40 days of prayer

Today starts a very difficult six week journey for me.  My pastor has asked that our church join him in fasting and prayer for forty days.  

Fasting does not always mean not eating.  It can be just giving up something you enjoy a bit too much, or something that would be difficult to surrender   This is not supposed to be a comfortable thing.  And for me the choice was a hard one.  

As a family we decided to not eat any red meat, but for myself I decided that there will be no sugar of any kind, and the hardest of all no TV and no Internet. I do plan to blog once a week and continue with my school work.  

I'm going to use this time instead to pray for our nation.  Being the couch potato I am, this is a big deal for me, especially since all my shows are returning this week and next week.  It may sound silly to most but for me its going to be a trying time. 

 I do hope that in the end I will feel less dependent on such things and more dependent on the Lord.  Which is how it ought to be.  So here's to the next 40 days, may this time bring me closer to God, and if its even possible closer to my family.

Fall and Halloween Inspirations

I love the fall season.  It's my favorite season.  Here in Texas though it still feels like summer until November, so to get me in the spirit of fall I have decided to go ahead and  start my fall crafting, cooking, and fall activities.  One of the reasons I enjoy the fall season so much is because of course, Halloween.   My Pinterest board is full of wonderful fall and Halloween inspirations, and I plan on taking full advantage of all the great ideas.  These are just a few of my favorite inspirations from Pinterest.

1. Acorn picture frame
2. Pumpkin Wreath
3. Burlap table runner
4. Hayride sign
5. Glitter spider vase fillers
6. Pumpkin and cream frappe

7. Flying bats
8. Jack cupcakes
9. Halloween advent calender
10. Brown paper bag flowers

Fall is fun!! Don't ya think??

So what are your plans this fall season???

Picture Frame Redo #2

I love redoing old picture frames.  They're so easy peasy and cheap!!!   This is a black frame I've had in my closet for some time now.  

Not that there is anything wrong with the frame in fact it's a perfectly fine picture frame.  But I wanted something more beachy to hold some photos taken from our trip to Disney World this past summer.

I decided to add some brown twine I already had to the frame using a hot glue gun.  Now there are many ways to do this much easier than how I did it, but since I do everything on a more difficult level (meaning I seem to like making things harder on myself) I went with the horizontal lines.  Vertical is the better way to go.

Once I finished that, I went ahead and sprayed it white,

but it still needed something, so I went ahead and used the scented rear view mirror necklace that we used when on our trip to finish it off.

Ta da!!!

Now I have a sorta scrap picture frame to remind us of our trip, and it cost me nothing.  :)
Linking up to:
The Dedicated House
Meet Monday Linky Party
C.R.A.F.T.

 

Firefighter Beef Enchiladas

Firefighter beef enchiladas

My firefighter and his fellow firefighters have to be some of the best cooks ever!!  I love when my husband decides to make one of his many meals that they make at the station.  Not only are they all very yummy, but most of them are very inexpensive as well.  One of my favorite meals is his beef enchiladas.  It's a very simple recipe with just a few ingredients and super cheap, the whole meal cost our family under $15 to make.  

This is cheaper than two meals from McDonald's!!!

Ingredients:

I package of white corn tortillas

1lb of ground beef

2 cans of chili

1 onion (optional)

1 jalapeno (optional)

1 bag of shredded cheese

2 packages of taco seasoning

Brown the meat in a skillet and add the taco seasoning. Follow the instructions on the back of the package. Then soften the tortillas with a bit of oil on very low heat.  (You do not want to cook the tortillas just soften them so they don't tear when you roll them up).

Once the tortilla is soft scoop a spoonful of the meat into the tortilla and roll up. Place into a large baking dish.  Keep doing this until there is no room left in the baking dish.  Next pour the chili on top of all the enchiladas add cheese onion and jalapeño.  Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Or until the cheese is melted.  

See, easy peasy!!!

Enjoy with a side of chips and salsa :)

A real camera is defiantly on my wish list

A few extra toppings you might also enjoy

Sour cream

Green or black olives

Green chilies

Linking up to:
Raising Oranges

We Will Miss You Marcy!!!!

Yesterday I received some horrible news, a very sweet, strong and loving woman died over Labor day weekend.  She was my daughters Girl Scout leader and her name is Marcy Harris.  She was a mother, a wife, a leader, and a Dallas firefighter.  I don't know all the details and I have yet to tell my daughter, though her funeral is this Friday. I do know that she had been battling with breast cancer for some time. I'm so sad to hear this, and I know my daughter will take it hard, but mostly I'm sad for her two daughter's and her husband.  I know shes in a better place and there is no more suffering for her.  

Marcy, you will be missed!!!

Marcy with my daughter Heavenly