A special, but random date night!

Tonight I didn't know what to make for dinner....and I needed to go to the grocery store. Thankfully we remembered we had a gift card to Red Lobster that we had never used!!!! YES! So....we decided to take an impromptu date night! My cute husband on our week night date!
I was able to cut my meal in half....so I have lunch for tomorrow! yay!
Excited about our gift card!

It made for a wonderful and special night!

I did go to the grocery store after dinner....it had to be done.

And I figured out what meals I want to cook for the next week.

Oh and guess what....it's going to be almost 60 degrees here tomorrow! That is so crazy. It will feel like spring. Even though there a so many cities covered in snow.

I'm looking forward to the weekend!!!!!!

Hugs!

What I LOVE this fine Wednesday! ;)

I'm linking with Jamie today! ;)

I love stopping mid week to think about what I love and the blessings in life.

I'm LOVING.....participating in Beth Moore's scripture memory challenge this year! It has really been stretching me and challenging me for sure. Thinking on God's Word daily is one of the best things we can do. I have my first verse down pat....but I am still working on my second verse!

I'm LOVING.....my husband! Man oh man, I love him!
He just makes me feel special.

I'm LOVING....thinking about our mission trip to South America in March! It's all I can think about lately. We are praying daily for this...and I can't wait! It also has me thinking about packing! Very important. On our last mission trip, my sweet mom let us borrow her L.L. Bean travel alarm clock! It was such a life saver. Believe me....we did not stay in any places with an alarm clock! :) She said we can borrow it again this trip! Thanks mom!

I have been eyeing this travel bag from L.L. Bean also. It holds all your toiletries and keeps you nice and organized! Does anyone have one of these? I hear they are pretty cool. What about other travel tips you might have?

Send 'em my way pretty please! ;)

I'm LOVING....this picture! This is my ADORABLE nephew Landen! Sweetest boy in the world. Uncle Tim loves his nephews. He is going to be a wonderful daddy someday.

I'm LOVING.....this verse I studied last night....

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things." Philippians 4:8

Our thoughts are so important...and a BIG DEAL. If we find ourselves stressed, anxious, angry, bitter, nervous, doubting....any feeling that can overtake our minds....if we can just remember to "think on the things of God" it's amazing how much that helps and can change the situation! Then verse 7 says...that the peace of God, that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds! (my paraphrase!).

WOW! I'm thinking on that today!!!

Have a great day friends!

xoxo,

Amanda

It's a great day! :)

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

I first wanted to say thank you for all the sweet comments on my last post about our mission trip to Uruguay in March!!! You guys are so kind and I love knowing you all.

I mean that! :)

We had a very fun filled weekend! We got to have dinner with two different couple friends....so it was double the blessing & fun! We learned how to play two different games. Has anyone ever played Pitt or Sequence? WE LOVED THEM! I'm definitely going to have to add those to our our game collection.

We had a great day at church yesterday. I love Sunday! :)

I had oatmeal for breakfast this morning! I forgot how good and satisfying oatmeal is. Note to self!

I'm drinking my morning cup of joe as I type!

Oh....yesterday I really surprised myself by putting together two outfits I had never worn before! It was one of those days where I didn't like anything in my closet!!! ;) Well, I got creative and put several pieces together that I had never worn together before and it gave them new life! Why had I not done that before? My old stuff looked cute! I highly suggest this.....
I also had help from my Mr. Tim. He happens to be really good at dressing and putting together outfits. ;o) heehee!

We have a full week ahead....but I'm excited about it! I hope everyone has a super fabulous day! Let the Lord have control this week. He is the best pilot! :)

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

With LOVE,
Amanda

It's Official......

