Journaling Credits: Lyrics - In Christ Alone

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Digital Credits:

Grandma’s Pressed Flowers #2 and Natural Neutrals Paper Pack, by Weeds and Wildflowers Design.

My love of scrapbooking has recently led me to look into faithbooking, something I wish I had started ages ago!! As part of my faithbooking, I have been decorating little cards with my weekly memory verses on them, so that I can later incorporate the cards into my faithbook(s). Here is the card I made for this week (see credits here):

The fear of the Lord is not a very popular topic these days. I think that the reason for this is that some people have taken the idea of the fear of the Lord to an extreme and made God out to be an angry, mean-spirited scary monster. That is not who God is. On the other extreme, there are those who want to make God out to be a big happy grandpa type who spoils us, winks at us when we’re “naughty” and is generally there just there to comfort us if we’re sad and to shower us with gifts and affection, with no responsibilities on our part. This is not who God is either!

I don’t claim to have a full understanding of who God is - I know that I will never fully understand him until I see him face to face. But these are the two things I am beginning to understand about God: 1) He is not out to get me, he loves me with a love so deep that I cannot comprehend it and he wants to protect me and bless my life 2) He is completely Holy, and my sinful nature totally goes against everything he is. If it were not for Jesus’ sacrifice in my place I could never be in God’s presence. If I really stop to think about this, it makes me feel humbled, reverent and yes, fearful! Don’t misunderstand what I mean by fearful - I’m not talking about the kind of fear that makes me nervous, worried, or unhappy, but a healthy fear of God’s AWESOME power!

When I don’t fear the Lord, I put MY interests first. I don’t give a second thought to God’s will for my life, because for some crazy reason I start to think I know better than God! Once I head down that path my situation keeps going from bad to worse until I finally come to my senses and I realize how stupid I’ve been. At that point I am usually gripped with remorse and the fear of God comes flooding back to me. God is God, and he could choose to deal with me in the way that I deserve, but when I turn from my sin he has complete mercy on me and he continues to bless my life (that is not to say that some of the negative consequences of my sin will not continue)! This seems to be the wonderful mystery of fearing God – if you don’t fear him, you WILL have reason to fear him (if not in this life, then in the afterlife) – but if you do fear him, you will have nothing to fear :). There is great comfort in fearing the Lord.

Here is a nice list of the benefits of fearing the Lord found in the book of Proverbs (thanks to Mark Copeland):

  1. The “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of knowledge - Proverbs 1:7
  2. The “fear of the Lord” will cause one to hate evil - Pr 8:13
  3. The “fear of the Lord” will prolong life - Pr 10:27
  4. The “fear of the Lord” provides strong confidence and is a
  fountain of life - Pr 14:26-27
  5. The “fear of the Lord” prompts one to depart from evil – Pr 16:6
  6. The “fear of the Lord” leads to a satisfying life, and spares
  one from much evil - Pr 19:23
  7. The “fear of the Lord” is the way to riches, honor, and life! - Pr 22:4

I was so happy that my Bible study for today was about the fear of the Lord, it’s a topic that I don’t think about often enough and I hope to learn more about!

I have been sprucing this blog up little by little. Eventually it will begin to feel like home :). I still have a ways to go though! Like my new header and sidebar photo? I love this blog pack by SMJ - it is a quick and fun way to make everything pretty :)!!

Here are a ton of my p365 photos I put in the slide show, but I haven’t blogged about yet. You can click on the thumbnails to see a larger image:

Lots of cute Gabe photos (trust me, I take MORE than one per day)! The first one was when I was behind schedule and lunchtime ran into nap time. Next is Gabe’s first time seeing snow! Then we have some fun with Q-tips and playing outside.

Prima Hybrid goodies, and a couple of the projects I have made with them.

My p365 camera as seen by my cell phone. My husband as seen by me :). My daily Bible study. A corner of my Shabby Chic style guest bedroom.

Some more scrapbooking related photos, it is me, after all :).

More photos of sweet Gabe! Notice that he has not been wearing his glasses. Both sets are broken or scratched and out for repair :(.  It has only been 4 months since he got his first pair of glasses, and we have already had to buy a back up pair and used up the free frame replacements on each set. So any other frame replacements for the next 8 months will have to come out of pocket. We have also had to order new lenses several times due to scratching, but that is not out-of pocket luckily!

In other Gabe news, he caught “hand, foot and mouth disease” somehow and has had it for a week. It is starting to clear up now though. I guess I must have given him too many kisses or something, because I got a few of the bumps on my nose! But I didn’t get them anywhere else - very strange.

But all-in-all we are doing very well and are quite a happy bunch :). How are you?  

P.S. If you are related to me (or know me personally) and would like copies of any of the photos you see on this blog, please let me know :)!

