Mexican Fun & Football Trivia

After church, our family headed to a local Mexican restaurant. I was so surprised at how much my twin nephews LOVED salsa. I can barely stomach anything spicy, but an 18mo year old?

Colton had it from head to toe!!

Connor was having a great time checking out the crowd...

And, Mr. Hunter was too funny naming off his Crimson Tide's star players...

What a bunch of cute nephews I have!!!

Let's Go to the Pumpkin Patch!

Today, Haley's class took a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Nana (Scott's Mom) was so sweet to take her and share in the fun!

They went to the The Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch in Clanton, AL. They raved on how great and beautiful it was! I'm sad I missed out on the fun!

Haley picked out a great pumpkin! We are looking forward to carving it this weekend! And, thank you Nana for taking her! Why didn't I see the pictures of you going down the slide and riding the pony? :)

Girls' Night Out - October 2010

Last Friday night, my step-sister, Leigh, organized a Girls' Night Out for her, her sister Micheal, my sister, our friend Jen, and myself. Mexican, girls, out, OK!! :)

We headed over to Superior Grill....

We all had a wonderful time eating, talking with one another, laughing our heads off, and listening to the music.

Here are a few pictures from the evening...

My sister, Courtney and step-sister, Leigh.

Me and Jen

My step-sisters, Leigh & Micheal. Leigh is a very talented "lemon-cutter-upper-makin'-it-into-teeth"-er. She's the life of the party! Or..maybe the crazy one! :)

Beautiful sisters!

Me & Jen!

I really enjoyed hanging out with everyone! I hope we can all get together soon!



Worship Wednesday - Unfailing Love - Jimmy Needham

After a long, long break from blogging, I hope to be back for good. I am now happily married! The few weeks leading up to the wedding were very busy due to work and planning, we had a wonderful honeymoon, and many weeks of getting our lives back in order, so we've been busy!

In honor of my wonderful new husband, I wanted to share "our song" for Worship Wednesday. Scott and I picked this song out months ago for our first dance. Jimmy Needham is a wonderful Christian singer and we thought this song was a wonderful way to highlight our wonderful Lord for bringing our lives together and uniting us as husband and wife. Without God's will, I don't know that our paths would have ever crossed. Our story is truly a God-thing and we will always give Him the glory for our marriage, our home, and our family.

"I have found the one whom my heart loves." - Song of Solomon 3:4

You’re my unfathomable precious unimaginable joy

And you’re exceedingly excited and abundantly more than I could ask for

With your hand in mine we will pass through time and space

And every second, every minute, every hour of every day I’ll say

My unfailing love for you will not be moved

For you will not be moved

My unfailing love for you

And though the mountains be shaken

And the hills be removed

Yet my unfailing love for you

He tells a story of a King coming in glory and He is

And that same Man who devised that plan united ours with His

And so hand in hand we will walk with Him as our two become as one

And all the promises He promises to us He promises will never be undone

Be my wife ......

Worship Wednesday - Starry Night by Chris August

When you look up at the beauty of a clear, starry night, how can one say there is no God?

When you look out at the size of the ocean, how can one say there is no God?
When you hold a new born baby in your arms, how can one say there is no God?
When you see a beautiful rainbow, how can one say there is no God?
When you your heart breaks and and you cry out and feel a peace over you, how can one say there is no God?
When you see the beautiful trees change during Autumn, how can one say there is no God?

There has been a lot of talk in Birmingham over the last few days about agnostics and atheists and their views on creation and how religion plays into the world's history. My heart hurts for these people and my head can't seem to wrap around how people just don't see it. God's hand is EVERYWHERE! He is in the beauty of nature, he is in births of precious babies and in the death of those called home, he is in healing, and so much more. He WANTS to be in our homes, he WANTS to be in our relationships, he WANTS to be in our hearts!

This is such a wonderful praise song to the God of ALL things and ALL places!

From the Birds that Sing, In the Tallest Trees.

To the Human Life, of you and me.

From the Desert Sands, to the place we stand.

He is God of All, He is Everything.

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun.

Every Starry Night, that was His design.

