The last week of January! Holy cow!! It feels like just yesterday was Christmas. Time is flying by and this week will be no exception I'm sure. We don't have a whole lot going on this week besides school, but this weekend is going to be busy! I'm not doing any grocery shopping this week, so this menu is directly from what we've already got in the house. It's pretty simple. I planned through Friday. Monday- Taco's. Yum. A family favorite! Tuesday- Chick fil A copycat nuggets. My kids gobble these things up like crazy. They're super easy to make and taste great! Wednesday- Grilled pizza sandwiches. Think grilled cheese with pepperoni and pizza sauce. Thursday- Chicken N Noodles. This is one of my favorite meals to make. It tastes great and it's all in the crock pot! Friday- Pizza. We'll be doing a pizza and a movie night with the girls. Love family movie nights! Now, onto the food for the soul and spirit. This week's verse might be pretty familiar but I wanted to make sure I had it 100% committed to memory. Plus, since it's a shorter verse, it'll give me an opportunity to review the verses from the last few weeks. I hope that you'll join with me in memorizing it this week!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 I hope that you have a lovely Monday and a very blessed week!
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I've been sitting here typing up a post for today for over an hour. I've said over and over I don't ever want to force anything for this blog. I'm going to share what the Lord lays on my heart. Today is one of those days where nothing has jumped out at me specifically to put out at length. So, I just wanted to share with you guys a few things that Definitely.Maybe. will be doing coming soon.
I'll be partnering with Here's To You Mrs. Robinson and Clean and Processed Free to host a seminar on how to get started eating clean with your family. I'm excited because I've got so much to learn! Keep checking back for details! Secondly, I'm going to start reading Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. I want to do a discussion group by chapter over at the Definitely.Maybe. Facebook page. If that's something you'd be interested it, head over to the facebook page and like it, leave a comment or send me a message or comment via the blog. I'd love to be able to have a group of us discuss and confront, head on, the issues we face as parents! Last, I'm hoping that in February I can finally do a total reveal on our living room redo. FINALLY! It's only been almost 4 months in the making. The last thing we're waiting for is our new furniture and hopefully we'll have that within the next few weeks! If you haven't realized by now, I fall on the extreme end of extroversion. I do not and will not thrive outside of community. I've realized recently that creating community has become one of the biggest goals of this blog. I don't believe God intended us to live disconnected from each other. I want to create community for myself, my family, my friends, and for you so that we can encourage each other and help each other grow so that we can live full God honoring lives. So, I hope that you will stick around and enjoy some of the things coming up here at Definitely.Maybe! You guys are great! I'll just be honest and say that I kind of dread Weigh In Wednesday posts. I've only been putting in half effort. I haven't lost any weight. In fact, I've gained weight this week. When I think back to the late summer when I was being really diligent about counting calories and running and getting healthy, I try and remember what the "IT" factor was. What was my motivation?
This morning I ordered my thoughts and came to this conclusion: Is honoring God with my body enough motivation to make the right choices? Before, my motivation was getting healthy, feeling better, looking better, and being a better example for my kids. Obviously, those are not bad thing at all, but as I've said previously, if you aren't working towards a goal in a God honoring way, then you won't be successful. And ultimately, I wasn't. But this time, having a much different perspective (or at least trying to) I want to get healthy and be a good example because that's what God wants me to do and that's what he wants for me. Is what God wants enough to motivate me? Or is my selfishness more of a motivator than pleasing God? I think God is trying to tell me something. Either that, or I'm experiencing a huge amount of coincidences. Which I don't believe in. So, I think God is trying to tell me something.
