Our Newest Layer In Life

In this new layer of life there is much to be learned.
There is no choice, it cannot be returned.

Soon we will introduce a young one to this world.
A new phase of life into which we are hurled.

God grants us gifts we don't deserve,

Igniting our passion for fresh ways to serve.

Remember us when to the Father you pray,

Living our lives to show this child the WAY!

Crockpot Meals: Salsa Chicken and Chicken Curry

I wanted to share a few new favorite recipes with you guys. I have now fixed this 1st dish twice and both times it has been so yummy. The second one I have fixed many times and we LOVE it! The best part about them is that they are so easy to prepare and they cook in the crock pot! (*I buy the slow cooker bags for my crockpot and there is SO much less of a mess to clean up afterwards!)

Salsa Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (I used the cream of chicken)

1 cup salsa (I bought the "homemade" store brand)

1 package taco seasoning

1 cup sour cream

cilantro, for serving (optional) (I also added a little shredded cheddar-jack, black beans and scallion on top)

Rice

Put chicken, soup, and salsa in slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything. Cook on low for 6 hours. If shredding the chicken, pull the breasts out and shred; return back to slow cooker. Stir in sour cream and heat just until everything is combined. I served mine over brown rice and then we put some black beans on top!

Slow Simmered Curried Chicken

1.5 cups chopped onions

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup medium salsa (I bought the "homemade" store brand)

2 tsp grated ginger

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp curry powder

¾ tsp salt

Hot cooked rice

Place onions and bell pepper in slow cooker. Top with chicken. Combine salsa, ginger, garlic powder and pepper flakes in small bowl; spoon over chicken. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or until chicken is tender. Combine cilantro, sugar, curry powder and salt in small bowl; stir into slow cooker. Cover; cook on HIGH 15 minutes or until hot. Serve with rice.

I hope you and your families enjoy these recipes as much as we do!

Marshmallow Popcorn

I made a batch of marshmallow popcorn tonight, a recipe I found courtesy of Pinterest and OH. MY. WORD. If you love marshmallows as much as I do, you will love this recipe. It makes ALOT too! Here is the recipe:

Marshmallow popcorn

3 bags popcorn (pop and take out extra kernels)

2 sticks of butter

16 oz bag of marshmallows

1 cup brown sugar

Microwave butter, marshmallows, and brown sugar for 2 1/2 min. Take out and stir really well, making sure you mix around the brown sugar and butter. Microwave again for 1 min. Repeat until thin sauce. When done pour over popcorn and mix with a spatula. I poured mine onto some parchment paper on the countertop and flattened into a single row. This stuff is sticky and so a spatula works best for flattening it out. Next break up into chunks or bite size pieces, whichever you prefer!

This stuff is so good and is in NO WAY healthy! This will be a good go to recipe for parties and quick treats for gifts! Hope you all have had a fabulous Monday!

Dinner Tonight

I am trying a new recipe tonight that yes, I found on Pinterest! I love that Pinterest gives me new recipes and great new projects to try. Since Pudge has been out of town and got in late last night, we are having a low key night at home together. I am making for BBQ Chicken Pizza from this website for dinner tonight and it looks so yummy. I hand shredded all the cheese for the pizza too, since you cannot buy plain Monterey Jack cheese already shredded. Check it out and give it a try!

Way Behind

So folks, yes it has been 2 months since I have blogged. I am a MAJOR slacker. I will not even try to recap the holidays or new year, but just to say that they were fabulous and it was so great to be with family! Jeff and I had a lot of great time together and were able to relax over the holidays. We also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on the 30th of December! I am so grateful for God's grace in my life to give me such a Godly man to lead me. He truly is one of a kind and I am thankful that he leads me to the things of God, as well as pursues the things of God himself.

