Smiles

Just a glimpse at a few of the reasons I smiled today....

Great Date 1

A few weeks ago, I posted about the Great Date Experiment that Mark and I were hoping to participate in.

Last weekend, we headed out for our first date! The instructions tell you not to look at each part of the date until you have finished the previous point....That was kind of hard for the planner in me!

 

THE DATE:

We went to BJs for dinner (we had never been there!). We were supposed to ask waiter surprise us with whatever he wanted to for dinner! I think it stressed our waiter out a bit! We ended up loving all of the food that we got!

Next, we had to decided whether to make the car super hot or super cold while driving...If you know us well, you know that I hate the cold and Mark hates the hot! So we had to rock, paper, scissor to see who could decide--and I won! We had to choose an activity to do while talking about some questions we were given.  They suggested bowling/ taking a walk....But we just chose to keep driving around instead! 

We ended the night at Target....where we each had a few dollars to pick out a dessert the other one has never had before! That was a challenge, but it was really fun, and we had some dessert to enjoy on the drive home.

It was a very spontaneous date night--but so much fun! The questions they gave us to talk about got us talking about different things, and we are excited for Date #2!

Pictures!

 

3 Minute Story Nationwide Truck Winner

  

 Kid's Night!

  

 Youth Night!

 

  

10 Key  Recipients...Who's key will start the car?!

FREE car winner with her car!

Steak Dinner (for 500) is tomorrow! Can't wait!

WOW!

Really, tonight I have no words to type, or maybe my mind and body are just too exhausted to spit out paragraphs....

A few facts instead....

2- The night of Radiate 2010 we are on

2- Crazy school assemblies

1- Winner of $100

75- The number of pizzas we went through

150+ - The number of 1st-5th graders in attendance

50- The number of kid in the nursery

464- Total attendance

2- Awesome Nintend0 gaming systems!

44-Lives forever changed

1- Number of FREE cars to be given away to a TEENAGER tomorrow!

Hows that for avoiding sentences!  I am off to sort through cards, spend time with my sweet Jesus gearing up for another crazy, awesome day tomorrow, and spending a few moments with my husband! Want to know more about whats going on? Here's a few links:

Kim's Radiate Blog

Radiate Face-book page

FBC Malakoff

Our Rocker Pup

It's amazing what living in the country and getting bored can cause you to do!

Adventures in Cooking!

Last night Mark and I were wanting something sweet.  With nothing pre-made in the house, Mark suggested that we cook something ourselves! After looking through a few recipes, and finding one that we had the ingredients for, we decided on "Heavenly Shortbread". It looked easy, and delicious!

We did have to make our own powdered sugar, because we didn't have any!

Our sugar before and after!

We managed to have only one "mis-adventure", when the mixer spun out of control--sending butter and flour all over the two of us and the kitchen!

In the end, our shortbread bars turned out good, and more importantly, we had a really great time cooking something new together!

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! We aren't really doing much for this holiday, since our anniversary was only a week ago! I do think we may try this soon: The Great Date Experiment. It is from FBC Springdale in AR, and it looks kind of interesting, and like a good way to get out of the movie and dinner dating rut!

Today started out in an amazing way, with 3 of my precious boys coming to know Christ. There is truly no greater love in this life than the one they found through Him today!

(Hearts created here)

Let It Snow!

Yesterday, I was in bed recupping most of the day...so pup and I enjoyed watching the snow fall from the open window most of the time. But, we did venture out once or twice to enjoy the beautiful snow we were getting!

Pup LOVED rolling in the snow!

 

We had to blow dry the icicles off of his legs once we got inside!

Grace was made for lives like this

525,600 minutes

Today, I have been married to my best friend for 31536000 seconds, or 525,600  minutes, or 365 days. Each of those seconds, minutes and days have literally flown by. 

I am more in love today than I was one year ago. And more than I ever knew I could be when we went on that first date 7 years ago this week.  People always said, "You will learn so much more about your husband once you get married." And in my head I laughed.  There are lots of things I didn't believe about marriage until this past year. But now I know more about that amazing man than I ever have, and every day I continue to find out things, big and small, that never cease to amaze me.  

Our first year of marriage has been no piece of cake.  It started out with Mark's company shutting down two weeks before our wedding. Talk about a rough start.  Along the road, my car decided that it was not going to cooperate, so we had repair bills, and the stress of an unreliable car.  We also moved 2 hours from all of our friends, most family, and all of the comforts we knew.  

Our first year of marriage was also full of some of the most special moments.  We were forced to rely upon each other, instead of friends or family in so many ways this year.  We grew in our relationships with the Lord in so many ways.  We learned how to fight fairly.  We had "married" dates, and learned to be frugal but fun.  We got to make decisions together, and learned to become "grown ups" together.

And through it all, good and bad, I had my best friend by my side.  I am so grateful that I have such an amazing husband. Someone who makes me laugh. Who knows how to help me stop crying, but also knows when I need to cry.  He pushes me to become a better person, a stronger person, and a more Christlike woman--even when I don't want to be. Especially when I don't want to be. He supports me and encourages me in all that I do.

I am so excited to begin year number two, and every year after that. I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for our marriage, our future and a future family!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Just wanted to jump on really quick to wish my mom a ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

My mom and I have been through SO much together! She was always the "cool" mom in high school, and I have so many amazing memories from the crazy things she, my brother and I did when I was growing up! From late night slumber parties and fast food runs, vacations, and "rolling", to serious talks and teaching me what it meant to be a Christian, and a godly young woman.  My faith would not be what it was if it were not for my mother. And even through the teenage year "wars" and our ups and downs, she has always been there for me and Shane.  

I love you mom and hope your day was wonderful!

(No picture, because well...they are on f.b. and I can't get on there right now!)

Taco Soup

We had a delicious and easy taco soup for dinner tonight, so I thought I would share the recipe!

Taco Soup

 1 lb. beef

1 med. onion

1 can pinto beans (drained)

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can chili beans (drained)

2 cans Rotel

1 can corn (cream or whole kernel-drained)
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 packet of taco seasoning

Beef broth*

1. Brown beef and onions in skillet

2. In soup pan, mix beef and onions with all other ingredients. (Add in beef broth to bring the soup to desired consistency)

4. Simmer on med. low for 20 to 30 minutes

(*We used 2-3 beef bouillon cubes and 3-4  cups of water)