Lead Me

I copy and pasted this from a lyric website. I heard/actually listened to this song for the first time this morning. 


WOW. So True!


I'm not posting this because I'm unhappy. Yes, some days are HARD and not what I "expected"... but I see this as the daily struggle, all the responsibility on my husbands shoulders... the cry for a leader in the home. A prayer somewhat similar that I've heard him pray, and together we continue to pray. 


Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone


Click here - Music Video

Watch it! Listen to it! :) Have a good day!

The WHOLE Chicken

This was pretty intimidating to cook for me. I bought it in a moment of confidence and a sale at the grocery store. I didn't know what the heck to do with it. So I let the little chicken sit in the freezer waiting to be made, until last night.

This is what I did with it. And it was surprisingly easy!

Recipe:

1 (3-4 pound) whole chicken

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Dash of country herb seasoning

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Rinse chicken under cold running water, take out giblets. Pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken in smaller baking pan. Rub with olive oil. Mix together spices in separate bowl, and sprinkle on all sides. Put an extra dash of salt, pepper, and country herb seasoning on all sides. Put butter under the skin by the breasts. Before putting chicken in oven, flip it so it is breast side DOWN. I also added half an onion cut into wedges around the chicken. And gave it a few slaps, because that's what seemed like the right thing to do. 

Now roast the chicken in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Baste with drippings and lower temperature to 475 and cook for another 20 minutes. Flip the chicken over to breast side UP with tongs, baste, and lower the temperature on last time to 425 for 20 minutes. Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 180 degrees. Take out of oven and let rest, covered, for 10-15 minutes. 

Came out awesome! We are using the leftovers on sandwiches, or by itself. You can also take it off the bone and freeze it for a quick dinner on a later date. Buying the whole chicken is cheaper than most other meats, 89 cents a pound, on sale, here! 

Glad I finally made my chicken, wasn't as painful as I thought it would be!

It's Raining... We're eating!

Food.

It's a necessary part of our day. So why don't we make it healthy and enjoy it?!

I know that things I put on here wouldn't be categorized as "healthy" in many people's eyes. Or even mine all the time. But if it's homemade, from scratch, REAL ingredients, it's healthy to me. Whole milk anyone? Real butter? Sour cream? Cream cheese? Making cookies, brownies etc. from scratch? Making your own mashed potatoes even?

I do indulge in the plastic container meal, or from the box... Duh, you need backup. Ooo and chinese take out!

So, eat this super quick and easy healthy food!

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
- asparagus
- bacon
- toothpicks
In a deep skillet, put about 1/2 inch water, or enough to just cover asparagus. Cut the hard ends off of asparagus and put in pan. Let heat up in water just until fork tender. You don't want it to go longer than this. Empty pan of water, put back on stove for next step. Once asparagus is cool enough to handle, wrap a strip of bacon around two pieces of asparagus. Secure with toothpick on each end. Fry the bacon wrapped asparagus in pan until bacon is cooked.

Recipe credits to my sister Laura, except for the toothpicks part :)
We have eaten this 3 times in the past week or so and I am not sick of it yet!

Josey has been getting in on the eating action to!

How dare I stop feeding her to take a picture

Sweet potatoes and carrots are awesome!

By the way... This toy suctioned to her tray is awesome! It's a great distraction while I'm getting the next bite! If I would have known it makes noise every time it spins I wouldn't have gotten it, but of course Josey loves the noise. 

We had a good weekend. Looked at a house in town to rent and fell in love with it.

We are moving. 

Yay! The house we live in has charm.... but charm faded when we got our first months utility bill. Charm especially faded throughout the winter with bills that made me cringe, all the while still freezing my butt off. Every time the wind blows the curtains move. 

