SOOOOOoooo.... all that to say... yay! I won something! First time ever! Thanks, Whitney (blogger)! (And ps, I love your name!) Ya'll should pop over to her blog and add her to your reader! Oh, here's the set of keys I won....

I knew that one of the members of the Christian group, Selah, had lost a baby. His wife carried their daughter, Audrey Caroline, despite a fatal diagnosis during pregnancy. In fact, I follow HER BLOG (and you should too!). Her blog was the first one I found of someone who had continued a pregnancy after a terrible diagnosis. So for the first time, I listened to this song. Oh my. I know that Selah is technically "singing" this song, but friends, Jesus is singing this song over me. You have to go listen to it. I couldn't find a link to just the song, so I am putting this video on here... it is actually a video made for Audrey Caroline. I'll put the words below it, too so you can follow along... it is absolutely stunning. Oh! And one more thing, its hard to understand at the beginning, but the verse recited by the kids at the end is none other than my favorite verse, Romans 15:13. You may remember that I've written about the meaning this verse has in my life about only, oh... a million times or so. (HERE HERE and HERE just to name a few)

* Clean out the following drawers

* Shey's Bedside table

* Sean's Bedside table

* Top left and right dresser drawers

* All the bathroom drawers

* Organize Closet shelves

* Purge closet!!!

* Organize jewelry (again)

* Clean ceiling fan

* Get rid of all appliances we don't use

* Organize pantry (again)

* Clean out junk drawer

* Paint mantel

* Decorate mantel

* Find new art for wall beside TV

* Relocate bookshelf to... somewhere?

* Clean out closet

* Get rid of junk in there!

* Relocate bookshelves to...? (Bedroom? Dining room?)

* Put Full bed back in room

* Purge Craft Closet

* File 2009 papers

Garage:

* Sigh... not even going to think about this one right now!

* Finish wall lettering for entry way

* Install baseboards

* Install transition strips for wood flooring

* Clean out front hall closet (get rid of stuff!)

So, as you can see, I have quite a list of things that I want to do. They're not necessarily things that HAVE to be done, but I am really trying to reduce clutter. I have so much stuff that I don't use anymore that I really need to just give away. So.... we'll see how these tasks go! We did actually accomplish one or two of the items today... Sean cleaned the fan in our living room! Man, it was bad! I think I will breathe a little bit easier now.... He also cleaned out his bedside table drawer! Thanks honey!

Have I also mentioned that I love my crock pots? I got a great, EASY chicken taco recipe from Holly Furtick over at The Preacher's Wife... It is cooking right now and smells INCREDIBLE. And it is seriously the easiest crock pot meal I have made yet! Here it is:

Chicken Tacos:

2-3 frozen chicken breasts (I only had the frozen chicken tenders... I used about7 of those)

1 can Rotel (or small can salsa)

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 packet of taco seasoning.

Dump it all in your crock pot first thing in the morning. Frozen chicken and all! Cook on low for 8-10 hours. (Mine has been in about 7 hours and looks close to done) Shred chicken at some point in the afternoon, then let finish cooking until you are ready to eat. Wrap in whole wheat soft tortillas and serve with whatever else you like... salsa, sour cream, guac, etc. I CANNOT wait for dinner!

PS- I've added a couple new posts over on our Whitney's blog... :-) CLICK HERE.

I love my "blue eyes." He's the bestest ever. :-)

We've weathered a lot of storms together and raised a lot of hell. We've taken fabulous trips (Dallas! Vegas! San Fran! Vegas!) and made some pretty awesome memories. But my favorite memory with my best friend will for always be the day that we both found out we were pregnant! I know that Tracy feels my sadness and pain almost as much as I do... after all, she is losing a 'niece', a best friend for her precious little girl, Isabella. Through all of our pain and trials at this time, Tracy is always there for me... even though she's 1500 miles away in Oklahoma. If she wasn't just as very pregnant as I am, I know she would be here on the next flight out. Her love, support, tears and joy mean the world to me. I am SO greatful for her. And over the years, as I watch her daughter grow, I will of course think of Whitney. I'll miss her and wish that she and Izzy could play together, celebrate birthdays together, and have slumber parties and sing karaoke just like T and me. But more than that, I will look at Izzy and remember the JOY that I had on the day we both found out we were pregnant. I will look at Izzy and be thankful for her life, her health and the love she gets from her mamma.

We still have a lot of great years ahead of us... who knows where the next 10 years will take us... Europe?! the Beach? a cruise?! Sorry if this got a little mushy, i just had to let it be known to the world how thankful I am for my BFF. Now if only I could find a way to move us back to Tulsa....

The top pic is us in Vegas working at the World Championship Fantasy Football draft. It was pretty cool. Other pics, clockwise from the top left, $8 steaks at 3 a.m. in Vegas, Fun on the riverwalk in tulsa, We love crabs, More crabshock with the boys. :-)