Broccoli Spaghetti

I saw this recipe on a blog {I thought it was this blog, but just went to look for it and couldn't find her post, so maybe I dreamed this!} We had all of the ingredients for it tonight and I've been craving italian food like something fierce, so I decided it would be a good time to try it out!

Here's what you need:
1 bag broccoli slaw
1 lb ground turkey
Sugar free, heart healthy spaghetti sauce


The problem with this recipe is that the blog I read didn't quite tell me how to cook the broccoli. It just said that it would take on the flavors of this dish, which is what sold me on the idea because the other half of Life At It's Finest! doesn't like broccoli. I thought I could pull on over him... but then I had to wing it on how to cook it!

I decided to go with a sauteing method.

Pour into pan with garlic and saute for about 10 minutes.


{i love the color!}



After 10 minutes I put a lid on it to see if steam would help it saute. I would probably do this sooner next time.

While your broccoli is cooking, brown your turkey meat. Season VERY liberally with garlic salt and italian seasoning.



Once everything is cooked, put the broccoli in a cute bowl. {the cute is important.}



Add ricotta cheese for the ladies of the house:



The bell peppers and turkey {I used the microwave peppers}



Top liberally with sauce {after taking the picture I realized I might have been a little too liberal... opps!}



I then microwaved it to warm up the ricotta cheese and sauce, but you could always heat up your sauce before hand.

Our verdict:


Eeh.



I definitely did not cook the broccoli right. It needed to be a lot softer to have the texture of pasta. Cody was nice enough to eat all of it though. We booth agreed that the crunch of the broccoli was just too weird. I would probably try and make this again, but I definitely need to figure out how to cook broccoli slaw first!


You win some, you lose some!

WIWW #12

Have you jumped on the WIWW bandwagon yet? I promise you, just give one week to linking up to The Pleated Poppy and you'll be hooked!

Here's my outfits from this week:

Wednesday - Work





burn out: possibilities in amarillo, tx
skirt: kohls or penneys, it's too old to remember!
earrings: franchesca's
necklaces: turquoise are handmade, the silver is from Chains of Grace

forgot to take pics of thursday: casual dress & friday, which was a day off & spent in casual clothes.

Saturday: shopping, helping out with church's Easter pageant
{ i look rather tired here... this was taken at the end of a very long day!!}



tank top: old navy
sweater vest: old navy, (recently on clearance!)
shorts: loft (best shorts ever. you need them!)

forgot pictures on Easter. but I will be making Cody & I put on our outfits again just so I can get a pic!

Monday: work





dress & same sweater vest: old navy
belt: target
pearls: f21

{this turned out to be one of my favorite outfits! i loved the belting of the vest! this dress is spaghetti strap, which has kept me from being able to wear it to work. the vest provided just enough coverage to be work appropriate without being too hot in our 90 degree weather!}

Tuesday: work





top: loft
skirt: old navy ($6!)
belt: penney's



old navy had all of their clearance bottoms on sale for $6 saturday! I probably would have glanced at this skirt at full price, but wouldn't want to shell out the money. For $6 though, it will definitely be a fun addition to my summer wardrobe! This skirt was not my best purchase though... I also got FOUR pairs of jeans! Seriously peeps! I couldn't believe my luck... it's so hard to find regular priced jeans that fit well, and I got lucky enough to find them on a huge sale!

I'll leave you with this: my mom sent me an email on Easter with the subject: WIWS



apparently I'm rubbing off on her!

Have a great week!

Hello, My Name Is Abby & I Blog, Sometimes.

{knock knock knock. is anyone out there?}

I can't quite put my finger on the one thing that made it happen, but life has been rather busy lately and sadly, real blog posts have fallen to the wayside. Which is a shame, because I have some really great thoughts rolling around here in this head of mine and I am anxious to share them with you. Unfortunately, it will still be a few more days before that happens. We're gearing up for a huge event at work {300 new students on campus to register for classes!} but after that I might actually get to share my wealth of knowledge with you :)

Here's a few things to catch you up though!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Our Easter Watch turned out just fine. While we haven't had our roof or cars officially inspected yet, but we made it out rather lucky. Our older car now has a crack in the window and there's a bit of hail damage on our {new to us} car, but considering the amount of car windows that were busted out, we'll take it!

Here's a few pictures:


{the hail in action}


{these pieces of hail were actually small compared to what people put up on facebook!}


{the water quickly flooded our garden - roughly 4 inches high}

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Remember my sticker?