I am so excited to decorate and get all settled in a new home. The next house has TWO bathrooms! One connected to the master! Sweet! There is a dishwasher too! LAAA! We haven't had one yet, and this makes me very happy. I am excited to be in town close to the river, playgrounds, stores. It would be a long walk to the store, but worth saving on fuel these days! The lot that the house is on is very big. We are at the end of 2 roads, which created a loop around the house, so we have no neighbors touching our yard. I'm excited about that! So I'm going to get the ball rolling on everything it takes to move. Can't wait to be done and enjoying some central AC this summer!

Encouragement

Psalm 37: 1-9

'Do not fret because of evil men

or be envious of those who do wrong;

for like the grass they will soon wither,

like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the Lord

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

do not fret - it leads only to evil.

For evil men will be cut off,

but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.'

I found this after I looked up anger... I am so very passionate about my whole family, and love each and every one so much. I find comfort that God sees it all. I can imagine how passionate God is about us. I am thankful that this passage says to refrain from anger. If you read on in the passage it is so encouraging. 

4 Month Appointment

She makes my day!

Josey had her 4 month appointment on Wednesday. They said she is thriving! Which is so nice to hear. I feel so blessed to have a happy healthy baby girl! Josey weighs 16.2 pounds, and is 26 inches long! She is in the 90th percentile for her height, weight, and head circumference. Big girl!!

I was so excited that the doctor said Josey could start eating solids! I have a few baby recipe books and want to make as much as I can for her. Her first dinner was potatoes! She loved it!! By the end of feeding her, she was screaming at me if I didn't feed her fast enough. Opening her mouth for the next bite and everything! Yaay! This little girl loves to eat! Josey can also drink 2-4 ounces of juice or water a day too! Probably get more water than juice, because I don't want her to have that much sugar. Unless I buy her expensive stuff that's actually real. Probably won't happen for awhile.

With all this eating I've been hoping that Josey would start sleeping through the night. I've been giving her a rice cereal bedtime bottle for the past month or so, and nothing has changed. So I started trying the enfamil restfull sleep formula at night, and there's still no change. I've tried a combo of the two with an evening bottle of rice cereal, and a bedtime bottle of the special enfamil and she's still hungry! Oh well, maybe she's just growing so much that's why she's hungry all the time... I'm pretty used to it now, but definitely looking forward to a full night's sleep sometime. Maybe I should just throw that out the window.

I mentioned earlier about starting planting season, and we've been rained out. We did get a couple fields done though. Hopefully everything starts to dry up soon! I hope that the fields planted aren't drowned out. Casey can't wait to get back out there and finish planting. It's so fun to watch it all grow! Both of us look forward to the day when Casey can just farm and not have a second job so far away. Someday he will!

Pizza Pizza!

Soooo good! Not to time consuming! Makes 2 pizza crusts. I wrap the second crust and freeze it.

Mom's Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons oil
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
Yeast Mixture: (mix in measuring cup)
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 Tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
- mix all this around with your finger a bit, let rise until at 1 cup mark to make sure you know the yeast is working
Method:
-First make your yeast mixture. In the mean time mix together sugar, salt and oil in separate bowl. Add yeast mixture to bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat until smooth and gradually add in additional 1 1/2 cups flour. Dough should be like biscuit dough. Turn on lightly floured board until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and let stand 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down and divide into two.  Let rise 10 minutes. Then, roll out dough on lightly floured surface and place on greased cookie sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.

I was hungry so I didn't take to much time making the crust's look pretty :)

Let rise 10 minutes. Place in 400 degree oven for 7 minutes. After taking the dough out of the oven carefully flip over. Let set a few minutes and then add desired toppings. Bake again at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.

Topping Ideas:
Tomato sauce, oregano, mushroom, 1/2 green pepper, pineapple, tomato, olives, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, beer or summer sausage.... etc.

Chicken Mixture

What I top it with.... via watching Mom
First I do a layer of cream cheese, then a chicken mixture that I've pre-cooked on the stove. Mixture has cubed chicken, mushrooms, oregano, italian spices, a lot of garlic, green onions and such. I don't measure or anything, just make sure it smells good! :) Okay so.... cream cheese, little sprinkle of mozzarella, chicken mixture, more mushrooms, parmesan cheese, then a little more mozzarella cheese and you're done!
DO NOT OVERLOAD IT! Gets all soggy in the middle. Ew!

