Project 366: Day 14 [March 1st]

Exciting news in the life of this Scentsy Consultant! Today marks the release of the Spring/Summer line!! If you are curious about Scentsy, check it out here. I got the new catalogs in the mail (message me if you'd like one!) along with the new Spring/Summer scents for everyone to sniff (book a party with me and you can do that!), and I purchased 3 scents for myself. I have a lot of Fall/Winter scents.... cinnamon, mochadoodle, etc. But I wanted something fruity for the upcoming months! I purchased Pixie, Coconut Lemongrass, and Havana Cabana. Yummmm! :) I had Pixie in all day yesterday and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite now! haha! :) 

I highly recommend those three for Summer, ladies and gents! You won't be disappointed :)

After that exciting news.. and sniffing every new scent we have, haha.. I got Tayler dressed. Our little munchkin turned 48 weeks old today. That's right... 4 weeks until the big ol' day! Here's our 11 month old right here:

Oh. Adorable.

And guess what? Her hair is finally long enough to pull up in a little pony tail, haha! How cute is this... seriously??

I know. How do I stand being with such cuteness all day?? I'm not sure how I do it, but I know I LOVE it ;) She is just something else! Such a personality anymore, haha! She is now walking without holding on to anything... for long periods of time. She's pretty much got the whole walking thing down... just needs to quit falling from time to time, haha! :) 

While she was napping, I got started preparing dinner. My parents were coming over tonight and we were having: salads, cottage cheese, garlic bread, and Three Cheese Beef Pasta Shells. (Recipe here) I, of course, took pictures of the process, hehe!

Here's what you are going to need:

24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (We got the Great Value)
1 lb of ground beef (we got the off brand of that as well, still tastes great!)
1 jar of pasta sauce (We got Hunt's Zesty and Spicy to give it a little kick ;))
1/4 Cup of Water
1 container of Chive and Onion cream cheese spread (We got Great Value)
1 1/2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
1 egg

Preheat your oven to 350* (I didn't do this at first, because I made the pasta shells ahead of time so I could just pop them in the oven an hour before my mom and dad were coming! I just wanted to get them ready while Tayler was napping because it's hard to do this when she's not asleep haha!) Start boiling water for your pasta shells and cook them according to the instructions on the package. 

Next, start browning your hamburger. Drain. And let it cool for about 5 minutes.

Get a small mixing bowl and mix the 1/4 cup of water and the jar of spaghetti sauce together. Next, pour a thin layer on the bottom of the 13X9 baking dish. This is what the pasta shells will sit in :)

Get another medium sized bowl and pour in the chive and onion cream cheese spread, the 1 cup of the Mozzarella cheese, the Parmesan cheese, and the egg. I added these and mixed them together first because it's harder to mix it all together (especially the cream cheese) when the hamburger is in there as well. So, I would suggest mixing everything together first.. then adding the hamburger. Here's what you'll have prior to the meat:

Then go ahead and add that beef on in there! :)

And that's the pretty little combination that you are going to stuff your pasta shells with! Drain your pasta shells after cooking and let them cool. If you don't, you could burn your hands. Won't say how I know that. 

Stuff your shells with a spoonful of that mixture and layer them like so in your dish. After you've stuffed them all, cover them with the rest of the pasta sauce, then cover with foil. Bake at 350* for about 40 minutes. After the 40 minutes, take the foil off, and cover the pasta shells with the rest of the mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes and you'll have this:

We served ours with garlic bread, cottage cheese, and salads. It's up to you what you choose to do! I think everyone enjoyed them... especially Tayler ;)

She was a mess, but absolutely loved every single bit of it! :) 

And here's the rest of the family enjoying the meal:

I love my parents and I'm so thankful I get these opportunities to spend evenings with them :) I love you guys!!

And Gigi does this thing where she flips around and makes Tayler giggle. She was LOVING it last night so I had to take some pictures, haha!

