Emma Kate

My friend and colleague Lindsay has been filling me in on her friends' six month old daughter and her struggle for life due to HLHS. This family's story is heartbreaking. Please include them in your daily thoughts and prayers. Brooks, the father, has recently written a letter to Emma Kate's future husband on his blog. It is so emotional and filled with so much hope and love. Please take a moment to visit each of their blogs and acquaint yourself with this godly family.

bkeis4.blogspot.com

Awesome New Website Find

Today at work we had a neat Technology Inservice training. The instructor informed us of several websites that may be useful in the classroom. With picnik.com it was love at first sight. I just spent a few minutes playing with a photograph and this was what I created.

With a little editing this picture was taken to a new level. I am by no means a great editor, but it was still fun to play with! If only they had a tool that would also slim me down to my premarriage size! Here is the before picture.

Another fun website that serves a deeper purpose is freerice.com. By playing games children and adults alike can earn rice to feed starving children in third world countries. Give it a try! It is so much fun!

Long time...No Post

It's been a long time since I last blogged. I know you can all relate with a hectic life! Obtaining my master's degree has eaten up most of my free time. In order to catch some of you up on my life here is a rapid fire of the past month's happenings!

Holidays

It was a pj day for my hubby and I as we reconnected on Valentine's Day! We had simple and traditional gifts of a card and chocolates exchanged and were able to spend some quality time with our good friends Matt and Shelly during the evening. Since they have two children, a two-year old and 2 month old, we grilled out steaks at their house and ended the evening sharing chocolate covered strawberries. Although our V-day traditions have been a romantic dinner for two, this opportunity to be entertained and share time with friends that mean so much to us was delightful.

Family

This is my beautiful new nephew, Hunter. He was born on Christmas Eve's eve. Isn't he just angelic! He loves to grunt. Move him when he is comfortable...grunt, Feed him his bottle...grunt, Talk to him on the phone...grunt, grunt, grunt. I seriously have never met a more "vocal" baby. My niece is such a precious big sister. She is just a little jealous...Valerie, hold me like hunter...Valerie, can I sit in your lap...GIVE ME ALL YOUR ATTENTION! Just kidding, kind of. She is adjusting well though. She likes to help out with him. She loves to hug and kiss him and hold him, all the time. She has my heart!

New Find

I've never promoted a product on my blog before, but I can not resist. I bought this Anew Resurfacing cleanser along with some miracles in a bottle from Avon through my Mom. I must say I have never experienced such a transformation in such little time. Today is only my third day using it and I can already tell a dramatic difference. All of the sun worshiping freckles on my nose have disappeared! Literally they peeled off. Not in an icky, my skin is dry kind of way, but in a my skin is smooth and youthful way. My wrinkles are also less noticeable. I am amazed by this product!

That is not all that has been going on with my life...but just a bit of the sweetness.

One more picture before I end this post. One of my favorite bloggers, LaDue & Crew, posted a few pictures of her adorable new pet. I must say, LaDue yours is cute, but Duncan reigns supreme.

This is his I just woke up, why are you flashing that light on me pose.

Chili con Queso

As the cold front moves in, so do my cravings for white chili. I often make this recipe with chicken but have found it is much easier to prepare and more cost efficient using ground sausage. My family loves this recipe. It is delicious!

Ingredients: Jimmy Dean mild or hot sausage, 1 medium onion, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (store brand was all I had in the pantry--it works the same), 1 can of great northern beans, 1 can of Rotel tomatoes, 1 can of white shoe peg corn, 1 Tbsp of cumin, 1 cup of Velveeta cheese (for extra spice you can use the Mexican cheese version), salt and pepper to taste and one bag of Frito's corn chips.

In a large skillet brown meat and saute onions.

Cook thoroughly until meat has reached the appropriate temperature and onions are tender.

Combine meat mixture and remaining ingredients, excluding the cheese, in a large stock pot. Heat to a simmer.

Cube cheese. Add small amounts of cheese at a time. Stir constantly to prevent burning.

Continue to stir until thoroughly heated and all the cheese is melted.

Serve with Frito's corn chips for a yummy, cold day dinner! This recipe also freezes well. Great for leftovers later in the week or two!

My First Assignment!

I am so excited about beginning my Master's Degree in Education. Last week I had two of my very first classes. I am beginning to feel the pressure of deadlines and reading assignment overload. All this on top of my already hectic schedule!