I'm giving my life to the only son, who was and is and yet to come

Let the praises ring, 'cause he is everything

From the Autumn Leaves, that will ride the breeze

to the Faith it takes, to pray and sing

from the Painted sky, to my plank filled eye

He is God of all, He is everything

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun.

Every Starry Night, that was His design.

I'm giving my life to the only son, who was and is and yet to come

Let the praises ring, 'cause he is everything.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

I believe

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

I believe

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun

On that Starry Night, He changed my life.

I'm giving it all to the only son who gave me hope when I had none.

So let the praises ring,

Ohhhh Let the Praises Ring

I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the Moon reflect the sun.

Every Starry Night, that was His design.

I'm giving my life to the only son, who was and is and yet to come

Let the Angels sing, that he is Heavenly

So let the Praises ring

'Cause he everything

Worship Wednesday - How Great Thou Art - Carrie Underwood

In preparation for the wedding, I've been looking over some classic hymns for prelude music. I absolutely love "How Great Thou Art", and when I heard Carrie Underwood's version, it just made that hymn that much sweeter!

My pastor has always said that in life, you will always be in one of three positions: (1) A valley, (2) Coming out of a valley, or (3) Going into a valley. For me, I always see and call on God in different ways depending on where I am in my life. God has so many names - Shepherd, Healer, Peace, Counselor, One Who Sees, Deliverer, Everlasting, Alpha and Omega, Christ, Comforter, Creator, Hope, Messiah, Savior, Teacher, and Way...No matter how we see our Savior today, He is GREAT in any form.

What a sweet praise song the the GREAT God of all!

Oh Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

"Honey-Do" Couples Shower!

Saturday night, my sister and her husband (who introduced me and Scott), along with my mom and step-dad, were so sweet to host a couple's shower in my and Scott's honor! We had so much fun hanging out with so many close friends and family! The food and cakes were AWESOME (catered by Homeplate Cooking), my Mom's cheesecakes were an absolute hit, the koozies were super cute, the decorations were perfect and the fellowship was wonderful! Scott and I felt so honored at so many people's sweet gestures and well wishes as we embark on our lives together!

My sister sent out invitations that gave each guest a different "Honey-Do" request, such as:

Honey, let's...

 take a nap,

have a dinner party,

have game night,

do yard work,

do laundry,

clean house,

have a picnic.

We got so many wonderful gifts! Picnic baskets, wine, wine goblets, a blanket, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, sheets, towels, home improvement store gift cards, serving ware, and so much more! And, my mom, step-dad, sister, and bro-in-law thought it would be good to take "Game Night" to the next level.....our family is now the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii! It's so funny because I've never had any gaming system since the original NES, so this will be a new one for us! My sister's family has one and they love it, so we can't wait to start family tournaments!

Thank you all for making that night so special for us!!

Bachelorette Party - Nash-Vegas Style!!

A group of some of the great girls in my Bunco group took me to Nashville to celebrate my upcoming nuptials! We stayed in the heart of Nashville and were able to walk to eat at The Big River Grill and go over and take in some line-dancing and Country-music at The Wildhorse Saloon. After a while, we left there and headed over to the dueling piano bar, The Big Bang Bar. It was SUCH a blast! Nashville is such a fun town and to be with such a great group made my Bachelorette a wonderful memory for the books!

I hope we can make this an annual trip!!

Lindsey's Work Wedding Shower

On August 19th, my accounting firm, along with my co-workers, were so gracious to throw me and Scott a wedding shower! We received so many wonderful gifts: Foam mattress cover, 4-piece set of luggage, set of sheets, a few pans, a set of Henckels knives, Calphalon serving-ware, New Orleans Saints Tumbler, oven mitts and kitchen towels, and a gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond!! I have so many generous and thoughtful co-workers who made the shower so special for us!

Worship Wednesday - God Gave Me You - Dave Barnes

One month from today I will marry the love of my life, the person God prepared just for me. Over the past few days, the stress of planning for the wedding has caught up to me. However, I told Scott the other night, when the wedding and honeymoon are over, all that will remain is the marriage that came from it all and I'm so thankful that we have such a strong relationship.


