Anytime I'm looking for a sumptuous recipe I ALWAYS go to my best friend Mika's blog first and this time was no exception. If you've been following me for very long then you know that Mika and I met 15 years ago when we both adopted our beautiful daughters from South Korea. We've developed a friendship that's more like family and enjoy spending as much time with them as we can.
Mika and Bailey on the right and Kenzie and I are on the left. This was a Dillon picnic when the girls were just around 1 year.
Mika has this amazing blog called Mika's Pantry and she is definitely a foodie, if you want the most amazing recipes click on her link now! She makes these pizza's that are so mouth watering and are to die for. They have a pizza oven grill and make up new pizza's all the time. Last time we visited she made a BBQ pizza that was out of this world. Now, she's into cast iron cooking and of course she HAD to make pizza in it and I had to try my hand at it too.
First I placed the dough in a greased 12" skillet and then covered it with a disposable shower cap. Shower cap??? I buy them in bulk for really cheap and then use them like you would those more expensive covers from the grocery store. They're great for 1/2 a watermelon or anything that's an awkward size and shape.
Mercy Me It’s Christmas? CD will be available in Pizza Ranch locations beginning November 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. It has 4 exclusive songs that can only be found on the CD version being sold by Pizza Ranch. Each CD will be sold for $5 plus tax. Pizza Ranch will give away the CD with a $25 gift card purchase as well as sell the full album at each of its 200 locations throughout the Midwest and Great Plains states. “We are so excited to debut our new Christmas album, MercyMe, It’s Christmas, with Pizza Ranch” said Bart Millard with MercyMe. “Pizza Ranch is a fantastic restaurant with a great mission to glorify God. It’s the perfect gift to give this Christmas season and the perfect CD to get you in the Christmas spirit.”
Songs:
1. Newborn
2. Christmastime Again
3. Sleigh Ride
4. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
5. Hold On Christmas
6. A Holly Jolly Christmas
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain
8. Do You Hear What I Hear
9. Our Lullaby
10. Joy
11. O Come, O Come
12. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
13. O Holy Night (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
14. Silent Night (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
15. Joseph’s Lullaby (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
About Pizza Ranch:
Cultivating its mission To give every guest a legendary experience since its inception in 1981, Pizza Ranch connects with its communities in a way that provides bridges for friends, family and colleagues to come together. Today, Pizza Ranch is based in Orange City, Iowa and owns, operates and franchises over 190 locations in 13 states. Consistent growth has been a Pizza Ranch staple, as the brand has become a beacon of community involvement and exceptional food. The Pizza Ranch buffet features legendary pizzas, salads and desserts, and is delivered with an unmatched service quality. We are extremely blessed to have a very close connection with our guests, said Adrie Groeneweg, co-founder and president of Pizza Ranch. This project extends the brand’s essence to a new dimension beyond our four walls and into their lives. It’s a new kind of way for us to relate to our loyal fans.
Sharing from my heart:
Last week at youth group the youth minister asked all the kids to raise their hands if they like Christmas music, and come to find out my darling daughter didn't raise her hand. BAH HUMBUG she doesn't like Christmas music! Where have I gone wrong with her? So I started asking her WHY?? What's the deal? How can you not like Christmas music? Come to find out, she doesn't like the majority of Christmas music. There are a few exceptions like Pentatonix and YES she likes this Christmas CD by Mercy Me! Maybe I haven't gone wrong after all. Although she did inform me it's still too early to play Christmas music, the appropriate date to starting listening is apparently the day after Thanksgiving! Yippee it's almost time (according to Makenzie).
Anyway, I really enjoyed this CD and can't wait to listen as I play taxi driver and take my kids back and forth to all of their different activities and I added it to my Christmas playlist on my iPhone. You really can't go wrong with anything by MercyMe, they're one of my absolute all time favorites.
Giveaway time:
In the comments let me know what your favorite Christmas song is. Mine is Mary did you know?
