Cooking and other news

I absolutely LOVE Greek yogurt...Chobani is my brand of choice:)

I'd heard that you could cook with it and that you could substitute greek yogurt in certain recipes....

so, I decided that I would use the above yogurt in my chicken salad, instead of mayonnaise.

This is not the best picture...

I threw together the above chicken salad using a rotisserie chicken, grapes, pecans, and of course Chobani plain non-fat yogurt...my creation that was supposed to last for lunch for a few days, only made it one with my bottomless pit (aka Bradley).  

Last weekend my cousins (Jen, Ben, Brett & Eric) came in town.  Saturday night we ate at The Post House...very good!  Ever since then I've been wanting to cook something using balsamic vinaigrette. 

Wednesday night I baked chicken that I covered with balsamic vinaigrette, oregano, and rosemary...definitely made my kitchen smell wonderful:)

PS I picked and shelled those peas that are on that plate....not a huge feat, but let me be proud;)

On to other news....

I FINALLY figured out what I'm allergic to...everything in downtown Charleston...well, sort of true...dust mites & cockroaches.  

Who knew you could be allergic to cockroaches?

After a skin test and my arm getting stuck more times than I could count, that was the answer...I didn't enjoy the process.  

None the less makes me even more excited for our move to Mt. Pleasant!

Remembering Uh...

This isn't as widely known as it should be, but September is Ovarian Cancer month.   My Aunt Mary Etta was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2004...she fought hard against it & then left her pain behind on January 2, 2006.


As a way to honor her and raise money towards research, every year we put on a golf tournament.  The money raised is donated to Duke University Hospital specifically for Ovarian Cancer research.  Not including this year's tournament, $124, 000 has been raised and donated.  Each year, Mary Etta's doctor from Duke (Dr. Berchuck) joins us at the tournament.  It means a lot that he would drive to little Cheraw, SC each year to support our family. 

Mary Etta is not defined by cancer...I like to believe that she was so strong, that God knew out of my whole family, she could handle it the best.

& she did...she kept fighting.  I have so many memories and pictures engrained in my mind of her during her fight.  One that makes me smile is of her walking down her stairs with a huge camouflage coat on because she was going to ride fourwheelers...now, surely this wasn't a great idea...but, she didn't want to miss out on the fun.  I can hear her telling me to get the ice cream out the fridge or to eat this or that...I think she enjoyed it through us when she got to where she couldn't eat.  She went through a magazine and circled all the prom dresses that she thought I would like because she wasn't able to go shopping with me like she did the year before.  She fought through her bad days and never missed anything special...like my sister's wedding or my high school graduation.

She was so many things...she was my 'cool aunt Uh' who wouldn't tell my momma that she caught me riding on a motorcycle, who would let me come 'bake brownies' so I could go with her to where everyone was camping out, she showed me life in Savannah through Johnny and took me to a concert in Atlanta, she cut flips on the trampoline at my 16th birthday party (I sure couldn't do that), she taught me how to do the electric slide and tried to teach me how to do the watermelon crawl...

...she liked the rain, she liked to shop (& return most of it...I'm pretty sure I inherited that from her), she had fun ideas...like opening a burrito place in Hartsville, 

she didn't care for sweet tea, she always had a 'World's Finest' chocolate bar in her cabinet, she made great mexican cornbread,  she always dressed up at Halloween...

...she liked animal print clothing, she saw the best in people, she was a wonderful nurse--she was the only person I wanted when I had to be rushed to the doctor when I was five (I just knew she wouldn't let the doctor give me those stitches I heard my momma & daddy talking about), she was creative--she helped me decorate for my 18th birthday party, she had a good taste of music, she wasn't scared of anything (except for maybe the old house behind MaMa's), she knew how to love each of us...

...and we all miss her dearly.

My daily prayer...

"Today, O Lord, I yield myself to you.

May your will be my delight today.

May your way have perfect sway in me.

May your love be the pattern of my living.

I surrender to you

my hopes,

my dreams,

my ambitions.

