I'll Be Back!

Hello all my lovely ladies! I just wanted to tell y'all that I will be taking a bit of a break from blogging over the next week. We are helping Ashley with packing, hauling off, and preparing for a yard sale all within the next week. We are getting her ready to move to their new apartment by June 1st. Then, on Friday, my friend that I haven't seen in 4 years is coming down from Ohio for the weekend with her husband! They are looking to relocate down south! So, I probably won't be around much this next week...I will catch back up with everybody when things slow back down:) Have a great weekend (and week) everyone!!!

Wordless Wednesday

OH, I LOVE HIM SO!!!

Scattergories

SCATTERGORIES. ..it's harder than it looks! But Fun! Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...they MUST be real places, names,things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question and you can't use a search engine... Now Go!

1. Your Name: Christie
2. Famous singer/band: Carrie Underwood
3. 4 letter word: Camp
4. Street name: Center Street
5. Color: Canary
6. Gifts/presents: Crystal:)
7. Vehicle: Charger
8. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Candles
9. Boy Name: Christopher
10. Girl Name: Cadence (I've always thought that was pretty)
11. Movie Title: Click
12. Drink: Coca-Cola
13. An Occupation: Clown
14. Flower: Cala lilly
15. Celebrity: Candice Cameron
16. Magazine: Cosmopolitan
17. U.S. City: Charlotte, NC
18. Pro Sports Team: Carolina Panthers
19. Fruit: Cantaloupe
20. Reason for Being Late for Work: Construction
21. Something You Throw Away: Candy Wrappers
22. Things You Shout: Come here, lol.
23. Cartoon Character: Cinderella

A birthday wish and some more purchases for the house

First things first...it is my little sissy, Ashley's birthday today!!! On April 23, 1985, the good Lord gave me my first little sister. Today we celebrate her 22nd birthday. I love you, Ashwee!

And...I thought I would share a few more house purchases with you! First, let me tell ya, me and Yankee Candles...we are close. So, you can imagine my mix of fascination and frustration whenever I go to their store. I can always find several that I feel should go home with me, but I also have to think about the almighty $. Since they are not cheap, but worth the little extra, I usually go home with two at a time. This trip, I found two new scents that I have never smelled before. They remind me of living at the beach, and so I finally narrowed it down. The first one is a perfect mix of suntan lotion, sun, sand, and ocean mist. It's devine! The second one, there is no way to explain it other than comfort.

Our next stop was the fabric store, my mom and I found the perfect vintage looking material to make curtains for my next kitchen. All my dishes and appliances and decor are red or have red in them, I love my red themed kitchen, so this material will work perfectly! We are going to make them into tab top curtains with red ribbon tabs. I'm so excited!

This other material we bought was for an apron, my mom is going to teach me how to make my first apron with this, we bought white ric-rac for the trim. We will be starting this project soon, pictures to follow soon!

My last purchase was made about 2 weeks ago, I love these wooden signs with quotes or passages on them. This one was found at Goodwill for about 9 bucks! Doesn't Alaina look thrilled to be my model?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am the designated cookie maker in my family, well at least for the chocolate chip ones! I figured I would post my recipe for the ones I make that seem to be such a big hit. I just sent Jason a second batch of them because the first ones all got eaten by the guys in his unit! Oh, and this is the recipe for a double batch...they get gone so fast, I always have to make double:)Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 sticks of butter

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour, unsifted

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed. Roll teaspoon sized scoops into balls and space 2 inches apart onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes until just starting to turn golden. I always take them out a tad early, when they are still pretty gooey. Once they cool, they stay super chewy! Cool on wire racks.

Hope you enjoy!

Easter Cards

For Easter, I made all of my family members cards. Now, this was just like scrapbooking for me, so it came naturally. Now I may have to look into buying more card making supplies! It was fun to do and I think my family members enjoyed them, as each one had it's own individual design. Here are the cards:
On the inside, I put bible verses and little messages from me. I also attatched flower shaped brads and fabric flowers. I didn't get any pictures of the insides:(

These are the most handy tools I have, for scrapbooking and now for card making. The Cricut is what I used to cut all of the names out, it's a huge time saver and you save so much money in the long run on stickers! This was my Christmas present this past year from Jason:)

History Meme

Ok, I was tagged by Becky to do this history meme. You just go to Wikipedia, type in your birthday...mine is June 25, just the month and day, not the year. Then choose the following:

Three Events:

1788 - Virginia becomes the 10th state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1949 - Long-Haired Hare is released in Theaters starring Bugs Bunny and Giovanni Jones
1950 - The beginning of the Korean War.