We said YES to going on a mission trip in March!!!!!! We prayed about it for awhile and feel peace about going. Our church is taking a small group of people to Uruguay. It is towards the bottom of South America. You can take a look on the map I posted. What is really cool....is Tim and I have been to Uruguay before in 2007 on our very first mission trip! It will be so neat to return there. We are sooooooo excited to go!!!!!!! I couldn't wait to share this with you all!
This is Tim and I in Uruguay in 2007!!!! We look pretty young I think! hahaha!

Tim with some of the children we met.

This is a picture of one of the homes.

Me with a precious little girl....I think her name was Jessica.

I am so thankful that we have the opportunity to go again. It has been a long time since our last mission trip. It was a hard decision to make because it is so expensive to go. But we really felt peace about going and I know that it will all come together. We have already started to plan some ideas of how to make some extra money. Babysitting anyone? lol!

Well, I just couldn't wait to share this news......YAY!!!!!!

(p.s. my poor hubby had a root canal at the dentist today! that does not sound like fun and he is super duper sore. anyone had one of those before? yuck!)

(p.p.s we really needed to go to the grocery store....so we got creative with our dinner tonight....we ended up creating an omelet!!!! ha! it was pretty good. we had some peppers in the fridge and some turkey sausage. not too shabby!)

It's almost the weekend! Hip Hip Hooray!

xo,

Amanda

Oh Where in the World is Miss Maddie today.....

In the kitchen cabinet of course!
My husband is always doing silly things with her....and while I was cooking dinner I look over and she was in the cabinet!

Ummm....too cute! :)

Life would be a little boring without Miss Maddie....

and without husband to do crazy things with her!

Just another night at the Shepard house!!!! :)

Hanging On....

I'm hanging on to every word you speak...

cause it's all that I need.

Hanging on to every word you say....cause you light up my way.

Even every little whisper I'm hanging on as if it were my life,

I'm hanging on.

I wanted to share this video of Britt Nicole.

She has some serious talent and uses it for Lord.

Sometimes we don't know what to do or what is going on in life...and all we can really do is hang on to the Word of God and His promises to us. He sees us, He hears us and

He LOVES us....just hang on!

I waited patiently for the Lord,

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1

I'm hanging on!

How about you?

What I'm Loving Wednesday!!!!!!

Happy Wednesday Everyone! :)

Join in on What I Love Wednesday with Jamie!

I am LOVING the show LOST.....I mentioned to you on Monday that I am now addicted to LOST! woah baby! Everyone kept telling Tim and I that we needed to watch this series because we would love it. Well, we finally decided to give it a try and we are hooked. It is so hard to stop after just one episode. Last Saturday we watched 5 episodes! haha! Oh and Matthew Fox is easy on the eyes! **Please if you are a LOSTaholic....please don't tell me anything! Please and Thanks! Unless you want to tell me how much you love it yourself! ;)

I'm LOVING......Golden Delicious Apples!!!! I can't get enough. We had to make a special run to the store last night so I could get some more! heehee! They are perfect....not too tart, bitter or sweet. Just right. mmmm....

I'm LOVING......my coffee in the mornings! Especially since it has been about zero degrees here in Springfield. Coffee makes me happy!

I'm LOVING.....that I have been cooking a ton lately! This might sound a little crazy....but last night I was up until 11 chopping veggies and such to prepare for a crockpot meal to go on today! ha! I turned the crockpot on this morning...so when we get home from work, dinner will be DONE! Plus, we have to dash off to church tonight and never have time for a good meal. But this way we will get a nice hot meal, and not some crummy fast food. A little veggie chopping at 11 will pay off at dinnertime tonight! :)

I'm LOVING.....my Mr. Tim, my hubby, my sweestest life companion! Love him so much. He is feeling a little sickly today....so I'm hoping my crockpot meal tonight will cozy him right up! haha!

I'm LOVING.....the new year!

I'm LOVING......all the time I will get to spend with Mr. Tim this weekend at the Tournament of Champions!!! woot! Yep....it's a weekend long full of b-ball with my hubby. I'm not a huge sports person, but it really is fun to follow the teams. They are high school teams from across the states. And some of them are crazy good....I have seen some of the players from past years go on to the NBA!

