Crispix Chicken

I've had several requests for the Crispix Chicken recipe.  It's our alternative to fried chicken and one of our favorite meals to eat!

Here's the igredients you'll need.  Crispix cereal, flour, salt, pepper, butter, thawed chicken breasts

Thaw chicken breasts and cut into quarters or thirds, as many as you need for your family.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter for 3 chicken breasts. Salt and pepper  1/2 cup of flour

Dip each chicken piece in butter then roll in flour, place in baking dish

Sprinkle crumbled Crispix cereal on top, or place in flour when rolling chicken,

drizzle extra butter on top

Bake 350 uncovered for 45 minutes

ENJOY!

Clean Sweep Marathon

I can't believe I'm going to share this, but my friend Jade and I are desperate (more me than her).  If you've ever watched the T.V. show Clean Sweep you know where this is heading.  Let me give you a little background...

I've never been organized, thorough, put together, or efficient when it comes to my house.  I'm clean but the mounds of clutter and piles are everywhere!!!!  I use to let people say, "Oh but you have 2 small kids that's just how it's gonna be".  Well, if I'm gonna be honest with myself, if there were no kids in this house it would still look this way.  Everything I see is mine!

Part of my issue with organization is I NEED to see everything.  That's how I know where things are.  These mega organized folks that have everything put up "in it's place" will never understand that I can't function that way.

So, Jade and I have decided that with the help of our mega organized friend, Teresa, we are gonna "Clean Sweep" each others homes and just try to function in organization!  That means the following: we go to each others homes, throw away what needs to be trash, give away what needs to be donated, sell what can be sold, and live in "sweet minimal" which is organized at least for an hour!!!

Anyone who wants to join us in this HUGE challenge let me know so we can help you find things after they are put up in it's place!  BTW Joan, part of this is conviction from our Bible study.  Thanks for being God's filter!!!

Warning....the pictures you are about to see are real and what my everyday life is like!  This is my home uncensored.

Birthday Bash!

            Happy 40th Birthday Christy!!

Christy and I just before we walked into surprise party

Christy and her fab kids!

This weekend we celebrated, with grand flair, my middle sister's 40th birthday. It was a full weekend of surprises for her.  We knew it was a hit when she said, "This was the best birthday since the 6th grade". If you know Christy well, you know her attachment to that year of her life!

During all of the celebrating, I remembered just how blessed I am to have amazing women in my family and extended family. I've got a fabulous mom, two incredible sisters, amazing nieces, wonderful aunts, friends that are like family, and a slough of cousins that are pretty impressive too! This list doesn't even cover the influential women on my husbands side!

If you looked at all of them from across the room you might not give them a second glance, but just start a conversation with one and realize it's a "family of champions"! Possibly not by the standards of Olympians or world titles but definitely by spiritual standards. I see prayer warriors, perseverance through faith, endurance through tragedy-loss-hardships, and training through unconditional love.

So, Happy 40th Birthday Christy! Thanks for being one of the champions I look up to!

Eternal and Worthwhile Investments

I've known for a long time that my Hughes side of the family and the Hillman side of our family has long supported and been a part of local and international missions, but I didn't realize how much of a legacy we were passing to the next generation until tonight!

On the Hughes side of our family we have 4 nieces and 1 nephew.  On the Hillman side of the fam we have 4 nephews and 2 nieces.  I first became an aunt at 10 years old when Holly was born (1988), and Knox ends the grandkids so far!!!  I had no idea how much I would learn from all them.

 I'm thinking about this tonight because my second born niece, Morgan, leaves for Zambia in a few days for a mission trip.  Morgan was born when I was in the 9th grade.  This is her second mission trip in a year and the first one she is traveling by herself!  She and her sister, Kaylee, went with their parents on their first mission trip to Haiti last summer!  Kaylee was born my Freshman year at OBU!

Kyle, my oldest nephew, was born when I was in the 7th grade.  He just returned from his first international mission trip in January!  Holly, his oldest sister, was able to take her first mission trip as a Jr. in High School.  She went with her basketball team to Brazil.  Staci, their youngest sister, was born my Sr. year in High School.   By her Sr. year, she will get to go on an all expense paid mission trip sponsored by her school!

Jada, my oldest Hillman niece was born out of a mission!  She was adopted from Lebanon and came here to minister to us!

Sam and Will, my oldest Hillman nephews, haven't been on an international mission trip but at age 5 they had already participated in local missions here in the Arkansas Delta.

Ian, Eli, Gentry, and my two boys haven't had their opportunity yet but I know it's coming!

As for my generation, all of us have participated in local and or international missions and also our parents.

I'm not sure how far back in our family's history Ryan and I can trace the example of serving in missions, whether by financial support or being actively involved, but it's really exciting to see the legacy continuing.  And even more exciting to see how all the kids are learning and growing into adults who serve!  Grandpa Web is our only living grandparent and the only one we can thank right now!  Thanks Grandpa for the example.

Be safe Morgan, and keep your heart, eyes, and ears open to what you're about to experience!  Follow her link Motown to see what all she will doing.

3 Eternal and Worthwhile investments:
Souls of Men
Word of God
Prayer
(Dr. Gray Allison and Donna Gaines)

Be My Valentine

February 14th, 1996 was my first Valentine's Day with Ryan.  From that moment he spoiled me completely and set the bar high!

We were poor college students totally in love!  I made him promise that he wouldn't spend money on flowers for me so instead he did something incredible (you need to understand how much I love fresh cut flowers especially roses).  He wanted our first Valentine's Day to be special so he spent a full week hand crafting a dozen roses, without me knowing his plan!

When he picked me up Valentine's night for our date there sat, in his truck, a vase of a dozen red roses.  I immediately began to get on to him because I told him not to spend money on flowers.  Then he says, "I didn't buy them I made them."  What?????

I have to explain, at that time, I knew he was creative but had no idea how deep the creative juices ran!  I looked closer and realized he had made the roses out of tissue paper and wire!  After taking in this beautiful sight I knew this was a special man!

I kept the vase of roses for 14 years!  Just last year I removed them from our attic.  Ryan continues to spoil me and do very creative things to show me how much he loves me and cherishes our relationship.  I'm always looking forward to the next project on his list, even if it's not for me.  I enjoy watching him create! (Even if projects mean working on them in my living room!:)

Photo Ryan took at Dole Plantation in Hawaii Summer 2009

Pray, Mourn, Praise, & Move On

Last week in the chronological Bible study we took a look at more of David's reign as King. The story of his life makes so much more sense when you read it chronologically. I highly recommend it!

I learned some new things like Bathsheeba was the daughter of one of David's mighty men. So, he knew her before the rooftop scene. One observation stood out the most, David's reaction to the illness and death of his and Bathsheeba's baby. David prayed and mourned while the baby was sick. He poured his heart to God in prayer and made requests for the child to be healed. He was even questioned by those closest to him for doing this. Here is what I saw new, once the baby died David stopped his mourning, worshipped God, and moved on. The blogger asked the question, "What do you take away from David's reaction?"

For the first time I realized that I like to hang out in the mourning stage a lot longer than God intends me to! I'm pretty good about praying about tough situations and having faith that God will do what's best, but when the answer comes and it's a time of loss I like to hang out in the mourning stage hoping the answer will change.

Thanks David for another insight into having a heart after God. Pray, mourn, worship, and move on!