Sadie n Me

 Today is the 2 year anniversary of when I brought Sadie home! I had been visiting the SPCA with Lori and had my eye on the cutest little black dog. I think she had her eye on me too! When I would come and look at all the dogs, Sadie would stand up on her hind legs and watch me walk around the whole place until I left. Then one day Lori talked me into adopting her. It was January 17, 2008.

Sadie's story really starts with Nick.

Nick was very old and pretty sick when I got him in 2006. He lived with me almost a full year and when we said goodbye I thought I'd never be able to love another dog the same way. Well, I lasted almost 3 months before I ended up with Sadie.

Needless to say, I am completely smitten by her.  She is my alarm clock, my faithful companion, my exercise program, and my friend. I still love her ears and her playful personality. Even people who don't like dogs tend to like Sadie. She is very sweet and definitely knows how to put the "puppy eyes" to use for her good. I have really enjoyed having her and today I am celebrating our 2 year anniversary. Haha!

Christmas in pictures

Sadie helped Dad carve the turkey on Christmas eve.

After a delicious feast with Mary, Jorge, Michael and Stephen, we all headed to Corpus to spend Christmas day with Grandma and Grandpa.  Along the way we crossed the Navidad River!

We took G&G out for steak and loaded them down with gifts.

Then we all went to Grandad's house for dessert.

Jenny taught Sadie how to be a therapy dog at the assisted living center. The residents all love petting her when we come.

The end of a decade

There has been lots of talk this week about the end of the decade, so I started thinking back on it.

When this decade started...
I was in high school.
I had to take my camera to CVS for the pictures to be developed.
Ben Butler was 5 years old!!
I shared a '93 Mitsubishi Eclipse with my dad.
I carried a giant book full of CDs in my car.
And AOL instant messenger was how we talked online.

They are calling this the technology decade, and for good reason. We have worked our way to instant gratification-- through iTunes, amazon, Kindle, GPS, smart phones, digital cameras, facebook, Twitter, and on demand movies... just to name a few.

In this decade... I graduated from high school, college, and grad school.  So maybe for me this should be the decade of higher education, and of course technology. I have GPS, digital camera, and music all on my phone. I no longer carry Mapscos, film, or CDs in my car.  I don't even know how to log onto AIM anymore, because we have texting, G-chat, and facebook. 

I am hoping this coming decade will also carry lots of new and exciting life changes.  Who knows where it will take me... so here's to 2010-2019!!  (Wow that sounds weird!)

Big D

Today I am back at work after a lovely long weekend of Christmas break.  It's a good thing I enjoy my job because I am especially envious of those still on break this week.  Fortunately for me, I have New Years Day off so I get to head to Dallas on Thursday after work to celebrate the end of 2009 with my fellow Class of 2009 Doctors of Audiology! I will pick up Julia at Love Field and then spend the evening celebrating and reuniting with Greg & Misty, Bodes, Reagan, and Rachel.  I can't believe how lucky we are that this worked out! I miss these guys like crazy since we graduated in May.  There are some other things I miss about Dallas as well...  Potbelly, DSW, Whole Foods chicken salad, dog school, UGM, and my favorite friends, to name a few.  Maybe I will get to experience some of these things as well on my visit.  For  now, I better get back to work.  I hope to post a few pictures from Christmas soon. We shall see!

My favorite Christmas scripture

John 3:17  "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

This is probably not frequently quoted around Christmas time, but I love it because it tells exactly why God chose to send his Son.  And after all, that is what Christmas is all about! 

I imagine this verse is probably one of the most overlooked in the whole Bible because it follows right after John 3:16, which is undoubtedly the most quoted verse of all.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life..... For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Thankful

When I was a student, I frequently said I was most looking forward to Sunday afternoons post-grad school.

Well, here I am at home on a Sunday afternoon, and I have to say I am very grateful that my to do list today includes (1) go to zumba, (2) make zucchini bread, (3) wrap a few gifts, and (4) maybe bathe Sadie instead of (1) start a paper, (2) finish research analysis, and (3) read 100 pages about auditory processing disorders.

