A new life. A new blog.

If you ever enjoyed my feeble ramblings here, check out me new blog: Becoming Mrs. G

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my 

salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my

life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

To eat up my flesh,

My enemies and foes,

They stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp

against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war may rise against me,

in this I will be confident.

One thing i have desired of the 

Lord,

That I will seek:

That I may dwell in the house 

of the Lord 

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the 

Lord,

And to inquire in His Temple.

For in the time of trouble,

He shall hide me in his 

pavilion;

In the secret place of His 

tabernacle

He shall hide me; 

He shall set me high upon a 

rock.

And now my head shall be

lifted up above my enemies 

all around me;

Therefore I will offer sacrifices 

of joy in His Tabernacle;

I will sing, yes I will sing praises 

to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with 

my voice!

Have mercy also upon me, and 

answer me.

When You said, "Seek My

face,"

My heart said to You "Your 

face, Lord I will seek."

Do not hide Your face from me;

Do not turn Your servant away

in anger;

You have been my help;

Do not leave me nor forsake

me,

O God of my salvation.

When my father and my

mother forsake me,

Then the Lord will take care 

of me.

Teach me Your way, O Lord

And lead me in a smooth path,

because of my enemies.

Do not deliver me to the will 

of my adversaries; 

For false witnesses have risen 

against me, 

And such as  breath out 

violence.

I would have lost heart, unless 

I had believed

that I would see the goodness 

of the Lord

In the land of the living. 

Wait on the Lord;

be of good courage,

And he shall strengthen your heart; 

Wait, I say, on the Lord!

A Sweet Break

Tyler came home. Thank you Lord.

I can't even describe how much we needed it.

A sweet time for pure laughter. 2 months of tears is enough. 

God has been faithful, making us stronger through the process.

I'll never doubt God's sufficiency. Ever. Again.

Highlights of nine days together:

--Seeing him walking up at the airport with orange (whoops did I say that?) BLONDE hair thinking, it's a wig... O crap, it's not!--

--Devotions and Prayer together every morning--

--Hanging out in the city & finding silver shoes--

-All the sweet little things he had planned for me--

--Hearing a song,  that was written & sung just for me!!!!--

~I miss my best friend~

What angels eat? I think possibly not...

If I were an angel, I'd eat creme' brulee, black tie mousse cake, and sticky buns.

 Nevertheless, it was still quite yummy and 

cures a little bit of that spring fever! 

To Bring a Smile to My Face

These pictures are going up on my bedroom wall later today... I hope.

That depends how much energy I can muster together

to get up off the couch!

But I just have to say, that guy is pretty darn handsome, and ALWAYS brings a smile to my face!

Shoulda had a V8!

I need reminders. I need things to stare me straight in the face. Or whack me up side the head(shoulda had a V8!). 

God, you choose your method.

That's why this sign, was a God-send and 

is now very strategically placed. 

This verse stares at me first thing when 
I open my eyes 

in the morning and is the last thing I see as 
I fall asleep.

My prayer when I see it: Lord, help me to help you (NO, not that Grace! I know you want to fix everything, but you 

are not all-powerful, are not all-knowing, and do not have the ability to do all things!). 

Okay, God you're right. 

Let's start over with my prayer:

 Lord, help me to trust

 everything(EVERYTHING, Grace)

to your capable hands. 

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
      And lean not on your own understanding;
      In all your ways acknowledge Him,
      And He shall direct your paths. 

Psalms 16:9

   A man’s heart plans his way,
      But the LORD directs his steps.

To many emotions cloud over me. It makes it hard to think, so instead I pray.

It's okay to ask for what you want, right?


God has been speaking to me daily through my study through Matthew. 
 The verses seem to jump off the page. My Savior speaks to me: "My child, I am bigger than your self proclaimed  mountain's. I am able and willing to bless you, but you must believe... you must have faith. In fact those aren't mountains at all, merely little bumps on the in path. I have your life in my hand, trust me. Follow me.


Matthew 6:33
Matthew 7:24-25
Matthew 8:24-26
Matthew 11:28-30

Then we have the story of the five loaves and the two fish. Matthew14:13-21.


On a lighter, more random note...
 Number one: crying gives you a headache like no other. Any agreement on this?
Number two: I really want a home of my own. To clean, to cook, to decorate. To be together.

Update:[Recipe!] Turtle Coffee Ice Cream [Cup] Cakes

Turns out... Ice Cream Cake is much better in cupcake form.

Easier to cut, easier to eat, and easier to control portion sizes. 

Plus, they are 

pretty.

 darn.

cute!


