Pound Cake

I hope everyone is having a great week! I know school ends this week for alot of people and one of those includes my favorite teacher and sister, Mrs. Blackman.....soon to be Mrs. Kittrell! I cannot wait to spend LOTS of time this summer together and help her plan her wedding! I want to leave you with a yummy recipe today for a pound cake. I've made LOTS of different kinds of pound cakes, but this one wins hands down everytime. It can me served plain, with fruit on top, with ice cream, with cool whip, with HOMEMADE whip cream (yummy), or with all of the above! Hope you enjoy!

Sour Cream Pound Cake

3 sticks butter

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 cups Swan’s down cake flour

1 cup of sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat 1 minute after each egg. Add 1/3 of flour then ½ of sour cream. Beat well. Add 1/3 flour and beat. Add ½ sour cream and 1/3 of flour. Add vanilla and beat well. Bake 300 degrees for 2 hours.

Print this recipe here.

Cooking with "My Main Squeeze" Round 1

So about a month ago I came up with an idea for a "date night" that Pudge and I could do once a month. My idea entailed us cooking a meal together, that means appetizer, entree, and dessert. As most of you know I LOVE to cook and well Pudge does to, but sometimes I have to force him into it! He cooked for me throughout PA school and lets just say that was a learning experience.....for the both of us.

It's a rare occasion that we have a night at home to ourselves, so with this idea, we would be forced to stay home one night and we could spend QUALITY time together cooking and eating. There is an ongoing dispute in our house about what QUALITY time actually looks like but we both agree that this is a great way for us to have fun doing something we love.... me cooking, Pudge eating :) So we decided that tonight would be the night to begin the adventure I will call.....Cooking with "My Main Squeeze." So for round 1 this week Pudge told me he wanted to do a Pioneer Woman recipe for our entree. I have tried many of her recipes and she never disappoints. For our appetizer and dessert, I got my recipes from the one and only, the best cook in Tampa, and my namesake, Aunt Amy.

Ready to get my cook on!

Our appetizer, which consisted of a refridgerated pie crust rolled out on a baking pan, topped with minced garlic, fresh diced tomatoes, mozarella cheese, and salt and pepper. Cook this according to the instructions on the pie crust box. Mine was on 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. This appetizer was oh so yummy and I think will become a regular around here!

Pudge getting his cook on! He asked for an apron and this was all I had, sorry Pudge!

Our pasta cooking and the sauce for our pasta.

Pudge, not so much on the cooking, but more on the eating!

My Main Squeeze taking care of that lemon!

Pioneer Woman's Shrimp Pasta in a Foil Package

Dinner is served.

Once again, the Pioneer Woman DID NOT disappoint! So yummy!

Dessert was Blueberry Crisp, the recipe is at the bottom of this post.

His and Hers!

Blueberry Crisp

3 cups bluberries, fresh or frozen, unsweetened (I used fresh)

2 tbls lemon juice

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup quick oats

1/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange berries in an ungreased 8x8 baking dish and sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine remaining ingredients until crumbly. Crumble topping over berries and bake until topping is lightly browned and berries are hot. Bake 30 minutes.

Print the recipe here

Hope you all have a great Saturday night and Sunday!

Practicing JOY in Life

Yesterday, my email account and Facebook account (which I deactivated over a year ago) got hacked into. The "hackers" sent this email to all my contacts saying I was stuck in Scotland with not cell phone, cash, or credit card. They asked for my contacts to send money to them. I found out the "hackers" even had conversations with some of my contacts on Facebook! I was in Bible study while the email was sent out and during a break I realized what had happened. I had many missed calls, texts, and voicemails from friends and family. I was distracted the last part of Bible study due to all of this! I got out of Bible study and immediately came home to try and "fix" it all. I was so angry and upset at what had happened to ME. It was an ordeal to "fix" and was a real pain. I was reminded constantly about it yesterday, as I would recieve texts and messages throughout the day about it. A old friend of mine even called my dad's office to let him know to let me know my account had been hacked.

