White Rock Marathon 2008

Way to GO Adam!!!! He did the full 26.2 miles along with his brother and a friend. He finished 3 minutes under his goal that he has been training for! So proud of you! The first pic is me and Adam at the end. The next is Adam at mile 19 and then Todd (his brother)at mile 19. Yes, Adam has a burly beard right now! :) We also had so many friends there to cheer him on (along with 8 small children which is pretty crazy!). I was so grateful and felt so blessed!

Good posts:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1473_thoughts_on_voting_and_politics/
http://donmilleris.com/2008/11/03/from-reagan-to-obama-a-brief-political-history/

Wassail the Fuss About?

Go here to order a shirt for a Wassail shirt for the Denton Holiday Lighting 08! Adam designed it :)
http://www.rozells.blogspot.com/

Sage and I went last year and had a great time tasting all the different wassails:)

I stole this picture from Stacy Head's blog b/c I really love it :) But, not as much as I LOVE Football Game Nachos! They are my reason for going to ball games!:)

YUMMY RECIPE!
Sunflower Banana Cookies

I made these cookies today.......mostly b/c I happened to have sunflower seeds & bananas (about to go bad) and wanted to use them. They were really yummy! Here's the recipe:
You can double up on the sunflower seeds and omit the chocolate chips. Dried fruit may also be substituted.

Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 very ripe medium bananas, peeled and mashed
* 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
* 1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
* 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips or dried fruit

Preparation:
Whisk together flour and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat bananas, butter, and sugar on medium speed until thoroughly combined.
Add flour mixture half at a time, beating to incorporate. Fold in sunflower seeds and chocolate chips.
Refrigerate cookie dough for 45 minutes to 1 hour. (Cold dough helps keep the cookies from spreading.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Scoop about 1 teaspoonful of cookie dough for each cookie and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until edges are lightly golden.

Enjoy!

Getting their hair done at Sweet 'n Sassy :) It was free for the month of July! whoo hoo!

London learned to wink!!! Sage is still trying but it's a blink for now :)
Oh, and pictures will follow in a few days of Adam's tattooing skills......he tattoed a grapefruit and it turned out pretty good!

Recently a group of us were discussing how we are always talking about our sins and struggles and confessing them which is great and what God calls us to do but that we also need to remember to talk about the awesome things God is doing in our lives. Hopefully, I am glorifying God when I discuss my struggles b/c in my weakness, He is strong (2 Cor). And, "a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalms 51:17).
BUT, We were saying that you talk about the great things the Lord does naturally when you are living Missionally. When you are living missionally and serving others, then you forget about yourself and all your "woes". I get excited about living missionally and SERVING OTHERS! :) But, alas, I don't always do it. I do good for a while and then need that extra bit of encouragement to keep going and God always comes through :) I wrote this last week I think and to blog it..........glorifying the Lord and all He's done in my life!

Why I am Grateful to the Lord:
1. He sent 4 different people to encourage me about my singing/playing piano on Tuesday nights when I was wondering if I could keep doing it/feeling discouraged.I love to encourage others but never think about how much encouragement can really pick you up!
2. He sent a woman to Recovery Tuesday night to remind me of why I show up on Tuesday nights! :) She is a believer in Christ but she said she is addicted to meth. She came with her daughter who has just recently started visiting the Village and they used to go there when it was Grace Temple. She loves Jesus and wants to have a heart change b/c nothing else is going to transform her. Praise the Lord for bringing them there!!
3. He is allowing me to lead music while Melissa is gone and I never ever would have thought I could do something like that.
4. My new fridge GIVEN to us!!!!!
5. He has given me friends who speak Truth to me and keep me humble to listen.
6. I have a husband who loves the Lord more than me and has given me two precious girls!
7. That God loves me enough to keep disciplining me and not leaving me to my own vices!
8. His love and grace towards me........He is my Lover, my Comforter, my Provider
9. Ok, I could go on for a while but I know I didn't deserve any of this and it's only the Lord being gracious in my life!
10. Love y'all :)

Just thought I'd share some pics from my grandparents farm.
Thanks to my grandparents we had yummy fresh peaches to pick while visiting!

of July! Paw Paw is really telling Adam something here :)

Summer Time

Riding in a carriage on the Denton Square with Aunt Farrah!

