small group Christmas party.

The Monday before Christmas, our small group got together and had a Christmas Party.
Christy and Hector were gracious enough to host the party at their home. This year we had soups, salads, and desserts. I made a garden salad and a turtle cheesecake.


We had a great time spending time with everyone in our small group. That group of individuals has become like family to Zack and I over the last few years.

This year, instead of giving each other gifts, we decided to sponsor Christmas for a couple of children in foster care. We had a little boy and a little girl that we bought Christmas for. Everybody brought really cute stuff and hopefully those children had a very blessed Christmas.

Audrey's Wedding and Jekyll Island

One of our dear family friends got married down in South Georgia on the weekend of December 11th. So, Zack and I drove down to ATL on Friday to meet up with Zack's parents. We drove part of the way down and picked Ben up so that he could attend the wedding with us.

It was a pretty long trip and we were planning on staying in Zack's parent's camper. So, it took us a little longer to drive down than it would had we been just driving a car. I tried to make the time fly by by asking everyone in the car trivia questions from a book that I had found while Zack and I were at my parents house for Thanksgiving. Apparently trivia is NOT my father in laws thing....never would have guessed it, but it was driving him nuts.

The wedding was taking place near Jekyll Island. So, Zack's parents had rented a camp site on the island. When we reached the campsite, it was dark and starting to rain, but Zack, Ben, and Daddy G got the camper set up and Mama Sandy and I worked on getting the beds together and heaters turned on!

Saturday morning, we grabbed some breakfast. Zack's dad had gone out to the store in the morning to kinda poke around and see what was going on. A lot of the Island was blocked off because they were filming an XMen movie on the Island. Zack's dad joked that he had to rush back because they were trying to get him to play an extra in the film. While he was out he picked up some powdered donuts and honey buns.



Mama Sandy and Daddy G drove over to the church after breakfast to bring the wedding favors that Mama Sandy had made to the Bride's mother. While they were gone, Zack, Ben, and I went for a bike ride. We biked to the drift wood beach. This side of the island is slowly being eroded away leaving dead/dying trees uprooted on the beach. The beach is hauntingly beautiful and would be a great place for pictures.






When we got back from our bike ride we all got ready for the wedding and then headed over to the church.

Audrey looked BEAUTIFUL and the wedding was really nice. Audrey and her family had done most of the wedding and rehearsal preparation themselves. Just thinking about that makes me break out in a cold sweat, but they are cool calm and collected. Audrey even made her own wedding cake the day before her wedding. I would have been a nervous wreck!



We had a great time getting to celebrate Audrey and Ken as they start this new chapter in their lives. I hope that their marriage is richly blessed.

After the wedding, we stayed and helped clean up and then went back to the RV to change clothes. My feet were KILLING me. That's what I get for wearing high heel boot...but hey, fashion is pain right?!

We headed over to Audrey's parents house a little later to have some dinner. They had TONS of food left over from the wedding....it was delicious. So, we were happy to oblige them by eating some more of it.

Sunday am we got up, ate a little breakfast, and headed back home.



I had taken Monday off because 1. I had to use some vacation time before the 1st of the year or I was going to loose it and 2 Zack was going to hand out paperback books that his company, through the sponsorship of it's members, had sent to the Atlanta School for the Deaf. It was a good thing that I didn't have to be home Sunday night, because it would have been a stretch for Zack and I to ride to his parents house and then jump in our car to make the rest of the trip home.

The story of Jonah....too cute not to post.

I know that I have posted a lot of videos recently, but when Rach showed me this last weekend, I knew that I was going to have to share this with ya'll. This little girl is amazing. She reminds me a little of Shirley Temple, only she is telling Bible stories rather than playing a character in a movie. It is so refreshing to watch a little girl tell the Bible stories that I grew up learning with such passion. I hope that you enjoy this as much as I did!!

This is just a little something extra for Christmas from this sweet girl!!

spreading a little hallelujah cheer.

I stumbled across this video today. Can you imagine sitting in a food court in your local mall and all of a sudden out of no where, a bunch of people break into the Hallelujah Chorus all around you. I think that it would be awesome. You are sitting there surrounded by a bunch of people all seemingly unconnected...until, the first note of a familiar song rings out and out of no where these people passionately sing to the glory of God, uniting them all in one glorious voice of worship and praise to God. Well, it makes my heart smile just thinking about it...

...and visions of sugar danced in her head...

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a Christmas inspired snack mix that was just TOO cute to not to reproduce. I wanted to get something for the other providers at work, but couldn't afford to spend too much on each individual gift. So, I decided to get each of them a Cute Christmas Ornament and make a little something sweet for the holidays. I made Santa Snack Mix. I didn't get any really good pictures of it before I bagged it up, but it is a snack mix with edible Santa hats.


