Jonah & the Whale

A week or so ago I started the She Reads Truth Jonah bible study. I have loved the She Reads Truth devotionals for so long now, I can't even remember when I first discovered it! Yesterday we read Jonah 4:1-11, and it helped open my eyes to realize that I am indeed a selfish person and that I pitch a fit when things just don't go my way. In fact, I usually throw a full on tantrum, just like a 5 year old would. It's ugly, messy, and just downright childish, but in Jonah 4 we see Jonah do the exact same thing when God changes His mind about the people of Ninevah.

The verse that really stuck out to me in the chapter was verse four: "Do you do well to be angry?" - God. I am definitely one to get angry and I am not one to be slow to anger so this verse really is challenging me. I've thought about it so much over the course of the last day and a half and it has spoken right into my heart.

On this Friday, I am so thankful for the Word of God and how it does wonders for our heart, soul, and mind.

Life, lately.

(Can you tell I'm a dog person? Haha.)

Life lately has been busy, and now when I'm not technically "busy" I feel the need to be doing something to fill up my time. I'm trying to learn how to just r e l a x, but I'm not so sure it's going well right now. I got to babysit two of the most precious baby girls quite a few times this past month and it makes my heart so happy. We just hang out and watch Frozen on repeat 984320924 times. I have been so thankful for this on-and-off Spring-like weather (even though it randomly SNOWED yesterday). This past weekend, I (with my mom, dad, and sister - Josh had to stay in town because of school) went to North Carolina to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins, as well as for my grandpa's retirement party! I definitely enjoyed myself and always feel relaxed at my grandparents house. Sunday night we drove up to my mom's sisters house and pretty much had a Walking Dead party and watched the new episode. It was so so so much fun! I wish we lived closer to them so we could do that every Sunday. On a side (and a completely different) note, my Kat Von D foundation fell out of my makeup bag and SHATTERED, so I had to go buy some new foundation. I picked up some Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation from Walgreens, along with Studio 35 Beauty Blender Brush

Husband-Approved Sloppy Joes

Photo courtesy of The Glamorous Housewife

 

I'll be the first to admit it - I am just not a good cook 99.9% of the time, but tonight I made a real winner. I found a sloppy joe recipe via The Glamorous Houswife and I knew I was going to have to try it because it looked so stinkin' easy. Literally all you have to do is brown ground turkey meat (or your choice of ground meat - even use vegetarian substitutes), drain it off, mix in ketchup and mustard, and put it on a hamburger bun! It's seriously that simple. My husband said it was the best sloppy joes he's ever eaten. So if you can't cook worth a flip, give this one a try!

Happy Weekend

Today has been one heck of a day. Well, not really, but it's been very busy for me as a homemaker. I got up somewhere around 7:30, and I feel like I just now sat down to give myself a second to catch my breath. I drank my breakfast, read my devo, got ready for the day, baked double chocolate avocado cookies (which were super amazing and melted in my mouth; taking the rest of the batch home to my family tonight - I hope they enjoy them!), made a total messing making southwestern bean rolls up and they totally SUCKED (big, big fail), vacuumed, sat down for about an hour to finish watching Atlantis with my hubby, tidied up the house a bit, and just now I'm sitting down to get some more energy to drive about an hour or so to my parents house when Josh gets home from school.

So, I'll leave you with some things I've been enjoying recently. Check em' out:

+Last week I watched What To Expect When You're Expecting and oh my goodness I laughed out loud almost the entire time! It's got it's fair share of seriousness and laughter. It was so so good.

+I ordered this shirt a few days ago and I can't wait for it to arrive so I can wear it! If you're a Walking Dead fan, check it out. I have been looking for a non-gory Walking Dead shirt and I finally found one.

+Have you seen the Lego movie? We went out to see it for Valentine's Day and I LOVED it. Seriously thought I would hate it, but I can't wait for it to come out on DVD and I really really really want the xbox 360 game to play with J :)

+Psalm 91. I love this Psalm. It comforts me so much.

