God Speaks through Apples?

Last week, Dan went to the grocery store to pick up some things we needed, including fruit.
I'm pretty picky when I'm picking out fruit...not so much with the shape of it, but the basics...looking for piercing/scrapes of the skin, bruising, worm holes, etc. What he picked out at the store looked pretty good when I was washing it, so I didn't think much about it when I grabbed an apple on our way out the door.
As we headed down the road to take me to work, I took a generous bite of my apple. You can imagine my surprise when the inside was yucky brown! I looked again on the outside, around the stem, on the bottom...Nope! Nothing was there to indicate any kind of problem.
I thought maybe it was just there, an inside bruising, so I took another bite further over.
Nope! Same thing!
It was SO STRANGE!!!



I could have gone ahead and finished the apple, being careful to just eat the good outer portion, but why would I want to do that? It wouldn't satisfy my hunger, and my body wouldn't receive the full nutrition that a full apple could have given me. And besides...it was just GROSS!
And like only HE can do, He shows me that I limit His ability to use me when I concentrate on my mere appearance and don't take care of my inside. He doesn't want to have to work around my parameter, being careful not to hit the rot at the core of my being.
It's not His desire for me to put on the smiling mask when I'm going to one place then taking it off when I'm in the confines of my safe place.
He needs me to deal with hurt, obstacles, anger, fatigue, laziness, loneliness, doubt...whatever it is that gets in the way so that when He wants to use me He doesn't have to wonder if I have enough to give.
Not that He wonders....He knows.
So...YES!
God speaks through apples.
He wants to use me....ALL of me!

Healthy Choices

This is my version of a stuffed bell pepper recipe I saw on Pinterest.

I took a red bell pepper (the colored ones were on sale at Kroger!) and cut out the core. I salvaged some of the "meat" from around the stem and diced it to go in the filling.
The diced pepper was added to a diced tomato, a few spinach leaves, three or four boneless, skinless chicken tenders and simmered in a couple tablespoons of water (which will cook out). Season to taste.
When the chicken was done, I shredded it then added it back to the pan with 1/4 cup brown rice (already cooked).
Once everything was added, it was stuffed into the red pepper and baked at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Yummo!!!

Hello, Bargain!

This was my find at a cute little antique shop in Decatur, TX! (More about this excursion in a future post.)

For a whopping $11.48, I got the sweetest li'l hat, two quilting hoops (one round, one oval) for an art project, a jar full of old buttons, and four bags of various lace remnants.

Love my new treasures and can't wait to put them to good use!

Photo Shoot!

I got a call a couple of weeks ago that Slim 4 Life was being featured in a magazine, and they asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed for it! I was honored to be asked and was more than willing to participate, but it was really short notice. I got my work schedule adjusted, then they postponed the shoot. :(
They rescheduled it for the following week, and my boss was so gracious to work with me again and let me switch my shifts.
When I arrived to the publishing company, everyone was super friendly and the photographer was very kind, but I'll admit...I was super intimidated being in front of the lights and camera! I don't think modeling is in my future. LOL
There were six clients that participated. We began with individual shots, then group shots, and peppered throughout they conducted interviews with each one of us.
It was a really great experience!
This was for Inform (Dallas) Magazine, a local health-based publication put out by Russell Publishing Group in Addison, TX. The plan is for our story to be featured in their January issue.
This is a photo that Dan took of our group session. I'll keep you informed of when the issue comes out!

Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!
We are at my parent's house in Lubbock, and it has been a special time.
Christmas Eve we had some shopping to do, so we ran into Lubbock to get that done...and it was snowing!!!!!
I love it when it actually feels like Christmas!
I snapped this picture outside my parent's house just before we went into Lubbock.

Christmas Eve is also my dad's birthday. I made him some pumpkin bread cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Mmmm....they were so good!
I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the snow on Christmas Day, but I was too busy sitting by the fire drinking an excessive amount of coffee! ;) We ate breakfast together, Dad read the Christmas story and had prayer, then we opened gifts. To see a very special gift, you can click here.
I honestly can't remember the last time that I was home for both his birthday and Christmas Day. Working retail pretty much dictates my holiday events, and even though I don't manage anymore, we can request time off but it's never guaranteed.
This year, I didn't even request any time off for Christmas. I was just waiting to see what I was scheduled then we would make our plans around that. I was surprised when she scheduled me off Christmas Eve. I had to close on that Friday, so we decided we would leave Friday night as soon as I got off work, drive all night so that we could spend Saturday and Sunday with my family. Then I would request to work late Monday so that we could leave early Monday morning. Makes for a long day, but it worked out well at Thanksgiving.
That was the plan.
Well, we got thrown a curveball.
One of our cousins passed away Wednesday before Christmas. The funeral is planned for Monday. When I found that out, I called to let my boss know, and it turns out she scheduled me off until Wednesday! When I asked her about it she said she knew I was going out of town for Christmas, so she wanted to give me some time to spend with my family. Little did she know that I would need that time so we could attend the funeral.
It always amazes me when God works in the details of life's curveballs.

Finals

Three down.

One to go.

Christmas vacation is in my future.

...Near future.

...As in TONIGHT!!!

Oh, glorious day!

Christmas Fun!

Last night was our final home group of the year, so of course we ended it with a Christmas party!
We did everything one would normally do at a Christmas party...white elephant gift, finger foods, ugly sweater contest, and lots of laughter!
I think the best white elephant gift of the evening was a pack of batteries with a sticky note that said "Gift Not Included."
HA! So stinkin' funny!
The highlight of the evening was most definitely seeing the sweaters that people came up with. Clearly, we are a bunch of competitive people unashamedly grasping for bragging rights. ;)