blessings.

i was just talking with husband tonight about blessings. one of my friends was asking me some questions about tithing (adam & i are very proud of her) & it got me thinking of recent blessings... i know i've told you before about us & tithing... & if i haven't, forgive me... i will sometime... 

it's just amazing how faithful the Lord is... the ways he finds to provide. like, okay...we give our 10% minimum. and then we give time. and energy. and little stuff to lots of people around us...little gifts or little blessings that we pray the Lord will use to show His light to them...or just things to show people His love. this month we did Operation Christmas Child which was quite a bit extra. and we contemplated this being part of our tithe, but then we thought... when we tithe, we support God's church at the local level & if everyone decided to do OCC & have that be their tithe, how would the church be supported? it's just a small thought, but what do you think? anyways, so, we did this as extra. and you know what? the Lord has provided even more abundantly! 

...and it just makes me laugh...and fills me with joy... 

i mean, look at all my ETSY orders. i haven't had this many at once in quite some time... curious? i don't know...maybe? but, i think not... :) AND, i've sold a few things on Craigslist...and there have been a few other opportunities the the Lord has blessed us even more! it's amazing really. He DOES work in mysterious ways! 

so, my encouragement to you. 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

sometimes it can be easy to put off giving the Lord HIS money that He's letting you manage on Earth...you can find yourself spending it on something else... but God is a God of kept promises. And He promises to provide. Maybe not in the ways you may've thought...but He is sovereign & perfect in everything. and who knows, maybe he'll bless you tenfold for your discipleship!

sorry i ramble lots & i hope it makes sense...if not, PLEASE ASK, so i can clarify!

love, 

j

www.savelidstosavelives.com

so...i've made myself like yogurt & now I LOVE IT (adam, if you're reading this...picture Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs where they're talking about jello & she says, "I LOVE IT!" ha!). i eat yogurt almost every day in all shapes & sizes, flavors & colors & brands...i don't discriminate against my yogurt. it's so good for you...and so yummy! most days, at least!

anyways, i started to notice the pink lids on Yoplait yogurt i was buying & realized it was for breast cancer awareness. husband & i both agree that we are for ANY type of cancer awareness, so i thought why not spend a couple moments to enter in the code on the lid... it's TOTALLY free & they'll donate $.10 per lid! how cool is that? just tonight i 'donated' like $1.10 from some lids i'd saved...and i've been doing this all month!

all i'm saying is, the little things make a different. you may think, 

"it's only 1 lid for $.10..."

"it's only a penny on the ground...why pick it up?"

"i'm only one vote & that doesn't matter..."

BUT YOU'RE SO WRONG! 

it totally does! they all add up people! if everyone said that, then there'd be no donations or votes or whatever you want to inject into that example!

www.savelidstosavelives.com

HA, yes. this is my garbage with all my lids after i'd entered them. silly goose me.

so, if you have a few moments, take those lids from your yummy yogurt (& some other products, i think green giant?!) & enter the codes in (or you can mail them, if you don't like computers -- which would be funny because you're on a computer reading this right now!!! :) 

that's it! the end!

xo, 

j

yummy crock pot ham.

hi loves!

honestly...i haven't an idea of where i got this recipe from...i mean, somewhere online here, but...from there, happy hunting. all i can tell you is it's yummy.

i had cleaned out our fridge/freezer a few weeks ago & made a list of recipies i could use with what we had...i found this little baby online! it's been sitting on our counter just waiting for me to make it!

this sunday after church was the day. normally i try to prep before Sunday, so we're literally getting home & doing NOTHING. just relaxing, eating & enjoying each other & our day of rest. but i cut a few potatoes & dumped some spices in. by supper, it was ready!

so, start by getting your crockpot out & dumping everything in it...i mean, there are 'official' instructions, i guess...but i just kinda threw it all in there & it was delish. so, if you like to 'follow the rules' with cooking, here you go!

YOU'LL NEED:

*6-8 slices ham, deli or from leftover ham, about 1/8-inch thick 

(i took 1/2 frozen turkey ham & stuck it in the crockpot...the end)

*8-10 medium potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced

(i did 8...didn't peel...sliced like you see 'em...kinda thin(ish))

*1 medium onion, peeled & thinly sliced

(how about 1.5 TB minced onion? yeah? okay, perfect!)

*salt & pepper (i did 1 TSP. each)

*1.5 C grated cheddar cheese

(how about 1 whole bag of kraft cheese? mmmmm.)

*2 cans condensed cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup

(i did 1 of each!)

*paprika (i did 1 TSP.)

