Egg Nog French Toast!

Egg Nog French Toast Recipe

If your looking for the perfect holiday breakfast recipe you found it! 

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups of egg nog

1 tbsp. of nutmeg

Bread

Makes about 10 slices of French toast! 

I make this several days before Christmas, because tradition in our family is eating the Christmas cookies for breakfast! Enjoy!

Happy First Birthday Ronin(and his puppy birthday cake recipe)!!

1 cup of whole wheat flour, unbleached

1 tsp. of baking soda

3/4 cup of shredded carrots

1/4 cup of peanut butter

1/4 cup of canola oil

1 tsp. of vanilla

Bake at 350 degress for 12-15 minutes

Frosting:

1 mashed banana

4 oz. cream cheese

1 tsp. of vanilla 

All creamed together

Milkbone for topping

These can also be made into pupcakes as well!

What I didn't know when I became a Pastor's Wife

                         

There were a lot of things I didn't know before I became a pastors wife. When I thought about it, I pictured myself cutely dressed and sitting in the front row every Sunday and that was about the extent of it. My mind clearly didn't wander too far. I came up with nine things that I quickly realized while helping my husband minister to a small church

1. I am the multi-media director-the mic starts to cut out in the middle of the morning service, who does the pastor look at? You got it-me! Who is manning the slide changes in the powerpoint during the worship time? Me again.

2. I quickly became a wedding coordinator. When my husband performs wedding rehearsals I usually tag along and I usually get more than I bargain for in doing this. I have found that the bride usually forgets to get someone to coordinate the entrances and timing as her groom, bridal party, and herself enters the church on her special day. While it might not be a big deal to some, when you have someone to do that everything just runs much smoother. So I usually end up rounding up the whole party and getting everything situated behind the scenes. This is fun for me, I enjoy seeing the bride before the groom! Coming through in those little moments, takes a lot of pressure off of the day.

3.Event planner. Considering multiple ages groups and activities that are fun, not boring, and not over done, can be a hard task! Consider all that plus add in a very restrictive budget! Now don't get me wrong, my husband can do this and for the most part he comes up with a lot of great ideas, but lets face it, women are just more creative than men.

4.The interior decorator-because would you want your husband decorating your house?!?

5. The pastors stylist-refer to my 'Why I let my husband wear wrinkled pants to church' post.

6. I am the fill in-my least favorite title. While I want my husband to be able to count on me and rely on me always especially in bind. I thought being the fill in would require less of my time. It turns out when your the fill in you are filling in more than not. This tend to be a last minute thing every sunday and you must be prepared with a lesson and snacks or some spit up and baby drool in the nursery.

7. I work a full time job, so I technically get one day off, and if I'm lucky we have a church event on a Saturday too! (I really mean it when I say lucky)

8. In becoming David's wife I knew that i would hell bare the load of this ministry along with him, but in all honestly I thought it would mostly consist of a lot of the physical stuff mentioned above in the first seven things. What it really is more of, is the emotional side of this life, being that encourager for my husband, and learning to do a lot of listening. Your pastor has deep concern you.

Last and best of all were the blessings I would receive in this position. Our church family has been huge encouragers for us in this journey we are on and we are forever grateful for their support! Everyday we sit amazed with what we have and who we have to be thankful for!

*please do no misunderstand this post in me trying to take ownership over these titles, I have simply fallen into them and me typing them out was a very humbling experience to see not what I do, but what the lord has allowed me to do for Him! 

Busyness should not be your badge of honor.

Halfway through our Myrtle Beach vacation and I'm sitting in the water as the waves are crashing against the shore. I wonder why we only make the attempt once a year for this type of break in the reality of our lives. I can't help but sit here and think of the busyness that awaits me at home. I once heard someone say "Rest is not a guilty pleasure that we have to sneak, but a command from God. We need to quit wearing busyness and tiredness as a badge of honor." I hate the word busy, even though I use it often and it is a word that could easily be used to fit my life. I have been contemplating these words, busy, tired, and even yes and no, over the last few days and have decided that busy and tired are gone from my vocabulary and what is going to make that easier for me is to reevaluate what I say "yes" and "no" to! Giving my best to the things that deserve my "yes."

Louie Giglio said: “Whenever you say yes to something, there is less of you for something else. Make sure your yes is worth the less.”

Rest should be a reminder that we are dependent on our much stronger God.

Check out Lysa Terkeurst's new book The Best Yes for more inspiration on this topic!

Paper Anniversary

We decided to go with tradition for our first anniversary as husband and wife. The first year is PAPER. You would think this would be easy but you really have to get creative. I decided to make a post about what we got each other because I searched the internet and had the hardest time finding any ideas!

David got up super early on a Sunday Morning and decorated our whole house in homemade heart garland and dug out all of our old notes to each other, written on paper, and spread them throughout the house. I love flowers, so David tried his best at a bouquet of paper ones!

I was able to get the audio of both of us saying "I do" and turned it into a sound wave to have printed and framed. I thought this was something different. To make the rest of this year interesting I wrote down 52 surprises (one for each week of the next year) for David to pick from each week. I also was able to find a nice Marvel poster for his man room that he thinks he is creating in our basement.

