Cranberry Salad

[An actual conversation held at a Friendsgiving one year.]

Friend 1: "Will you pass the beets?"

Friend 2: "Those are yams!"

Friend 1: "They're the same thing!"

Friend 3: "Actually...it's cranberry sauce."

You can't make this stuff up.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday; a time to spend thinking about all that we a thankful for with family, friends, and yummy food.  As a child I always intentionally skipped the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.  Sometimes you could see the ridges from the inside of the can, and others it had a similar consistency to cottage cheese.  It was not to be trusted.

Until I had it at my wonderful in-laws Thanksgiving.  My mind was blown.  Who knew the side of cranberries could be so delicious?!  My mother-in-law was gracious enough to share with me her mother's recipe, and I'm sharing it with you!  I did alter the ingredients a bit from the original, but it is delicious!

Grandma Springer's Cranberry Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh cranberries, finely chopped in a food processor

1 - 20 oz can of crushed pineapple, drained

1 - 11 oz can of Mandarin Oranges, drained

2 - 3 oz packages of Lemon Jell-o

7 spoonfuls of white sugar [more or less, to taste]

2 cups boiling water

Directions:

Dissolve Jell-o in boiling water.  Place in refridgerator.  You want the Jell-o to cool and begin to  congeal {it takes about 45 min - 1 hour}.  While the Jell-o is in the fridge, finely grind the cranberries in the food processor and add sugar to the cranberries.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then stir in the crushed pineapple.  Once the Jell-o is beginning to congeal, add it to the salad and stir it until it's combined.  Last, add the mandarin oranges and mix them with the salad.  Cover the salad and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  Enjoy!!

October in Photos

As summer and our weekends at the lake came to a close, I remember saying, "I'm looking forward to life slowing down and catching my breath."  It seems, though, that I've jinxed myself.  Our weekends are still packed, and our weeks are more busy than before!  I can't believe it's already November!

That being said, here are the highlights of October in pictures:

October began with a teachers-night-out.  Over the river and through the woods, to Luke Bryan we go!

[Quite literally]

Susan, Kelli, and me -- Love these two.

While back in Athens visiting Cal and Ashley, we decided to get festive at the pumpkin patch.  I'd never picked a pumpkin off the vine before!  We loved walking around looking at all of the different pumpkins and sunflowers on the farm.  We decided to paint our pumpkins instead of carving them this year.  It's nice to enjoy the pumpkins through November! 

pumpkins for daaayyyyyyyssss

Maybe one day I will have a garden of sunflowers.

Could there be a more accurate picture of us?

Love this man.
We're holding the pumpkin like that for many reasons:
1. It's heavy.
2. If you hold the pumpkins by the stems, they'll break off.
3. How do you non-awkwardly take a pumpkin pic?
This is NOT a 'I'm preggo!' picture.  

This is my pumpkin -- Byron's was rather disturbing so I'll spare you from that.

Byron and I went on a short hike one weekend (I'll post pictures of that later) and I celebrated Halloween with my kiddos at school wearing our PJs.  Then Friday everyone welcomed November with a Sugar Hangover.  

My goal for November is to slow down amidst the chaos, enjoy it, and give thanks for the blessings that come with a busy schedule.

just like the song goes: make new friends & keep the old

I grew up with an incredible group of friends.  There's no doubt that God strategically placed them in my life.  These girls were who I depended on, laughed with, and knew my secrets.  We spent the weekends together, served on mission trips, and unconditionally loved each other.  We had a strong foundation built on trust, Christ, and similar interests, with countless shared memories.  After graduating from high school, most of us went to different colleges where we began a quest to make new friends.

At Georgia College and after graduating, I quickly learned that all girls are not like my friends from home.  I can't remember ever fighting with the girls from Lilburn.  We never had a falling out.  We didn't have drama.  And although most of us still live near Atlanta, we don't see each other that often, so I need to make some new friends.  Not to replace the 'old' ones, but because you can never have too many friends, right?  And it's just time for that.

 Needless to say, finding good, genuine, Jesus-loving [new] friends proved to be rather tiring. . .which is exactly why I joined small groups.  [I'm doing a women's group and Byron and I are in a newly-married group!]  In a previous post I mentioned just how awkwardly it began, but I am more thankful than ever with the way they've turned out.

Yay for our new friends Adam and Alicyn!

After spending months praying for God to put me in a group, I am certain that He's handpicked these new friends for me.  We've only been meeting in our groups for about 6 weeks and I am already loving the people.  I am excited we are building our friendships with Christ as the foundation and making it a priority to meet each week.

It's neat to think that I've made so many new friends in the past 6 weeks and I already feel like we know each other so well.  I can't wait to see how the friendships evolve and relationships grow as we individually grow closer to God in the process.  

I know that God created us to be relational beings.  Sometimes, especially when you don't know many people where you're living, it's easier and more comfortable to continue to seclude yourself and veer away from and new community of friends.  There is no doubt, though, that with a little courage and God's placement of new people into our lives, great relationships happen.  I couldn't be more thankful.

God works in a public school

Most teachers will be honest and tell you that sometimes we get children in our classes that we wish we could trade.  They're disrespectful and distracting and their parents are unreachable.  They're the students that can change the whole dynamic of a classroom.  They're the children that, by the time the morning announcements come on, put you at your wit's end.  They're the hardest to love. 

Yet, they need your love the most.

Their parents are unreachable because they aren't involved...in or out of school.  The children misbehave because they don't know any other way to get attention -- and positive attention??  That exists?! They talk back and argue with you because they don't know any other way, and shy away when you ask for a hug because they're unfamiliar with affection.

Yet, they need your love the most.