This is so much more than a wedding, so much more than the planning, it's about celebrating how God is revealing parts of His plan in our lives. God knew before the earth began what the plan would be for the both of our lives. I jokingly say that God had a sense of humor when he put us together, we are polar opposites. But, I thank God for allowing us to meet and fall in love and I pray his blessings over our marriage everyday as we strive to first love God, love each other, and love our families.

God's plan is perfect. God knew I would need Scott more over the past year than ever before. I thank God for bringing Scott into my life and I'm excited to see what God has in store for the both of us as we begin our journey together.

I’ve been a walking heartache

I’ve made a mess of me

The person that I’ve been lately

Ain’t who I wanna be

But you stay here right beside me

Watch as the storm goes through

And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs

God gave me you for the days of doubt

For when I think I’ve lost my way

There are no words here left to say, it’s true

God gave me you

There’s more here than what were seeing

A divine conspiracy

That you, an angel lovely

Could somehow fall for me

You’ll always be love’s great martyr

Ill be the flattered fool

& I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs

God gave me you for the days of doubt

For when I think I’ve lost my way

There are no words here left to say, it’s true

God gave me you

On my own I’m only

Half of what I could be

I can’t do without you

We are stitched together

And what love has tethered

I could baby, never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs

God gave me you for the days of doubt

God gave me you for the ups and downs

God gave me you for the days of doubt

For when I think I’ve lost my way

There are no words here left to say, it’s true

God gave me you, gave me you.

Gave me you.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Haley - "Daddy, you laugh like a girl."
Scott - "Gee, thanks Haley {Giggle}."
Haley - "Lindsey, you talk like a boy."

I think Haley is in desperate need of a lesson on honesty with a TAD bit of discretion! :)

Worship Wednesday, on Thursday - What it Feels Like - FFH

Over the past few days, my heart has been so burdened for some particular loved ones. People I know are facing so much uncertainty in their lives and are scared about how God's will is playing out in their lives. I KNOW it's hard to hear, "It's God's Will", or "Just lay it down and let him work it out". For me, I want to be in control of anything I can, so sometimes its hard just to wash my hands of it and hand it over to God.


When my Dad was sick and faces some of his darkest hours, Scott told me heard this song and it completely broke him. We listened to it together and just sobbed. We both agreed that we weren't sure why God was bringing our family down this dark, heartbroken road and why our family was facing this, but God just kept telling us that he was in control and just to allow him to lead our family on this journey.

I want to encourage you today, if your heart is broken, if you are scared, if you feel alone, if you are unsure, God's hand will be in everything if we just trust in him! Sometimes its so hard to understand WHY?? God's will is perfect and no matter how much it hurts sometimes, pray God continue to keep you in His will! I pray we all allow him to lead us today!

So this is what if feels like to walk the wilderness

and this is what if feels like to come undone

So this is what if feels like to loose my confidence

unsure of anything or anyone

So this is what if feels like to walk the desert sand

and this is what if feels like to hear my name

and to be scared to death cause I'm all alone

but feel love and peace just the same

And this may not be the road I would choose for me

but it still feels right somehow

And I have never felt you as close to me as I do right now

So this is what if feels like to be led

So this is what if feels like to have it fall apart

to be totally unglued

and find out if I accept my brokenness

I get more of me, I get all of you

If this is what if feels like to be on shaky ground

Careful of every step I take

Realizing as I stop to look around

I look around and see everything a different way

and this may not be the road I would choose for me

but it still feels right somehow

cause I have never felt you as close to me as I do right now

So this is what if feels like to be led

and this is what if feels like to be led

So this is what if feels like to just walk away

from everything I thought kept me safe

to depend just on you for every meal

and find it's better this way

oh it's better this way

And this may not be the road I would choose for me

but it still feels right somehow

And I have never felt you as close to me as I do right now

like i do right now

And this may not be the road I would choose for me

but it still feels right somehow

And I have never felt you as close to me as I do right now

And this is what if feels like to be led

And this is what if feels like to be led

And this is what if feels like

Happy 5th Birthday Hunter!!!

My sweet nephew, Hunter, turned 5 years old on August 2nd. This past weekend, he had his birthday party at I-Jump (if you have never heard of it, click here!!) . We all had so much fun! He had a wonderful turnout and he had lots of fun! He also received a lot of wonderful gifts! It was a great occasion to visit with family and great friends!



