Project 366: Day 15 [March 2nd]

It was cleaning time in our house today! That's typically what every Friday morning is reserved for :) Tayler loves it because she knows she can get into whatever and I probably won't catch her as quickly, haha! I try and put her in the same room as me, but she's mobile, so that doesn't necessarily work all of the time! LOL But I will tell you one thing-- that girl LOVES the vacuum cleaner. Every time I turn it on, she follows it. She loves when I run it near her feet. She giggles so loud and as soon as I turn it off, she climbs over to it and plays with it. It is just hysterical!

Oh and how adorable was that outfit?? :) It's part of that stash I got from a friend! Super cute with her little jeggings! She wore it with a pair of uggs to the store! :)

After Mommy got done cleaning and after Tayler's nap, we decided it was play time and Tayler kept pulling out her Princess Ride-Along that Aunt Jennifer got her, so apparently that meant she wanted to ride on it, haha! She was having a blast! She kept honking the horn and moving it back and forth :)

She is just getting so big :)

After that, Gigi came and we all went to the grocery store together since my dad was here working with my husband on finishing our basement. While we were there, we bought groceries, I bought a few things for our friends that are going to be having birthday parties, and Gigi bought Tayler some new bows for her headbands :) Thank you Gigi! Tayler loves them!

 

When they got back here, I think we were all starving, so we got something to eat and of course, Tayler chowed down in her high chair. And then Gigi started making her laugh again LOL She loves that!

Such a gorgeous smile. I don't know how you could have a bad day seeing that face every single day :) She's so happy!

And Mom encouraged us to try the whole 'broom' thing! It's all a part of the 'Vernal Equinox' for those of you that are curious. Here's an article about it. The picture doesn't do it justice because it looks 'flat' and I'm not sure why, but I assure you, that broom stood up ALL BY ITSELF. It was quite amazing, I'm just being honest, haha!

And after that, we all got ready for bed. Well, not bed necessarily. We wanted to watch 'Sweet Home Alabama.' It's our reality TV addiction. Forget the Bachelor.. give me this! I love Paige and MOST of the guys left. They are so sweet! But before going in to that, I wanted to show a snap shot of Tay's new peejays. They are Dora, but they are BIG GIRL! They button up the front, hehe! Aren't they too cute???

Love that little girl.. and that darn binkie ;) haha!

Okay.. now for Sweet Home Alabama. Do any of you watch it?? If so... HOW ANNOYED ARE YOU WITH LANDON? That's all I was thinking during the show and if you follow me on twitter (sweetlyssa05) you probably saw a few of my rants about that as well. He proposed to her. Seriously? You've known her for like what? A Month? And I was just really shocked that Paige was so smitten by him. She said he was such a sweetheart, but he bad mouths everyone and talks terribly about everyone... And if you can find it in your heart to say something bad about Bubba... you are no good in my book! But guess what? LANDON WENT HOME and all is better in my world! Next, I want Jeremiah gone. He annoys me as well. And once he is gone, wellllll.. I couldn't care less after that because I like Shaun from the city, Shawn from the country, and Bubba (but I REALLY want Bubba to win!) Anyone else Team Bubba?? :)

Okay.. enough of the Boob Tube chat, haha! Now for the lesson and prayer for today!

Lesson #5 - Squeeze his muscle & tell him he is strong. (stop laughing, I can hear you) Do not make a big deal about it. Just do it quickly & in passing. Remember, you are not a man & you won't get this. Commenting on his strength is commenting on his manhood. Maybe he has been working out & you can tell him that you are noticing his changes while you squeeze his muscles. If that isn't an option, maybe you could just tell him that you want to feel his strong muscles to see what they feel like. Then you could compliment him. Adam even suggested that you simply ask to see his hands. Tell him that you never realized how strong his hands looked. He says this is something that would mean a lot to him. (Plus it might feel more comfortable for you.) Don't forget, I am doing these challenges too. However, I am at a disadvantage because Adam knows what each day calls for. I have to be extra sly & sincere so he knows that it isn't just a task. See, you guys have it easy. Don't make excuses, just do it!

