Of all the reasons to miss church...

In case you missed my husband's hilarious post on Facebook about a recent incident, I've included it here:)

7-1-12

Of all the reasons to miss church, this one takes the cake. We are actually not singing until tonight, so we were going to our own church which is about a 35 minute drive. On the way, we see a turtle trying to cross the road. My precious, animal loving wife and avid turtle rescuer has me pull to the side of the road. She gets out in her dress and runs to the turtle's rescue. I am watching her in the rear-view mirror as she picks up the turtle and the turtle thanks her by peeing all over her. It was amazing how much pee there was and how far the little guy could shoot. I mean, it sprayed pee like a garden hose with one of those high powered nozzles. She ran back to the car and both of us were laughing, but we decided that we couldn't walk into church at this point covered in turtle pee. So, yes we missed church because a turtle peed on my wife. So there you go. It looks like we have to clean up and then go visit a church that meets at a later time this morning, but we love you Christ Family Okc.

 

 

What I've been learning from the Lord lately

I got up early and reflected today over my Bible Study's verses this week.  I really felt connection with the Lord and I feel like he's answering my prayer to grow my affection for Him.  This verse came to my mind as I was praying:

Philippians 2:14-18

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁴ Do all things without complaining and disputing, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.¹⁷ Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Strangely enough, I was convicted over verse 17...being willing to be "poured out" without expecting anything in return.  I will have to mull and pray over that verse.  That picture should directly affect how I approach work each day and when we travel. I want my purest motivation for working and pursuing concerts to be that people will be able to hear the good news and lives will be changed.  We've already seen that happening with multiple people surrendering their lives to Christ this year, I'm excited!  

I do thank the Lord that we are getting to experience his literal provision each month.  I know our faith wouldn't be tested in that area or strengthened if we both had traditional jobs.  I can view it as a blessing that God gets to teach us first hand about providing work each month for us to complete.

New CD coming

 New CD coming...hopefully this Fall!

We are in the "birthing" process of Blake's next CD.  This CD has to last us a while.  Blake hasn't had new official material to sing since 2007 and we are in need of new songs with strong messages to bring at concerts.  We have been pouring over the song list and have narrowed the list down to 14 killer songs! We are so excited about them to share with people.  But we are so cautious that this list be perfect.  I feel like we've learned a lot from past CDs and some mistakes we made with certain song selections and about what people will benefit the most from.  Let me just say this CD...will be upbeat and great car-ride music! The hymns CD was awesome, but it's overall tone was more mellow so we want to counter that one with a very energetic next album, and maybe one that doesn't make Blake hit astronomically high high-notes on every song :)  For when he's sick.  We pray to God to keep protecting his voice, this year has been a great vocal year, a welcome reprieve from last year when Blake dealt with the unknown stomach infection for about 8 months out of the year.  It really messed up his voice until we found the cause and got it cleared up.  But, I will say that every concert that his voice is "there" we are so grateful to the Lord for providing that tool to us.

We now enter into a CD project that will start "tracking" at the end of June.  That is where all the actual music is created with a band and instruments.  So we have to pick out keys and arrangements and have all the songs nailed down for sure.  We are afraid we won't be ready in time, but I feel very sure this is the right thing to do.  Also, finances are a hindrance right now.  We only have 25% saved toward the total estimated cost of the recording. And things with our house and equipment keep breaking.  So our savings keeps building only to keep getting nitpicked to death here and there.  But, I don't feel any hesitations for going for this CD.  I feel very strongly that we need to get it done.  It will open a lot of doors for booking and new venues for us to keep going.  God has provided the funds in the past and he will do it again, I know.

In December we added Insulation to our house

In December we added insulation to our attic as a Christmas gift from my parents.  We are such newbies at home stuff, we did it the absolutely hardest way possible.  I should have flaked off individual chunks of the insulation (made from newspaper and plastic bags), but instead I fed handfuls of the stuff in the blower, and it just floated up and blew all over me.  Here are some pictures of the results:

Thank goodness Blake had a mask.

The best picture from the event:

Us Standing on our neighbor's doorstep

Our neighbors took pity on me and blew me off with a compressor:

