Psalm 130:5

       This is what I was reading and studying this morning. The exposition is by Spurgeon. It is a bit longer than what we usually post, but I hope it is as encouraging to you as it was to me. I think it's worth the read!!!

        I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait. Expecting him to come to me in love, I quietly wait for his appearing; I wait upon him in service, and for him in faith. For God I wait and for him only: if he will manifest himself I shall have nothing more to wait for; but until he shall appear for my help I must wait on, hoping even in the depths. This waiting of mine is no mere formal act, my very soul is in it, -- "my soul doth wait." I wait and I wait -- mark the repetition! "My soul waits", and then again, "My soul waits"; to make sure work of the waiting. It is well to deal with the Lord intensely. If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for him. He is worth waiting for.

         The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people: they waited for the First Advent, and now they wait for the Second. They waited for a sense of pardon, and now they wait for perfect sanctification. They waited in the depths, and they are not now wearied with waiting in a happier condition. They have cried and they do wait; probably their past prayer sustains their present patience.

         And in his word do I hope. This is the source, strength, and sweetness of waiting. A word from the Lord is as bread to the soul of the believer; and, refreshed thereby, it holds out through the night of sorrow expecting the dawn of deliverance and delight. Waiting, we study the word, believe the word, hope in the word, and live on the word; and all because it is "His word," -- the word of Him who never speaks in vain. Jehovah's word is a firm ground for a waiting soul to rest upon.

Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole

Kyle called and asked for some "Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole" that his mom used to make. "Sure!" I said. He rarely requests food so I was more than happy to make him some. I asked how it was made, and of course he didn't know. I called his mom and she didn't answer... so, I searched allrecipies.com and combined a couple of different casserole's. Kyle and I were both really happy with how it turned out.

 

 It looked a lot like the picture above, but I stole that from google. I used all leftovers. This would be much more time consuming if I made it fresh, or from scratch.. well it was all fresh and from scratch at one point, just not anymore..whatever, it doesn't matter and I think you know what I mean.

Ingredients: Shredded Turkey, enough to fully cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

                     Mashed Potatoes

                     Green Beans

                     1 Can cream of mushroom soup

                     Cubed Cheese

                     1 Onion

                     Garlic

                     left over stuffing, optional

 

Directions: This is basically a glorified shepherds pie, layer, layer, add some potatoes.. 

                   If you are using the left over stuffing thinly layer that on the bottom of the pan; if not, then start with the turkey. Cover the bottom of the pan with the shredded turkey.

                   Next, cover the turkey with the green beans.

                    I sauteed the onion chopped it and added it on top of the beans ***I sauteed the onion becuase the casserole wont cook long enough to really cook the onions, i think this way is much more flavorful and just better. 

                   After the onions I added the can of mushroom soup.

                   Now, this might be the best part! I cut cubes of cheddar cheese and stirred them into the mashed potatoes with garlic. I LOVE garlic and cheesy potatoes. Put this on top and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  

                  

                     

Christmas Decorating

I couldn't wait to start decorating for Christmas. However this is our first year decorating since we weren't home for it last year. So, thanks to my mom and grandma I was given some fun little decorations and I made a few of my own... so here is a glimpse of our first decorated apartment. 

Poor Kyle, he doesn't realize that each year the decorations will grow, and I will also get decorations for every holiday so we can be perpetually decorated! YAY!

Thanksgiving Pt. 2 Backpacking

Kyle and I went backpacking with some friends over Thanksgiving weekend. It was so pretty and actually felt like fall!

Packing up and prepping for the trip

It was so great to see these friends!

 Stephen generously holding the guns while we put out packs on

Team America!

  The hike was beautiful and filled with fall color

 Our first resting stop by a creek. It was the perfect place to stop for lunch. We got to spend some time with Jonathan and Sarah. What a sweet couple. 

 Liz and Erin kept us laughing, and sweetly served us the whole time!

 Team America... standing in the fresh water... so nice!

 Kyle couldn't resist posing with his gun as the hike continued.

 This was right near our campsite, we brought a pump, so this was also our water hole.

 camp site.

Hiking back out in Poison Oak. I am SO itchy today!

 It was so beautiful!

Thanksgiving, pt. 1

I LOVE the holidays, and I love that they kick off with Thanksgiving. How wonderful to dedicate time to giving thanks. Our church does a Thanksgiving Eve service and Kyle and I have been lucky enough to attend it twice now. It seems crazy that we have lived in Temecula long enough to experience the holidays down here twice already. We love the Thanksgiving service and chance to fellowship in that way with the body of Christ.

Okay, well without further ado, I will tell you all about doing the Thanksgiving meal alone for the first time. 

Our friends let us use their beautiful property for the day so that we could have more space. It was AMAZING. 

I drove down early so that I could prepare all the food while Kyle played his traditional game of football in the morning. 

It was so nice to drive down and really spend the morning to thank the Lord for my MANY blessings. It was a sweet time. 

Then it was time to focus on the turkey.

I cleaned it out and didn't forget the neck cavity. I heard so many stories about first timers forgetting to pull all the insides out. 

 

After I washed it up and patted it dry I spread some butter over the skin and stuck it in the oven

 

It was SO YUMMY! It wasn't too dry, and it was super flavorful. The only thing was that the legs didn't stay tucked in. Oh well, I filled it up with stuffing and I think it looked kinda nice. 

 

 

 While the turkey was cooking I made myself a nice little fire, read, and then took a nap.

 I wanted to take pictures of the rest of the food, however, Kyle and his dad started digging in so quickly I forgot! It was a nice peaceful day with them. We took naps on the comfy oversized chairs on the front porch in perfect weather. 

It was a wonderful day!

Christmas Trees

Okay, okay, I realize that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm doing a Christmas post, but the thing is... I don't care. I LOVE Christmas and I am ready to decorate and craft for it so I did. 

My friend and I spend quite awhile yesterday making these trees. We did it for free, but depending on what supplies you have on hand you might have to spend a LITTLE really, just a little. 

So here is what we did. We took some cardboard. I used an old cereal box and some old cake mix boxes and you twist them into a cone. 

I super glued the seam and then cut the bottom so that they were flat. 

Then I started decorating.  I'll save my favorite one for last. 

First is the cupcake tree. It's my smallest. 

It's pretty self explanatory, but I cut up cupcake tin's and started at the bottom and wrapped the tree. 

Next I used some green yarn and again, started at the bottom and twisted my way up, using super glue as needed. 

Next, I used some twine that I had and did it exactly like the yarn tree.

Now my two favorite! I did one out of red ribbon and book pages!!!

I cut strips of paper and then cut the little tags and rolled them before gluing them onto the tree. 

Now I have a mini forest..

This makes me happy!