Hunter, at 5 years old:
-Has a pretty good sense of humor.
-Has a pretty big imagination.
-Loves Transformers, Spiderman, and Batman
-Just decided about a month ago that he likes the water. He was petrified of getting in the pool for most of his years!
-Loves his baby brothers! At first, we were all worried how he'd react to them, but he is a wonderful  big brother who helps his Mommy and Daddy out a lot with them.
-Is pretty sweet when he wants to.
-Is pretty definant when he wants to.
-Is a very picky eater.
-Loves Alabama football
-Loves playing baseball
-Can beat most people at Wii games

I love Hunter-boo very much!!! I pray he always stays sweet and loves his Aunt-La La too!

Wedgie Free - The way to be!

Nana (Scott's mom) was so sweet to buy all the grandkids some "back to school" items. She got Haley some new socks and undies. These items are great because since I'm not in full out "mom-mode" these are things that I sometimes forget about! Scott told me she did it, but I finally saw the packages and was quite amused...

Wedgie Free, no ride up, guaranteed!

Don't you wish they made adult underwear with such confidence? I can see it now, "Victoria Secret - Sexy, Comfortable, and Wedgie Free!"

Thank you Nana for Haley's underwear!! Her hiney thanks you too!! :)

Some more "Back-to-School-ers"

Scott's nieces started back to school yesterday! McKenzie started 1st grade and Madison started 3rd grade! Wishing them both a wonderful year!!

Aren't they too cute?

Chicka Chick Boom Boom...or so she says!

Haley's new class seems to be great so far! One thing I really love is that her new teacher is sending out frequent emails letting the parents know what their kids are up to during the day and the lessons for the upcoming week! Yesterday, we got an email that said "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, look what your kids did today!"

                                 

Question #1 - Is she eating glue, mayo, or ranch dressing?

Question #2 - How does this relate back to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom?

If you have the answer to any of those, please let me know! Haha, none the less, it looks like she is having a blast!

Worship Wednesday - Grace Flows Down by Christy Nockels

So, have you ever had a day where you need a little grace? I definitely am today. I've had a bad attitude today and things haven't really gone my way and I'm definitely in need of God's redeeming grace!

I love this song so much! This ministered to me a great deal during my Dad's illness and passing!

Amazing Grace

How sweet the sound

Amazing Love

Now flowing down

From hands and feet

That were nailed to the tree

As Grace flows down and covers me

It covers me

It covers me

It covers me

And covers me

I'm so glad I have a Savior who is so merciful and who laid down His life for us! I pray for His grace today!

Engagement Pictures

A few weeks ago, Scott and I dressed up and headed to Montevallo to take some Engagement pictures. It was BEYOND hot (as you might can tell from our hair!), but we had fun! We started out at the back of the American Village property, then headed over to the University of Montevallo and took pictures on the side walks, by the President's Home, and at the Lake. Mark Parker of Mark's Brides is the amazing photographer behind these photos! He is very talented and we look forward to working with him for our wedding! Check out his website HERE!

Below are a few that we like!

Haley's First Day of Pre-K

Last week, Scott got a phone call from Haley! She was so excited to tell him that she was getting promoted to Pre-K at her preschool!

Today was the big day! In honor the occasion, I put her in a dress, put a ribbon in her hair, and took her on!

(Unfortunately, she lost the ribbon during naptime. She hates wearing bows....and that makes me sad!)

As we were already buckled in ready to go, she yelled, " Oh no! I have to wear something under my dress so you can't see my panties!"...Of course she does! Luckily, she recently got a pair of bloomers with a dress I bought her....unluckily, they were green! Oh well, be a trend setter! :)

On the first day of Pre-K, Haley knows how to:

(1) Write her first, middle, and last name (she just doesn't know how to label them appropriately),

(2) Count to ten in spanish (I wish she'd learn more English first!),

(3) Write all her letters,

(4) Count by 5s and 10s,

(5) Say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and to the Christian Flag

(6) Quote some Bible verses,

..amongst the many!

