one million arrows.

stay tuned . . . Pin It

now, don't freak out.

mom, you may want to sit down for this one.

okay, nice deep breaths . . .
in through the nose, out through the mouth. . .

it's gonna be okay, i'll walk you through it.

the nervous/excited before smile. . .

the laid-back, no big deal, i'm used to having a needle stuck in my wrist repeatedly smile. . .

how i really felt . . .

ouch.  okay so that doesn't feel great.

my friend erin was with me for moral support. . .
and to document the whole thing in pictures....
and to comply with my demands to tell me stories or dance or do whatever to distract me.
it really wasn't that bad and travis the tattoo guy said i took it like a champ.
so there you go, i'm a tough chic.

yay, it's done!

now the story. . .

so, i've been wanting a tattoo for while.  i wanted to be 'marked' for my Jesus.
i've been praying about it for the past few months.
a permanent mark is definitely not something i would go about lightly.


aj and i talked about it a lot.
i wanted it on my wrist as my constant reminder of my first love.
 my God who redeemed my life and gave me a new life. 
He is all that matters after all.

the morning of the tattoo i was praying again and asking the Lord to give me unrest in my spirit if this was not of Him. 
i wasn't looking for a specific verse, i was just reading my Bible and writing out my verse for my scripture memory group.
the verse happened to be Deuteronomy 6:4-9
^"5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. "


when i read this part: "bind them as a sign on your hand," i knew it was the Lord giving me His blessing. i felt peace.

i have a new urgency to live worthy of His name.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14 Pin It

monday.

i had a great mother's day weekend.
i got to spend time with both of my moms who live close.

yesterday morning started off my favorite way....with all my boys piled up around me.

aj gave me an ipod shuffle for my running.  it's so small! i love it.
he put a running playlist on it called, "sara, the runner girl." :)
it starts with U2's beautiful day.  perfect.
i ran 2 miles this morning.  getting a little closer each day to my goal.
i got to take a nice long nap yesterday.  i rarely take a nap so it was a treat.

today is laundry day and meliyah day.  i have a moutain of laundry i'm working my way through.
it's rainy and dreary and pretty cool.  a good day to drink some hot chai, i say.

today is also a day, like every other, to find my one year old up his shenanigans.

i love how he's looking at me like "what?"

 and his other favorite activity. . . digging through the boys' bathroom drawer, dumping the contents into the sink, & gnawing on their toothbrushes.

also, i think he's gonna be crafty like the rest of us.  he already loves to color.

come back tomorrow to see what else i got for mother's day.
it's not your typical mother's day gift.  i bet you'll be surprised. ;) Pin It

happy mother's day mom! (X3)

i want to wish a very happy mother's day to the 3 special moms in my life.


my mom, aka grammy.

my step-mom, who is much more than that, aka grandmama.

and my sweet mother-in-law, aka grandma.

i am so blessed to have these lovely women in my life who love me unconditionally and have taught me how to be a mom. i want to keep on learning and growing and becoming the mom God made me to be.

love you all--sara Pin It

R-A-N-D-O-M

this is avery's last week of school.  woo to the hoo.  so excited for a break from homeschooling.  so looking forward to the relaxing, laid back days of summer. 

last night we had a girls' night out for my friend ashley's birthday.  we laughed so hard . . . it was a blast.  AJ watched the boys (obviously) and ashley's kids.  so he had 6 kids ages 7 and under. yes, he is a stud. and a servant. and i love him. and i can't believe i get to have that awesome of a man.  i'm so blessed.

 

i look even shorter than normal in this pic. 

in my defense, the other girls are wearing big ol' heals and i was wearing flip flops.

guess who's a runner now?  

that's right, i'm scheduled to run my first 5K in June.

and some of those lovely ladies in the pic are gonna run it with me!

AJ's got a whole schedule worked out for me.  

which is a good thing because i am a slacker.

i ran 1.75 miles this morning. 

there was a lot of panting "i can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" over and over. 

it seems so much harder to run on the treadmill than running outside. 

and my room seemed to be one bazillion degrees.  i'm pretty sure it was.

i don't know how i'm gonna get up to 3 miles, but it may be from sheer will on AJ's part.  

between waking me from a dead sleep, to setting out my running clothes, to making me coffee . . . he's got his own work set out for him.

hopefully in a month i'll be able to do a post that says "i did it!"

and this better make those love handles go away or i'll be mad!

Pin It

we're not nearly as cool as our friends

so you remember how our friends went to africa last summer?
you do? good.

well, they filmed their whole adventure. and now we get to watch it on our t.v.
they are totally reality tv stars now.


it airs on daystar or abc if you're local.

this past sunday was the first episode.
you know you want to watch it.

click here to watch it online! 

you'll be glad you did.

and here's the tv schedule.
i can't wait for the next episode! Pin It

Chicken and Orzo with Tropical Salsa

 I want to share with you one of our favorite summer recipes.
it's from my sister-in-law, Jill.
it is seriously, so so good.  trust me.
i love the contrast of the hot chicken/orzo against the cool avocado/mango salsa

Chicken and Orzo with Tropical Salsa

1 tbls vegetable oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breatst, cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (8 oz) jar or can prepared salsa (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 med red onion, chopped
3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta

Tropical Salsa
1 mango, peeled and chopped
1 avocado, peeled and chopped
2 tbls chopped fresh cilantro
(i double this)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over meidum heat. Add the chicken and saute, stirring occasionally until brown on all sides. Stir in the garlic, prepared salsa, broth, red onion, and orzo. Cover and simmer about 12 min, or until the orzo is tender.

Meanwhile, make the tropical salsa: combine the mango, avocado, and cilantro in a medium bowl.

Serve the chicken and orzo with the Tropical Salsa.


we like this prepared salsa (to go in the chicken/orzo mixture) . . .

or you can be really awesome and make your own.
i'd like to try pioneer woman's sometime.

enjoy! let me know if you try this. :) Pin It