the one with pictures

Hey, I have a great facebook album of summer pictures. Check it out.

the one when I'm inspired

I found a new mommy blog the other day. I'm getting slightly obsessed with the whole blog thing. It's all Jamie and Bethany's fault. I had no idea until they seduced me into this bloggy world.

Anyway, great find: Inspired to ACTion. She has a couple of blog series that I like. I started reading the one about establishing an effective morning routine-she even has an ebook on it you can download!! She gives lots of practical tips on morning routines, but is real about the fact that getting up early to pray/study/exercise won't just happen. We have to have a real motivation. She lists several, including: "I want to be whole so my children can be whole."

I started weeping. Why do I choose anything over wholeness? Why do I choose 30 min of extra sleep over prayer time? Why do I choose playing on Facebook over Bible study? Why do I choose watching a movie over exercising? I feel so ashamed.

I do not want to offer Adam and Chloe Belle my brokenness. I want to offer them a life of wholeness. I want to offer them a life that has been renewed, sanctified, and built up by Christ. I want to choose life, discipline, and spiritual abundance.

So, bloggy world, here I am to tell you that I am going to make a real effort towards wholeness. Keep me accountable. Ask me about it.
I want to be different than I am. I want to be Christlike. I want to be whole so that my precious family can be whole.

the one where I love my job

I had coffee with a college student today. (this is the moment where I know you're all sighing with envy because I have the coolest job in the world-it's totally true, I do). We talked about life, love, and Jesus. A strange thing happens, so often when I'm ministering to college students, I find the words that are coming out of my mouth are the words that I need to hear. So often I get lost in life and forget what is most important.

God loves me. He loves me desperately. He has provided grace, salvation, and righteousness. His mercies are new each morning.

And this is all that my soul needs for joy.

I love my Jesus. Love love love Him.

the one about Father's Day

Sorry to be two days late on Father's Day. But, two days late is my style so I'm sure none of you are the least bit surprised.

I love my husband. LOVE him. One of the best things about life with Adam is that it just keeps getting better and better. With each phase it feels like it can't possibly be any greater, and God always ushers in an even sweeter, more joyful time.

This part of our journey we're in right now is so much fun. I love being a parent with Adam. He's a joy to watch. He loves his little girl so very very much. He is delighted by her, proud of her, smitten by her, and desperate to be a good father to her. He is simply amazing.

Happy Father's Day to my beloved. You are my greatest treasure on this earth.

(by the way, this is the dress my mom made I mentioned in a previous post)

the one about my crazy day

I so need to be working right now, but I have to tell you about my day yesterday.

1. AC goes out at the house. Service man will be at the house the next morning at 8.
2. I leave for work. When I return, Adam and Chloe Belle are hanging out in an 87 degree house.
3. We pack up baby and stuff. Barricade dogs in bathroom (don't want to crate them, they may get too hot.)
4. Leave for Beth's.
5. Get dinner from Arby's. Get on the road and its the wrong order. Not enough food for dinner.
6. Get to Beth's, forgot her house key. She's 30 min away.
7. Go get AK some more dinner. That's right folks, we went to two fast food places in less than 30 minutes. Classy and healthy.
8. Feed Chloe Belle in an abandoned parking lot. And not only do I feed her, I also pump for today's bottle. Public nudity. Classy.
9. Get to Beth's. Go to put Chloe Belle down. Misunderstood Beth-thought her crib was set up, its not. Chloe Belle goes to sleep in her stroller.
10. CB not happy. Cries on and off throughout night.
11. Stay up too late. AK does not do any homework.
12. Wake up this morning. Realize forgot pumped milk in bag. Ruined. Pumped in abandoned parking lot for nothing.
13. Frantically drive home to beat AC man at house.
14. Dogs broke out of barricaded bathroom. Poop and pee all over bedroom. They clawed through a chair to get out. Its all messed up.
15. Hurriedly getting ready for day, arrive 5 min late at work.

So awesome. I have to say, though, that Adam is my bestest friend. Crazy adventures full of mistakes are somehow awesome with him by my side. I love him lots.

the one about my awesome day

had a super duper day today:

1. went to samford library. love it. i love the heavy silence that is pregnant with knowledge. i can feel all those books just screaming to be read. i think i get smarter by osmosis...just wandering through the stacks makes me feel more academic. gosh i miss seminary.

2. drove down the road in the pouring rain singing at the top of my lungs to aerosmith.

3. had lunch with college girls and delved into the Word together. bliss.

4. GOT A NEW PHONE! my amazing husband decided i needed to be spoiled. pictures to be posted tomorrow.

5. had a date night with my two beloveds at buffalo wild wings. giant burgers + trivia = happy maegan.

6. my mom brought over cb's father's day dress. fantastic.

pictures to come of dress and phone. be back tomorrow to talk about all things adam. the most amazing husband/father of all time. he's the best.

the one where I catch you up

Haven't been the best at blogging lately. Let me catch you up:

1. Ellis and Becky came to stay. They are amazing. Spent the night talking about their amazing homemade organic life. As always, they inspired me to start my own garden and make everything with my own hands.

