This is amazing!!

Easy Breezy Black Eye Lime Dip

Brought to you by....my husband! For those of you who don't know, my husband is a chef. People often ask me what his favorite thing to make is and I can never give a straight answer except, "His favorite thing to make is something he's never made before." He rarely makes the exact same thing twice, and everything he makes is great. I've never been so interested in food before!

Sorry for the poor quality, I had to record it with my iPhone cause the Flip is dead. This is really easy to make, and delicious!

For 2 servings you will need:

1 Can Black Eye Peas

2 Tsp Onion Powder

1 Tsp Hot Sauce

1 tbs Garlic Salt

1 Tsp Olive Oil

2 Tbs Thyme

2 Tbs Lime Juice

Let It Snow..Or I'll Have To Take Matters Into My Own Hands.

Just because we're still wearing shorts and tank tops doesn't mean we can't have snow!

My Hometown Made Famous!

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Delicious Treats for your Holiday Shindig!

I've been finding a lot of yummy ideas for holiday treats (don't you love Pinterest??). See, my husband is definitely the chef, but I like to take care of the sweet sugary stuff. We like to gather recipes and ideas for the Bed & Breakfast we hope to have some day. Here are some delicious ideas I've gathered for your holiday shindigs (and if you're lactose intolerant like me, you can substitute with rice milk and still maintain consistency):

Click on the pictures for recipes.

Christmas Tree Veggie & Cheese Tray

...Cause you need at least one healthy snack!

Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

Hot Chocolate Bar

Homemade Apple Cider

1 gallon of apple juice (100% apple juice) 

½ gallon of pineapple juice 

1 cinnamon stick 

5 clove pieces 

½ t. nutmeg 

1 orange, sliced 

juice of 1 lemon

½ c. sugar 

Combine all ingredients in a big pot on the stove and simmer for 2-3 hours. Or in a large crock pot for 2 hours on high, then turn to low or ‘keep warm’ and can be left on all day. (Favorite method is in the crock pot.)

Enjoy!

Viewer Discretion Advised

If you or someone near you is still battling with the theology of Santa Claus, you may want to stop reading now.

I remember in third grade I still believed in Santa. Kind of. At this point, I wasn't sure. I remember my classmates were debating whether Santa was real or not. You had one group that would say for sure that Santa wasn't real. Another group fully believed he was. I believe I was on the fence.

You see, up until I was questioned about it, I never questioned it myself. I just believed. It was simple as that. So how did it come to me asking, "Why do I believe in Santa? Why don't these people believe in him?  Why don't I have a more solid foundation to support my thesis???" (Okay so, I probably didn't even know what a thesis was at the time...) Point is, I was very confused and was looking for answers.

Don't we do the same with God? I know not everyone grows up in the church, but so many times the bible talks about having "faith like a child." We're human and we can't comprehend certain things. My husband and I were just watching a video by Francis Chan where he talks about how it can be difficult to believe in God simply because we can't comprehend the fact that we aren't capable of comprehending everything. He put it this way: "My mind goes to Romans 9 where God compares me to a piece of clay...Wow, that means i'm like a piece of clay trying to explain to other pieces of clay what the potter is like. Think about that for a second." It's humbling, because you can't be an expert on the creator unless he reveals who he is to you. As scripture states in Isaiah 55, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Our ways are not as His ways. His thoughts and His ways are in the Heavens. They are that much higher than ours. Our thoughts and ways are waaay down here on earth trying to make their way higher than they're actually capable of going. So the first step is accepting that we aren't experts, we don't know everything, we need to swallow our pride and acknowledge that the Creator knows what he's doing. He sees everything. All we see is what's in front of us at the time.

"What about all the horrible things that happen? All the evil and illnesses and death?" Again, those things go way deeper than we realize. Just as darkness is the absence of light, and cold is the absence of heat, so is evil the absence of God. But that's a whole other discussion. :)

To have faith like a child doesn't mean you have to be ignorant or delusional, it simply means to accept that you don't, and won't, know everything. Be humble, and trust.

A funny little tidbit that I posted in 2006 about Santa Claus:

"So I was sitting in my composition class when a thought had crossed my mind. What am I going to tell my kid(s) about Santa some day? I mean, I want them to know about Jesus's birth above all. However, I don't want them to go to school telling all their friends that Santa isn't real or be upset because we spoiled it for them. And I certainly don't want them to feel left out being all not believin in Santa. But how do you let them be all Santa-crazy but still understand and celebrate the Christian meaning of Christmas? Because we especially don't want our kids getting selfish at Christmas time, only doing nice things to receive things.

So then I thought of something...use Santa Claus to teach your kids about BLESSINGS! We can teach them that not only if they act good, but if they TRULY have good intentions and BLESS other people with kindness and The Good News they TOO will be blessed :D BUT instead of just counting up who's naughty or nice he's really counting how much they blessed other people without expecting anything in return. :D AND We won't tell them if Santa is real if they ask us, because then they will be compelled to search for the real truth. Therefore, we will also make theologians out of them :D

And when they find out that Santa isn't real and they're all sad, you can be all like "It's okay Jesus lives forever and ever amen!!" "

Who's Doing The Judging Here?

I've seen this video floating around Facebook for a few days with people flaring up in anger claiming that Rick Perry is a homophobe.

However...I don't necessarily see where he was speaking AGAINST homosexuality. I think the point is that we're expected to support an openly homosexual lifestyle, but the Christian lifestyle is being criticized and expected to be kept low-key. People posting this video and bashing him for supporting an open Christian faith and saying he's speaking against homosexuality (which really he wasn't) is just proving his point further. 

I just say this because every day I see Christians are constantly being judged and ridiculed by people claiming that the opposite is happening. In my business I'm surrounded by people who live a homosexual lifestyle and I nor anyone else looks down on them or judges them. Some of these people are my favorite to be around. But word gets out that I'm a Christian and people don't even try to be subtle in their judgement (I'm not referring to everyone, a lot of people have been accepting). There are and have been Christians out there that have given us a bad name, but there are also wicked people who do bad things in general, but does that mean I need to judge the entire human race? Every day it gets easier for people to be homosexual, and harder for people to be Christian. I believe this is the point he was attempting to make.

Just look at Tim Tebow. I don't care what you say, he's pretty darn good at what he does. But just because he's open about his faith, people have ridiculed him publicly over and over again. Yet, look at all the famous people "coming out of the closet" and people are cheering them on. Who's doing the judging here?

We are all human and we all deserve to be loved and respected. Whether we agree with each other's personal choices or not, this is one thing I think we can all agree on. Stop judging each other. Whether I believe that man and woman were specifically designed for each other doesn't mean that the person who chooses otherwise deserves to be tormented. But it would be nice if we as Christians could receive the same courtesy in return. Because whether you realize it or not, the tables have turned significantly in the last few years, and Christians are no longer doing the majority of the judging. Not at all. And I say this even from personal experience.