Two Birthdays:

1945 - Carly Simon, American singer
1972 - Mike Kroeger, American bassplayer (Nickelback)

One Death:

1992 - Jerome Brown, American football player (b. 1965)

One Holiday or Observance:

National Catfish Day

Sorry, I can't link tonight for some reason, I don't know if blogger is acting up or what...

Let us not forget...

I am so proud of every single one of our troops that are serving, have served or will serve. God bless them all.

***You will have to pause my music player to listen to the music in this video.***

Recipe Exchange

Lori and I have been trading some recipes and thought it might be fun to post some on here, sort of like a recipe exchange. If anyone wants to post some of your favorites, we sure would be excited for you to join in!

Gumbo

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups white flour

1 large onion

2 small bell peppers

parsley, salt, and pepper to taste

2 lb. shrimp

2 lb. chicken, boneless

2 lb. beef and pork sausage (Thorn Apple Valley spicy sausage)

Put on large pot of water to boil.

Cut up veggies before you start the Roux. Heat oil, then add flour over medium heat, stir constantly as flour will burn. When Roux is the color of Hershey's dark chocolate (at least one hour), add veggies and mix together. Add roux to boiling water, stir until returns to boil. Add chicken and cook on low heat 1 1/2 hours. Add sausage. Cook approx. 2 more hours. Add shrimp 30 minutes before serving. Serve over rice.

(This takes a while to make, but is WELL worth it!!! Left over Roux will save well and serves for several meals, just add more of your favorite meats and veggies!)

Sour Cream Pancakes

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

2 egg yolks

Stir together.

Sift:

3/4 cup flour

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

Melt one stick of butter

Whip egg whites

Add flour mixture to liquid. Add melted butter. Fold in egg whites.

Use 1/4 cup size ladle for batter. Put on hot griddle, turn pancakes when set and bubbling.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

2 - 18.5 oz. packages of devil's food cake mix

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs and oil. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed until completely combined. The batter will be very stiff. Pinch off pieces of batter and roll into 1 inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets and flatten slightly with fingertips. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until a slight indentation remains when lightly touched. Remove immediately from the cookie sheets with a spatula and cool on wire racks.

In a small glass mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter until completely blended. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla and mix at low speed until the icing is smooth. Spread icing on half of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies. Store in the refrigerator in large re-sealable plastic bags.

Hope somebody enjoys these! Can't wait to see some of y'alls favorites!

My Family Members, Part 6

Okie Dokie, so this is my last family member post. And last, but never least, is my darling husband, Jason.

Me and Jason this past November when he returned home from 6 weeks of pre-deployment training:

1. The first time I laid eyes on Jason, I knew.

2. From that first second on, I've always felt at home with him. The first thing he did when we met was hug me, and I knew I needed to feel his hugs for forever.

3. Jason has sacrificed at least 5 years of his life defending me, my family and the people of the USA by serving in the USMC. Probably all of you know, but in case I have a few that don't, he is currently serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

4. He made the decision from the first time we talked about marriage, that he would do everything in his power to make it to where I wouldn't have to work, he wanted to never learn to depend on 2 incomes, so that we would never miss it when we have children. We were both in agreement that I would stay home and raise and homeschool our kids.

5. He is such a sweet man, he would do anything to make me happy, and he does. One of his languages of love is gifts. Last Christmas, my present was my Jeep Grand Cherokee. He got this for me because he knew I wanted an SUV and more room for kids and a dog! He always makes sure my needs are met, and listens very closely (even when I don't think he does) to what I say and what I like.

6. He is the king of surprises, from bringing home flowers to picnics at the beach.

7. Jason accepted Jesus Christ into his heart at a younger age, but due to parents that were never involved in church, he drifted. Later in life (once we started dating), he came back to Christianity and his faith and love for God. Just before he left, he and my dad shared such a precious moment, and they prayed together, with Jason rededicating his life.

8. He is the leader of my household, and I respect him. He has earned my respect, and will always have it. He is so good to always consider my feelings before making final decisions and always includes me in them.

9. We have grown in our relationships with God together, he leads us in prayer before each meal that we share together and we share prayer and devotional time together at night.

10. Of course, I think that he is the most handsome man that I've ever met:)

11. From the start, he has fit into my family like he's always been here. He calls my parents mom and dad, and refers to Ashley and Alaina as his own sisters. The ease that he has always had around them was just one of the many reasons I knew he was my "one".