I updated my p365 slideshow with the last several days worth of photos. I have still been doing a pretty good job of taking daily photos, but I forgot to take them on the 20th and 22nd :(. I will talk more about some of the photos in a future post, but for now I’m heading off to bed - I’m sooo tired!

Flowers, everything pink, beautiful Shabby Chic style decorations, gorgeous papers, scrapbooking, photos… these are a few of the lovely things that people (who know me well) associate with me. It’s because they are the things that I really love and I try to surround myself with them because they fill me with such joy. That’s why I have been just filled to the brim with utter joy ever since I was asked to join the PrimaHybrid.com creative team!!! This is the biggest team I have gotten involved with since I have been scrapbooking (by far)!! It is a brand new site that combines traditional and digital scrapbooking supplies, and it seems like it was designed just for me :)! What more could I ask for than to be shipped a big box of beautiful flowers and other scrapbooking supplies at regular intervals while having access to an online shoppe overflowing with fabulous digital designs by some of the top designers around? What a dream come true :)!

Here are some of the projects I have made so far as part of the team:

I will be sharing a lot more about all of this at Scrapbook Ideas, but I just had to say something here too, because if anything is lovely, this is :)!!!!

FYI: If you are interested in checking out the shoppe at primahybrid.com, it opens on January 16th at 6 am EST! 

I meant to post this recipe for my friend JanMary days ago, but time got away from me!!

Classic Spritz Cookies (Pampered Chef Recipe) 
       
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened (do not substitute vegetable oil spread)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (14 ounces)
Colored sugar or sprinkles (optional) 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In Classic Batter Bowl, beat butter on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, 1 cup at a time; mix well. Dough will be soft; do not refrigerate.

2. Fill Cookie Press, fitted with disk of your choice, with dough using Medium Scoop. Press dough onto flat Baking Stone 1 inch apart. Decorate cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired.

3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until firm but not brown. Cool 2 minutes on flat Baking Stone; remove to Stackable Cooling Rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: 6-7 dozen cookies. Nutrients per serving: (2 cookies): Calories 120, Total Fat 7 g, Sodium 70 mg, Fiber 0 g

Variation: Chocolate Spritz Cookies: Decrease flour to 3 cups. Increase sugar to 1 1/4 cups. Add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder to flour mixture. Proceed as recipe directs.

Note: this is a great recipe, but personally I use one of my grandma’s recipe’s for spritz cookies, because it is a bit more nostalgic for me :)! I will have to share that one sometime too!! I love the cookie press, I’ve used it many times. They are still selling the same one they had 5 years ago - so it must be perfection :)! The cookies in this photo that were made with the cookie press are the ones around the bottom of the Christmas tree. This photo is of Christmas cookies, but there are all kinds of different shapes that come with the cookie press, so you can use it for year-round cookie making. Hmm, maybe I will have to make some Valentine’s cookies this year!  

Today’s Product Pick:
The Medium Scoop:I use this handy tool every time I make cookies or muffins! It is great for scooping up the perfect amount of cookie dough to make drop cookies. And it is really helpful for adding muffin batter without spilling it all over the pan! And of course, as suggested by the recipe, it is great for loading the spritz cookie dough into the cookie press as well :). There are tons of great uses for this tool - so I highly recommend it!

Update: Thanks for your interest, but my Pampered Chef party is now finished. I hope you enjoyed the recipe :)!

It’s been a while since I gave you a p365 update, but I have still been keeping up with the photo-a-day challenge :). Here is the one from Thursday. If you want to see the rest, check out the “p365″ page (there is a tab for it in the banner at the top of this page). I fixed the slideshow so that it shows the most recent photos first - go see :)!

I won’t get into the details as to why, but on Thursday, Gabe’s Teddy Bear needed a bath. “Giving a Teddy Bear a bath is simple”, you say, “he doesn’t even squirm, splash, or try to escape”. Oh, but Teddy Bear is not the real problem. It’s the fact that Gabe is so attached to Teddy Bear that’s the problem! You see, Teddy Bear usually wears a silky soft red bow around his neck (but not in this photo, he’s naked because of his bath). When Gabe takes a nap or goes to sleep for the night, he likes to have that bow wrapped around his little fingers. Luckily, Gabe’s mommy came up with a resourceful plan, and miraculously, it worked! I just tied the bow around a soft, fuzzy blanket, and Gabe seemed to be satisfied. Meanwhile, Teddy Bear got a mini vacation from Gabe for a few days as he basked in the warm sun waiting to get dry.

Update: Thanks for your interest, but my Pampered Chef party is now finished. I hope you enjoy the following recipe :)!

This one is so fast and easy, and we LOVE it! I used to have a little basil plant, so I could snip off fresh basil leaves whenever I wanted. Hmm, I need to get another one of those! Tip: The kitchen shears make snipping basil a breeze :).

Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad

Ingredients:
4-5 medium plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
7 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
Snipped fresh basil leaves
Grilled or toasted baguette slices

Directions:
1. Arrange tomato and cheese slices alternately in rows on Rectangle Platter.
2. Drizzle with oil and vinegar. Season with salt and black pepper; garnish with basil. Serve with baguette slices.

Yield: 4 servings 

In the background of the photo, you can see some of my homemade baguette slices. To make these, I used the scalloped bread tube. It is super easy and makes this recipe even more fun :). I don’t think Pampered Chef sells it any more, but you can find it on Ebay if you really want one (no, I’m not selling mine)! Here is a bigger photo of the same thing, just to show you some more of the Simple Additions set:

I have the white Simple Additions set, but now they are selling some colorful and decorated ones too. And the little stand and caddy come in chrome now, which looks really nice :). If you are wondering about the dip, I think it is hummus I bought from the store. Sorry for the bad photo!

Update: Thanks for your interest, but my Pampered Chef party is now finished. I hope you enjoy the following recipe :)!

It’s been a long time since I hosted a Pampered Chef party - I think my last one was in 2004. A lot has changed around Pampered Chef since then, so I thought I was due for another party to stock up on all their awesome kitchen supplies!  One bad thing about not coming to the Pampered Chef Party in person is that you will miss out on the fun cooking show. But I’m going to try to make that up to you by sharing some information, recipes and photos from my own Pampered Chef collection!

Let’s start with a recipe, shall we? Here’s one of my favorites - it’s great for winter get-togethers. Actually, it’s great for anytime! When I told Chris I was planning a Pampered Chef party this was the first thing he thought of and he asked if we could have it soon :)!

Parmesan Rosemary Pinwheels (Wreath)

I shared another version of this recipe on my old blog. I’ve made it a few different ways, but I only have one photo. Sorry for the low quality, but you get the idea :). Once you pull this wreath out of the oven you have to snap a photo quick before the whole thing disappears! I used fresh rosemary and red bell peppers for decorations. It looks super cute and  smells really good too :)! The “berries” were made by cutting fresh bell peppers with the Creative Cutters.  I made the bow out of roasted red peppers (from a jar).

1 can (8 ounces) Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1/2 cup regular cream cheese spread
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
4 teaspoons snipped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon Pantry Rosemary Herb
Seasoning Mix

Preheat oven to 375°F. Separate dough into four rectangles on smooth side of Large Grooved Cutting Board. Press seams to seal.

Place cream cheese in Small Batter Bowl. Grate Parmesan cheese over batter bowl using Deluxe Cheese Grater. Snip rosemary using Kitchen Shears; add to cheese mixture. Mix well using Small Mix ‘N Scraper(R). Using Small Spreader, spread each rectangle with about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture to within 1/4 inch of edges.

Starting at short side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll crosswise into six slices using Serrated Bread Knife for a total of 24 slices. Place slices, cut side down, on Large Round Stone. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack. Serve warm using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Yield: 24 pinwheels

Nutrients per serving: (1 pinwheel): Calories 60, Total Fat 4 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbohydrate 4 g, Protein 1 g, Sodium 105 mg, Fiber 0 g

Variation: Holiday Pinwheel Wreath: Double ingredients for pinwheels. Slice each roll into four slices for a total of 32 slices. Arrange 11 slices in a slightly overlapping circular pattern, leaving a 5-inch-diameter opening in center of baking stone. Arrange remaining slices outside of the first ring, slightly overlapping each other but not touching the first ring. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

My Product Picks:

I have many of the Pampered Chef tools used to make this recipe, but if I had to pick my top three favorites, they would be the ones listed below - although the Deluxe Cheese Grater came pretty close :)!

Kitchen Shears - I have the older ones that don’t look like this, and I LOVE them. I can’t imagine how they could have even improved on them, so the new ones must be fantastic! We use them almost every day for chopping Gabe’s food into bite-sized pieces. We also use them for trimming chicken pieces, opening packages - you name it! 

Small Batter Bowl - I use this all the time! I love that it has a handle which makes stirring so much easier, and that it’s clear, with the measure markers on the side. The best part about it is the lid - once you mix up your dip or whatever, you can just put the lid on and keep it in the fridge :)! You can even bake things in the oven with this bowl!

Mini-Serving Spatula - We use this thing constantly - especially for getting things out of the toaster oven. It’s the perfect size! Plus it’s nice enough for serving the wreath to party guests - take another look at the recipe photo :)!

Here is yesterday’s photo for p365. When Gabe was a baby I used to look forward to his first haircut, because I wanted to keep a little bit of his baby hair in an envelope and make an adorable scrapbook page about the event. But he has still never had a haircut, and I can’t bring myself to do it, because I just LOVE his hair!!

This is today’s photo - a piece of a scrapbook page featuring my little angel :).

In case anyone is wondering, Gabe is back to wearing his glasses again. I guess he prefers scratchy vision over no vision at all ;)!