Things Unseen

I didn't write the following post, but thought it was well worth re-posting to share. It was an email sent out by one of my friends in our Sunday School class...

To my friends,
I really needed this devotional reading today, and I thought I would share it! Not so much "bubbles" for me today, but it came in the form of a fishing rod! David Allen gave Don a fishing rod for his birthday (41 years tomorrow), and he also got a matching one so that they can go together. What a simple pleasure to see themin the yard now practicing their casting. Sometimes my focus gets so off track! I only focus on what's going on right around me, and I stress over too many little things when I should have the "right" focus so that I can handle life more joyfully. Off to eat some blueberry cheesecake and watch them "fish." With love to you all!!! -Amy
From Our Daily Bread:

"What We See Depends Mainly On What We Look For"

Stuck in a long line at the US-Canada border, Joel Schoon Tanis had to do something to lighten the mood! He reached for his bottles of bubble-making solution, bounded out of the car, and began blowing bubbles. He handed bottles to other drivers too, and he says that “soon there were bubbles everywhere. . . . It’s amazing what bubbles do for people.” The line didn’t move any faster, but “suddenly everyone was happy,” Joel says.
“What we see depends mainly on what we look for,” said British statesman John Lubbock (1834–1913). A good attitude and the right focus help us to handle life joyfully, even though it doesn’t change our circumstances.
Paul encouraged the Corinthians in their trials: “Do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
So what’s unseen and eternal that we can look at? The character of God is an excellent place to focus. He is good (Ps. 25:8), He is just (Isa. 30:18), He is forgiving (1 John 1:9), and He is faithful (Deut. 7:9).
Pondering God’s character can give us joy in the midst of our struggles. — A

The eyes of faith when fixed on Christ
Give hope for what’s ahead;
But focus on life’s obstacles,
And faith gives way to dread. —D. De Haan
When Christ is the center of your focus, all else will come into proper perspective.

Crazy Daisy

I was deleting some photos from my computer and found this. Zach sent me this photo from his phone a few days ago and I had posted it on Facebook, but had forgotten to post it here. He was working at his desk in our home office and Daisy was in her usual spot, on the sofa that faces his desk. This is the ONLY piece of furniture we allow her to be on. It's nice not to have white fur everywhere else! She likes to lay over the top, but had fallen asleep and slowly slid down from the top. He said she slept in that position for a long time. We get a kick out of the little quirky things she does.

**Apologies for all the many pictures and posts of our babies. I was looking at older posts earlier and realized how many there are! Spoiler Alert (as Zach & Michael Scott from "The Office" say): Until we have a baby (and that will be a while from now, Mom), you can expect many more. They're our entertainment for the time being! :)

Recipes for Anna

My best friend Anna sent me an email this weekend about my recipe post I added last week. She requested two recipes, including one that my mom would always fix when she would come over to my house. As she said, the bacon cheddar ranch dip was a comforting addition to all our late-night girl talks on the weekends. I thought I would post them on here to share with everyone. I'll put them under my Recipes column on the left pane of this page too. Both of these are from my mom, so if you try them & don't like them- blame her! :) Enjoy!

BACON CHEDDAR RANCH DIP

-1 pack Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
-1 container, 16 oz. sour cream
-1 cup grated cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup crumbled bacon (I just buy the container of crumbled bacon pieces)

Mix together the sour cream & dip mix. After well blended, add the cheddar cheese & bacon pieces. Chill for 1 hour. Serve with your favorite kind of potato or tortilla chips.


WISCONSIN POTATO CHEESE SOUP

2 T. butter or margarine
1/3 c. chopped celery (Yes Anna, you HAVE to add the celery!) :)
1/3 c. chopped onion (Since I'm the queen of shortcuts, you can also use onion flakes.)
4 c. diced, peeled potatoes
3 c. chicken broth
2 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Dash of paprika (optional)
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
Croutons (for garnishment, optional)
Fresh chopped parsley (for garnishment, optional)

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Saute celery and onion until tender. Add potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. In batches, puree potatoes in a blender or food processor. Return to saucepan. Stir in milk and seasonings. Add the cheese and heat only until melted. Garnish with croutons and parsley. Yields 8 servings. Note: Another great garnishment idea is sprinkling with cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chopped scallions.

A Walk Around the Neighborhood

I had forgotten how cute our little neighborhood really is. Zach and I decided to take a walk with the dogs one day this week to enjoy the summer weather. I had initially said we should start back to the rec center that day, but his idea was better. We're still spending that $30 per month on the membership though, so we may have to re-think that next year!

As you can see, Daisy was ready to go! Her little tail is blurred in the photo from her wiggling around.

So excited even, that she jumped at me while I was trying to take another picture.

Zach had a good time walking with Cosmo...

even though, like us, he got tangled up at times.

Me & Daisy...lookin' good, as usual.

Hopefully we'll do more of this in the next few weeks! I love getting out of the house for a while and enjoying this beautiful weather with my favorite "people" (actually, just one favorite person and my two favorite babies.) This is actually the first time I can remember that I have really looked forward to Fall weather though. I'm ready for cooler days, warmer clothes and, of course, Alabama football! :) I hope everyone is having a great end of the summer. Thanks for taking the time to read!

