Five on Friday

I thought I would update with a "five on Friday" post today. Russell and I have been going through our house this week and trying to organize as much as we can. Organization is not my strong suit, I must admit. So besides cleaning out our house, here's what I have been up to!

1. Bath and Body Works carries a wonderful aromatherapy line. My favorite is the lavender vanilla scent. Lavender is just the best. I got this luxury bath the other day and lit this wonderful lavender vanilla candle. The luxury bath is great because it makes for the most wonderful bubble bath. Can you tell I love pampering? HA!

2. I made this quick and easy beef stroganoff for dinner the other day. And I wanted to feel like Pioneer Woman, so I put it all on a big platter, even though it was just the two of us. :) It was so good.

3. It's been a great week for getting packages delivered. We ordered this pillow sham from Pottery Barn Kids just Saturday, and it came in the mail on Tuesday! I love seeing Jackson's name on anything, but this pillow sham just makes me smile. :)

4. I ordered an Erin Condren planner early this month....on January 4th I think. After patiently...er....impatiently waiting, I finally got it! Erin Condren always sends a little free goodie when you order. I got this red party clutch and desk calendar for free! Bonus!

5. Yesterday, my sweet nephew, Logan, had his ACL repaired. I am so glad he is already recovering well after just a day. Those of you who read my blog know how much Logan and Lauren mean to me! He was up walking around hours after surgery. He is such a huge inspiration!

So that's my five on Friday, y'all! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers. Philemon 1:4

DNOW Vine 2013

A few weeks ago, Russell and I hosted a group of 7th grade girls for DNOW at our house. It was the first year we helped out as a host home, but we absolutely loved it.

 This year's theme was DNOW Vine 2013. You may have heard of the iPhone app, Vine. You can upload a six second video clip and share it on the app. I have one, but I mainly just put cooking videos or something about Belle on there. :) The youth and leaders were encouraged to upload DNOW "vines" throughout the weekend. They were great!

The main reason for the theme was from the Bible verse, John 15:5. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.

 We got to know these fabulous girls very quickly and I was excited that two of my Sunday school girls from last year could stay with us!

Abby, Mary Claire, Kenedi, Kennedi, Natalie, and Annabelle were oh so fun!

We were ready to tailgate before the Bentonville Tigers football game!

YAY! I love these girls so much too! We bonded so so much last year in Sunday school.

Anna, Madison, Avery, and Gracie!

What better food to eat than cheeseburgers, chips, and coke? Perfect football food! :)

 A group of us actually sat on the visitor's side at the game because the regular seating was crazy packed! I was glad to get this picture of the traditional baby powder students throw up in the air every kick off.

 

Side note: When we signed up to be a host home, it was before we found out about the pregnancy, but I really prayed that I would be a great "host mom" that weekend so I could be available and able to make it to each DNOW event. I was starting the eighth week of the pregnancy that weekend and I admit, I was definitely tired, and had no energy, but the Lord definitely gave me strength for sure! I wanted to really be there for those sweet girls and I am so glad it worked out. I was a little nauseous Sunday morning, but that's it! Thank goodness! And Russell was incredible help. I couldn't have made it without my sweet husband. Always better together!

Anyway....

 Friday after the game, I made "kissy cookies," which are peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's kiss on top. Annabelle and Mary Claire had a tiff over the peanut butter leftovers! HA!

 All the girls slept on the floor, so we made a huge pallet for them for that Friday and Saturday night.

Belle really liked the blankets a lot!

 Saturday morning I made breakfast casserole and cinni-minis for breakfast.

 Sweet girls having breakfast.

We had awesome college leaders stay at our house, too. Mary and Natalie were just so fun!

 Ready for session one at church!

 Yes, I mentioned lack of energy. Terrible pic of me.

But this is Demi and me! This year was her first year as a college leader and I know she really enjoyed it. Demi is one of the sweetest girls I know!

 We learned so much the whole weekend. Also, we sang the best worship songs. The praise band did awesome. We really enjoyed it.

 Clint and Kylie graciously helped pass out lunch on Saturday. What's better than Chick-fil-A? Not much in my book! :) Clint and Kylie were also our support home and helped us tremendously the whole weekend with transportation, made breakfast on Sunday, and so much more. They are the sweetest and we are so glad we could get to know them better!

 After lunch, the girls worked on a photo challenge that DNOW put together. Our group worked SO hard on the pictures. This one is one of my favorites. All six of the girls were in the phone booth!

 The girls also helped out with the food drive. It started POURING down rain, so I was nervous that it would slow the girls down. I was wrong. They probably had more fun because of the rain! Ha! Kennedi and Annabelle are just great girls!

 Kylie and I.

 Our whole group on Saturday night! This just makes me smile!

 Who doesn't love midnight snacks? I made a fruit pizza for the girls to enjoy while we watched The Little Mermaid!

Carly and me before the service on Sunday.

She is so precious to me! Love her lots.

 

It was amazing to be able to help out for DNOW. It was just an incredible blessing.

 

I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

You Are

Listen and be blessed by this song! I know it has been out for a while, but every time I listen to it, it's a blessing! I could listen to it all day. Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from you heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19

Carrie-d AWAY

Guess what? We will get to see this famous musician in NINE days!

Yes, folks! CARRIE UNDERWOOD!!!!!

