tales of life in a basement

happy birthday ash!

2011-11-14T10:55:00.000-05:00

so this weekend, i had the joy of celebrating ashley turning a quarter of a century- and attend a shower for little rhett! it was a great time celebrating and recognizing the sweet friendship we share. because of her current situation (strict bed rest) we took both parties to her and had a great time watching the uga/auburn game at her folks house along with our husbands, her parents and inlaws, and her cousin and her best friend and their kids. no football party would be complete with out chili and dips, so i brought along my white chicken chili, my avocado relish, and some homemade salsa- one of charlie's favs. add to that her chili, some yummy buffalo chicken dip, a veggie tray, and more and you've got a party! but to really make the celebration complete, i surprised ash with a birthday cake that i worked extra hard on. check it out- it was a giant homemade cookie cake with icing, and vanilla cake pops decorated in uga and auburn colors along with some cake ball footballs. it was quite a hit :)

i must brag on the vendor i ordered the sprinkles from- i wanted blue sprinkles for the auburn pops, and i stumbled upon this awesome bakery supply store. i highly recommend them! check out sweetbakingsupply.com

here's a few pics of the work in progress- i didnt get any of the pops process because i was the only one home and lets just say i made the most epic mess ever. oops.

happy birthday ash! so glad you are my friend and you were born 25 years ago!

time to clean out the pantry!

2011-11-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

so nathan put me up to this challenge to use everything in our cabinet. more on why later, but lets just say- i'm always up for a good challenge! so, the last week or so, and going forward, we are trying to creatively use the things already in our cabinet with just a few additional ingredients. i kind of like it- planning meals and what not based on a set list. so now, anytime i go to plan/cook, i pretend i'm in the chopped kitchen on food network. dorky? sure. but thats just who i am :)

san fran, take 2!

2011-11-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

so a few weeks ago, nathan and i got the chance to go back to san fran for a salesforce training. we went a couple days early and enjoyed seeing the city. let me just say- san fran is incredible. i mean, great vacation spot. there was so much to do and see, so much to eat, and the weather and atmosphere was just spectacular. we got there early saturday morning, picked up our rental car, and headed into town. traffic was crazy, so we parked and started to walk and then, among the masses of people, realized it was fleet week, which is this awesome expo of the navy, marines, and coast guard. there were men (and women) in uniform everywhere, and the harbor was full of all sorts of ships. plus, there were constant airshows going on, including the blue angels. it was pretty cool. so we took that in a while, ate some in-n-out, and enjoyed the city. we added it up and walk at least 9 miles that day, and it was great!

sunday, we did more of the same- although we did drive across the golden gate bridge to explore muir woods, where the red woods are. they were HUGE, and quite beautiful. they were ancient (many of them older than our country!) and quite tall. it was such a refreshing morning, soaking in God's incredible creation.

the rest of our trip was just as fun- we ate at some incredible places, tasted many yummy cupcakes, plus i learned quite a bit at my salesforce training. nathan had to go home on tuesday so mom flew out at the same time and she spent the rest of the week with me. we did more of the same- good food, cupcakes, and sight seeing. it was such a great trip- time with two of my favorite people doing some of my favorite things!

mom and i went to see the sea lions, we shopped, saw the "painted ladies" and the place where full house was set, shopped, ate more cupcakes, and probably my fav, took tea at this awesome tea house. it was fantastic- just all of it. i love my mom and this trip was quite special.

if you're heading to san fran, let me know- i'll tag along :)

in-n-out

2011-11-12T00:40:00.000-05:00

so, we LOVE in-n-out. i mean, really. we attempt to choose our travel destinations based on their proximity to some double-double goodness.

san diego, las vegas, san fran, LA= much in-n-out.

our fav? nothing beats a double-double, fries, and a strawberry shake. sometimes, nathan even gets three. double doubles that is.

what about you? any favorite places you like to frequent on your travels?

a permanent resident in the life of Love

2011-11-01T15:49:00.000-04:00

so i know this post will totally thrill my mom (love you!) but i wanted to share some scripture that has really been on my heart & mind lately. its a lot, so you might want to come back when you have a bit, but as you read this, soak it in. think through these words and commandments. and let me know your thoughts...as i would love to share mine.

1 john

(from the message by eugene peterson)

From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.

If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim.

But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.

