In like a lamb, out like a...

This is the third storm we've had in less than a week. Although this one hasn't been as strong as the others, here we are dealing with rain and cooler temps.

Even with the weather being unusual, we can find peace in the one who controls the wind and the rain. "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me." John 14:1 "...In this world you may have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Jesus will give all the help we need... isn't He also the Lion of the tribe of Judah?! (Rev. 5:5)

Really?!

I saw this fan this morning and had to chuckle. We pulled it out of the garage last weekend because as I was working in the office, it was warm and there was no air circulation. Last Sunday it was in the 80's.

This Sunday, it was very cold -- the damp, biting to the bone kind. The temperature read low 40's, but we were sitting with a blanket on our laps and the heat blowing.

So, the old adage, "In like a lamb, out like a lion," has proved true again! March is sure going out like a lion! We've had raging storms, hail, freezing temps, and more rain coming our way.

Bittersweet

Today was the end of almost 4 years - from July 2007 to March 2011. God brought us here to Crossroads as we were searching for a church with a contemporary service that was teaching the truth of the Gospel.

We have served in a variety of capacities - first I was teaching the 2nd/3rd grade class and Barry was serving on the host team. Then, I transitioned to helping Upstreet as a coach. Finally, I was serving as director of the children's ministries and Barry was serving as the desk worker at the Upstreet desk.

God is directing us away from Crossroads after a very difficult decision making process. As a friend has said, "Why continue trying to get back in a closed door when there is another open door for you?" So, we're on a search for the next place that God has for us.

Good deal

The deal of the week had to be the 3 deoderants that we got for the price of 1! Barry's very particular about the deoderant he uses because his skin will break out. So, when I find coupons, I'm extra excited. But, happiness of all happiness, Publix had them BOGO this week. So, Barry's set for a while.

The other deal is the two Snickers eggs that we got for FREE! Woo hoo! :)

Anniversary Card

Barry's youngest sister and her husband are celebrating an anniversary on Monday. I made up this card to send to them. I based the colors off the sticker which I put on pick cardstock because of the colors in the papers I picked. I used three papers and added a piece of organdy ribbon underneath the sticker. I wrote the K+T on the front and then inside wrote Happy 8th Anniversary. Hope they have a great day!

Plant Growth

These pictures are from Saturday, March 19 & Wednesday, March 23. We hadn't had any rain in between these days nor had we watered.

You can hardly see the sprouts in this picture from Saturday.

But, here they are on Wednesday!

These are the same type of plant (hostas), but in a different location -- from Saturday.

Here they are on Wednesday!

Isn't God's work amazing?! We take for granted how awesome He is, but here is His handiwork.
Matthew 6:28-30 says, "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?"

It's easy to forget that God is concerned about the details in our lives. We think that we can only come to Him with big things. But, if He can care about getting these hostas from little sprouts to big leafy plants, then doesn't He care so much more for us? I'm striving to include God in all the things that I do. He cares about my itchy eyes and how I wish I had taken time to iron last night. He knows what I need to get through the day and how crabby I get in the evening after a long day. He wants to take care of me and have me rely on Him. What an awesome God!

Mac & Cheese

Barry's been hankering (don't you love my Southern drawl?!) for some macaroni and cheese. Me, I can take it or leave it. I put it on the menu and started looking for the ingredients to go on sale.

I looked up on allrecipes.com and found this recipe. I did what several of the people suggested and increased the noodles to 2 cups and the cheese to 3 cups.

Barry's got 2 bowls of leftovers for lunch!

More cards

Sunday was a productive afternoon ... see what I made:
This is a get-well card for my boss' mom. She is having surgery on her leg on Friday.

This card is about 3" square. I used 4 different papers and a piece of off white ribbon. It's a bit wild with all the patterns, but I bet Abby would like it! :)

This is a birthday card for our nephew who is turning 18!!!

I used 5 papers for this card and wrote in my favorite font, "Happy Birthday!" with a gold gel pen.
Here are the first of 6 little cards that I made for a bunch of people. They are each 2" x 3".

Left - This is for a co-worker who likes bees! I cut the bees out of some vellum paper and used double sided tape to adhere them to the circles. I added a piece of blue ribbon down the middle and a yellow circle under the middle bee with my friend's name on it.

