Running and Listening

When I run I like to listen to music, Christian music to be specific. I think that is a little odd. Most people like to listen to upbeat tunes with a good rhythm to keep them going. I, on the other hand, turn my ipod dial to my Christian music playlist and hit the road. I suppose I find it therapeutic. When I run, I think. (That is when the dogs aren't dragging me off in 5 different directions and Pete isn't peeing on Berkley's head.) Christian music gives me a lot to think about so it keeps me entertained.

Third Day is kind of old school but it remains one of my top favorite Christian bands of all time and I never get tired of hearing their music. They, along with Casting Crowns, pretty much dominate my Christian music play list. I think they have actually recently released a new cd and, clearly, I have not gotten it yet. I'm not exactly a hard core-gotta-have-every-cd-ever-released-must-see-every-concert-will-drive-for-hours-to-get-there fan of anyone. Never have been.

And all of this to say, I wanted to share the lyrics from this Third Day song I listened to after my run today. (Oh, and don't think I'm all athletic and in shape because I didn't run very far and I kept having to stop and fuss at the dogs and get untangled from the leashes so it pretty much doesn't even count that I went running.) Henceforth, the lyrics... for some reason when I was listening to this song, a thought came to me that someone out there might benefit from reading them, so here goes:

Cry Out To Jesus

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering

When your lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus

To the widow who suffers from being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

Lateley

It's a good thing that I've been taking pictures lately, because I wouldn't be able to remember anything otherwise. Life seems like a whirlwind but we are enjoying every day that flies by. Here are a few fun things that Ben and I have enjoyed this past month or so:

Celebrating

The whole family came down to Pike Road for Easter this year. It was my first "holiday" to host everyone and we had a great time! Above is a family photo that we took on Easter with mom and dad cropped out. Sorry mom and dad, we'll get a better family photo soon!

Ben's mom and dad invited my whole family over for dinner with all the Lassiters, complete with an Easter Egg hunt! It was fun watching our nieces and nephew hiding and finding, hiding and finding all the eggs over and over again. After several hunts, Adalyn finally suggested that we just hide the basket instead of each individual egg.

Ben and Neal took the kids for a spin in the cool golf cart that Obama gave Neal and Tori. Thanks Obama.

In the meantime, I enjoyed attempting to capture some cute shots of the kiddos. Here is Cole telling me how many Easter Eggs he found. This is serious business.

I love this one of Cate with her great grandpa.

Baby Sitting!

Russ and Jessi went on a short getaway and Ben and I got to keep Adalyn and Bentley for a little while. We had a good time playing hide and seek with Adalyn, baking a cake, and gaining experience on what it's like to have two kids instead of just two dogs to look after. Needless to say, Berkley and Pete didn't get very much attention that day.

I got to take some pictures of Adalyn and Bentley together and I'm working on editing some of those. I have had a lot of fun taking pictures of things other than dogs and birds. Adalyn is such a good big sister and Bentley was an angel the entire day.

While the cake was baking, we had naptime.

Then we all loaded up, picked up some pizza, and headed to Mimi's house to play with Cole and Cate. While we were in the car waiting on Ben to get the pizza, Adalyn filled me in on how no one in Auburn (where she lives) knew how to drive. I told her that no one in Montgomery knew how to drive either.

Here are the kids at Mimi's after a pizza dinner. After dinner activities included hunting more Easter Eggs, even until it was so dark we could barely see them.

When Ben and I got back in our car to go home that night, Ben looked at me and before he could speak I said, "I know, I'm not ready either." He said, "Good." I admire all of you moms out there! I know it is a full time job and I respect the fact that you can raise kids and still function as a normal person. Maybe one day .....

Cooking

At the end of March, it was our turn to host Life Group. It was also our turn to cook for everyone. Ben decided that he wanted to cook a Boston butt with all the fixins and then that somehow evolved into "Que Dogs" (pictured above). "What is a Que Dog?" Everyone was asking at church when Ben announced that "Que Dogs" was what's for dinner. "You'll just have to come and find out." Was his only reply. "Everyone has to at least taste a Que Dog." I was getting so frustrated because, I for one, do not like hotdogs. A lot of people do not like hotdogs. However, we went to the store and bought 2 packages of hotdogs, one package of sausages, and over 20 hotdog buns. "Why??" I kept asking. "Why, for the love??" "Que Dogs!!!"

I was really trying not to hurt Ben's feelings by doubting because he was just so excited about these "Que Dogs."

However, to my (and everyone's) astonishment, the "Que Dogs" were fantastic! It involved making a hotdog, putting slaw on top (I made homemade slaw for the first time and it wasn't too bad), putting Bar-B-Que on top of that, then topping it off with shredded cheese and, you guessed it, Bar-B-Que sauce. And there you have it, the Que Dog!

I love trying out new coffee drink recipes like "Spiced Mocha Coffee" from myrecipes.com and the one pictured above, Pioneer Woman's Dulce de Leche coffee. It was fantastic and you can find it on her website www.thepioneerwoman.com. If you like coffee house drinks, you will love this one you can make at home. The picture on her website is much better than the one I have pictured here.

Coaching

I have had the pleasure of helping my sister in law, Jessi, coach the Trinity girl's soccer team this season. I had the best time getting to know these girls, spending time with Jessi, and getting to experience soccer again. The varsity girls are still working towards making the play offs and I am excited about getting to go to some of their games as well!

And, I think that about sums up the highlights of the last couple of months with the exception of our garden which I'll be posting about soon!