I got this in the mail last week:

It contained the fantastic news that no follow up is needed! Which means that my genetics did not have the tiny missing piece which could lead to a heart condition {meaning the possibility of us having a child with a heart condition are only like 2% more than someone without a heart condition}  {PLUS} I am not a carrier for the cystic fibrosis gene, which means there's no chance our kids could end up with CF!

We were certainly happy to receive the news!

We did, however, get a kick out of the envelope:

Guess they're not used to working with 26 year old "children!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We have a lot of groups of students who come to visit campus, many of which are rather young to be looking at colleges {think 7th - 9th grade.} We usually provide a tour of campus and then brief information about the university too, along with a business card for students in our territory.

While I think I was out of town for this particular group visit, someone found this blowing across campus the other day and gave it to Cody.



Apparently someone was a little bored with their visit.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Check back soon for this recipe:



{hint: it meets our no carb requirements!}


Have a great week!

Easter Watch.

we're huddled in the living room, necessities gathered and waiting in case we have to head to the bathroom. the mattress is perched by the door.


we didn't really expect to spend easter sunday waiting out hail storms and tornado watches, but we are thankful for the moisture and are praying nothing too damaging comes out of the storms.

here's how cody handles the problem:

{walks in, looking determined to keep us safe}

I think I'm going to put some pants and shoes on.


mind you, he already had on shorts, but for some reason he felt the need for pants.


he's pretty cute.


we'd certainly appreciate your prayers for west texas.

O Death, Where Is Your Victory?

His Name is Jesus by Max Lucado

HIS BIRTH
Jesus...
He could hold the universe in His palm
but gave it up to float
in the womb of a maiden.
Christ became one of us.
and He did so to redeem all of us.

HIS MISSION
Jesus...
The man...
who spoke with such thunderous authority
and loved with such childlike humility.
The life of Jesus Christ
is a message of hope,
a message of mercy,
a message of life in a dark world.

HIS DEATH
Jesus...
The palm that held the universe
took the nail of a soldier.
On the eve of the cross,
Jesus made His decision.
He would rather
go to hell for you
than go to heaven without you.

HIS RESURRECTION
Jesus...
the moment He removed the stone,
He removed all reason for doubt.
Christ's resurrection
is an exploding flare
announcing to all sincere seekers
that it is safe to believe.

-Max Lucado


May you have a very blessed Easter as we remember Christ's death and celebrate His resurrection!

It's Ok If You Mess Up.

{this was scheduled to post over the Easter weekend but I'm not sure why it didn't. hope you still enjoy it.}

Some of my favorite people to blog stalk are some rather famous {female} Christian speakers that hail from the great state of Texas. What can I say, we are proud of our state and even prouder of our own kind!

Beth Moore is probably one of the most prominent ladies from Texas (followed closely by her hair). We all consider ourselves on a first name basis with her and she's made a huge impact on ladies all over this nation. Vicki Courtney is quickly becoming another household name, though many may not be as familiar with her if they don't have a teenage daughter. She's written the book "5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter" and the same book for sons will be released in June.

She wrote this post on Tuesday and it is one of the most heart wrenching and beautiful posts I have ever seen.

Here is the post {taken from her blog. all credit to V.C.}


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Few would argue that the “Mom, I’m pregnant” announcement is at the top of a parent’s list of knock-the-breath-out-of-you announcements you hope not to hear from your unmarried child. As someone who has written on the topic of sexual purity, I have stated often that my kids are not exempt when it comes to worldly temptations. I was humbly reminded of this fact a few weeks ago when my oldest son delivered the news, “Mom, I think Casey may be pregnant.” (For those who may be new to my blog, I announced my son’s engagement back in late December in this post.) Faced with the sobering moment of truth that followed his disclosure, I did what most any mother would do — I wrapped my son in my arms and assured him that with God’s help, we’d get through it. Ryan and Casey are good kids who made a bad choice. Two months into their engagement, they let their guard down and as a result, they face a new challenge – shortly after marrying, they will become parents.