Do with them what you will, when you will, as you will.

I place into your loving care

my family,

my friends,

my future.

Care for them with a care that I can never give.

I release into your hands

my need to control,

my craving for status,

my fear of obscurity.

Eradicate the evil, purify the good, and establish your kingdom on earth.

For Jesus' sake.

Amen."

--Prayers from the Heart by Richard Foster

A good for the soul reunion.

Soooo...I've been a little MIA lately.  Many exciting things have happened since I last blogged.  The most important happened about a week ago...a much needed reunion with my best friends!

I always love when we all get together because it's like we never ever left each other.  We sat in this booth at Olive Garden for several hours...the manager of course thanked us for choosing his restaurant as our meeting spot:)  

What made this evening even more special is the birthdays we were celebrating!  

Chafin, Mary Ann, and Maeg's birthdays are all very close in September (9th, 10th, & 16th)....what a joy it is to walk through life with these beautiful women year after year. 

Over the years we've had a great time celebrating these birthdays....

"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth."

We all bring something different to the table...yet we were brought together by a Savior who knew that we needed each other & for that I am very thankful.

Ocean Baptism

Last Sunday, Bradley and I were baptized in the ocean at Isle of Palms.  This is something I'd been wanting to do for quite sometime.  I was baptized when I was younger, but I didn't really become a Christian until later.  You can read my story from an earlier post here.

It was so awesome for Bradley and I to get to do this together!

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin." ~Romans 6:3-7

My favorites Friday...

I LOVE scarves--anytime of year!  Most of the scarves I wear are really pashminas...they are less itchy than bulky scarves, but surprisingly warm, and you can wear them lots of different ways.

Definitely, my favorite accessory...I racked up on them a few years ago when I was in India for the summer--so many beautiful colors, super cheap (a little over $1), made great gifts, and were easy to cram in a suitcase.    

I add a pashmina to my outfit almost everyday in the Fall/Winter seasons.  They are also great to wear as a shawl to weddings!

It's no secret that one of my favorite things to do is shop and of course, find a good deal.

This past week, I was browsing at Target and discovered a few pashminas on sale for $3.24!!!

So, I HAD to purchase a couple--a cheap way to spruce up an outfit and I already have plans for both of them.

Thank you Target for adding a basic navy and a neutrally patterned pashmina to my collection:)

'Knock You Naked' Brownies

My sweet friend, Quinn, celebrated a birthday yesterday.  I wanted to make a yummy treat for Quinn's birthday dinner party...of course, I looked no further than the Pioneer Woman.  If you've never looked at the cooking section of her blog, you should definitely check it out!  

I'm a chocolate fanatic, so I'm always looking for recipes with lots of pizazz and by pizazz I mean lots of wonderful extras!

I was scrolling through the dessert recipes when I came across, "Knock You Naked Brownies"...now, despite that they looked to die for, the title definitely got my attention...

Ingredients

German Chocolate Cake Mix

1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans

Evaporated Milk

1/2 cup of Butter (melted)

14 oz bag of Caramels

1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix together cake mix, pecans, 1/3 cup of evaporated milk, and melted butter.  Mixture will be thick (kind of like cookie dough).

3.  Split the mixture in half and press one half in the bottom of a 9x9 pan & bake for 8 mins.

3. Unwrap all of the caramels (about 60).  Melt the caramels with 1/2 cup evaporated milk in the microwave.

4.  Pour the melted caramel over the brownies.  Then sprinkle about 1/3 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used minis).

5.  Scoop remaining dough mixture on top.

6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  & during those 20 mins enjoy the best part of baking...any guesses on what that is???  Yes!  Eating the leftover dough on the bowl...yummy!

7.  Sprinkle powder sugar on top!

& there you have it...messy gooey goodness---don't get too crazy;)

The girls at Quinn's birthday celebration...happy birthday Quinnie!

My favorites Friday...

Lately, I've been trying to run more so that I can hopefully run a half-marathon at the end of October...it's getting here quicker than I need it to!

