A Home Shopping Network Moment

Have you heard about Zumba?!

(logo taken from their website)

You know...Zumba the workout dance videos!?!

I have!  I keep on hearing how wonderful it is and how much fun it is and how people lose so much weight doing it and how wonderful it is and how great it is and how glorious it is!

Well, I got sucked into the infomercial of it on Sunday and decided that I just neeeeeeedddeeeddd it!  I asked Preacher Man what he thought about it and he told me to go for it because I've been wanting to get on a work-out routine with my new work schedule.  After all, "exercising gives you endorphins and endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill people."  Quick...what movie is that from?! 

So I broke down and bought the DVD set of Zumba....it came with all of this supposed "free stuff" too!  I'm so excited and can't wait to try it out!  I will definitely let you know how the process goes and if it really is all that everyone is saying it is.

My complete set should be here in 3-7 business days.  I'll let you know how it goes!  :)

Thinking that I'm going to turn into a Home Shopping Network crazy lady when I grow up,

The Preacher's Wife

Answer to the quote:  Legally Blonde...the movie!

Our first Married Easter :)

It was a wonderful day to celebrate our Risen Lord!

It was Easter...

our first Easter as a married couple...

and our first Easter that wasn't spent with our families.

BUT...

it was still a great Easter!

We went to a wonderful Easter service with a powerful message and great worship...and we got to  celebrate that Christ rose from the dead!  Amen!

We didn't even have to buy new Easter outfits because no one here has ever seen our Easter-type clothes.  (I say this because I always got a new Easter dress every year growing up and I always looked forward to getting a new dress!)  :)

Even though we weren't with our families back home, we were with our family that we started together with me and Preacher Man....even though we sure did miss not being at home...and it definitely wasn't easy for me.

We decided that the Easter Bunny is REAL!  We got a package full of goodies on our doorstep...thank you, Easter Bunny!  :)  We love you a lot!

And lastly, we got to have a wonderful Easter dinner with our fun new friends, Chad and Jodi.

It really was a good Easter!

Take a look at our Easter spread...

Chicken Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Corn on the Cob, Deviled Eggs, Homemade Rolls, and Strawberry-Pretzel Salad.  It was delish!!  Jodi and I put on a good feast!  And we had enough food for 10 people...seriously....too bad we don't know more people around here.  But the good news is that we have leftovers for the week!  Hooray!

After dinner we played some dominos and then had our Easter Dessert...

a Bunny Dirt Pie!  :)

I know, it kinda looks like a kitty cat but this is what I came up with!  :)  I liked it!

Here is me and Jodi in front of the Easter tree that you can't see.

There it is......the Easter tree and us looking like we are in first grade again.  I love it!  :)

And here is me and Preacher Man after church on Sunday in our Easter outfits....

It was a great Easter!!  Hope everyone else had a good one too!

Love you all,

The Preacher's Wife

wild horses

Do you dream a lot?

I do!

Do you ever have dreams, wake up, and can't remember if what you dreamed really happened or not?

I do!

Well a few nights ago I had a dream that I was a cowgirl.  Yup, a cowgirl.  I loved me some horses and couldn't get enough of the one that I was riding out on the ranch that I was on.  That was until I got kicked off my horse because he got angry.  

Now you see, in real life, I am deathly scared of cows and a tish bit scared of horses too.  I've always had his fear of them charging at me or kicking me.  Sometimes I feel like I see my life flashing before my eyes whenever I am around them...seriously!  I don't know why I'm like this but I am.  And yes, I know it's odd...you don't have to tell me.  :)

So back to my dream....I got kicked off of my horse and I remember that my Dad was there trying to help me up off of the ground.  I remember that I was so scared because I thought the horse was going to kick me, and just when I thought I was about to get a swift kick in the back I was woken up.


You want to know what woke me up?


My husband.


We were both sleeping on our right sides and he just happened to twitch his arm into my back and it was sort of a hard twitch.  I seriously woke up thinking that my horse I was riding on in my dream had just kicked me in the back.  


It was the craziest dream that I've had in a long time and it seemed so real, especially since the hubster knew exactly when to hit me in the back too.


Dreams are just so strange sometimes.  I sometimes wonder how I dream about the things that I do.  Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to me.


I guess it's just another one of those questions that I'll never know the answer to.


Hoping for Better Dreams,
The Preacher's Wife  :)

P.S.  Preacher Man and I are just fine.  Thankfully we didn't have any tornadoes that came close to us yesterday, but definitely keep those who lost loved ones and houses in your prayers.   

It's Not Pizza, It's Pizza Dip.

