Youth Devo & Ladies Night Out

Arlo, Vivian and Joyce hosted a youth devo at the church building last Sunday night.  They served the kids hot dogs and nacho's along with Vivian's famous cookies for dessert.  How can you go wrong with that?   These kids love being together!

Monday night was Ladies Night Out hosted by Joyce, Becky, and Alice.  Joyce gave a really sweet devo and then we were served taco stack ups with apple dumplings for dessert.  Yum!!

After we ate, we played a game "It's all in the numbers."  Melanie Carter and I were on a team together.  We got 16 of our answers right.  More if you count a couple of our creative answers (12 stripes on a zebra instead of 12 signs of the zodiac.  Or 9 pancakes in a short stack rather than 9 planets in the solar system.  Made sense to us!)  Much harder than it looks!

Fun times!! Thank you ladies! :)

Bittersweet

Well Sunday was a bittersweet day for this momma.  Michael left to go back to Freed Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee.  Which means he is over 450 miles and 7 hours away from home.  While he was eager to go, I was not so eager to see him leave.  It never gets easier to send him off...  It was so nice having him home for the last 5 weeks.  The good news is, that if he takes a few classes over the summer, he will be graduating with his Bachelors of Accounting in December. 

A couple days before he left, we went out to eat with my brother and his family so they could see him off.

I made sure I cooked some of Michael's favorite meals to try and bribe him to stay home another day or two (classes don't start until tomorrow)

 I know a little curly headed girl that is going to miss her Mikey

 And another girl who will miss him whether she will admit it or not

Michael arrived safe and sound around 10:30 Sunday night.  So thankful that he had a safe and uneventful trip.  Have a good semester Michael Blake Womack!

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Today I am linking up with Kelly over at Kelly's Korner (www.kellyskornerblog.com) and sharing one of my favorite soup recipes.  Potato Soup is my favorite!!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and have made it several times over the last couple of months.  It is always a hit!

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 (30 oz) bag of frozen hash brown potatoes

2 (14oz) cans of chicken broth

2 (10.75 oz) can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese

1 pkg real bacon pieces

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese for garnish 

1 green onion for garnish

Directions:

Place frozen potatoes in a slow cooker.

Pour broth and cream soup over the top of the potatoes.

Add the onion and the pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Stir in cream cheese and bacon pieces, until well combined and cook for 30 additional minutes.  Garnish with cheese and onions if desired.

This has to be the easiest potato soup ever!  

Be sure and visit Kelly's blog to find links to other soup recipes :)

Happy Day!

My MawMaw finished her radiation treatments today!!  She got to ring the bell at the cancer center!!  So proud to call this awesome brave woman by grandmother!!  She will have a PET scan in 2 or 3 months to find out the results of her treatments, so please keep her in your prayers.

No Peek Beef Tips

This is a recipe that I found on Pinterest a while back.  I have made this several times over the past year and my family loves it.  It can be served over rice, noodles are mashed potatoes.  I normally serve it over rice.  It  is perfect to throw together on a Sunday morning and have dinner ready and waiting when you get home from church!

No Peek Beef Tips

Ingredients: 

2 lb. - Beef tenderloin tips, Stew Meat, Chuck Roast or Chuck Eye, cubed

1 - 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup

1 – packet brown gravy mix

1 - packet lipton dry onion soup mix

1 – 4 oz can mushrooms

1 - cup water or ginger ale soda (I use 7up)

Directions: 

Add cubed meat to a 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a large bowl mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the meat.

Add mushrooms and stir to coat. Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 Hours.

Do not remove foil until done.

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

Servings: 6 - 8 

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  The first day of 2013 has been great so far!  We had absolutely NOTHING to do today.  And it was wonderful to stay home and spend time with those I love.  Courtney did have to go to work at 5pm so that was a bummer, but she will be off in a couple of hours and we are planning on watching a movie when she gets home.

This is what we did most of the day...

 I always fix pork, cabbage, and black eyed peas on New Years day.  Courtney is not a fan of cabbage or black eyed peas, but she was a trooper and ate a bite of each for prosperity and good luck.

I fixed our favorite Pork Tenderloin recipe

Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

1⁄2 cups olive oil

1⁄3 cup soy sauce

1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

2 tsp dry mustard

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 1-lb. pork tenderloin (silver skin removed)

Directions:

Combine all marinade ingredients and reserve 2-3 Tbsp. Place the pork tenderloin and marinade in a Ziplock bag and let marinate for at least 3-4 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a hot skillet over medium-high heat, sear each side of tenderloin for 2-3 minutes. Place in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the meat has reached 160 degrees. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing. 

Pan Sauce:

Pan scrapings from pork tenderloin

1/2 cup of chicken broth

2-3 tbsp of pork marinade (thoroughly mixed)

1-2 tsp butter

Meanwhile, place the skillet back on the stove over medium heat. Add the chicken broth and scrape up all the browned pieces from the bottom of the pan. Add the marinade and let it boil down for 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and remove from heat stirring until butter has melted. Pour over the pork tenderloin.

New Years Eve 2012

We spent New Years Eve with some of our favorite people!  Several of us met at the church building for good food, good fellowship and good fun!  It was the perfect way to end 2012.  We our old, so we left the party a little after 9 pm.

I finally took the time to figure out how to collage my photos.

We all took our favorite finger/party foods.  I had to work all day, so mine was just cupcakes I had made the night before, and veggies and dip.

Good Fellowship!

Good Fun!

Games

Clowning around

An attempt to get all the kids in one picture...it didn't happen.

Hot Chocolate!

Movie time - Horton Hears a Who

A friend of mine from Arkansas had this poem posted on her Facebook page, which was written by her friend

"In Spite" by Martha D. Manley

Even tho some may hate more,

I choose to love more. 

Even tho some want to think evil, I choose to think good. 

Even tho some choose to think less often of family and friends. 

I choose to think of them more frequently. 

Even tho some choose to live their lives without God. 

I choose His guidance. 

Even tho these things be true. 

And " in spite" of them. 

I will move forward into

2013 with more prayer and

Thanksgiving. 

May this be your best year yet!  Happy New Year!!