Be Still. And quite honestly, I don't have to question why. I've never really mastered the "listening" to God thing. I talk TO him a lot. I talk AT him a lot. It's rare that I listen for him and to him. I think this is something he's bring to my attention. He's getting tired of all the listening and he's ready to talk to me now. In the last few weeks I've read scripture about it. I've had discussions about it. I've even had sections of my bible study touch on the subject. These are some of the observations I've made over the last week... 1. I don't know how to be still. It seems physically impossible. And even when my body appears to be still, my mind is not. Ever. 2.My kids, TV, my phone, and social media suck "stillness" in like a black hole. It seems nearly impossible to disconnect from being connected. This is not just a personal thing, it's become a generational and societal issue as well. 3. I tend to place my "self value" in the level of connectedness I have with any of those methods of communication mentioned above. The less connected I am, the worse I feel about myself. 4. There is a balance, and I'm still working hard to figure out what that is. So, based on those observations, I've come to the conclusion that actually seems pretty simple. It comes back to putting God first. If I can be still and listen to Him and what he says about me and to me, then I won't feel so much of a need to be as "connected" to the craziness. Which I know sounds all well and good, but that brings me back to my 1st observation- I have no idea how to be still. I was thinking about this issue when I remembered something I learned in a women's bible study I was part of years ago. I don't specifically remember the study we were doing, but I do remember that at the end of each meeting, we'd give prayer requests and then pray together. We'd take a minute or two to quiet ourselves and then we'd start praying. My aunt was leading the Bible study at the time and she shared a "technique" she used with us. She suggested finding a phrase that you felt applied to God at that moment (i.e.- You are Holy. Blessed is Your Name. Thank You for loving me, etc.) and recite that phrase to yourself over and over again focusing on the meaning behind the words. When you felt that your heart and mind were settled, then begin praying. Sounds good right? MUCH harder than it seems. She challenged us to start with 1 min, and when we were able to go for a minute without being distracted, add another minute. She said there had been times when she was able to go a half hour to 45 mins just meditating on her phrase that day. At the time I was like... what? Meditating? Do I need to sit in some weird crossed leg position and light some candles? Obviously, I was joking, but now that I'm back into a state of craziness with the near inability to be still, this is something I'm going to start implementing in my time with God every day. So I can slow my brain down and focus on just God and what he might be saying to me. I would encourage you to try it. It's HARD. Trust me, you'll be shocked at how hard it is to be totally free of distraction for 1 whole minute. Keep a journal near you, because if you be still, he will speak. He will impress things on your heart and he will communicate his love and his grace to you in ways you may have never experienced it before. And I hope that slowly, as we do this, a little of our crazy will fade away. We'll be better at being able to be still. If you've followed my blog for a while, you can probably guess what I'm going to say at the beginning of this Menu Monday post. I can't believe it's already past the middle of January. I know this year is going to be fast, but man! It's flying by already! If you saw my post on Friday, you know that I started a Definintely.Maybe. Facebook Page. I wanted a space that would be a little more conducive to conversation. It's easier for direct communication. If you get a chance, head over and "like" it so we can stay in contact. I mentioned a few weeks ago about wanting to memorize a different bible verse each week this year. I figured I'd start posting which verses I'm memorizing here on Monday's. I figured that since Monday posts were committed to physical food it was a great time to add the spiritual food as well. Our Daily Bread! So, this week's verse is... Isaiah 40:28- Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. I hope that you'll join with me in memorizing this week's verse!
Ok, so onto this weeks menu. This is the first week in a long time that I've planned 7 meals at home. We have a busy week, something going every day except the weekend, so I needed to find meals that worked for each night and the time we had. So, here it is... Monday- BLT's. Aaron's off tomorrow for MLK day and this was one of his requests. It's easy and good. I'm all for it. Tuesday- Chicken Alfredo Pita Pizzas. I made BBQ chicken pita pizzas last week and they were so good. I've never made pizza with pita bread, but it was really good! So, we're doing it again! Wednesday- Ranch Pork. This is one of my favorite meals for 2 reasons. First because it's soooo good, but secondly, because it's easy! Pork chops, cream of mushroom, a little milk, and a half a packet of ranch dressing mix. Cook in the crockpot until the pork is tender. Serve over mashed potatoes. SOOOO good! Thursday- Spaghetti. By now I'm sure you're not surprised to see this on the menu. Emmy has asked for it every day since we had it earlier this week. I'm all for it- cheap and easy. Friday- Cowboy Meatloaf. I fixed this for the first time a few weeks ago, and Aaron asked for it again this week. It's a rather complicated recipe, so when I get the chance to get my recipe page updated, I'll add it. Saturday- Sweet and Sour Chicken. This was another Aaron request. Kind of. He asked for chicken and rice and this is what I thought of. This will be new for me, so we'll see how it goes! I found this recipe here. I'll report back next week on if it was a success! Sunday- Taco Salad. Also another Aaron request. Which everyone in our family enjoys. Yum! There ya have. The plan for the week! I haven't grocery shopped yet, that's on the calendar for tomorrow. I hope that everyone has a great Monday! Ok, so, this morning at 5 am when I was laying on the floor of my girls room because they refused to stay in bed asleep unless I laid in there, I was praying about the blog and the idea to start a facebook fan page came to me. At first I dismissed the idea because that seems kind of crazy. Maybe for a blog that has hundreds or thousands of followers, but not for my meager blogspot. BUT! As I started thinking about it, I realized that it might be a really good thing. I talk about all the goals and challenges that I want to try reach and how team work is best. And I feel that's true 100%. But I don't necessarily feel that this blog is the best way to facilitate that and a Facebook page might! So... I did it. So head over to the new Definitely.Maybe. Blog Facebook page!!
I pray so much for this blog to be a voice of truth for someone. To be a little encouragement. To help even 1 person realize or start to realize how much God loves them. And if having a FB page can aid in that, then so be it! I know most of the time I don't say anything super special, but God doesn't ask me to preach long eloquent messages or tell stories that tug at your heart strings. He asks me to be honest and open and walk with you on this journey. And I consider it a privilege to be able to do that! Thank you so much for being great! I have to admit some guilt. I've fallen victim to the trap that most of society and our recent generations have- convenience. I cook out of convenience. I grocery shop out of convenience. Over the last 10 months or so I've been following a few blogs that are based on "clean" eating principles. And I must say, some of the things they mention or reference shock me. We as a society, eat some pretty gross stuff! I eat some pretty gross stuff. And what's worse- I give it to my kids!