The first time that I tasted pizza dip I was over at my dear friend Amie's house whom I miss very much.

I miss you, Amie!!!!!

(This picture is from my Bachelorette party.  I typically do not wear frilly pink things on my arms!)

So Pizza Dip and Amie.  I was at Amie's house when I first tried it.  Her Mom made us a big 'ol bowl of it and it was scrumptious.  I meant to get the recipe but never did.  :(  BUT, the other day I started thinking about that pizza dip again and I found a fabulous recipe for it on this blog.  I told the hubby about it and he was all about trying this out.  After all, pizza is one of his all time favorite foods.

He was so excited about it that I told him he could help me make it.  :)  Once we got into the kitchen though I decided that I was just going to let him make it.  He keeps on saying that he wants to learn and this was a perfect time.  So I instructed him on how to do everything and snapped pictures along the way.

Here we go....

Here's the line-up of everything:

First, cut up your pepperonis into quarters.  (I did this part!)  :)

Then, in a bowl combine your mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, Italian seasonings and about half of your pepperonis together.

Then spread it into a baking dish.

until it's all over the bottom.

Throw the rest of your pepperonis on the top...

pour a jar of pizza sauce on top...

action shot!

sprinkle with some mozzarella cheese on top.

and then Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

Also, you'll want to buy these:

Normally you can find these in the bread/bakery section in the grocery store...they are delicious with this dip or even by themselves.

And here is the finished product!

Another view...

And into the mouth!!!  Oh yes!  :)

P.S.  You may want to let it sit out for a few minutes after taking it out of the oven.  Over excitement about eating the dip too soon out of the oven could result in burning the roof of your mouth.  (not that I'm speaking from experience or anything!)

This is a great recipe and we definitely loved it!  We will for sure make this again soon...and who knows, maybe I'll show up at a party with it and you might be there!  :)

On another note, the full-time job is going great!  I am really enjoying it a lot!  Just not enjoying the way I feel after a long day of working 8 hours....but no worries, I'll get conditioned right back into it soon!

Everyone enjoy this beautiful Thursday!  I hear the weather is supposed to be nice for the rest of this week (aside from Saturday) and the rest of next week!  So excited!

Loving me some pizza dip,

The Preacher's Wife

a most fun weekend

This past weekend was a blast!!

We had so much fun with our new friends in North Carolina.  :)

Friday night was a super relaxing night.  I cooked "breakfast for dinner" for myself, Preacher Man and Andrew.  It was mighty tasty and I must say that I made a delicious hash brown casserole that would give Cracker Barrel's a nice run for its money.  :)

We all had a long, tiring week of working and took it easy on Friday night.  So easy that Andrew probably left around 9:15 and we were in bed by 9:30.  This whole working again thing is going to take some getting used to.  I think I may have to go into hibernation all day on a Saturday when I work my first 40 hours!  :) 

Saturday was a fun day too!  The hubster and I went out on a double date with our new friends Chad and Jodi.  They live in the same townhouses that we do and they are just the most precious couple!  Our agenda for the evening was to go to Chili's and go bowling....and boy did we have fun! 

Here's some of the fun....

This is Jon and his buddy Chad that he met in one of his classes.  So glad that they thought their wife's would like each other so much (or at least I hope she does...haha!)  :)

And this girl......she is Bowling Belinda!  Kidding...she is Jodi.  She is just the cutest thing ever!  :)

We're a bit tickled in this picture....it's Bowling Beatrice and Bowling Belinda.  These are the best bowling names ever.  :)

And just so you know, I did break 100!  Yay for me!  This is exciting!  :)

Sunday was another over cast day here in the first half of the day, but by mid afternoon it was a gorgeous, sunshine-y day!  Preacher Man and Andrew went golfing after church so I got to stay home and chill.  I made some cupcakes and watched some TV.  And when they got back, guess what I had to watch?

The Masters.  You guessed it!  And this is how the story went the rest of the afternoon...

You can see my foot in this picture on Preacher Man.  I ended up falling asleep in my big comfy chair!  :)

Oh, and Mom....I used the fun cupcake liners and Happy Easter toothpicks that you got me!  :)

Later that night we had some friends over...Chad and Jodi and our new friend Sarah!  We had a little Fiesta with some fajitas, rice, beans, homemade guacamole, and cupcakes to top everything off.  Then we played some corn hole out in the parking lot! 

Check it out...

Andrew and Sarah

(I might have made them pose for this one...I couldn't get the picture to stop being blurry....and here you see how it turned out...grrrrr!)

And here is the best hubby in the world, Chad, and Jodi having a big time!