Ryan and Casey are deeply sorrowful for their sin and are facing the natural consequences that can result when choices are made outside of God’s will. Their wedding ceremony will be scaled down in size and the date will be moved up. They have had to make a long list of difficult phone calls to their attendants, relatives, and close friends. They have had to break the news to mentors, Sunday school teachers, and youth ministers who have at times in the past, pointed to them as leaders and role models. And they recently met with Casey’s long-time pastor and humbly asked if he would still be willing to perform their wedding ceremony. Keith and I are grateful for the grace Casey’s pastor extended to them along with a firm reminder to remain pure for the duration of their engagement. He also reminded Ryan of his position as the spiritual leader in the home and held him to a higher level of accountability over the sin, a position that both Keith and I fully endorse. In addition to the awkwardness and embarrassment of having to share the news with people they know and love, Ryan and Casey will begin their marriage on a very lean budget that has little room for error as they juggle student loans and drive cars with over 150k miles. But perhaps the biggest penalty for their actions will be the precious time they will forfeit as newlyweds as they are thrust suddenly into parenthood.

Ryan and Casey have exhibited a godly sorrow over their sin – the type of sorrow that is sincere and leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). In the days immediately following the announcement, Casey and I were visiting over Skype and she shared that shortly after they discovered they were pregnant, Ryan told her “Well one thing is for sure — neither one of us is where we need to be in our relationship with the Lord.” I have always tried to emphasize “heart examination” (Psalm 26:2-3) over “behavior modification” when it comes to parenting my children. (As if I could even begin to modify my 22 year-old adult son’s behavior!) Needless to say, it was music to my ears to hear that my son had taken an honest appraisal of his heart and more importantly, his relationship with the Lord. We all know how easy it is to come to a place where we clock-in on Sunday morning, but fail to lay our hearts bare before God on a daily basis. Often, God will allow wake-up calls, though painful at the time, to nudge his children out of spiritual slumbers.

I have often stated that I’m not a fan of the “pretender game.” I played the game early on in my Christian walk and learned the art of painting a fake smile on my face even if my life was unraveling at the seams. It’s a miserable game to play and I gave it up years ago, opting instead for honesty and authenticity. As the dust began to settle in the days that followed the pregnancy announcement, Ryan, Casey, and both sets of parents, unanimously agreed that we do not want this baby to be a secret baby. While Ryan and Casey’s decision to have sex outside of marriage is a sin, the creation of a new life is not. A baby is never a form of punishment. That said, we are celebrating this precious new life and anticipating his/her grand entrance into the world sometime in mid-November. I have no intention of pretending this didn’t happen, nor will this situation become a hush-hush topic in my ministry. On the contrary, it will become a part of my ministry. (In fact, I look forward to sharing some insightful comments my son recently shared that I hope will offer some encouragement to parents who are at least trying to “train up their child in the way they should go…” Prov. 22:6)

For as long as I can remember, my bio has stated that I’m a “mom in the trenches.” The truth is, the trenches are awfully messy and muddy at times. I want to have the freedom to continue to talk openly about “muddy moments” that occur in the parenting journey. More importantly, I want to be able to openly testify to God’s faithfulness when He cleans up those muddy messes in our children’s lives (as well as our own!). As parents we are called to plant and water the seeds of God’s truths into the hearts of our children, but alas, we must leave the growth and results up to God. And as many of us reading this have learned firsthand, God often uses trials and adversity (even those that result from our own sinful choices) to nudge us closer to His path, and as a result, produce growth in the one relationship that matters most in this life – our relationship with Him. I pray that Ryan and Casey will be forever changed as God weaves His beautiful love story of redemption into their lives.

Last week, Ryan was able to join Casey for a doctor’s appointment and saw the baby’s heartbeat on the ultrasound for the first time. As you can imagine, it was a sobering moment. He and Casey have fallen madly in love with this child (as have the grandparents-in-waiting!). There is nothing that can adequately compare to the love a parent feels for his/her child. And yet, God loves us, His children, even more. As Ryan and Casey’s hearts swell with unconditional love for their child, I pray it will serve as a reminder of how very much they are loved by God (not to mention, their parents). This child will be much-loved and celebrated every step of the way during this pregnancy. Casey comes from an amazing Christian family and her parents have served in ministry leadership for many years at their local church in Huntsville, Alabama. Like us, they are blessed with a strong network of support from friends, family members, and a local church family. I know I speak on behalf of both the Courtney and Walker families when I say that we covet the prayers and support from our Christian family during this time, as do our children, Ryan and Casey. The truth is, this situation did not catch God off guard or leave Him scratching His head in confusion. He has a plan and is in the business of working all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28) With Easter right around the corner, I am mindful of my own long list of muddy messes and the redemptive power of the cross. May we never cease to be overwhelmed at the mere thought of God’s unfailing love for us… While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

(UPDATE: Please take a minute to read my note of thanks, posted here!)