I really began to feel sorry for myself and for what had happened to ME! I let my selfishness and emotions control many of my thoughts yesterday. UNTIL....... last night! I was headed to bed and God reminded me of a few things. One: He is Sovereign! It has been one of the most foundational and important things I have learned this year while studying Isaiah. It has really allowed me to live life more victoriously. knowing He has my best interest at heart, even if it's not what I would desire for myself. He knew this would happen to me and it did not catch Him by surprise. I am thankful He is always doing things in my life for my good and His glory. Unfortunately, I did not respond how I would have liked to respond to the whole situation! Second: This BIG problem and situation in MY world doesn't even compare to the devastation that my state is experiencing and the things I have just seen in Uganda and hear about in other parts of the world. Many of the people in my state have lost loved ones, homes, and been without power for weeks. I so quickly took things out of perspective and focused only on MYSELF! I was even upset that my husband was out of town when all of this happened and actually told him on the phone, "I can't beleive you are not here when I need you and all this is going on!" It is amazing how quickly I failed to see God in this! I choose to focus on MYSELF and MY problems! I am so thankful for the revelation the Lord gave me last night about my circumstances. I am so thankful for His forgiveness and grace to me (that I need daily and sometimes by the minute) that I do not deserve, but He always gives so freely and abundantly! I know the Lord has a plan and purpose for all things in my life and I want to choose to see all things and circumstance in my life through His lens. Let me leave you with this principle that I learned this year and that I need constant reminders of daily: When we behold the incomparable power of our God, it puts our circumstances in proper perspective.

PS - I was also reminded of something my parents always taught me growing up that seems so elementary, but I believe is the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

JOY

J - Jesus

O - Others

Y - You

I pray that I would strive to serve and think of others more than myself!

WEL-O-COME

So here is the reason I titled the last blog post by this word... click here to find out! I tried to update the video on the last post and it didn't work and by brilliant husband told me to put it on YouTube! Hope you enjoy!

WEL-O-COME

Well, we have been back on US soil for about a week and a half and I finally feel like I have settled back into normalcy. After we returned home, we had a series of crazy weird symptoms that hung around for a few days and plus on top of that being tired , we just have not gotten back to normal until the last few days. I am currently working on ONE BIG post about Uganda. The trip was life-changing and is hard to put into words. I will do my best! Look for an update soon!

Uganda Recap

Orphan Homes - Grace Fellowship Boys/Girls Home

Four Corners Ministries partners with a local church in Kampala in the slums called Grace Fellowship. Pastor Nelson is the man God has placed in leadership over this church. This man has a very quiet demeanor and nature, yet he is a bold and courageous follower of God. Pastor Nelson has started about 25 churches in Kampala in different villages throughout the city. We spent our days traveling to a few of these churches he has started, ministering to the people of those villages. Pastor Nelson also has a heart for orphans and has started a boys home and a girls home for orphans. There are believers who God has put in place as house parents of these 2 homes. These children who have no earthly parents are being brought up in an orphanage and taught about Jesus, our heavenly Father. We spent some time with these PRECIOUS children a few days while we were there. Grace, who I mentioned here, lives in the girls home. These children taught me how to love without boundaries and praise Jesus in the most bleak physical environments. While their physical environment maybe be bleak in my eyes, these children have JOY and HOPE you have never seen before.

Some of the girls from the girls home with me and the 2 young girls (Abbey and Mary Paige)from our team. The house mother is the woman who is in between Abbey and Mary Paige.

The girls sang "Because He LIves" and danced for us.

The boys enjoying some Jolly Ranchers!

We had a time of worship at the boys home.

My brother, Eric, played guitar as we worshipped.

The bedroom at the boys home.

We made this brick pit at both the girls and boys home for them to cook on. They were amazed with how much faster it was to cook on these rather than what they had been using to cook on.

Pudge and I at the Boys Home.

A boy getting water in the bucket that we put a filter on for CLEAN drinking water. This filter is good for 1 million gallons of water!

Pudge explaining Kenneth (the house dad at the Boys Home) to how to use the filter.

Soloman lost his guitar over a year ago. Eric prayed that God would reveal to him someone to give his guitar to and WOW God answered!

The guys from our team with the guys from the boys home. The man standing on the far right is Pastor Nelson.

Jeff and his new friend.

We painted the girls fingernails and they LOVED that!

Painting Grace's nails.

Pudge with Moses, who is the only boy who lives at the girls home. Moses is too young to live at the boys home, so he lives at the girls home. We could have brought this precious boy home in our suitcase!

Our team with some of the girls at the Girls Home.

Pudge with sweet Grace.

Medical Clinic

We did a medical clinic in 3 different villages while we were in Uganda. Pudge's brother, Josh, and my brother, Eric were the pharmacist's for our clinic. We had 2 Ugandan doctors that traveled with us to each village. We were able to give every patient that we saw worm medication, which was about 515 people! We saw patients that ranged in age from 1 week old to 80 years old! We met many of the peoples physical needs while we were there. Many of the physical needs over there were not able to be treated by medication and that is when we were able to tell them that God knows their needs and He will take care of them. We told them that while we may meet their physical needs, that pails in comparison to what God can to to meet their needs spiritually, physically, and emotionally!