I found this old favorite & it's now the first song on my run playlist...

Why is it one of my favorites??

  Well...because it reminds me of road trips with my best friends, screaming this song at the top of our lungs.  Some of my favorite times, indeed:)

"Perfect love casts out fear."

The past couple of days, I've been thinking about 1 John 4:18, 

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

We often praise God for His perfect love that casts out all fear...but, what exactly does that mean?

After listening to John Piper and pulling out the ol' Key Word, these are a few thoughts I've gathered....

The word perfect in the original greek language means complete.

The word fear in the original greek language means to be afraid.

[complete] love casts out [being afraid]

WHAT MAKES LOVE COMPLETE?

"And we have come to know and have believed that love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this, love is PERFECTED [or completed] with us, that me may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." --1 John 4:16-17

"Perfected love is when you don't just talk about the need to share Christ, you do it. It's when you don't just talk about the hungry, you feed them. It's when you don't just talk about floundering new believers, you disciple them. And so on....Complete your talk with the walk" --John Piper

Loving God, loving people actively as Jesus would, walking in the light, and trusting in the Cross gives His children the confidence to believe and know that His perfect love casts out all fear!

"The way to boldness, the way to confidence and fearlessness, is to walk love not just talk love." 

--John Piper

HOW DOES PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT FEAR?

Fear is the opposite of love.  To love is to trust...you can't completely trust and have fear.  

Perfect love of God abiding in us, gives confidence...confidence diminishes fear.    

I only wanna be with you...

Who doesn't love Hootie???  Hootie and the Blowfish perform every year in August at the Homegrown Festival on Daniel Island...and I finally made it to see them!  It was so much fun and the weather was great.  Another reason why I love my beautiful city...Darius Rucker lives here:)

three special days...

Two years ago, August 8th, 2009...the beautiful Maegan Rogers became Mrs. Christopher Bolding...Bradley and I couldn't have been more excited to stand beside two people that we love and appreciate.  Being the first of our close friends to marry, they tested the waters out for us and let us in on all there is to know about being newlyweds!  & of course, Maeg was looking out for me that day...she arranged it so I wouldn't have to walk down the aisle escorted by Bradley Mishue.  Come on now, y'all know the old saying, "you can't walk down the aisle twice with the same person"!

Richard Bell Photography

....and the very next day, Bradley was to take me on a much anticipated date...in which I told his best friend Brad that if Bradley didn't ask me to be his girlfriend soon that he was getting pushed off the bridge.  Brad knew what was happening later that day, so he wasn't terribly concerned:) 

Bradley took me out to the, then newly built, pier underneath the Cooper River Bridge.  We ate watermelon, drank sweet tea out of mason jars, and he read me a long letter & at the end asked me, "Will you walk by faith with me?"...I nodded my head yes, smiled, & said, "I'd like that....so....you're my boyfriend?!" 

August 10th....my sissy's birthday.  Today is Terri Anne's 21st birthday...just kidding...but, she's getting to the point where she might not share her age;)  We might not always get along, but I do love her & appreciate that she is a wonderful big sister that put up with me eavesdropping on the phone, tagging along with her friends, and pulling the 'I'm the baby' card way too many times.
I am thankful that she shows me a picture of what it means to give to others.  Happy birthday!

such a fun Friday...

What a fun day it has been!  We enjoyed a peaceful few hours at the beach today...our old spot at Sullivan's missed us...I felt like I was coming home:)  I chose to enjoy my book most of the time, Bradley on the other hand explored the sand bar (he's the little speck in the pic on the right).

Then Friday night date night!  Full of my favorite things...started off with a quick trip to my favorite store, Gap, where I found these jeans 50% off...wonderful (my face isn't showing my true excitement).

  Then off to the movies (I love watching movies) to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes (which I recommend).  We tried making our best intimidating Ape face...