But guess what, our home is nice and toasty warm now

April in Overall Review

Things are going well.  All our concerts this past month were at the end so we tightened our belts and tried to eat cheaply until our concerts arrived!  We went to all new places and it was incredible the response that Blake received and the response the people made towards the Lord.  Underestimating, we counted at least 3 salvations this month.  I say underestimating because I think more decisions to accept the Lord were made, but at this one particular gospel-sing, there was not a minister present to receive the people who wanted to make decisions.  Blake led the people who raised their hands in the plan of salvation and encouraged them to tell someone immediately and come back to that particular church on Sunday.  We also had the privilege of leading a revival in Carnegie OK this month.  I think we left as encouraged as the people we ministered to were!  Blake got to even share a small children's concert and 109 children from grades 1-5 were present as he sang songs like I Go to the Rock, I Catch 'Em and Moses.  They were GLUED as he sang Moses.  Between each song Blake shared a moment of Truth from God's word and really tried to make each song a visual example of a memory the kids could take with them.  After he sang, the church workers (without our knowing it) had the kids write us thank you notes for singing to them.  We have a whole sack full of thank you notes!  We went through them and were so blessed to see the children had illustrated their notes with items from the songs he sang about---there were a lot of fish drawn, rocks, stick figures singing in a microphone, and snakes from Blake's Moses song.  One girl wrote that because Blake sang and told her about how each person is given a special talent/gift by God that she feels so special now and she didn't feel special before.  We were really blessed by those kids.  Here's a video of them clapping while Blake sang:

Another neat thing we were exposed to is a ministry from Alaska who spoke a day we sang in Branson, Mo.  A lady named Brenda Crim, who has been with the NAMB until just recently because the NAMB made some cuts, spoke about her incredibly difficult ministry in Alaska and how most of the natives are incredibly prejudiced toward White people.  She explained about the astronomical rate of incest, rape, and suicide Alaskan natives battle.  Her ministry is reaching out to them and breaking down racial barriers so she can provide grief counseling and eventually sharing the gospel one by one with them.  She is an incredibly motivated and busy lady!  Our hearts went out to her mission and here is her information: http://akmissions.webs.com/staff.htm  She has no official funding no except for individual donations I believe.

I need to get back to booking, so I hope to document later some of the beautiful experiences we had in the past couple weeks.

Goodbye Sticker

Blake and I had a very hard day yesterday.  Our cat Sticker died.  We found her Sunday morning in our garage when we were on our way to church.  I noticed her when we pulled out of the garage.  She was laying up against the side wall and I thought that was odd because I've not ever seen her lay there.  I got out to check on her and discovered she was torn up by some animal attack, probably a coyote.  She was very bloody on her back end and had puncture wounds in her side.  We took her to the Emergency Vet praying she wouldn't die before we got there.  She was very weary but would raise her head to look at me while Blake was driving.  We sped all the way there.  We got there and handed her over to the tech.  They took her and gave her a big dose of pain medicine and then proceeded to examine her.  They came out and said they could sew her up but she had a very badly broken hind leg that they wouldn't know until they x-rayed it if they could cast it or if they'd have to amputate.  They said I could wait to make the decision until her bloodwork was ready from testing and I said I'd wait 10 minutes for those results and then decide.  They came back and told me she was negative for Feline Leukemia Virus, but positive for Cat AIDS.  This meant that her recovery would be very hard since she wouldn't really be able to fight off any infections, and that ultimately she was terminal anyway.  This took the decision out of our hands, really.  We were (and are) so broken up.  They wrapped her in a towel and met us in a private room so we could say goodbye for a while and hold her.  She was crying when they brought her in but calmed immediately when they put her in my arms.  Blake and I petted her and loved on her and we each got to hold her for several minutes.  Then we let the vet give her the shots.  Blake got to hold her as the shots took effect. 

I am so broken hearted about her.  Every time I go outside I'm used to looking for her and checking on her throughout the day.  It feels like a big void right now.  We loved her very much and will miss her so much.

On our roof

Watching Blake rehearse

In my brother's coat

In our tree, getting on to the roof

Our Living Room Journey

Transformation of our "Cave" Living Room
(from mud brown to happy yellow!)

BEFORE

This is after we got some lighting in the room.
I thought it was pretty, but mostly pretty just in pictures and not really in person.
Now, the yellow is prettier in person than in pictures.

PLANNING THE COLORS

I helped too!  In between photos. :)

Now the Shelves...

3 coats of paint later...

 

Listening to Pandora Radio - Gaithers :)

 

New Rug is cat-approved

The room is not really this dark of a yellow...

it's a lot softer in person than in the photos.

Only 3 more cabinets to go!!

This is more the yellow that it looks like to me

And just for kicks...he's too cute not to post

Fantastic recipes lately

Blake and I have been doing so good on our life-change lately!  We've incorporated exercise into our lives and healthy eating.  I can't praise Bobay Fitness (www.bobayfitness.com) enough for their great ideas and inspiration.  Here are some yummy recipes we've tried that have worked really well on our meal plans:

Fajitas
-frozen chicken breasts (2)
-1/2 onion, sliced and can use a zucchini and yellow squash or slice bell peppers; brown in skillet on medium high heat, sprinkle with Lawry's season salt
-mostly Defrost the chicken in the microwave, then generously coat both sides with Lawry's seasoning salt.  Then cook on George Foreman grill at 360 for 9 minutes.  Don't use tortillas if you're really wanting to keep your carbs low.