*Open to the US and Canada. Giveaway ends on 11/24/15 at 11:59pm CST.
Thanks for reading,
"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
Another year has flown by and now it's time to celebrate Makenzie's 15th Gotcha Day! I was laying in bed thinking about how our life has changed so much from 15 years ago. 15 years ago today I woke up in LA just hoping and praying that we would finally have a child of our very own to love. We'd been through a lot over the previous 8-9 years with 6 miscarriages, 3 failed domestic adoptions and I was full of doubt that we would finally have a child. As we were preparing to start our day we heard a knock on the hotel room door and surprise it was Kevin's parents and my mom. They wanted to be there to share our special arrival. Kevin and I were both anxious and worried that everything would go ok. We all headed to the Santa Monica pier and had a quick lunch and took some pictures on the pier and then we headed back to the LAX airport. We must have arrived an hour or 2 early just in case their flight from Korea just happened to come in earlier than expected. Our lives were about to change forever and we didn't have a clue.
We heard that the plane arrived and now we had to just wait and wait while they started their journey through customs. Our dear friend Beverlee was bringing Makenzie to us from Korea and all of the sudden I see a Korean man carrying Makenzie and I kind of started freaking out inside because why did some stranger have my baby? Whew, here comes Beverlee and she tells us this is Mr. Chae and Kenzie was his first baby to escort to the USA. He hands her to me and I look in those beautiful almond shaped eyes and that's it. She's ours! Kevin is crying and misses seeing her reach her tiny, dimpled fingers out to him and then she smiles at us and it's the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. The next couple of hours are a blur and guess what? We find out that she already knows how to roll over, that she likes to pop a pacifier in and out of her mouth and she can suck down a bottle in less than a minute. That of course is the short version of our special day that we call Gotcha Day.
We always celebrate this day for both of our children because it's not their birthday which is when most people get to see, hold and touch their baby for the first time and we never want to forget that miraculous day. This year we made Korean food, we usually do to honor their heritage and because we love bulgogi, chap chae, pot stickers, rice and of course you can't forget the kimchi! This year we took Kenzie to see a production that her dance studio The Legacy Project put on called "What If".
We've used so many different pencil sharpeners over the past 11 years of homeschooling and I have to admit that none of them were that great until we found ClassroomFriendlysupplies.com You might remember my review of the Firehouse red pencil sharpener a couple of years ago. That one is still going strong, we love it and use it almost every day! They just sent me a purple sharpener to try out and it's a beauty and I'm giving it away to one lucky reader. I wish I'd found this sharpener when my kids were in kindergarten because we would have saved a bundle on sharpeners over the past 11 years. This one is $24.99 for one but they do offer discounts and specials if you buy 3 or more (great idea for teachers).
Here's the purple sharpener! Isn't it pretty, I love the color.
It comes with a little tool to attach it to your desk or table
Here are my pencils before I used the sharpener
I love that you can press the two black things together and pull it out and the pencil will self sharpen, you can actually do it with one hand. It has a nice sized drawer to catch all your shavings.
Leave a comment telling me what color of sharpener you'd like to see in future. Be sure to go to www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com and see what other colors they have available!
Today's teen girl needs reassurance that no issue is too big for God. The NIV Bible for Teen Girls, designed specifically for girls ages 13 to 18, will do just that. This Bible is packed with daily readings, highlighted promises of God, challenging insights, smart advice, and open discussions about the realities of life. This Bible is designed to help teen girls grow in faith, hope, and love. It is as sincere about a teen girl's walk with God as they are, helping them discover his will for all areas of their life, including relating to their family, dealing with friends, work, sports, guys, and so much more.