Josh and Eric, the pharmacist's!

The room where people waited to see the doctors.

The pharmacist's, Eric and Josh, and the doctor's, Godfrey and Dixon.

Precious baby and mom.

Our youngest patient, who was 1 week old, and her mama.

This woman was in GREAT pain and we were able to help her!

Sweet faces

Pudge helping administer medicine to a baby.

Sweet little one after he had gotten his medication.

The medical clinic team

Our translator, Festo, taling to one of the patient's.

This little girl walked to the clinic by herself because as you can see her right eyelid was swollen due to an infection. She would have lost her eyesight had the doctors not been able to drain it. Thankfully, they drained it and gave her antibiotics to get her well. Praise God!

Pudge giving medicine to a child and the translator telling the mother how to give the medicine.

The doctor and a patient.

Practical Teachings - Water Filtration, Tire Garden, Oral Rehydration

In each of the villages we traveled to, we taught the people some very practical things. We had received training in the states about how to teach this to the people over there. Pudge and Matt were the team members primarily responsible for these teachings and they did an excellent job! They taught the people how to filter water by using plastic water bottles. They also taught them how to make a garden out of a tire, cloth, aluminum cans, and dirt. Pudge taught oral rehydration by using a salt/sugar/water mixture. Many people in Uganda die of dehydration therefore, this oral rehydration method can save lives if it is used.

Praying before they got started.

Matt and his 2 girls building a tire garden.

Almost done with the tire garden.

Pudge teaching the people about filtering their water!

Pudge and the translator speaking to the people.

The notes that one of the Ugandan women is taking as they are teaching.

Pudge and one of our translators trying to find a bucket for filtering water.

A crowd gathered for more teachings.

Churches We Visited in Kampala and Surrounding Villages

As I said earlier, Pastor Nelson has planted some 25 churches in the Kampala area. The few churches we visited served as our facility for the medical clinics and various activities. Each time we got to the village where we would be working that day, the churches welcomed us with singing, dancing, and usually took up an offering as well. This was probably the part of the trip that was the most humbling of all. These people worship so humbly and honestly with all their hearts and you can see that in each of their faces. These people have NOTHING of material value, but worship God with every fiber of their being. This was the part of the trip that was so life-changing!

Pudge holding this precious little girl, who clung to him.

Eric with this precious child.

The children at Pastor Nelson's church singing and dancing for us.

Eric speaking at church. He did an awesome job!

This one may be my favorite from the whole trip! I LOVE all these smiling faces!

Pastor Nelson's Church - Grace Fellowship Church

The future site of Grace Fellowship Church. They are raising money now to build a new church and they add bricks as they have the money. That is also our bus for the week while we were there.

Worshipping God together!

Our God is an awesome God!

A view of the church. As you can see, people were standing outside to listen!

Pastor Nelson (left), sitting next to Pastor David, the appointed village pastor. This pastor was one of our translator's father.

The children getting lined up to sing and dance for us.

The children LOVED blowing bubbles.

Josh and some of the beautiful children.

The kids under the parachute!

Fun with the parachute.

Eric singing praise to God as the children gather around him.

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.....

The women of the village cooked a traditional Ugandan meal for us! It really was very good!

Pastor David, with his son Festo (one of our translators that we LOVED) and Pudge

Our fearless leader, Tripp, blowing bubbles with the children.

Teaching the women about prayer.

Sissy, me, and Margaret

Matt sharing the gospel with the men through use of a power band!

This little boy showing off his coloring book. The children loved to color and I am so glad Matt and Tara brought so many coloring books.

Mary Paige gave this little girl her shoes because she didn't have any shoes!

Our Translators

WoW! This group of guys really feel like family now. We so enjoyed spending time with these guys and learning about their culture. They really took us in and treated us like family too. These guys strive to honor Christ with their lives in very hard physical conditions. They portray JOY like nothing you've seen. Oh and these guys made us laugh laugh laugh until you almost cry! We talked about things from Alabama/Auburn football to abortion to girlfriends/dating to riots in Uganda to various types of food. Pudge and I are very grateful for the relationships we formed with them and hope that they will be everlasting friendships!

Pudge met Festo the first day and instantly became friends!

Simon helping Pudge administer meds and translate.

The girls got a hold of Simon and painted his fingernails! He was such a good sport!

Mark, Pudge, Simon, and Festo

Whew! I told yall it was going to be a LONG one. I hope you enjoyed reading. I hope and pray this will put in your heart a desire to serve among the nations. I can tell you, Pudge and I are forever grateful and thankful for this incredible experience and look forward to serving in the future!