Just a P.S. to my sister Laura.... let's not act like we're on allrecipes hahaha!

Planting Started!

Today the men started planting corn! Woohoo! That means lots of things to do, and Casey hardly getting any sleep. He asked for a big chunk of time off at his day job, cause there is so work he can't farm just at night. We are really excited though! So nice to have one year down so that we know what to expect! I hope to post some pictures this season!

There is always a "race" with the farmers to see who can start planting earliest, and I must say we are one of the first ones in our area! :)

Since Casey's gone so much I find myself antsy. He's getting home late now, and I want to make sure I am feeding him really good so he's not hungry.

So on this first day I am baking chocolate chip cookies to take in the tractor!

Recipe:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Oven temp - 330 degrees
Time - 13-15 minutes

Mmmm mmmm!


Josey will be four months old this week Thursday. It's happy and sad. She is even trying to sit up now to! She wobbles a lot, but she's trying!!! Here she is talking to her Grandma Kathy on Skype to show her how she's started sitting! :)

Just Monday..

St. Patricks Day!

Here she is! My little Josey! Getting so big and tearing our hearts out! Her personality is coming out more and more. I could hardly feed Josey her bottle earlier today because she was so busy kicking, waving her arms everywhere, and talking. She has started cooing and talking in her crib before she gets up in the morning. Everything has gotten easier with her and we have a little routine going so that is nice! All the little new things she does each day are so amazing to me, how fast it's all going!

And I thought I was having a bad day....

I couldn't sleep last night. I was tossing and turning, trying to figure out what I was mad at. I didn't want to go to bed angry... I was so fed up with myself and didn't know what it was. Was it me? Casey? Our marriage? Money? Loneliness? Am I just that tired? My relationship with God? ...Yes ..the last one. Where am I going or what am I doing with my life? I can't answer that all the time. And it really bothers me. On the side of my blog I wrote how I'm a Christian and realize over and over I can't do life on my own. This is one of those times I need to realize that again. God has a purpose for me.

I read this passage this morning, and I realized all the blessings I have, and was brought back to the Cross and what "it's all about". Cause I'm sick of caring about what the world tells me "it's all about".

(this is kind of long, but if you have time to check my blog, you can read this too. I want to share this)

Isaiah 52:13-15 through chapter 53
Passage title is The Suffering and Glory of the Servant (meaning Jesus)

"See, my servant will act wisely;

he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

Just as there were many who appalled at him -

his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man

and his form marred beyond human likeness -

so will he sprinkle many nations,

and kings will shut their mouths because of him.

For what they were not told, they will see,

and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him 

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgement he was taken away.

And who can speak of his descendants?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

After the suffering of his soul,

he will see the light of life, and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors."

It's not about me. That's what it's about. 

Yes, I thought I was having a bad day.... well I was, but after seeing what is all in front of me, how can I? Why would someone do all that for me??? Why? I don't understand why God loves us.... or me, but he does, and has a PURPOSE for me.

So I'm going to live life for Him, and stop worrying about everyone and everything else. 

What's behind the name

Josey /j(o)-sey/ as a girls name is a variant of Josephine (hebrew), and the meaning of Josey is "Jehovah increases" or "God will add".

The name Josey had special meaning to me after losing my sister 6 1/2 years ago. I always wanted to name my first baby after her. I want my children to know about her and learn from her example. At a young age she was confident in herself, and unashamed of her love for Jesus. All the little marks in her Bible, poems, and art she made where little things left behind that I want to show Josey someday so she can know who her Tante Jessica was.

Jessica and me when we were little

I am very thankful that God has added to our family.

Josey's middle name Marie. Marie was Jessica's middle name. Casey's Grandma's name is Mary, and my Oma's name is Maria, so we were very happy to choose this middle name! There are more family members with this name to!

Josey Marie McCausland!