What ya been up too?

Chris should be coming home today!!!! He has been out of Iraq for a couple of days and should fly into Honolulu today! woohoooo! so very excited! There will definently be some pictures posted soon:)

My poor roommate Amy has a diagnosed case of the flu! Ready or not it is here! Load up on fruits and vegetables and vitamins! Wash your hands a lot!


This week was a bit of a struggle:) I did mostly well with my TV/DVD fast....I succeeded except for 1 episode of LOST. Other than that....no TV or Movies! wooohooo! So my goal this week is moderation:) no more than 2 movies and no more than 2 TV shows.

LOST is back this thursday! so very excited for that!

I memorized my verses! Bible study was challenging in the fact that I had a hard time doing it. you would think with all the extra time I had not watching tv that I would find time for bible study.....wrong! Praise that Lord that Jesus didn't have a hard time dying on the cross for me or I would be in trouble! So, still working on that daily! I have a new bible verse to memorize for this week. Proverbs 5:21 "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths." I also want to limit my eating out and cook more at home. I plan on making Beef Stroganoff, Adobo, Manwich, Chicken and green beans (filipino style:) and those should last for the week with left overs:)






I actually made the adobo last night and it was very yummy! Adobo is a filipino dish i learned from my sister-in-law. I have some pictures and will also add the recipe i found on-line.

Garlic Chicken Adobo:
50 min 15 min prep
Serves 6
2 lbs chicken wings (i used a pound of boneless chicken breast chopped in pieces)
1 head garlic, coarsely chopped (I used 4 cloves of garlic and just about ran brooke and amy out of the house:()
1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 cups water
1/2 cup vinegar (rice vinegar or white wine vinegar work best)
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Directions:
Put vinegar, bay leaves, pepper, soy sauce, onion and water in a saucepan. Cover and cook slowly about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the cooking oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan. Peel the garlic, break the cloves into chunks, and brown them over medium-low heat (about 5 minutes).
Add the chicken to the frypan and brown it over medium-high heat (about 5 minutes).
Add the broth to the frypan and simmer, partly covered, until the chicken is done (about 30 minutes). Do not let it come to a boil.
Remove the bay leaves and serve over rice.
( I didn't have bay leaves....and it still tasted yummy:)

I also went and visited my bestfriend Tisha and her daughter Myah! so darn cute! she is getting so big and i can't wait until abby is that big:) wooohooo!

Mommy took this picture of cute Myah:)

Mommy and Myah who looks a little tired:)

Whoa...wait a minute what is this lady doing? Obviously me and a stunned Myah with mommy looking on in the background:)

my thoughts at this moment.....

I REALLY WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE!!!!!!!!!

new pics from hawaii

Stop the Traffik

Here's an easy way to take 2 minutes and help those who are being oppressed. Human trafficking for sexual exploitation or slave labor is now the world's fastest growing illegal trade, more lucrative than drugs. Women and children are the most affected. There are an estimated 27 million people in slavery right now.Stop the Traffik is a coalition of agencies, institutions, churches, and individuals committed to taking action against the buying and selling of people. A petition is being raised that will be given to the UN Secretary General Bang Ki-Moon on February 13th. If we can collect a million signatures the UN will endorse a Stop the Traffik fund. So far we have approx. 500,000 signatures and US$ 1 million pledged but the deadline is approaching fast. Please could you sign the petition on www.stopthetraffik.org and get as many people to sign up as you can. It only takes 2 minutes and will have a huge return!

lies women believe about themselves!

The scripture I will be memorizing this week is Romans 8:1-2 and Luke 6:46.

Three truths that I am going to believe are:

If I am a child of God, I am God's cherished possession and treasure!

If I am a child of God, I can choose to obey God.

Claiming rights that I do not have will put me in bondage.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1-2

Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say?

Luke 6:46

I have also decided to not watch any TV/DVD for 7 days. This includes not going on-line to watch the episode that I missed the night before:) I almost always have the tv on or a movie in. I may not watch what is on but it is the noise I think. I usually put a movie on to clean or do some task. so it will be interesting to see how i fill my time and use it differently. Also, i might go insane from the lack of noise:)

So...if you see me or talk to me, ask me how i am doing with my scripture, bible study, and no TV/DVD:)

Here is a picture of Hanauma Bay in Hawaii. you can see some pretty exotic fish and sea turtles if you aren't killed by the sharpness of the reef and coral and don't try to go past the natural break. amy and I tried that and quickly turned around and swam for dear life back to the non wave break area:)

recovering!

whewww....last week was rough. But I am feeling better, praise the Lord! I worked this weekend and am still alive! This is a random picture from a year ago or so. Cox Arboretum in the summer. Just a happy warm picture on a very cold day:)

I am currently going through a day by day bible study called Breaking Free Day by Day by Beth Moore. It has a verse and thoughts to meditate on daily about breaking free from bondage that is keeping us from freedom in Christ. I really liked today's.

