A Post Uncovered

A few days ago I wrote about waiting...

I'm starting to realize that I think a lot about waiting.

Maybe my one word of the year should pertain to waiting?

I wrote back in June of last year on waiting. There are many times I write/blog and then never post what I wrote. Sometimes I am just not ready to share what I'm thinking & sometimes I write & never have intentions on posting.

But I thought THIS post about waiting was one I needed to share. I love when God reveals Himself in the most unusual places.

And I leave you with this video/song by Third Day.



Such a beautiful reminder that even when we feel like we have nothing to offer - we have so much to offer - our hearts, our life.

For the love of cake...

CUPCAKES!!!!

That is...

We got some-what of not so good news on Friday & I have been so good in trying to lose weight. Saturday AB & I decided we needed to get out & just enjoy each other, like the ol' days!

Friday, Dillards delivered our new KING size bed & we needed king-size sheets for that baby. So Saturday, we headed to Corpus for new sheets, pillows, & just a day of together-ness.

Before we headed into town, I decided I wanted CAKE! But seeing how a whole cake in my house would do me no good, I thought hmm what about cupcakes?!

Seems like there is a cupcake craze going on & Corpus now has 2 cupcake shoppes. I decided we should taste-test both! And so that we did...

Our first stop - LollyCakes! What an adorable name! They had regular size cupcakes & mini's. I loved the mini's. It allowed us to try several cupcakes & not feel too guilty about it.


My favorite one - 24 carat CAKE!

It was so moist & had big chunks of pineapple in it, yum!

This lil' chocolate beauty was really good too! It was chocolate & hazelnut (2 amazing combos) topped with a Ferrero Rocher chocolate on top! Yum-O!

We also tried red velvet, a peanut butter chocolate one (that AB said was good!), and

Lolly Cake also was so adorable inside. Lots of crystals, cute cupcake names, & just overall a great little cupcake shop. After we tested Lolly Cakes, we headed to Academy to get some workout clothes. Ha, ironic?!

Then we headed to our 2nd cupcake shop - The Cupcake Shoppe.

Allen had this one...a chocolate/vanilla marble type cake.

And I had the PINK one!

Meet PINK Lemonade!

The cake itself was delicious and very moist. But the butter-cream icing was wayyy too sweet! The atmosphere was not near as charming as LollyCakes.

And I had a tummy ache afterward & a self-induced sugar coma.

Lollycakes would be a perfect girls night out to just sit & chat & eat CAKE of course!

What a great way to spend a Saturday!

Waiting...

Seems like I do a lot of waiting...
I guess it is just a part of life.

Waiting for this to happen, waiting for this to pass, and so on.

This week is somewhat of a hectic, stressful one.

And let's just say I don't do stress well.

I have had a ton of things going on at school - meetings, trainings, benchmark testing, observations, & now more things required for my certification. Ugh! And not to mention we are still on hold, waiting for all the house stuff to go through. Buying a house is exciting yet so draining!

Lately, I have been thinking about how all I ever wanted to be was a teacher and yet now that I am a teacher - I am still not fulfilled.

Why?!

K-Love is doing this thing where you pick ONE word for the year. And I have yet to pick my word...another thing to add to my to-do list. But one I am looking forward to because I am ready for Him to show me something new!

I am praying for my ONE word - as I just can't decide as this point. And tomorrow I start another Beth Moore bible study and I canNOT wait!

I truly need the down time and the time to worship. I miss my worship/quiet time now that I work. And I am excited about meeting other ladies at our church.

I am so thankful for my job but also feel like God is telling me...wait, there is so much more!

So while I wait...
"I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait"

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:28-30, The Message

Are you waiting for anything??

Exciting News

So AB and I put an offer on our very first home!

We are so excited & we are praying for God to iron out the rest of the details.

This is actually the 2nd house we have put an offer on. The day before Thanksgiving we put an offer on a beautiful 1915 house - but ended up withdrawing our contract after inspections.

We had our hearts set on that house but at the same time, prayed God would close that door if it wasn't for us. And He did exactly that! We had great peace about it and knew eventually something better would come along.

And that it did! This deal was actually better than we ever could have imagined and drum roll please...it has an in-ground pool!

Summers at our house will be a blast!

Can't wait to finalize all the paper work, move in and start painting!

God is so good!

"God can do anything, far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Ephesians 3:20

2011 & Giving God a Year

So 2010 has came & gone. And believe it or not, I am actually kind of bittersweet about it. Funny since at the beginning of 2010, I wasn't real sure how the year would go or end up.

Yes I understand that is with most years...a lot can happen in a year & most of the time you have no idea where you might be headed.

I remember when 2010 rolled around I was so happy to be in a new year. I was ready to leave 2009 behind. 2009 was a year of trials. But 2010 was a year of great strides.

I can almost not even put my thoughts into words.