But, let's just be honest. It's easy. And we don't like the way all that healthy stuff tastes. It takes too long to cook that way. It's too expensive to buy "healthy" food. I don't have the time to educate myself. What we don't know doesn't hurt us right? I'm learning that yeah, I don't know the whole of it. I don't know what every ingredient on the labels of my boxes and bags mean, but I do know that it's not good. So it's not that I'm not educated, it's that I'm ignoring it for the sake of convenience. And my final and somewhat futile argument is that my kids won't eat that stuff. I don't really know if this is true actually. But I do know that it's probably at least worth a try. So, here's what I'm considering... (and my husband is just now finding out about this by reading this blog, sorry honey!) I think that I will gradually start cutting back on the number of processed foods we eat and by February or March will be able to go 100% clean for a month and see how it goes. I'm not positive exactly what this will look like, but I am starting to believe more and more that God never intended us to fill our bodies with junk. Poison. Quite literally in some cases. As I've mentioned before, this is the 1 body God has given me and I'm the steward of it. Constantly pumping it full of junk isn't the best stewardship of this body, that's for sure! If you're interested in going "clean" too, let's talk! Making changes like this is better in a group. Support is key! Send me a message or leave a comment and we can work on a plan together! So, I'm a little slow on the draw today here at Definitely.Maybe. It's been a bit of a crazy day in the middle of a crazy week! But, I didn't want to miss being able to post a few pictures of my Valentine's Day mantle. And I will apologize now for the terrible quality of the pictures. I need (want) a new camera desperately! I love decorating for Valentine's Day because of the colors! We're in the middle of the drab days of winter and Valentine's decorations offer a bit of a pop! My Valentine's Day mantle isn't a whole lot different from my winter mantle, just a few simple additions to give it a little festive flare. I got the little heart ornaments from the Joann's today. Score on 40% off V-day decorations. The small glass jar and red hots I had here. It added a little bit of simple color that is pretty. Drop a tea light in there and the red hots would heat up and smell great too! The subway art is part of the seasonal collection I've been using, which I found online here. The star candle holder was a garage sale rescue from one of my mom's garage sales. The white vase I picked up years ago and a thrift store, and the branches are courtsey of the cherry blossom tree out front of our house (and my husband who cut them for me). The only thing different on this side is the cute little heart ornaments. The big white candle sticks were with the star candle holder at one of my mom's garage sales. The white vase/jar thing I picked up at goodwill a few months ago, and the heavy looking white candle stick and bark vase are both from Target's holiday collection. I picked them up for 50% off after Christmas.
So there you have it. My Valentine's Day mantle. This was fun and very simple, but I'm REALLY looking forward to my Easter and Spring mantles! They signal warmer weather! I feel so scatter brained going into this week. There's a lot going on and none of the things I have to do this week have anything to do with each other. So, today my goal is to get everything in order so I can feel at least a tiny bit prepared heading into this weeks events. This week I've got bible study, a planning meeting for Women's Retreat for Church, and I'm also speaking at my mom's group about blogging along with Brooke, who blogs over at Here's to You Mrs. Robinson. Thankfully, I'm a week ahead on my bible study. I'm working with a group of talented creative women to plan women's retreat, and I've known about speaking at my Mom's group for long enough that I've pretty much been able to come up with the best answers to the questions our leader posed to us.
I planned my menu for this week last week when I went grocery shopping. I have a few new recipes on the menu this week! We'll see how they turn out! Monday- Chicken and Egg Noodles with Cream Cheese Sauce. Not going to lie, this is a totally made up recipe. It seems like something my kids will eat and I had all the ingredients in my cabinets. Chunked up chicken breast with egg noddles and peas tossed with a a sauce made of cream cheese and chicken broth. Time saving tip- I'll cook enough chicken today to use in 3 other recipes this week, cutting down on my prep time the rest of the week! Tuesday- Chicken Roll Ups. Chicken, lettuce, cheese, cream cheese, tortillas. Roll and cut. Done and Done. Wednesday- Grilled Cheese. This is a favorite in our house. I'll fix some veggie soup to go with it and it will be a perfect winter meal. Thursday- BBQ Chicken Pita Pizzas. BBQ chicken on a pita with some cheese. Simple and very tasty! Friday- Chicken Primavera. I also had most of the ingredients for this meal in my cabinets and or fridge and freezer. Chicken with multi colored noodles with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, in a alfredo sauce. It's a little bit of an interesting menu this week, but I needed to buy very little groceries and use stuff I already had in my pantry (hence the reason we're eating chicken 4 times this week). So, it's a bit of a hodge podge of recipes. Next week we'll be back to a little bit more of a trim menu. I'll still be couting calories this week, things will just be slightly modified. I hope that everyone has a great Monday and you can get prepared for the week ahead! I'm working on making a few changes to the blog so if things look a little bit off for a few days, no worries!
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HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
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