If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world's. Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God.

Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you've known it from day one. It's always been implicit in the Message you've heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!

Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It's the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God's light and doesn't block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus' name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.

And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God's word is so steady in you.

Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.

Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they're all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That's how we know that we're close to the end.

They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong.

But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven't been writing this to tell you something you don't know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn't breed lies.

So who is lying here? It's the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that's who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son. No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.

Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!

I've written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they're no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ's anointing, no less! You don't need any of their so-called teaching. Christ's anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.

And now, children, stay with Christ.

Live deeply in Christ.

Then we'll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.

Once you're convinced that he is right and righteous, you'll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God's true children.

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are.

But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.

But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.

All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God's order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They've got him all backward.

So, my dear children, don't let anyone divert you from the truth. It's the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil's ways.

People conceived and brought into life by God don't make a practice of sin. How could they? God's seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It's not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here's how you tell the difference between God's children and the Devil's children: The one who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, nor is the one who won't love brother or sister. A simple test.

For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.

We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.

The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together.

This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.

If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

My dear children,

let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love.

This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command.

As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.

My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world.

Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!

My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God.

Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever.

But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

God is love.

When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.

This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both.

Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten. If we love the One who conceives the child, we'll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God's children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus—the Divine Christ! He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death. Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death. And all the while the Spirit is confirming the truth, the reality of God's presence at Jesus' baptism and crucifixion, bringing those occasions alive for us. A triple testimony: the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement.

If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God's testimony. Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God's own testimony regarding his Son.

This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.

My purpose in writing is simply this:

that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.

And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.

For instance, if we see a Christian believer sinning (clearly I'm not talking about those who make a practice of sin in a way that is "fatal," leading to eternal death), we ask for God's help and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. There is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I'm not urging you to pray about that. Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal.

We know that none of the God-begotten makes a practice of sin—fatal sin. The God-begotten are also the God-protected. The Evil One can't lay a hand on them. We know that we are held firm by God; it's only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One. And we know that the Son of God came so we could recognize and understand the truth of God—what a gift!—and we are living in the Truth itself, in God's Son, Jesus Christ.

This Jesus is both True God and Real Life.

Dear children, be on guard against all clever facsimiles.

numbers

2011-10-31T18:44:00.003-04:00

in the last six weeks, i have become quite the traveler. i have spent more time packing, traveling, and unpacking than i have pretty much anything else. don't believe? these numbers don't lie!

17,072...number of miles flown
70...number of meals eaten out
5...number of meals eaten at in-n-out
19...number of nights in a hotel
6...number of destinations visited
8...number of trips taken (3 to california!)
7...number of cupcakeries visited
4...number of nights stayed with friends

needless to say, it's good to be home :)

so now that i'm done traveling, look forward to many good posts. i promise, i'll be much better than i have been the last six weeks. i feel like i said that two weeks ago. but look forward to many good things!

white chicken chili

2011-10-13T13:33:00.002-04:00

so last weekend, inspired by the crisp autumn air, we came home from church and i made a big old pot of my white chicken chili. i don't know about you, but there is something just so cozy about coming home from a great morning at church, changing into my sweats, and smelling something good cooking on the stove. we did have to make a stop to grab a few things from the store on the way, but during the autumn/winter months, i like to keep the basics of this chili in the cabinet.

i love this recipe because its good, hearty, goes a long way, and is pretty simple.

feel free to take it and tweak it.

i should add that i make white chili because i have a pretty strong tomato intolerance, so normal chili is out the window for me. i've made it a few times (we host an annual christmas chili party for our friends) but i dont claim to be great at it, because i can't really taste it.

and, white chili is a little different flair. if you've not had it before, its got more of a tex-mex feel. its great served the same way as regular chili- i usually top mine with a little sour cream and cheese, with either fritos or cornbread. sometimes i even add in some fresh cilantro and maybe a chopped jalapeno.

so to start with, i get everything out and get ready. this time, i was making a double batch because i wanted to make enough for us to take for lunch to work all week.

the goods

i was somewhat surprised to find local chicken at walmart?

for my chili, i like to use a combo of light colored beans. this time, i used navy beans, chick peas, and great northern white beans. pretty much though, you can use whatever you prefer, as long as they are light colored

so first step, start boiling the chicken in some salty water.

