God's Delays

We had an awesome church service yesterday. The music really spoke to my heart- including one of my all time favorites, Blessed Be Your Name. This song has been my prayer more times than I can count. Also, it seemed like Pastor Steve's message was just for me and Yancy. His title was "Why is God so slow?". I love that title! God never works on our timetable. He's got His own and it's perfect... never early, never late. Anyway I thought I would share some of what meant so much to me. His message was from Mark 5:35-43 when Jairus' daughter dies as they are waiting for Jesus to get there.

1. Delays are a part of God's plan for our lives.
a. Sometimes His delays have nothing to do with us. (This was a great reminder for me!)
b. Sometimes He has much more work to do in our lives first- like building our faith in Him.
2. Our job is to keep believing even when things get worse, not better.
3. In every trial we face, keep in mind the great victory- that Jesus has conquered death.

This was so encouraging to me as God delays in bringing us our baby, as well as moving us to Huntsville. I hope this is encouraging to you, too! God's working in His own time. Keep on believing! After all, He raised Jairus' daughter from death. What an awesome God! If you want to hear the whole message, go to http://www.podcasting.fbcopelika.com/.

Another Birthday

Today is my Daddy's birthday. He's been celebrating all week on vacation in San Antonio, but today we celebrated with toasted coconut cake. It was so yummy! Happy Birthday, Daddy! You always know how to put a smile on my face. I love you bunches!

Atlanta Date Night

My parents have been on vacation this week and we went to pick them up in Atlanta last night. So before heading to the airport, Yancy and I had dinner at a really great restaurant called Canoe. It's right on the Chatahootchee River with very beautiful scenery. We had terrific service and delicious food. My favorite was the fried Georgia peach pie. YUM! I would highly recommend it!

Happy Belated Birthday To You!

We celebrated Yancy's Mom's birthday this weekend. She is a wonderful mother and the perfect mother-in-law... always encouraging, loving, kind, and generous. Happy Birthday, Cynthia! We love you!

Lovin' her new jacket!

Can't have a birthday without cake!

Family Time

Yancy and I headed south for the weekend to spend some time with his brother and his family. We had a really good time together- eating, shopping, sunning at the beach, playing Wii (a first for me and Yancy) and just being together. We are blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Hangin' out at The Hangout (a really fun restaurant in Gulf Shores!)

A beautiful sunset...

Hunting seashells... I love this picture!

Summer Swing

Rebecca and I got together tonight with our Bible study girls who we haven't seen all summer long. It was a fun night at Opelika's Summer Swing concert series. We brought a picnic and relaxed to the music. It was fun to catch up with everyone, but just reminded me of how much I'm gonna miss them once we leave! Anyway, here's the crew...

Jessica, Jordan (Jess's sister), and Rebecca

Me, Jessica, Rebecca, and Tori

Thanks for a fun night, girls! :)

Cupcake Bites

How cute are these? Well, not as cute as Bakerella's, but pretty good for my first try. You can find out how to make them at her website. www.bakerella.blogspot.com She also makes cupcake pops. They're all very cute. Sorry my pictures are not very good. I'm not sure what's up with my camera. It doesn't like close-ups!

Read This!

For the readers out there... I just finished this book yesterday, and wanted to encourage y'all to read it too. I'm usually a slow reader, but I breezed through this one because I couldn't wait to see how it would end. It's a true story about a wealthy art dealer and a modern-day slave and how God weaves their lives together. It's told from both of their perspectives, which I really enjoyed. You'll see the great things that God can do with ordinary people if we will only be obedient. Ultimately, it was an encouragement to me that God has a plan for everyone and everyone can be used by Him- rich or poor. I loved it! Here's a link to find out more... www.samekindofdifferentasme.com

Fireworks!

We celebrated the 4th tonight with our good friends Kevin, Apryl and Connor. We had dinner at Laredo's (why not eat Mexican food to celebrate America's birthday?!), and then went to watch Opelika's fireworks. We had a great time together and it was a lot of fun to watch Connor's reaction to the fireworks.

I love this picture! It looks like Yancy's laughing at Connor, but they had been pointing at each other all night. Connor was lovin' it!

If you look closely, you can see Apryl's baby bump in this one! It won't be long before Connor's little sister is here! We can't wait to see her!

YEA!!! FIREWORKS!!!

Connor loved the fireworks. I'm not sure what we enjoyed more- the fireworks or Connor watching the fireworks. He's so sweet!

Yum! Yum!

This is one of my favorite cakes to make, and perfect for July 4th. The cake is a doctored-up cake mix, so it's easy to make. The frosting is a lot of butter and a lot of sugar- can't go wrong with that! I got the recipe from Southern Living. Enjoy!

TRIPLE-DECKER STRAWBERRY CAKE

1 package of white cake mix

1 (3oz) package strawberry gelatin

4 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

Beat the cake mix and next 7 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Scrape down the sides, and beat at medium speed for 2 more minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides, if needed.

Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cakepans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes or until cakes spring back when lightly pressed with a finger.

Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Starwberry Buttercream Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Serve immediately or chill up to 1 week.

STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1 cup butter, softened

2 (16 oz) packages powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 20 seconds or until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and chopped strawberries, beating at low speed until creamy.