Indescribable

 I forgot to post this picture the other dy, I took with my phone. We took it right before Easter service on Sunday morning. I am so thankful for sweet Russell and love him more each day!

We have continued to walk outside together as much as we can. We are just loving the beautiful outdoors lately!

 We walked on the Dogwood Trail, Rock Ledge trail, and Tulip trail. It was fun and we see lots of neat things each time we walk!

 I adored this beautiful waterfall! So beautiful!



 We were almost finished walking the trails and these beautiful flowers caught my eye! I have always seen Bleeding Hearts on the internet, in magazines, or in books, but never have I seen these in person! I was so happy because I love anything pink, and of course hearts! :)

Pretty Rose!

Most of the dogwoods were bloomed out already, but these still looked gorgeous! Take a little time today to stop and smell the roses, or even the fresh air! Be thankful for today!

Thanks be to God for his INDESCRIBABLE gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Weight Watchers Wednesday! The Perfect Spring Salad!

Happy Wednesday, y'all! I hope y'all are having a great week so far! I thought I would share my favorite salad right now with you! It's Strawberry Turkey Salad! It's so yummy!

Strawberry Turkey Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces

1 cup sliced strawberries

2 slices deli turkey, torn in pieces

1 Tablespoon almonds, chopped, then toasted

4 tsp. lowfat raspberry vinaigrette

Directions:

Combine all ingredients well. Enjoy!

This salad is 4 PointsPlus Value. However, it may vary depending on what brand of turkey or raspberry vinaigrette you use. So you may want to double check to make sure. This salad screams springtime! Don't you love it?

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29

Rise Up! Easter 2012

 Happy Easter, y'all! He is Risen! He is Alive!

This weekend was definitely jam packed, but so awesome!

 Our church had a Good Friday service on Friday night. It was so good and reminded us of what Easter is really all about, which is that Jesus died for us ALL and three days later, He rose again!!!

Saturday morning, Russell and I had choir practice for the Easter service this morning. It went really well. I was SO glad to see one of the sweetest girls I know, Carly!

 Carly is one of the most joyful, caring girls I know. She is adorable! She sings beautifully and has a strong heart for the Lord! Love you, Carly girl!

My friend, Janet Pate, from our church, has ovarian cancer. She is just a precious lady and wonderful woman of God. So many people just love sweet Janet. In honor of her, a bunch of girls participated in "Hats for Easter".

 I was so glad to get a quick picture with her! (Thanks for letting me borrow the hat, Mandy!) Funny thing is, I don't own any hats. I think it's because I am pretty picky about which one just MAYBE would look decent on me. HAHA! I didn't care which hat I wore, but I wanted to participate and let Janet know I love her and I'm praying for her!

Sidenote: I think I like the "Kentucky Derby" style hats more than any. :)

SO MANY people showed up to get a picture with Janet!

 Wow! What fun and how special it was to do that!

 I love my sweet friends! Me with Rhyanne, Baby Eden, Mandy, and Adrienne! Love them!

It was soon time for the second service at church, and since Russell and I are both in choir, we sang in both services. So after the "hat fun", I rushed to the choir loft for the 10:30 service.

Oh my word. Easter was TRULY reflected in the service this morning!! The youth sang along with a live pop video to a song sung by Maegan Kufahl, called Rise Up. It was so great! We sang "Blessed Assurance", "Jesus is the Lord," "Jesus Never Fails", and two of my faves, "Your Great Name" and "Unto the Lamb." Twenty-six decisions were made during the services. It truly was amazing!!

I have a special place in my heart for youth and college girls. Just because it can be such a busy, stressful, yet fun and exciting time in their lives. Therefore, I have gotten to know girls like Carly Sorey and this Carlie!

 Carlie is also a precious girl and oh so sweet! She plays the flute just beautifully and has such a heart for the Lord! Love you, Carlie!

Yesterday, I worked on cooking....and cooking! HA! But It was so worth it for this special Easter day! :)

 I made Breakfast Bread Pudding (it's savory, not sweet), for our choir's brunch in between the services. Yummy!

After church, we headed to Amy and Tony's house to continue celebrating Easter.

