Ephesians= WOW!

Last Sunday we were challenged with Sola Scriptura- the importance of Scripture to our church and individual lives. Its SO easy to say we highly value Scripture but boy was I convicted by my lack of desire to read it and truly desire it above all else.

‎"Let us then consider it certain and conclusively established that the soul can do without all things except the Word of God."

 ~Martin Luther

We were challenged to read the book of Ephesians for 5 days this week. I am on day 3 and its SUCH a good book- I think what has hit me most is the contrast of the life we had before Christ and the life we enjoy after we have accepted the good news of the gospel as our sole means of salvation-listen to these verses and get ready to be blown away! 

Ephesians 2:1-10

  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. ³ Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

WOW- what grace! What unmerited favor God showed to me- a rebel to His cause!

The whole book is filled with passages like this- showing the sinfulness of man and the greatness of God- and how God reached across that great chasm and filled it with the His Son- CHRIST- on the cross. Brings me to tears. 

What a mystery!  What love! What grace! What a glorious Gospel! 

I pray as I gaze on this great truth that my soul would desire 

more and more of this GREAT God and His GREAT Word!

Vanilla Rainbow Cupcakes with whipped cream icing

I am not sure when I got this recipe but it my favorite vanilla cake recipe- its easy, simple and basic and always turns out and tastes great! a winner all around! I cut it in half to make 12 large cupcakes- 

This time around, I added food coloring to make the batter and layered it to make rainbowed cupcakes for two very special 4 yr olds! 

Vanilla Cake (makes a 3 tiered nine inch cake)

1 cup of butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 3/4 cup flour

2 Tbs baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter until nice and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating inbetween each addition. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Alternate pouring the milk and flour into the mixture until well combined, Always scrape the sides after each addition. Add vanilla.

Bake for 20-25 minutes

Whipped Cream Icing

2 cups of heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla or any other flavoring that would taste great on cupcakes!

Combine above ingredients and whip and whip till light and fluffy!

{ARIA}

After one week I am starting to feel  some relief from this disastrous cold! Thank goodness!We had to cut out a lot from our week like volunteering at the girls school and a few playdates. I hate cancelling those things but  I also hate to get other people sick:) 

Just wanted to share a few pictures from our amazing date last Friday to Aria! It was fantastic! It was fancy! It was right up my alley but not Marks! He was a good sport though and humored me!

Aria is located downtown in the Cherry Creek district right next to the mall. The ambiance of the restaurant was tasteful and the wait staff superb. They were very knowledgeable about the menu and saw to our every need without being overbearing. Aria is the sister restaurant to The Opus in Littleton.

We started off with some homemade bread with butter that had this yummy Hawaiin sea salt sprinkled on it.

Our first course was Sauteed Superlump Pecan Crabcakes with a lemon aide sauce and sweet corn relish. It was delish and the lemonaide sauce complimented the sweet crab perfectly.

For the Second course, I enjoyed Goat cheese and Walnut Crusted Chicken Breast with a yummy parsnip puree and warm blueberries and mixed veggies. It was SOOO moist and the goat cheese and blueberries tasted wonderful together. I savored every bite. Of course, it was presented beautifully.

Mark ordered the Bacon Brie Bison Burger and Potato Crisps and I, of course, sampled it and it was delicious! The burger was cooked to perfection and had a nice pink center. And anything that has Brie on it tastes amazing.

And our third course was dessert, we shared the Chocolate Chip Cookie Spring Rolls with fresh berries and a sweet ginger dipping sauce.It was melt in your mouth GOOD! I really loved the gooey chocolate chip center. It was the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

IT was such a fun evening of good food and of course a handsome man by my side!

Special thanks to Marcus and Ashlie for watching the kids and for the gift certificate!
You guys ROCK!
We are so blessed to have you as friends.

We've got the Sniffles

Sorry I havent been blogging recently- I have some very exciting topics to blog about but I would much rather lay on the couch and watch a movie- we have been sick in this house since Saturday- colds- miserable, runny nose, sore throat, congestion filled colds! YUCK! I despise colds-it started with Sophia, spread to Ella, spread to Elijah and Daddy then spread to Arianna and me. I feel like I have been hit the worse- maybe its because I am so much older and my body feels the soreness and achiness more!  Its been 3 days now and I am hoping it leaves soon. It is not welcome anymore...