once you've got that going, drain your beans and get them ready. the recipe calls for about 1 lb of beans, so i used 6 cans (2 of each). i like my chili extra-beany.

as you can see, my recipe has been used several times. and i'm not very neat. ah well, its well loved!

so i also go ahead and get my pan ready to saute some onions.

so once your chicken is starting to boil, you want to combine your beans with 6 c. chicken broth (12 shown here) with 1 chopped onion and 2 tbsp minced garlic. you can add to this if you'd like, but i find this makes a pretty good base. now i made this on my stove this time, but often, i'll throw all of this in the crock pot to let it cook down. this will need to simmer for a good 4+ hours. also, you can chop your onions as fine/chunky as you prefer.

isn't this guy fun? my dad picked us up this olive oil container and its great- it makes the perfect drizzle and doesn't drop or leak

so this is my workspace to prepare to chop the onions. tip: when chopping onions, if you have problems tearing up, either put a big chunk of bread in your mouth, or cut next to an open flame, the onion juices will burn up and you won't cry!

so i put half of those chopped onions in the chicken broth & beans, and i saute the other half. i get them good and soft and golden, then add in 2 cans of chopped green chilis. i let them saute for just a minute or so.

yum.

then i add all my spices to this and stir well. i add cumin, red pepper (cayenne), a little oregano, some lawrys & some lawrys season pepper. i'm pretty generious with how much, but you want at least 2 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp cayenne, and 3/4 tsp oregano. and several good dashes of the seasoned salt and seasoned pepper.

stirred up and ready to go.

ok so once your chicken is boiled, it should look about like this.

so you want to tear/chop/whatev into small pieces/cubes. you can keep it as chunky as you like, or go for shreds. i opt for shreds..

and then, after your beans+broth have cooked down for a good 4 hours, you add the chicken and onions and peppers.

yum, huh?? now you want to let this cook for AT LEAST an hour. the longer, the better.

be sure to stir this a good deal so you don't get any stickage. also, so if you are going to have this cooking in your crock pot all day, say while you are out to work or whatever, let the beans+broth cook all day, and when you get home, have all of the chicken+onions&peppers ready to just dump in. then, dinner will be ready in an hour. if you do do this, make sure you add extra broth to the beans depending on how long you will be gone. maybe even an equal amount of water. or, just keep your crock pot on low.

and there you go! yum, huh? here is my bowl, with some fresh cilantro, ready to devour.

a little sour cream goes a long way in adding a creaminess factor to it.

and of course, some fresh cheddar cheese on top.

there you have it friends! white chicken chili! check out the recipe below:

Ingredients:

1 lb. white beans (I like to use dried beans and soak them overnight- I combine 1/2 bag of Navy and 1/2 bag of Great Northern or something like that- I've tried a lot of different beans and they all taste about the same, just so long as they are white)

6 c. chicken broth

2 cloves minced garlic (1 tbsp)

2 medium onions, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 4 oz. cans of diced green chilis (last time, I accidently used diced jalapenos which made it super spicy)

2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne (all my spices I eyeball instead of measure, and I always use probably triple what it calls for, because I like a lot of flavor)

4 c. cooked, diced chicken (I like to boil about 2 lbs of chicken and shread it)

Chopped Cilantro

1-2 Fresh Jalapenos, chopped

Cheese+other toppings

Directions:

1. Combine beans, broth, garlic, and 1/2 onions in large pot and bring to boil. Go ahead and turn on your crock pot if you are going to use it so it will be hot. Once the mixture is boiling, transfer to crock pot and simmer 3+ hours (I've let it simmer all day before, but if you do that, just add extra broth or water)

2. In skillet, saute the rest of onions in oil until tender. Add chilis & seasoning and mix well. Add to crock pot, then add chicken. Simmer 1+ hour. Check, and right before you serve add chopped cilantro and fresh jalapeno to taste.

3. Serve and Enjoy!!

could i get a little info please?

