November.

November went by so fast, but it was a month of blessings. 

• I'm enjoying a bible memory class that meets once a week.  I love the ladies, and I love how just talking about a few verses can be so enriching and bring so much sharing.  Ultimately, it's about committing to memory, but honestly, it's more than that.  It's taking the time to stop, study and listen as God reveals Himself through His Word. 

• I also made time this month to create several much overdue cards for friends. 

• Earlier this month, I was so excited to win tickets to the Veggie Tales concert.  Josh and I planned on taking my nephews, but unfortunately, he had a last minute business trip.  Thankfully, my sister joined me in taking the boys.  I won the tickets from Naptime in Naptown, which is a great blog for young mothers.

• I've enjoyed doing more cooking and baking in November.  pumkin rolls, cookies, my grandma's cranberry salad and more.

yum, cranberries!

• We also celebrated my birthday with friends and family as well as going out to dinner, just the two of us. 

• Finally, I want to leave this post with a verse that's filled my heart the past couple of weeks.  I've been wanting to memorize it for a couple of months (sad, I know), but I finally can say that it's not only in my mind but in my heart.  And I hope to continue to learn how to live it daily.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true,

whatever is noble,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable

—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:4-9

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for my family. This Thanksgiving, we spent lunch time with Josh's family... all 60+ of them! Yes, it was a crowded house, but it's always fun to see all of the cousins, aunts and uncles. Plus, I love the Mayes' traditions of sharing what we're thankful for and singing hymns and praise songs together. (With that many people, everyone can sing out... even the tone deaf!)


Grandma Mayes playing the piano as we sang hymns.  She is such a precious woman, and although I don't know her like some, she has blessed my life with her kind heart.

We traveled to my parents' house in the evening to enjoy our second meal of the day. Needless to say, I didn't go back for seconds at either house so I'd have enough room for dessert. Although a smaller crowd, it was so nice to have everyone together. We all sat around the table after dinner and shared stories and laughed together. And nothing finishes the day like the family movie Toy Story 3.

Craft Time

I've had this craft brewing in my head for some time.... an organized station for the calendar, invites, pictures, etc.  I love it when we get baby announcements, etc., and I wanted a place to display them... but not on the fridge.

At our apartment, we had a magnetic, white board calendar on the refrigerator.  It seemed to work well at first, but eventually, it became more of a hassle to update monthly than it was worth.  I didn't want to throw it away when we moved because I had plans for it... told ya I've been thinking about this for awhile.

We use to place invites, save the dates, etc. on the side of our refrigerator; however, since we moved, we didn't have a place for such items.  So, my solution was to create my own "station."

I was recently at Hobby Lobby, and everything I bought for this project was 30% to 50% off... my kinda shopping!  I love deals. I think it's in my blood.  Anyway, I digress...  Starting with the magnetic calendar, I found a fabric that I really liked and felt wouldn't be too busy for a background.  I tucked it tight around the calendar and stapled it to the back. 



I found some ribbon to use on half of the board and stapled it tight around the back also to create a partial french board.  Finally, I secured the board in my open frame to hang.  I put a couple magnets on the right side of the board, and I hung it next to our calendar with a tack strip below it.  ...makes me feel like Pottery Barn, but at less than half the price!  Told ya I love a deal. :)

Yum!

As you may have heard, I recently made a change in my career path and am now staying home.  Surprisingly, I've managed to stay pretty busy as I'm looking into new opportunities.  I love having a morning routine, and I'm amazed at how quickly the hours in the day go. 

Recently, I decided to pull out one of my Paula Dean magazines.  She's my kinda cook... good, American food without all the fluff.  Of course, healthy isn't the staple of her recipes, but you can be sure they'll taste good.  I've been wanting to make fried chicken, and this issue had options for about four or five different kinds of fried chicken.  I decided on the chicken fried chicken along with a recipe for pepper gravy and smashed potatoes.  I was so excited that it turned out well that I took a picture of my plate. :)  My husband loved it too, which always makes me happy.  Makes me feel like a real cook. :)



It's been fun having time to plan, shop and cook some nice meals for our dinner... rather than the regular spaghetti, which by the way, I'm looking for a good, home recipe for spaghetti sauce if anyone wants to share theirs. The only catch is not having an idea how much it will cost if you're needing a lot of new ingredients.  We're working on the cash system and living in a budget.  Last week, along with the regular groceries, i.e. milk, cereal, bread, I had a list of items for a couple of new recipes I wanted to make.  Thinking I had plenty of cash on me (and my cart seeming so NOT full), I didn't bother to really count up the cost before going through the check out lane.  I started to perspire a bit as I noticed the $$ going higher and closer to my cut off line. darn those spices.  Thankfully, I didn't go over, but I'm not sure what I would have done if I had.  My gut reaction was to pull out the ol' card.  The next time I went through the line, I kept back the "maybe's" on my list until I had a chance to confirm the math in my head was the same as the cashier's total.  This probably sounds stressful and crazy, but there's a part of me that loves it.  This is a new challenge, but it's kind of freeing... when we're done, we're done.

In other news, the Colts are playing the Texans tonight.  Hope it's a good game as the Colts' injured list continues to grow by the week.