40 Days in the Word – Week 1

This morning, Ed and I took a needed break from working out and slept in a bit before attending early service at church together.  We were pleased to here from the new teaching pastor.  Both of us can really relate to his style of teaching and gives us a taste of the teaching we miss back from our regular church in Ohio.  After service, we split.  Ed went to Goodwill to drop off our items from yesterday’s purging adventure and I went to serve in the nursery.

This week was the kickoff for the “40 Days in the Word Challenge”.  Ed and I decided as a couple to take on the challenge together since we are currently not part of a small group.  Each week involves a verse to memorize and a lesson.  Scripture memorization is a struggle we both have.  I envy the people who can throw out the most appropriate Bible verse in the middle of a deep conversation.  It is not my gift, but I accept the challenge.

In order for Ed and I to help each other out, I placed this weeks verse on a card and taped it to the bathroom mirror.  How original, right?

Check me out.

Perfect!  As soon as I showed Ed, his first comment was, “you haven’t memorized is yet?”  Seriously, dude?  😉

While we were all set to tackle this lesson on our own, we received a call from friends this afternoon inviting us to their group tonight as they are also starting the lesson and know we were looking for a group to join.  Brian and Pamela are a great couple we met when we first started attending Grace.  They invited us to dinner at their place before group and then we’ll be diving into the lesson with others.  After that Ed’s second volleyball game of the season will take place.

Busy Sunday to say the least.  Sleeping in was definitely a ‘must do’.

What are you up to on this beautiful Sunday afternoon?

With the exception of all the above activities, we did get a little relaxation in, organized some more of the apartment and lots of Sunday Football.  Fantasy Football is a high level topic of conversation around here these days.  What about where you are?

‘Just in Case’ Clothes

Today has been eventful and I’ve barely left the house.  We are going through some major arranging in our little space and purging, purging, purging.  Clothes, books, shoes, handbags, electronics.  You name it.  It’s possibly in a bag right now on it’s way to Goodwill.

We did break for lunch and I made a fantastic Mango Raspberry Protein Smoothie.

Mango Raspberry Smoothie

Mango Raspberry Smoothie

• 1 handful mangoes (I used a whole fresh mango)
• I handful of raspberries (I used a handful of some fresh raspberries that were frozen)
• 1 8 oz. container of Chobani Mango Greek Yogurt
• 1 scoop of cottage cheese
• 1/2 – 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (optional)
• 2-3 ice cubes
• Skim Milk to get everything moving

It was just what I needed since the weather went from pleasant fall to warm and sticky.

On the side, Ed started our salads with Italian salad mix, a sprinkle of Artisan cheese and his homemade dressing.  I added sliced strawberries for some extra bite.  His dressing made the whole salad a little nutty in flavor.  Which is ironic because he is allergic to nuts.  Odd, but filling.

Check out our new glasses from the Sares Rib Burn Off this year.  They make perfect smoothie glasses.

Clothes Donations

I’ve always struggled when I should donate my clothes because I feel like my body is always changing.  It seems like when my clothes are to small, I have no hesitation donating them out of my life, but when they are to big, I keep them around “just in case” I gain that extra weight back.

True story.

Apparently I had more confidence gaining back the weight then actually keeping it off.

One of my old co-workers  put this idea into my head and I would not recommend living by it like I have for so long.  For example, currently I wear a healthy size 6 in most jeans.  At one point in my life, I was a size 12 and some of those jeans were still floating around in my closet, “just in case”.

Will I ever be that size again?  I don’t know.  Will I ever want to be that size again?  Most likely not.  So, I could potentially keep these items in my closet for years under the “just in case” wardrobe and never wear them again.

Today (and some of this past week), I finally am saying goodbye to the “just in case” clothes and moving on to continuing my active lifestyle.

Now, who wants to go shopping 😉

Popcorn Jokes

What did the baby corn say to the mama corn?

Via

Where’s POPcorn?

🙂

Oh, you know you want to laugh.  Or your mouth is salivating at the thought of the buttery, salty goodness of this popped treat.

I have always loved popcorn and when companies started expanding into flavors such as kettle corn, I was unstoppable.

When my siblings and I were younger, I can remember my mom bringing out the old popcorn machine, heating it up and all three of us would struggle to share the small space to stare into the machine anticipating the first big POP!

For our wedding registry, I went back and forth with putting a table top, at home popcorn machine on our list for the memories I have from it.  Reality was though, we were starting our marriage in a small, one bedroom apartment with not a lot of space for extra appliances.  So, I went to the next best thing for fresh popcorn without all the extra calories from microwave popcorn and barely any space used.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

All you need is the following.

• 1/3 cup of kernals
• A brown paper bag
• Tape

Add the kernels to the bag and tape close.

Place in microwave and set for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, approx.  This part depends on you microwave.  It has come out perfect for me before by simply pushing the “Popcorn” button on my microwave.

Post Microwave Filled Bag

When finished, melt butter and add your favorite flavoring.  I added some melted butter and garlic salt.

Enjoy!

How do you like your popcorn?  Sweet, savory, buttery or extra salty?