Craftackular

I love summer, and this year the break was much needed.  School takes up my weeks and grad school has occupied my weekends since last October, so one of the things I had been looking forward to all year was working on some projects I'd had in mind for a while but hadn't had the time to complete.  I was able to ramp my projects up a notch when, at the beginning of the summer, I bought a Silhouette machine with my birthday money.  I had wanted one for awhile, thanks to playing around with my friend Amber's, and have not been disappointed!

Here are a few of my projects:

This is just a simple moss M that I made.  When I initially got the materials to make it, I intended to put a bow on it and to hang it somewhere, but I really liked the simplicity of the moss.  It was simple to complete.  I used spray adhesive, a wooden letter from Hobby Lobby and a sheet of moss.

I sprayed the letter with the adhesive and placed the sheet of moss on top.  Then, I cut the moss around the letter, leaving enough to fold around the back of the letter.  I simply went around cutting, spraying and folding until it was complete.  If I were gifting it, I would probably back it with card board or something.  This one's mine, though and I'm loving it sitting on my mantle.  

This is an ottoman made from an old end table.  We cut the legs off of the table, put high density foam on the top and covered it with upholstery fabric.  It's incredibly sturdy and works wonderfully as an ottoman or extra seating, which we really needed.  Francis also likes to use it as a dog house.  

This was a Silhouette project I did today; it took about 3 minutes, really.  I just made a monogram out of vinyl and applied it to the toes of my rain boots.  I've seen some with ribbons attached, too.  I may try that later; they're pretty cute!

These are the beds that we were able to get from the CALL Mall; thanks to extremely gracious friends, we also have mattresses that look brand spanking new to go on top of them.  We are picking up a chest of drawers (or chester drawers) tomorrow and the room for our prospective foster children is coming together.  

We have used Jeff's Bolt-On sander (gosh, I love that thing) and I've stained these espresso (like everything else in our house - I'm addicted to that shade).  I'm very pleased with how they are turning out.  Now to figure out how to remove the stain I splashed all over the porch.  

I'm thankful to have gotten a few things accomplished, but thanks to free time to peruse Pinterest, I have plenty more on the list.  

I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie

Mine and Jeff's newest obsession is the library, seriously.  The Central Arkansas Library System is amazingly organized and the hold/delivery system on the website is a beast, for real.  It's really like a book nerd's version of Christmas; you find the book you want, put it on hold, and they deliver it to the library of your choosing.  My bank account and my back thank me (One time I moved 25 plastic totes of books, honestly, 25).

I have been meaning to get a replacement card since taking my 5th graders in the spring, but finally went a few weeks ago.  After I talked Jeff's ear off about them delivering the fifty million four books I'd put on hold, he went to get a card and is now hooked himself.  

I think Jeff has a copy of every single John Grisham book on his nightstand.  I have a copy of 11/22/63, which will be my first ever Stephen King book to read and, as a polar opposite, The Little Lady Agency.  I am typically a nonfiction gal, but during the summer I love to read fiction!  I have already read and returned The Apple Orchard, which I loved!

I'm on the hold list for Sparkly Green Earrings, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, Kisses from Katie and Start.  

What are you reading?  What else should I put on my list?

Gifted.

I'm linking up today with Kelly's Korner and the "theme" today is favorite nonprofits and charities.  Two that are dear to us are The Brown House and Sound of Hope.


The Brown House is a group of families and individuals who literally live life day to day sharing God and love with each other and other precious families in their neighborhood.  Also in the neighborhood is The Brayden House, which is being built to serve families while their precious babies are in the NICU in Tuscaloosa.  

Taken from their web page, The Sound of Hope exists to raise funds and awareness for orphans and vulnerable children around the world.  They are committed to helping children break out of the cycle of poverty by partnering with programs that offer holistic care. 

I am blessed to know the founders of both of these organizations and am humbled by the way they have given their lives to those that they serve.

Favorite Freezer Meals

I've read Kelly's Korner for a while now, but this is the first time I've linked up.  Each week she has a Show Us Your Life link up; the theme for the week is freezer recipes.  Here are a couple of recipes I've made lately.  Each can be frozen either already cooked or before cooking.  

The first, I heard about from a college friend on Facebook.  It's a healthy meatloaf recipe.  Here's the link:

Healthy Meatloaf Recipe

When I was single (and even now sometimes, just cooking for Jeff and myself), I would cut a loaf pan of meatloaf into slices and freeze them so that I could just cook one or two slices.  I also make mini loaves or use muffin tins to make small loaves and freeze them so that we don't waste servings.

Jeff and I have been cutting down on carbs, but I was craving spaghetti and meatballs recently, so I made meatballs and used spaghetti squash.  Jeff loved these and I've made them several times since discovering the recipe.  I did add a couple of tablespoons of parsley to the recipe.  Some, I made and stuffed with fresh mozzarella.  

