Silence

Tim and I are in a great small group this year. We watched a video last week on silence in your life and how we need more of it and how we make little time for it. It really was an inspiring video. It was about how we fill our lives with so much business and we don’t make time for silence and to hear God’s word. We challenged everyone in our group to try and make more time for silence and then we would report back about how it went. Some people took TV completely out of their week, which I was very impressed with. Others didn’t get on their computers at night. Some didn’t listen to the radion in their cars to and from work. If you think about it, we fill our lives with so much meaningless TV, will feel like we’re going to miss out. We also become so apart of peoples lives that don’t matter and make no difference in ours. I know I’m guilty of it. Well Tim and I tried to cut out TV not completely but a lot more than we usually watch and it was really cool experience. We had more meaningful conversations, one which lead to an argument but mostly really good deeper conversation. I talked more to friends in family on the phone. We spent a lot of time on our deck enjoying the beautiful weather. We got house work done and were more organized. It’s amazing how much more you can accomplish in those hours than in front of the TV or computer. One couple in our group got to bed earlier and felt more rested. It was a great challenged and Tim and I hope to continue making more silence in our life. I hope to read more, talk more to Tim, take walks in our neighborhood and strengthen all my relationships especially my one with God. What can you do to have more silence in your life?

Healthy Eating!

As many of you know I try and eat as healthy as I can. It's not always easy and I'm not always as successful as i'd like to be, but I do give it a good effort. My mom is a wonderful cook and I always go to her for helpful healthy hints since she cooks for herself and my dad. Here are two of mine and Tim's favorite recipes that we have in our rotation that are healthy.

We have made these for many guest and not gotten any complaints.

If anyone has any helpful healthy eating tips please share. I will share one tip that I did this weekend. Yes my friends made fun of me but I don't care. haha I took my own natural organic chips to this Mexican restaurant we eat at. I always order guacamole but hate when I have to eat white corn chips so I decided to solve this problem and bring my own healthy chips.

Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops (we have also used chicken)

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving
Directions
Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

Easy Chicken-Mushroom Quesadillas

Cook Time
16 min
Level
Easy
Yield
4 servings
Close
Times:
Prep
12 min
Inactive Prep
--
Cook
16 min
Total:
28 min

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
8 ounces white button mushrooms, (about 3 cups)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chopped skinless, boneless chicken breast (1 breast half)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups baby spinach leaves, sliced into ribbons
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 (10-inch) whole-grain flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese mix or Cheddar
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until the mushroom water is evaporated and they begin to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add chicken, cumin, chili powder and oregano and stir until all spices are incorporated. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook until spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.
Lay 1 tortilla on a flat work surface and sprinkle with 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Spoon 1/2 chicken and vegetable mixture on top of cheese, then top with an additional 1/4 cup cheese. Top with another flour tortilla. Heat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray over medium heat. Carefully place 1 quesadilla in pan and cook 3 minutes. Using a large spatula, gently flip quesadilla and cook an additional 3 minutes until lightly browned and cheese is melted. Repeat with second quesadilla. Slice each quesadilla into quarters. Place 2 quarters on a plate with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 2 tablespoons salsa

Braves game in style!

Tim and I at the game

Tuesday my company sent out an email that said, we have 4 tickets to the Braves game on row 5 right behind home plate, a parking pass, and passes to the 755 club. They said the first one to respond to this email would win the tickets, well evidently I was the quickest and won the tickets! I was tired and not really in the mood to go downtown on a cold Tuesday night, but I was really glad we decided to go, the game was alot of fun. I ask Tim if he'd like to take his brothers because I knew he hadn't seen them in awhile and they would enjoy the game and seats. They were both able to go, it was nice. In the section we were in, they served us and our tickets had $10 towards concessions, so we enjoyed some drinks. It was really nice being so close I could've yelled anything I wanted at the players and they would've heard me but I refrained. It got really cold towards the end of the night so we went up to the 755 club and boy is that the way to see a baseball game. I got spoiled, I'm never going to want to sit in the regular seats again. They have a buffet up there and as many drinks as you could want and really confortable chairs. All in all it was a fun night!

Drew, Paul and I

Chipper Jones batting

3 things!

I got tagged, so here we go!
THREE NAMES I GO BY
Lauren
LJ
LPJ
THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
Ferraris Law Firm
HQ
NCF
THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED
Charlotte, NC
Knoxville, TN
Atlanta, GA
THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
Dancing with the Stars
One Tree Hill
90210
THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
Hawaii
Aruba
Napa
PEOPLE THAT E-MAIL ME REGULARLY
Sara
Tracy
Steve/Tim – email trains J
THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
Guacamole Live
Willys Salad
Fresh fish
THREE FRIENDS I THINK WILL RESPOND
Sara
Stephanie
????
THREE THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
Vacation – whenever that may be
Warmer weather
My Knoxville visit soon

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend. It was quick but we managed to see most all of our family. Tim and I are lucky to both get Good Friday off so we both had a 3 day weekend. Thursday night we headed to Hickory for 2 nights to visit with my Grandmother and parents. We had a great time except that my dad got food poisoning luckily it was short lived but still not fun for him. We took it easy while we were there. Memaw always makes Tim and I ham and eggs when we are there, its one of my favorite breakfasts and she makes it the best. I always enjoying visiting Hickory because it reminds me of the simple life, especially after living in the fast paced life of Atlanta. Saturday morning we got up and headed to Charlotte to visit my other grandparents. They live in a senior living facility that is beautiful its just not very condusive for us to spend the night, so we spent all day Saturday with them. We rolled my Papas around the complex looking at all the beautiful flowers they had planted. We also got to eat in the dining hall twice while we were there. I see why people there age would love to live at a place like this. The activities and social aspect of it are great! We met all there friends and enjoyed some great food and service, we also watched a good bit of the Masters. After a great day in Charlotte we headed back to Atlanta and didn't get home till late. Luckily our church has a 12:45 service so we got to sleep in. It was a wonderful service, Andy Stanley is our pastor and he never ceases to amaze me with his sermons, well today did not disappoint me. Tim's parents had an early Easter dinner at their house around 4 so we went over there and spent the rest of the day with them. Several of Tim's family members where there. We had a nice meal and enjoyed the Masters. All in all it was a nice weekend.

Home and Landscape Improvements

During the last couple of weekends Tim and I have enjoyed the warmer weather and have begun several small projects around our house. First up, Tim installed a storm door on our front door.



Second, Tim rented a tiller and reshaped the bed in front of the house. Last year I planted begonias in this bed and the monkey grass grew so tall that you could not even see them. This year we decided to go with something taller and planted 4 double knockout rose bushes in the bed. We have had good success on the other side of the walkway with another rose bush so we hope these follow that trend.



Our next project took us around the back of the house. When we moved into the house, this bed had become a big weed pile. Last summer I started removing the weeds and it ended up becoming a big mud pit. While Tim had the tiller, we decided to till up this area as well and planted 4 encore azaleas (the kind that bloom twice a year).





These plants on the deck are one of my small contributions to the enhancement of our house. It's amazing how such a small thing can add so much.

We obviously didn't plant this tree recently but it is one of the my favorite things about spring and our yard. I just think this tree is gorgeous in full bloom. Enjoy!