The Holidays

So... I have not been the best blogger since November. Sorry about that. I have been very busy with house guests:

I had these two crazy (hehe - love you girls!) people plus my sister come spend a week with Dave and I over Thanksgiving. They are my twin cousins (from my dad's side of the family), now honorary Wallace's, since they spent Thanksgiving at Dave's parents house..... man that was a long introduction!

In this picture from left to right, me, Missy, Teresa (my sister) and Miranda.

Dave and I both agree that if we could properly host three teenage girls for a week in our house without any major problems, we can do pretty much anything with our life!

During the week the girls were visiting, I also invited the junior high girls over for a sleep over. We had an awesome time and stayed up way too late:

Doing really random stuff...

Eating weird food and taking pictures....

and maybe TP-ing someone. But just maybe. You'll never find out for sure...

After Thanksgiving, the Christmas parties started. We had a junior high Christmas party, a cousin Christmas party, a Wallace family Christmas party, a young couples Christmas party.... you get the idea? Well, we had something going on almost every night of the week for about three weeks in a row. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures.... but here are the ones I have.

This picture is Sarah (a JH leader with me), Melanie and Julia (two of our JH girls). We went to a Christmas concert in which some other girls from our JH sang.

Here is a picture of just part of our group. From left to right: me, Julia, Eden, Sarah, Melanie, Amanda, Cassy, and Cassy's brother.

The last thing I have pictures of is our small group. Its not the best picture (sorry!); Brandon has a December birthday and is the oldest in the group (he's 30 now!) so we celebrate it every year now by going out. So, here's the group: the Scully's (Jeremiah and Courtney), us, Paul behind us, the Mooneys (the new additions to the group - John and Julie), and then the Troyers (Carrie, Sadie and Brandon).

We just love our small group so much! We've been together for a year now, and it has been so wonderful to get to know these people and see them every week and share our lives with them!

Making disciples....

Me and Cassy

I have been a junior high leader at our church for a little over one year. It has been such an awesome experience as I get to mentor and enjoy life with about ten 8th grade girls. I never expected my time with them to be something I value so much or something that I look forward to. Every week I am refreshed and renewed by these kids. These are two hours during my week where I can play goofy games, talk like a teenager (LOL!) and act crazy-like. I also have developed a deep love of texting. In fact, I probably send about 2000 texts a month (and mostly to my junior highers!)

I'm not in this picture, but this is part of the youth group at Winter Camp last year.

I have been so blessed by these girls! They are so unique and wonderful and fun to be around. They have their ups and downs and I am so excited that they have invited me to be a part of their lives and I can help solve their problems. It is so neat to see these girls grow in their faith. One thing I love about them is how open then are. They openly share their troubles and problems and we can talk about them, pray for them and share life together!

Eleanor and Mikayla

Just to prove to you that I am a junior-higher-at-heart, I now listen to Taylor Swift (LOVE her!!!). Also, if you gave me the choice of hanging out for an evening with my junior highers or going to dinner with our "adult" friends, I would most likely choose the crazy young people....

Julia and Jordan

One last great thing about our youth group is the wonderful team of leaders. I have become close to them, and have so much fun with them! We often hang out for about an hour after youth group, just talking. One of the new things we started this school year is making videos for our kids. They represent what NOT to do, or give us talking points for our small group. They are pretty funny and a lot of fun to watch! So, I'll be putting them up here for you to enjoy also.

This video introduces the "mean girls" and also the dorky boys and our interactions with each other. In our small groups, we talk about how to meet the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of others.



In this video, we talk about how we can change. Do we change to fit into our group of friends? Is this good or bad? How should we change?

Alright.... enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash

One thing that I love about fall is all the squash. I found a recipe last year that I absolutely LOVE and it is so delicious, healthy and very easy to make. First, you need to buy a Spaghetti Squash. They are a creamy light brownish-yellow color. I know Vons and Trader Joe's have them this time of year. You cut it down the middle, scoop out the seeds, put it cut side-down on a pan in the oven for half an hour or so, until its soft.


While its cooking, you put together in a pan one chopped onion and one green pepper. You can add some oil and garlic for flavoring.
After this stuff is tender, you can add some tomatoes and even some meat. When I make this, I often buy chicken sausages at Trader Joe's and chop them up and put them in here to heat them up. They are pre-cooked, so they can be added at the end.

Instead of adding fresh tomatoes like I normally would, I had some (well, 2) cans of Italian-style chopped tomatoes that I had accidentally purchased. I thought it would be a good time to use them. It was perfect using them because the extra liquid in the tomatoes as well as the flavoring made this dish even better!
Anyways, about this time the squash was cooked so after it sits for a minute or two, you take a fork to it and pull the squash apart. Its called Spaghetti Squash because it comes out of the squash looking like spaghetti noodles:

Well, you mix everything together, or you can serve it like spaghetti - the "noodles" on the bottom with the sauce on the top. Add basil and feta cheese to top it off.

Chalkboard

So, I bought that dresser a few months ago that went into my office. Well, I finally got around to turning the mirror that came with it into a chalk board. It is sitting in the office waiting for Hubby to hang, but I'll show you how I did it and how awesome it looks!
This is the before picture:
First I covered it in three coats of Magnetic paint.
Then I covered it in Chalkboard paint

After that, I painted the outside edge that red color that was on the dresser.
This is the way it looks now. I know it still needs to go up in the office, but doesn't it look good?

October 15

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

I know it holds significance for many people. It holds significance for me.

I would be 32 weeks pregnant today.

When I think about this period of time, I remember the joy and pain.

Take a moment today and light a candle, write a note or say a prayer, for someone you know that has lost a child. Whether it be in pregnancy or after birth.

Remember.

Newest dresser

So, a little while back I promised that I would show you what I have been up to. Here's some pictures! I found an AWESOME wood dresser at a garage sale for a whopping total of $10! Yup.... $10. Even cheaper than the Salvation Army. So, here's the work I've done on it. I also have been working on my chalk board. So, here are some pics of the dresser:

This dresser is done, so I will get some new pics and post them in the near future. If you're interested in buying it, I will be selling it..... so let me know!

Flowers

So, in my quest for a little flower bed in the back yard, I have come across a website that is extremely beneficial for people living in Southern California. It is a wonderful resource that tells you what you should/can be doing in this month of October to build and make your garden. There is a different web page for each month! Also, you can search by flower or plant to get tips and hints about the best flowers and plants to grow in California. It is SO COOL! Take a minute to check it out if you are curious about what you can be doing in your yard. Also, now is the time to do planting if you live in California. Many plants are planted in the fall..... so..... get going!