Earth Day!

A couple months ago, Joel's brother made a comment about how Earth Day is one of those holidays that no one really has the date memorized for.  I quickly spoke up.  "Oh yes, I do!  It's April 22nd!"  He was impressed by my strange knowledge.  I don't have it memorized because I love the earth...although I do!  I was looking at pictures of it today on the internet, and I was truly amazed!   But the real reason I have the date of Earth Day memorized is because it happens to be the same day that I became a christian.  April 22, 1991.  To remember, I always say, "Save the Earth, and Save Jennifer!"  But all joking aside, I am so incredibly filled with thanks today.  I have been following Christ for 20 years.  20 years!!!  I remember the day that my sister Jessica led me to the Lord.  We were in our bedroom at our camp house in Dayton.  I remember standing beside our bed and listening to Jessica explain everything to me.  I'm not sure what sparked the conversation, and I don't remember much of it, but I sure am thankful for it!  Either Jessica or I (not sure) wrote the date in the front of my Bible.  I was 5...about to turn 6.  2 days ago, at school, I was playing Easter Bingo with some of my 4th grade ESL students.  It had all kinds of pictures and words related to Easter on the bingo card....rabbit, carrot, egg, dress, a cross, etc.  The picture of the cross started a conversation about the real reason we celebrate Easter.  I explained the whole story to him.  He had never heard ANY of it.  It was all brand new, and he was having a hard time understanding.  What is sin?  Why would He do that?  How do you get to heaven?  He seemed interested, concerned, curious.  I know I'm not really supposed to be talking about Jesus at school, but he was asking the questions.  I did my best to explain, but I'm afraid it just left him confused.  This incident left me heart broken, and it made me realize how thankful I should be! 

I am thankful for my parents.
I am thankful for the way I was raised.
I am thankful for my sisters.
I am thankful for Cumblerand Springs Bible camp.
I am thankful for the churches I was raised in.
I am thankful for the Bible.
I am thankful for my college friends.
I am thankful for my whole college experience.
I am thankful for being challenged.
I am thankful for my husband.

All of these people and things have guided me and drawn me closer to my Savior!
I am so thankful!

One more thing!  Today is not only Earth Day and the day of my salvation.  Much more importantly, it is Good Friday!  How neat that this year I can celebrate the day I gave my life to the Lord on the day I celebrate Him giving his life for me!

I was trying to think of a verse to put here, but this song just kept popping into my head.  It was one of the songs we sang at our wedding.
Praise to the Lord!  He is my salvation!!!

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Chicken Pot Pie!

Now, chicken pot pies can be delicious or not so delicious.

Like the 0.69 pot pies you can buy...

they can be good, but you've gotta be in the mood.

This recipe coming up is so delicious,

and you don't even need to be in a certain mood!

Chicken Pot Pie

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

(I also put peas into mine.)

1/3 cup margarine

1/2 cup flour

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup half and half milk

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 to 3 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken

You'll also need some type of pastry.

I just used crescent rolls...easy and yummy!

Saute onion, celery, and carrots in butter for 10 minutes.

Add flour to sauteed mixture, stirring well.

Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Combine broth and milk and gradually stir into veggie mixture.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened & bubbly.

Stir in salt & pepper.

Add chicken and stir well.

Pour mixture into a greased 2 qt. shallow casserole dish...

(or use really cute little ramekins like I did!)

Top with pastry.

Cut slits in pastry.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

I split the recipe in half,

and it filled 5 ramekins. 

Even the leftovers were good!

I give this recipe both my thumbs up!

Frosty Fruit Pie!

In honor of the nice, warm weather,

I present to you a delicious, summery treat!

All you need is:

1 cup fresh or frozen sliced strawberries

16 ounces strawberry yogurt

8 ounces thawed whipped topping

1 graham cracker crust 

Just mix it all together,

pour it into the pie crust,

and freeze it for at least 4 hours. 

Put it into the refrigerator at least 45 minutes before serving.

Save some fruit so you can decorate the top.

I wanted to make mine extra lovely since I was going to put up these pictures.

Look how it turned out! 

There is a strawberry octopus on top of my pie! 

Oh dear!

No matter how it looks, it tastes yummaliciously good!

You can make this with any fruit you want.

Just match up the fruit with the flavor of yogurt.

Or try different combinations...

whatever your little heart desires!

I've made strawberry and peach...

both super delicious

and much healthier than a batch of brownies! 

Our growing garden!

Look!

Our garden is getting so big!

Hopefully we'll get to put our plants in the ground soon!

Now the green beans are winning the growing prize!

I'm glad of that! 

And here's another exciting plant that is flourishing!

It's a blackberry (hopefully someday to become) bush!

We just planted a stick, and now there are leaves! 

Yahoo!

One more thing!

I can't wait for this one to pop open!

It's an iris! 

Who would have thought that I'd be so excited about all this growth?

Not me!  Not my family!

I'm a new woman!  haha!

Ruffly Wreath!

What could come of a wreath, a book, and a hot glue gun?

I will show you!

A very ruffly, ruffle wreath! 

I just spent a lot of time and a lot of hot glue on that thing!

Don't ya just love those ruffles!?! 

I do!

Here is where I got my inspiration and directions:

http://jonesdesigncompany.com/create/5-days-of-favorite-projects-day-4/

This actually wasn't too difficult.

I was pleasantly surprised!

But I do think I put about double the ruffles I was supposed to.

I used every page of the book except two,

and I just might glue those on somewhere to have a total feeling of completion!

Now if I can just get Joel to approve hanging this lovely piece of art in our house!  :) 

Crafting!

I have been crafting up a storm!

I got all these fun supplies over the weekend

and have been at it ever since!

Just wait until you see some of my creations.

This is NOT one of them: 

But it is the perfect Easter wreath I have been searching for!

I love it!

Hippity-Hoppity, Easter's on its way!

Fun at the park!

I'm so glad spring is on its way!!!

One warm day I got to play with my nephews at the park!

I was in charge of making sure Caleb didn't just walk down the slide.

Usually he went down feet first,

but this time he wanted to go headfirst. 

Not such a good idea!

He almost landed right on his head,

but my dad snagged him just at the right time. 

Ha!

Happy Spring!