Let the cooking begin!

So, since I've started my new lifestyle of a diet, people think that there is NOTHING that I can eat. Well, some days it does seem like it is easier to say what I can have rather than what I can't, but luckily God blessed me with a love of the kitchen and a creative mind.

My restrictions are: gluten, dairy, eggs, yeast, soy and legumes (beans and peanuts). And, no red meat or pork because of the high fat. So, it does seem like that eliminates a whole lot. But, luckily there are products out there such as gluten free flour that make life a little easier. Anyway I figured since I have a blog, I might occassionally post a recipe or two up here so people can see that I really do eat rather normally.


My first one isn't a meal, but a snack that I cam up with all on my own. I bought this amazing granola at Sam's club about a month ago that had pumpkin seeds in it and I loved the pumpkin seeds. So the other day when we took our monthly trip to town (in our covered wagon...haha), I visited the Whole Foods Bulk section and found...pumpkin seeds! They looked just like the ones in the granola, so they had to be just as good right? Wrong... they were terrible. I figured then that they probably had to be roasted.... so I figured I'd just make my own granola.

Seeing that it is almost fall (although in the South, you'd never know with the 80-90 degree days), I thought I'd do something a little fall-ish.

So here it is:

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice Granola


1 1/2 cup rolled oats (gluten free of course)
1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
1 tbsp flax seed
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, mix these ingredients together.

1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup pumpkin pie filling
In a small bowl combine these ingredients and whisk until mixed.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent from burning. Take out and let dry. Enjoy!


I had every intention of making another pumpkin delight with the rest of the can of pumpkin pie filling, but I pretty much ate the rest right out of the can with a spoon :) (Hey, its got lots of fiber and Vitamin A!)

Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts

How many of you have flown in an airplane recently? Anyone realized that when the attendants get up and review the safety features, no one really pays attention? I admit, this includes me. I paid REAL close attention the first time I flew.. a little bit the second, but after that, I paid more attention to the guys on the runway putting up luggage... (Hey, someone has to watch them!)

But I was thinking the other day... I wonder if these attendants get angry that people aren't listening to them? I think I would. What if something happens on the plane... then I'm sure everyone is scrambling to find that attendant to ask them what to do. If I were the attendant, I think I'd have to kindly remind everyone that we went over this before takeoff. .. you should've paid attention. Haha, no, of course I would help them.

But what about when there isn't a second chance to help someone? As Christians, it is our job to warn everyone about what to do to prepare themselves for the "crash landing". But there are LOTS of people that just aren't listening. They have better things to do. But I'm willing to bet when those trumpets sound, they'll be scrambling to find a Christian and ask them what to do again. But it will be too late. Time will be up.

Actually, maybe this is our second chance. Genesis tells the story of Noah... who followed God's instruction to build a boat for a flood that was coming. For 120 years Noah kept at it. I'm sure he listened to lots of people tell him he was crazy. He watched plenty of people go about their business as if nothing was going to happen. After all, it wasn't even raining, so what was the big deal? The big deal was that the rain DID come... and those people Noah tried to help? They were no more. The Bible warns us....

"In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them. It will be same when the Son of Man comes" - Matthew 24:38-39


This is our second chance. Have you listened to the flight attendants? Are you equipped with the knowledge to exit the plane safely?

A picture is worth...

A thousand words? Really? Okay, well maybe some of them...

(Courtesy of Awkwardfamilyphotos.com)


I love photography... from taking pictures to looking through old pictures. But does a picture really tell the TRUE story? I was looking through the rehearsal dinner and wedding pictures the other day and got to thinking about what they "say". They speak to the beauty of the day, the happiness and the love that the husband and I have for each other. But.... do they tell the story of what was to come? Not at all. In less than 48 hours, I would begin to have a series of symptoms that turned out to be MS. You would never know from looking at the wedding pictures that this creature of a disease was lurking beneath the surface.

Okay, so maybe pictures aren't supposed to tell the story of what is going to happen in the future, but do pictures really even tell the story of what was REALLY going on at the time? I have a picture of Russ during the first night of our honeymoon where it looks like he is relaxing on the bed and talking on the phone. But what he is really doing is telling his parents the news of my disease. Looking at some family photos from long ago, it appears everyone is really happy... but I now know that they really weren't. There was a storm brewing beneath the surface that would later come to surface and cause an entirely different picture to be painted.

Think of Jon and Kate Gosselin..... Just a year ago, millions of people watched them renew their vows in Hawaii. They both seemed happy... it was a Kodak moment. But oh how that picture has changed now that their marriage is dissolving. There was obviously something else going on that those photos did not portray.

Everyone wants to have the perfect family photo.. you know, a spouse, 2.5 kids and a dog. But there is no such thing as a perfect family. You can use PhotoShop as much as you want, your family is NOT going to be perfect. Natalie Grant has a song called "Perfect People" that is stuck in my head today and it goes right along with these thoughts:

There is no such thing as perfect people, there is no such thing as a perfect life. So come as you are, broken and scarred and be amazed, be changed by a perfect God.