Russell and I are so very excited about seeing her! 

We will head to Tulsa next week to see my very favorite.

I have always been a huge fan of Carrie Underwood from the very beginning. I remember voting for her every week on American Idol. She just always seemed and still seems real, down to earth, and not fake at all.

I loved her first hit, Jesus Take the Wheel. She wasn't ashamed of her faith from the very beginning. That is when I knew I was a devoted fan of hers. I think it is fantastic when celebrities share the love of Christ and share their faith in the spotlight.

This is the most precious clip of Carrie and Mike Fisher's interview with Oprah in May. It makes me tear up because it's so sweet.

We are ready to be blown away by her concert! WOOHOO!!!

 

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood-to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- Romans 3:25



#dnowgoesviral

Wow. What a weekend!

Every year, our youth host a big event, DNOW. There are always many ways for the whole church body to get involved. This was the first year we had a chance to help with it and we loved it! Here's the scoop.

 We prayerfully decided to be a "support home" for 7th grade guys. We basically drove them around wherever they needed to be and most of all got to connect with them. We really enjoyed it. Thursday night, I made marshmallow crispy treats and BBQ snack mix for the guys.

The event started on Wednesday night as a kickoff for DNOW.

 We went to Horton Farms and saw Acrodunk. They are a pretty cool group of guys that play basketball but add tricks to it.

 It was amazing to see all the stunts they did on the bball court.

 Acrodunk has been on America's Got Talent and did very well on the show for a while. I think they were one of the finalists. Everyone enjoyed it.

 

Oh, I almost forgot, there are quite a few pictures. :)

 

Friday night we picked up the boys from Aimee's house. Her family was a "host home" for our group and we helped each other out throughout the weekend.

 Aimee and me

I told her she is a multitalented mom. Along with being a wife and mom, she cooks, sews, paints, etc. Ha! I was amazed when I learned this about her. I really enjoyed getting to know her!

 We parked at the high school to tailgate and enjoyed catching up with friends.

I was so glad to see Elizabeth throughout the weekend. She is such a precious and adorable friend!

 All of the DNOW crew went to the BHS football game and cheered on the Bentonville Tigers.

 A group with their t-shirts!

 Of course, we sat in the student section. They all throw baby powder in the air right at kickoff every game. Yep!

 We were all covered with powder. Angie, Shelley, Baylie, and me laughing it up!

 I was so happy to see one of my girls from Sunday school, Annabelle! We got to talk for a little while during the game. Note the powder all over my shirt and also my crazy hair that blows up in humidity. Crazy!

The night wasn't over yet. Hutch, our youth leader put on a huge rave with black lights, loud and crazy music and NEON!

 The youth were overly excited and had tons of energy!

 Yep, this about sums it up. So funny!

Y'all know I am a kid at heart so I did wear neon pink earrings and a glow necklace.

 Carly is the most energetic friend I have!

Her smile is contagious!

After I went to the "rave" for a little bit, I had enough of the booming music and sat in the hall with the other adults! :) I say again on my blog, I can confirm, yet again, I am slowly approaching 30. Maybe that's why I'm getting too old for this stuff. HA!

So it was needless to say a fun but late night.

Saturday morning:

 Let's say it together: COFFEE!!

I don't regularly drink coffee but I did yesterday.

We were ready to worship and learn more about the Lord! We certainly did.

 It was so good to see over 350 teens learning about the Lord and desiring His will for their life. So awesome! The speaker, Chad Poe, was so good!

 Hutch's kids Korbyn, Kampbell, and Kash are adorable! I had to snap a quick pic.

 Russell and I before the big group picture.

 I was tickled to see Raven there this weekend. She was one of the college leaders for a group of girls. She is such a great girl! Love Raven and her sweet family!

 Lunch time!

Love these girls!

 Carly, Jordan and Sarah enjoying our fave for lunch, Chick-fil-a!

 A big part of DNOW every year is a community service project. We participated in a food drive.

Joshua, Jake, Simon and Satchel ready to help our community!

 Having a good time!

 Russell, Holden, Satchel, and Simon

 Our church teamed up with another local church for the food drive. We heard that our friends, Jeremy and Kristie go to that church but it was such a surprise to see Jeremy picking up all the food for it! We have not seen him in years. He is a good friend of ours from college in South Arkansas.

 Every group had college leaders. Here were our group's leaders, Josh and Jesse. We really enjoyed our time with them and getting to know them.

 Our wonderful group!

Simon, Joshua, Andy, Jake, Josh, Holden, Jesse, Russell and Satchel

Between the ten of us, we collected 340 items for our community! Best of all, the DNOW group collected 11,000 items! That is amazing!

We had free time and later that evening, we met back at the church for our last session.

Russell and I before church, our DNOW service.

There were quite a few decisions made throughout this weekend. I don't know an approximate number though. I just know that God was obviously present. We talked a lot about the verses in Philippians 2.

I just adore when the Lord overflows us with His love, grace, and mercy and that is just what He did in my heart this weekend. It was great. It still is. The best news is that His love, grace, and mercy overflow daily. Just go to Him and He will show you.

Viral: spread rapidly from one person to the other around the world!

DNOW: We've gone viral.

Here is a video I wanted to share with you! Enjoy! 

Philipians 2:14-16 Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.