 I made Spinach Casserole....a.k.a. heaven in a dish! Let me know if y'all want the recipe!

 Also made Cheddar Scallion Popovers

 The table was decorated beautifully! You can never go wrong with fresh Spring flowers! So sweet!

 Also loved the bunnies on Amy's baby grand piano!

 Pretty!!!

 Look at this little honey bunny, Leighann Grace!

 I made New York cheesecake for dessert.

 Amy, Leighann, and me!

 It was such a thrill to see Leighann hunt for Easter eggs this afternoon. She got so excited!

 Eggs are in her basket! I think she found a lot of them!

 Russell had fun blowing bubbles with Leighann too!

 What fun!

Me and my sweetie on our seventh Easter together! I love him!

I hope y'all had a blessed Easter.

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6

Weight Watchers Wednesday: Easter Edition!

                                  

 Easter is almost here! I just had to add this sweet picture of a sweet little lamb. I thought it was precious!

Well, it's Weight Watchers Wednesday again, y'all! Easter Edition! I found the easiest recipe and I thought it was too cute not to share! If you have kiddos, or a niece and nephew, or even if you don't have kids, you should make these baskets of joy for Sunday! So easy, you won't believe it!

Easter Chocolate Crispies

 1.    Place 5oz milk chocolate squares in a pan with 1 1/2oz polyunsaturated margarine and 1 tbsp light molasses. Warm gently and stir until melted.

2.    Stir in 1 3/4oz puffed rice cereal.

   3.    Spoon into 12 paper cases, shaping into nests. Leave to set for 1 hour then fill each with 3 Cadbury's mini eggs.

These adorable baskets are only 4 PointsPlus Value! Fun, fast, and easy! How can you go wrong with that?

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.  “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:22-26

Traveling to Ree's Frontier...Meeting Pioneer Woman

 Y'all know I love The Pioneer Woman, and Russell does too! She recently came out with a brand new cookbook, "Food From My Frontier", and she is doing several book signings! The closest location where it took place was Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Ree's hometown. We even drove on part of Route 66 to get there!

 There was a cutest little antique store and soda shoppe nearby so we stopped there early this afternoon. The had many antiques, but I loved the collectible Christmas Tree Spode butter pat plates! Adorable! Yep....30 bucks adorable. We didn't get one. HA!

 Gotta love Beatrix Potter! So cute around Easter!

 Here is the soda fountain! Such a cute place!

 We also stopped at Keepsake Candles. What a beautiful view they have!

 We loved their homemade candles!

 We also saw Frank Phillips home!



 We also saw The Price Tower and Inn designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!

They love their buffaloes there! Ha! There were several of these around town with different designs.

OKAY...on to the BEST part of my post! HA!

 YAY! Here's the sign and table all set up for her!

 Yes, it's a lifesize cardboard display of Ree Drummond! Ha!

 I am telling y'all, I was so anxious and excited to meet The Pioneer Woman! Here I am waiting in line with all of her books! We were actually the 7th people in line! WOW! We were lucky, because the line was awfully long by 5:00. We got there at 4:00 and it started at 6:00.

 Here's her brand new books!

 This doesn't even show you how long the line got by 6:00. I'm telling ya'll, it was crazy!

Okay, can you find Ree in this picture! It was almost 6:00 sharp!

 So we waited about ten more minutes and voila! It was my turn to meet her! (Yes, I was totally giddy at this point. I get excited about lots of things, but especially meeting Ree!)

 She's now one of my new best friends! HA! She was SO incredibly sweet, y'all.

 Here we are! I was totally ecstatic at this point! I just love her!

 Russell, Ree and Me! Russell loves her too. He loves cooking her steak and buffalo wings!

Alas, we had to go home. I almost forgot there were hundreds of people behind me. HAHA!

 But we came home with momentos!

It was so good to be in Ree's hometown of Bartlesville. We made a day of it and had such fun! I like her so much because she is so down to earth and sweet and friendly! So check on facebook or her blog and see if she's headed to a city near you!! You won't want to miss it!

So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices... Ezekiel 24:10