2011-10-11T16:52:00.004-04:00

if you'll notice, to the left of this post is a little blurb about how i am trying to gather your info for my records. pretty soon, i'll begin the process of getting our christmas cards together and i want to make sure i have everyone's info. i promise not to share anything you give me or anything like that, i just want to send you a christmas card.

if you are interested, just Click here to take survey. thanks friends!

unreached: the zaza-dimli of turkey

2011-10-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

while nathan and i have been in san fran, we have seen a lot of different people. its always amazing to me how many people can come together in one place. even more apparent than the skin colors and languages we hear is the variety of food available. greek. chinese. thai. irish. mexican. italian. etc. we are surrounded by the world. we can't help but talk about how incredible it is that people from all over the world come together here in the US.

all of this made me excited to blog about the unreached people group this week. i know i have missed a few weeks, but to me, this is one blog topic that i like to take quite seriously.

today, i ask you to join me in praying for the zaza-dimli people of turkey. the joshua project has identified them as one of the top 10 people groups needing to be reached. a people group that is a type of kurdish people, the zaza-dimli have their own dialect as well as their own "sect" of islam. shocking to me was the fact that, although they number over 1.1 million, the government of turkey doesn't recognize them, and will not assist in meeting their basic needs. additionally, there are literally no believers among them. there is no copy of the bible in their language. and while they have been identified as in need of missionaries, there seem to be none present.

would you join me today in asking our Father to reveal himself to these people? pray for believers to be willing to go, to learn the language and translate the bible so that these zaza-dimli might be able to read and know our great God. pray also for a mindset shift within the government, that He would help meet the physical needs of these people through the government of Turkey. pray the God would raise up a generation of these kurds that would worship Him as the one True God.

100 posts!

2011-10-11T00:24:00.003-04:00

so its hard to believe but this is my 100th post!

i must say, i am really enjoying this blogging thing.

here's a few pics from our trip so far.

and ps, here's some places you've GOT to check out if you come to san fran....

kokkari estiatorio

dottie's

gharidelli's

yes my friends, we have arrived...at the in-n-out on the wharf

yes please! a little double double, some fries, and a strawberry shake...yum@

hanging out in muir woods with the 400+ year old trees (redwoods)

at the wharf...pretty cool, we got there and it turned out to be fleet week, so we got to see the blue angels and a lot of other pretty cool air shows!

yes, that is a REAL background :)

25:29!

2011-10-07T15:28:00.001-04:00

this past weekend, while up at berry for mountain day, nathan and i, along with our whole crew of buddies, ran in a 5k. it was a blast running berry's campus like i did as a student, plus it was fun to get active with my friends! (most of our hangouts involve lots of food and most of it on the not so healthy side:) ). to top it all off, i had an awesome time that i was quite proud of- 25:29!

yay for new shoes!

2011-10-06T12:50:00.000-04:00

so the other night, i ordered new running shoes- yay!

i had to tell you about the site i used to order them- after going thru ebates, i found this site called roadrunnersports.com. not only did i get 8% cash back through ebates, they had this awesome option to purchase a VIP membership for 1.99 that ultimately saved me $14! so basically, i paid $2 for a $14 coupon. but the good news is, the membership lasts for a year! and it got me free shipping, which is basically another $7 or $8 off.

my shoes were shipped out within a few hours and i got a nifty email documenting that. they should come in tomorrow, which i am pumped about. all in all, i definitely recommend them!! check them out for your running gear!

stay hungry. stay foolish.

2011-10-06T09:36:00.001-04:00

last night, while driving to agnes scott, nathan and i were blown away by the annoucement of the passing of the great steve jobs. he truly was a remarkable guy, a visionary, and someone worthy of being looked up to. while he created a lot of great products, he also modeled what it is to pursue the impossible. nathan has shared this link before, but i wanted to repost the transcript from mr. jobs only commencement address, given in 2005 at standford university:

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much."

Steve Jobs, thank you for your dedication, your drive, and the example you've given to our great nation of what creativity truly is.

i'm certified!

2011-10-04T16:19:00.000-04:00

after a week of training and weeks of studying, and 2 years hammering around in the software, i'm officially a certified salesforce administrator!

now, on to the advance admin certification!

pages of notes

far up in the hills of georgia stands old berry tried and true...