I got the ornaments at Cracker Barrel and I found the snack mix recipe here. It was a little more time intensive than initially anticipated, but the end result was worth it. I put the snack mix in little cellophane bags and then put it in Christmas colored Chinese take out boxes and tied the ornament to each of them.

I made a double batch and gave a bag of this party mix to each couple in our small group as well. If I had thought of it sooner, I would have gotten everyone there an ornament to tie on as well...but I didn't. I think that they still looked pretty cute and hopefully they will still be enjoyed by everyone.


It received good reviews at work today from my coworkers. One of the Dr's I work with said that the Santa hats were her favorite part and that she could have eaten a bag of just them. They are pretty tasty, but they are definitely a labor of love! It would take you a while to make enough of them to give bags of just them, but it is a good thought.

Christmas Blessings

I am sitting here reflecting on Zack and I's night and what an amazing blessing our friends are. Zack and I have been blessed with amazing friends that are extremely talented in there own unique and various ways. Tonight Zack and I got to watch as our friends used their talents to glorify God....isn't that the most amazing thing?! I just LOVE watching my friends use the talents that God has given them to bring Him glory...there is something so touching and beautiful about that.

Tonight our church put on a Christmas Concert. We have an outreach program at our church that is designed to appeal to young men and women (20-30) that would not feel comfortable/accepted in a traditional church setting. Our church did this for a while and then took a short break to build a building on our actual church "campus" for the ministry to take place in. We had started out in a building across town, but as we continued the program, it became apparent that the people that started regularly attending this ministry tended to transition to attending the church itself. So, that, among other things, prompted the church to build a home for the ministry closer to the actual church.

Anyway, our friend Hector is the music leader for the ministry. He just took on this huge task a few months ago, and unsurprisingly, he has been doing a great job. Hector is an amazing musician and has a lot on his plate, but somehow he found time to put together, working with a team of people, an amazing Christmas Concert.

Zack and I were blessed to be able to be there to experience this time of worship...because although the songs were all Christmas songs, that is what the experience was. Yes, most of the songs were the old tried and true Christmas carol's "jazzed" up a bit, but the attitude/ environment achieved was one of reverence and worship. Celebrating not only the obvious, the birth of our savior, but also reflecting on what the significance of that event is and His amazing and sacrificial love for us. There were several songs, some that I had heard before and others that I hadn't, that were especially meaningful to me tonight.

Hector, thank you so much for being a willing and humble servant. Your hard work payed off, the concert was amazing and I know that Zack and I were both blessed by it. We are so thankful that you are, well ... you! Thank you for your willingness to use the amazing gifts and talents that God has given you to point others to Him.

The best pizza I've ever had....

A few weeks ago, Zack and I went over to our friends Jaclyn and Kevin's house for a pizza and game night

The night was a very casual affair. Jaclyn provided the pizza dough (amazing) and pizza sauce, and then everyone that came brought several toppings and a bag of cheese. Jaclyn rolled out the fresh dough and cooked the crusts. Then, everyone got to make their very own personal pan pizza. As we sat there in their kitchen consuming this pizza, we all started to comment on how good it was. I tried to think back on when I had had a better slice of pizza. I have eaten famous Chicago and New York style pizza. I have had many chain pizza restaurant pizza's, but I have to say, I think that this was the best pizza that I have ever had the joy to place in my mouth! You haven't had pizza until you've had Morang Pizza.




Jaclyn and Kevin were gracious enough to share some of their family secrets with us.

So, a few days ago, I attempted the impossible, I tried to recreate the pizza that we had that night. I think that there are a few KEY areas that I need to work on. 1 the dough, I just threw all of the ingredients together and turned the mixer on. I was a little scared because as I have mentioned before, I have a fear of yeast doughs...we are slowly working through that. Anyway, the dough turned out ok, but didn't rise as much as expected. The second time that I made the dough, I dissolved the yeast in the warm water first and it worked much better. 2 I do not have one of those fancy pizza paddles or whatever they are called that Jaclyn and Kevin had to transfer pizza to oven...so, i improvised. I used the back of a wooden cutting board...it was a little bit bulky, but it got the job done. Maybe Santa or the Birthday Fairy will bring me a pizza paddle.

My Pizza
Zack's Pizza

I am really looking forward to being able to have the option of making homemade pizza from now on....Zack is living in pizza heaven. He loves pizza and now he can put his own toppings on a pizza...the only problem is that it takes him about 20 minutes to place his toppings perfectly on his pizza crust...so, I tend to finish, bake and eat my pizza before he is done...if I waited for him to complete his topping placement process my pizza would have already grown mold on it from waiting so long! So, while we don't get to eat our pizza together, he gets to enjoy his very own special pizza when it is all through.