You asked for it, so here ya go:

What you will need:

1 quart of your favorite vanilla ice cream

1 quart of your favorite coffee ice cream

1 recipe chocolate ganache

1 recipe chocolate crunch

Hersheys Caramel Sundae Topping

Chopped Pecans

foil cupcake liners

2 muffin tins

foil

9X13 baking dish

Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-- Place semi-sweet chocolate in a medium bow. Bring whipping cream and butter just to a simmer in the microwave. Pour cream/butter mixture over chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Set aside at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Chocolate Crunch

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1  9oz. pkg chocolate wafer cookies, crushed (or just use oreos with the frosting removed)

-- Line a 9X13 baking dish with foil. Spray with nonstick spray. Melt chocolate and oil in a double boiler or in the microwave. Stir till smooth. Mix with crushed cookies. Spread in pan and freeze until firm for about 10 minutes. Chop into pea size crumbs. Set aside

-- Line muffin tins with foil liners. Divide half of chocolate crunch and sprinkle in the liners. Spread vanilla ice cream in liners. Spoon in caramel sauce. Sprinkle pecans over the caramel. Spread coffee ice cream on top. You may need to heap it up a little bit so it comes above the edges of the muffin tin. Spread chocolate ganache over top and finish with sprinkling more pecans and remaining chocolate crunch decoratively as the very last layer. 

Sneak Peak: Valentine Photo Shoot

Tyler and I squeezed in a pre-Valentine's photo shoot, before he leaves.I have to say my sister is an

 excellent photographer.

Now off on vacation for 5 days to deliver Tyler to his destination. 

Stayin' Up

It's a week of lasts. Or maybe, on a more positive note, they're lasts for awhile.

So in lieu of lasts, I'm staying up preparing Tyler's last dinner & dessert.

But before I call it a night,

I want to thank my friends and family for all the prayers & support.

I feel like a wimp, a drama queen and a cry-baby.

And just maybe I am.

There ARE worse possibilities, longer separations, & harder circumstances.

But it still hurts, and it still means the world to have you all in my life.

...so thank you...

Sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do

And yes, homemade chocolate chip cookies are something ya gotta do.

.

Everyone should experience hot, gooey cookies (or maybe just the dough) on a cold winter's evening.

MMM, even better with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

This is a must try recipe: so delicious, and if you your quick on your feet,

you can have 2 dozen cookies in the oven in under 10 minutes!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

-----------------------------------------

Melt the butter, and combine with the sugars using an electric mixer or by hand. Beat in the egg and egg yolk. Add the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients, just till combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Make balls of dough around the size of 2 tablespoons and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until very slightly golden brown.

One final tip for gooey cookies: use a baking stone, preferably manufactured by Pampered Chef.

Sick

I allow myself two sick days per year. Two days I can be completely useless.

That means I've used them up... yesterday and today

That also means 354 days to stay well. Bring on the vitamins...

When your boy goes away.

"Only 31/2 months," he whispers in my ear.
HE is leaving.
Oh gosh, I can't even type without choking up.

I know I'll live, I know I'll make it through, but I know there will be showers of tears.

"I'm coming back for you," he repeats over and over on the phone.

He's going to Bible College. He knows this is God's leading. He knows this is best.

Isn't it unfortunate that the very thing that makes you the most proud of your man

is the very thing that crushes you the hardest?

I pried the news out of him around a month ago. Then I couldn't breath for 2 days.
*Sigh*

I am trusting. Well, Ok, I'm trying to trust both him and God.

It's going to be the hardest time I've past through yet, but I have more
 than most to help me through:

(I might be frequently viewing this list)

- A wonderful, loving Saviour, that will ALWAYS, always be by my side

-My man, he does love me so very much, and I DO know he will come back for me

-My family who are best friends

-His family my next best friends

No Resolutions

I read it today, but didn't let it sink in till now.

Till now... laying in my bed. I should be sleeping. But I want to write, and that hasn't happened for months.

I read today a distant friend's blog. This girl wrote on her blog along the lines of New Year's resolutions and that we should"always try and make ourselves a better person instead of just 'being ourselves'."

Now I recognize this as a flaw in myself:

The moment you relinquish the desire to reform that worm that you are, when you have given in to the flesh time and time again, and you let yourself, "be yourself", you limit God.

There is always room for improvement.

Not that we can change in our own strength. Absolutely not! I am merely coming to the realization that you must desire for God to reform you. God doesn't go to work without the invitation. God is the perfect gentleman.

I had determined not to make any New Year's resolutions since they never come to anything anyway, right?.... I changed my mind. This New Year I desire and INVITE God to regenerate me. I'm not going to make a list of specifics: yada yada yada. I just want to remain willing and ready to receive what God has for me in 2010. I don't want to hinder His wonderful and perfect ways, by sitting in complacency in my filthy rags. Rather I am jumping up and I laying "me" at the foot of the Cross.

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Romans 13:11-14

Feeling on Top

We won the championship.

I'm loving my job.

I've got a wonderful boyfriend.

A family, that each member I consider a friend.

I'm feeling prepared, organized, accomplished.

But all praise goes to God.

One example for feeling prepared and organized is the fact, that I baked up our Thanksgiving pumpkins. Have you ever had pie made with fresh pureed pumpkin instead of canned?

