Cooking Class

I had the best time this weekend. First off, I got to see my family and meet my newest cousin, sweet baby Hendrix {and I am in love, btw}. We had a girls night on Saturday and headed up to the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore, AL for a cooking class. It was my friend Libbie's birthday request and I am so glad that's what she chose. So much fun! We had one couple in our class that goes to the class about every two weeks. I can see why they do it. You get a delicious meal, a fun night out, and you learn a little something!

Here was our menu for the evening:

• Roasted rack of lamb with herb chutney
• Asparagus tips, caramelized onion & oyster mushrooms
• Israeli Couscous with Dijon cream
• Poached pear tart with fig & chocolate

About to get cooking!

Stacey and Libbie

The chef was right beside Stacey and I, and us being the nerds that we are, were determined to make the best meal and get the A+ from him. I think we succeeded!

Please excuse all of the bad iPhone pictures, it was better than nothing!

Brandy and Wendy

I love lamb and I usually just grill mine, so it was nice to see how to cook it in the oven and for some ideas of what to serve with it. If David is nice, I may just recreate this meal for him this weekend.

Here's a picture of our dessert before and after:

It was just so cute! It was also super easy. Although I wasn't a big fan of the pears and chocolate together.

Here's our finished entrée:

I think it turned out great! But then again, I had an awesome co-cook!

Well, that is about it for our cooking class. If you are interested in any of the recipes from above, let me know.

If you enjoy cooking, grab your girlfriends and do it. You will have a blast, I promise!

Here's to a Neverending Weekend!

This post is brought to you just because its Friday! Happy weekend everyone!

You're welcome :-)

Cattle Baron's Ball

This past weekend, David and I had the opportunity to attend the Tallahassee branch of The American Cancer Society's annual Cattle Baron's Ball. I didn't know what to expect, other than I had to go for work to fill our table. But I have to say that we had a fabulous time! If you can't get it from the name of the event, there was a cowboy/western type theme for the event.

Please don't stare directly at my legs, or you will be blinded. I am in desperate need of a tan! But I bared my pastiness for the sake of a good cause and wore my cowboy boots.

I wish I had a better picture of my dress. I liked the top part. It has those grommets all around the neck as well. Thankfully it was halfway warm Saturday night, so I didn't freeze, but we did almost get blown away by the raging storms that had affected our area all day on Saturday. So I was wishing I was wearing a pair of rain boots instead of cowboy boots!

I sadly didn't take many pictures at the actual event, because I just feel stupid taking a lot of pictures with people around. So, I took pictures of random things on the sly with my phone instead. Ha! This was my most amusing picture I took. Apparently I love to look for grammatical errors on promotional materials.

The benefit had a silent auction and a live auction. The picture above is of a pure "bread" lab that was auctioned off in the live auction. I found it hilarious that they don't know the difference between bread and bred. But then again, I'm weird. I did bid on old Baron, though. David didn't appreciate it, but I thought he could handle giving $400 to charity for a cute puppy for Mox to play with. It was fun bidding on him! He sadly finally went home with someone for $1300. Negative ghost rider. Not for a dog.

We pretty much played craps all night. We had a blast and I was on quite a rolling streak. If I was in Vegas, I would have made a lot of people some money. It's definitely fun when you aren't playing with real money!

We mainly stayed at the craps table because of the guy in the black vest who was a volunteer at the event. He is a good old Blountstown boy, so it was good to see him and hang out at his table. We made it to the dance floor and just as we were getting our groove on, the lights went out due to the weather. So we took that as our cue to leave. 

We had a blast and hopefully we will get the opportunity to go again next year. So that's about all I have for the Cattle Baron's Ball. I need to learn to take more pictures!!

CD Release Party

I want to give a quick heads up to anyone who is reading this from the Albany, GA area. If you are looking for something great to be apart of, you can head over to the CD release party for the TJ Mauldin Band tomorrow, September 9. It starts at 6:30 pm and lasts until 9:30 at the State Theater in Albany. Admission is $10 and that includes a copy of the band's CD that they are releasing "Here and Now." The CD will be available on iTunes on Friday I believe. You can check the band out at http://www.tjmauldinband.com/ or check out YouTube, or TJ's personal website http://www.tjmauldin.com/. This guy rocks. Literally. He has a great heart for Jesus and he and his wife are just good, salt of the Earth people. So head out and support him if you are in the area! Here is what TJ said about his album release on his website (http://www.tjmauldin.com/).

I know if you live in or around the Albany area you may have seen a poster or heard someone speak about the CD Release event. I want to quickly (yea right) unpack the heart behind the night and what we believe God is going to do in, around, and through the event. This is why I want you to get your ticket and join us.