We also were able to spend a nice, relaxing weekend at our favorite resort, Nemacolin Woodlands, where we got engaged and spent many date nights prior to that.

A Letter to my Husband-Our First Anniversary!

David Cole,
I am always at a loss for words when it comes to expressing exactly just how I feel about our love. As our first anniversary has come and gone so fast, just as this past year has, I can’t help but think what you have taught me about love, instead of what has been felt. You love me just the way God created me, with every imperfection that you have never tried to change. You see past my outward flaws into the depths of my heart and you love me just the same. Just one look from you and all my anxieties turn to nothing. Despite decisions I’ve made in the past and uncertainties we will face together in the future, you remind me how BIG our God is and to trust His plan. You lead our marriage by putting God first and us second. You are dedicated to integrity, just as I spoke in my wedding vows, you are a man whose integrity shines like a diamond in the dust. You are always there to greet me with a warm hug after a long day and a night never goes by without a good night kiss. Our first year of marriage has been full of many mountains and valleys but in those challenging moments we are reminded of the vows we promised each other that beautiful summer afternoon on August 10th, 2013.

I love you forever and always.

Why I let my husband wear wrinkled pants to church.

I love being a pastor's wife. I get the opportunity to play a part in many ministry outlets. Being a pastor's wife can be a lonely ride sometimes and I can get wrapped up in carrying unnecessary burdens. Like the burden of not only the image I am sharing to our church and those we come in contact with but my husbands as well. This week we had the privilege of sharing our ministry at New Life at a Missions Conference. Missions Conferences are incredibly refreshing to my heart and reminds me of the call that has been placed upon each of us as believers. It was great to be reminded of this truth this week. Each day I came home from work just in time to drop my work bags and turn around and head out the door again. Sunday-Tuesday night I had picked out my husbands clothes already, so when I came home Wednesday evening I knew I had to pick him out some clothes so that we could be on our way. David, my husband, welcomed me at the door as he usually does. He was already dressed and he figured he would save me the time and pick out his own clothes. With one of his biggest smiles he held out his arms and said "Did I do good?" I looked him over with his navy stripped shirt and WRINKLED yellow pants! Now are you understanding why I must approve most of his outfits?! I admit that I am not always the kindest, sweetest, slow to speak wife that I wish I was. A hurried "Have you looked at yourself?! Those pants are wrinkled!" would have honestly been the normal response. Those words are damaging and I am sure after several minutes of thinking of a nice way to say "why don't I grab you a different pair of pants to wear" would have worked, but he still would have felt that he didn't "do good" like he asked, because he did do good, his intentions and his heart are what made him "do good". Instead I hesitated and said "Good Job, you look great." While wondering if we had enough time for me toss them in the dryer for a few minutes, because yes I do know the dryer trick where you throw in a wet wash cloth. In that moment of watching the pride on David's face, I took the opportunity to not cut him down. Our husbands don't always need our cutting words and criticism. I have the tendency to react and respond to him this way regretfully. I swallowed my pride for an evening and stood beside my husband proud to have a husband that tries to help me out in anyway he can, even if it means picking out wrinkled pants to wear. So incase you saw my husband last night and wondered "Why would she let him go out in wrinkled pants?" that is why! I can promise that this won't be a usual thing, but what will be usual is my effort to raise my husband up and not tear him down.

P.S. He wasn't preaching this evening either!

                                        

Zucchini Pizza Bites.

You gotta try these! I admit I was skeptical at first.

Simply cut up your zucchini in half inch slices and lay them on a cookie sheet. Next drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the slices and sprinkle on some salt and pepper to taste. Add your sauce and some basil followed by mozzarella cheese and any toppings you choose. I was hoping I had some olives, but as you can see we didn't, so try some with some black olives for me! Pop them in the oven on 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes, they don't take long, and wahlah, you have yourself some yummy appetizers or in our case a nice healthy lunch!

DIY Drink Station

You may have seen the pallet drink station that has been floating around Facebook and Pinterest, I know I have seen it shared and pinned a few times. There are a million things to do with pallets, I haven't counted but if you search it out you can find that you can do just about anything imaginable with a pallet. I have become a tad bit obsessed. I have found myself wanting to buy odd things thinking "A pallet would look cute painting and hanging on that!!" Am I crazy? More than likely! The backyard has been my little project (by the way my husband wouldn't call it little) this summer, we added a back porch and most people wouldn't decorate and add a theme to it but of course I just had too! So I chose a nautical theme for the backyard and thought I would try my hand at the pallet drink station. I have made my dad my personal pallet scouter, he has become really good! I even got him into the whole pallet obsession! So my dad was able to find me two pallets that sized up fairly well. I was able to lay the pallets out in our garage and get to painting. As you can see I didn't paint them perfectly on purpose, I wanted them to have that shabby, rustic feel. So I used just one coat of white paint and just brushed it on not minding if the paint didn't cover some parts. We then laid the pallets on top of each other and drilled them together to make one piece. I then stood them both up next to our house, debating several times as to were to put them. Luckily we had some gravel already along the part of the house I chose and that made them stand up well. Now the pictures online show only three paving stones laid on top so naturally I only grabbed three, but as you can see I used four 12x12 stones. I turned my pallets the other way to see if I could get away with three stones that way and I was still short, so I will say that it depends on the size of your pallets and which way you want your pallet standing. Oh and measure before you head out to the Home Depot, that would have saved me an extra trip. Adding to the drink station was some nautical themed bunting because who can resist a little burlap bunting?!?