That smile could brighten anyone's day I think! So precious! And I think Gigi might like her ;) haha! :) We had SUCH a good time, but with that messy face.. it was time to ship Tayler off to the tub! And we started busting up laughing because I took her hair out of her ponytail and it was stickin' straight up like a mohawk LOL Of course, I took a picture!

Hysterical.

And we put some new peejays on her tonight... and I know I say this a lot, but I thought she looked adorable in them, so I snapped a shot of that as well ;)

And not only is she cute, but she's ornery too. 

And we finished the night by watching 'American Idol.' For those that didn't watch, the final 13 ended up being:

1. Colton Dixon (Very happy about that! He's my favorite guy by far!)
2. Deandre Brackensick (I wasn't really impressed with him, but he has hair..)
3. Elise Testone (One of my favorite girls! Very pleased!)
4. Erika Van Pelt (Loved her too!)

5. Heejun Han (okay... soooooo not a fan. Period.)
6. Hollie Cavanagh (LOVED her as well!)

7. Jeremy Rosado (Beautiful voice.)
8. Jermaine Jones (I cried again when he went through...)
9. Jessica Sanchez (my favorite out of EVERYBODY!!!)
10. Joshua Ledet (My other favorite guy! Him and Colton are tied I guess, haha!)

11. Phillip Phillips (Not a fan, but my husband loves him.)
12. Shannon Magrane (Not a fan at all.)

13. Skylar Laine. (Such a cutie and was the best out of all of the country singers.)

What were your thoughts on these guys? I think it's pretty accurate and I'm excited to see performances next week! :)

And now for our lesson and prayer for today! How did yesterdays go? I made Ethan pasta shells which he LOVES (and as you saw) and he LOVED it yet again. He said it's one of his favorite meals which makes me glad. We had a good talk last night before bed as well about God, so I really feel like these prayers are helping. How do you all feel?

When you speak to your husband or about your husband in public, around your friends, family, or co-workers, do you speak about him in the highest regard? Do you go out of your way to uplift him? Do others think more highly of your husband than you do? When you speak of your husband, can others feel the love & respect that you have for him? 

Lesson #4 - When your husband is around, say something honorable about him in front of your children or his peers. Perhaps say, "When it comes to math, few are as smart as your dad. Why don't you ask him to help you with that question." Or, "Your dad works every day so that we can live in this home. He is a very hard worker." Or, "Do you know what I admired about your dad when we first met? It was....."

This kind of thing is not hard for us women. We are only talking about a few sentences. God has gifted us to communicate. If you are thinking that you can't do this, you are lying to yourself. The truth is that you don't WANT to say something honorable to a man that you don't feel is as nice as he should be to you. You are locked into the idea that he must earn your respect. I know that you might be upset with him & that he should also be honoring you. Remember, the most mature one moves first. The more respect you give, the more opportnity he has to (in return) show love. A mature wife looks beyond her husband & speaks these words because the Lord wants us to.
1 Peter 3:9 says, "not returning.....insult for insult, but give a blessing instead."
You can give a verbal blessing. No sweat!

(Source)  

And the prayer for today is:

Pray that your husband will grow in leadership skills in your relationship—protecting and providing for you. Pray that he will lead you wisely and love you sacrificially, so that God will be glorified in your marriage. (Eph. 5:25-29; Col. 3:19)

(Source)

The Bible verses that go along with this prayer are as follows:

Ephesians 5:25-33 (The Message) Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.  No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband. 

Colossians 3:19 (The Message) Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don't take advantage of them. 

God, please bless my husband today in every single way possible. Let me love him like he deserves to be loved, like You love the church and let him love me the same way. Please help me to respect him and honor him... every single day. Please guard my mouth against things that could hurt him or his reputation. Allow us to love one another unconditionally because we are 'one flesh.' Thank you for sending him to me and for blessing me with him. Make us a strong couple in You. Amen.

God bless all of you 

and cheers to Project 366!