Features:
DAILY READINGS by popular Christian female authors including Bethany Hamilton (Soul Surfer), Annie Downs, Christine Caine,Nicole Weider, Elsa Kok Colopy, Crystal Kirgiss, Bekah Hamrick Martin, Denise Van Eck, and more
CHARACTER PROFILES of women in the Bible
BOOK INTRODUCTIONS for each book of the Bible
HIGHLIGHTED PROMISES OF GOD are verses worth remembering
A CONCORDANCE for help in finding verses
The bestselling NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) of the Bible
My Thoughts:
First thing when we opened the package we noticed that the Bible was a beautiful color and looked like something that would appeal to a wide range of styles. It's not too girly but has some pops of orange and pink to brighten it up. Makenzie was excited because this shade of aqua is one of her favorite colors right now. I was excited because she opened it up and started reading it and looking up her favorite verses and then she realized there were daily readings by popular Christian female authors. One of her all time favorite movies is Soul Surfers that tells about Bethany Hamilton's teen years and struggels after her arm was bitten off by a great white shark. We saw the movie on a mommy-daughter date and it really touched her. From that point we've followed Bethany on Instagram, Facebook and cheered for and her husband on the Amazing Race. So that was a HUGE bonus for Kenzie!
As I was looking through the thing that I liked a lot was the Book Introductions for each book of the Bible. Look at my pic below and you can see the intro for Exodus. It gives you a brief introduction to the book and tells when it happened, who is in the book, verses you might recognize and what's it about. I really liked that idea and might borrow it for some of my own quiet time. Another neat feature is the Character profiles of women in the Bible, I think this makes it easier for our teen girls to relate to the Biblical woman. My favorite women in the Bible when I was a teen were Sarah and Esther and I read their stories over and over. I'm still fascinated by Esther to this day and love movies and books about her. You know that question about if you could meet anyone from the past and have lunch with them? Yep, you guessed it I'd always pick Esther! GIVEAWAY TIME: Please leave a comment with your favorite female bible character and I'll pick a winner by October 30th, 2015
"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
For over 2,000 years, man has been searching for the final resting place of Noah's Ark. Though there have been many attempts, few have been able to fully explore the one place specifically noted in the Bible: Mount Ararat. Located in Eastern Turkey, Agri Dagh or "The Painful Mountain" is the tallest mountain in the region and lies in the very center of a centuries old, geo-politically unstable hot spot. With constant threats of deadly rock slides, hidden crevasses, and glacial ice falls, the Kurdish Rebel held mountain poses great risk to any explorer, let alone those performing a thorough scientific investigation.
Join director/producer Brent Baum and the FINDING NOAH film crew as they follow an expedition of intrepid explorers on a perilous trek up to Mt. Ararat's desolate summit. There, using state of the art technology and real-time satellite imagery, this team of archeologists, scientists and professional mountaineers will begin a grid work of exploration unlike any before, hoping to finally resolve the age-old question: did Noah and his Ark actually exist?
Shot in never-before filmed locations in the harshest of conditions, this unprecedented feature-length documentary shows just how far men are willing to go to discover the truth. Narrated by Academy Award nominee Gary Sinise, FINDING NOAH is more than a quest for answers, it is a testament of the human spirit, where belief and the need for exploration transcend risk and limitation.
Sharing from my heart:
Even though this was more of a documentary type film I still found it fascinating to watch. Typically I don't get into documentaries, I'm bored easily but this was so interesting. Growing up as a child I learned about Noah's Ark in Sunday school class (probably like most of you), well I've always wanted to see it and it's been a mystery that has kept my interest for years and years. Anytime I hear news of Noah's Ark I always listen in of hopes that they found it. I know it's out there but just want to see it with my own eyes. I don't want to give anything away before you see the film but I think you'll find it fascinating because there were several harrowing moments that you won't want to miss. It's only showing for one night in about 640 theaters so save October 8th, 2015!
"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
CAPTIVE, based on a miraculous true story that drew the attention of the entire nation, is a thrilling drama about the spiritual collision of two broken lives. When Brian Nichols - on the run as the subject of a city wide manhunt and desperate to make contact with his newborn son - takes recovering meth addict Ashley Smith hostage in her own apartment, she turns for guidance to Rick Warren’s best-selling inspirational book, The Purpose Driven Life. While reading aloud, Ashley and her would-be killer each face crossroads where despair and death intersect hope.
