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.

"Tears stream down your face when you lose something you cannot replace"

I wrote this down on Christmas Eve:

December 24, 2009

From Jan. 1 to this very day, I think we all have had a stressful year. It's been emotionally draining from beginning to end and it ended with a bang with the loss of Pawpaw. Since he's been gone, not a single day goes by where I don't think about him. Losing him, by far, has been one of the biggest tragedies of my life and it's been such a battle choosing not to dwell in his absence. I tear up everyday, usually leading to a "boohoo", sometimes even 2 to 3 times a day. If there was ever a worst year to lose a loved one, this was it.

All that to say, it's been extremely difficult getting into the focus of the true meaning of Christmas. I definitely haven't been myself since November 2, so how can I try to make my heart feel something when sometimes I just want to feel nothing at all?

I've been praying the last few weeks for God to bring peace and joy into my life just so I am able to celebrate His Son's birth this Christmas. I pray that He takes away the sadness that is blocking my heart from remembering that night Jesus was born to save us. I've just wanted REST from the fact that my Pawpaw IS GONE. Especially since from now on, our holidays will no longer be shared with him.

One specific day, I was praying with such an urgency in my heart. I wanted the Lord to know how important His peace for my soul is for this Christmas. I prayed "God, just let me know that I can get through all of this while trying to deal with our tragedy."

And, sure enough, the Lord put Pawpaw being Heaven into perspective for me. He said "Heather, I know that you are so sad, even angry, that I took Pawpaw. But I want you to know how happy he is." You can't imagine how bittersweet it is to hear that from the Lord. God showed me that, in Heaven, Christmas is a whole new story, a whole different celebration from how we do it here on earth. He said that every single person realizes that they are IN HEAVEN because of Christmas. They realize "Christmas is why I'm here today!"

I thought of Pawpaw falling on his knees due to his first experience of Christmas in Heaven. What a party they must be throwing! All those times we sing "Away in a manger", all those times we hear the Christmas story in church or read it in the Bible, well the members in Heaven are hearing it straight from the mouth of Jesus! How overwhelmingly beautiful that must be! They are celebrating the birth of our King WITH THE KING HIMSELF.

THIS will be the most amazing Christmas Pawpaw has ever celebrated. The TRUE meaning of Christmas will hit him like a mack truck and I can only imagine the tears of joy he will shed because of it. I cannot wait to celebrate Christmas with my whole heart in Heaven and I'm so thankful that Pawpaw is doing that as we speak.

Typical of this man. Thank you, Savannah, for posting more pictures!!!

charlie brown-ish

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree

Hunter and I went to pick out our Christmas tree on December 2 at Lowe's. They had such a beautiful selection and really good prices- we were so excited! We got our tree and loaded it up. It smelled exactly how Christmas is supposed to smell.

Here's the beautiful tree we picked out in all it's voluptuous glory. It was full and fat and looked incredible once we got all the ornaments on it. BUT.......

I noticed that it wasn't drinking water from the start. I was a good little Christmas tree keeper and checked on it everyday. The water level never went down, but I'd still fill it up a little bit in hopes that it would absorb. Before I knew it, the branches started drooping and the ornaments hanging on the lowest part of the tree were touching the ground. The needles began to fall with the slightest touch. The evergreen smell quickly faded. It wasn't bright and green. But I was in denial that it died.

Then one day, my parents came over. I said "SEE OUR TREE??? Isn't it amazing??"

Dad touched it. He replied "It's dry as a bone....."

Then mom came inside and immediately looked at the tree. She said "Um. Your tree is dead."

"NOOOOO!!!!!"

Mom explained to me that if it was worth it to make the effort, I could take all the ornaments off, load it back in my car and get my money back because LOWES GUARANTEES THEIR PLANTS AND TREES!

So I loaded it back up. The whole drive over to Lowes, I was on the verge of crying. I just felt like I was doing something wrong. I'd gotten so attached to the tree, whenever I'd look in my rear view mirror, all I saw was our precious tree and it's pine needles blowing in the wind as if it were fur from a deer I had killed for the first time.

So.

I got to Lowes. Yes, they said, this tree is dead. Here's your $28 bucks.

I took one look at their measly selection and said "I'm going to Home Depot...."

Thank goodness Home Depot still had 7 foot trees left. But there were no full, beautiful, luscious trees to choose from. My heart sank as I propped up each orphan tree and realized I was going to bring home something sad. I picked out one to the best of my ability, loaded it up and sadly drug it through our front door.

Hunter came home and forced a smile. "It's so skinny....."

"Yes, I know, Hunter...."

We put up the ornaments with frowns and all I could think about the whole time was our first tree just laying in the trunk and loading it in a buggy and leaving it behind...

So this is our new tree. Very Skinny. Very sparse. Got a little chunk missing on the right side. But after we decorated it, I stood back and stared at it for a while. I thought,

"You know, our other tree got to spend a good 2 weeks here in our living room. It listened to our praises and had a good life. So now it's time to puff up this tree's pride. If it weren't for us, this poor tree might still be out in the cold at Home Depot knowing it's rejection. Now it's inside all warm and glowy and it saved us from a possible fire cause by dry dead pine needles and hot Christmas lights..... yeah..... Now it's time for this tree to have it's glory. I couldn't stand the thought of this tree being alone on Christmas day. This is OUR tree."

So there you have it. This is the tree that saved Christmas....

:)

Merry, merry Christmas