temptations

 I feel like over the last month, the beautiful gift God gave as Marriage has both encouraged me, and brought heaviness at the very same time.


I hope you have gathered from little glimpses of this blog, how important I feel about Marriage, and how the destruction of it leaves a trail of issues, that doesn't just affect the two people that said "I do".


I started thinking about statistics a few years ago when it was brought to my attention, how just in our city alone, the divorce rate was painfully high, and I believe, was the highest in the State of Alabama at the time. I would cringe at the thought that one of my three friends would go through a divorce, not to mention, my marriage being apart of that statistic.

Then as life continued on, and statistics would rise, I would fight against Satan, as he would discourage me into thinking that because I watched marriages fall apart around me with peers, I should question the stability of all my family. After all, we carry a past that brings those statistics to light. And statistics don't lie...or do they?


If I were to tell you how many times I have thought about my own children's future in marriage being so completely challenging verses being one of the most precious gifts God would bless them with, then it would be embarrassing.


It started when I held on to the numbers, and the fear that they would not find a husband without a deep past, and baggage for them, started to weigh me down. I realized that fear, was a sin that was being used to distract me from the tools I could be using to teach them because of the statistics, not in spite of them.


I think it is okay to mourn sin, and I am glad I do. But for me, it was when the mourning of sin, became the fear of it, that caused me to not hold on to the truth that God's perfect will for my children's life was indeed perfect. Or that His Son's death on the cross, could redeem any situation. 

And isn't that just the very way we got those statistics in the first place, by questioning God's will for us, and not believing Christ's blood could redeem?


This very knowledge in the depths of how much we crave control and happiness in our lives, was brought to me when I heard a teaching on Adam and Eve. We have all been taught, from a young age, about the disobedience that occurred in the garden; but that is where I thought the sin took place. My eyes were truly opened, when I was shown and realized, that something had to happen before the disobedience occurred. Yes, the serpent tempted Eve, but before she took the fruit, she questioned God's perfect will for her life. She had to have actually thought, that there was something better for her if she took it. And so she did,  and I so often do the same.



In Church, we just finished the series I shared about in the post I did on The Talk. It was designed to target singles, but it encouraged me so much. It strengthened me with the encouragement to continue to persevere in raising my children with purpose. God does have a will for their life. God's will for them is good. It is perfect. I shouldn't fear it, whatever it may be. I should trust that it is far more then I could ever hope for, because He loves them far more then I ever could. And I should pray for His will to be done in their life, not mine, not theirs, but His.

We aspire to raise our children in truth, in believing that what He has for them, is what is perfect for them. Even in tough times, even in the depths. Because what He will do with it, will bring joy to their lives, and fill their souls, if they just believe it to be true and hold on to it; instead of sacrificing it to the mundane, temporary happiness that the world offers them with a piece of fruit.

May we rest in His will for our lives, and flee from the temptations to question it.



To God be the Glory.

Happy Weekend!

Once again, we await our weekend with excitement of play! I think a lot has to do with the fact we are SO READY for school to end this year and get lots of family play time.


It really, really, really, gets me excited about Homeschooling all three girls next year! Tim and I have big plans for them, and I am really excited!

One of our plans, is to dedicate each Friday for a Field Trip/ Service Project. We really want our girls to dig their hands into the community. We all can get stuck in our own little world sometimes, and it's not that we don't care about others; it's just life fills up, and you have to make initiative to do things.


I would LOVE your help on this. If you work in any group or organization that our family can serve you in any way, from yard work, to folding clothes, to filing paper work, to cleaning, to stocking food pantries, to folding brochures; whatever it is, PLEASE contacted me @ kcpilcher{at}gmail{dot}com , So I can add it to our service calendar. I look forward to hearing from you.

 Elizabeth and I headed here this morning...

I asked Suzanne, last week, if we could come help at the farm in preparation for the Farmer's Market tomorrow from 9am-1pm at Dothan Nurseries. We dug potatoes, picked green beans, gathered eggs, and picked some blueberries. All the while, visiting, and getting some GREAT information and education on the how to plant them, when to plant them, how they grow, etc. It was so much fun, and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from them, and to call them friends!

So, along the lines of school..... these big girls, are just that. Big.

They are just not my "babies" anymore.  Jillian has just "topped" my height, and is a 1/2 shoe size down from me.

And Miss Emily is not far behind :)




But, can I just tell you how fun it is in this stage.