2011-10-03T14:23:00.000-04:00

so this weekend, we loaded up the edge and headed up to sweet sweet berry. i loved by days at berry. they were full of learning, friends, outside, memories, coffee, and growth.

each october, we return for mountain day- an age old tradition to pay homage to miss martha berry, the found of the college. its hard to believe that my first mountain day was 6 years ago....

christina, erin, and i our freshman year.

so how mountain day works is that it is really a whole weekend. on friday, the dorms compete in an annual olympics. each dorm has a secret theme with tshirts and its just a blast. friendship (my dorm) always went way beyond just tshirts and did whole themes. freshman year, as can be seen above, we were girl scouts, complete with cookies that we gave out.

sophomore year, we were a baseball team, complete with jerseys and bags of popcorn.

me & erin

erin & lyd

our class :)

junior year, we were a naval fleet, aka the "friend ship" kind of lame, but we had fun.

and finally, senior year, we had some green recycling theme going on. kind of crazy.

then, on saturday, everyone goes up to the mountain for a picnic and the grand march. a strange old tradition, we basically line up and march down a hill, giving our age in pennies to the president in a basket as a gift. we march down, then come down in pairs, then come down in fours, then eights, and finally 16 across. its a big deal to be a senior, because typically, there are only enough boys to hold hands with the senior girls, and everyone else ends up holding hands with girls. its a fun tradition, and once we get down to the bottom in 16, we sing the alma mater and the class president gives the president the pennies. and that's the grand march! its a lot of fun, as crazy as it sounds. oh, and one other thing you will see below, there's a dress code. well, more of a color code. underclassman women wear pink, underclassmen guys wear blue, senior girls wear blue, and senior guys wear white. here's some pics throughout the years:

sophomore year

me, christina, and our friend amory

one of our first pics together :)

me and christina- marching!

me and erin

junior year!

getting ready to march- me, lyd, christina, and erin

trying to keep up!

finally seniors!

check it out...boys!

the beginnings of the march

not sure if you can tell but i'm giving my pennies

we got to hold hands with boy!

lydia never would march- but she took lots of pics!

lydia capturing the commotion

needless to say, it was always a good time. this year, we met up again to watch the march and enjoy remembering the glory days.

this year, me, christina, eli, nathan, and graham

christina, lydia, erin, and me

nathan and his friend adam

and here's our alma mater:

far up in the hills of georgia stands old berry tried and true
the shrine of many a memory of the silver and the blue
our loyalty and love we pledge
God keep thee without fail
behold the light
that shines for right
alma mater hail all hail!

what's for dinner tonight

2011-09-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

so after several weeks of crazy/busy/travel/fast food/take out/etc, i've had a hankerin' to cook. there is something so soothing about frantically buzzing around the kitchen, cooking and chopping and stirring and checking and all. while nathan grilled us some dinner last night, i had been thinking all day about coming home and getting to work. while at publix yesterday, i saw some flank steak on sale, which made me think of this awesome aprons simple meal that i made a few months back, so i wanted to make that. then, today, while sitting with ash, we were watching some of my all time fav- food network, and, while i don't know who it was that was cooking, she made these awesome looking cheesy jalapeno grits. i wasn't thinking grits of course, i was thinking of making the same thing with quinoa! then, i decided that since it seemed to be a tex mex flair, i'd go with some safe black beans as a side. all of this turned out so yummy, i just had to share! i also made my yummy peanut butter bars for dessert, to share with the ladies at agnes and then for nathan and i to enjoy while we caught up on up all night & modern family.

needless to say, it was all a success. dinner was yummy, the time in the kitchen was soothing and refreshing, and the dessert was a perfect finish. now, we sit on the couch, ready to reply our shows, while anxiously listening to the end of the braves game.

here's the recipes, in case you were wanting!

spicy steak:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 big tbsp spicy montreal steak seasoning
a good dash of lawrys
1 piece of meat (i used a little less than a pound of flank steak)

combine first 4 ingredients in a medium size bowl, then smush the steak in, coating both sides in the goodness. allow to sit for 10-30 minutes. i grilled this in my le creuset cast iron grill for about 15 minutes. perfectly juicy and a nice little crunch. VERY spicy though.

cheesy jalapeno quinoa:

1 jalapeno, chopped in chunks
1/4 c. butter, divided
1 c. quinoa
2 c. water
shredded cheddar cheese

saute chopped jalapeno in 1/8 c. butter. add quinoa and stir until coated, so flavor gets on each little piece of quinoa. add in about 1 c water and cook 20-25 minutes, checking and adding water when dry. right before serving, add in cheese to taste, and rest of butter, stirring well. this was a great companion for the spicy steak, as it added some relief from the heat.

peanut butter bars:

