Blake's Birthday

So I'm a bad wife. It was Blake's 30th birthday yesterday and aren't those usually a big deal? Because of the break-in on his car our funds were pretty limited to celebrate, but he did get some awesome gifts: I got him a new XM radio since his was stolen, he got a plush bicycle seat and some cash, and then he also got THIS:


We needed a mower so bad. Blake got out and immediately mowed our jungle. He loves it.

But the reason I say I'm a bad wife is that his birthday dinner was reduced to this:

Blake lit matches to go with leftover "mystery dessert" I made several days ago.

...and then blew them out while I sang Happy Birthday.

I'll do better next year.

Past Weekend Concerts

This past weekend we had concerts in Durant and Lawton, OK. We had a really good weekend, the concerts were very powerful and the people all said they really enjoyed the concerts and were encouraged. We traveled down to Durant on Saturday afternoon for sound checks. You'll see in the slideshow the homemade elevator - I got a kick out of it. They couldn't afford to install a factory made one, so they used some sort of power lift jack....I guess it works!! So I got some pics of Blake loading his equipment in the elevator :)

Then we went to dinner with another pastor friend who lives in the area, and then we headed to our hotel. What a fabulous hotel! It was just a Hampton Inn, but it felt like a luxury hotel. We were so comfortable. We watched Animal Planet and TLC all night til we fell asleep.

So Sunday we headed over to the church and during the concert, the pastor wanted us to have time for prayer for a lady that has cancer. Blake commented later that this little Nazarene church was actually "Nazacostal" because they used oil in their prayer time. I thought it was very special and the whole church gathered around the lady to prayer for healing. I was touched that they took the time to do that and I'm sure it was super encouraging to the lady.

After Durant, we headed on to Lawton and we did another concert there. I didn't get my camera out for some reason, so I don't have pictures of it, but it also went well. :) Blake got a standing ovation at the end (and we got one also for our duet!). We were very blessed by the church's enthusiasm and response to Blake's program. I pray that God uses what Blake sang about and spoke about to permeate their lives with encouragement. I love what we do :)

Engaged!

My little brother Mark is ENGAGED!!! He proposed this past Saturday :)

Easter Sunday

We had such a great weekend. Friday we watched several episodes of "Undercover Boss" and we really like that show now! Then Saturday we went to get donuts for breakfast, then cleaned the house super good since friends were coming over Sunday. We also played with our kitties in the yard again. Doogan is getting more confident and needs closer supervision at times. We try to make sure to pet him as he wanders outside so he doesn't associate us approaching him with "time to go inside" every time. It seems to be working, he doesn't run from us so that is good. When it's time to go in I can approach him pretty easily. Then, Blake had to go up to church to run sound for their Easter service rehearsal. I hadn't intended to go along, but when he was leaving I was like, "wait!" I brushed my teeth and joined him, no makeup and my hair in a bun. Oh well. I got some pictures of our Easter service at church:

This was during rehearsal. The ladies in the back were covering the windows with a see-through purple paper.

It had this lovely effect!

This is Gary, he is also Blake's boss whenever he works at the sound company :)

Pretty service

This is our Pastor, Tim

Then we went home and grilled chicken on our wonderful grill. We're getting the hang of it and the food was delicious. I got a big album of those pictures. My mom gave me her nice camera after she upgraded to another one, so I had a lot of fun documenting the afternoon, and the Easter egg hunt that our friend's little girl had. She's so photogenic and her blond hair was fun to take pictures of!!

Easter Plans

It's Easter weekend!! We have some major plans to loaf tonight and tomorrow and then have friends over for Easter lunch. hooray! We're going to grill out chicken and corn on the cob and do some crockpot sweet potatoes. :) Can't wait!

I'm loving this beautiful weather, it's a real mood booster. I got to play outside for a while last night. I brushed Sticker and then decided it was a good day to let Doogan explore the front yard. I was a little apprehensive he would dart out into the street and never come back, so I got a leash and hooked it to his collar, then wound it loosely around his middle so the collar wouldn't break if I had to grab on to the leash. He did so good and was very well-behaved afterward. It made up for the terror he was on Wednesday night. I got some pictures!




And we babysat our little niece this past Monday. She also was super well-behaved :)

For what it's worth - Meal Plan

Okay, I have a week and a half to go until I get grocery money replenishment. I have $10 left. :) So I'm using up stuff from the pantry this time. Let's see what I can recall having in stock. As they say, "those who fail to plan, plan to fail." Whatever.

Tuesday- Fried Rice. (Might be meatless if I don't want to thaw/cook the chicken breasts tonight)
Wednesday- Crockpot Foil Packet Tilapia and spinach salad. Don't be scared, it's amazing. I may make the fish in the oven, though, for time's sake after work, but it totally works perfectly in the crockpot!
Thursday-CrockPot Azorean Spiced Beef Stew Recipe - haven't tried this one before
Friday- BBQ Chicken Pizza
--Concerts over the weekend--
Monday- Meatless spaghetti, and spinach salad
Tuesday- sandwiches?
Wednesday- Cornbread Taco Casserole

A good salad dressing to use if you're watching your calories is Balsamic Vinegar and olive oil and some splenda. If I remember right, it's 1Tbsp balsamic vinegar with 1 Tbsp olive oil and then add Splenda to taste. You might taste it as you go to see if you'd like to add more vinegar for more punch...

4.5.10- UPDATE - the Azorean Spiced stew wasn't bad, but I'd rather just have tomato based beef stew from now on. The cinnamon was good at first, then as leftovers it was too strong.

The one time I love typos

I usually am pristine when I submit official things. I hate bad grammar and giggle at misspelled words (like on church PowerPoints). I tend to not be able to focus on the worship song anymore and laugh at whatever misspelling there is that usually changes the meaning of what the song is trying to say. In any case, I'm not usually one to embrace typos. But! When it comes to our taxes, all I can say is Praise the Lord I made a typo and that I discovered it! The CPA contacted us confused about the enormous figure we owed to the government. We were totally confused, and not just a little grieved I would say. Then I found a missing (significant) zero in one of my deductions I submitted, and voila! Relief, delivered. I will say that I will cherish this false-alarm and be even more pristine with our receipts this year. It was a good wake-up call.

This weekend Blake and I were housebound in the middle of a snowstorm. It was 70 degrees here in OKC on Friday, only to be met with a foot of snow overnight and all into Saturday. I haven't gotten brave enough to let our little Doogan outside on his own, but I wanted him to experience snow, so I took him outside in my arms, and held him out so his feet disappeared in the snow. He tried to sniff it and sneezed...then he tried to eat it. He tries to eat everything. Beware any forsaken glasses of liquid around our house. Doogan will insert his whole head into the cup to steal a taste.

We had a local concert on Sunday night and I'm proud to say attendance did not seem to be hindered by the snow covered streets. That was a good surprise. The church had a pizza party after the concert so that also was fun.

Cooking, lately, has been reduced to cereal and sandwiches. Blake and I are trying to eat healthier and so cooking a large meal each night isn't on our radar at the moment. It will be again, someday. My next book club book choice is "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh" by Robert C. O'Brien. An interesting choice since it's a kid's book. We'll see if it is any good. I hope it is.