What has never come into a man's heart is what God has prepared for those who love Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Are you experiencing the benefits of your covenant relationship with God through Christ, or do the benefits you read about in Scripture seem more like warm, fuzzy thoughts? God has graciously extended these five benefits to us:

1. To know God and believe Him

2. To glorify God

3. To find satisfaction in God

4. To experience God's peace

5. To enjoy God's presence

These five benefits will serve as a road map to lead you home any time you've been carried away captive.

welcome back to ohio!

My gift upon returning to Ohio is Bronchitis. I haven't had this in probably 10 years. My roommates are loving me coughing all night long. Thank you for the z-pack and some cough medicne with codene! Thank you Ohio! Hope you all don't catch this thing:)

Cafe de House Church

We had our house church over last night for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We had about 24 people over. We were amazed that we could cram that many into our apartment:) We had Chicken Salsa, Salad, bread, spanish rice. It turned out really nice. Following dinner was a birthday celebration with Tracy's famous DKA cupcakes that she made for jason, luke, and nick. These cupcakes are so rich and sugary that the joke is when you eat one your body goes into diabetic ketoacidosis. Following desert came a mean game of Apples to Apples. Possibly the best quote from the game came from Blake with "I am more selfish than a black whole".

Here are the birthday boys. Jason (today), Luke(tomorrow), and Nick(yesterday) (L-R)

something new

So a couple of friends and myself are going through this book called Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Great book! In this book she describes lies that women believe and scripture that sets them free. Our theory is that since we are reading this book and are recognizing these lies that we should memorize scripture that deals with the lies we specifically believe. so starting this week I will be posting the scripture that I will be memorizing:)

"Yet I am always with you; YOU hold me by my right hand. YOU guide me with YOUR counsel, and afterward YOU will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but YOU? And earth has nothing I desire besides YOU. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:23-26

global warming effect on ohio

I had the windows open today while wearing FLIP FLOPS!!!!!! It is January 8th! What the heck is going on? It was fantastic but kind of scary:)

Back to the grind

Today was my first day back at work and my first day of the new semester for school:) woohooo! Work was great. My boss was very wonderful and allowed me to take this first day back and make sure all passwords worked and get back into the swing of things since I did not work while in hawaii. I was able to help fellow nurses and also re-learn a lot of hands on stuff! And I did remember a lot that I thought I had forgotten:) it felt good to get in the muck of it again:) Those of you who are nurses understand what I mean when I use the term MUCK:) If you aren't a nurse, ask me about it and maybe I will tell you what it means over lunch:) hehe! Right now i am home resting my tired dogs (for those who don't speak dad...feet) and printing off 500 pages of information for my Pathophysiology class that I am taking on line this semester. It looks kind of scary but I was told it was a great class! After this class I only have one more class before I graduate with my bachelors degree:) wooooo! By the way....it was 69 degrees in Dayton today! holy cow. it is the beginning of January! I brought some Hawaii back with me! I wish I was able to enjoy the day...hopefully tomorrow will be just as great:)

Friend and Family visiting

Temp is 42 degrees:) Way nicer than 7 degrees:)

My aunt Besty, cousin Julie, and her girls Faith and Hope also came for an overnight visit. it was wonderful getting to see them after being in Hawaii for 5 months! what a wonderful fun time. The little girls are precious and it only makes me look forward to baby abby in 4 years! I think my dad also enjoyed it from a grandpa's point of view and also looks forward to his little grandbabies:) they better be ready for some snuggle time. Zeahne you better get ready. So here are some pictures from our fun adventure:)

Julie and Besty riding the luggage carrier

so we needed to go get the luggage out of the van and we decided or rather I decided it would be fun to get pictures taken on it:) and my dear family obliged.

My dad and I ridding the luggage carrier:)

Me, Hope, Julie, and Faith at Outback

The Sista's (Besty and Garnet {mom})

Hope and Dave (dad)

Katie and me:)

My friend Katie came into town this past week and started looking for an apartment. Well, on the she started looking she signed. very quick but good! She will be moving back here next week! woohooo! yeeeeeee! yabadabadoooooo!

who turned off the heat?

holy cow it is cold! what a rude awakening to look at the temp this am and see 8 degrees! ahhhhhhh! just 5 days ago I was in weather 80 degrees warmer! But we got a beautiful snow fall and it is still kind of spitting snow:)

New Year's Eve in Ohio

Dutch Blizt

some of the party animals:)

clay up to draw for pictionary

elizabeth and rob

roomies - brroke and me;)

the roomies post hawaii

the roomies pre-hawaii