Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!

I hope everyone has a great time tonight! I know I am totally looking forward to it. No big plans except for grabbing some takeout and sitting on the couch waiting for kiddos to ring our doorbell. We have tons and tons of kids in our neighborhood and we're one of the only families that doesn't have kids...so needless to say, we are very popular! I love seeing all the little kids dressed up in their costumes.



In the past we have certainly had Halloween parties so I've included a photo of us from last year when we both dressed as Nerds. I've also included some old photos of myself from Halloweens' past.

The Happily Married Nerds!




Carving pumpkins with my kitty at home (age?)



One of my favorite Halloween costumes. It was really for a dance recital but my mom had made it and we also used it for a Halloween costume. I love being a unicorn!

The Shack...Wow!

Have you ever read a book that in some ways changed how you looked at life? or one that truly made you reevaluate everything you had always believed and clung to? or one that made you want to laugh and cry, and fall to your knees and ask for forgiveness? or or one that made you run outside to appreciate everything you have been blessed with? or even one that has made you thank God for all those unanswered prayers that were honestly answered by God but just not in the way you had hoped at that particular time? Are you overwhelmed yet? Well, I sure am. I mentioned a few days ago that I was in the process of reading The Shack, by William Young...and man, did it knock me on my butt.

I don't want to say too much regarding the actual plot of the book, but let me tell you right now...if you know someone who is going through an incredible trial, or someone who has turned their back on God, or even someone who is a devout Christian who thinks they have it all figured out. I urge you to recommend this book to everyone you know. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not sure everything in this book is biblically accurate, word for word. However, I do know that the ideas and thoughts brought about by this book will truly change the way you look at God forever. Like I said before, I can't say too much about it because I want everyone to read it for themselves and experience it individually.

In the past few days so many things have come up that have gone back to ideals that I read about in this book. It's about love and forgiveness, grieving and mercy, power and grace, beauty and friendship. One of these days I'll sit down and explain exactly what this book has done for me...but right now I'm really just trying to process everything that God is and everything that he isn't.

Has anyone else read this book? I hope you will, because even if it's not completely accurate...it is a work of fiction and I believe it has truly brought me closer to God.

Outdoor Dog with Indoor Visits

I have always grown up with outdoor dogs...always. However, my mom frequently would let our pups in for visits during the evenings and they would be rowdy for a few moments but then calm down and simply lay in the floor and sleep. When it was time to go to bed, we would let them outside and they would be perfectly fine. This is also the plan with Bogey, he will be an outdoor dog that has indoor privileges when we are at home. He doesn't really have much experience with being in our house except for maybe running from the backdoor to the door leading to our garage to go for a walk. So, the past few nights it has started to get very cold outside (lows in the lower 30s and upper 20s). We have brought him in the past few nights and he has actually started to calm down. Last night he actually just laid down in our bedroom floor and went to sleep while I was watching television. I did feel terrible when we booted him out into the cold; however, he is just a dog and he will be fine with his camoflauge pet bed we bought him from Bass Pro.

Bogey lounging outside in the sun...I just love it when he lays on his back all sprawled out!

Me & our outdoor dog with visitation privileges. (please ignore the shiny, oily face--it had been a long day)

In other Bogey news, Nick took him to the vet on Saturday because he had been limping on 2 of his 4 legs. It was really quite a sight! Well, the doctor couldnt' really find anything wrong. He has a bad shoulder on his front, right leg and a bad hip on his back left leg. The doctor isn't too concerned and honestly says it's probably just growing pains (65 lbs for a 7 month old dog is a lot of growing in a short period of time). We go back to the vet in 2 weeks and hopefully he'll be better. Otherwise, x-rays are in the picture and that means sedation for Mr. Bogeyman.

Oh, and on the work front...this is the conversation I had with myself this morning as I unpacked the printer my dad bought as a replacement:

Hello Mr Ginormous Printer, I hope that I don't hurt you or make you mad because in addition to causing me serious grief and frustration by not working properly, you are quite possibly the largest desktop printer I have ever seen and you might be able to cause me serious physical harm. I do hope that we can be friends and that we can just get along. I am so glad that you work and provide beautiful print outs of documents for me and the rest of my office. I am so happy we are able to share workspace each day!

(Ok, maybe just a little bit of exaggeration, but not having a printer really cramped my day yesterday and I'm so glad to have a printer that actually does what it's supposed to, no matter how big it is!)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last night for dinner, I made my favorite soup recipe of all time: Chicken Tortilla. It is a super easy recipe, makes plenty for leftovers and is actually fairly healthy. So, I thought I would share it with everyone else. I certainly can't take the credit for this, it came from my good friend Jennifer. We lived together in college, were in each other's weddings, attend the same church, and I just love her friendship!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

8 cups water
3 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel
12 oz. Velveeta Light
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 cup milk
3 flour tortillas

Bring the water to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Boil the chicken breasts until full cooked. Remove chicken from the boiling water and cut into bite size pieces (I normally cut the chicken into pieces before I cook it just because then the chicken cooks faster). Return the chicken to the water and add in all of the remaining ingredients except the tortillas. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for around 10 minutes. Tear the tortillas into small pieces and add to mixture. Boil an additional 10 minutes or until the tortillas are soft. (I normally add around 5 fajita-size tortillas because this is my favorite part of the dish.) Serve with tortilla chips for dipping and enjoy!

