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