House Love

This house is for sale right down the road from my apartment, and I am in love with it!  If Jeremy and I were going to be living in Lynchburg, and we could afford it, I'd want it :)  I drive by it about 3 or 4 times every day and think "I love that house" every time.

I looked it up online and the inside is just as beautiful as the exterior.  But the site doen't allow you to copy the inside photos so I can't share those :(

Thought y'all might enjoy looking at this beauty as well!

Chicken Taco Soup- A Round 2 Recipe

Have you ever watched Sandra Lee's Money Saving Meals on the Food Network?  I like to watch it every now and then and always enjoy her "round 2" receipes where she uses leftovers from her meal to create another meal.  This recipe is inspired by that.  All you have to do is plan to buy a couple of extra ingredients while your grocery shopping and you get two meals from one.

I had fixed chicken fajitas for supper one night last week and had planned to use the leftovers to make chicken taco soup. 

Here's what I included:
1 large can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
Leftover fajita chicken
Leftover black beans
Leftover white rice
1 can of corn
1 packet of taco seasoning
Sour Cream for topping (if desired)

All you have to do is combine all the ingredients in a large pot and warm!  Quick, easy, and delicious!  It made a good bit of soup when  combined everything- enough for 2 more meals!

I had made some homemade whole wheat tortillas for the fajitas so I made some tortilla chips out them to go with the soup.  I cut up a couple of tortillas, sprayed them with Pam butter spray and sprinkled with salt.  I put them on a pan and stuck them in the oven on broil for about 5 minutes.  Make sure you watch them, they burn quickly!  They are nice and crispy and a great way to get additional use out of your leftovers!

Memory Verse

Proverbs 16:9

"The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes his steps."

Lord, help us to put our full trust in You as we wait for you to establish our next step

A New Year

Happy New Year!  I rang in 2011 with a ton of high schoolers at Winterfest at Liberty University last night.  It was a concert filled night and was a lot of fun!  We heard KJ 52, Fireflight, Hawk Nelson, Kutless, and Newsboys in concert and Clayton King and Matt Pitt both spoke.  Kutless sung lots of songs from their worship album, and it was so nice to start the year off worshiping our Savior!  What about you- did you do anything special for New Year's Eve?

I can't believe it is 2011 already!  This is going to be a year of big changes for Jeremy and I.  This is the year we will get married, start new jobs, move to a new place, and make new friends.  Am I ready for all that this year will hold? I'm excited for what God has in store for the two of us this year, and am trusting His faithful hand to lead us through it all. 

Do you make new year's resolutions?  I try sometimes, but like most people, I don't get too far with them.  The one time I remember actually following through with a new years resolution was when I read the Bible through in a year.  So very rewarding- I highly recommend you start that today!  There are free guides online to tell you what chapters to read every day or you can get a One Year Bible that breaks it up into daily readings from the Old Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, and the New Testament. 

This year I do have several goals for this new year that I'm committed to following though on.  I spent some time yesterday thinking over what I really wanted to accomplish this year and thought I'd share some of them with you. 

Goals for 2011:
- Lose 15lbs. before March 23 (my birthday) and maintain my weight for the wedding.  (So I can fit in my wedding dress for bridal portraits!)
- Eat out less, cook more homemade unprocessed meals
- Save More Money and Begin a "mock" budget plan for Jeremy and I so we will be set for June. 
- Finish reading my "to read before I get married" book list by June
- Maintain a more consistent time in the Word daily

I used this new year's goals worksheet to make an action plan for these things to happen.   This worksheet breaks it down into a "48 hour plan", "short term plan", and "long term plan" to help make sure that you follow through with your new year's goals. 

I am looking forward to continuing to blog this next year and want to say thank you for those of you who read and check in with us here.  If you stop by and read and aren't a follower yet, I'd love for you to follow so I'll know you're reading.  I pray that this blog will be a means of blessing and encouraging you each in some way. 

Fabric Flower Tutorial

I showed you the fabric flowers I made for Christmas in yesterday's post.  Today, I'll show you how to make one for yourself. 

Here is what you will need:

Materials
Glue gun and glue
Fabric
Scissors
Marker or pen
A flower template (just draw a flower shape and cut it out of paper)


Step #1: 
Trace the flower template onto your fabric. You will need 5-6 flower shapes per flower that you want to make.

Step #2:
Cut out the flower shapes

Step #3:
Cut out a circle from you fabric a little larger than a quarter. 

Step #4:

Fold your flower shape in half

Step #5:
Fold the flower shape in half again

Step #6:
Snip off the end

This is how it will look.  Add glue to the tip.

Step #7:
Glue the shape to your circle. 

Step #8:
Glue at least 3 more flower shapes onto your circle.  You may need more if you have a bigger circle.

Step #9:
Glue the last two petals onto the center of the flower. 

You can add a pin, hair bow, head band, magnet, etc. to the back. 

These make great small gifts and gift wrapping embellishments!



A Homemade Christmas- Flower Pins

As I said before, this year most of Christmas gifts were homemade.  A favorite gift that I gave were these cute flower pins.  I had saw them on Jones Design Company's blog, and knew I had to make them.  You can visit her site for a great tutorial, and I'll share my own tomorrow as well. 

I used old clothes that I can't wear anymore to make all the flowers.  Jeans, skirts, and a shirt all went into these :)  I gave at least one to most girls on my Christmas list, and they were a big hit!  My grandmother had me show her how to make them on Christmas day and she made some of her own that night. 

Come back tomorrow for the tutorial!

A Homemade Christmas- Pillows

This Christmas I was on a pretty tight budget so I decided to give mostly homemade Christmas gifts.  I've been wanting to share these projects as I've been doing them, but didn't want to spoil the surprise for anybody getting my gifts!  Over the next few days I will share some of the gifts and tutorials for making your own.  Update: Click below for my tutorial on making these transfers.

I gave about six people personalized pillows this year, and everyone really seemed to like them  Here are some that I remembered to take pictures of before wrapping...

For the monogram pillows, I found the beautiful borders from The Graphics Fairy.  This is such an awesome site with loads of vintage graphics! I then just inserted letters into the borders on Word. 

I made my mom these Silent Night pillows.  Don't you just love the lettering on them?  I think I'm going to make some of these for myself.  I found the beautiful graphics for them at Dear Lillie.

I think they turned out really well. I used the Citrasolv method that I shared here and here to imprint the images on the fabric. 

I'm linking up to Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy.

White Christmas!

We loved our white Christmas this year!  This is the first white Christmas in 48 years in my hometown.

Merry Christmas

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!  I pray that you are filled with joy and praise as you celebrate the birth of Christ.

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1,14

I'll be taking a few days off from blogging to celebrate with my family. I have lots to share next week!

Wedding Ideas

I hate to admit it, but I spent almost 3 hours yesterday morning pouring over Millie Holoman Photography's blog.  She is a photographer based in Wilmington, NC where Jeremy and I are getting married this coming June.  Although she was out of our budget for photography, I have gotten so many ideas from her photos of some really amazingly beautiful weddings.   Here are some that have stole my heart:

You can see our wedding inspiration board here