I'm LOVING....lightly salted popcorn made fresh in my StirCrazy popcorn maker. So good and not bad for me. YES!

Well, that wraps up my list for today! Hope you all stay cozy warm and enjoy the rest of your day!

HUGS,

Amanda

Yay for Monday & A Birthday Wish!

Happy Birthday to my sweet momma!!!!! :)

We celebrated her birthday today! She seriously is the most amazing woman ever. I wish you could all know her personally. She is such an example to me in so many ways...and most of all she loves the Lord and her life shows that. Oh...and she is a pretty fabulous piano player too! We went to a yummy steakhouse for dinner. My dad got her a Kindle for her day and she was majorly excited! She reads a crazy amount of books....so she will really get the use out of it.

So.....Happy Monday folks! :) I hope you all had a great day.

*It snowed today...but only a teensy little bit! So sad. It seems like our town only gets a little dusting everytime. boooooo!

*When I wake in the morning I really hope I wake to a winter wonderland.

*I tried a new recipe Saturday and it was DELISH! I will have to share it will you all. It was called Creamy Bacon Asparagus Pasta. nom nom!

*Oh yeah...I have been on a cooking kick lately and have tried lots of new recipes!!!! yay.

*I'm afraid I might be addicted to coffee. That could be good or bad. ;) I used to not care much about it, but now I HAVE to start my day with it. If not....things just don't get off on the right foot. I'm sure a few of you can relate......

*Yesterday I caught cute Miss Maddie sleeping on a pile of our laundry! hahahha! It was adorable!

*Hi, my name is Amanda and I'm now addicted to LOST. (we started watching it for the first time this weekend.....help me I can't stop!!!!!!)

Well, good night all! Have a blessed day tomorrow. I'm hoping for some SNOW in the morn! ;)

Hugs,
Amanda

Last little bit of Christmas.....

Happy weekend friends!!! :)

I have been having a very lazy weekend so far. It's da bomb! Saturday we did absolutely nothing! haha! We watched a bunch of random movies such as (Twister, Fast & Furious 1) lol! And I stayed in my p.j.'s all day. Today I got up for church and Tim was invited to go the Kansas City Chief's playoff game today! He was so excited! So I am a loner today. Which means....another afternoon in my jammers! :) I had forgot to post some more Christmas pictures to my blog so I thought I would do that today. We had celebrated one of our family Christmas' a week before Christmas...so I had forgot about getting these pictures up. It was with Tim's side of the fam and we had a wonderful time!!! This is a pic of all of us "kids"! Those are all Tim's brothers! This is Thomas and I (Tim's littlest brother)....he is Tim's mini me...if you couldn't tell!!! lol!

This is Tim's brother Josh and his wife Jen...and their cute cute cute baby Jake...and one on the way!!!

Jake is such a cutie!

The tree!

It was such a great time! Hope you enjoyed the last little bit of Christmas! :)

Well...I'm going to relax and enjoy the rest of my day!

Oh, it might snow a little bit here tonight! I sure hope so! Yippeee!

xoxo,

Amanda

The Big Threes!!!!

Good Morning everyone!!!! So happy it's Thursday. I think it's going to be a great day.
I saw this post over at Windy Poplars and I thought I would join in! :) Feel free to join in too!

Three Names I Go By:
1. Amanda of course
2. Manders
3. Manny or Sis (a lot of people call me that for some reason!)

Three Jobs I Have Had In My Life:
1. Mail Courier
2. Bank Teller
3. Ministry Assistant at a church (this is the current one)

Three Places I Have Lived In The Past:
1. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri! :)
2. Growing up we did live in a town called Pleasant Hope...but it is basically Springfield.
3. Our first year of marriage we lived in Rogersville...but again, that is basically Springfield too! Pleasant Hope and Springfield are just little towns right next to Springfield.