I have been carrying a four point mission statement for months about what I desire the night to be so I’ll just list and expound: Glorify God, Magnify Christ, Spotlight the Cross, and Unite a City.
Glorify God-
We realize as a band/ministry that everything we say and do should be and hopefully is for the glory of God( 1 Corinthians 10:31). Every song is about Him, for Him and given by Him so we want to give honor where it is due and it is surely His. He is the Greatest of all time and we will make it the aim of the night to make much of that. We are trusting and desiring that everyone leaves the release event with the desire to honor God in every area of their life.
Magnify Christ-
John 3:30 says, “He must increase and I must decrease”. We firmly believe for God to be glorified then we must make Jesus the ultimate treasure in our life. He must be the goal and prize that we are pursuing with everything that we have. Jesus is the only eternal answer and refuge so He will be magnified above all. He will be lifted above the music, the “show”, the volunteers, the venue, the cd, the… well you get the picture. He’s the point!
Spotlight the Cross-
I totally understand that preaching the cross is foolishness to some and to want to spotlight it may seem odd so I want to be very clear. The cross was a place of brutality, torture, and death. It was the place where Jesus hung and was nailed for the forgiveness of our sin. He willingly gave his life so that you and I could go free. Why spotlight the cross? Because we need to drink deep from the reminder well that, that was our cross, our judgment, our sin that fixed Jesus securely on it and to abandon any conversation of the cross would be to abandon the dynamic gift given to us by a perfect God. Beyond the cross being the tool in which God crushed Jesus in our place it’s beautiful because Jesus is no longer on it! He is alive…MAN! I AM EXCITED!! EXCLAIMING WITH EXCITEMENT EVEN!!!!
Unite a City-
How incredible is it going to be to have Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Pentacostal, Non- Denominational… and on and on in attendance in the same building lifting up Jesus. I see this event as an opportunity to bring the body of Christ together to worship God and then share. This isn’t about a certain church or at a certain church. This is about Jesus and his name being championed through our city. I firmly believe that God can change a campus, a church, a family and a community. My desire for this event is to see the body of Christ come together for the sake of the kingdom and the advancement of the gospel only to leave encouraged and empowered to share their faith, live their faith and see their faith impact Albany, Ga and ultimately the world.
I want you to know I am crazy excited about releasing this album because this was written from, about and to serve scripture. Therefore, this album is slammed packed with the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this is going to be a tool God uses to change lives, to bring the lost home, restore broken relationship, deliver those in spiritual, emotional and mental bondage. The only reason this album is going to be powerful is because it is for and about Jesus. Can’t wait for you to hear it!
So, I would love for you to come. Every last one of you… You can get tickets here
http://www.eventbrite.com/org/1368491853
www.facebook.com/tjmauldinband

And I will post up another one of TJ's posts from his website, because it really spoke to my heart this morning and it may speak to a few other people's hearts as well.

The Problem With Self-love

Unless self-love is abandoned the believer shall forever shrink back when called actually to take up the cross for Christ. - Watchman Nee


I always write from a place of, well, weightiness. I am not trying to be some deep thinker or well worded theologian. In fact, if you know me you know that I am neither. I am simply following Christ, loving his church and occasionally glancing in the mirror at myself as his reflector. I write when something strikes my joy. I write when I want to communicate my heart and point people to Jesus. I write when I don’t like what I see, when I stumble and more often then not when some of my own deficiencies are exposed. I write. Tonight I want to write on self-love. I love myself way too much. I love my wants, my opinions, and things way too much and you know what? That communicates to Christ that my love for him is more like, like and to my wife that my love for her is based on my wants alone. I am not writing from a place of self-pity or condemnation. I am writing from a place of great hope because in all of my selfishness I can hear Jesus speaking, convicting, and prodding me to die to myself. So, am simply sharing with you what I am walking through internally. Self seems to be the subtlest idol we as believers bow down to on a daily basis and I believe it does three things to cripple, chain, and sometimes kill our walk with Christ.


First, self-love keeps us in a place where “we” matter most and when we live in that place we will not forsake it all or even most of it for the sake of the gospel. I am reminded of 1st Corinthians 16:9 that says, “a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” The greatest adversary you and I will ever face as Christians in America are our selves. The fear for our life, persecution, and famine are not the things that keep us from serving Christ from a place of self-less ambition. It’s our self and us thinking that we are owed grace. The bottom line is that we love our things and ourselves and when that love is threatened we retreat into a place of casual Christianity. As if there was such a thing.


Second, self-love keeps us in a place where we can’t love others fully. A sure sign that you are in love with yourself is when you enter relationships thinking, “what am I going to get out of this”, when the attitude should be, “how can I serve, support and surrender to this person for the glory of God”. I am the worlds worst and especially with my wife. I like to do what I want to do too often and that doesn’t glorify God, give security to my wife nor sanctify me as a man who is following Christ. The bottom line is that we love ourselves and our things and when they are number one we neglect Jesus and those he has called us to love.