I am sure a lot of you are laughing right now, because the approaching middle school years are not always the most fun from what I hear. But, besides the daily tears we've experienced, really since birth, it's so fun. And the talks that we share, yes, even from and with the tears, are just such good conversations; teachable moments. I love it when the big girls come in our room at night and sit at the foot of our bed "just to talk".

And when they leave the room, Tim and I sometimes look at each other and say "whew! they still love us." :)


Funny how I sat down to quickly write about the recipe below and it started with the above. hmmm.... not even sure how that happened...



On to the recipe......



If you need a great appetizer for the weekend, this is a winner. Inspired by my Sister in Law, Laura, who happens to love food and the kitchen as much as I do.



This is what you will need.

once again, I smile thinking about how she arranged the cans, and tilted the bowl. I think, the merchandising, "shop baby" is coming out :)


Open your Black Beans, drain and rinse.

Add your two cans of white shoe peg corn (drained), black beans, and 2 Tablespoons (heaping) of Sugar to a bowl.

Add 5 Green Onions (chopped), 1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinegar, and 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil.

Mix together.....

Then add 8oz of Goat cheese in large clumps. (you can add feta, but I recommend goat) very gently fold in, so you don't completely smoosh all the cheese....

Refrigerate before serving. Serve with Frito's, and even the people that don't like goat cheese, tell me they love this!

and remember this dip??? Yep, it's totally awesome this way as well!

Happy Weekend Y'all!!

coolest dip on the block....

Growing up, I think a few of my brothers could have made some big bucks if they made it to the big screen on the "just put ranch on it" slogan they came up with, when eating just about anything. The words "GROSS", was stated by me many of times, when watching them experiment with their beloved dip.


I have never been a dip kinda girl. Don't get me wrong; the chicken strips, hot wings and carrot sticks marry the sauce quite well; but I am just not going to sit down to a Roast and encourage the Ketchup.


While some sauces are there to mask the flavor, some are created to enhance it.


My daughter Emily's love for Sour Cream inspired this little creation, and it is by far the coolest dip on the block. I could eat it plain. Like, lick the bowl clean. You will be well loved if you add this to the following meal.


This meal is by far, my favorite I have ever made. It's quick, impressive, but truly easy, so don't be afraid to try it.

It's light, yet rich, and seriously, you will have a flash back of the seen in the movie "What about Bob?" when you eat it.



I don't measure, I dump, but when plugging my recipes on here, I do my best to incorporate the measurements, so make it your own, and kick it up a notch if you want.....


Here we go!


This is what you are making- Grilled Citrus Surf and Turf with a Roasted Onion/Beet and Goat Cheese Salad....

You will need this for your 2 lbs of the LARGEST shrimp you can find-

And this for your 3 boneless skinless chicken breast....

For your Shrimp- In a bowl- add 2T of Dijon Mustard, 2 large cloves of garlic (chopped), 1 tsp salt, zest of 1 lime, juice from 1 lime, and about 1/4 olive oil. Whisk well and pour over shrimp in a gallon size zip-lock bag. Let marinade at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.


For your Chicken- Cut chicken breast in half or thirds (depending on size), place in zip- lock. In a bowl add, 2T of Dijon Mustard, 2 cloves of garlic (chopped), 1 tsp salt, zest from 1 lemon, juice from one lemon, 1 sprig of rosemary chopped, a hand full of chives chopped, and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Whisk together, pour over chicken. Marinade 1- 6 hours. The longer the marinade, the more juicy and tender your chicken will be.

While the meat is marinading- start your salad. These beets and onions came from the Farmer's market this past Friday at Dothan Nurseries. I would recommend leeks or sweet onions if you can't make it there to pick these up. They were so incredibly delish!


Never eaten a beet?? Or only had them "pickled"???? Let me introduce you to my new fav.....

Cut the top stem off, then peel with a sharp knife like you are skinning an apple.

Then rinse and slice how ever you would like. Your hands might be stained red for a bit :)

Slice your beautiful onions in half (length wise), and lay on cooking sheet like so....

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and drizzle, shake and grind these on top.....

Like so.....

Place in your oven for 20 mins.....remove onions, and pop beets back in for 10 more minutes...

While they are filling your home with sweet aromas, start your dip.....

Note: I ended up going back out to the garden for more dill, so use double this amount. Like 6 large stems.

mix 16 oz of sour cream, a zest from 1 lemon, juice from 1 lemon(1/2 cup), 1/2 tsp salt, and the leaves of your dill (I just ripped them off, didn't even chop). Mix and place back in fridge until serving. I recommend a good hour, for flavors to mesh.