Yes, life post-grad school is pretty good.

the prettiest tree in Waco

He gives me hope

Today I'm praising God...
-For Stellan's Victory.
-that even when life looks bleak, I am confident He holds my future.

And I trust in Him.

-for reminding me that PF is not a lways a death sentence*.
-because I know Jesus has the power to restore me.
-that on my first day at BSF, God's already talking to me.
-because I know He's not finished with me yet.
Today I've been reminded that even when there is no hope, there is God. And He always comes through. Sometimes it is not on our terms, but that's okay because He is God and He's in control.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3


*Tonight I heard about a man who just got his 2nd lung transplant. He is 65 years old, diabetic, and was less than 100 lbs when he went in for it. They told his family he may not make it off the table, and he did. Praise God!

43 families.

The title for this post was going to be "Every day is someone's last" - but that seemed a bit too morbid for a title. You may have guessed I'm writing about the tragedy that took place at Ft. Hood today. My heart goes out to the 43 families who were personally impacted by this senseless shooting. Loss of a loved one is so hard to deal with, especially when it is sudden and unexpected. I don't think I'll ever understand how anyone makes it through losing a child. One thing I've learned over these past 2 years is that there is a day that each and every one of us will leave this life on earth, and we have to be ready on that day. We don't know when it is, and we have no control over when it will come. And when our time does come, we have to be ready to go. I don't know if this is something most people learn at 26, but for me it has really hit home these past few years since losing Uncle Jim, Mama Dara, Aunt Peggy, and Uncle Dan so close together. During Uncle Dan's last week of life (if you can call it that when you are dependent on life support), I heard the Chris Tomlin song I will rise about a hundred times. It reminded me that we all will face "our time" and when it comes we should be ready and willing to go. The harder part of that is letting the people we love go when it is their time. The truth is that any day can be anyone's last, and every day is someone's. One day ours too will come. Will you be ready?

Fun at work

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October in pictures!

I know it's not over yet, but I couldn't resist. Here's what I've been up to!

October 3rd: FC Anniversary and Staff Reunion

October 10th: Houston to see Ben march and run cross country!
October 17th: Dallas for Rae & Liv's Birthday Party!

October 24th: Baylor Homecoming!

And next weekend I'm off to Little Rock... so perhaps more pictures to follow!

a zumba!

So some awesome and generous ladies at my church decided to start up a zumba class just for kicks. Turned out to be a huge hit and people flock to it! Some are good at it, some are pretty bad (like myself), but we all have a great time. Church is a totally safe place to work out, where it is okay to have fun while making a fool of yourself in the company of friends. It was such a hit that they decided to offer it three times a week, so that is where I'm headed tonight! Look out, world ;-)

Marching Mustangs

This weekend I went to Houston to watch Ben march in the band. It's so wild to see him in high school, because he was so young when I was in band myself. He looks great when he marches and this week he was named marcher of the week! AND (drumroll please) he was the 1st JV finisher from Memorial HS at the cross country meet on Saturday! Way to go Ben!

(He is the trumpet player on the far right.)

Random

Well, I am locked out of the house again so I figured why not blog a little? Thank goodness for this nifty iPhone... We'll see how long the battery holds out! I sometimes share recipes on here but today I will share something I do NOT suggest making. Crock pot broccoli cheese soup. Ick, weirdest looking stuff ever. Actually didn't taste too horribly though. Just not something I'll try again.

I received a call today from the national bone marrow registry saying that I am a possible match for someone with a rare form of leukemia. Transplant is usually a last ditch effort when all other treatments have failed. When I joined the registry last spring they told us that we would most likely never be called so when it happened I was quite taken aback. I have decided to go forward with the process for now to see if I might be a suitable donor for this person. There is about a 5% chance, I am told. So, I will leave it in God's hands. After all, he made me... And him.

Not much is going on in my life right now other than work, which I do enjoy. I have lived here long enough that it is officially past time for me to find some friends and hobbies. Not sure what that will entail, because I don't just want to jump into something for the sake of doing something. I want to find something that I am passionate about that has Purpose. I'm keeping my mind open and waiting to see what is next. If it's not getting married and having kids, that is fine, but what is it? I know that is blunt but that's where I am right now. A real life grown up without a real sense of purpose. And I hate that.