Three Favorite Drinks:
1. Diet Soda....pretty much love all kinds
2. COFFEEEEEE! ;)
3. Strawberry limeade from Sonic. So good.

Three TV Shows That I Watch:
1. Burn Notice
2. Leverage
3. The Office
4. Okay I know this is only suppose to be 3's but I had to add American Idol! (Even though I might be disappointed this year......) :( sad!

Three Of My Favorite Foods:
1. All fruit!!!!!!!! I love it all and it's good for me. :) :)
2. Cashew Chicken (this is a special Springfield thing....if you have never had it, you must visit me in Springfield and try it!)
3. Potato Soup
(it is super hard to only pick 3 favorite foods...I could go on and on!!)

Three Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Hopefully going on another mission trip again this year
2. Being a mom someday
3. House projects with the love of my life!

Hope you have a FABULOUS DAY!!!!!
xo,
Amanda

I'm dreaming of cozy fireplaces.....

How many of you are lucky enough to have a cozy,

wonderful fireplace in your home????

I wish so bad our little home had a fireplace. :( Oh well, I shall not sulk about it!

Have you all seen the "fake" fireplaces? They make electric ones and some that you use gel fuel for. Hmmmm it perks my interest!! If I can't have a real one (for now anyways) I will settle for one of these uhhhhh fake ones! I have found some pretty cute and cozy ones out in the market that I would gladly welcome into my living room. Not only are they cute...but they actually put off heat too. Bonus points. I was basically just wanting it for the "look" factor! This one is a pretty basic one....used for your entertainment stuff too. That's a nice feature...cause you have to have a place for all those electronics of course.

Mr. Tim requires this.


This one looks a little more traditional....and still has the electronics cubby hole.

This one is more modern looking.

Oh I really really want one of these! haha! They come in a wide range of prices which is good. I found all of these at Lowes.com but I have seen them for sale other places too. I think it would really make my living room perfect! ;) A girl can dream......

What do you all think? Do you have a fireplace that you LOVE?

Maybe I can catch one on sale at the end of this winter season???

It's a new year for real!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!

We have had a very chill new year's so far! I love it. Friday we both had the day off together (yay...that doesn't happen that often!) so we had a fun day! We had to drive to Branson to return a gift. Tim had bought me a jacket at Wilson's Leather at the Tanger Outlets.....and well.....the arm holes were super tight for some reason!(like fat guy in a little coat!) It was so uncomfortable and I couldn't really move my arms around. lol! So, I decided I really wouldn't wear it and needed to take it back. We were in Wilson's Leather for a loooong time with me trying on a billion coats! for reals. Oh my! I was getting a little frustrated. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted....and I really didn't want anything to be tight on my arms. I hate that feeling. So, I finally found a few and I decided on one. Yay! It is growing on me. I have never had anything like it before. It is lighter weight so I don't think I will be wearing it on really cold days. Brrr! But it will be a great jacket for all year round. I will have to post a picture later. My poor husband for having to put up with me in Wilson's Leather!!!!! lol! :)

New Year's Eve night we just chilled and watched a cute movie and had popcorn! yippeeeee! (It was the freshly popped kind and I only put salt on it). Oh and we did have sparkling grape juice of course!!!!!!! That stuff is da bomb! We only had white cause they were out of the red.

New Year's Day we took down the Christmas stuff. I thought I was going to be sad....but I wasn't. At all. It was pretty refreshing actually. We were so refreshed with it that we completely rearranged our living room furniture! hahaha! It was fun and we totally love our new look. I must say it was hubby's idea. :) Now I really have the decorating bug (not that I already didn't!) We have tons of house projects to work on this year. The joys of living in an older home. It's fun though. I love seeing things get a new life and making it fresh!

I'm excited for this new year! I have lots to look forward to....but everyday is a blessing. I'm thankful for TODAY!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the new year! Blessings to you!

Hugs!
Amanda