Babies!

The other weekend we helped host a shower for a sweet couple in our community group! Jenessa, from JBailey Occasions helped plan a perfect shower for a baby boy! To view pics, click on the link below! This is the couples 3rd child, but first boy!
http://jbaileyoccasions.blogspot.com/2009/03/baby-boy-baby-shower.html

It was super fun and exciting, we were kind of hoping she would go into labor while we were all there because she had been having contractions the whole day! Another host of the shower was one of my best friend, Katie! She too is pregnant and is about to have a baby any day! We thought it would be awesome if they both had gone into labor at the same time! We could have just moved the party to the hospital!
Instead, today Tiffany is in labor and 1 week from today Katie will most likely get induced! I'm so excited and blessed to have such wonderful friends and be a part of their journeys! I learn so much by being around such wonderful, and inspirational people. They are truly blessings and I cannot wait to meet their new additions!
I'm also excited to meet Baby Will! He too is coming into this world either tonight or tomorrow! How exciting to meet these little bundles of Joy!

I hope by watching and learning from these wonderful girls, that I too could be a wonderful mother! (just not quite there yet on wanting to be!)

"I Will Rise"

We sang this song in church on Sunday and then I heard this song on my way home from work today. It brought tears to my eyes thinking about this day! Its absolutely beautiful. Just think- No more Pain! How exciting!

This version is just a slideshow of pics, because I'm not sure if there is a real video for it. If there is I could not find it.
Enjoy, let me know what you think!




2 Corinthians 4:17-18
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Have a Blessed Day!

The Day of the Lord

At church on Sunday, the sermon was on "The Day of the Lord." It was one of the most powerful sermons I have heard in awhile (or actually paid attention to). I mean a title like that, how can you not pay attention? Gary, one of our teaching pastors referred this day to the book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,No Good, Very Bad Day"


I used to read this book when I taught pre-school, it was always a favorite with the little ones!

The Day of the Lord will be exactly that, but way worse. I think I had just never paid attention to any of these details of this actual day. The message was out of 1 Thess 5:1-11. This opened my eyes a bit, it made me sad for those that do not know our precious Lord, because it will be them that have to experience this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It seriously breaks my heart and makes me more aware of how I need to buck up and not be fearful to tell others about our Heavenly Father!

To listen to this amazing sermon go to: http://devaudio.fellowshipnwa.org/SundayMorning/Thessalonians/tabid/1384/Default.aspx

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Happy St. Paddys Day

I didn't know a lot about St. Paddys day so I thought I would find some fun facts for you! Have a happy one!

Facts about St. Patrick's Day Holiday:
-St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
-St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
-In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps.
-Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade.
-Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day!
-In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours.

Facts about Saint Patrick:
St. Patrick was born in 385 AD . At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary.

Facts about the Irish:
-34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.
-Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
-The harp is the symbol of Ireland.
-The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”
-The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.
-The name “lephrechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”

Facts about Clovers:
-According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!
-One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
-Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

And for a fun, true irish recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/irish-beef-hand-pies?xsc=eml_eat_2009_03_17


I hope you have a fun, happy St. Paddys day! Even if you aren't Irish!

Savor

So last night Marc and I ventured out to find a steak for me! I was REALLY craving one due to the fact I have been eating so much salad and chicken lately! SO we decided on going to the local meat market, which of course is Richards, where else- right? We got there at approximately 6:36 p.m. and they closed at 6! Darn we said, so off to find a restaurant we went. As were driving down college we saw "Savor" which is a new restaurant that just went in to replace Cool Water. We had heard some good things about it at our community group the night before so we decided to give it try! And boy am I glad- It was amazing! I mean definitely in my top 3 now! 1. being Theos and 2. Noodles of course!
The decor is so innovative and contemporary. They also have live music and a really cool lounge area! Great place for a Birthday!
So back to my steak, umm did I find one, OH MY- It was amazing. Marc and I shared the aged for 14 days, bone-in rib-eye! WOW is all we both had to say afterwords. I won't even start on the sides- amazing as well! The presentation was lovely as well. All I have to say is I will be back, its definitely a little pricey, but worth the treat every now and then!

Here is an article I found from Citiscapes on it, sorry I couldn't find any pictures!
http://www.citiscapes.com/article/?id=1423

If you ever have a question about a NWA restaurant just ask me because I love food and I love trying new places! And I definitely have a top 10 list, but I will save that for another time!

Have a Happy Friday! If you are looking for a fun date night place, go to Savor!

p.s- No one paid me to write this!

JDRF

Marc and I were asked to attend the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) hope fundraiser gala this past weekend at the John Q Hammons center! We were asked by one of Marcs old co-workers to go with him and to sit at his table. He has suffered from diabetes for several years, so we felt very honored to go and help support finding a cause for this disease! My grandmother also suffers from diabetes so it was neat to see money raised for such a good cause.
It was fun seeing all of the NWA "celebs" out! We were able to sit with one of the morning news anchors from channel 9! We also were able to watch ms. Nadine Rippelmeyer paint a gorgeous painting that was auctioned off! She is a local artist around here and has lots of art is museums in NYC!
If you would like to see pics, photographers from 3W magazine were there snapping pics of people while they walked around at the silent auction. I really like 3W magazine because it keeps people up to date with current events in NWA!

Click on the link to go to the gallery. This link will take you to Marc and I's 2 photos that they took of us:
http://3wmagazine.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=3wmagazine&gallery_id=1448977&image_id=53

It was a fabulous night and we felt honored to go!

"Won a Bet"

"Wanna bet" or "Won a Bet"? Either way, I did both!

Last weekend we were able to go down to Hot springs and go to the Horse races at Oaklawn! We got to go with the Hartnesses and Martins! It was a little cold, but that didn't matter much because were cozy inside, in a box! (thanks to my dad!)

I have grown up going to Oaklawn. My parents would take me at least once a year and let me pick out some horsies! It is such a blast!

My dad was the big winner of this trip! He hit almost every race! On one of the races right before it started he brought me a ticket and said, "here is your winning ticket!" Sure enough I made 60 bucks! It was so exciting.

View of the track.

me, Leah, and Kara





Our big WIN!

The whole gang! minus two

We then of course finished our fun day with a wonderful meal from McClards BBQ. Its very famous in Hot Springs. If you have never been, you should definitely go! Very Yummy!