Shared a 'Love it' of birthday cake remix...mmmm.  Finished the night with seeing the Rains', playing a few games of banana-grams, watching TK & Mike's huntin' episodes, & Stacy leaving behind The Help for me to read.  The movie comes out Wednesday...have to get the book in before then! 

Off to Patrick in the AM, say a prayer for the college students & the Mishues as we talk with my church this Sunday. 

"When did I stop thinking life was dessert?"

Sugar pretty much runs through my veins and boy do I slowly indulge on some sweets!!!  That tasty big piece of cheesecake that makes you close your eyes and savor every single bite.  Now, how many of you devour your meal?  I definitely do...but not dessert, that's to be enjoyed one slow bite at a time.  

A couple weeks back while reading One Thousand Gifts, the line "when did I stop thinking life was dessert?" immediately stopped me...I imagined the excitement and anticipation of a good piece of cake or cobbler.  How did I let myself get so busy that I stopped savoring the little moments.

I continued down the page..."The fast have spiritually slow hearts."  Wow...I've always known that I can be fast paced--doing way too many things at one time, but to realize that my busyness and task oriented mindset makes me miss out on the important things or even more so, my sweet Savior really is pushing me to see the details in each moment.  

Further down the page..."It takes a full twenty minutes after your stomach is full for your brain to register satisfaction.  How long does it take your soul to realize that your life is full?"  I pray that I realize each moment that my soul is overflowing with true life given by Jesus Christ...that I have life because of Him, "Whoever has the Son has life..." (1 John 5:12).

Bradley and I run together from time to time and when we get close to the end I pick up the pace & sprint way before I should.  My reasoning is so we can finish quicker; Bradley however always tells me that I'm wearing my body out and that if I could go that fast towards the end that means I have the ability to keep going a little further.  I worry about finishing--Bradley reminds me to also think about how I get there.  "...let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

"Life is dessert--too brief to hurry."  

(All quotes are from Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts)

One Thousand Gifts and the Rooster

The Midnight Rooster is a quaint, eclectic coffee shop in downtown Hartsville...quite a gem in my opinion.  The Midnight Rooster came into existence some time when I was in high school.  I went there a few times when I actually lived nearby, but now every time Bradley and I go home we make a stop here (especially Bradley).  I'm not a coffee drinker, but I definitely love sitting in a good coffee shop or book store.  Also, we have absolutely no cell phone service at my house in Patrick, so Bradley likes to pull away and get caught up with the outside world.    

On our last visit to the Rooster, we were busy contacting supporters and making updates, but of course I found time to stick my nose in a good book:)  I've recently started reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  SOOOO GOOD!  Voskamp is honing in on the idea of 'eucharisteo' which means 'thanksgiving' in the original greek language.  She dives into the simple thought that naturally we have critical spirits and always want more.  We make lists of places to see in our lifetime, bucket lists, etc.  Voskamp begins a bit of a 'love dare' adventure by creating a list of One Thousand Gifts...not of gifts that she wants, but a list of thanks for the gifts in her life.  

"...I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances...I have learned the secret of being filled..."~Phil 4:11-12

She unlocks Paul's secret to being content in chapter 3 of her book.  He learned to live fully!  This is where she starts her journey of learning 'eucharisteo'--how to be thankful.  I'm barely half way through the book, but the list is proving to be a practical and joyful way to overturn our discontentment with the ordinary and see it as divine.  

I've started trying to do a list of 10 things every day that I am thankful for...I missed a few days in between when I challenged myself to do this.  Since I'm making it public, hopefully I will hold myself more accountable!  It really does change your demeanor to go throughout the day being consciously aware of what's going on around you and to stop and realize the importance of all the small things we all too often take for granted. 

I am thankful for things as small as the muted sounds in the background or summer days when I don't have to blow dry my hair:) to the smells of home and the wonderful grace that has been bestowed on me.  I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of this book and learning more about living a life of thankfulness.

Sit alone and watch the waves break...