We sorta played in the parking lot while it was dark (as if you couldn't tell!).  We set up shop right under the street lamp and it worked out perfectly.  After that, we pllllaaayyyyeeedddd......

drum roll...

JUST DANCE!!!   

Jodi and Sarah were breaking it down!  This game was a blast and I would LOVE to own it!  Luckily Jodi lives across the street so I can go get my groove on when I get the urge!  :)

This weekend was so fun and I can't wait for another fun-filled weekend soon!  :)

Now it's back to work this week!  I've gotta get back into the full-time groove of things!  Whoo hoo!  :)

Ready for Another Weekend,

The Preacher's Wife

a hard day's work

I've been working a lot at my part-time job here recently because it has been crazy busy there.  Today the boss decided to have a cookout for lunch.

Wow!

Let me just say this was some cookout...

Steak, Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, Salad, Bread, Drinks, the whole nine yards.  It was phenomenal!!

Here's my plate....

Let's just say that it was such a long, hard day at work today with a meal like this!  :)

I'm a lovin' this job!  :)  I think I'm going to stick around part-time for a while if you know what I mean.

I start my full-time next week!  :)  Hooray!

And it's FRIDAY!!  Thank goodness!  A fun-filled weekend is ahead of me!  So excited!

Everyone enjoy the beautiful sunshine!

So happy it's the weekend,

The Preacher's Wife

Celebrate Good Times! :)

I love that song Celebrate Good Times--Come On!  I think it's fun and I wanted to sing it all day yesterday.

After all, we had something to celebrate...some exciting things that happened...we both have jobs!!

Praise the Lord!

Here's what we did...

We went to a place called.....

This place is a North Carolina thing and it is oh so delicious.  They serve frozen custard called "concrete" and you can mix in all different types of toppings.  Every day they have vanilla, chocolate, and their flavor of the day.  Sorta like Marble Slab in Tennessee, but different.  The custard is a lot lighter and creamier than regular ice cream.  It's definitely a nice treat.

Here is what we got...

Preacher Man got Vanilla and Caramel on the left and I got the flavor of the day--Jamocha with Oreos crushed in it.  It was delicious!!  Now I just can't wait for someone to come visit so we can take you to Goodberry's.

Last night was a great time to celebrate and I'm so glad that we did with Goodberry's.

And now the hubby wants to open a shop and call it "Bestberry's".  He's so silly like that.  :)

We have decided that...

We

*heart*

!!!!!!

It's fabulous and we can't wait to go back!

And guess what?!

It's almost the weekend!  Hoooorrraaaayyyy!

And Preacher Man and I are both working the next two days...even BIGGER HOOOORRRAAYYY!  :)

Enjoy the beautiful day the Lord has made!

Love,

The Preacher's Wife

the journey to SOMEWHERE...3 months and counting

Everyone is on a journey in life.

That's for sure!

If you would have told me three years ago that I would be living in another state, newly married, sorta jobless (exciting news in a minute about that!), making new friends, looking for a new church, and always wondering what tomorrow is going to bring, I would have told you that you had absolutely lost your mind.

Well I'm here.  Surprise for me!

Actually some things aren't surprising, they have just kinda happened along the way and have thrown a curve ball at us.  I knew the day that I said yes to marry Preacher Man that my life was going to change forever with him.  I knew that we would move off to Seminary, but I didn't know all of the things that would come along with it.  I remember when we moved here that we were filled with a ton of emotions.  Sad to be leaving family and friends, but excited about the journey that we were about to embark upon.

And let me just tell you, we've been here three months and six days to date and it's been one big trek of a journey so far.  There have been ups, downs, twists, turns, and everything else that you could imagine in the things that we have faced so far.  I can only imagine what God is going to do next!

Being newly married has been super exciting here!  It has given us a chance to really build a foundation for the family that we want to be and what we want to stand for.  We have learned to cling to one another in anything that comes our way.  It's also been a journey to see Preacher Man and myself learn new things about each other every single day.  And for those of you who have been married before, I'm sure you are sitting there shaking your head remembering those days when you were still figuring each other out.  We've already grown leaps and bounds since our first week of being married and living together and have finally figured out each others quirks, habits, pet peeves, and normalises in living arrangements....although I'm sure I have a lot more to learn.  It's been hilarious at some moments, while other times we just don't see one another's point of view.  But for the most part, we do a lot of laughing at ourselves and one another!  :)   

