Why I love Austin!

Austin is the only place I would live in Texas. When I told my family I wanted to move to Austin, they were perplexed. "Why do you want to live somewhere that has dessert and tumbleweeds?" was the question I got from many of my relatives. I told them that it wasn't like that. I told them about the Hill Country but they just couldn't believe it. I mentioned the bluebonnets in spring and the nice warm water. They couldn't picture it. See, we grew up with 8 months of winter (I may exaggerate slightly-let's say 6 months for argument sake) and none of us moved away...until I took the leap and moved across the country. It was like I moved to a foreign country.

Austin is so beautiful! The water, the hills, the city, the green belt. Austin is so odd! The city's slogan is "Keep Austin Weird" (that may be unofficial). We've got a man named Leslie who wears dresses and runs for mayor regularly. There used to be an event called Spamarama that was dedicated to all things Spam. We have a colony of bats under a bridge that is a highlight for visiting tourists. Austin has tons of live music from country to jazz to Tejano and any other genre you can think of.You want food? What kind? We have anything and everything. My husbands favorite? Anything Mexican-any kind of tacos! My favorite? Seafood. We love going out to eat. It's our entertainment.

I also love Austin because I met my husband here. I believe God wanted me to move to Austin to meet him. I had only lived here about a month when we met and that was that. Total God thing! Our children are native Texans. We love our church. To be honest we have thought about moving on occasion. And you are thinking right now..."she just told us how much she loves Austin?" Well, true. But you try living somewhere that had more than 50 days over 100 degrees! I like warm weather but whew! Anyway, one of the reasons we don't leave is because of our church. Riverbend is such a place of grace that we aren't sure we could find that anywhere else. We are so grateful to have such an awesome church family.

If you haven't been here it may be hard for you to picture how wonderful Austin is. The Capitol. Barton Springs. Loop 360 Bridge. The Greenbelt. The Frost Building. Lady Bird Lake. The Broken Spoke. The Wildflower Center. All this and a bunch more. Y'all come see us!

Tis the Season...

I love the holidays. I really do! I get all caught up in the magic of Christmas and the gratitude of Thanksgiving. With 3 kids, we try to make it as special as possible. We decorate, make cookies, play Christmas carols, drive around and look at lights, go to sing-a-longs, etc. Where we live there is no snow but that's okay we make due with 50's and rain! I want the kids to have great memories when they grow up. I hope they will.

There is one thing...we are BUSY!!! Just this week we had 3 nights of choir practices before our big performance today. And that's on top of another evening at church, an extra meeting at church and a girl scout activity plus our regular schedule. On the one hand I love the busyness but on the other hand, it is tiring. I know, I know, I asked for it --signing the kids up for so much, volunteering so much and wanting to be involved. If it was just the physical stuff we'd be okay. It's the emotional stresses that play the biggest part. The holidays can bring up memories and can bring extra financial worries. This can be overwhelming and difficult.

SO...This is the time of year to celebrate Jesus' birth! That is so important and any way we can celebrate Him is awesome. We aren't always this busy so we do what we can do and let go of the rest. I know that God doesn't give me more than I can handle. I also know that God is my strength and my salvation. I can live one day at a time knowing it's all going to work out in the end. So Merry Christmas! Relax and enjoy!

Here's one of my favorite verses from the Bible that applies:
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13 (New American Standard Bible)

Here's one of my favorite songs that may help with this:
God is Good All the Time by Don Moen

What's for Breakfast?

My family loves Cereal! We eat all kinds of it. I even eat it as a dessert at night sometimes. My husband laughs at me because I buy organic or natural cereal but they have sugar in them. Then he teases me by saying "because organic sugar is better than regular sugar, right?" Yes! It is better! At least that is my theory and I am sticking with it.

Here are our some of our favorites:

• Annie's Homegrown Fruity Bunnies
• Cascadian Farm Organic Kids Cinnamon Crunch
• Bear Naked All Natural Peanut Butter Granola (discontinued)
• EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs

In case you want something more savory, filled with protein and great for house guests, try this recipe I have adapted from Cooks.com. I will add tips throughout and at the end of the recipe.

Breakfast Casserole
approx. 8 slices of bread (can be day old or ends that you've saved in the freezer)
1lb. bacon or sausage (i use turkey b-fast links and squeezed out the sausage from the casing)
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (i have used goat cheese or a cheddar)
10 eggs
3 cups milk (i have used lactose free milk)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Grease 13 x 9 inch casserole (or baking pan). Tear bread (use enough to fully cover the bottom of pan) and put in casserole. Brown and drain bacon or sausage. Crumble over bread. Sprinkle with cheese. Beat eggs with milk, mustard and seasonings. Pour over mixture in casserole. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Make sure all the liquid has turned into solid.
Best if prepared the night before, cover and refrigerate.
Serves 8-10

I have made this several times and people love it. I'd like to try it with ham.

Enjoy!

Green Tips

Here's something you might not know about me...I am passionate about recycling! I am the person who has 2 recycling bins-one for the stuff they pick up on trash day and one to take down to our local recycling station. I put every piece of paper--and I mean every piece of paper --in a brown paper bag for recycling. Newspapers, mail, magazines, writing paper down to tea bag wrappers, tags off new clothes and crayon wrappers. I am also the kind that will take recyclables out of the garbage to keep them from being thrown away. I will take home those little plastic sample cups from the grocery store so I can recycle them. We take our own cups places so we can have water instead of using a plastic bottle or a throw away cup. I have used my own bag at the grocery store way before it was the cool thing to do.

Some people I have talked to about recycling say it's too much of a hassle or too dirty or a waste of time. I suppose it could be but I have some tips to make it easier.

Tips on how to be more GREEN:

1. Recycle your newspapers-easy starting point-no mess just put them in the bin

2. Recycle your plastic water bottles-take off the lid and throw it in the bin-no mess

3. BETTER IDEA-don't use plastic water bottles, take your own cup or coffee mug to work or buy a reusable water bottle to save green & $green.

4. Leave your shopping bags in the car--even better...buy washable reusable bags!

5. Use your brown paper bags to hold your paper recycling

6. Reuse plastic bags-Take a newspaper sleeve with you to walk the dog and pick up his droppings with it. Double bag your new bread with old bread bags before you put it in the freezer. Instead of a diaper disposal system that uses a ton of plastic, bag your diaper up in a grocery bag.

These are just some simple ideas. I hope you try them out!

Where to start...

I am not one of those people who are always happy. I don't always have a smile on my face. I can't seem to get past some things. I feel overwhelmed a lot. I am usually lost in thought and have a blank expression on my face. I tend to stress and let the stress show. Although you might not know because I usually say I am fine. My family knows though because unfortunately they bear the brunt of my frustration. I am not proud to say it but I am a yeller.

I tell you all of these things so that you might not feel alone if you do these things too. I know that it sounds pretty depressing and sometimes it can be...

BUT...

I also know that God is always with me. I can ask Him to remove my fear. So I pray that he take away whatever it is I am scared of AND turn my attention to helping someone else. It can be helping my child with their schoolwork, calling a friend I know is having a hard time, volunteering at church, donating something to a homeless person on the corner or many other things. This part takes my mind off myself and my troubles. Plus it gives God a chance to work on me. Nice!

Here's one of my favorite verses from the Bible that applies:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11(NIV)

Here's one of my favorite lines about this subject from the big book Of Alcoholics Anonymous:
"We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be." page 68

Here's one of my favorite songs that might help if you can relate to this post:
All In(Letting Go) by tobyMac from the album portable sounds