12. Jason is my handyman and mechanic. He knows about everything you can know about cars and electronics (since electronics is his job in the Marines). Now I know I said my dad was the fix it man, the bug squisher and all of that, but at our house, Jason is my fix it man, and my fearless creepy crawly eliminator. He is so smart, too. I have not had to take my car, and now my Jeep, to a mechanic since we met. He changes the oil, replaces the breaks, spark plugs, and whatever else goes awry. He even replaced my bumper on my mustang when it was rear-ended! He and my brother in law actually fixed a transmission on one of Jason's trucks! Ok, I know..now I'm bragging.

13. He is gentle. He is so aware of my feelings and emotions, and will hold me when I'm upset for hours if that's what I needed.

14. I have back problems, and never once has he complained about giving me back rubs when it starts acting up...which is pretty often.

15. He is super affectionate. He never ever forgets to give me a kiss goodbye (and hello) or end a phone conversation or letter with "I love you".

16. Jason is nice to everyone he meets. Mean is not in his vocabulary.

17. He didn't run when I had to start telling him about my health problems. He learned what he could from my mom and the rest from experience. I have been taken to the ER three times since we've been married and he's still there, sitting by my side every time. I even made the comment to him this last time that I loved him for sticking by me and that I knew I was a handful. His reply..."Yes you are, but I'm not going anywhere".

18. He is a natural athlete, I enjoy watching him try new things. I took him ice skating for the first time this past winter (I'd been before), and he outskated me...by far. I can't wait to see how he does with water skiing or snow skiing (both of which I'm pretty decent at, but I'm expecting him to be awesome...lol.)

19. Since he's been gone, he has called or written almost everyday. It would be easy for him not too, since that is what many of the other guys do, but he doesn't. He knows I worry about him and he does everything he can to keep in touch.

20. Even though we stay pretty busy, I could do nothing but sit around with him and still be happy. He still takes me on date nights every 2 weeks when we get paid, and we have our special rituals like movie and wing zone night. He loves my cooking, so most of the time, I cook, but he still gives me a break from it.

21. He will lend a helping hand to anyone who needs it, I can't tell you how many times our driveway has become an auto shop! Plus, he loves helping my dad around their house, he will even get up on the roof and clean the gutters for my dad.

22. OK, I'm going to wrap this up, but, just one more thing...Jason's arms are the safest place in the world for me, I love that he is my protector and when I said 'til death do us part, I meant it with all that I am.

If you get to read this one babe, I love you and I don't know what I would ever do without you. I am still counting the days.

My Family Members, Part 5

Today is about my sweetest nephew, Austin. This one may not be quite as long as we've only had him with us for 2 years!

The cutie pie wearing Uncle Jason's military cover:

1. At only 2 years old, Austin can sense when you are sad, he will run up, tilt his head and that means he's trying to give you a kiss.

2. He is all boy, and you know that makes my dad happy after 3 girls! He loves being loud, rowdy, and he has one speed...fast!

3. He has brought so many smiles and so much laughter to our family. Nothing like a baby/child can bring so many smiles to so many people.

4. He's a fighter, when he was born with a collapsed lung and sent to a children's hospital, he fought his way through and as you can tell from the picture, is a very healthy 2 year old.

5. He is so smart. He can not only tell you the basic "where is your mouth, nose, etc. He can tell you where his teeth, hair, neck, toes, fingernails, etc. are.

6. He loves his family, but especially loves his guy time with Daddy and Papa (my dad).

7. He can spot a toy car or truck from a mile away, and will start making the "vroom vroom" noises before you even know there is a car in sight.

8. He and Alaina have such a good relationship, I really think he thinks of her more like a sister and he knows what he can do to get on her nerves, it's really quite funny.

9. He is the pickiest eater I've ever met, he doesn't even like cake, spaghetti, or pizza! I guess he takes after me on the spaghetti thing (let's just say that it didn't stay down!).

10. He is a very organized 2 year old. He will take the 50 million matchbox cars that he owns and line them all up, side by side, row by row. Ashley picks that he was bound to be a perfectionist between his Dad, Papa, and Aunt Teetee:)

11. He is sweet to animals. Most of the time, granted he is still a boy and is 2...but, most of the time, he will pet and love on anything furry, and will let Alaina's indoor dog jump all over him and he will just laugh at him.

12. Austin has brought alot of joy to my grandfather that is sick, and when nobody else can make him smile, Austin can. Anytime he knows Austin is over visiting, he will call or attempt to walk over (he lives next door).