How true.. what we really need to do rather than worrying about matching outfits and perfect smiles is worry about Photoshopping Jesus into the picture to fix the imperfections... and trust God to create the perfect picture!!!

Welcome to the club

Friday night marked the official beginning of high school football with our first football game. Since there is only one school in the county, the games are quite a drive. The wife of the head coach called me last week and invited me to ride with her and some other ladies to the game...which was quite nice since it was a "few country miles away" as one of the ladies said. Note - I love South-isms and I'm actually starting to pick them up which is scary. Today I caught myself saying "I was fixing to tell ya something". I caught myself before it slipped out though and referred back to the Yank Speak (READ: I was going to tell you something very important but it slipped my mind. I will have to tell you later. )

Anyway, on Friday I realized that I am now a part of a new "club" - The Football Wives Club. I never saw this coming and I don't know why I didn't.. I think it crept up on me and I never thought about it. I wasn't with Russ during his first season as coach, so it didn't hit me and I just never thought about it. Until Friday. When I was younger I remember watching NFL games or races (yes, I watched NASCAR races) and seeing those cameras pan over to the wives when their husbands did something.... and I remember thinking I would never EVER want to be that woman on display. Well, we are on our way folks. In a smaller degree...but well on our way.

Some women probably think I'm crazy because those women get attention... money (which I assure you, we are FAR from that stage!).... and perks. What could be better than those three right? Haha.

Well, first, I was never one to enjoy attention. It seems like if the players do something they shouldn't have, everyone watches the coaches to make sure they do their job of scolding them. But when the coaches make a bad call, everyone looks to the wives to make sure they saw their husband's bad move. Here's the truth... I really don't care what he does out on that field... we all make mistakes and I'm sure you make plenty at work too, you just don't have hundreds or thousands of people watching you. Truth is.. I'll proudly stand beside him and support him whether we win every game or lose every game. I believe in him and his calling to attempt to instill integrity and sportsmanship in the next generation of athletes. So please don't think your look will change my mind about him. Hmmm, wonder if I can get a shirt that says all that? :)

Secondly, sure, being the wife has it's perks, but I'm not the type of person to enjoy perks... Should I get to park closer just because I married a man who spends months of his life coaching? Well, its nice, but it sure doesn't make up for the time that I don't have him at home. (There are days that Russ leaves so early in the morning and comes home so late, that the next day, I wonder if I even spoke to him the day before...or was he just a figment of my imagination? And I used too laugh when this guy at work talked about the good months to have a baby. I'm thinking we'll be planning too.... for a bye week delivery...or a spring baby. haha.) I know the perks are just to show appreciation, but the families and fans of the teams sacrifice their time and money to support the team too.


And lastly, you probably won't ever hear me complain about having extra money, because there is always someplace for it to go to. It's a shame that Sallie Mae isn't a charity because we sure give them a lot of money...and will continue to do so until 2025. There are always needs and when we don't have any, others do and we try to give back to them too. But I don't see money being one of the perks of coaching anytime soon!!!!

The upside of this club though is that I get to be a part of my husbands job. Its not like when he worked at the bank and I was a customer... I can now cheer him on from the sidelines. And I get to be a part of the community. And when he is gone from home, I get to do things that interest me... such as blogging :)

Father Abraham

had many sons..had many sons had Father Abraham....Come on.. I know you know the song.... so let's just praise the Lord. I remember singing this song for the longest time and I had no idea why I was considered a child of Abraham. But I thought it was pretty cool that my dad was on the face of a penny. Haha. Later in life, I realized that the Abraham I learned about in school and the Abraham we sang about at that VBS were very different!

Recently I was reading about Bible Abraham and realized how applicable the beginning of his story is to my story right now.

'The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your fathers household and go to the land I show you." - Genesis 12:1

Similarly, I was called to leave my state, my "people" and my family and go to this small town that is completely not what I'm used to. Is it what I would've chosen? No. But, we are creatures of habit and we like to be comfortable. However, we don't grow when we are comfortable! The promise that follows God's command to Abraham makes all of that worth it though...

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" -Genesis 12:2-3

Wow.. that gets me excited. I mean, who doesn't want to leave a legacy of greatness behind? And how cool is it that God promises to "have our backs"? There isn't anyone better to protect us!

God's message to us since the beginning has been to trust Him. Are you trusting in Him to bless your life? To protect you? To love you? To make your name known? Or are you trusting your husband, wife, your boss or yourself to do those things?

Once you trust Him to do these things, your life isn't going to be easy... you are ogoing to have trials and tribulations. Abraham picked up, carried his family to a far away land, and the first thing he experienced was a famine. Why? Not because God forgot about His promise to Abraham, but because He wanted Abraham to TRUST him. God asks us to go places and do things without too many details because He wants us to trust Him. The great thing is... that if we follow Him, He will take care of us...if we obey!