The movie stars David Oyelowo, who played Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the recent film, Selma.
Sharing from my heart: We're all created for a purpose but sometimes we don't find our purpose until later in life or after we've been through some type of struggle. I know my purpose is to help others adopt, after 8 years of struggling with infertility my husband and I adopted both of our amazing children from South Korea. If I hadn't lived that heartache and pain I wouldn't have been able to talk to others that are going through fertility issues or sing the praises of how adoption has changed our lives. Ashley Smith has a story about life, death, drugs, loss and courage that you won't want to miss. Without walking that rough patch she wouldn't have been able to talk to Nichols and get through being held captive and share her incredible story with all of us. This book was AMAZING and was such an inspiring story about redemption and faith! A must read for everyone, it doesn't matter what you're going through in life. We all have something that we struggle with and this book encourages you to follow your purpose and find what your purpose is in life. I'm excited to see the movie that comes out on Sept 18th, 2015 and share a book give away with all of my readers. I also want to encourage all of you to share your own purpose story at www.captivethemovie.com/followyourpurpose and also on social media with the hashtag #FollowYourPurpose.
You can enter to possibly win your own copy of the book CAPTIVE by filling out the Rafflecopter giveaway below.
Thanks for reading,
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
Maybe it’s because I misunderstood what God wanted when I was young, or maybe it’s my own pride and ambition, or maybe somewhere in my heart I still secretly suspect that God measures and rates and reviews my spiritual accomplishments. I don’t even know what “spiritual accomplishments” actually means. Maybe I still want to have “something to show” for all this work I’ve done along the journey. So I want to build something for God. I’d like for it to be tall and impressive and for a whole bunch of people to take notice. Especially God.
Not too long ago, I heard a pastor friend of mine named Andrew Arndt say this, “God longs for resurrection in us…but first we have to go through some measure of unmaking.”
Unmaking? That sounded like the opposite of what I’d been trying to accomplish spiritually for years. I sat with those words for a long time.
Before things in our lives can be resurrected and given new life, certain things must die. Before beauty blooms in spring, roots must do the hard work under the hard frozen soil of winter. Before you renovate and re-build, you tear down the parts of the structure that are weak or damaged or dangerous.
Before we make, we must unmake.
This didn’t resonate with my ongoing “build something big for God” obsession. It didn’t resonate because that’s never been what God wants. It’s what we want. To make God in our own image, so that people might stop and stare and marvel at our awesomeness. I mean God’s awesomeness.
Let me tell you where God wanted to meet me these past several years.
On a pile of rubble.
He wanted to sit with me in the silence and dust, after the wrecking ball, and put his arms around me for a while. He asked for vulnerability. And for honesty. I was embarrassed about the rubble and started to explain right away. He didn’t want to hear my plans for improvement. He had no interest in my blueprints. He wanted to hold hands and dry my tears. To help me understand that the rubble is where we have to start. The unmaking is first. We sat there for a long, long time until I started to get it.
It’s hard still. I’m so performance oriented. As a performer, that stands to reason, I guess. But I’m finding that the more willing I am to be honest about the broken parts of my life that are being unmade, and not necessarily shined up for presentation, the more likely I am to build something that matters. Stacking up these stones again to build what God has really been asking for all along…an altar.
Sharing from my heart:
I love worship music and listen to it every night while I fall asleep and I wake up to it each morning. It starts my day off with a peaceful heart and mind, I love it. I'm always searching for new songs that speak to me and feed my spirit, with The Unmaking I've found new songs to add to my collection. I was surprised there were only 6 songs on the whole CD but once I listened to them I realized that was all she needed. I hope you enjoy this CD as much as I am and I hope if brings peace, comfort and hope to those that need it. I just returned from my Grandma's funeral in Colorado and the song Not To Us and Love You More have really given me comfort while I'm grieving.