13. He is so inquisitive, and picks up on most things instantly.

14. Being a rambunctious toddler, he is not cuddly often, but when he is in the mood, he gives the best little hugs ever.

15. He is our unexpected miracle and we all love this little boy so much! I couldn't imagine life without him, and I am so proud of this little fella!

Well, this list ended up being longer than I thought! Ashley, you are so blessed with Austin, and we all feel blessed that God has entrusted him to our family.

My Family Members, Part 4

So, I'm back with more family posts. This next one is of my youngest sister, Alaina.

Me and Alaina, this past summer when she stayed with us:

1. I was 13 years old when my parents found out about our wonderful little surprise, she was a blessing from God. She was doomed from the start...she had a 13 year old sister and a 10 year old sister, which meant she was going to have not just one mommy but 3!

2. She brought so much laughter and happiness to our home, especially with one daughter already a teenager, and one a pre-teen!

3. I, being a little older, when she came along, learned SO much about raising kids and babies. I think she is why I had a 5 year career as a preschool teacher.

4. She has a heart so pure and genuine. She is the sweetest 11 year old I know. Alaina jumps to help anyone anyway she can. If she hears a family member complain of a back ache, she is climbing behind you to rub your back.

5. She has the biggest soft spot for all things cute and cuddly. She will cry over an animal being lost, hurt, or scared, and if we had the room at Dad and Mom's house, we'd have every stray staying with us that passed our way.

6. She loves farms, barns, open land, and of course...Horses! She would spend the rest of her life in a barn if she could. She even likes the smell of a barn!

7. She's gentle, that's just her nature. Gentle and kind. Younger kids instantly take to her, and adults will sit and actually have real conversations with her. My great grandmother has alzheimer's and Alaina will sit patiently and answer the same questions 10 times. She has taken a younger girl under her wing from the YMCA (where she swims weekly) and started teaching her to swim.

8. She saves her allowance and does odd jobs here and there to make money to buy each and every family member something for their birthdays and for Christmas. This Christmas she bought me the Willow Tree wall plaque of the Holy Family!

9. She loves Jason! When referring to him, she tells everyone of her brother:)

10. She loves being an aunt to little Austin. She is so good with him, and he adores her! They really are more like siblings. It is so cute to watch them playing horses together. He knows how to pretend to be a horse and will spot a horse as quick as she does.

11. We share the love of reading. She is a bookworm just like me and Momma.

12. We will sit on the couch and color together for what seems like hours.

13. She has taken up scrapbooking and asked me to teach her. I got her her own supplies for Christmas, and she has already started a book for her pets!

14. She loves the Lord!!! She was also baptized by my Daddy a couple years back. She is on fire for God and is never afraid to share her faith with anyone who will listen.

15. Alaina will joke and pick with the best of us. She's pretty quick witted too!

16. She, too, knows so much about diabetes. I've scared her a couple of times, though. Times when I've had to go to the hospital. One time, she had to see me taken by ambulance, and that broke my heart. She just stood there crying. My mom rode with me, but my dad and Ashley brought her up and she stayed there waiting the whole time. She was only 7.

17. She is such a tomboy:) But that is her. She would rather be outside training her beagle, riding bikes, or riding the mower around the yard, than having her hair done, nails painted, or playing make-up. In that way, we are so different, but we are still somehow, so alike.

18. Alaina spent the first week away from home this summer. And she chose to do so with me. That was really special, because she is such a homebody. We had the best time! She actually agreed to shop with me! We went out to eat, she and Jason played x-box when he got off work each day, we took tons of pictures, we went to the beach and she helped me with supper each night! We are planning to have her back after Jason comes home and we settle back in.

19. She never forgets to pray for each and every one of her family members every night before bed, asking for all of our protection and thanking God for all of us.

She is one of a kind, and she's ours. I love that little girl, life would not have been quite as sweet if God hadn't blessed us with our little miracle.

Happy Easter!!!

Thank you to all of you sweet women on all the sweet comments on my family member posts! I will be back to finish them next week! On that note, I will see you all on Monday!

Have a very blessed Easter...each and every one of you:)

"The Lord has risen indeed..."

Luke 24:34

My Family Members, Part 3

This one is on my sister, Ashley, most of you know her through here too!

Me and Ash, ages 5 and 2

1. Ashley has a heart of gold, she would give her last dollar to someone who needed it.

2. We have been through everything together, from broken hearts to staying up, laughing until the wee morning hours.

3. When I am having a hard time or am really upset over something, Ashley sings me the song "Smile" and lets me lean on her shoulder.

