The Joy Dare

Have you read anything by Ann Voskamp? I started reading her blog when she went on a Compassion trip to Guatemala almost 2 years ago. She has also written a book called 'One Thousand Gifts' (which I have read and need to read again). One of the things she really encourages everyone to do is to start a gratitude journal. Simply write down things from your day that you consider a blessing.

This year, she issued a challenge to join her on The Joy Dare. Write down 3 things each day for the whole year that you are grateful for. By the end of the year, you will have written down over one thousand things that you are grateful for. Wouldn't it be great to read this list at the end of the year? At the end of her post, she is even offering a free printable January Joy Dare list to help you get started.

I would like to join this challenge and will be finding just the right journal to start me on this journey. In the meantime, here is the start of my list:

1. Jesus loves me
2. My husband loves me
3. My children love me

What are you grateful for today?

Chipolte...one can goes a long way

Browsing through Pinterest has been a fun way to find new recipes. Found one last week and it was interesting reading the comments. The recipe calls for 1-2 chipolte peppers, but some people didn't read it correctly and put in 1 to 2 cans of chipolte peppers. Yikes!

The first recipe we tried was Mexican Lime Chicken Soup:

This was the one where you want to make sure you only use 1 to 2 chipolte peppers, not 1 to 2 cans! I didn't care for working with the boneless, skinless chicken thighs, so I will probably use chicken breasts in the future. Also, we added frozen corn to the soup and I am thinking some beans would be a nice addition too.

Since I now had more chipolte peppers and sauce to use, I was on the hunt for another recipe using chipoltes. I was so glad when I saw a friend pin this one:

Spicy Chipolte Chicken Pasta! This is suppose to be like what they serve at The Cheesecake Factory. I have never been to The Cheesecake Factory so I had nothing to compare it to.

The recipe involved many steps and lots of dishes:

I changed up the recipe a little bit. Asparagus was $4.99 a pound at the store this morning, so I used broccoli instead.  I had red and yellow bell peppers, so I used them both. We didn't add the frozen peas, but I an thinking that frozen corn might be good with this one. Also, because Kevin really likes chicken, I used twice as much chicken as the recipe calls for.

Paired with salad and a roll or some bread, this made a very filling dinner. Plus we have enough left over for another night's dinner and Kevin to have leftovers for lunch.

Now to find more recipes to use up the rest of the can of chipoltes!

Hello Mornings Challenge

I don't know about you, but I have a really hard time with winter. So I have decided to join this challenge to maximize my mornings! This challenge has been set up to help us in three ways:

1. Get. Out. Of. Bed! - I don't like to be cold. In the winter, it is hard for me to get out of bed in the morning. It is so warm and toasty under the covers and it is so dark in the mornings. My prayer is that this challenge will help me get out of bed by 7am every morning so that I am ready to tackle my day.

2. Create a Quiet Time Schedule - Since my kids usually sleep later than I do, I am able to spend time reading God's Word in the morning before they wake up. My prayer is that I can also use this time in worship and prayer/listening. If you sign up for this challenge, there are also some printable prayer calendars available.

3. Develop an Exercise Plan - Last year, I was very faithful using the Wii Active 'game' and was exercising 3 times a week. We entered a very busy time for a few weeks in May and the exercising stopped.. Then in the fall, Kevin and I started walking after dinner. Then it started getting darker after dinner, so the walking stopped. My prayer is to start back into a routine of using the Wii Active and walking at least 3 times a week.

4. Create Planning Routine - While we are in the school year, things run pretty smoothly around here. However, by planning my time better, I know there are a lot of projects I can tackle and finish. My prayer is to use the planning time to schedule in projects I have been wanting to start and finish.

The challenge is free and has a free printable book to help you plan your mornings. Will you join me?

Meet Our Compassion Kids Monday: Lina

Since we are in a new year, I thought over the next couple of months, I would introduce our Compassion kids each Monday.

We have been sponsoring Lina since August of 2010. The first little girl that we sponsored moved away from the Compassion center, so Kelsey decided we needed to choose another little girl from the same country.

Lina lives in Colombia and her birthday is April 7, 1999. She lives with her dad, mom, brother, aunt and grandpa. She likes to swim and her favorite color is yellow. In her letters, she always asks for prayers for her family and that she does well in school. We have been blessed with four letters from Lina.

Next Monday, I will introduce the young man that Matthew is sponsoring!

USS Hornet

Since Kevin has the week off of work, we planned to do a couple of day trips since he doesn't always get to go on field trips with us. Yesterday, we went somewhere that none of us had visited before: the USS Hornet.

The USS Hornet is an aircraft carrier that was used during WW II, the Vietnam War, and was used for recovering astronauts from their moon missions.

On a clear day, like we were blessed with, you can see San Francisco from the flight deck:

While on the Hangar Bay, you can re-trace the steps of Neil Armstrong after his return to earth from the moon:

The Second Deck has many areas to explore with many exhibits displayed:

US Flag that had flown on the USS Hornet from April 1942 until February 1945. Notice how many stars are on the flag.

Looks like Matthew and Kevin found something interesting...

The Flight Deck has a few planes on display:

We also took the opportunity to go on a docent led tour of The Island. This includes the Primary Flight Control area and the Navigation Bridge. We had a great view of the city from this area:

It was a beautiful day to learn and explore an important part of history that is very close to our home:

We will have to be sure to revisit some of the facts we learned when we study WW II in a few weeks.