Monday, Monday, Monday! It's rare that I experience "A Case of the Monday's". I enjoy the routine of our week and Monday is my day to get the house organized from the crazy of the weekend and start out the week right. Lot's going on this week, mostly towards the end of the week. I know this week is going to go quick.
So, I did our grocery shopping yesterday afternoon. I did something yesterday that I've never done. I'm sure there are people who have mixed feelings on this, because honestly, I did until I decided to just do it. I got to the store and I put earphones in. I cranked up the volume on my Pandora praise and worship station and grocery shopped in peace. I usually like to use my grocery shopping time as an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. I seek out opportunities to help someone or give someone a smile. And not that I didn't look for that yesterday, but I knew that I needed a little peace and quiet in the midst of the crazy. And it worked. I was definitely in a better mood once I got home from shopping than I was when I left! Ok, so here's the menu for this week. Pretty simple. Aaron made lots of suggestions and I went with it! Monday- White Chicken Chili. I made a huge batch of this chili about a month ago and froze half of it. It was so good! Aaron pulled the frozen batch out of the freezer yesterday and we're having it for dinner tonight. Yum! After I eat it tonight and can remember how I made it, I'll link it up on my recipes page. Tuesday- Spaghetti. We had this last week and Emmy missed it. She wasn't feeling well and that manifested itself in a hour long tantrum on the living room floor and refusal to eat dinner. She was devistated when her spaghetti got thrown away. So, we'll try again. Plus, I didn't have to by any of the ingredients. Wednesday- Eggs, Sausage, and Hashbrowns. This was Aaron's request. Not surprising, our whole family loves "Brinner" or breakfast for dinner. Thursday- Chicken Alfredo. This was also Aaron's request. I don't actually remember the last time I fixed this dish. I'll brown up the chicken and add it to the penne and alfredo sauce. Pretty simple. Friday- Friday is going to be a quick fix night. Aaron and I are going out on a date and so we'll fix something quick for the girls. Sandwiches or something. Aaron and I will be eating out. Saturday- This will be pizza and a movie night. We have a local pizza place that has a XL pizza with 1 topping for $7.99. That's almost cheaper than what I can make, so we'll just order that and enjoy each other's company. Sunday- Sunday will be leftovers (if we have any) and make room in the fridge for new groceries day. Sunday's tend to be a bit of a hodge podge as far as meals go. Our Sunday's are a little crazy so I've never really done a "Sunday dinner". I hope that everyone had a great weekend! And I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season! Only 15 more days until Christmas!
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The last few days have kind of been off the charts. In a really bad way, but also in a good way. I've felt bad for not blogging but here I am. I was having trouble coming up with an idea to blog about today but I was standing in the kitchen after fixing lunch and a simple truth that I've known for ages came to mind. And today, it didn't seem so simple anymore. Let me give you a little background.... The last 2 candles I've tried to burn have been a total bust. And during the holidays one of my favorite things is the smell of a good Christmas candle! Last year I did this a few times and I loved how it smelled. It's orange peels (and in this case some rejected orange segments from Emmy's lunch) whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, and some water. Put it on the stove and simmer. Smells awesome. Last for hours. You can just keep adding water to it and it could simmer all day. Makes the whole house smell great! But it's not pretty by any means. Discarded orange peels, bits of clove and cinnamon in a metal pan. It's trash scraps basically. I was standing at the kitchen counter cleaning up our lunch mess when I glanced at the pan and realized how ugly this mess is for how good it smells. And it was like God impressed on my heart that this is what he can do with our broken lives...
Trash. Scraps. A mishmash mess. The he adds a healthy measure of himself and put us over the fire. If there was no water in this, it would burn and stick to the pan and become a smoking stinking mess. It's the water that changes it all. Just like in our lives. If we took our messed up selves and jumped into the fire, we'll burn up and come out worse on the other end every time. But if we allow God to fill us, he takes all that mishmash and creates something beautiful. A fragrance that's warm and inviting and pleasing. To Him and to others. So I'm reminded today that even though I feel like our messed up discarded scrap filled life is being put to the fire, God's in it. He's added his love and his grace and the result won't be a burnt up stinky mess. Our lives will be a fragrance of God himself. I know, I know! I'm a day off. But at least I admitted it yesterday! So I made the menu for this week and went grocery shopping last night. We have so much stuff left over from the weekend that I barely had to get an groceries for this week. I spent about $35 on food and most of that was restocking snacks- goldfish, cheese puffs, bananas- stuff my girls eat on a daily basis. I realized earlier that my menu for this week is a litte... unhealthy. But, this stuff sounded good and a few days I needed fast meals. So, here we go!
Tuesday- Chili Cheese Dogs. Nothing fancy about this one! Wednesday- Sandwiches. Aaron and I have a meeting tomorrow night and his mom is coming to watch the girls. I figured sandwiches would be an easy option for dinner, plus we've got a TON of deli meat in the fridge left over from having company this weekend. It needs to be eaten ASAP. Thursday- Spaghetti. If I don't fix this at lease once a week, my kids start asking for it. They love it. Simple and easy for me! Friday- Chicken nuggets and french fries. I found a recipe for chicken nuggets online that's awesome. I tweaked it a little by marinating the chicken in italian dressing for a few hours before frying them up, but they are really good! Saturday and Sunday are going to be jam packed for us this weekend. Emmy's school is doing an awesome presentation/outreach/activity called "A Night in Bethleham". We're taking the girls and I'm actually really excited about it! On Sunday we're having family pictures taken downtown Indy and I'm really excited about that too! So, with both days being kind of crazy, we'll probably just grab something while we're out or fix leftovers here! Alright, there's the menu for this week! I hope everyone has had a great start to this week! Alright, I know it's Monday, but here's the truth... I haven't made my menu yet! I'm planning on going shopping some time today. Hopefully. We may just spend the day recovering from the crazy weekend we had! Crazy. But Good. We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family. My parents came in from Michigan and my sister came in from Illinois. We had a great time hanging out and opening gifts. Then yesterday we went to the Indianapolis Zoo for Christmas at the Zoo. It was a lot of fun! I kept saying the entire time... I can't believe it's December 2nd and I'm walking around the zoo at 7pm in only a sweatshirt! The weather was awesome! 59 degrees. It was perfect! The girls loved it and we had a great time! Because of my crazy weekend (and not being prepared for Menu Monday) I figured I'd post a few pictures of our weekend and some of my Christmas Decorations. Hope you enjoy!
Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing some pictures of our Christmas Celebration this year! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and I'll celebrate just about anything, so put the two together and I'm a happy girl! I hope you all have a great start to your holiday season!
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HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
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