This song's kind of old now, but I think of it every summer and catch myself singing it all the time.  I discovered it my freshman year of college (my cousin Johnny recommended it) and I guess since I've lived 15 minutes from 3 different beaches for the past 6 years, it's very fitting!  I've always considered myself more of a mountain person and I do love to visit the mountains, especially since I live at the beach.  Even so, there's something undeniable relaxing and extraordinary about watching and listening to the ocean.

  

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?" ~Isaiah 40:12

Especially in my single days, I loved to sneak away by myself and lay on the beach.  I would always journal/read and be amazed by how great of a picture creation is to our wonderful Father.  The Lord held the oceans in His hand!  He knows the depth of every ocean; He knows when the tide is high or low and corresponds this perfectly with the moon.

I wrote this in my journal the summer of 2007, "As I look out at the vastness of the ocean, I'm unaware of how anyone could question the existence of God.  Lord, you created the ocean in your hand, then poured it down on Earth.  You synchronized the tides to come back and forth at your command...."

I'm very thankful to be close to something so beautiful!

"The heavens declare the glory of God...." ~Psalm 19:1

Knee deep in the water somewhere...

Tuesday evening, the Mishues and the Rains arrived back in Charleston from our Bahamian adventure!  It was probably the most relaxing vacation I've been on.  On the way down to Florida to get on the Celebration cruise ship, we stopped in Savannah to shorten the trip and stayed with Granny Rains.  We arrived in West Palm Beach, FL around lunch time the next day to board the ship.  Our little trip consisted of what I like to call a mini-cruise (two nights) to the Grand Bahama Island and back and two nights at Our Lucaya resort.  What I loved was that we basically had three days on a beautiful resort, but we still got to enjoy two nights of the fun cruise entertainment, games, and food.

Our Lucaya resort had beautiful white-sand beaches, several pools to lounge by, and best of all the resort was so spread out that at times it seemed like we were the only ones there!  Across the street was Port Lucaya Market Place.  This was neat, because I felt like we got to enjoy a bit of the Bahamian culture.  We listened to some island singers and a conch expert tell us all about diving for their famous cuisine and the different ways they cook it (conch fritters, fried conch, conch hush puppies, conch burger, and conch salad).

Back on the ship, Bradley ate WAY too much food.  Our Rains/Mishue team won "Name that Tune" and should have won "Friendly Feud"...I don't like losing:)  We enjoyed the entertaining Cirque du Soleil show, magicians, and a comedian.  Also, the whole trip (especially the long road trip back to Charleston) I had my nose stuck in a book.  I use to read all the the time, but in the busyness of life the past few years have done it less and less.  There are several books I have on my list to read this summer. At the beginning of the summer, I read Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  Presently, I'm reading Calm My Anxious Heart and What is the Gospel?.  The book I read over our trip, is entitled The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  It's probably the first secular book I've read in years.  I couldn't put it down!  You may have heard of it, it's the first book in a pretty popular trilogy and the movie came out about a year ago.  The book is pretty intense and deals with material similar to the tv show Cold Case.  So, if you don't like graphic, mystery-type thrillers you probably shouldn't read this.  The author did a wonderful job with the storyline.  The book basically has three different stories going on and they all end up connecting--very entertaining to say the least. Oh, and I almost forgot we pretty much sang "knee deep in the water somewhere" the whole time...somehow we never got past that one sentence of the song.

Since Tuesday, we've been working on things for the upcoming year, mainly support.  We will be traveling back & forth these next couple of weeks on our support raising journey and then returning to Panama on the 16th to wrap up Summer Beach Project.

Most exciting of anything that happened as of late is a special little girl we got to meet last night.  Bradley and I met our dear friends Kaz and Amy's precious little girl!  Annie Rice is a very special and beautiful 11 month old blessing.  You can check out Amy's blog to read all about life with Annie Rice and their road to bringing her home.  Bradley and I felt so joyful after leaving their home last night.  They have prayed hard and stayed faithful that the Lord would bring them a child in the perfect timing.  Annie Rice is more than perfect!  She is extremely happy and most definitely already loved by so many!