Priorities

I struggle with priorities. Although the word "priority" and the phrase "the priority list" are commonly tossed around these days, let's be honest, prioritizing the right priorities is hard!  It's easy in the summer when I don't have many pressing commitments, but as soon as life gets busy...here we go again. I have to take a step back and evaluate my life often. August is here, which means for me school is almost here, and this year I am going to be proactive in ordering my life around my priorities on the front end.

My Bible study leader, Jamie, has taught me how and why to order and examine my life around priorities.  A while ago she challenged me to number my priorities and then have a reason why each priority is in its place. This has proven very beneficial to me!

I want to extend the same challenge to you. Here's how it goes...Write your priorities down; don't just think about them, writing makes you commit to the priorities being in a certain order. Have a reason why you have each priority in its place. This can be anything...a verse in the Bible, a moral code, family values, etc. Then, and don't leave this part out, examine your life. How does it match up? When you look at your day or week, does it look like your priorities are in order? Think specifically... Questions I ask myself are...How am I spending my time? (In order to answer this, I have to think about a day or week at a time and write down the hours I spend on certain things to see where I was devoting time.) How am I spending my money? What consumes my thoughts? Who am I trying to please?...This is totally individual so there are no right or wrong answers for sure!

Do you ever find yourself with jumbled priorities or just feeling like your life is out of whack? Have you ever taken time to examine your priorities in life?

Go ahead, I know you are thinking about it, and I also know you are probably thinking that you will get to this later! Go ahead, pick up your pencil, and think priorities.

I will do a follow-up post sometime soon with my thoughts!!

What is being served on our table this week...

First off, here is my handsome husband on his way out the door at 10pm last night to the ER to work his first night shift! Even though I am sure this post will embarrass him, I couldn't resist a picture! I am so proud of him for making it to this point in school and excelling at it! Not to brag, but speaking of being proud, I am pretty proud of myself because I stayed alone at our house for the first time last night. Can you believe it?! 2 years and I have been too scared to do it! So, I buckled up, made myself act my age, and did it!

He has been awake for about 38 of the last 40 hours, so it is time for us to call it an early night! 

As of now, this is the weekly menu! After a trip to both Mt Pleasant's new Trader Joe's and my old friend Publix,  I can't wait to get to cooking :) Cole and I have been on-the-go so much that my time in the kitchen has taken a back seat. One of the things I love about vacation is not having to think about meals, so the break was good but missed!

Most of these are recipes that I haven't tried before, so I will have to post an update at the end of the week. Most of you probably know by now that I don't repeat recipes much these days. I am trying out a lot of them and writing down the "keepers". This is the perfect stage of our lives to do this, and Cole is the perfect husband to do it with because he will eat and enjoy most anything.

Tonight-  Basil Pesto Turkey Panini on Ciabatta with Cheese Sauce, leftover butter beans

Monday (Our official anniversary!!)- Baked Grouper (in lemon, parmesan, butter, and panko), Onion Risotto, and sauteed squash and zucchini. Glazed Peaches and Yogurt Ice Cream for dessert :)

Tuesday- Bourbon and Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin with a spinach salad (with a raspberry preserve and mango chutney dressing).

Wednesday- White Bean, Mushroom, and Asparagus Cassoulet

Thursday- Heirloom Tomatoes with Fresh Peaches, Goat Cheese, and Pecans and leftovers!! If we have leftover pork (and who knows with Cole!), I plan to slice it and place the pork into a hot biscuit filled with Blackberry Basil Butter.

I am going to make a quick run by the Mount Pleasant farmer's market on Tuesday afternoon since I didn't get to go to the one downtown this weekend.  Anyone is welcome to join me!

I have recently seen a few great recipes for homemade popsicles. If I can put my hands on a pop mold, I will make these healthy and tasty treats. They sound so refreshing in this heat wave! I would prefer to get creative myself, but some starter recipes can be found here, here, and here.


What's on your table this week?

We Recycle,

Yes we do, we recycle, how about you?