Being jobless here has definitely taken a toil on me.  I have gotten cabin fever more than a person should ever have in my opinion.   You probably figured out just how bad it was when I posted the painting I did for my Laundry room.  (that's pretty bad!)  Hahaha!  Not only has not having a job made me worry about our finances and how we are going to pay bills, but it's taught me a lot about totally relying on God for what his plans are and being content with my circumstances.  The Lord has provided for us in more ways than we could have ever imagined.  He has given us just what we needed at just the right time....even when Satan crept into my mind during long days where I wasn't working and made me doubt or even made me wish I wasn't here.  Just a couple of weeks ago I started a part-time job and was very thankful to be working, but again, I started to worry that nothing full time was going to come about.  Well, my God prevailed again--He never lets me down!  Last week I was "unofficially" offered a full-time job (they had to do the background and drug testing) and yesterday I was officially offered the job.  Soooo.....I'm very happy to let everyone know that I have accepted a full-time position with a WONDERFUL company!  I am so thrilled that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to work in an economy where jobs are hard to come by right now!  PRAISE GOD!

And guess what else?!

Preacher Man got a call for a part-time job TODAY!!!  Last week we fashioned up some fancy cover letters and resumes to send out to landscaping companies in hopes that they were hiring some part-time help.  And let me just tell you, I made landscaping and mowing sound fabulous in his cover letter!  ;)  Preacher Man is going to be working part-time for a landscaping and mowing company starting tomorrow.  And it's just the right amount of hours that he needs to work with his school schedule.  Amazing!  Thank you, Lord! 

I just know that the journey of finding new friends (and keeping the old!  :) ) as well as finding a new church will come soon!  Until then, we are praying for God's guidance and patience.  We are starting to develop new friendships with other people and slowly, but surely I believe we have narrowed down the churches that we really like.  I really thought that this process was going to be easy when moving here, but it has been somewhat challenging.  My prayer is that once we get plugged into a church that these two things that we want so much will come easily.

With all of the things that we have faced, I know that Preacher Man nor I wouldn't change a thing in what we have faced!  Do I wish we had more money in the bank?  Well sure, who wouldn't?!  Do I wish we lived closer to our family and friends?  You better believe it! But do I know that this is where God wants us?  Most definitely!  And more than anything I know that our God will provide when we are in need.  Just like He has done for us these past three months.  I'm remind of the verse in Phil. 4:19 (NASB)--"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

I know that the things that we face in life and how we react to them are a testimony to who we are and what we believe.  Thank goodness that we are on a journey to somewhere...with that something being Jesus Christ!

AMEN!

Until then, we'll continue on the journey of life and try to live every day for what is the most important thing!  And a song that comes to mind for this (because I really think my life is a musical and pretty much have a song for everything!)

"Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender..."

-Sanctus Real--"Whatever You're Doing"

Thank you for reading my sermon for the day!  :)  Haha!  Just thought it was necessary to tell how God is working in our lives here!

Thanks again for all of your continued prayers and support!  We serve a Mighty God!  :)

Enjoy your day...I know we are going to!

Much Love,

The Preacher's Wife

romano and mozzarella

I have a confession...

this past weekend was sort of an Italian feast.

A halfway delicious Italian feast.  :)

I got this crazy idea to try and make Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce...

and well, it turned out okay, but I think I probably should have gotten the REAL Parmesan cheese instead of just using my Parmesan that comes out of the green, shaky bottle.  Just a thought.  :)

I had this glorious idea to make the Alfredo sauce on Sunday morning so I told Preacher Man that we just HAD to go to the store after church to get some of that fancy cheese so I could make my Alfredo sauce. 

So that's what we did.  I got a fancy block of Romano cheese for around $6 and I almost passed out in the floor when we actually bought it.

  And would you believe that the hubster even talked me into getting some fresh mozzarella as well!?  He really wanted to make some cheese sticks.  We spent $11...just in cheese!  Glory be!  The only thing that I kept on thinking was:

A.  I seriously can't believe we are spending this much on cheese...this is ridiculous....we should put it back!

B.  BUT....This is way cheaper than if we would have really went to Olive Garden.

C..  AND...the mozzarella was buy one, get one...so it actually turned out to be pretty cheap.

and

D.  This is a dream come true!!!!  I watch the Food Network religiously and I've always wanted to go to the fancy cheese section in the grocery store!  I probably could have cried when I thought of this.  :)  Hahaha!

So we did it!  We bought it all!  I felt like we spent a fortune on cheese! But you know what, I don't regret it one bit.  That fancy cheese is glorious!  I mean Reeeaaalllll glorious!  My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.  Please go find a fancy cheese section at the store and buy some.  You won't regret it!  Ahhhhhh!  :)

So here is how the story went when we got home...

First, we started on the mozzarella sticks.

I got the recipe for this off of Macaroni and Cheesecake's blog and let me just say, they were fantastic!  Definitely worth splurging on!