This last year I have been transformed in a way that I cannot even describe. But I can tell you that I know have a sense of joy in my heart that I've never had. & that my friends is something that only God can do.

At the beginning of 2010, I wrote a post about Giving God a Year - I had no idea when I wrote that how different my life would become. How my heart would be transformed & I would look at life in a totally different way.

In desperation and heartbreak, I decided that I would not make the same mistake again therefore I decided that it was time to let go & let God...which leads me to where I am today.

2010 was a whirlwind of decision making but AB & I for the first time ever decided to put our total faith & confidence in the Lord. We seeked Him like never before. Asking, begging, pleading to show us where it is He wanted for us to, rather than what we wanted.

In 2010, I learned so much about myself. I learned I am worthy! I learned I am loved! I learned to never give up! I learned that it is okay to be venerable. I learned to saddle up & go for it regardless of my fears. I learned to listen rather than speak. I learned God never turned away even when I did.

I also felt His grace and mercy like never before!

In 2010, AB & I prayed for God to open doors and shut the ones that were only chaos instead of peace. We started praying for our future, a future for His kingdom rather one for our own.

In January, a dear friend graciously handed me $3000 cash in order to pursue my dreams of having my own boutique, Honey B. Boutique.

I was in complete shock and felt it was God's way of showing me "You are loved!"

In January, I also said goodbye to my cousin John. It was a very sad day/time.

In February, we celebrated Allen's birthday. And also said goodbye to a wonderful family friend, Darrell. Our hearts were broken once again.

In March, we lost Allen's grandmother. And I discovered that a drought or valley was not so much a bad thing, but God's way to "breaking up the fallow ground."

We decided this was no way to start off the new year but we remained hopeful.

Here is what I wrote in a post during this time and wow -

It seems when it rains, it pours...isn't all that bad, after all. Rain often brings dark, cloudy days but the best thing about when it rains, we know the sun will soon appear. And when it does, there will be showers of blessings and we will be refreshed, just as the ground is refreshed after a much needed rain. I love that the Hosea scripture says "break up your fallow ground..." not the follow but your fallow ground. And I think He is essentially saying "break up your dry, unused soul...and prepare for what is the Lord has in store for us"

In April or around that time, I did my first ever Beth Moore Bible study. Revelation. What a one to start with but I believe it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life. It opened my heart & mind so much.

My darkness finally started to turn to light. I began to realize "the valley" I was going through was all for His purpose & will in my life. That it is okay to be in "the valley" and there is where you grow the most. I learned that God never said life would be easy but that it would be possible - through Him.

I begin to let Him work in me & through me. I let Him carry me, instead of me trying to do it all.

July came & God opened a huge door for us. I got an interview for a teaching position, a week later accepted the position, and we started planning our move to AB's hometown.

AB gave his 2 weeks notice and God opened another huge door for us. AB's job decided to keep him employed full-time and he would now work from home. 2 hours away from his office. A HUGE blessing financially. We would now have 3 incomes when we were barely getting by on 1.

We made the move in late July & have been working towards our dream of buying a house. Saving money & paying off debt was our top priority.

In August, I had my very first day of school as a special ed teacher. Extremely nervous but completely trusting that God hands were all in the mix.

Seems like from September to December time just raced by. I hate to look back & didn't get to blog near as much as I'd liked. But there is always a new year & new goals...

2010 you were pretty good to us but I am so very excited about 2011!

Once again, we will be giving 2011 to our Wonderful Creator & giving Him another year to work in our hearts & lives.

2011...it's all about you Jesus! I pray we will continue to be humbled by your grace and that you will show us a life that we could not even dream of but a life of what you have to offer. I pray we will only bring our best to you, even though I know we will stumble may we not forget what this life is about - it's all about you Jesus.

I hope you & your family have an amazing 2011!

Cake Batter Bark

Happy New Year Y'all!!!

While I'd love to take credit for this...I cannot.


I have to give all the credit to How Sweet It Is.

I did however not follow the recipe exactly - for 2 reasons. For one, I never follow a recipe. Something inside me just can't follow a recipe down to a tee. It's like the rebel in me comes out when cooking. And when you decide last minute to make something, hmm on Christmas Eve - let's just guarantee the 3 stores I go to are going to be out of the ingredients needed. Therefore, I improvised.

Either way it goes...you must try this recipe!

How Sweet It Is Recipe

So I'm sure you are wondering how I changed the recipe. Well, I could not find enough white chocolate so I used white chocolate AND almond bark. And my family frowned when I was going to use DARK chocolate so I used chocolate almond bark instead. My bark turned out really rich. Super sweet! I also melted probably double the chocolate than needed.So I am thinking stick with the dark chocolate. It will tone down the richness of the white chocolate. Oh & I could not find yellow cake mix so I used white cake mix instead.

All in all, I thought it was delicious & the little people in my life (nieces & nephew) enjoyed helping me make it. And enjoyed eating it.

So pretty & festive...I mean who doesn't love sprinkles?!