Omelets
1 full egg
3 egg whites
diced onions, bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped spinach (estimated amount)
shredded lunch meat
-Spray your cold pan with olive oil.  Put eggs in it and turn stove on to medium heat.
-As you see the eggs start to become opaque, add your filling ingredients to the lower half of your omelet and generously add salt and pepper and any other spice that sounds good.
-Once the eggs look mostly cooked, use your spatula to fold the omelet on top of itself, cook a little longer on both sides until lightly browned

Chicken Tortilla Soup (without the tortillas)
2 or 3 large frozen chicken breasts (or using unfrozen takes less time)
1 can corn, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
3 spoonfulls of salt
1 spoonfull of pepper
-Start frozen chicken breasts in crockpot and fill with water until about an inch above the chicken.
-Cook on high for 4 hours
-Check to make sure chicken is cooked through, then shred it in the crockpot.
-Add corn, tomatoes and seasonings to crockpot
-Cook on low another 2 hours.  Taste the broth, dilute with 1/2 cup water at a time if the spices are too strong.  Serve with lowfat cheese. (These are estimated cooktimes...as long as the chicken is completely cooked, you can eat it at any time)

My mom says this one is excellent-->
Maple Glazed Squash Slices(from "Food and Fitness Magazine winter 2011", Serves 4)

1 medium acorn squash (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1 Tbsp unsalted butter (i used less)

3 Tbsp real maple syrup (not pancake syrup)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

pinch of nutmeg

 - Preheat oven to 425 degrees

 -Slice ends from squash and halve lengthwise. Use spoon to hollow out seeds. Slice       

     squash into 1/2” slices and transfer the slices to a large bowl.

- In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in syrup and spices. Pour some over the squash 

     slices and toss to coat.

- Arrange the squash on a baking sheet and pout the remaining syrup mixture over the    

    slices. (I line the pan with foil for easy cleanup).

- Bake the squash slices for 15 min, flip, and bake another 5-10 min until squash is  tender.

(You can also cook it in the crockpot on high for 2 hours, or low for 3 hours)

Turkey Chili
-3 cans tomato paste
-2 lbs ground turkey

-1 can black beans
-1 packet ranch dressing mix
-1 packet taco mix
-1/2 diced onion
-black olives
-add water to desired thickness
-drizzle honey across top as it simmers, to desired sweetness 
-toss all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high 4 hours, or low for 6 or more hours.  Can also just brown the turkey first and simmer on stovetop until it's heated through.

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos
(Makes over 2 dozen burritos)

4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

12-24 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed

8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

6 cups canned refried beans, drained

1 ½ cups frozen corn

2 cups water or less (or chicken bouillon)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

4 tsp prepared mustard

1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

3 Tbsp soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

--Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash.
--Stir in beans, sweet potatoes and mash.  Add corn.
--Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.

--Divide mixture evenly between the warm flour tortillas.

--Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style.
--Heat another skilllet on med-high with olive oil. Add 1-2 burritos at a time and sear each side in the skillet until tortilla is medium brown. 

Healthy Eating

Blake and I have been cooking at home A LOT!!  Unfortunately, for you all who are interested in my recipes, it's been healthy eating and no carbs after 3pm! Yikes! But, I'm happy to say in a month I've lost somewhere around 8 pounds and Blake has lost 15?  We're a little unsure because we bought a scale halfway through, so we both may have lost more.  We are following our dear friends' fitness plan.  They are personal and corporate trainers and I've mentioned them before:  www.facebook.com/bobayfitness  and www.bobayfitness.com

I've outlined their suggestions here:

• 5-6 meals a day total
• Eat every 3-4 hours, never eat within 2 hours of last meal so you can digest completely. Lots of water
• No carbs after 3:00, like breads and pasta because then your body will burn your fat reserves instead of the carbs you just ate while you sleep
• 1 full cheat day a week - eat whatever and however much you want, just be strict the rest of the days of the week
• good protein bar choices are Atkins brand or "Pure Protein" brands
• meat portions should stay in 4-6 oz size, like the palm size of your hand
• aim for meals to be at or under 500 calories, and snacks under 200 calories
• good salad dressings would be light/low sugar vinaigrettes, or light Italian, usually a clear color means healthier option
• you still need moderate carbs at lunchtime - can use mustard or light mayo on your sandwiches
• use your imagination within the rules to decide what you can/can't eat
• splenda is okay to use

