Come to Me

I just thought I would share a little of my heart with you today.  Josh and I have been trying a new church recently, the Village Church in Dallas, and I have got to say we are loving it! Matt Chandler is amazing in every way, but  I must say that the worship speaks to my heart in a way I have never experienced before. I feel like I finally understand what it feels like to worship my sweet Father through song. There is one song in particular that really speaks to me.  It is called Come to Me by Lauren Chandler (yes, she is married to the Matt Chandler, the pastor).

The lyrics are absolutely beautiful and every time I listen to it, I fall a little more in love with Him! The song starts off "Weary burdened wanderer there is rest for thee."   Weary. Burdened. Wanderer. I feel like that should be my first, middle and last name.  Can I get an amen?!  I am so prone to focus on me and my burdens and stray from His side, especially when I feel like things are difficult.

Oh thou heavy laden, come to me come and rest.
There is freedom taste and see hear the call Come to Me. Run into His arms of GRACE, your burden carry, he will take.
Bring Him all thy burdens, all thy guilt, and sin.
Jesus there is waiting patiently for thee. Hear Him gently calling: come all, Come to Me.

 I can picture my Father in Heaven waiting, so patiently, for me to run back into His arms.  What a powerful reminder this is of God's ever abundant love and grace that He offers. I love that every day I find my freedom in Him.  He picks up my burdens and makes my load light.  I am forever captivated by him. Amen.

Chex Lemon Buddies

You know that moment the night before an event where you suddenly remember that you are supposed to bring something to nibble? I found myself in that predicament earlier this evening. Our school's back to school bash is tomorrow and I had no clue what to bring.  Enter Pinterest.  I love that I can easily pull it up when I am out and about. After approximately 12 seconds I had decided on this yummy recipe for lemon chex buddies. It's snackable, easy and will store well if I lug it with me to school all day.


Chex Lemon Buddies

9 cups Rice Chex cereal

1 1/4 cup white vanilla baking chips

1/4 cup butter or margarine

4 tsp grated lemon peel

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 cups powdered sugar

 

Here is what you need:

(I only used one lemon.)

Measure cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a microwaveable bowl, microwave chips, butter, lemon peel and juice uncovered on high for 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 more seconds or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into a 2-gallon resealable food storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar, seal bag and shake until all the cereal is well-coated.

 

 

Overall I thought it was pretty good. I still think I prefer the good ol chocolate and peanut butter version of this recipe.  I've been eyeballing this  funfetti buddy recipe on pinterest for a while too.  I might have to try this next. These are definitely not on my diet plan!


On another note, look what we were greeted with this when we got home from the store. Any guesses on what it is?

It's the piece we just ordered for our refrigerator that hooks up to the water line for the ice maker/water dispenser. We set it high on the counter so Owen would not get it. He still managed to pull it down and chew it to shreds. Luckily my intelligent husband was still able to make it work, even though all the electrical parts were shot.

Good thing he is cute!

 

The Look for Less

Last night I was perusing the new Pottery Barn catalog and I came across the beautiful Gabriella upholstered headboard. 

$699 for headboard only

I immediately remembered seeing a similar bed a few days earlier at World Market. The Courtney bed also has linen upholstery, nailhead trim and the same color wood trim. 

$599.99 for bed with frame

The World Market version is $100 cheaper plus it includes the entire frame which is a really nice way to give the bed a finished look. You will also save by not having to purchase a bed skirt.

While looking through the Pottery Barn catalog, I also ran aross this beauty, the York tufted headboard. 

$ 799 for headboard only

You could easily get the same look with this alternative from World Market. 

The Ninda bed

On sale for $499.99 for the bed and frame

 

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

For those of you that know me, you probably know that my weight has always been a struggle.  I've tried many diets, but always have difficulty with them.  This southern girl loves her tex-mex! I have finally found one that is working for me. I started late June and am down nine pounds! Woohoo!

The gist of the diet is what I would call "clean" eating.  It makes so much sense! The diet consists of mainly fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and lots of water.  You eat 6 times during the day and have a yummy kool-aid like protein drink with your snacks to sustain you between meals.  I'm loving it!