This is the chant that Cole and I often sing when we team up to walk our recycling to our apartment's deposit place. Though it is a pox upon the landscape of our porch, we always feel a sense of self-righteousness when we empty our collected recyclable waste. We continue our efforts, despite often questioning the validity of the local program because we don't have to separate anything! Paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, aluminum, etc...it all goes into a single place! We often comment...either this isn't being recycled at all or our recycling, along with everyone else's, is creating many a job! This weekend, however, some of our questions were answered with a mailed pamphlet from Charleston County on what is now called "Single Stream Residential Recycling Pilot Program." The name explains it all, and verified that yes, even though we are all dumping various kinds of items together in common recycling containers, our contributions are being recycled. The program is relatively new in the U. S. and Charleston, and is only active in a few parts of our county so far, but is expanding. In fact, recycling participation rates in the new single-stream recycling areas rose from 35% to 70%. Glad to know we are saving the earth, one milk carton at a time!!

Mountain Getaway

This is a delayed report from our anniversary trip! Earlier in the week, I decided to head to DeBordieu for a few days with my mom. It was so fun and relaxing and I didn't want to turn on the computer.

So, from the beach to the mountains, here is a short recap:

Here we are pulling in! 

The views are breathtaking!

We laughed at how many books and reading material we brought. Can you tell we were planning to relax?!

And we did, just as planned! We also enjoyed a long hike in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area on Saturday. We are able to hike directly from the house, which I love!!

Happy 2 years!!

On Sunday we swam in the pool! It was chilly :)

I have realized that one of the best things to do when we go for a weekend away is to plan our meals ahead. The more we can make beforehand, the less we have to do while on vacation. I pre-made a few things and then we cooked easy meals! Here is a "taste"! The first one is a recipe of Gan-Gan's, Cole's grandmother. It is a delicious and easy White Chicken Chili. I can't imagine soup in this weather here, but it is perfect any evening in the mountains. We added a dollop of sour cream and fresh slices of avocado.

1 package white chicken chili mix (I used McKormick's)
1 8 oz block of cream cheese (I used fat-free)
1 can mild Rotel, undrained
2 cans of chicken broth
2 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (I used 3 cans)
1 rotisserie chicken, pulled apart
Mix together, heat, and viola!!

We also enjoyed wine, adorned in wedding attire! We used these on our honeymoon and I have enjoyed pulling them back out on our anniversaries! (Can't believe that word is plural now!!)

For dessert, I pre-made my cousin Sara Gayle's famous Darn Good Chocolate Cake. And, it is darn good!

1 box reduced-sugar chocolate devil's food cake mix
1 pkg sugar-free chocolate instant pudding
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup canola oil
1 and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use the jumbo ones)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease bundt pan. Blend first 6 ingredients with a mixer. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into bundt pan and bake 45-50 minutes (or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and starts to pull away from the sides). Remove and cool 20 minutes. Invert to serve.

Breakfast was Duncan Hines blueberry muffins. I added in fresh blueberries before baking.

I am already trying to squeeze in another trip into our schedules!

A Poem

As I mentioned before, our group in North Africa had great opportunities to be lights for the gospel with the translators we worked with in the clinic. Unlike the individual patients we saw, we were able to spend time with the same translators each day through our clinic and sharing meals. They were able to not only see a glimpse of our team, but also our motives, attitudes, and personal lives.

At the end of our two weeks in North Africa, one of the our translators labored to write this sweet poem for our team.

This poem was such an encouragement to us!

I want to highlight the part that says, "I was sitting alone, thinking about the pain, the future seems dark, wishing death comes fast..." This is a reflection of life without the hope of heaven. How sad.

But, as you can read above, the poem closes with, "Everyone smiles...they examine me with a big love...the doctor was an angel." What contrast this is! This was our prayer. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." We continue to pray that our medical work in North Africa wouldn't be seen as good moral deeds, but that it would point the people to Someone Greater than us. Join me in pleading before the Lord for the hearts of the Berber people whose "future seems dark".

See ya!

We

are on our way here (photo borrowed from google images)

to hike here

to celebrate this!

I have been looking forward to this for so long! Bring on time with my husband, cool weather, mountain trails, rocking chairs, and bottle of wine! 

Thought for the day

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." -C.S. Lewis