Estimated Meal times
-6:00am  Breakfast ideas:
 Omelet (can use 4 egg whites, 1 full egg, spices, lowfat cheese, veggies, chicken pieces)/ or 1 bowl oatmeal and 1 fruit/ or cereal (no more than 5g sugar per serving)/ or 2 pieces toast with peanut butter/ or slimfast shake if in a hurry
-9:00  Snack 1 ideas:
 1 piece of fruit/ or protein bar/ or protein shake/ or handful of almonds or walnuts (not peanuts)/ or can of tuna
-12:00pm  Lunch ideas:
 a sandwich and piece of fruit/ chicken strip salad and a sweet potato/ grilled chicken and brown rice and veggies/ or tuna fish sandwich and fruit, veggies
-3:00pm  Snack 2 Ideas:
deli meat wrap/ or handful of nuts/ or protein bar or shake (fruit is best choice for the morning because it has carbs and sugar)
-6:00pm  Dinner Ideas:
 grilled chicken/fish and veggies (like fajitas or stirfry)/ or lean red meat and veggies/ or omelet again like with chicken and spinach in it/ or big salad/ or turkey burger wrapped in big lettuce piece with veggies/ or vegetable beef stew
-8:00pm Snack 3 (if you need it):
handful of almonds or cashews or walnuts

Awful Blogger

I've been an awful blogger.  I just haven't been able to justify taking the time to blog when I could be "working".  So, for the most up to date stuff on us, subscribe to Blake's and my monthly email:  http://blakebolerjack.com/elist.php

I'll still keep blogging on here but I'm having to give it a rest for a bit to get other stuff done!!

Christmas

Things have been fun lately :)  We went to that Ball Brothers concert last week and they did a great job.  It's always good to see good people doing well!  The concert was good and we got to stay and talk with them a while afterward.

The Ball Brothers .com

 Blake up there about to sing Blue Christmas with other audience members

 Explanations happening

I've also been planning my Christmas weekend menu.  It looks something like this at the moment.  Most things are to be made in the crockpot :)
FRIDAY DINNER:
-Beef Stew (Crockpot), cornbread
-Pecan Pie
SATURDAY -
Breakfast:
Bkfst casserole (make on Friday)
Christmas Dinner
- Asian Pork Tenderloin (turn crockpot on by 9am)
- Mashed Potatoes (30 min)
- Green Beans (4 min)
- Sauteed squash and zuchinni (10 min)
- Nana's Apple Salad (10 min)
- Rolls
Dessert:
-Poor Man's Dessert (crockpot)
-Ice Cream
SUNDAY -
       LUNCH:
-BBQ Chicken, chips (crockpot)
- spinach velveeta dip (Crockpot)
 DINNER:
- cheesy chicken (crockpot)
Monday LUNCH:
-Taco Cornbread Casserole
-Dip and Chips


My inlaws are over for a couple nights before they fly out of OKC to CA.  My mother in law is NOT a cat-person.  And Doogan knows it.  He kept wanting to sit in her lap.

I forgot to post about this a week ago, but I had a wild weekend with Doogan a week and a half ago.  I noticed in his litter box that he peed BRIGHT red blood and so I had to take him to the emergency vet clinic.  With cats, they can get "crystals" in their urinary tract that can plug their bladder and be fatal, so you have to take them in immediately if you see infection signs.  I spent 2 hours at the clinic and he had a regular UTI, so I was relieved but still rattled that he was so sick.  Because the urine was SO thick with blood that had to be so painful.  I'm impressed with the little booger for handling it like a champ.  We had his follow up visit to the vet yesterday and all looked well.  They told me to include some wet food for him for now so he can get enough fluids to completely flush himself out.  After the vet visit, I got a hankerin' for some Starbucks.  It's really close by.  So we drove over and also noticed a Chickfila, and it was breakfast time! So we drove through, with Doogan, and got chicken biscuits, then drove over through Starbucks for coffee.  All the while with Doogan happily out of his box.  The Starbucks people were delighted with Doogan and gave him a small cup of whipped cream.  Strangely, this cat who eats anything, turned his nose up at the whipped cream.  I was shocked.

We were parked, eating our food.  Doogan climbed all over every inch of the car.

He did really well for about 45 minutes, then started panting and getting anxious so we hurried home and he was fine.  It was funny to see drivers on the road discover we had a cat in our car.

Today is my Christmas party at work.  They're bringing in food for lunch and we'll have a dirty santa gift exchange.  I'm holding my breath this year since my boss always is the one who gives something extremely inappropriate and rags on the whole staff for not giving inappropriate gifts of their own.  It's uncomfortable.

And I can post about that because....dun dun dun...I am quitting my job!!  I have one more week left and then I embark on a home-office situation.  I will be working full-time from home now on Blake's concerts.  It's exciting but also scary.  Even though my paycheck was small, it was something "for sure" that we could count on.  But, I am confident that this will help our concert ministry expand even further, so I'm excited.  AND to top it off I won't have to go to an 8-5 job anymore!!  I'm ecstatic.