With all that said, I am making a goal of trying one new recipe each week.  This week we chose a recipe for honey garlic pork chops from Spark Recipes.  It was a hit for both of us! Ths is one of my favorite types of recipes because:

1.) It's healthy.
2.) It uses a small number of ingredients that I usually have stocked.
3.) It's so easy I can make it!


Honey Garlic Pork Chops
Ingredients:
1/4 c. honey
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or 6 cloves fresh garlic - minced

This is what the original directions say, but I have no clue what it means to baste or even what a greased grill is:

In a shallow dish, whisk together honey, soy sauce and garlic.
Coat chops in mixture.
Reserve left over honey mixture for basting.
Place chops on greased grill over med high heat, close lid and cook. basting 2 times.

SO, this is what I did instead:

Mix honey, soy sauce and garlic and coat chops with mixture
Place chops in a baking dish and cook for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees (turning halfway)
EASY PEASY!!

I served it with watermelon and one of my favorite side dishes, roasted asparagus. 

Roasted Asparagus

Chop the ends off your asparagus. 

Lightly drizzle olive oil over the the asparagus and toss to coat

I then sprinkle it with a truffle and salt mixture that we recieved a while back for a house warming gift.  It's so good and flavorful, but a bit pricey (you can get it from Central Market). If you don't have that, then just use sea salt and coarse black pepper. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

 

That's Owen in the background.

The end result was delicious!

Did you know that Crystal Light makes margarita mix?? It's pretty tasty too! I often have it with dinner without the alcohol ::is that strange?::

Ikea

ohmiword y'all. After our first apartment done Ikea style, I have been avoiding this place like the plague.

 I finally went back after 2 years of staying away and I was pleasantly surprised.  I loved it in fact.  When my husband and I first got married we didn't have a "style" yet.  As time has passed, my style has kind of evolved into something completely different and Ikea has kind of evolved with me.  I found so many goodies that wanted to come home with me like...

all these fabulous baskets.  I loved that they also had the weathered gray ones.

What about this wonderful chest?  Wouldn't it be great storage for blankets?

These magazine holders lined in buffalo check might be making an appearance in our home office very soon! Swoon!

I loved some of the vintage prints they had available and their frames were great too! I even bought a few to add to the gallery wall I have been working on (pictures soon).

The orange guy is Melvin and he is quite popular with my first graders.

 I recently purchased the campaign desk from World Market (see below) and was looking for a similar chair to what Lauren Leonard uses in her gorgeous design.  This slipcovered chair was exactly what I wanted and I LOVE the way it looks. I will be posting pics of the office soon.

One last image to leave you with...

Don't you just love this wingback and the stripey blanket?!

Here we go

Hello sweet friends and family!

one. I am so happy that you are here.
two. I have no clue what I am doing
three. but I hope you stick with me through my blogging journey. 

Blogging is something I have, for a long time, admired from a far.  I think it is a wonderful way to share your faith, connect with others and be inspired by the creativity of such talented women (and men)! I intend for my blog to be a mish mash of things that I love, which include projects that come along with home ownership, recipes I try, day to day family events, my thoughts and ponderings about my faith, a little home decor and an occasional story about my precious first grade class, whom I am getting quite excited about meeting.  Let's begin...

For those of you that don't know know me, my name is Kristin Black and I live in the great state of Texas.  I am married to a wonderful husband, Josh, who works for Texas Instruments as an engineer. We were high school sweethearts and just celebrated our 3rd year of marriage.  We have a super mutt dog named Owen  who is our constant entertainment.  Yes, I am a ridiculous dog mom whose entire camera roll is consumed by pictures of the pup.  I spend my days in the classroom where I get to mold the minds of my amazing firsties.  I teach them to read, write, do math, become scientists, but most importantly, I teach them about respect, kindness, and what it means to work together.  The most important thing you need to know about my family is that our home is built on the rock of the Lord.  We strive to reflect Him in all that we do and maintain a lifestyle that would be consistent with His word and teachings.  My prayer is that my life can be a reflection of Him and you can get a small glimpse of the grace and love that my Father has to offer you through this blog. 

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16