Give Thanks.

Art
I've been doing a little late night painting...I have one more little canvas that I'm working on for a wedding gift that I'll share later!  Jess Handy gave me these little canvases in August and I'm just now getting to use them!  'Give Thanks' was inspired by the artful prints and paper at Rifle Paper Co.

Music

Click to check it out on iTunes!

In musical news to my ears, Kerri shared a link for Comfort & Joy by Folk Angel.  It's on sale today!  It features Lauren Chandler (pastor's wife at The Village Church), Jeff & Jourdan Johnson (Jeff Johnson led worship at North Monroe D-Now and Cross Camp a few years ago), Robbie Seay Band, Shane & Shane, and more.  It's such a fun and beautiful collection of Christmas tunes!  I love folk + fun + creativity!

Word
Holly Furtick, pastor's wife at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC shared this reading plan called Thankful Thirty. The reading plan takes you through the books of Psalm and Proverbs over the next 30 days.  In this season of thankfulness, Brian and I decided to start yesterday.  It's not too late, just click on the link and get started!  With my A-type personality tendencies, I had to overlook that yesterday was in fact not 11-11-11 and we shifted the reading plan forward a few days.

Click to download!

In our Sunday night D-Group (Discipleship) we picked a verse to memorize and i gave out little spiral notecards to write down the verse and commit to memorize it. (aka hide that word in our hearts!) we decided to try to memorize two scriptures a month (in true beth moore style) on the first and fifteenth of the month. 

i picked this one after reading today:
''I lie down and sleep; I wake up again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side" Psalm 3:5-6

i know that the Lord sustains me and gives me rest to make it the next day, month, year. unlike david, i do not literally have an army or tens of thousands chasing after me for my life, but i know there is opposition, mean people, and laziness in every direction trying to sneak up and make me ineffective for the Kingdom and steal my joy in Christ.  i can trust in the Lord to sustain me, protect me, and fight for me.  

Date Night: Switchfoot & Salsa

Last month, we went to Dallas for a nice Monday night Switchfoot rock show.  The last time we saw Switchfoot was on a date at Louisiana Tech during our freshmen year of college.  

I left feeling inspired by the songs of hope, joy, perseverance, and truth.  The new Vice Verses album was on replay for our drive home.  

   

this was soon after i had a starstruck moment sighting of tim foreman across the street

jon foreman singing his little heart out and an excerpt from one of my new fav songs.

i found a live video of it here...

This body's not my own
This world is not my own
But I still can hear the sound
Of my heart beating out

And on the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell You that I tried
To live it like a song

And when I reach the other side
I want to look You in the eye
And know that I've arrived 
In a world where I belong

from 'Where I Belong' 

Switchfoot

We ate at Luna De Noche in walking distance to House of Blues.   We both tried different house enchiladas.  I especially enjoyed the spicy salsa (or 'hot sauce' as Texans like to call it)  A few weeks ago I tried out the PW's salsa recipe. It was Brian Crain approved because I'm pretty sure he took out the whole batch in a day.  My only adjustments...more garlic and jalapeno next time!

the food processor doing it's thing!

fresh salsa just needs the perfect chips and a friend named queso (white queso not velvetta people)

this is a mixture of monterey jack cheese, half and half, and green chiles 

none of that orange queso in here! almost as good as chile verde! 

we had quite the mexican street taco feast for two using leftover pot roast 

what a handsome hubs :) 

Recipes:

• Pioneer Woman Restaurant Style Salsa 

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• 1/4 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• 1/2 whole Lime Juice

Instructions: Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse all the ingredients.  Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

• Queso Blanco (...white cheese dip)

Ingredients

• 4 to 8 oz. shredded monterey jack cheese
• small can of green chiles 
• pinch of cumin 
• half-and-half dairy  

Instructions: Melt ingredients over a double boiler, adding half and half to reach desired consistency!