Share with me your drink station ideas!

10 (maybe 11) Facts about the Pastor from the Pastor's wife.

1. The Pastor does more than just drink coffee and meet with people...it's true, despite this mornings Dunkin Donuts run.

2. After church on Sundays, the Pastor is exhausted(see my very first blog post for why)...naps are gold.

3. Pastoring is an all day, every day thing. It isn't only on Sunday mornings. There is no time clock to punch. He punched in and has never punched out yet...every second, every minute.

4. Sometimes the Sunday morning illustrations about our family are exaggerated, and sometimes he spares you from the sometimes ugly truth...it makes for a good story.

5. When you don't show up, you disappoint, not just the Pastor, but the body...find a better excuse than "My dog ate my Bible." Really, that's what your excuses sound like.

6. He is a person just like everyone else...you heard me.

7. The Pastor sees you sleeping on Sunday mornings...and then he comes home and tells me, you can't hide.

8. He enjoys encouraging feedback about how he is doing, it doesn't always work when he hears it from his wife every Sunday..."Great sermon this morning."

9. To have people bought into the vision and committed to kingdom work brings him great joy...after all he spends most of his time doing this.

10. He cares about you (church), more than you know and prays for you often...you should pray for him.

Ok, I know I said 10, but here is number 11, just because...

11.The Pastor has the hardest and greatest job in the world...you better believe it.

Perfect Lemonade.

Best Lemonade Ever!

4 cups of Water

1 cup of Sugar

3/4 cup of lemon juice

Lemon slices, cute straw, and mason jar for a summery feel!

Enjoy!

Blackberries and Juice.

After living in our house for 11 months and 5 days, I JUST discovered that we have a patch of blackberry bushes. If you can just imagine for a minute my husband in the yard burning garbage and the loud "OH MY GOODNESS" shout that I made very abruptly while cleaning a few things up in the yard, and my husbands hesitance to turn around in horror of what he might find. He is very used to the fact that I tend to be dramatic coupled with the many creatures that like to live on the property. In wild excitement I said "We have blackberry bushes...like a lot of blackberry bushes!" His unamused response was "I know." If you can also imagine the disappointment on my face as I contemplated all the blackberries that went to waste last season, just sad, but not this year! This year every last berry is going to be picked, even if I have to put on a full body suit to go in after them. The allergy attack that I had later that night was, in my book, still worth it compared to the gold mine I had found earlier!

I just recently became a juicer and blackberries are one of the ingredients. So if you juice, you MUST try this:

1 cup of blackberries

4 granny smith apples

2 handfuls of spinach

15 baby carrots

You can always give or take on the amount of each fruit you use.

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Sunday Morning.

Each Sunday David and I wake up together, I enjoy coffee and breakfast, like homemade waffles on the waffle iron, with my husband. We never seem to be in a rush as we get ready for the morning. We show up at church and each grab a cup of coffee as we head to our usual seats. The service starts and we worship together, and listen to the sermon together. When the service is over we head out to grab lunch and then back home for a Sunday afternoon nap-after all those are gold!

OK, so I'm totally lying, that was all a made up fantasy that I normally fantasize about every Sunday morning.

Being married to the Pastor does not make this fantasy realistic. Most Sundays he is gone before sunrise to prep and prepare for the service that morning. I wake up alone and actually enjoy having the bed all to myself, unless the dog sneaks in as he tends to do. I get ready and then wrestle the dog to stay home, because he still doesn't understand why he gets to go to work with Daddy everyday EXCEPT Sundays. So I don't see him until I get to the church hours later and even then its just a short hello as he is practicing for worship, setting up coffee, or as indecisive as my husband is, still tweaking his sermon and I am often preparing for ladies ministry prep, or preparing to be in the children's classroom. When church is over people are usually wanting his attention, and then he is normally the last to leave the building. I then get to see him sometime in the afternoon when he makes his way home, and just long enough for lunch until he passes out for that afternoon nap- He is exhausted. This is the usual layout of our Sunday mornings.

EXTRA SIDE NOTE:

{So to my friends that are Pastors' wives, Sundays can be hard and you may wish that they looked different every now and again, remember just as it is your husbands big day to lay out the morning, remember that it is also an important day for you to show up and support your husband. Your role is huge, if it wasn't it wouldn't be hard. Your husband needs you not only through the week but on Sundays, your support and love. The church needs your serving, loving, and steadfast spirit to lead through your husband.}

The purpose of Sunday Morning is not to just simply tell you about my Sunday mornings, that would get boring, but to bring you into my life and share with you everything that I am passionate about, being the wife of a pastor, being a wife in general, having a rambunctious puppy, upcycling and all my favorite DIY projects, recipes, and adventures. I hope you will subscribe to my blog and join me on this exciting journey!