A New Marriage Challenge....

Today I started a new marriage challenge entitled, "The Ultimate Marriage Vow"...so far it is easy, but I am only at Day 1....

 
Today's challenge was to carve out time in our day to enjoy moments of friendship. Now I don't know about you guys, but somewhere between jobs, being a Mommy, and other obligations of life, the friendship aspect of our relationship has gone into hiding. Not that we are not friends, we know that we are, we feel we stand by each other, supportive of each other, but the things we did at the beginning of the relationship has gotten lost along the way.

It's funny that once we get married we look for friendships and cultivate relationships with everyone but our spouses. God has given us this awesome gift of marriage that includes with it a constant companion, but yet we will say we are lonely, we wish we had someone to talk to....well that person is living right under your roof! You know how it was before you had children and life got busy? You would listen to each other, finding out about each other, really hearing that other person as they talked about their day, their dreams, their goals.....then somehow that got pushed to the back burner.

I am not telling you that you have to carve out long hours of your time for a preverbial "date", but it does take making time for each other, what ever that may look like in your life right now. I know that my sweetie has said that sometimes he just likes for me to sit beside him while he watches a sports event or movie. For me, I love for him to come into the kitchen while I am finishing up dinner and tell me about his day and let me share mine with him. Many times I will run the kids to their rooms, just so we can have some undistracted time together. Your time spent with your spouse does not have to look like anyone else's...thats what is so great about marriage, mine don't have to measure up to yours or vice versa, as long as it is meeting the needs of the two people in the marriage, that is all that matters.

I remember when I was living at home, my Dad would come in at the end of the day, my Mom would have me turn off the TV and as we sat eating dinner, she would listen to my Dad talk about his day....more often than not there was laughter, and she was his cheerleader too when there would be difficult situations she would always tell him that this would pass, that it would be alright. He did the same for her...she would talk and he would listen. There was no special date night to discuss their lives, it was just life being lived together, sharing together...being each other's friend.

How about you? Are you up for a challenge for 21 days? Here is todays vow: My husband, my treasure, from this day forward I take thee to be my constant friend and companion. And here is the day one challenge: Carve out time in your day to enjoy moments of friendship.

Let's take this step on our journey toward  making the ultimate marriage vow
Regina 

You Have Got to Try These!

I have been trying out some new and some old favorite recipes that I haven't made in a while and all I can say is, my family is loving it! Monday night was the BCS game, my sweetie is from Birmingham, AL, so you know we were watching this game! Here is what I fixed for my contribution to the big night... 

• Taco Soup...this is got from a fellow blogger at Our Best Bites. This soup is so easy to make, does not require a lot of ingredients, but is very hearty at the same time. Not only is this a great game day soup, but it would make a great choice for dinner on a cold winter night....

 to make this...just brown a couple of pounds of ground beef with some onion and garlic. When meat is almost finished cooking add 1/4 cup of taco seasoning and 1 cup of water, stir that into the meat. Then add an additional 2 cups of water, 28 oz. of diced tomatoes, 15 oz tomato sauce, 1 can corn, drained, 2 cans of kidney beans, rinsed and drained. Bring that to a medium boil, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve with toppings of your choice such as guacamole, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips

•  I also made this awesome Hot Wing Dip...this looks like you really did a lot of prep time for the dip, but it is the simplest thing to make. I got this recipe from White Lights on Wednesday. 
• Ingredients  3 - 10oz cans chicken breast
  5oz Frank's Hot Sauce
  10oz bleu cheese dressing
  10oz cream cheese
  1 cup shredded jack cheese
• Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together cream cheese and bleu cheese.  Stir occasionally until smooth.Drain chicken and place in a large bowl.  Use a fork to shred the chicken some.  Mix in hot sauce and stir to combine.Spread out chicken in the bottom of an 11" x 9" baking dish.  Top chicken with cream cheese mixture and spread evenly.  Sprinkle shredded jack cheese over top of dip.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly.

• My last dish for the night was Spinach Artichoke Dip....it was quickly a crowd favorite. This one I borrowed from Gimme Some Oven.... and she has lots more fun recipes to try.

 Ingredients

• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (13.75 oz.) can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped and drained
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz. low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 oz. (about 1 cup) shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup finely-chopped onions
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until blended. Transfer to an oven-proof dish, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately with pita, chips, chopped veggies, or whatever sounds good to you!

But that is not all, tonight I felt I really outdid myself. I made baked salmon on a bed of spinach with onion and tomatoes all in individual foil packets. For a side dish I made roasted potatoes with garlic and dill....it was amazing! You have to try this...I have a daughter that hates fish, but tonight she ate her serving and said she would definitely eat this again. Here's how ya' do it...

lay out a sheet of aluminum foil, in the center of it put a handful of spinach leaves, on top of that place a salmon filet, now add salt and pepper to taste, on top of that place a few red onion quarters, a few little snacking tomatoes ( I used the yellow ones), drizzle olive oil and lemon juice on it, seal that packet by folding up the sides and top. Do this for each one, then bake at 400 degrees, for about 20 minutes. You can eat these right out of the  packet on your plate or you can take them out of the packets and place on your plate. If you remove them from the packet be careful as there will be juices in the bottom of each one, you will want to spoon the juices over the meat if you remove the salmon from the foil packets.

For the roasted potatoes....cut 6-8 potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4 wedges, place in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, melt 1/3 cup butter in a bowl and mix it with some olive oil, in that same bowl add some ground dill and paprika, pour over potatoes, add 2 tsps of minced garlic, mix that all in with the potatoes, then place potatoes on a jelly roll pan and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn potatoes and sprinkle with parmesean cheese, return to oven and bake another 20 ,minutes or until potatoes are tender.....

Enjoy!
Regina

Some Cool Things I Saw This Week

This week I saw a few things I thought some of you might be interested in...

1. Bringing Home the Browns...this is a community on Facebook. The wife was 34 weeks pregnant and had a brain aneurysm. She slipped into a coma and they had to take the baby by C-section. Her husband was deployed to Afghanistan at the time. He was flown home, finally brought his baby home and now is waiting on his wife to wake up....he writes the Facebook page from the perspective of the baby...you can follow their journey and join in praying for this family at Bringing Home the Browns....their story is so moving I knew all of my readers would want to offer their well wishes and prayer support.

2. I know it is early but I saw the cutest thing to make for Valentine's Day on Pinterest....owl candy holders.Are these not the cutest thing?? You use stuff you already have at home...then fill with candy and seal the ends. I am thinking of making these with my little one this year.



3. I have finally watched the 007 movies. I had never, believe it or not, watched any James Bond films! I never thought I would like them. Then my cable company had the collection of films on the On Demand feature. My daughter suggested we watch Quantum of Solace, which we did and I was hooked! Then it made me want to watch them all....I am finishing them up tonight. I will admit that some of the scenes are cheesy at times, especially in the early films, but for the most part the story is intriguing and the good guy always wins in the end.

4. I read this poem by Darlene Sachat...it captures my sentiments I have about my children...

 

5. Here are a couple of funnies I read and hope they give you a chuckle like they did me....

 and to finish it out here is a little funny story I read....

A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs." The rancher says, "Okay, but do not go in that field over there," as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me." Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher. "See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish.... On any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand? "

The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life chased by the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull......

With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he'll get gored before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly terrified.

The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs.....

"Your badge. Show him your BADGE! "

I hope you have a great week ahead!
Regina