+22 Books You Should Read Now, Based On Your Childhood Favorites. I cannot wait to check some of these out from the library!

Have a happy weekend! Go do something wonderful!

Coupon Queen

Wow. I really need to get better at this blogging thing. I want to really excel at this whole blogging deal, but I haven't blogged in nearly a month! If you have any tips on how to be a better blogger, please let me know.

Okay, well anyway... Recently, like in the past two weeks, I have taken up the hobby of couponing and let me tell you, I am absolutely 100% hardcore hooked. I had been wanting to start couponing for a while now, but I went to the library almost two weeks ago and picked up a book called How To Shop For Free by Kathy Spencer. It has been such a HUGE help with trying to figure out how this whole coupon game works. If you want to start couponing I encourage you to go pick yourself up a copy of this book. Also, I've dedicated my entire bloglovin food to nothing but coupon blogs that post deals, tips, freebies, etc. The coupon sites are also an enormous amount of help because they post the deals that you can get free or cheap and they already match up the coupons that go along with the deal so all you have to do is locate the coupon from the Sunday newspapers or print out the coupon. It is GREAT.

I went on my first couponing adventure last week and it seriously gave me such a high. I got all this for four dollars and eighty five cents! Amazing, I know! I don't have a picture of my other two couponing trips, but I went to Target two different times this weekend to do some couponing as well. The first trip I got three pasta sauces, four boxes of pasta noodles, a three cans of cat food for like maybe 4 dollars. The second trip to Target I got two bottles of fish oil, three cans of cat food, one 3 pack of kcups, and a bottle of hyrdrogen peroxide for around 6 bucks AND I got back a 5 dollar gift card. I found four dollars in my wallet so I think this weekend I'm going to go back to Target and find a coupon deal where I can get a 5 dollar gift card back and spend under 4 dollars! Making money, baby!

If you are thinking about giving couponing a try I strongly encourage you to pick up the book I mentioned, How To Shop For Free, and dedicate one of your blog feeds to only coupon sites.

My flesh may fail...

But my God You never will.

Today's been one of those days. The kind where it kind of just sucks. I let my flesh get the best of me. I must admit it was ugly. I've been struggling with anxiety daily, but today I let my fleshliness take over... right in the middle of Walmart. It was embarrassing. It was brutal. And it resulted in a silent car ride all the way home with my husband. I apologized when I got home and headed to the bedroom for some alone time. During my thinking time, I read Colossians 3 in the Message bible, and Lord have mercy, did it convict and speak to me. I encourage you greatly to go read it in the Message bible. It's beautiful and has so much truth and wisdom for our lives as Christ followers. I also spent a good amount of time on Ann Voskamp's blog soaking some brilliant posts in. I took an entire page of notes. That woman can write and has such a heart for God. She truly inspires and encourages me so much.

I hope everyone is having a blessed Tuesday and continuing to put God first in this New Year!

Weekend Rewind

This weekend went by way too quickly, yet I felt like I really got to relish in every moment of it. We got to my parent's house around 6:30 on Friday, and I was quite tired so I just relaxed a bit & caught up on some shows with my mom (Duck Dynasty & Honey Boo Boo in case you were wondering) & hit the sack pretty early. Saturday was good. My sister & I practiced (I played the piano, she sang) for a YouTube video we plan on uploading this upcoming weekend (that is, if I can finish learning the piece on the piano). The photo above shows that we apparently sing and play the piano on our tippy toes! Haha. My mom snapped this picture and I just loved it. Saturday afternoon, my sister & I hit up TJMaxx & Target and came home to play the newest Sims 3 games we bought (yes, we're nerds). Sunday I stayed home from church to get a few more hours in with my family. My mom cooked a delicious homemade meal. It was fantastic! Overall, my weekend was pretty great!