Picture of me with my sister in laws, Amanda and Angela.


Sage skibobbing with her cousin, Jonah

Another book....I'm on a roll ;)

Ok, this is just to say I have finished yet another book.......that makes 3 so far this year and that in itself is a miracle :) It's called The Peacemaker.....

My mini-flower-bed-garden :) It was my first time to try to grow anything so I am pretty happy with it!
tomatoes-THis isn't a great picture (my camera doesn't really have zoom)....now my tomatoe plant is up to nearly my hip!

Do you see the tomatoes?! :)

green beans

onions & green beans

This picture is funny b/c Adam, me, my sister (Farrah) and her hubby (Shane) were all playing cards. Well, Adam likes to keep things light by putting things on his head when we play games. Since most people don't get to see Adam's silly side, I thought you might like it :)

Cutie girls in the tub

Save Me From Myself

It was funny. I picked up a book at my friend (Amy Price)'s house when we were in Kansas City visiting them and there was a picture of Korn's ex-lead guitarist on the cover. This was first a surprise b/c Amy is NOT the type to listen to Korn :) However, Adam and I used to listen to Korn when we were in college and the first part of our marriage and I used to pray for them a lot. Anyway, the cover said he had quit Korn, quit drugs and found God. Needless to say, I was so happy to read that! I read the book in just a few days and it was really good. Somewhat disturbing at the beginning but it was amazing to see what God had done in Brian (Head) Welch's life. He is TRULY a lover of the Lord and it's awesome. I guess deep down I didn't really think God was going to save one or any of them. I'm glad HE proved me wrong :)

Go here: http://taraleighcobble.blogspot.com/

Tara Leigh Cobble is an amazing artist and she loves the Village! :)
She is a singer and also writes books. I read her first, Here's To Hindsight and I loved it. I couldn't put it down. It was the first book I had read since college :) I'm 30 by the way!
ANYWAY, go to her blog and read what she wrote about The Village and Matt :)

SO.......2007

So, I realize I like to start these with the word "So"....not sure why except I'm usually uncomfortable with these anyway. Anyway, yesterday I was reading a paper that Steve Chandler gave me the other night. It had a scripture on it saying why we should share our testimonies of what God has done in our life B/c they bring hope to people . I know I am filled with hope when I hear other people's. I usually think that people don't care about things like that but I guess I shouldn't be quite so much like that. So, I'm making up for it in a big way :) I'm going to be giving it to a large group of people in a couple months at Recovery at the Village. I'm pretty nervous, but I know if God wants me to do it, he will give me the words. It was really funny b/c the other day Sage had a friend over to play. I decided to sit down and write a few notes on my testimony. Well, an hour later I had pretty much finished it....rough draft of course, but still I was surprised that I did that much. The Lord has done more than I can imagine for me during the wonderful yet painful year of 2007. Tears were shed but they were tears from Godly sorrow, not worldly sorrow. The Lord also blessed me with several friends to go through everything together! I really do feel blessed for that. I truly feel like a new Tarrah, a new creation in Christ, the old is gone, the chains have been taken away!

Karaoke fun :)

Karaoke Fun :) This is Stacy & I....somehow Beth & Christa dodged all pictures! I think we were singing Every Rose Has It's Thorn :) I think we were celebrating the end of our Step Study!!!! Yeah Us!!!!

SO......what to write as my first blog......

This past week was fun.........Friday night Sage got to dress up as a rockstar for a birthday party and she was sooo cute! Here's a picture :) Then, on Saturday, my friend, Stacy, and I met the Drews to help fix up a woman's home who is in need. We had a great time painting and killing roaches, haha! Anyway, that's all for now I guess :)