A few personal notes:
1. Make sure you keep stirring the mixture because I have trouble with it sticking to the bottom of my pan--even with my expensive Analon.

2. The soup is pretty thin even with the tortillas. If you want a thicker soup I would add some flour or corn starch/water mixture.

3. This soup is great for freezing and warms up really well. Just make a batch and put half of it in the freezer for another cold, autumn/winter's night.

Curse of Computers, Printers, & Fax Machines

Well, today continued on the plague of the computer equipment surrounding me. As you might recall, a few weeks ago I managed to single handedly wipe out our entire companies' mailing list. Last week, the fax machine/copier managed to stop working (not my fault, but an inconvenience nonetheless). And to top it all off, this morning I come in to work...turn on my computer--which was actually already on so in reality I was turning it off--turn on my printer, and I get 2 lovely error messages. #1-Improper shutdown, to avoid permanent damage please use the power button to turn the printer on/off. (Well thank you Captain Obvious, I'm so glad we've clarified what the power button is used for). Error message #2-Ink system failure, printer will not copy, fax, scan, or print. Please turn the printer on/off and try again. Lovely, just lovely. I have a gazillion things to do and the ink system has failed?!? So, after turning the printer on/off about 5 times or so I decide to uninstall and then reinstall the printer. Well, guess what...that doesn't work either. I also try to unplug the printer from everything imaginable and it still will not reset. So...needless to say I am extremely frustrated by this point. My dad comes back to my desk as I am about to literally pull my hair out. We've only had the printer since Oct. 1 so it's getting packaged back in the box and is headed back to Best Buy. Hopefully we'll have some luck and I'll have a new printer tomorrow. Why can simple things not go my way?

Oh well, back to updating the mailing list since I have no printer....;o)

The end of a long, but exciting week!

I am finally able to sit down and relax after a seemingly very hectic, and busy week. It feels so nice to just relax, watch some football, and maybe, possibly take a nice nap. ;o) Monday started with our last puppy school lesson and Bogey go high marks on all of his tasks. The only thing we really really need to work on is "Staying." I mean who should really expect a 7 month old puppy to sit still for longer than a nanosecond anyway? We really enjoyed the class and we learned lots of things we can use with other dogs. Plus, it was just plain fun!

Tuesday-Today we had events for the Global Impact Conference. It was such an interesting and eye-opening experience to meet with missionaries from all across our state and all around the world. God truly is doing some amazing things and how exciting to hear it first hand! Yesterday, we went and had a service project at a local elementary school (which is actually where our church first started meeting when it was just a brand new congregation). We helped do some landscaping work and just general picking up around the school. At the end we did a simple prayer walk through the halls of the school and just prayed that God would bless the teachers and administration and that His light would shine brightly to all of the students. What a mission field our teachers have each and everyday...but it's such a battleground at the same time. I have so many friends who are teachers, administrators, and counselors in the public school system and the issues they deal with everyday are extremely stressful and at times disturbing. We truly need and should pray for Christian influences on these children because it may be the only love the get during the day.

Last night we had Hubby's whole family over for dinner (Mom, Dad, Sister & her husband, and their 2 adorable little boys). We had a great time just being together and enjoying each other's company. Nick & I love being with our family and we are so grateful for the times we get to spend with each other.

Today was our final service of the Global Impact Conference and was considered the commitment service when we all committed to Pray, Give, & Go in regards to Missions in our church. Nick & I are committing to pray for some specific missionary families, we're having faith in God to allow us to give some additional monies over and above our normal tithe, and we are hoping that God will open the doors for us to go on some short term mission projects. Our worship band played a song a couple of times during this conference and I'm sure most of you have probably heard it before but it really touched my heart in what is possible with God's power in regards to missions.

“God of This City”Chris Tomlin
You’re the God of this city You’re the King of these people You’re the Lord of this nation You are
You’re the light in this darkness You’re the hope to the hopeless You’re the peace to the restless You are
For there is no-one like our God There is no-one like our God
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done here

Preparing for Spring in the Fall

Earlier this week my mom comes into the office and hands me this huge cardboard box with a very sly, smirky grin on her face. I wonder for a few moments what it is that she has and then I remember...a few months ago, my aunt offered to order a bunch of bulbs for me to plant so that I would have beautiful tulips, lilies, crocus, and daffodils pop up when Spring arrived next year. I knew at the time that by ordering bulbs, this meant I would have to take time to plant them (individually)...but I had conveniently forgotten about this.

Well, the time has come...in the midst of my crazy week with church, I now have to find time to plant about 30-50 bulbs. What great fun!!! (sarcasm intended) So, Sunday afternoon that's what's on my schedule, I'll sit down in the front yard with my garden spade, some work gloves, and I'll spend a few hours getting my hands dirty. The work will be long and tedious, but I know in the end it will be beautiful. I mean who wouldn't go to the extra work to have these flowers bloom in their garden?

Maybe I can convince dear hubby to help me out just a bit!