4. She makes up the most unique words or ways to say things that always make me laugh...an example...the cookies that are called Fudge Rounds have been renamed Rounds of Fudge:)

5. Ashley has the greatest sense of humor and can have people cracking up within a matter of minutes.

6. She is so trustworthy, if you ever needed to confide in her, she would take it to the grave.

7. She is strong, stronger than she could ever realize. The biggest example of this was her pregnancy and her son, Austin's, first 6 months of life. She had hyperglycemia and toxemia and was hospitalized several times, and then when he was born he was a preemie and so sick, but she stood strong under such a huge weight and they pulled through it. He is now VERY healthy!

8. She is brave, she stays at home throughout the weekdays without her husband home due to travel with his work. She runs the house, takes care of Austin, pays the bills, and buys the groceries, and still keeps going only seeing Matt on the weekends.

9. She is faithful to each and every person in her life.

10. She has become a wonderful mother, even when she was scared about raising her first child with his daddy gone alot of the time.

11. She has grown as a woman of God and has brought her husband back to Christianity. They are a praying, church going family unit and she sees the importance of raising little Austin in church.

12. The quote I've heard so many times describes us perfectly...God made us sisters, Our hearts made us friends...Ashley was my first true friend in this world and continues to be my best friend to this day.

13. We have so many wonderful memories of growing up together, I wouldn't have wanted to grow up with anyone else. Even though she will probably say that I have more good memories than she does, due to the fact that I was the big sister, and more than a few times, I convinced her that things I wanted to do or try were always a great idea. When I was 5 and got my ears pierced, I came home and tried to pierce hers too!!! My mom walked in on that one and saved her from the bloodshed that was surely to follow.

14. She can calm me down quicker than anybody, she knows that I'm quite the emotional gal, and knows what makes me tick. She has done this many times for me. She's really very good at being logical and she is usually right.

15. We are complete opposites, but that works for us.

16. Ashley has also been through alot with my diabetes. She started learning at age 9, all about the disease and was even giving me shots before long. She has extreme patience with my low blood sugar side effects, and overlooks having anything from cheese danishes to pop-tarts thrown at her head. (I tend to get very stubborn and down right mean at times of low blood glucose, and she has had to actually shove the food in my mouth and force me to chew it up before, and I love her for it, because she knew it had to be done or else I would have been in big trouble medically!)

17. She has always stood up for me. No matter what. I am the older sister but tend to be a little more timid at times. She never let anyone take advantage of me and would "tell them like it was" in a heartbeat.

18. She has taught me to relax a little more, to not be so uptight about everything and to never sweat the small stuff.

19. We love our sister nights where we order really greasy food, really sweet desserts and watch the girliest movies we can find. Those make for amazing memories.

I love you Ashwee Pooh!!!

I will finish my other three family members next week...Alaina (my other sister), Austin (my nephew), and last but certainly not least...my beloved husband, Jason.

My Family Members, Part 2

Today is about my dearest Daddy. In no particular order, just as they come to mind...

Me and Daddy in the NC mountains:

1. He has always been the head of our household, leading his children (by teaching and by example) to God.

2. He has worked very hard my whole life so that he could provide for our family and so that my mom could stay at home with us, even when that meant working loooong hours and weekends and business trips that took him away from home.

3. My dad has the best sense of humor! He can make anyone smile, even when they don't want to.

4. He has the ability to talk to anyone and make them instantly feel comfortable around him.

5. He still takes all three of his girls on Daddy/Daughter dates!

6. We share the love of good movies, we have very similar taste when it comes to movies...well, not all the chick flicks though.

7. Even when he may be tired, he will still give his "girls" a shoulder rub.

8. He taught me how to throw a football and a baseball (basketball didn't go so well), how to water ski and kneeboard, to stand up for myself, how to drive a boat and a car, and he taught me through example what I wanted in a husband.

9. In our family, he is the fix it man, the build it yourself man, the gardner/landscaper, the bug squasher, and the critter catcher.

10. He loves God. No matter how many hours he's worked in a week, he gets up faithfully every Sunday to go to church and to take his family to church. He is such a wonderful example of a God fearing and obeying husband and father. He is the one who baptized me at age 8. What a wonderful, special memory for me.

11. He leads us in prayer every time we sit to eat.

12. His 3 daughters had him wrapped around our tiny fingers from the day we were born, but he always stood strong as the head of the house, and disciplined when needed. He's never ashamed to show his love or emotion when it comes to his family. He loves his family and it shows to the world.