Its Friday, Im in Love

First of all, I am in {LOVE} with this little guy-

 he has been so cuddly and sweet lately- just love him!

 He's always kissin me and lovin on me- its the best! 

I am also in {LOVE} with the fact that I get to go on a fancy shmancy date with my hubby tomorrow courtesy of our awesome friends Marcus and Ashlie. We are headed downtown to ARIA restaurant.

WHOOOHOOOOO!!!

I am one lucky girl- 2 dates in 2 weeks- sweet!

Dont know if I told you lately but I {LOVE} my man! 

He's wicked awesome. He melts my heart. 

I could be deserted on a desert island with just him for months and be okay with it! 

he's that awesome!

okay, I better go before you throw up:) 

Have a smashing good weekend everyone! 

Black Bean Salsa

Everyone makes fun of me because I LOVE to eat! I really do! Dinner that is.. I rarely eat breakfast- there are just SO many things happening in the morning and food isnt on my mind. I do drink lots of coffee in the morning. Lunch is really hard too- So I try to come up with different lunches that I enjoy- this week its greek salads and black bean salsa. I have honestly been eating this salsa almost every day for lunch for the past few weeks. It is SO yummy and I think pretty healthy too since its all fresh ingredients- except for the chips.

Fresh Black Bean Salsa

2 cans of black beans, drained

1 mango peeled and chopped

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

20 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and refrigerate.

Enjoy.

Hi Ho Hi Ho Its off to Work I Dont GO

Hard to believe but after 17 years I have stopped working all together and am truly a stay at home mom!

The decision to stop working was a good one, I think. It wasnt like I was working a lot but it sure is nice not having the work schedule hanging over your head when planning weekly activities.

Mark recently got an assistant speech and debate coach position at Valor and that has enabled me to stay home altogether. It pays REALLY well and is not a huge time commitment at all. 

Win! Win! Win! 

I thought it would be fun to blog about my work experience-

someday my kids will love to see this:) 

So if it bores you, you can close my page right now:)

15 yrs old-18 yrs old: Worked at The Creamery (an ice cream store) where I learned to make ice cream cakes and decorate them! I also worked at an Insurance Agency for an hour and a half filing papers- before the world was going paperless! and ALSO worked retail at Nautica at the outlet mall by my house- for a while there (like a few years)  I was doing all 3 jobs after school! crazy, right! I also worked at Mt Airy Lodge as a front desk clerk. At that job, I was almost robbed while carrying a bunch of money down a dark hallway.

COLLEGE:  I worked at the Information desk giving tours of the college, etc. for 2 years. During summer and winter breaks I worked at Vinny D's Deli and gained a hundred pounds:) I sat out a year of college and worked there a whole year full time. I also worked at The Shannon Inn doing front desk work. Again for a while there, I worked 16 hour days going from the deli to the hotel- it was crazy! 

My junior year of college I worked at Country Inn as a waitress. I really liked that job because I made REALLY good tips! Sometimes I think I should go back into waitressing- it was awesome money!

My senior year of college I got married and then managed The Daily Grind- our college coffee shop for the summer during camp. It was a FUN job! AND I truly developed a love for coffee! 

AFTER COLLEGE TO THE PRESENT: I taught 3rd grade for 2 years after college and loved it- then got preggo with twins. I did stay home with them for about 2 months after they were born and then went back to work as an Assistant Day Care Director for a year. I had enough of my kids in daycare, so I started working evenings as a Trainer for Dunkin Donuts- I also loved that job because I got lots of free coffee!  Then we moved to Colorado and I started working for Gymboree a kids clothing store where I worked for 4 years up until now! 

So there you have it- wow, I am tired just typing all that! Thats a lot of work! I have met MANY wonderful friends through all my jobs many of whom are still friends today! Even across the many miles! I am so thankful for the ability to work and hope to instill that in my kids at a young age so that when they turn 16- they can get a job and start saving for college- all my money from all those jobs went to paying for college. I am going to miss working but I only have about 2 years with my little munchkins and then all my kids will be in school and I will have plenty of time to work from there on out! Plus, I think being a mom is one of the hardest jobs out there and we get paid with hugs and kisses and smiles... and right now that's worth more than any amount of money in the world!