Maybe thinking about it this way will help you a bit. When we get dressed up or our daughters get dressed up we want our husbands to acknowledge how pretty we are. That is because we have a feminine need. Most of our husbands could throw on wrinkled clothes from the floor that smell & have dog hair on them. They won't care. Just as long as their muscles look good! LOL
So go ahead, squeeze it. I bet he will flex.

(Source)  

  Now Ethan is going to eat that up ;) LOL!!

And the prayer for today:

Pray that your husband will be faithful to his wedding vows. Pray that he will have a desire to cultivate your relationship as a sign of his loyalty and commitment to you, and as a picture of Christ’s love for the Church. (Prov. 20:6; Gen. 2:24)

 (Source)  

And the scriptures that go along with this prayer are as follows: 

Proverbs 20:6-7 (The Message) Lots of people claim to be loyal and loving,

   but where on earth can you find one? God-loyal people, living honest lives,
   make it much easier for their children.

Genesis 2:23-25 (The Message) The Man said, "Finally! Bone of my bone,  flesh of my flesh!

   Name her Woman for she was made from Man." Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.

God, please bless my husband today. Let each of us remember our wedding vows every single day that we wake up. Let him know that I find him attractive and that I love his strength, both physically and emotionally. Let him know that he is my Best Friend and that I treasure him! Let us be honest, loyal, and faithful to one another for the rest of our lives. Let trust be abundant because that holds relationships together. Let us be an example for our children. We love you Lord and keep us strong in You. Amen.

God bless you all and Cheers to Project 366!

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!

Weekly Meals [3/5-3/9]

I finally got our grocery list done for the week.. good thing since I'm going tomorrow, haha! And I finally have a list of the meals for the week that I thought I would share :) My friend Rachael over at Our Dailey Life is also joining in on the fun! Go check her out if you'd like! 

Here's our Weekly Meals:

Monday- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Tuesday- IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! We are totally going out, haha!

Wednesday-Chicken Burritos and Mexican Rice
Thursday- Steak Stir Fry
Friday-Philly Subs/Fries

What are you planning for next week's meals?

Projet 366: Day 13 [February 29th]

My little girl turned 11 months old today. Well, if today were February 31st, but since that day clearly does not exist, we celebrated February 29th! It was her first leap day too! How cool is that?? And I'm that mom that takes a picture of her child every single month to see how she has grown, so I thought I would show you a little bit of that! :) 

Here she was as a Newborn. She weighed 5lbs 12oz here and was 20 oz. long.

3 months old here. She weighed 13lbs 11oz. and was 25" long.

And here she is at 6 months old. She weighed 19.7 pounds and was 27.5" long.

There's our big girl at 9 month sold. She was 22.3 pounds and 30" long.

And here she is today: 11 months.

Weighing in at 24 pounds and 31.5" long. OUR BIG GIRL! I can't believe she's 11 months old now. Doesn't even seem real!

So, after I got her ready for the day and took pictures, I decided it was time to do some laundry. I got all of those clothes the other day and I needed to get focused and switch out all of Tayler's smaller clothes so I could fit all of these in. It was a long process, haha! I went through all of her sleepers and got rid of the 3-9 month stuff I had in there. (Please don't ask why I STILL had 3 month stuff in there. Sheesh!) I went through all of her bottoms, her shoes, and then her shirts. There's about 2 trash bags full of clothes! Can you believe that?? Then I did 7... yes, count that... 7 haha loads of laundry and hung up EVERYTHING! It feels great to have that finished and it's good to know that everything in her room fits her. Ethan always says, "Can she wear this?" so now... it's simple!