Slow Down reminded me of my children especially when she says "Don't roll your eyes at me" and it just talks about how fast our children grow up and are gone before we know what happened. Makenzie is about to get her driver's permit, how did this happen? My sweet little bundle from South Korea is almost a full grown woman and my little guy is taller and bigger than me. Take the time to enjoy these days and Slow Down like the song says!
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
Toby McKeehan(known professionally as TobyMac) is a husband, father, performer, songwriter, producer, and businessman. Growing up in the northern Virginia suburbs adjacent to Washington D.C. helped instill his love for rap music. While attending Liberty University during the mid 80s, Toby met Michael Tait and Kevin Max Smith and these three friends formed the Grammy winning, platinum selling group dc Talk. Toby began his solo career in 1999 with his first solo album, Momentum, releasing in 2001. Momentum has been followed by four additional studio albums, Welcome to Diverse City (2004), Portable Sounds (2007), Tonight(2010), and Eye On It (2012), along with his first live album, Alive and Transported (2008). This Is Not A Test is his 6th studio album to be released. Starting with dc Talk, and then going solo when the group disbanded, Toby still clings to such rootsy notions as hard work, persistence, patience, and - perhaps most relevant of all - the power of music, which he insists is still what keeps him going. "It's the truth," he says. "I still believe that a song can penetrate a heart. I believe God can use a song to open someone's mind and heart."
Sharing from my heart:
I've always been a huge fan of TobyMac so I was super pumped when I got asked to review his latest CD that's being released today August 7th, 2015th (my grandma's birthday)! I listened to the whole CD and really liked the whole thing, here are a few thoughts about several songs that spoke to me and my family. Like a Match is a catchy tune that will get you pumped up. This is not a test is definitely my all time favorite song on the album, the music was techno hip hop which is what I'm into right now, unless it's worship music.
Lift you up had some soul and funk mixed together which made for a really cool song.
My teenagers really enjoyed the song Backseat Driver and even thought it would be a great song to dance to, they're hip hop dancers if you didn't already know this.
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
As most of you know, adoption and other cultures are near and dear to my heart because of my sweet children. They've really opened up my world and helped me see outside of my little Oklahoma box. One of my best friends, Christy R. has helped open my world up even wider by sharing with us about Uganda and the many needs they have for things we take for granted like shoes and fresh water. Christy adopted a little guy from Uganda about 2 years ago and we took care of their house while they lived in Uganda for 8 weeks. Christy just led a mommas on a mission trip back to Uganda and one day they worked with Sole Hope at a jigger clinic. If you don't know what jiggers are then you're like me, I didn't have a clue.
A few of the moms that went on the mission trip.
What are jiggers?
Jiggers are sand fleas that infest the feet of people that don't wear shoes. The jiggers are horrible, they burrow inside the skin and lay eggs that have to be removed with a razor blade or sharp pin.
Why Sole Hope?
WARNING: Some pictures are graphic
When the mommas got home from Uganda they wanted to share and educate on the horrors of jiggers. They shared that at the clinic they had over 150 people come to be treated, Sole Hope is the organization that treats them. They wash their feet, take some medical info, work on the feet and last but not least they give each person a new pair of shoes so hopefully they won't be re-infested. The sad thing was this time they ran out of shoes so of the children didn't get to leave with shoes on their feet. After going through all the pain of digging the jiggers and egg sacs out then they could possibly have to do it all over again. The mommas shared with us how we could help. We can cut of the upper and side parts to the shoes out of denim fabric. Then, they ship that to Uganda and they have employees that sew those onto old tires that are used as the sole of the shoe.
Digging the eggs sacs out of a child's foot.
Waiting in line
Washing their feet
Running low on new shoes
Thank you Kerry B for all the great pics
This child was so thankful and excited to have new shoes! What can I do?
There are many ways you can help but one way is to host a shoe cutting party. Everyone needs to bring some scissors, willing hands and a $10 donation (this helps pay the shoe makers). Here's a link with more info