Right - This is for my boss' daughter who's having surgery on Wednesday. Her dad calls her Ellie-bug so I based the card off the colors with the lady bugs & daisy. I used 2 different papers and a piece of red ribbon. The letters of her name are written across the little squares a long the bottom.

Left - This has 3 papers and a piece of yellow grossgrain ribbon down the middle. I cut out a blue circle and added a purple h for my friend Heidi.

Right - This card is in the similar style as the one on the left. I used 3 papers for the main design and a piece of pink organdy ribbon down the middle. I used two different papers for the J to go on for my friend Jaye.

Last but not least...

Left - Again in the same design as the middle cards... Three types of paper and a purple organdy ribbon down the middle. I used the blue paper to cut out a circle and put a b on it for our niece Brianna.

Right - This one I used 3 different papers. The middle paper has a die-cut star out of it. I put a J for our niece Jessica.

First Mow of 2011

It's that time again!!!! This week, the landscapers were back mowing at work and reality sank in... the budding trees, the beautiful flowers -- all this means is the grass is growing!

We started out by changing the oil. With our mower, you have to totally turn it upside down.

Then, fill it up with gas and we're ready to rumble!

Umm... casualty of the day -- the blade is all bent up. Since we had the bag on the mower to mulch, it was down a little lower than normal. I went over the tree trunk (like I always do) and bam! Fortunately I was almost done. We're going to have to replace it.

There's all the work -- 5 bags and a pile of branches. We were the first ones in the neighborhood to get our yard ready to go. We're going to check out some plants and get a new blade.

Silly kitty

Oreo likes to sleep on soft things. She has her blanket in the livingroom and whenever we use it to keep warm she has to come and lay on us.

So, the other day when I saw her laying on this blanket in the tote, I pointed it out to Barry. Then, there she was again this morning so we had to get a picture. This tote actually has clothes in it that were given to us and the electric blankent just got tossed on the top when it started warming up. So, it's the perfect spot for a kitty, right?!

Spring is coming!

This is a view from the parking lot at my office building.

Here's another view with the fish trees.

You can see the forsynthia bushes blooming in the background and the trees are budding.

It's amazing how in just a couple weeks everything is budding, turning green, and growing. Since my desk is on the 3rd floor, I have a great view of the pond and all the stuff growing.

Strawberries

So, I wanted to try to freeze some strawberries as the price for a pint has been about $1.70 each. I picked up two pints over the weekend and finally had time to take care of them.

I looked on-line for some directions and the one I decided to do is to cut off the top, rinse & drain, then set on a cookie sheet. These went into the freezer and will be there 24 hours. Then, I'll put them into a freezer bag and they'll be ready for sometime in the future.

Daylight Savings & Iris plants

First of all, can you believe that I was able to take these pictures at 6:45pm? WOW! Daylight Savings makes a big difference! Of course, that means that it's dark again in the morning so I can't do anything on the way to work. But, maybe we'll be able to do a few more things in the evening.

Here you can see the irises coming up on the side of the patio. We're really surprised how tall they are already. Hopefully they'll get blooms on them soon.
Just like the time change and the flowers growing, we're going through changes too. I don't think that anyone who would see me would think that there are changes going on, but God is doing some work on me. Work is stressful and we're trying to figure out how to have a good attitude. But, God has a plan and I can take refuge in Him, knowing that resting in Him brings joy. (Ps. 2:12).

New phone

We had not upgraded our phones in over 3 years so with our tax refund, we decided to go ahead and get new phones. I'm extra excited about the pull out keyboard to make texting quicker. So far I've been struggling to get used to hitting the individual keys instead of clicking through each of the letters to get to which one you needed.

It'll be interesting to see how things work out.

They left...

Our last time together as a small group (who all live in Lebanon, Tennessee) was Monday night. We had dinner together like we would normally and then hung out for a while.

Here's the group -- the Cooks, the Perschbachers, & the Stevens.

Plans are already being made to get back together. We know that God had them here for a reason and He's got a reason to take them away.

Happy Birthday card

I made this card for my boss as he requested a card for his sister.