13. A disappointed look from my father will make me cry quicker than anything, when I was younger, if I acted up, all it took was a look for me to get upset.

14. My daddy has been the one man who has and always will be a constant in my life. He would drop everything if I needed him, he and my mom have done this several times to make the 4 hour trip to where I live, in a time of need.

15. He still hugs, kisses, and tells my mom he loves her everytime he leaves the house and when he gets home at the end of the day, us girls too, when we're home. He gives the best bear hugs.

16. We have the best talks, we cut up, talk about serious things, talk about silly things, but no matter what it is, he listens. (You have to be when you've lived with 4 women!)

17. Even when he has a full load at work and at home, he still helps out my grandparents, his mom and my mom's dad and mom.

18. He also loves Jason like he is his own son.

19. He makes the best Saturday morning breakfasts!

I have a father who is very dear to my heart. I know he will read this, so I love you Daddy!

My Family Members

Ok, so I came up with this idea...I am going to post what I love about my family members, and what makes them and my relationship with them special. I am going to start with my Momma because she is the one who reads my blog faithfully and got me started in the blogosphere.

Me and my Mom:

1. She raised me to love God and have a personal relationship with Him.

2. She has always done what was best for me, even when I flat out told her I thought she was being unfair (mostly when I was a teenager:p).

3. She has always loved me, no matter what I've done, and will always love me.

4. In my more recent years, she has become my best friend, and instead of butting heads over how much we are alike, I've embraced it and thoroughly enjoyed our similarities and shared interests.

5. She has always been there as fast as her feet, car, or whatever else she needed could get her there. She's been there through the most joyful times in my life as well as times of sickness and/or sadness. She has cried with me, laughed with me, held me and helped me back up

6. She got me through being diagnosed with diabetes at an early age and was the one who learned anything and everything she could about it, so she could take care of me and help me to learn.

7. She is my shopping buddy, I wouldn't choose anyone over her to go shopping with.

8. She taught me everything I know about being a woman, being a loving wife, and eventually a mother. She taught me how to be a southern belle, and how to cook and clean and take care of a household.

9. She has shown me what kind of mother I want to be to my children.

10. My mom loves her family with a passion.

11. She would drop anything if you needed to talk.

12. She always made my boo-boo's feel better and made being sick a little easier by making up a bed on the couch and serving us cold drinks over crushed ice, soup, scraped apples, and crackers. (She still does this by the way)

13. When I am living away from home, I talk to her on the phone everyday.

14. She has a servant's heart, she doesn't think she does, but she does. My mom does so much for others, and never thinks twice. Is always there to drive my grandmother somewhere or go with me to the dentist (which I went to today and am not very fond of), sit up at the hospital when family members are sick, sends cards to people who are celebrating or grieving, makes food for those who are going through hard times...the list goes on and on...

15. She has taken Jason in like he is her own son, not just a son in law.

16. Momma loves my daddy and honors him like the Bible instructs us to do.

17. She gave up being a career woman to raise her 3 daughters and homeschool 2 of us, when Ashley and I were in school, she always picked us up at the end of the day and had snacks already made when we got home.

18. She has been at every graduation, ceremony, sporting event, and concert that any of us have ever been in. Taking loads of pictures.

19. And last, but not least, she loves the Lord and has the love of God in her heart. And, it shows through to everybody around her.

So, these are just a few of the things that make my mom so special. I love you, momma.

Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Bars

My good friend, Jess, made this for dessert one of the first times she and her husband came to dinner. Her husband is my husband's sergeant and they quickly became friends through work, and introduced us, and we quickly became friends. She has introduced me to some of the best recipes, and I figured I'd share this one with all of you. If you are a peanut butter fan, this one is a must! I made it Saturday night for my grandmother's birthday lunch on Sunday...that is one of the greatest parts about this recipe, it's easy and you can make it early! Here ya go!

Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Bars

24 Nutter Butter Cookies (crushed)

5 Tbs. Butter - Melted

Mix together and press into square dish or pan (I use an 8x8 or a 9x9)

Filling:

1 - 8 oz. Cream Cheese

1 cup Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

6 oz. Cool Whip (will need a bigger size, will use what's left for topping)

Mix together and spread on top of crust.

Top with remaining Cool Whip.

Place in freezer 2-4 hours before serving, remove 1/2 hour before serving. Drizzle chocolate syrup over top right before eatin' time!

I hope ya'll enjoy, we did! Here's a couple of pictures of the yummy treat.