It is really so much better, and actually quite easy.

The hardest part of the process is finding pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins. After you've completed that step, it's easy peasy!

So here are the directions:

1. Cut pumpkins into in halves or quarters. Stack in large roasting Pan

2. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until you can easily pierce the skin and flesh with a fork.

3. Let cool. Puree in food processor till smooth as baby's bottom... or maybe just smooth as baby food. ;)

Now, you can substitute this straight across for the canned stuff in any recipe. Use right away or freeze in airtight containers for up to a year.

**I'm thinking pumpkin pound cake may be my next baking adventure!**

One more match. 5 more games.

One more chance to repeatedly coach the same things, the same things I have said hundreds of times before:

*Beat the ball*

*Attack*

*Move your feet*

*Kill it*

*Focus*

**** WIN ****


I have to do something with myself. So yell it is. I feel so helpless on the bench, and I've even been accused of hyper-ventilating from being nervous.



One more chance to watch my girls play their best, and just possibly win the CHAMPIONSHIP, one more time.

Can't wait...

I've been working on a post for weeks, in spare minutes here and there. But I decided today, that the post didn't matter. All that matters is this: God is in complete control at all times, in all circumstances (which was basically what I had been writing about anyway, but for different circumstances).

Yesterday was a new experience for me. I was utterly helpless, and so frightened. I learned how much I love Tyler. I would call him my boyfriend, but that term seems flippant in this day and age. He is far more to me than just 'my boyfriend'.

So this is what happened. I was talking with Tyler on the phone as he drove to work (our morning ritual) when suddenly there was a loud noise and buttons on his phone started beeping. Then the call was ended. I assumed he had been in a wreck. After calling and texting several times with no reply, I began to get very worried.

Silence lasted for over an hour.

Phone calls to his dad and mine. Of course, being a girl meant I thinking the worst. What had happened to him?!

Finally, I got the word ,through the dads, that he had been in a car accident, but he was fine. Finally I could breath.

I prayed and prayed during that hour. I had to tell myself that God knew. God knew every detail of what was going on, even when I didn't, even before it happened.

I prayed and thanked God for His goodness. He was good, He is good, and always will be good.

I didn't feel really calm 'till I had spent some time with Tyler. Just holding his hand, listening to his voice. Thanking God for his laugh, his contagious joy.

We are commanded not to hold on to earthly things too tightly, but we can enjoy them while they are here, all the while, praising God for every moment with those we love.

Fall Fever

I feel the crisp air... you know that little bit of a chill? It may still be quite warm but there is just that little bite of coolness. I feel it and I know. I know that Autumn is coming and I start burning with "Fall Fever". It is my favorite time of the year and I hope to post more of the happenings of my life, very soon. There is one thing about Fall - it is my busiest time, so hopes and wants sometimes go to the wayside of necessities and needs.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

LEMON ICE CREAM SANDWICHES with BLUEBERRY SWIRL

~A yummy summer treat~

I made these little sandwiches last weekend after my Mom found the recipe in the August Gourmet magazine and informed me I was slacking - I needed to make them soon! So I did, but like most recipes I didn't do things perfectly, and OF COURSE they look nothing like the pictures in Gourmet. I accidentally overcooked (like almost burnt - I was a little worried!) the cookie part, but I think it was an improvement... they tasted like a homemade sugar cone!

No pictures, just words.

Worry, fretting, anxiety... have you ever done any of these?

Okay, so I am gonna make this statement: those verbs up there, each one of them, is, SIN!

Did not Jesus himself admonish us: "Do not worry."?
I have always, always, struggled with worry - about anything and everything, big and little. From what to make for dinner, to when am I going to excercise, to how am I going to ever pay-off my car, and even thoughts of 'will this boyfriend leave me just like the last one' ( just bein' honest, here).

Be honest, are there any positive elements of fretting? I doubt it. Worry literally eats at you. It ruins your day(s). It causes grief in your relationships. Anxiety dampens the joy that should be yours in Christ. Anxiety is actually addicting.

I have always looked at worry as just something you do. It isn't fun and I guess I never thought it was good for me, but it's not a big deal, right? Wrong. As I was reading my Bible and pouring out my heart to God in prayer, listing all my anxieties- wack - it hit me. Conviction slapped me. YOU ARE SINNING. Whoa now, wait a second, worrying isn't all that bad. No, Jesus says how many times in Matthew 6: 25-34, Do not worry? Read for yourself:

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I think that worry is shrugged away, but I think we need to face it as it really is: REFUSING to lay down everything at our Saviour's feet and simply TRUST HIM with the outcome. God wants the best for our lives, which includes peace, joy and rest (all things that cannot come from an anxious heart).

I challenge myself today let God reign in my life so that
... the peace of God, which transcends all understanding...
(Philippians 4:6-7 go look up the rest yourself! :)