely amazing! Second, we were able to watch it under the stars as planned despite the fact that it was raining everywhere in Anderson except at our church. (No joke. I was watching the radar and receiving a lot of calls. Lol.) And finally, many lives were changed. We had 8 decisions that we know of. Two new salvations and 7 rededications. And I literally saw families draw closer to each other and God. Amen to that!

For me personally, it was one of those moments I will remember for the rest of my life. Although I have worked with children and youth for several years, I cannot recall an experience like this. The movie was great. It spoke volumes. But what happened after the movie was the most amazing part. We literally bathed everyone there in prayer. As soon as the movie was over, our youth director asked several adults to begin praying right away for the rain to hold off and for lives and families to be changed. While we prayed, he shared his testimony, and then he told parents to go pray with their kids and for every person there to grab someone and pray over them and with them. I had the amazing opportunity to pray with a young lady. I have never ever done this before. It was such an honor to pray with her to our most loving and gracious God, to introduce Him to her as one of His children, even though He has known her since before she knew herself. I will always remember this moment and this girl. What an awesome God we serve! He deserves all of our praise and all of the glory!

Hello love

I have just found my cooking soul mate.

A short history of Sarah Ellen's cooking experience:
-Our smoke alarm goes off no less than once a week because I burn something.
-We budget five extra dollars each week in the event that I try a new recipe and it's awful. The $5 is for a Hot-and-Ready Pizza from Little Caesar's...and about 95% of the time, we use it.
-Jeff's brother will always be over the day that I decide to try something new, and bless his heart, he will eat it and compliment me on it.
-It is not truly cooking unless something on the stove-top boils over.

Which leads to the most amazing purchase I have ever made. I heart my crockpot.

Enter AYearofSlowCooking. So many wonderful recipes that I cannot screw up. Hence the "hello love" and "cooking soul mate".

Here's the menu for the week in our house.

Sunday night: Leftover meatloaf (not from the crockpot-one of the very few recipes I have mastered that actually gets cooked in the oven)

Monday: something already made from the freezer (thank you Bertolli dinners for 2)

this is where the magic starts
Tuesday: Cream Cheese Chicken (in the Crock Pot)

Wednesday: Chicken Club Sandwiches and Salad (something quick so we can scoot to church)

Thursday: Hawaiian Ribs (in the CP) and Asian Cole Slaw

Friday: I do not cook on Fridays. Judge me if you want to. My brain is mush on Fridays.

Saturday: 3-Packet Pot Roast with veggies (in the CP)

I have already gathered several more recipes for the CP and I am so pumped. The beauty of it all is that I walk in the door to the wonderful aroma that smells like I have been in the kitchen all day long. I throw some sides together and we have dinner!

Best of all, my CP even goes in the dishwasher.

Thoughts and Things

1. My husband brought home a big ole log of butter today from Happy Cow. I am so happy. I feel the need to cook something Paula Deen-style.

2. Oh yeah...and there's also 4 gallons of whole milk in my fridge. It truly is the small things for me.

3. The floors are at a standstill for the time being, but my husband assured me that if I promised not to plan any more out-of-town trips, he would do his best to get them done ASAP. I am more than ready to put my house back together.

4. How exactly do people leave their classrooms every day at 3:30 with nothing in their hands to do at home, and yet they still have it all together? How?!?!

5. I have made the executive decision that I am going to be a stay-at-home mom when the time comes. I could actually make a good case for being a stay-at-home wife. We may be living on beans (if there is a coupon that I can double), but I do not see how I can make time for it all. I know that people do it, but I just don't know that I can.

6. I really want an IPad.

7. I am tempted to be sign up for Facebook, but every time I get on someone else's, I feel like hours of my life are sucked up into the great beyond. So all of you Facebook-ers...just keep updating me on everyone's lives.

Renovations

We have been undergoing some pretty big renovations around here. Jeff and I have been talking about hardwood floors for a long time. Our carpet is the original stuff and not the best stuff. The house is only 5 years old and the carpet looks like it is 15 years old. Jeff did his research and convinced me (after I was worried sick) that he could do the job himself. We picked out the wood we wanted and the project began. Because of Jeff's work schedule, the project is slow-going, but the floors look great and Jeff is having a great time. One room is complete and in about 5 minutes, room number 2 will be done.

The blue tape holds everything together tightly until the glue dries.

The man with the skills fitting in the last piece.

Cooking Oil

With my newly discovered allergies, eating out requires many more questions. The peanut allergy seems to be the biggest one. Sometimes waiters/waitresses are overly worried about it. We had a waiter at Outback in North Myrtle Beach tell us that they did not use peanut oil in the restaurant, but that some of their food came from factories that also processed peanuts. Good work, Outback waiter!

Then we get the folks who are completely bothered and almost ticked off that we even ask. Hello, people! This is literally life or death for me!! Take a look at this trip we took to Wendy's.

Jeff: Sir, what kind of oil do you use in your fryers?

Drive-thru guy: Uh....well....um....we use cooking oil.
(sidebar in the car between Jeff and SE: cooking oil??? That's like saying, "what kind of pencil do you use?" and having someone answer, "A writing pencil!")

Jeff: Sir, my wife has a peanut allergy and we want to make sure that the french fries are not cooked in peanut oil.

DTG: Oh, I don't think we use peanut oil.

Jeff: Well, we need to know for sure so could you find out for sure.

DTG: (with an immediate answer...could not possibly have had time to even ask someone) We do use peanut oil.

Jeff: Thanks. (and he drives off)

Jeff and I knew that the guy had not asked anyone and they probably didn't use peanut oil, but I would rather him tell me yes and be wrong than tell me no and be wrong.

Birthday Fun

So for all three of you who read my blog...maybe you knew this about me...maybe you didn't.

I LOVE NASCAR.

I take that back.

I love some good ole redneck car racing of any kind. Drag strips. Two young bucks on a country road. Talladega. Doesn't matter. I love it.

Is it the wrecks? Perhaps.
The suspense of the final lap? Oh yeah.
Is the people? Um...oh YEAH.

Jeff and I were introduced to a show on the History Channel called Madhouse. It is a reality show that documented the lives of handful of guys who race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. We loved this show because these people are crazy about racing (and maybe just a little crazy in general... ut in a healthy way). When the show ended we were a little sad, but thanks to the Internet, we located the Bowman Gray website and race schedule. Things totally fell into place. My birthday fell on a race day, Jeff had the weekend off, and (drum roll please) it was $1 Ladies Night! It was unanimously decided that we would drive up, watch the races, and drive back. My little sis, Bekah, joined us and off we went.

Waiting to go in the stadium. We were about an hour early and it was HOT.

They were giving free stuff away all night, ranging from a free meal at Waffle House to a riding lawnmower. They announced that they would flash a date on the screen and if it was your's, you would win a gift certificate. Sure as the world, they showed Jeff's. He won a $25 gas card so we actually made money on this trip.

There were several races (between 6-8) followed up by a demolition derby. They racers we watched on television and pulled for (Go Myers brothers!) race the cars you see above, which are called modifieds.

Check out all the people! A man who was in line with us had been to a race two weeks before and he told us to immediately go and find a seat when we got in because he had to stand during the last race [even though the stadium holds 10,000 people].

Bekah and I taking it all in. In the first lap of the first race, a car completely flipped in the air and hit the wall. All of the metal unfolded itself off the car as it flipped. The driver was okay...okay enough to try to fight the guy that hit him. Jeff and I thought it was cool. Bekah was completely traumatized.

We forgot to buy earplugs so I figure all three of us will be in line to purchase our hearing aids before all of you.

We had so much fun and plan to take in one more race before the end of the season.