It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

After that, we headed to the DMV. We had a super nice day yesterday despite the Tornado Watches. It was about 70 degrees... and yes, I wore a tank top and capris and Tayler didn't wear a coat! So weird, haha! But we had to go to the DMV since my birthday is coming up and Ethan needed new plates for his new car. We decided to knock it all out at once! We had a long wait, so Ethan played with Tayler. Everyone there was totally eating her up!! :)

She was laughing really loud when he kept waving the blanket in her face haha! :) So cute! We got everything taken care of there and my license says: Issue Date 2/29/2012. I'm not sure why I think that is so awesome.. just that it is such a rare date and it is on one of my documents! :) haha! I'm weird. But at least I know when it expires.... the next Leap Year!

Oh... and I tried to have a photography moment. The sun was shining in our car and I decided to take a picture of myself. I thought it turned out kind of cute...

Once we got home, it was time to make some dinner. We were all starving! I wasn't making anything 'special' tonight, haha, but Ethan was excited because I was trying my hand at Cane's Sauce!! Have you ever been to Raising Cane's? It's one of our favorites, so when I came across this recipe here, I HAD to try it!

Here's what you need:

1/2 cup of Mayo
1/4 Cup of Ketchup
1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic Salt
1/4 Teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

Mix that all together and voila!

Cane's Sauce! Ethan said it tasted right on and I couldn't agree more! LOVED it! So since I made this, I decided our dinner would be less than healthy, but tasty:

Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, and Shoe String Fries. 

I felt like a 4th grader, but seriously.. it was amazing! :) We ate it all, haha! We even put some on Tayler's high chair and I was impressed with how quickly Tayler ate her food... then we lifted up her high chair and almost all of the macaroni and cheese was on her lap LOL Anyone else's child do this? haha!

Silly goose!

After that, we all got our baths and put on our peejays. Tayler tried out her first new outfit given to us by Linda and we LOVVVED it. This sleeper was just too cute!

She's precious.

And we all snuggled in to watch 'American Idol.' It was girl's night tonight. So, I'll give you my little recap and then state my favorites from the past two nights. They're who I DON'T want going home! :)

Okay, so I wasn't impressed with Baylie Brown whatsoever. I thought her performance of 'Amazed' was weak. Chelsea Sorrell chose a Carrie Underwood song and I think it's in bad taste to do a former idol's song. They were chosen as the American Idol for a reason.. why try and do a 'comparison' because you probably aren't going to measure up. Just saying. I wasn't impressed with Haley Johnson either... or Shannon Magrane. Skyler Laine is a sweetie and she can definitely sing, but has America seen enough country with last year's winners? Brielle Von Hugel did good, but she isn't necessarily a favorite. Who do I NOT want to see go home?? Elise Testone (LOVE the sound of her voice).. Hallie Day (gorgeous performance).. Hallie Cavanagh.. Jennifer Hirsh.. Erika Van Pelt and OF COURSE.. Jessica Sanchez. She is my favorite by far!!! As far as the guys go, I don't want to see Colton Dizon or Joshua Ledet going home. 

What are your thoughts and who are your favorites??

And leaving Idol aside.. here is our lesson for the day and our prayer. Is this encouraging anyone else? It is certainly helping me. I feel such a peace with doing this! If it isn't blessing anyone else, at least I know that God is encouraging me through it! That's why I did it in the first place! 

Lesson #3 - Tonight make his favorite meal or dessert. (Or both!) Proverbs 31:15 says, "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls". You are making deposits into your marriage. During this two week period be prepared for your husband to do something unloving. You have greeted him, hugged him, & made his favorite meal, but later he yells at you for moving his keys. Ignore it. Don't throw your hands up saying, "Respecting you doesn't work. You are as unloving as ever." You are fasting from complaining for two weeks. Lower your expectations. You can't expect him to change in every area of his life because you did three nice things. Do this for God & not for your husband. God commands you to do this.