Low Carb Meatballs

Number three is not a recipe, but a freezer hint.  We have also rediscovered the beauty of Sam's Club lately and have been buying bacon in bulk because it is much cheaper.  To make it easier to use, I line baking sheets with foil, lay the bacon out in slices, freeze it and then take it off the pans and put it in freezer bags.  Then, when we need to use the bacon, we can just take out the number of slices we want.


Enjoy!

College Football Saturday

In beautiful Bryant-Denny enjoying some Bama football after serving first responders with SHC.

Since we met, College Football has been our "thing."  It was even what we did on our first date -- ate Baumhauer's and watched football.  College fight songs are probably the closest thing we have to a song and on fall Saturdays, we spend all day flipping between the different games.  

It was nice to get to share this tradition with our family this weekend.  We all gathered at my mom's on Saturday to watch the Bama/Arkansas game.  I expected a Bama win, but not quite to that extent.  Being around family is definitely the greatest perk of being back in Arkansas.  Jeff's Seminole's also got a big win this week, so the Morris's were happy fans.  

My anniversary gift to Jeff in official Florida State colors.  

Why I Wore an Alabama Shirt Today

Yes, Arkansas is home -- it was and always will be.  My family is here, I would argue with anyone that there's no place quite like Arkansas on an October Saturday and there's just something special about a state where you can easily run into someone you know no matter the city, state or Walmart you are in.  

However, Tuscaloosa became home while I was there.  While we are confident in God's bringing us here, thankful to spend time with family, comfortable in our home and I am ridiculously blessed by my job, coworkers and students, we also miss Tuscaloosa and our friends and family there greatly.  

This is why I say Roll Tide:

These precious friends, who I met my first few days in Tuscaloosa.  Veronica (Back right) opened up her home to all of us that first week.  With these girls, I had weekly dinner club, carved pumpkins, played lots of games, dressed up in tacky costumes, sang karaoke, relieved stress after a bad day, celebrated Christmas, Valentine's days, ate tons of Hokkaido, holed up on snow days and so many other things.  There's nothing like a good group of friends to make you feel at home.  They were my first family in Tuscaloosa.  

Tuscaloosa is where I met, got to know, fell in love with and married Jeff.  Baumhauer's Wings, backroads of Holt, Summer Snow, driving through the strip on the night before a big game, Monday night dates at Barnes and Noble after small group, him teaching me about the history of Alabama and Tuscaloosa -- these were the scenes of our courtship and first year of marriage.  Tuscaloosa was our first home together; it's a special place anyway, but especially for this reason.

Safe Haven Church - A friend, Katie, wrote a blog today about how special our church is to her and I echo her sentiments.  Before Safe Haven began, The Summit Church, in North Little Rock, prayed for it to be a church like in Acts.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47

Pridefully, I probably thought I was going to Tuscaloosa to be this for other people.   God definitely had other plans.  There's a relationship that is built by ministering together that is very rarely matched.  That is part of what makes SHC special to us.  These were also the people who mentored us as we became husband and wife, who carried us spiritually, emotionally and financially as we faced trauma, job loss (x3) and uncertainty.  Additionally, God is present there -- community is built as people are allowed and encouraged to be themselves and spur one another on, Troy is preaching the Bible and God is working in individuals and in the church.  It's an amazing place and so much of what is special about Tuscaloosa to us.

This beast.  This home is where so many of my favorite Tuscaloosa memories were spent as well as my most fearful.  This is Veronica's home where Jeff, Catherine and myself survived the Tornado.  I watched a special about 9-11 this week and a man on the documentary mentioned that in the banding together after 9-11, New York became home.  No one quite understands the tornado like people in Tuscaloosa.  It, though a tragedy, unlike the other reasons, makes Tuscaloosa home.

This family, and the other students and coworkers I had while there.  I keep meaning to write a status about how I've been blessed with such amazing coworkers here in Little Rock.  I don't at all want to take away with how blessed I was in Tuscaloosa -- I seem to consistently have the best coworkers.  

I definitely didn't cheer for the hogs to lose and I didn't sing Rammer Jammer at the end (though it was definitely true today), but I wore my crimson proudly and cheered "Roll Tide" with the best of them.  

What My Husband is Teaching Me About My God Part 1

When I have heard in the past, love your wife like Christ loves the church, I see the picture of figuring out this romance by learning from Christ.  That is true.  However, I'm amazed at what I'm learning about God by seeing how Jeff loves me and shows me this love.

Early in our relationship, I was doing the typical girl thing and griping about my hair, how I looked in a certain outfit, etc.  He just looked at me and quietly said, "When I look at you, I don't see all of that.  I just see my love."  Whoa!  And in that, God spoke to me.  Because of the grace of my Savior, when God looks at me, He sees His love. I don't have to measure up, show off, or prove myself.  I am His.

What an amazingly blessed woman I am.