blogging day of silence for Cohen

day of blogging silence to honor Megan & Brent & to remember baby Cohen. Click picture for cohen's story.

loves like a hurricane

As Hurricane Alex approaches and I am listening and watching the rain fall outside I keep singing this song in my head.

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Seeing how powerful the rain is and this storm is brings to life just how POWERFUL our God is.

Who am I to doubt?

Who am I to question?

I am trusting.

I am waiting.

I am listening.

Layered Cornbread Salad

Lady made this recipe so many times and it is one of those that I never got tired of. It is perfect in the summer paired with yummy grilled chicken or smoked brisket.

It can be made in advance so you can spend most of your time with your family. This will be perfect to make this weekend for the 4th of July. Each flavor blends so well together and looks beautiful served in a trifle bowl. I love this salad!

Layered Cornbread Salad

1 (6 oz) package Mexican cornbread mix

1 small can chopped green chilies

dash of sage

1 package ranch dressing mix

1 (8 oz) container reduced fat sour cream

1 cup mayo

2 cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 cups frozen corn, thawed

3 large tomatoes, chopped

10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 (8 oz) package shredded cheddar cheese

4 green onions, sliced

Prepare cornbread mix according to package directions, adding green chilies and sage. Bake and cool completely.

Combine ranch dressing mix, sour cream and mayo. Set aside.

Crumble half of cornbread into a bowl. Top with 1/2 of the beans, 1/2 of the sour cream mixture, 1/2 of the green bell pepper, 1/2 of the corn, 1/2 of the tomatoes, 1/2 of the bacon, 1/2 of the cheese and 1/2 of the green onions. Repeat layers.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

My Amazing Sister

About a month ago, Memorial Day actually, my sister was in a horrible car accident.

It was the other driver's fault but Whitney received the worst of it.

She fractured her back and, Praise the Lord, is not paralyzed and can walk.

She is in a back brace. She had a walker for the first few weeks but is now able to walk without it. She will continue the back brace for several more weeks.

Please pray for Whitney.

IBC and Settlers

I'm not sure if I have shared this story or not, but here it is.

IBC root beer.

Back in college, John and Patrick were in a fraternity at Baylor that had some of the best parties. The best parties are the ones with lots of dancing and couches outside.

Why were couches outside cool then but not now?

Anyway, these parties were also dry (no alcohol). They served IBC root beer in the bottles and everyone loved it.

Now, college days are long behind us, but we still relive those IBC root beer memories when we get together with Patrick and Courtney.

And now, our new favorite game they introduced us to, Settlers.

Weekends with them are not complete without IBC root beer and Settlers.

So they came in town a few weekends ago (they were our first house guests again) and they brought the game and we had the IBC.

The best part...IBC is caffiene free so preggers can drink it too!

There was a lot of laughing.

I can't remember why, but does it really matter?

Pasta with Fresh Corn, Green Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Italian Turkey Sausage

Long title huh? I'll get to that in a minute.

It has been well over a month since I've posted anything thing here. Which unfortunately means it's been over a month since I've really cooked!

Since we last "spoke" hubby and I bought a house and moved. Since we moved in we have been busy painting (walls of kitchen, family room, living room, dining room and the fireplace), doing some electrical work (all hubby), ripping up carpet, tile and laminate floors. We've been busy and it has not lead to many blog worthy meals.

Until last night. We have been a part of a vegetable coop for several months now and each week we get lots of wonderful fresh veggies. The past couple of weeks we have received an abundance of fresh corn on the cob (complete with a worm) and green beans. Last night I was trying to find a way to combine them all and came up with this pasta dish. I added the Italian turkey sausage because hubs prefers meat with his meals.

This is a very prep heavy meal. With fresh corn on the cob, green beans that need to be snapped and slicing the cherry tomatoes in half it takes some time. But it's worth it I promise.

It seems like and odd combination but it really was so fresh and delicious. There isn't a sauce on purpose. I wanted the veggies to shine. And they did. Yum!