(source)

And the prayer for the day is:

Pray that your husband will be humble and quick to agree with God about his sin. Pray that his heart will be tender toward the voice of the Lord. (Ps. 51:2-4; Micah 6:8)
(Source)

Psalms 51: 1-6 (The Message) Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been;  my sins are staring me down.  You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
      it all, seen the full extent of my evil.  You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time,  in the wrong since before I was born.  What you're after is truth from the inside out.  Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Micah 6:8 (The Message) But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
   what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
   be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously—
   take God seriously. 

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 12 [February 28th]

Tayler had a rough night the night before. I am not sure if it was her teeth or growing pains or what, but she was just restless... I felt so bad for her :( We were up from 3:30 to 5:30 with her just whining. I hate giving her tylenol, but I finally broke down because I knew something was wrong. It finally started to kick in a little after 6... which let me know she was in pain. You can feel her 8th tooth coming down, so I bet that was it! But anyways-- she slept until about 7:30 or so.. so I knew nap time was going to come EARLY today.. and would probably be long. She fell asleep about 11:00AM which was fine! Her Gigi was coming to visit today and wanted to come around 1PM so I told Mom "Oh yeah, she will be up by 1! That's 2 whole hours and she never sleeps that long." Boy... was I incorrect, haha! Mom sat over here until 2 and Tayler was STILL sleeping hahaha! I snapped this picture when Mom went to the restroom just to show how long this sleepy head was sleeping for!

See her just snoozing away? haha! Poor Gigi. Tayler never even knew she was here LOL.

But Gigi did bring her some presents. She brought her a little pink car that Tayler loves but Mommy forgot to take a picture of and she also brought her two new pieces of clothes. A new onesie that says, "I'll just ask Grandma." Yes, that couldn't fit her more, haha! and a St. Patrick's Day dress with a little Shamrock diaper cover. It's adorable and I cannot wait for her to wear it!!!

Once Ethan got home, we ran some errands for softball and then my lovely husband bought a new car. We sold our white cavalier to his sister and her boyfriend. :) And since Ethan has to give the company vehicle back in a few weeks, we knew he needed a car that is good on gas mileage (since he drives 120+ miles to and from work every day!) So, he bought his brother's Honda! I am very thankful for being able to buy something so nice and that it was affordable! Ethan OF COURSE loves it!

Thanks Jon and Arena! :)

Once we came home, it was pretty late, so we ordered some subs and I decided to make a dessert. I found the recipe on Pinterest today (please note, this addiction rears it's ugly head yet again, haha!) And I realized I had ALL of the ingredients, so I HAD to try it! :) It's called 'Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars.' I found the recipe here.

These are the ingredients you will need:

For the bars:

1 Cup of Brown Sugar (I used Great Value)
1 Cup of Granulated Sugar (I used Great Value)
1 Cup of Melted Butter (I used Blue Bonnet)
2/3 Cups of Peanut Butter (I used the off brand)
1 TSP of Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
2 Cups of Self-Rising Flour (I used Great Value)
2 Cups of Quick Cooking Oats

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and stir all of those ingredients together. Mix well. It can be kind of tough, but just keep stirring until you get everything mixed in nicely. After that is done, spread it into an ungreased 9X13 inch pan. It may not seem like it is going to spread well, but believe me, it does! It is actually really easy to work with. They say to bake 20-25 minutes. The lady who wrote the blog said she did hers for 19 minutes because if you bake it too long, it will be hard and crumble. I wasn't sure if this was going to set and harden after baking or what, so I took mine out at 20 minutes. Next time, I will probably leave it in a little longer. It just really depends on your oven. Just check it often! Let it cool completely! :)

As for the icing. I'm going to need some work in that area. The recipe states:

2 Cups of Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup of Milk
1 TSP Vanilla Extract

Mix all of that together, well.

Hers looks remarkable in the picture, but mine? Turned out like a glaze. I'm not sure what went wrong, haha. But either way, it still tasted amazing even as a glaze!

