The other day was so sunny. He wanted to wear my sunglasses (don't worry, I run in these. I know they're ugly). What a cutie.

Me and Hunter took him to an all you can eat sushi buffet. His favorite thing? The cream puffs.

It's snowing so hard right now!!! I love it! We're supposed to get 4-9 inches. I believe it! It's accumulating fast! We're already up to an inch!

This is our friends' little boy that I'm now keeping during the week. His name is Emerson and he is a CUTIE!

I was getting some cleaning done today and noticed that Emerson was following me around everywhere. If I was sweeping, he was holding the dust pan. If I was wiping something down, he was picking up the spray bottle. I started on the laundry and Emerson got so happy right away! So..... I just let him do his thing :)

I'm pretty sure he knows how cute he is. The videos are amazing- I was definitely laughing 'til I was crying in the first one!

Good golly miss molly

Another warm-your-soul pot of goodness

Hunter is at band rehearsal again tonight. The guys are working hard, getting ready for their show with Amy Grant in Orlando and the Casting Crowns tour. I'm so excited for what God has in store for them!

So I decided I was going to stay home every night this week b/c life has been on fast forward lately. Tonight, I made white chicken chili.

-Bring a large pot of water to boil with salt and olive oil

-boil 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. chicken (I like to use chicken tenders) for about 15-20 mins. If you're not sure if it's cooked thoroughly, just cut into a thick piece to check for zero pink!

-remove chicken and let cool, reserving 2 cups of the water you boiled

-sautee 1 chopped onion and 1 tsp minced garlic in butter

-bring one 14 oz can chx broth, one can of cream of chx and the 2 cups of water to a boil in large pot

-add the sauteed onion and garlic

-add 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

-add black pepper and salt to taste

-add 2 cans white beans, do not drain

-add one 4.5 oz can green chiles

-shred the chx right into the pot (using chx tenders makes this process easier!) and turn to low. -Cover and simmer 15 min.

-garnish with sour cream and shredded cheeeeeeese

And this is the eating process.... just because I'm a dork.

get a big spoonful and blow to cool it down.

slowly place cooled bite in mouth. (can you sense my excitement?)

oh yeah. That's good.

Good Day Sunshine

Today I was running in my brother-in-law's neighborhood and saw a little frozen pond nestled back in some trees! Of course I had to run back to the house to grab my camera.

It was frozen over. This is me standing on it! Then it made a weird cracking, echo-ee noise so I

B-lined it back to safety.

mmmmmm I made chicken and rice soup! It was so easy to make and SO YUMMY and warmed us up!

-2 cooked, shredded chx breasts (or more if desired)

-two 14 oz cans chx broth

-two cans water (use chx broth cans)

-2 large carrots, chopped

-2 celery stalks, chopped

-1 medium onion, chopped

-1 can cream of celery soup

-1 box of Uncle Ben's rice, original recipe

-1/2 tbls tarragon

-1 tsp pepper

-1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

-1 tsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 1 hour. Enjoy!

Well, Hunter is at band practice. So I decided to watch a movie.

I chose this amazingly nerdy skate movie called Grind from 2003. I used to be obsessed with it. Also.... Mike Vogel is in it... whom I also was obsessed with at one point in my life.

I also was obsessed with this girl from the movie. I wanted to BE her. She skated. I thought she was sooooo cool. You see, I had a thing for "skater boys." Gosh, I'm not sure why. Oh wait. I'm pretty sure my "thing" all started when I laid eyes on this super cute brown-haired boy from my wellness class freshman year. He was wearing a special olympics thrift tee and an oversized flannel shirt over it. He had on baggy jeans and huge skate shoes that were all taped up. Who'da thunk he'd be my husband one day?

snow infatuation

Sergeant and Pepper's first snow experience

Aren't they pretty?

snow turns to ice!

So we're in our second day of snow, but today everything is icey. The boys are dressed and outside enjoying another day of no school. Nolan came running up to the door, exclaiming

"Aunt Heather! The road is so icey, I almost fell!"

I said

"Yeah, buddy. When you cross the street, I do NOT want you to run. You could fall hard and hurt yourself."

"Ok!" he said and proceeded back across the street to join his brothers. He stepped up to the curb and I noticed to kids standing in the road watching him. Quite frankly, the kids around my sister's apartment are little punks, so I quickly prayed "Please don't let him fall in front of them."

He looked for cars and took off running. He fell.

I thought "Maaaan, Nolan, I JUST got done telling you not to run!"

One of the punk kids pointed and laughed. So his friend pushed him..... and down he went. Right on his butt. This went through my head-

"Aw, that was kinda mean......... BUT I'M SO GLAD THAT JUST HAPPENED FOR NOLAN'S SAKE!"

My new devo book

My sister gave me and Hunter a devo book called "Jesus Calling" for Christmas.

I typically don't do devo's because I'm a firm believer in strictly reading the Bible. I dunno why, though. It's weird. I guess I have a fear that I would come to depend more on being fed from a book rather than God's Word straight from His word.

ANWAYS.

Yesterday was a hard day. Me and Hunter are broke as a joke and our pipes are all jacked up right now. I.... um...... scooped Vito's litter into the toilet. Yup. I know, I know, DUMB IDEA. Part of the reason is due to a fear that my husband will yell at me if I throw it away in the garbage-

"Nooooo! What are you doing??? It's going to smell!!!!"

(clearly that's happened in the past)

So I was sorta being nice, but stupid at the same time.

So then I noticed that the water after I flushed the toilet started to run slower. Then it would flush, but nothing would go down. Then when I took a shower yesterday, the toilet bubbled the whole time and the water in the tub didn't drain.

All I can think about is that we have NO emergency funds and NO way of paying a plumber. On top of that, a company called "Detoxi Free" has stolen $87.87 straight from our bank account and that might as well be $300 in mine and Hunter's financial terms. But when we called them we got "Oh, no, we have no records of charging you. In order to prove that we charged your account, we need to have a hard copy of the transaction faxed to us." So we did this. Still no refund.

On top of that, Hunter's beautiful great-grandmother has suffered a heart-attack and a stroke. Strokes always get me. How can a person be up and lively one day and the next day they've had a stroke and there's no hope? Why do people even have to suffer strokes?

So you can imagine how fresh this has made my Pawpaw's loss for me. When I heard that Granny had a stroke, aaaallll the memories came flooding back to my head and I felt all that emotion all over again the very day Hunter came to me and told me Pawpaw had a stroke.

Back to Jesus Calling. I finally decided to pick it up yesterday. This is what I read:

"I WANT YOU TO LEARN A NEW HABIT. Try saying, 'I trust you, Jesus' in response to whatever happens to you. If there is time, think about who I AM in all My Power and Glory; ponder also the depth and breadth of My love for you.

This simple practice will help you see Me in every situation, acknowledging My sovereign control over the universe. When you view events from this perspective- through the Light of My universal Presence- fear loses its grip on you. Adverse circumstances become growth opportunities when you affirm your trust in Me no matter what. You receive blessings gratefully, realizing they flow directly from My hand of grace. Your continual assertion of trusting Me will strengthen our relationship and keep you close to Me."

WOW.

So that's all I have to say about that. And today's devo was just as incredible and powerful. But I won't post it because I really encourage you to go buy this book. I'm really looking forward to how the Lord is going to use it to speak to me.