Busy!

We've been really busy lately it seems, so I haven't thought much about posting. Just a few things we've been up to lately...

Zach took me last Saturday on my very first trip to the wonderful Trade Day. It was definitely an experience. We then added even more fun to the day by venturing to Mentone and enjoying part of the "World's Longest" yard sale. Zach actually found a few neat things and I bought some hand-made ceramic coasters with a "J" on them from a lady who owns a store. She makes every one of them by hand and they are so pretty (not to mention, they match our living room perfectly!) She also had some cute purses and tote bags, but I resisted the temptation! :)

Last night, our Bunco group met at my house. We each pick a month to host, and this was my month. I took the day off to have the house cleaned and everything ready. My sweet husband took the day off too and worked outside ALL day in the hot sun. He mowed and trimmed the yard and even used the pressure washer on the sidewalk and front steps. For my first time to host a big party of people, everything went really well. Some of the ladies even walked out on the back deck to check things out, and Cosmo was a sweetie pie to them! For those of you that have been over, you know this is a rare thing for him. Anyways, the party was a lot of fun and the food was great (if I do say so myself)--the only bad part was the clean-up!

Sanctuary choir rehearsal started back this week and I'm so excited about the coming year in choir! It's a great feeling to be so involved with the choir and feel at home in our church of over a year now. Children's choir starts back soon and I am excited about helping to teach them music and learning new things with them! I am honored to have been asked to help with it in the first place! I'm sure we will learn more from the kids than they will learn from us!

Zach and I (well, mostly Zach, since that's his thing) have been planning our First Anniversary weekend. I cannot believe it's a little less than a month away now!! We've tossed around a lot of ideas, but we're probably just going to enjoy a shorter weekend trip this year. We went on our Disney trip in March and are planning on taking a few days off to work on the house some more and do Christmas shopping, so I don't have a lot of vacation time left. We thought a weekend getaway would be something different anyways. We plan to go to Atlanta on Sunday, Sept. 13th, our actual anniversary, and enjoy a trip to the Georgia Aquarium and a very nice dinner at the 5-star Atlanta Grill. We are staying at the Ritz-Carlton, which I am really pumped about! On Monday, we're planning on just shopping and relaxing. I am so excited about our trip and can't wait to celebrate our great first year of marriage!

Singing!

I was really blessed to be asked by our choir director to sing a women 's ensemble group. As far as I know, this is going to be our set group for any song we do...including Christmas songs, which I can't wait to start working on! This Sunday was our first "performance." I had actually sung solos at our last church, starting when I was really young, but I haven't sang in really long time. Since FBC is such a bigger church and there is so much more talent there, I was a little intimidated to sing a solo. I'm much more comfortable in small groups, so I was excited (but a little nervous too) about this! Our Sunday services air every Sunday afternoon on a local station, but since Zach and I have Dish, we don't get that channel. Thus, came the routine every week of my grandmother taping it for us and me watching it back every week. Our choir director has posted some videos of our choir on his facebook page, so if he posts our song, I'll try to figure out how to post a link to it to this page.

Aside from that, something else new & exciting has come up! I have been asked to help work with the youth choir. They have open slots in the 2nd/3rd graders and the 5th/6th graders, but the 5th/6th grade teacher has asked me to help her. I am really going to think and pray about this during the next few weeks and see where I am led. I'm really excited about all the opportunities that are coming my way at church!

Losing Someone

I usually don't post many of my thoughts and feelings on here, but after thinking about it, that's really what a "blog" is for. So, I decided I would type up a few things I've been thinking about lately...

This past weekend was just really long for me, it seemed. Usually I enjoy the weekends and look forward to them, but this weekend was a little different. I was excited about getting my hair done on Saturday, so that was fun. Also, my best friend Jennifer flew home this weekend for her grandmother's 80th birthday party, so I got to spend a little time with her. Sunday was the longest day ever, for me anyways. We sang at church that morning and it was wonderful. Then, Zach and I went out to lunch to spend time with Jennifer. After that, our choir was asked to sing at the funeral for Brant Craig. (I didn't know Brant really well, but I graduated from high school and was good friends back then with his younger son, Ryne.)

This is the hardest thing for a choir as a whole to do, in my opinion. We sang "I Can Only Imagine," which, when looking at the faces of the family, brings a whole new meaning to me now when I listen to the words. We were seated, as usual, in the choir loft, and the family faced us. This is what made it so difficult. I can not, and hope I never will, imagine what they're going through right now. They've lost a husband, son, brother, father, grandfather and "hero," as John Croyle (one of the speakers at the funeral) put it, and they're really hurting. My mom went through it when she lost her first husband. My grandmother went through it twice. I wish that neither Zach or me ever have to face that someday.

The speakers at the funeral did leave us with hope, and that's what makes everything easier to handle. Things can change so suddenly from one day to the next--nothing is certain. It seems like members of our church have been awakened to the thought that life is very short and we should tell people everyday that we love them and treat others the way you would want to be treated. I thought of a quote yesterday that really makes you think. Dave Matthews said this when talking about their saxophonist who passed away about a year ago.

"We should never wait to do things. Death teaches us that."