And we cut ours and served it with bananas. It was absolutely PERFECT. It was a wonderful treat. It was still kind of warm... oops, but I think heating it up would be your best option. It tastes amazing! I'll try this again some other time and see if I can't get that icing to look like the blog, haha! 

Yum. Yum. Yum.

And we all got our baths and got into our peejays and settled in for some 'American Idol.' FINALLY.... it's time for the competition. I like the auditions, but they kind of get old after awhile, haha! :) 

Now-- for my brief run down on my likes and dislikes of the night.

My favorites thus far are: Colton Dixon (did he not tear up that Paramore song last night?) and Joshua Ledet (I seriously got goose bumps!) I felt they stood out the most and they are who I am rooting for to continue on in the competition.

I nearly cried when they brought Jermaine back out. Such a sweet man and I felt he did deserve a second chance. The 'revengeful' person in me hoped that cowboy was watching that treated him kind of badly in the auditions :) Go Jermaine!

Jeremy Rosado gave a heart felt performance with 'Gravity.' That is one of my favorite songs!

Aaron Marcellus, Adam Brock, Chase Likens, Creighton Fraker, Heejun Han, Philip Phillips, and Reed Grimm's performances didn't really stand out to me. They were good, but not the ones that I will remember...

And as for Eben. I like the kid, but I don't think that Adele song suited him whatsoever. :( 

I'm really excited to see the ladies perform tonight! What were your thoughts on last night?? 

And to finish up this blog today, I want to take time to post the Lesson for today in our '14 Day Love and Respect Challenge' as well as the prayer. Did everyone like that yesterday? I felt better after completing it.. and Ethan even noticed!! :) Thank You Lord!

Lesson #2 - Greet your husband & give him a hug. Let him know again that you missed him or were thinking about him today. Again, this is secondary to what you are really feeling. Just do it. If he says something like, "Wow, two days in a row. Do you want money or something"? Ignore it. He is saying this to you because he is noticing your actions & they feel good to him. What may feel like sarcasm to you is playful bantering to him. After you hug him, leave the room. Don't allow for a conversation about your new behavior. This isn't a game, we are just trying to avoid getting into a discussion of unresolved issues that you are not equipped to handle just yet.

 (Source) 

 And the prayer for today:

Pray that your husband’s relationship with God and His Word will bear fruit in his life. Pray that he will be a man of wisdom and understanding, fearing the Lord. (Prov. 3:7, 9:10; Ps. 112:1)
(Source)

Here are the Bible scriptures that coincide with it:

Proverbs 3:5-12 (The Message)-  Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;  he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all.  Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health,  your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own;  give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst,
   your wine vats will brim over. But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;  don't sulk under his loving correction. It's the child he loves that God corrects;  a father's delight is behind all this.

Proverbs 9:7-12 (The Message)-  If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you'll get slapped in the face;  confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. So don't waste your time on a scoffer;  all you'll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life,
   that's different—they'll love you for it. Save your breath for the wise—they'll be wiser for it;  tell good people what you know—they'll profit from it. Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God,  insight into life from knowing a Holy God. It's through me, Wisdom, that your life deepens,  and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life;  mock life and life will mock you.

Psalms 112:1 (The Message)-  Hallelujah! Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God,
   Who cherish and relish his commandments,
   Their children robust on the earth,
   And the homes of the upright—how blessed! 

 

 God, PLEASE bless my husband with wisdom. Let him bear good fruit in his life because of You! Let him trust you and learn about your Word. Let us become a unit that reads Your Word every single night so that we can learn more about it! Let us know that You are God and that fearing You is healthy for us. Let us understand your commandments and give us a servants heart to listen to them and follow them. Let us have a strong relationship IN YOU. Please, let us be a good example for Tayler and for our future children. We love You SO much and want to do our best for You. Amen.

Cheers Project 366!