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour (i use 1/2 c. whole wheat & 1/2 c. all purpose)
1/2 c. oats
1 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 c. chocolate chips (i used white choc. because that's all i had)

combine butters & sugars, then add egg & vanilla until fluffy. combine dry ingredients, then add in. put chocolate chips in last, or you can sprinkle them on top. bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes in a greased 9x13 pan. let cool 10 minutes then add icing:

2 tbsp peanut butter
good dash of milk
1-2 c. powdered sugar

combine until good consistency & color & taste. i know, real helpful, but you'll get the idea. pour over bars. if you let it sit & cool for a little while, it will firm up and you can cut them to put them on a platter.

enjoy! what do you like to cook?

Update: You asked for some pics, so here you go! I don't have a finished shot of the meat because we had to hurry out the door, but trust me, it was SUPER yummy!

unreached: the algerians

2011-09-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

i know i have missed the last few weeks, but i wanted to join together today to pray for the arabic-speaking algerians. they are one of the absolute least reached people groups, and need much prayer for workers to come. located in north africa, the algerians live- of course- in algeria. they are mostly sunni muslims, although there is a strong presence of a berber muslim fusion religion. the algerians number somewhere close to 24,912,000, with only .23% of those professing to be believers. while there has been some missionary activity in the last two years, the majority of the people are still without a knowledge of the one true Savior.

how can we pray for these people?

pray that God would awaken a desire in people to go here.

pray that God would give missionaries new ideas on how to share the gospel with the algerians.

pray for churches to be planted among the berber algerians, and for muslim algerians to be open to hearing about the gospel.

father, be with the algerians now. God would you please stir up courageous people to proclaim your gospel among these people? they are so many- why are there so few believers? lord, please bless those that are already working among them- give them creativity and wisdom as how to share you with those who need you most.

iphone 5! iphone 5!

2011-09-27T12:08:00.000-04:00

it's official!! woo hoo!!

http://www.bgr.com/2011/09/27/apple-sends-out-invites-for-iphone-event-on-october-4th/

mellocreme pumpkins

2011-09-27T10:41:00.001-04:00

i have a bit of an obsession.

cupcake crawl: hospital edition

2011-09-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

so my friend ash has been having some complications with her pregnancy that has landed her in bed rest in the hospital for a while. without sharing too much of her personal business, suffice it to say, her, charlie, and baby rhett could use your prayers. she is stable and so is rhett, but they will continue to monitor her and rhett until he makes his appearance.

so, what does a good best friend take to her friend in the hospital? well, when that friend is me, CUPCAKES! i texted ash and let her know that i was coming and needed her help for the blog, and she said she would be happy to! so i stopped by southern poundcakes, this great bakery near my office and the hospital, and grabbed a half dozen little cups of happiness and headed on over. our friend lauren was there too, so the three of us chatted and rated and ate some sugary goodness.

here's what we thought:

altogether, we gave southern poundcakes an average rating of 80.33. not bad! i think their mini poundcakes are my favorite, but the cupcakes were fun & happy.

for an update, you should know that ash got discharged from the hospital tonight- hurray! big answer to prayer, although we continue to pray for ashley and rhett as they continue the journey towards full term. pray that God would keep rhett nestled inside of ashley until His perfect timing.

hang in their rhett, and stay well ash!!

what i know for sure...

2011-09-21T15:05:00.001-04:00

for today's post, i wanted to share with you an email i sent to ash today. i know that we serve a mighty big God who promises us mighty great things, and loves us in a mighty strong way. join me in praying for ashley and charlie and baby rhett today, asking that our Father would just overwhelm them with His presence and His love.

ashley told me that she might do a blog or at least a journal, and she loved how oprah uses the phrase "what i know for sure." what i know for sure, is that God is in control.

ash,

girl, i just want to start by saying that i have been so impressed, so challenged, and so convicted by the amount of faith i have seen in you these last few days. i cannot even imagine what you are feeling, thinking, and living through. your peace, your faith, and your confidence i know is a blessing from the Lord and a result of your clinging to Him.

while i don't know what to say, i know these things:

God is all powerful- "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. "- 2 cor. 4:7-10

God wants to root you in His love even now- "and i pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - eph. 3:17-19

God is in control- "therefore i tell you, do not worry about life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. are you not much more valuable than they?"-matt. 6:25