2. Spent the next morning pulling stubborn weeds and getting too much sun. Gave up on organic lifestyle. sigh.

3. I want to learn to sew. I've become mildly obsessed with mommy-make-it-sew-it-yourself blogs. Want to be amazing sewing mother.

4. Don't have $500 for a sewing machine.

5. This was my vacation week. Translation: I did not go into the office all week and simply increased in my feeling that I'm letting things slide at work. Feel out out of touch with college students. Want to be perfect college minister but feel that I'm always a day late and a dollar short. Or I guess I should say a Bible study short or something.

6. Adam told me last night I need to realize I'm not perfect and I can't do everything. Really? But I want to be perfect.

7. Drove the Newlywed mission team to ATL last night on the dreaded church vans. They left for Israel. Translation: I am WILDLY jealous they get to spend two weeks with Wendi. I secretly want to be her best friend but, alas, she is a continent away. I hope they have a FANTASTIC time and lead people to Jesus.

8. Andrew and Marchele took care of Chloe Belle all night while we were gone. They are the happiest most servant-hearted people I know. Want to be just like them.

9. Cooking for Baby came in the mail. woot. Cannot wait to be amazing I-make-all-my-own-healthy-babyfood mother.

10. And lastly, in all the other areas of life where I strive and fall a bit short, there is one area where I have succeeded fantasticly. (is that a word? it has a squiggly red line under it).

I have the most beautiful baby in the world. hands. down. She is breathtaking.

the one with yummy pasta

I made this for Supper Club this past Sunday and it was a huge hit. I stole it out of a magazine...don't remember which one now. So sorry.

Creamy Spinach Ricotta Pasta

1 lb rigatoni
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, onions, and garlic
1 cup chopped onions
1 box (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
2 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat oven to 425. Coat 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray
2. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta following pkg directions. Drain; return to pot. Stir in tomatoes and chopped onions.
3. Cook spinach in microwave following pkg directions. Squeeze out moisture. Transfer to bowl. Add alfredo sauce, ricotta, garlic salt and pepper; stir to combine.
4. Transfer spinach mixture to pasta pot; toss to combine. Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish.
5. Mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil. Sprinkle over pasta. Bake at 425 for 20 to 25 min or until golden brown and bubbly.

It's a bit expensive. I used a coupon for the alfredo sauce and ricotta but it was still 13.00 for the whole dish, and that's a bit much for me. Next time I might make my own alfredo to save money. I also just used ritz because I had them in the pantry. I went really heavy on the Parmesan and olive oil for the topping and it was great. I also used the whole container of ricotta (15 0z) and it turned out well.

Enjoy!

the one about wanting

I want to be a prayer warrior
I want to be an excellent wife
I want to immerse myself in God's Word
I want to be a godly example for my daughter
I want to be a great cook
I want to be thrifty
I want to sew Chloe Belle precious clothes
I want to be a great photographer
I want to share the Gospel
I want to disciple college girls
I want to stick to the budget
I want to be a great friend
I want to write letters
I want to be healthy
I want to make things beautiful
I want my house to be spotless
I want to train my dogs to not jump
I want to serve Adam
I want to be an incredible mom
I want to spend my life for Christ

the one with two beautiful girls

We finally got together with Ben, Bethany, and Madi the other night. Chloe Belle is big enough that she can interact with Madi a little bit. Give her another three months and they'll be having a blast together!
I'm so grateful for Bethany. She has been there with me through every phase of life-from playing with trolls in her bedroom closet as wee little kids-to those awesomely awkward middle school years-through my not so great phases-standing by each other as we married our fellas-and now into mommy phase! I'm grateful to the Lord to have had a friend to share my whole life with!!!

the one that's unfortunate

Sorry it's been a while. We've been insanely busy. I'll update you on all that soon. But for now, I have some unfortunate news for you.

Chloe Belle has developed a new habit. It's this high-pitched squealing. She sounds like the baby version of the bad 90s Mariah Carey. Adam's started calling her Mariah. It's pretty annoying. Cute the very first time...annoying the last 1000 times.

the one where I show you what I saw when I woke up this morning

the one with favorite music

So Ashley, I have to confess. There's not alot of Christian music I love. I know that this isn't because it's not out there, it's because I don't spend the time looking for it. Plus, I have weird musical tastes when it comes to Christian music. What I do like, I LOVE. So, here you go:

1. Indelible Grace. This music is soothing to my soul.


2. Red Mountain Church. love it. has been my favorite since college. love it.


3. Glory Revealed. Love it, especially the first one. Can't wait for more.


There you go. Those three are my style and my favorites. Others I like are Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Jimmy Needham, Bard Millard's Hymned, and Sara Groves.
Sorry I wasn't more help!!