Back to my salad. Place Walnuts (as much as you like, I used about a cup-whole, not chopped) in a hot skillet with 1 tbls of butter and toast....

drizzle lightly with honey, toss, cut off heat and set aside....

Dressing- I love my mason jar for shaking-

4 tbls of sugar-1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, and 1/3 cup of olive oil-

Shake-

Pulling my onions from the oven-





lay 1 bag of spring mix on a large platter-

top with one chopped granny smith apple- goat cheese (however much you like, we love it!), walnuts, beets, onions and drizzle all of the dressing on top...

But before you add your dressing-

throw your chicken on one side of a med- med/ high temp. grill for 10 mins, flip and add your shrimp to the other side and grill 5mins on each side (or until completely pink). pull them off the grill for a total of about 20min grill time, depending on your temp/grill.

Serve both meats with this fabulous dip, and enjoy!!! It it delicious and the PERFECT summer time meal!

because everyone has a little country in them....

Even if you don't like the smell of the chicken coop, the cow pastures or the hay bales; you probably own a pair of cowboy boots (or wish you did). So deep down, you must have a little country in you. If you are like me, every time our family ventures to the great outdoors, my heart goes calm and I never want to leave.


Tim and I often say, "let's sell our house and move out here". Not saying we never will, we've just built our family and home in our city house, and so it just doesn't feel like we are supposed to. At least not now.


But who says you can't bring a little country to the city????

I am so very thankful we have a nice little sunny spot in our back yard. And extremely thankful, we took the plunge to plant a garden this year. This morning Elizabeth and I searched the world. wide. web, for info I just couldn't seem to answer for her about our little beds.


While we were checking out the reasons our Squash and Pumpkin blooms were falling off the vine, we boiled us 3lbs of homemade boiled peanuts....

Here's what we did.....

3lbs of raw peanuts
10 tbls of salt (we like them salty- add 8tbls if you don't)
12 cups of water

Boiled 2 1/2- 3 hours

And then Enjoy! This was our very first, but definitely NOT our last time to boil peanuts. This just might take over the afternoon popcorn crave :)

 (it was Elizabeth's idea to "decorate" with the empty shells...love the way that kid thinks!)


So if you didn't know that it is natural for some of the squash blooms to fall off the vine. Then DON'T panic like we did. Just click the link above, breath easier, and then talk about how awesome our God is, by creating such a cool thing.


Heading over to Dothan Nurseries for the Farmer's Market tomorrow 9am-1pm. Head over there to see all our fabulous friends, including these guys. Hope to see you there :)

because I don't do boring....anymore

Tim asked me a few months back, why I never wore anything colorful. My closet is filled with black, brown, white, cream, grey and the occasional navy. Most everything is solid, although there might be a pop of some print here and there.



I looked at him wondering if I should be offended.  But he was really just asking out of curiosity, and stated that I always had a reason for everything I did, so what's the scoop on my clothes.



I told him, I think it's because, although I love to shop, I really want something timeless. Things I can put together, mix and match being my goal, and that my statement is made through my accessories??


Then I started thinking about how my home is nothing like my clothes. Timeless, really isn't my purpose with it. I don't tend to buy the nick knacks or clutter my home with accessories. It's statement is usually found in the fabrics I choose, the colors I paint, and the patterns I use. 

For the LONGEST time, I would look at magazine after magazine and "wish" my house would flow and look all the same, and just be "my style". But it kept nagging me that I couldn't "get" some things just like I wanted them, what was my style, how do I "get" it. I liked this style and that style. My mom would say things like "you like change so much, I wasn't sure if you would like this?", as I opened a gift from her. 

Then I realized, it wasn't about change. It's about expression, and creativity. So I tossed the magazine image out of my head and decided, every room has a purpose, a story with pieces and colors and prints that I can use to tell it. Not that a "flowing" house can't.....it's just so fun for me this way. So when I would do things like paint my hard wood floors, or some kitchen chairs red, something would swell up inside and I realized how much fun it was to just create. And a little piece of my creator smiled inside, because after all, if God was boring, He would've placed Adam and Eve in a desert, not a Garden.....





So because I don't do boring, I did this.......

For $20.00 and about 12hours, I transformed my hallway. Yes, it's just a hallway. But now, it's something really fun to walk down. So, my house doesn't flow; unless you view it as ripples of the unexpected.



Speaking of Magazines.......while I was doing this little task above, this came in the mail.......

and KNOCKED me over that her room made the cover. I was completely flattered, shocked, and humbled.....like over come with giddy, but mainly because God sent it to me at a perfect time.

I'll save that for another time....maybe :)