God can be your joy even now- "though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."-1 peter 1:8

God is your hope even now- "To them God has chosen to make known among the gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is CHrist in you, the hope of glory" - col. 1:27

"we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe."- 1 timothy 4:10

"set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." -1 peter 1:13

God is good and wants the BEST for you- "and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." - romans 8:28

God is your foundation & firm ground- "therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." - 1 cor. 15:58

God has already prepared you for this- "for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us."-eph. 2:10

"being confident in this, that he who bega a good work in you will carry it on to completion until teh day of Christ jesus"-phil. 1:6

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godlieness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."-2 peter 1:3

God has a plan for you, for Rhett, and for your family- "for i know the plans i have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."-jeremiah 29:11

God is your confidence- "but blessed is the man who trusts in the lord, whose confidence is in Him. he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. it does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." - jeremiah 17:7-8

God is going before you to prepare the way- "i will go before you and will level the mountains; i will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. i will give you the treasure of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." -isaiah 45:2-3

God is with you- "yet i am always with you; you hold my by my right hand. you guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory."- ps 63:23-24

This is happening in God's time- "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of me, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end" -Ecc. 3:11

God is your peace- "therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."-romans 5:1-2

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your equests to God. and the peace of God, whcih transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"-phil. 4:6-7

God has made you a conqueror of all of this- "what shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? as it is written, 'for your sake we face death all dong; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." - romans 8:35-37

God cares about you- "cast all your anxiety on Him, because he cares for you" -1 peter 5:7

God is your strength even now- "my flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" - ps. 73:26

God is your refuge- "bus as for me, it is good to be near God. i have made the sovereign Lord my refuge; i will tell of all your deeds." -ps. 73:28

"it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" - ps. 118:8

God is knitting Rhett together in your womb- "for you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. i praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, i know that full well." -ps. 139:13-14

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born i set you apart; i appointed you as a prophet to the nations" -jeremiah 1:5

God loves you, deeply- "may your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant." - ps 119:76

God wants to be the answer for all your fears- "but now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you o jacob, he who formed you, o israel: fear not, for i have redeemed you; i have summoned you by name; you are mine" -isaiah 43:1

God can do more than we can dream- "Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church in in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen!"- eph. 3:20-21

praying for you even now,

whit

cupcake crawl: the cake house

2011-09-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

so a few weeks ago, i stopped by the cake house on my way home. i had tried to stop by before and couldn't find it, so this time, i was glad to be able to locate it and get there before they closed.

i must say, i was a bit let down.

when i walked in, the store was kind of cool because you could see the whole kitchen. it was decorated with cupcake knicknacks. i waited a bit for the woman in front of me to make her selections, then i made mine, pretty much getting one of everything that they had left.

carrot cake

traditional cake- tasted just like a publix/walmart/kroger cupcake. couldn't decide if that was a good or a bad thing

pink lemonade cupcake- by far, mine and nathan's favorite

red velevet

the remains :)

all in all, we gave this place a 70. good for the stockbridge area, but not our favorite.

britt's shower

2011-09-20T15:16:00.002-04:00

last sunday, we had brittany's baby shower! it was such a sweet celebration of anticipation for little ella. we can't wait to meet her.

we had the shower at ashley's house, and enjoyed an array of appetizer type foods and our cupcakes- which were quite a hit!

chillin' in the fridge

ash and i team-efforted the corsage- ash made the roses out of baby washcloths, then i arranged them together in this. and we taped it, yes, like scotch tape, together. ha!

ash and jamie made these awesome cookies, which we topped with our leftover candy ellas. beautiful!

the awesome cupcakes!!

our little girl punch- complete with teething rings :)

our food table- yummy, huh?

little lincoln- he was the last one we celebrated!!

the glowing mom and i- congrates britt!

me and ash with our creation

yes, we matched :)

it was a great shower and we can't wait to meet little ella!