So anyway, that's it for now. I guess it's about time to hide a key!! :)

Monterey

I just got back from a whirlwind weekend in Monterey, CA!

Check out the pictures in my Picasa album. Hint: it's the 'my Photos' link --->

mine!

Homemade hummus

I am not the person who would normally create my own homemade hummus, but this week I decided to try this new recipe from MckMama. Long story short, I ended up cooking my own garbanzo beans. I know, strange. (P.S. Did you know beans take like 10 hrs to make if you use the proper method?) Anyway, I ended up with extra beans because, low and behold, after you cook them they practically triple in size. So,.. in the process I found out that garbanzo beans are the same as chickpeas which meant that I could try this recipe for hummus. I'm not sure how it really tasted because A) I didn't have any tahini, and B) the three cheese panetini crackers I ate it with were really tasty!

Oh, and the corn and bean salad turned out okay, too.

Ransom

A couple of weeks ago when I heard this song on the radio, one particular word popped out at me. It's a word I've heard probably hundreds of times in this context, but that time it really grabbed my attention and I've been thinking about it ever since. The word is ransom. We hear it in church all the time, that Jesus paid our ransom. If you're like me and you've been in church your whole life, a lot of these words and phrases, what I like to call Christianese, sound so familiar and casual that we can easily miss the impact of these foundational words. I started thinking about the literal definition of the word "ransom" and I suddenly saw the picture of Christ in a whole new light. Miriam Webster defines ransom as a price paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity.

The truth of the matter is this: all of us have been held captive by the enemy. Imagine for just a moment being kidnapped and held captive against your will. In order to be released from this bondage, a price must be paid: our ransom. What is the ransom, in this case? Life. Blood. Jesus. A life for a life. "For it is blood that makes an atonement for the soul." (Leviticus 17:11b) God in his mercy offered his Son as the ransom (or payment) for me. When I deserved God's wrath and punishment, he instead offered to pay my ransom. He set me free.

Dinnertime!

Well, I finally made it to the store and was able to cook dinner at home this week. I'm hoping to eat out less, even though it's hard while living with college students! I have a basic rule I follow when choosing recipes: no more than 5 ingredients, not including basics like salt, pepper, butter and flour. So for those who, like me, appreciate quick and easy recipes, here you go...

Beef Tenderloin with Peppercorns (only I used pork chops)
-2 beef tenderloin steaks (1 inch thick)
-2 tsp. cracked whole black peppercorns
-2 Tbsp. butter
-1 tsp. all-purpose flour
-salt & pepper
-1/3 cup light cream or milk
-1 Tbsp. horseradish mustard (I used dijon mustard b/c that's what I had)

1. Trim fat from steaks. Sprinkle cracked black pepper evenly over both sides of steaks; rub in with your fingers.
2. Cook steaks for 10-13 minutes in a heavy skillet or on the grill, turning once. Transfer steaks to dinner plates. Cover & keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, for sauce: In small saucepan melt 2 teaspoons butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, and ground black pepper. Slowly stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in mustard.
4. Spoon sauce over steaks.

Squash Casserole
-2 lb. summer squash, sliced, cooked and drained
-1/2 cup onion, chopped and cooked with squash
-8 oz. herb-flavored stuffing mix
-1/3 cup butter, melted
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter and add to stuffing mix.
2. Mix remaining ingredients with half the stuffing mixture and place in greased casserole dish or 9X13 baking dish.
3. Top with remaining stuffing mix and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. (I sprinkled on some grated cheese during the last 10 minutes of cooking.)

Mashed Potatoes (always a classic!)
-5 small potatoes
-1/2 cup milk
-1/4 cup butter

1. Boil 6 cups of water.
2. Peel and chop potatoes and place in boiling water.
3. Blend potatoes, milk and butter with a mixer.

ENJOY!

Sweet little brown bear