Here's the line-up:

I cut up the cheese into little strips like so...

Cracked and egg, mixed it up, and then rolled a cheese log around in the egg mixture.

Then I let her roll around in some bread crumbs with thyme and oregano.

And then she went back to the eggs for another coating and then back to the bread crumbs to ensure a nice, yummy, oh so glorious crunch on the outside.

Once that was done, I lined them all up on a greased baking sheet and popped them in the oven.

And would you believe what happened?

They sorta exploded all over the pan!

Hahahahaha....oooppppsss!  Maybe it was a little too long in the oven?  :)

But can I just say that these were SO TASTY!  We dipped them in a tomato sauce flavored with oregano.  Me, oh my!  Please make these today.  Who cares if they explode all over the pan like mine did too!  I'll just keep a closer eye on them next time.  They are definitely worth it!!

For the full recipe and instructions, click here.

Now onto OG's Alfredo sauce. 

Let me just say, if you ever try making this, get the real Parmesan cheese from the fancy cheese section.  If I ever try this recipe again, I will DEFINITELY get it.  Trust me on this!

Here is all of the stuff I used...

That was the first carton of Heavy Cream I'd ever bought in my life....wow!  That stuff is super-duper thick...and totally calorie free!  Whoa!

And this is when I started to feel like a Food Network Star....ahhhhhhhh!!!

I grated cheese with a fancy rind on it!  I'm so glad I took a picture!  I can check this off my bucket list!  Oh the little things in life that I get thrilled by!  (If you think this is funny, please ask me about visiting Sea World for the first time, hahaha!  :) )

I added my one fancy cheese (the Romano) and my cheap cheese (the Parm.) to my cream and whisked away...

Once that was done I got to do another fancy Food Network thing and temper my eggs to put in my sauce.  I added a bit of the warm sauce to my bowl of eggs to let them mesh with the warm temperature of the sauce.  Boy was I feeling fancy at this point!  :)

And of course I cooked the fettuccine....

Unfortunately the pictures end here.  :(  I'm sad to report that my cheap Parmesan cheese didn't do my sauce justice.  It still added a nice flavor, and the sauce was pretty good, but it sure did look pretty gross!  The cheese DIDN'T dissolve into the sauce like it should have so I was left with little clumps of Parmesan cheese all throughout the sauce.  It wasn't worth taking a picture of...trust me!

But I learned my lesson, if I ever want to try and make this again I get the REAL fancy cheese from the store.  Or maybe I'll just stick with only eating Alfredo at Olive Garden!  Ha!

Here's the link to the recipe here.

Hubby and I had a lot of fun in the kitchen on Sunday to say the least.  We will definitely be making the mozzarella sticks again for sure!  :)

Now I think you should go try them too!

A Mozzarella Lover,

The Preacher's Wife

a little project

It was a pretty relaxing weekend here in good 'ol Wake Forest.

Good weather, good quality time with the hubby, and a great time with my latest craft project!  :)

If you have ever seen my jewelry box, you know that the poor thing is overwhelmingly full.  I tend to buy lots and lots of earrings and bracelets sometimes....and I've sorta collected quite a few over the years.  In particular, a lot of those dangly earrings.  I like dangly earrings a lot...but not too dangly though. 

So here is the latest craft project/home decor thing that I made this weekend...

It's decoration for my 1/2 bathroom downstairs and also a great way to store all of my dangly earring!  :)

I got the idea from here (www.kevinandamanda.com) and I've also seen these frames for sale in a Pottery Barn magazine before.

I didn't really pay attention to the details in how Amanda made her artwork for earrings, I just used what I had on hand and made it work.

Here's a closer look...

 

I'll probably end up moving the earrings around a dozen times, but I think it's cute almost anyway! 

 

I already had three frames from my college years that were still hot pink, lime green, and one was even painted red from a previous project I started but never finished.  These frames have been with me through a lot and I'm so glad that I could take them out of the yard sale pile and keep them around for a little longer.  Nothing a little spray paint can't fix in my opinion!  :)  P.S.  I had to show I.D. to buy spray paint at Wally World the other day too!  I guess that's good if people are still thinking I'm that young!  Haha!

If you have questions on how I made this, feel free to leave a comment and I'd be more than happy to help you!  :)

On another note, the pollen is here!  I have never seen pollen like this in all of my life!  My black car is now yeller (yellow)!  I'm not digging it too much to say the least.  If anyone wants to come over and wash my car, I'd love you forever!  :)  (Daaaaddddd!  I know you want to come visit again!)

Wishing you a very happy Monday,

The Preacher's Wife