As most of you know, my sister was married in November and she is now living across the street from me. What a blessing it has been to have her so close! We decided to have a birthday party for my mom last night, as her birthday is coming up this week! We divided up the cooking for the party and it was a success! It was so awesome to be able to share in the cooking responsibilities and also fun that we didn't have to go far! We had a yummy chicken recipe that my aunt recommended. You can find it here. My sister made some FABULOUS mashed potatoes. That girl knows how to do some taters! We also had The Lady's Green beans. Yes, the Lady, aka Paula Deen. This was not my first time making these and it will not be my last. They are the BEST green beans you have ever put in your mouth! The KEY to the recipe is frying the bacon and sautéing the onions in the bacon grease! Sounds really healthy, right? So here is the recipe:

Lady's Green Beans

8 slices bacon (I actually use bacon bits)

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 medium onion, diced

1/2 c. vinegar

2 (16 oz.) cans French style green beans (I've also used kitchen sliced)

Fry bacon, reserving drippings. In drippings, saute onions and add sugar and vinegar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Drain beans and mix with liquid mixture. Place in 2 quart casserole. Crumble bacon and sprinkle on top of casserole. Cover and bake at 275 for 1.5 hours.

Just wanted to share a recipe with you all today and hopefully this will be the beginning of my entrance back into the blogging world!

LAURA + BRETT = MARRIED

This past weekend I had the pleasure of standing next to my only sister as she married the man God made for her! What an honor and privilege it was to be apart of such a sweet and God-honoring ceremony. God gave us a beautiful day with PERFECT weather! I was just noticing as I was driving down my street yesterday that the leaves have really begun to fall off of the trees, but this past weekend those same leaves that are now on the ground were on the trees to make a beautiful back drop to the wedding ceremony. We had such a great week last week preparing for the BIG day and such a fun time celebrating Laura and Brett! So many special friends and family came together and helped to make this day special for my sister and I am so grateful to each and everyone one of you who helped make her day wonderful! We have some pretty amazing friends! Now they are off in St. Thomas for some much needed rest and relaxation enjoying being husband and wife! I cannot wait to see the photographer's pictures from the day, but I will leave you with some taken from my camera and iPhone.

This was from bridal portraits....isn't she stunning!

Up close shot!

The photographers never make a picture, but I snuck one of them doing their thing!

The pumpkins used for decoration!

All of the decor boxed up and ready to be put out for wedding day!

Benches used for the ceremony are delivered by WONDERFUL AWESOME AMAZING friends!

Last time as an engaged couple!

The mode of transportation all weekend! My family LOVED these....maybe a little too much!

Rehearsal dinner decor....beautiful! Their wedding invitations were rolled up inside the glass vases!

Sweet friends!

Every detail..........beautiful!

She was such a relaxed happy BRIDE!

Outside the tent, where the ceremony was

Close up

Pumpkin topiaries lined the entrance to the tent!

The AISLE

The reception area with food tables.

Cookies and milk table and area!

The Bride's cake table!

The Love Birds sign my dad made by gluing bird seed on the letters!

The gift table/area.

The favor table with magnets, apples and pears! They make the PERFECT PEAR! She is the APPLE OF HIS EYE!

The favor and gift area outside the reception area.

One of the table centerpieces.....the flowers were gorgeous!

MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED

Two weeks from today, I will be standing by my sister on her WEDDING DAY! I feel like these last few months of wedding planning for her have flown by and I cannot believe the time is almost here! I am so excited for she and Brett as they begin their lives together. Marriage is such a wonderful thing! I am constantly learning and growing from my own marriage and I can so testify to how God uses marriage to sanctify us. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MY TO GOD FOR MY HUSBAND!

The last few weekends have been FULL of showers to celebrate the upcoming wedding. We have had such a FUN time celebrating and honoring them. Laura and Brett are so blessed and have really gotten some nice things for their home. Here are a few pictures from the Couples Shower last weekend...

Dish towel "cake" I made with all kinds of cooking utensils attached to it!

Wreath wrapped with an extension cord with various HIS/HER items on it!

Sorry this picture is so blurry, but we mod-podged a pumpkin with her new initial!

The SPREAD.....the food was fabulous and included stuffed french bread, spinach shells, brownies, AMAZING pumpkin cupcakes, apples with caramel dip, layered Mexican dip, and black bean and corn salsa.

Julie made these cute pumpkin picture holders! They were so cute and I will be using the idea again!

Cute paint can that was spruced up to be the vase. Julie picked the most beautiful flowers! (And we got good use out of these flowers as Laura used them in her bridal portraits on Tuesday. OMG people, LAURA is the most beautiful bride you have ever seen!!)

Laura and Brett's chair marked by their "tools!"

Julie's mom made these pumpkins that each had a word from a Bible verse on them. SO SO SO cute!

Gift time!

Well I am off to breakfast with Pudge today and to help mom conquer some wedding to do's! Have a great weekend!