Pasta with Fresh Corn, Green Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Italian Turkey Sausage

2 cups fresh corn, cut off the cob

1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 package hot Italian turkey sausage

1 cup diced onion (I used onions from our veggie coop...they look like HUGE green onions)

1 pound whole wheat penne pasta (or whatever shape you love)

extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fat free half and half

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to package. During the last 3 or 4 minutes of cooking add the green beans. They will float to the top so it will be easy to skim them off before you drain the pasta. You can cook them separately, but it saves a pot to wash. After you skim the green beans off just set them aside in a bowl and then drain the pasta.

In a large skillet brown the sausage, remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add about a teaspoon of olive oil and saute the onions. Once the onions are tender add the corn and green beans. Season with salt and pepper and saute for about 3-5 minutes. Add the sausage, cherry tomatoes, pasta and half and half and toss.

Eat and enjoy!

Thursday's Thoughts

*Last week was a HUGE event for me at work. It's over and it was a success. Yay!

*This week is VBS and it is during the evening so I am able to be a part. Love it! We are having a blast. I'm in the entering kindergarten class and oh my word! We have 35 kids and they are SO PRECIOUS and so CRAZY!!!

*I've been singing VBS songs all week.

*One week ago today I turned 27. It was the last day of our huge conference at work and I was completely zonked when I got home. John was SO sweet and gave me flowers, a gift certificate for an 80 minute massage and a necklace I've been loving.

*So I think I mentioned this a few posts ago, but we had a plumbing issue about 4 days after we bought the house. Sunday night our oven stopped working. Well, it took 2 hours to reach 200 degrees. They say things come in 3's so I'm sort of dreading what may be coming next. PTL for our warranty though!

*I want the new iPhone 4. I said I didn't but I just saw a video and I want it. Really bad. And I want everyone in my family to have one so we can face to face.

*I am SO ready to host something in our new house. Like dying. But it still looks like poop. I mean the walls are super pretty now that we've repainted them, but there isn't anything hanging, our floors are about to be ripped up and we are getting new furniture in the next month or so. So what's the point right? But I'm ready to host my little heart out as soon as it's all done!

*That's all I've got now. Happy almost Friday!

Moving Day!

Hi, I'm Lindsay, the blogger behind Woods Life.

Oh wait. We've already met? My bad. I forgot about you.

Not really but my goodness this sweet house we bought is HIGH MAINTENANCE!! We spent the first 4 days painting our monstrous see through fireplace. Then we spent about oh, 7 days painting. We started on Memorial Day and since then have had only a few days off. And we're not done. Let's just say that one room is wood paneling and that in itself is a lot of extra work. Then add to that the fact that the (stupid) people who painted the paneling before us did not do the proper work required when painting wood paneling therefore, when we began pulling off the tape last night it was pulling the paint off the walls showing us the lovely (only not lovely) wood paneling. Ugh.

Oh and the tape is also ripping the paint off of the baseboards. Score!

But I am totally off topic. Let's get back to the day we moved and thought everything would be perfect and totally easy! ;)

We shamelessly posted on facebook and told the choir when we were planning on moving. We might have even bribed people with food. I had a feeling a few people would show up and help us.

Oh my was I wrong. We had about 18 people help us move. We had 3 trailers and 8 pickup trucks. Everyone arrived at 8:00 Saturday morning and we were completely out of the duplex in less than 45 minutes. A few of the ladies stayed behind to finish the cleaning. Oh bless them!!

They arrived at the new house about 5 minutes later and we were completely unloaded in 45 minutes.

We were moved {from start to finish} in less than 1 1/2 hours!!!!!! I was so overwhelmed and grateful for each person that day. Then they started unpacking boxes.

It was unbelievable.

Another friend and his son showed up later with their lawnmower and took care of our yard. Again, so grateful.

Our moving day was a dream and we are beyond thankful for each person that helped us out.

Thank you sweet friends!!