I used a template that I hadn't done before from CPS. I used zebra print paper for the back, and then 5 other papers as well as some heart ribbon. It is bright and cheery -- hopefully it'll be a good thing for his sister.

Food, food, & more food!

This week has been full with baking. I started Sunday with No Bake cookies. I'm very surprised that they turned out. Every time I've tried to make them here in Tennessee, they have not set up. I was determined though!

For Monday night, I made Strawberry Shortcake. It was a really easy recipe with biscuits from a can and whipped topping made from heavy whipping cream. We enjoyed this with the members from our small group.

Tuesday night I made a Tollhouse pie for birthday lunch Wednesday. It's just a pre-made pie crust with a filling including chocolate chips -- almost like a big chocolate chip cookie. I also started working on a birthday cake for Thursday. I should finish the cake tonight and then start on making banana walnut bread for a birthday party this weekend.

Running Friend

As you know, I have picked up the "joy" of running over the last several years. Although I've had opportunities to run with a college friend (about 12-13 years ago) and then off and on during the time we lived in Michigan (about 6-7 years ago), it hasn't been but for the last 3 years that I've regularly ran. Sometimes this has been about 10 miles a week, other times just 2 or 3. But, building up the endurance is important to overall health and I'm pressing forward.

Anyway, over the last few months I've had a co-worker that's started running some too. There's a bunch of things going on in her life, and I made this card to let her know I was praying for her.

I used my standard 2"x3" business card with 3 papers. I punched out a circle to put the butterfly sticker on (to help it stand out). I attached the circle with 3-d tape and wrote her name along the bottom side.

More cards!

I made a few cards this weekend for some people at work. I'll have more as the week goes on since there's a couple things happening at the end of the week.

This first card has three different papers. I used a common design that I like to use, with the two patterns of papers, but did a little bit different since you wouldn't have seen what I was writing on the brown print. I added a blue strip to the top and decided not to round the corner in the top right. I added some blue ribbon and a flower sticker to top it off.

This is for a co-worker whose dad just died last week.If you've followed me long, you'll notice this design as well. I originally did this design for a co-worker's project and then have liked it so much, I've continued on using it. I used some paper that had swirls on it and then added the congratulations paper as a band in the middle. I looped some white ribbon through the swirl design to complete it.

This card is for a co-worker whose oldest son is getting married next weeked. I did calligraphy on the inside which says, "May God richly bless you and your marriage."

This last card used 5 different papers and some purple organdy ribbon. I liked how the papers complemented each other. I just added a simple "Happy Birthday!" on the front and a message on the inside - "wishing you a happy birthday!"

This is for a co-worker who has a birthday at the end of the week.

Big Savings!

We had a quick trip to Publix & Kroger today and this is what we got -- $68.17 worth of items for $19.85, savings of 71%. We got a few items for free - milk, deoderant, body wash and they actually paid us to take the 2 packages of cough drops!

We're making a conscious effort to track our spending so that we can do a better job on knowing where our money goes. We want to save some money for a trip to Michigan in June.

Trifle

Here's an awesome dessert that I got the recipe from my friend Judy. This is a trifle with a chocolate pudding mixture, cool whip, and brownies. We had planned to bring it to a friend's house on Saturday night, but she was ill and we got "stuck" with it! You can see that we've already eaten half of it.

Doesn't this just look yummy?!

Big Savings!

It may be a little hard to read these receipts, but there are lots of savings going on!!! In this weekend's shopping venture, $121.67 of product was purchased for $39.43. Both Kroger and Publix have been having special deals over the week. Kroger had their Daytona 500 sale - buy 10 items and save $5. Publix had their Viva Italiano sale buy 20 items and save $5.

This is a savings of 68% or $82.24!!!

So, I'm stocked up on raviolis, soup, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and various other items for quite a while. If you haven't gotten on the bandwagon on stocking up, then I would suggest just taking a few minutes and checking out Southern Savers. Start off by selecting the grocery store that you often visit (tabs on the top right side) and check out the sale flyer match-up that Jenny does. If you can look at what's on sale and pair it with coupons she suggests (either from the newspaper or on-line), you'll be on your way to saving big. The goal is to buy on sale with coupons and stock up so that when the item you use is not on sale and you need it, you can just go in your cupboard and pull one out.