The last problem with self-love is that it keeps us from taking the gospel where it needs to go. When we are in love with self we will neglect the call on our lives to go, even if it is just across the street or with a colleague at work. Listen, when we fall in love with Jesus and divorce our stinking flesh and it’s desires we will find that Jesus was no respecter of person and that he loved everybody, including us. When we look into the undeserved and powerful love of Jesus our response should be to love everyone with selfless ambition. The bottom line is that if we are in love with ourselves then we haven’t or haven’t often enough looked at the wretchedness of our sin and rebellion towards God and his tender mercy towards us. He loved us when we were and sometimes still are unlovely. Oh, and he said we are suppose to “be like him”.


Love you
tj

Ok, now that I have put you on TJ overload, I will just remind you to check him out on your own. It's always a good thing to support a brother or sister in Christ and lift them up. So if you can't make it or don't live in the area, send up a prayer that TJ's ministry through his music can reach the lost and just glorify Christ.

 

Busy as a Bee

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged. Sorry! It has been a crazy last couple of weeks. It all started at this beautiful plantation. I work for the local Historical Society and this is where they had their annual fundraising dinner. It was a true Southern Supper under the Oaks!

We had a fabulous time! Great dinner, wonderful bluegrass music, and a beautiful setting. The perfect Southern evening in Georgia!

Then this past weekend, Joseph and I ventured over to Jacksonville to stay with a friend of Joseph's from work. The company that Joseph works for has its main office in Jacksonville and when he has to go over there for business he always stays with Ken and his wife Terry. And they were so gracious to invite us over for a weekend of fun! They don't have children of their own, so I think that they have adopted Joseph as their surrogate child, which I think is so very sweet!

On Friday, we had tickets to the Jacksonville Pops Symphony. Let me just say how absolutely fabulous that was. They performed a great mixture of classical music and musical numbers, such as selections from Singing in the Rain and The King and I. To add to the performance, they had two very talented Broadway actors that danced and sang for us. Great! If you are in Jacksonville, go see them. Or if there is a Symphony in your area, please go support them. Its great entertainment and so very easy to appreciate the art of music.

Then on Saturday, we had a super busy day, starting with this:

Yep. A trip to the Zoo! I felt like a little kid again and I loved every minute of it. Speaking of being a kid, I even got a fabulous sno-cone and so did Joseph. Yum!

I took, what I know had to be 200 photos of all the animals. And seeing all the weird and fabulous creatures, you really get to see that God is so wondrous in his creations. Just look at these birds and their beauty.

And speaking of birds. They scare the begesus out of me. I hate a bird because they have these

And more importantly these

That's right folks, these little things just wait to peck your eyes out! I know I'm crazy, but I don't care!

Next up was an air show by the Blue Angels. Ken and Terry have a fabulous condo on the St. Johns River directly across from the Air Force base, so we got to relax and watch a great show.

 The glorious view of the river!

Finally, to round out the day was going to a dinner theater. We went to watch The King and I. Joseph had never watched the play before (or the movie for that matter!) but he absolutely loved it. We had dinner and enjoyed dessert while the play was going on. It was wonderful. It might have made a Musical lover out of Joseph after all!!

So this past weekend was really jam packed. It was good to get home and see my puppies. (and my Mimi as well!) My sweet, sweet, SWEET mother came and kept her grand-pups while we went to Jacksonville. The pups were greatly spoiled by their Mimi while we were away.

And on a different note: Hopefully I will have some exciting news, so stay tuned!!

I Heart the Summer

I love the summer not because the sun is shining and it is the time of the year for beachin it up and spending time out on the water. I am loving it because I have so many excuses to stay inside. The heat is number one and number two is that many of my favorite shows are back! And two of my movie favorites are also coming out soon. Yes, I do realize that I have no life!

Season Three of True Blood started a couple of weeks ago. I have waited and waited for this to come back!! Love it! Joseph always complains when I am watching it. He calls it that "vampire mess." But who doesn't love Sookie and Tara and Lafayette? And not to mention the hotness that is Eric. Yum.

If you get HBO, I recommend you watch it. It is a little graphic and definately rated r (sorry kiddos) but it is WAAAAAY better than Twilight. Hands down.

Ahhh, Mad Men. This show is awesome. It just makes me so mad that it takes FOREVER between seasons. It seems like ages ago that the last season ended. This comes on AMC, so check it out. I think the new season starts in July. Yay!!

Nothing like a much of ad men running around in the 1960s. Joseph loves this show, so I get no complaints from him when I watch it.

Thirdly, I have become hooked on this season of the Bachelorette. I know, I know. But I can't help myself.

Ali is so cute and she has had the craziest men this season. From The Weatherman to Crazy Kasey. Not to mention that guy Craig that looks like Lord Farquaad from Shrek. 

And of course, what summer would be complete without blockbuster movies? Have you heard that Twilight is coming out? Because I haven't. It's not like some crazy mania going on around that movie! Ha ha!

Are you team Edward or team Jacob?

And last but not least, the tried and true, Harry Potter.

I really heart these movies (the books even more). So those are my guilty pleasures for the summer. What are yours? Any bad tv that you love to hate? Movies that you can't wait to come out? I would love to hear that I am not alone in loserville.