So as a teacher you pray for patience and for God to speak through you because you may not always speak words of love.  Instead of groaning at the sight of them traipsing down the hallway in the morning, you great them with a smile.  Instead of getting angry when correcting that same student for the 500th time, you take a deep breath and repeat your instructions once more.  Instead of sending the child home in with crocodile tears streaming down his face because you've expressed how angry you are with him, you pull them aside, discuss how tomorrow will be better, and wave good-bye to a tear-free 6 year-old.  

And as you consciously love them, things begin to change.

Their pace quickens in the morning as they walk to your classroom and greet you with the most genuine, beautifully crooked-toothed smile you've ever seen.  Their excitement for learning grows and and they begin to follow directions.  Their behavior has improved and before they leave your classroom each day they stop to give you a big, sincere hug.

And as you consciously love them, things begin to change.

You realize that God placed this child in your classroom because that is exactly where He wanted him.  You realize that while this child may not experience any of Christ's love at home, he gets to experience it for 8 hours each day in your classroom.  You realize that even though you haven't spoken a single word about God, you've loved this child as God does.  You realize that this child has changed because of how you've loved him and because of what God's doing through you.

It's funny how sometimes it's the most unexpected students that grow into your heart and impact who you are.  They're the students you were so reluctant to love at first, but you can't seem to get out of your mind once they leave your classroom.  The students you specifically pray for each night.

I always thought it would be too difficult to work in a public school where I wasn't able to talk about Jesus with my students.  And while it is difficult, I think it's pretty incredible how God continues to work and reveal himself in a place where the His name can hardly be spoken.  

so long summer

The end of Summer is always so bittersweet.  Okay, maybe it's a lot more bitter than sweet.  With such a wet June and July, the warm, sunny weather arrived just in time to tease us, and run away for another 8 months.  I hope she returns on time in 2014 and leaves the dreary rain south of the equator.  Luckily, we were finally able to get on the water in August and September before greeting Fall.

The lake is our happy place.

and Brigdet's, too.

Byron landed a new trick this summer -Wake to Wake 180.  Whoop!

I'm not hitting Wake to Wake yet. . . but I am a lot closer! :)

Our good friend, Ralph, doin' his thing.  We love spending our summer weekends with him!

How sweet is Ralph's pup, Georgia?

Bridget and Mookster are completely exhausted and need to rest-up for next Summer.

Byron & I both ended the summer in need of new sunglasses.

So long lake weekends filled with wakeboarding.  Until next year....

As we wave good-bye to Summer it's time to embrace all of the pumpkins, apples, mums, and cool, crisp air. Happy Fall, y'all!

sometimes awkward is good

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

I grew up in a community with a wonderful church I was proud to call home.  My best friends and I grew as friends as we grew in our faith.  Our friendships were built on a foundation of worshiping, reading the Bible, and serving together.  I loved my church and the people there.  But as with most things, it no longer is what I need what Byron and I need.   After not really settling anywhere for over a year, Byron and I decided it was time.  Although we aren't in a house and our living situation is still up in the air, we agreed to start actively searching for a church.  We ended up at Buckhead Church, and although we still aren't sure if that's where we want to call home, we felt like God wanted us in small groups.

Let me just explain this process to you.

In August they have this event called GroupLink.  I imagine it's just as awkward, if not more so, than Speed Dating and Sorority Rush combined.  All of the un-grouped women met in the sanctuary and were given time to mingle and meet with girls in their same age groups.  From there you form a group.  You meet all these girls you've never seen before and decide to do a group with them.  Not really knowing anything about them.  Hardly even remembering their names.  It was really uncomfortable.  But I went through it.  Twice.  [once for a women's group and once for a couple's group]

I left after finding my women's group completely overwhelmed and apprehensive -- 100% unsure about the process and 80% positive it was not going to work and I was going to drop out.

"I won't have anything in common with these girls," "They all seem so different than me," "I don't think this is going to work,"  I told Byron.  Still I prayed.  I've been praying for a group for a while -- long before GroupLink or we even stepped inside Buckhead Church.  So I continued talking to God, and did my best to trust that He had some reason for placing me in this group of girls.

We all got together for pizza a few weeks later.  I was nervous before dinner, sure it was going to go terribly.  Man was I wrong.  My nerves were immediately calmed and I left Felini's feeling much more confident in our group.  I've only known them for a month and I already love them.  We meet once a week and I couldn't look forward to it more.  I love learning about them and building our friendships.  I honestly couldn't be more thankful.  I'm excited to see what God does through the girls in our group and within the group itself.

After months of praying for this group to come together, I'm sure that God had it mapped out for it to happen just as it did. In the best timing, when I'm able to commit to this group and in need of friends with the same love for Jesus.  I have a good feeling about this!

Good-bye Flip Phone!

I recently had a pivotal moment in my life.  I joined the 21st century.  After years of using a hand-me-down flip phone (only slightly more hip that the Zack Morris phone), I am finally the owner of an iPhone!  Watch out world: You're about to be bombarded with Instagram pictures of my sweet pups.  Hopefully, this new phone will force me to be a better communicator to friends and family and it might alter my life in other ways, too.

Ways my like could change as an iPhone user:

- I can nosocialize.

- I can post selfies each morning on the way to/from work.

- You will never have to wonder what I ate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

- I can check-in at every place I go, alerting a robber to break in my apartment and steal all of the expensive things that a teacher's salary allows.

How my life will change with an iPhone:

- I no longer will have to print MapQuest directions before heading on vacation or to new restaurants.

- When receiving group messages I won't receive each person's individual, out of order response.

- Instead of hauling my SLR camera with me everywhere I can simply bring my phone.

- My text message inbox won't be 99% full every other day.

- Metallica's 'Sandman' will no longer be my ringtone.

- I can use paperless coupons!!!