Choose Joy

This has easily become my favorite corner in my home. From taking an old picture frame and creating a picture collage, to using old shutters as a card hanger, I throughly enjoy this space. However, one thing here is truly my favorite.

The painting on the right. "Today I Will Choose Joy." What a simple thing, right? Choose Joy. Choose joy over sorrow. Choose joy over agitation. Choose joy over bitterness. Seems easy. This painting is a constant reminder to me of where I can find true joy.

I cannot provide myself with true joy. I cannot buy a mountain of clothes from the LOFT and have true joy. My husband cannot buy me a dozen sunflowers and make dinner for me to have true joy. My true joy comes from mySavior. The Lord is the only one who can provide us with true joy in our lives.

Matt and I have been in Texas for a little over a month. Married life is going better than I could ever imagine. I have a loving husband who is so comforting, patient, and amazing. However, I found myself sad and negative about the things that I did not have here. I didn't have my friends, I didn't have a job, and my family was across the country, and I felt that my only purpose was to clean house and cook. This realization sent me into sadness.

I was reading one morning and it hit me. The Lord has given me SO much to be joyful about. While I may not always be happy about my situation, I can be joyful in the amazing life the Lord has provided for me and the salvation I have received from him.

I realized that the Lord's plan (not mine) and his grace in my life is something to be JOYFUL about. I am BEYOND blessed and should be screaming from the rooftops about the gifts I have been given.

"Let the morning bring me word of your UNFAILING LOVE, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:8

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

As I read these verses, I was filled with a sense of peace. The Lord's UNFAILING LOVE for me would fill me and sustain me. I decided to be joyful. To give thanks for what I was given and to not focus on what I didn't have. My joy can come from NOTHING but the Lord.

Choose Joy. Choose to be content in the Lord and let HIS unfailing love sustain you and give you hope.

From old picture frame to home decor goodie!

Over the past few months I have had my eye on a craft at an expensive home decor store.  It was a wood frame with wires between it and picture clips hanging from the wire.  I would see this item and think how wonderful it would look in Matt and I's home. However, my wallet did not like the price of this craft. One day, Matt and I were browsing and I showed him this piece. His first words were, "we could make that." From then on I was determined to make this piece!

My first step in making this was finding the perfect wood frame. I found this item at an antique store in my Nanny's hometown of Vinton, Virginia. This item was PERFECT and I only paid $5.00 for it!

I have now had this frame for a couple months and have been anxiously waiting to craft my perfect wire picture holder. I decided that the 4th of July would be a perfect crafting day. Especially since I could recruit Matt to help :)

The first thing that we did was drill holes in the back of the frame and place fixtures in those holes for the wire to go through.  We did three fixtures on each side of the picture frame. These fixtures came in a picture hanging kit from Wal-Mart. It was $5.95 for a kit of nails and picture hanging supplies!



We then took picture hanging wire and fed it through the eyes of the fixtures to make a straight line of wire across the frame.

Below is what the frame looked like from the back after we had attached the wire. We then added clips to the wire. These clips were left in our house when we moved in, but you can find them at any craft store.

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 Finally, it came time to add our wedding pictures! I was so excited to finally have this craft hanging in our home.

Total, it took us about 30 minutes to finish and it is a wonderful addition to our living room! Thank you to my wonderful husband who has now become quite the crafter :)

It's Dinner Time!

Over the past month and a half that Matt and I have been married I have tried really hard to learn to cook. Some of my recipes have been disasters (like trying to make a breakfast casserole and forgetting the 9 eggs). However, some of them have been very good!

I wanted to share one recipe that I have seen pinned a thousand times on pinterest, but didn't know if anyone actually ever tried it. It is the Chicken Pot Pie Cups. This recipe is from Between 3 Sisters and is a fabulous one that was so easy to make!

I made some adaptations to the recipe because I didn't want to use some of the reduced fat ingredients. My mom has always taught me to use all the fat in cooking and save the calories somewhere else :)
Here are the ingredients for this delicious meal:

-1 can of  biscuits (10 count) 

- 1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
- 2/3 cup shredded l cheddar cheese
- 1 cup of frozen mixed veggies (I used the $1.00 package from walmart!)
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Separate biscuits and place each biscuit in a cup of a lightly greased 12-hole muffin pan, pressing dough up sides to edge of cup.
3. In a bowl, combine chicken, chicken soup, veggies, cheddar cheese, onion powder, parsley flakes, and black pepper.
4. Spoon chicken mixture into prepared biscuit cups.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven. Place muffin pan on a wire rack and let set for 2-3 minutes. 

Some pointers I learned from this experience: 

-Use name brand, LARGE bisucits. I tried to use the cheapo biscuits and they turned out to be super tiny and didn't work for the first batch. This meant that Matt was making a mad dash for the Tom Thumb so we could finish dinner. What a great husband :) 

-I did use the reduced fat soup and the recipe still turned out wonderful!

-Their recipe said to use reduced fat cheese, but I just went with the regular and it was fabulous :) 

-Make sure the biscuits are pressed on the sides of the muffin pan so that the biscuits will cook up!

I really enjoyed making this recipe and found that Between 3 Sisters has some wonderful recipes on their blog! I hope you enjoy this fast and easy recipe :)