Church Shopping

The past few weeks Russ and I have been searching for a church home in our new town...... and needless to say, its been quite interesting for us. The church we choose to attend can profoundly affect our faith and our relationships here in this new town, so we have been putting a lot of thought into this.

Living in the South, there is this traditional view of a big brick church with a steeple... stained glass windows...a pulpit, a choir, a baptismal and pews. we've seen a lot of those.. nad have visited a few, but you know, none of that makes it a church. Sure, it makes it pretty, but the building sure doesn't welcome the new visitors as well as a person. Seeing that I grew up in a church that met in schools, a movie theatre and an arts center, I do not feel that a church even needs to have a church building to be a church... the body of Christ can meet ANYWHERE. The strength of a church does not lie in the brick of their building, but rather the people of the church!

The first church we went to was a very much so traditional church with all the "churchy" things... but not one soul introduced themselves to us. It was pretty to walk into, but it was relationally cold inside unfortunately. Most regular church goers don't remember the concept of greeting. They quickly meet people and forget what it was like to be a first time visitor. They walk into church, go to their comfortable place and don't get outside their bubble. I admit, I'm guilty. But after visiting a few churches, I will change because it makes a difference, the more people that say hello, the better. Churches shouldn't have to have greeters or a welcome ministry... the whole church should take on that responsibility.

Then there is the music...some people think of hyms, some of more contemporary music. Should there be organs, pianos, dums, guitars, a choir? We actually visited a church that sang without instruments or a worship leader... it was actually very lively! I don't think there is a right or wrong way to worship, we just need to find the church that allows us to express our love and appreciation to God through their worship service.

One of our must haves is ministries...we feel that a church should be growing deeper within and should also be active in the community through their ministries. Unfortunately, this is one thing that a lot of churches have given up.... there are a few select families that do EVERYTHING and they get burned out and the ministries fizzle away. But, sometimes churches can get too internal with their ministries and thats all they talk about. One church talked about who was going to bring what to the church dinner that week...for 20 minutes. I was ready to hear a message from the Word of God! But instead, got a message from my stomach that it was hungry after hearing about food for so long!

We've also realized how important it is to read the statement of beliefs to make sure it lines up with our beliefs and more importantly, the Bible! There are churches who bend the Word of God to be something different...something they are more comfortable with. The message has to be good and cause us to grow in our faith..otherwise what is the point of going to church?

Needless to say, finding a church that "fits" has been harder than finding a pair of jeans that fits!!!

More thoughts...

It's been a few weeks since my last update, so I thought I would check in in case anyone reads this other than my husband :)

Yesterday marked two months of marriage... time is flying by and before we know it, we'll be at the five year mark... and then twenty...fifty.. I can't wait to see what life has in store for us!

God definitely has some big plans for us... I can feel it.... I just don't know what exactly it is and I've been praying really hard to find out exactly what it is that I'm supposed to be doing. While I enjoy serving the guests at the hotel, the pay just isn't going to work for the long term. The problem is that when I work for four hours, I'm dead tired... and I mean TIRED! Right now there is laundry to be done, dishes to be put away and I am glued to the couch...don't have any motivation to move. While my energy has definitely increased with taking supplements, it is still hard to get through the day without a nap. When someone with MS says they are tired, its a whole new definition of tired...its exhausted times 10. I've always been easily "tired" but since June 15th when this attack hit, I've learned a new definition of the word. I'm just thankful that I don't have kids to take care of and have depend on me right now because it is hard. But I'm confident that things are going to continue to get better. And if they don't, well, its in God's hands and He can take care of it.

It's been such a different and peaceful ride learning to let go and let God. sure, there are days when I look at what bills are due for the week and wonder how its going to happen....but I've learned to not really stress about it terribly like I used to. The numbers might not make sense to me, but they do to God...He has it all under control and it seems that when we've needed it the most, there has been unexpected money show up. And a check engine light in Russ' car turned into absolutely nothing.... God takes care of us, that's for sure!
I'm a firm believer that when we tap into our limited resources and help other people out, that God sees that and then reaches into his UNLIMITED resources and gives back to us more than we could imagine. We just have to remember to help others out when they need it and God will help us out when we need it. How encouraging to know that I don't have to take on all the stress of life!

Russ has started football camp and he seems to really like it here. The guys are already seeing him as a leader and looking up to him, which is great. Unfortunately so many young men don't have good male role models in their lives. They need a sense of what a "real" man is.....that a man doesn't have to drink, yell, cuss or be disrespectful to be a man. And its unfortunate that fathers don't care or don't take the time to teach their kids these things........as their kids are the only legacy they will leave behind. But a lot of parents just think that it is someone else's responsibility.... but I once heard a poem that said that there was a job that was given to everybody and everybody thought somebody would do it, but nobody did it. Then somebody got angry because everybody didn't do it but everybody blamed somebody for not doing it. So I guess if the parents aren't going to step up and we see a need, we should step in and do it because at least we are doing something and can't be blamed for doing nothing!

Well, that's all of my provoking thoughts for the day! Until next time....