PREPARATION:

Put half of ham, potatoes & onions in crock pot. sprinkle with salt & pepper, then 1 cup of gratedhceese. add remaining ham, potatoes & onions. spoon undiluted soup over the top. sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese & paprika. cover & cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

(i put everything in there & put on high for 4 hours or maybe a little more...suggestion: i turned hand a few times to make sure it was all getting cooked since it was frozen...and i also tried to keep potatoes under soupy, juicy mixture. that way they weren't crunchy!)

overall, i FINALLY found another meal to add to our 'staples'... i LOVED this & will be making it for my momsies & dadsies sometime because i think they'll like it...AND HONESTLY..i'm not really a ham person...and not to toot my own horn, but this was probably the best ham i've ever had -- it WAS NOT CHEWY AT ANY PART...wait, i just thought of something...it was turkey ham...does that make a difference? hmmm...who cares...delish. anyways, it did make our tummies hurt a bit. but i think we may've just ate too much of it. 

hope you try it & enjoy! give me what you think, if you do!

xo, 

j

PS...had for leftovers tonight...and adam did for lunch today...still as good!

halloween 2013.

so... dress up day at work was Thursday. here was our Wednesday night...

jacie: "SO excited to be Waldo -- can't wait!"

adam: "cool!"

jacie (at like 9 pm): "nah, i wanna be a comic book!"

adam: "oh?"

jacie (at like midnight): "going to wal-mart for a few supplies!"

adam: "oh. me too then."

HA! well, this isn't exactly how i went, but you get the idea... i changed my mind at last minute... not that i don't like Waldo, but because i thought i needed something with a bit more pizazz. if you remember my post HERE about how to do comic book makeup/cartoon makeup, then you know where i sort of got the idea from! so, it was settled... i did a 'trial run' with 1/2 my face around 11:00 pm & realized i needed more eyeliner & some stuff for yellow hair around midnight... it was a late night & an early morning to say the least... my outfit could have been soooo much better, but by the time we got home, i'd just decided to do the red dress, almond flats, red bow headband (which left bruises & bumps) & cardi w/ black pearls (fake)...and it looked good enough!

so...here is my 'costume'... what do you think? like it? LOTS of people didn't get it, but some people thought it was REALLY awesome! it was definitely fun & i always love a good excuse to be silly & do crayzay makeup! :)

FUN FACT: i was going to use chalk to do my hair; watch how HERE, but as i had it in my cart, husband & i just happened to walk by some yellow hair spray! SO much easier. so, in the morning when i got up, i read the directions & realized you're not suppose to do it on highlighted or colored hair! AHHH, i decided to live on the edge & DO IT ANYWAYS. i came out fine for me & NO ISSUES, but i'm sure results vary from hair to hair! :) 

one question i got all day long was, "HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU?" the whole outfit, hair & makeup took about 1.5 hours...i really didn't think that was too bad, considering i did all the dots myself by hand, etc...

another question i got ALL.DAY.LONG was "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" honestly, i didn't watch any tutorials or find any 'to use' products...i just winged it...after i'd looked at a TON of pictures! i thought i had left my makeup bag at work, so i rummaged through all my other makeup & found what i needed! i even had a huge 'get rid of' pile that i actually used most of my make-up from! good thing i hadn't! i digress, here's the steps i took:

*teased my hair, did like 3 curls to JUST THE ENDS & then sprayed my hair all yellow...that way, i wouldn't spray yellow on top of all my make-up & ruin it, since i'd never used the hair stuff before! :)

*applied a lighter shade of foundation (i didn't want to be totally white under the dots, but that's just a personal preference! i saw lots of pics that did!)*

*take a q-tip & some red lip stick & start dotting! i started at the very top of my forehead (right below the hairline) right in the middle. i went straight down over my nose, chin, neck. then i started a new line right beside that one. make sure you alternate & don't do the dots side by side (does that make sense?). be conscience of your dot size & distance! keep reapplying lipstick to the q-tip & dot away!

*applied dramatic, thick black lines to contours of face (including in nostrils, ha!) & around hairline (i saw lots that didn't put it all the way around face & that looks fine, too!).

*apply thick, dramatic eyebrows! F-U-N.

*make your lips "POP". lots of people had a little white on lips & other parts of face! i wanted to do some, but it wasn't worth $5 for me to buy a little thing of white that i'd probably never use again before it went bad... i still liked it without!

*dramatic eyes...i drew a thick black line & enclosed it on my lid (sorry i'm not a good explainer), then i colored in the lines (on the lid) with a dramatic blue... i winged my eyes & added little 'lashes' that were drawn on the bottom... you can see them in the picture below, sort of...

*i sprayed hairspray all over my face & neck. i always do this to 'set' make-up since i haven't bought a make up setter...or whatever it's called. i was told that tip on our wedding day!

*i was going to dot my whole neck, some arms & some legs, BUT no... i just did a little fading at the end (see my neck) & it looked great still... OH, DON'T FORGET TO CONTOUR YOUR NECK!

i don't know if 1 person didn't like it...if they did, i didn't know about it! almost EVERYONE commented on it! some were confused, but got it after i told them & showed them a picture (adam told me to print one off just incase -- husband is SO smart)...

this is the one i printed off... the one on the left... but the one on the right is what i used to base a lot of my make up off of (and my earrings which i made myself; insert my ETSY)!

one girl knew exactly who this look was based off of! i was impressed!!! 

roy lichtenstein...just google it! you'll see! she was like, "did you see his stuff at the art center?!" i've never been to an 'art center' i don't think...i just thought it looked cool, but she was so cute & loving my outfit!

i work in the health field so there was a lot of, 'measles? mumps? chicken pox?' ha. 

anyways, hope you enjoyed! let me know if there's questions!

loves & blessings, 

j

PS: the clean-up was really easy. i used apricot face scrub & cetaphil...and just scrubbed! :)