strawberry cupcakes

2011-09-13T22:35:00.000-04:00

so this weekend, in the midst of packing for my trip and watching my awesome husband play baseball, we helped host a baby shower! and what a cute one it was! while i plan on blogging on all the little details tomorrow, i thought i should start with the cupcakes ash and i made. they were pretty much awesome, i’m not going to lie!! while we are all about cake pops, based on the logisitics of the weekend we recognized that we wouldn’t have time to assemble something to our level of perfection. plus, with all the showers we do for our lifegroup, we like to mix it up- the first shower we did a three-tiered cake, then the cake pops, so we opted for cupcakes. inspired by none other than pinterest, we went for some fun cupcakes with a sugar cookie on top. we divided to conquer and ash made the cookies and i made the cupcakes, then we helped each other assemble.

so saturday night, after a long day at the baseball field, i got to work. and i lost the site i got the recipe from, but if you want it, i have it saved. i liked this recipe because it had 1 1/3 cup of fresh strawberries- yum! and an interesting addition- strawberry milk! of course, most nesquick and what not versions of strawberry milk have HCFS in it, so i found the cute little horizon milks that are all organic!

the strawberry milk

yum fresh strawberries going in the food processor to make puree!

so sometimes my baking is all about improvising. while i went to the store the day before to get everything i needed, somehow i forgot that i needed more sugar?! so, i combined what i had- i'm sure this is a baking nono, but i mixed some organic cane sugar, some demerera sugar, and some brown sugar. it works, right?

the color was almost perfect, but i added a few drops of red food coloring because i wanted to ensure that the cupcakes turned out bright pink.

i tried out a new buttercream recipe, and we loved it!

this turned out awesome- and super fluffy!

my perfectly pink strawberry cupcakes.

i colored my frosting gray by using black coloring, but just a bit. then, using a star tip, i piped on the swirl.

then, sunday morning, once i got to ash's, i melted down some white candy melts and put them in a zip loc bag with a small tip and piped "ella" the sweet baby girl's name. now even though i only made 30 cupcakes, i made about 60 ellas, because, since they were made of chocolate, they were super fragile. i wanted to make sure i had enough in case some broke, and i thought we could definitely use some elsewhere.

the finished product!

look forward to tomorrow's post on the shower!

a berry baseball weekend

2011-09-12T12:46:00.003-04:00

on the road again....seems to be the song of my life right now!

but, this time, i'm going to blog (a little better than i did at dreamforce!!)

i had to share these sweet pics of my husband from this weekend. we were up at berry for a baseball alumni weekend and had the sweetest time. nathan was a catcher for four years and it was great to see him play with some of his old teammates as well as some even older & younger guys. we went up friday for a picnic and then saturday enjoyed a softball game, watching bp, and then finally a full baseball game.

we loved our years at berry. our time there only overlapped for 2 years (so nathan was there 2 years before me and i was there 2 years after him). berry has a beautiful campus. its one of the world's largest, actually! and it was so great to be back- the smells, the sights, the nature, the friendliness of the people- all of it. if you don't know much about berry, i encourage you to check it out! www.berry.edu

saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast with maybe our favorite family in rome- the vances. back in college, i babysat their sweet babies (calvin & sophie) for two years, and i cherished time with them. we love the family so much, we did our premarital counseling with garland and dorothy, and garland married us. we met them at the new steak and shake, and enjoyed chatting and visiting and laughing and watching their now babies play as little kids.

it was a great weekend, and so good to see nathan catch. funny story, we weren't dating too seriously when he played in college, but i came to a few of his games. i never once saw him hit any homeruns- and the boy could hit some bombs. without fail, he'd hit them right before i got there or right after i left. i have seen him hit one or two in his softball games with his brother, but those aren't quite the same. so, before the game, i pulled him aside and asked him to hit me a homerun. each at bat, i'd hold my breath- the first few he had great hits, but no homeruns. it was still fun, and i sat right behind homeplate so i could watch him catch. then, just as i was about to go grab a drink from the concessions, he was up again. so i turned to watch and he hit- and i knew it was a good hit. it was beautiful. and it kept going, and going, and going. and it was gone! a homerun!! i was so proud- and it was the only one of the game!! he was pumped, his coach was pumped, his old teammates were pumped- it was perfect!! and now i can finally say that i saw him hit a homerun! :)

check out these pics!

ahh... home sweet home!

at the softball game

nathan even got the chance to pitch for a little bit- and he did great!

lyd & sarah joined me to watch & cheer nathan on

warming up for the game!

waiting for his first at bat

with the guys

the whole crew

so they had a jumpy for all the alumni kids, and sarah and lyd decided to try it out at the end- ha!