I can say this, because she isn't my own, but Haley is super smart. Almost too smart for her own good. She can listen to a song, and pick up on about 75% of the lyrics (which is why I only listen to WDJC - The Christian station with her!). She is super nosy - maybe she's inquisitive, maybe she'll be a tabloid writer! I'm dreading when she learns how to spell words, because I always spell words out loud so she won't know everything I talk about!

Haley has a wonderful personality, she is very smart, very cute and I know she'll do well this year in Pre-K! We can't wait to see what she learns this year!

..MMMmmm Good!

If any of you follow Kelly's Korner (blog), you'll remember this mouthwatering recipe called "Chicken Enchilada Ring". Click HERE for the link! I tried it and it was an instant hit with both Scott and myself!

Scott, the innovator that he his, thought I should try my own take on a "ring" of some sort. My spinach-artichoke dip is a favorite and he thought it would be great to add some chicken to my recipe and put it within the crescent roll "ring".

If that looks good to you, let me promise you, it was!

I made a half recipe of the following recipe, added about 2 cooked, chopped, chicken breasts, and baked for about 25 minutes on 375!

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained

1/3 cup grated Romano cheese (if you don't have this, I just increase the parmesan cheese)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (I usually just use garlic salt to taste)

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Have fun! Make it your own!

Three Stryk-ers on the Enemy!!!

Just before my Dad passed away, he was going through some of my Grandmother's belongings and found this newspaper clipping from WW2. He gave it to my cousin and he had someone in his company scan the image in and clean it up because it had been folded, torn, and warn over the years. My cousin sent this to me, all pieced together!

These people are my great grandfather and his two brothers! Two army men and one Marine! It was such a big deal because they were all leaving at the same time to fight in the war. And, they must have been rough and tough based on this article. I guess I know where I get it from! :)

Learning about your lineage is so interesting! Have any of you traced your ancestors?

This article makes me proud to be a Stryker!

Some Cute Boys!

In case you don't remember, I have some precious nephews! I took some pictures of them in June that I thought were too cute!

Mr. Connor

Mr. Colton

These little boys are so much fun!!! They are so precious and are at a really fun age! It's so crazy how different they are in so many ways! I miss seeing them so often!

Happy July 4th – In August!

Better late than never, right? Bare with me…

Our family had one of the best July 4th weekends that I can ever remember having. I think the best part is that it fell on a Sunday and we had the following Monday off! We had the pleasure of having both Haley (4) and her cousin, McKenzie (6) the entire holiday weekend. So, I had a sneak peak of what it is like to have two girls. Boys, boys, boys! :)

On Saturday night, we went to the firework show put on in Veterans Park in Alabaster. It was sponsored by Kingwood Christian Church and it was wonderful! There was a ton of free stuff for the kids to do, a movie displayed at dark, and the fireworks were incredible! Unfortunately, no pictures.

On Sunday, we ate some barbecue and loaded up the kids to head out to a true Patriotic venue – American Village! We ended up missing most of the kids activities and thought we would make it to walk around and catch fireworks at dusk. Well, come 9:45pm, still no fireworks. They had a oldies cover band playing. They were actually pretty good, but when you have two whiny children who wanted to know where the fireworks were, we didn’t get to enjoy them and really wanted them to stop singing! We ended up picking an AMAZING seat…about 100 yards away from where they were being shot off. It was so cool! So loud..but so cool! The kids were laughing so hard because it felt like we were being invaded by fireworks!

There are some awesome places in Birmingham to catch fireworks if fighting the traffic downtown isn’t for you!

It was also great to spend some time at a place that is so special to me and Scott! The next event at American Village will be the wedding of someone you might know…..

...I'm BACK!

I’m BACK! Ok, there are a lot of reasons I took a blogging hiatus. The biggest reason was my lack of a good camera to take pictures. I mean come on, who likes to read blogs without great pictures to look at?


But, I’m SO excited that as a wedding gift, my mom, step-Dad, sister, and brother-in-law, gave Scott and me …

...THIS!!

I’m happy to get back to blogging. I promise, no more unexplained hiatuses. Some of you have been so sweet to comment to me about how much you like the blog! BUT, you people have to start promising to start commenting. If you don’t know how to, email me and I’ll let you know! I feel like sometimes I’m talking to no-one out there!!! And, I promise to be an even-better blogger after my wedding too!

..Get ready for some updates!!