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It's amazing how you don't actually know someone, yet you begin to know them through this blog world. It is in the sense of "knowing" Vicki that my heart broke for her family and the pain they are experiencing, yet I hold such a great deal of respect for her in sharing it with those of us who do follow with her ministry.

Cody and I are in the process of talking about starting a family some day down the line and it's spurred on conversations {largely in part to things we see on the show Parenthood} of "how will we handle that situation? what would our rules be on this? how would we feel about our kids doing that?" It's created some rather interesting dialogues between the two of us and caused me to do a whole lot of thinking.

A couple of weeks ago at our small group one of the girls {now a minister's wife} shared what their minister told them when they got engaged:

You've got a lot of people watching you, so don't mess up.

But it's ok if you do.

I hope that I will be able to raise godly children. I know right off that bat that it will be Christ in us that accomplishes that and it certainly won't be without some mess up's on the way, both from us as parents and our children.

That's what this Christian walk is all about though: it's ok if we mess up.

I see myself in Vicki's post about her children. Though my sins may be slightly different and not as public as theirs, I've felt the pain of my sinful choices. As we are thinking of the crucifixion  and looking forward to the resurrection, I hope that you too will know that it's ok if you've messed up. He's still there, with arms open, ready and waiting to love you.

May you be richly blessed over this Easter weekend!



{If you are wanting to see the love of Christ through the actions and words of others, click over to the actual blog post of Vicki's and read the comments. Her post and the response it received is Christ's love and grace in the flesh.}

Dream On.

what are you passionate about?



is your passion your dream job?



what is it worth to you to follow your dreams?




{these are the thoughts that are brewing in my head right now. for me, it could be as simple as a $50 investment and all of my free time up until June 18. so would you follow your dreams for that price? tell me your thoughts.}

WIWW #11

welcome back for another week of what i wore wednesday with the pleated poppy! check out her post to see over 200 different women and get fresh new ideas on how to wear your clothes!

{i can't find my pictures for thursday and friday, which were casual dress days at work. friday i actually described my outfit as "sporty spice" to cody and he completely agreed. which, if you're seen a few of my wiww posts, is *totally* my personality... :) }

sunday: church



cardi: target
shirt & jeans: old navy


monday: work {and my different hair style}





top: loft
skirt & belt : express
necklace: f21
shoes: penneys

as far as my hair goes, i have always loved it when celebrities with short hair wear it like this:

{sorry it's so small and not actually short hair... our internet is oh so slow and I can't find the right one...hopefully you get the gist!}

So I took the time to add volumizer, blow dried it back with a brush, teased it some and had it looking really good. The only problem was that it looked good for a while, but apparently I didn't put enough stuff in it so my part kept showing up. So even though I didn't want to wear the headband, I had to do it to keep my hair from looking rather 80's ish. While it will take some more work and lots more hair product, I really liked the look and will definitely be trying it again. Hopefully I'll nail it next time and not the "different" look that Cody described!


on a different note, some one else was lookin' pretty fine that day too





tuesday: work



dress: express
cami: old navy
shoes: target
necklaces: hodge podge of collected over the years


and this is why it's easier to take your own wiww pictures with a tripod instead of giving your hubby the camera:


see ya next week!

Things You Shouldn't Tell Your Wife

{ Scene: early morning, Abby standing at bathroom sink fixing hair in a style that is different than normal. Cody enters and eyes quickly glance at Abby.
Eyes immediately do a double take followed by a *third look* }

Cody: Your hair is looking, uh, very different today.


{ End Scene }


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


talk about what a way to start your day! come back Wednesday for WIWW to see how "different" my hair looked :)

Linky Love

Here's some things I've seen out on the net this week that I think you should check out!

Welcome to the PEEP Show - This is just funny. I'm not a fan of eating PEEPS, but I enjoyed them in this form!

What Do You Want To See? - Great post that challenged my thoughts. All too often I choose to only see my shortcomings instead of focusing on my strengths.

The Single Wife - I am so proud to call the author of this post my friend. She is an incredible woman and I was challenged about my character as a wife by her post. This is a must read!


Check out my latest blog design!


We're super excited to have our first lazy Saturday in what feels like forever! I have high hopes that Cody will get the trim work finished in our kitchen so I can finally blog about it. I have a few other projects I may try to get done this week so check back in!

Enjoy your weekend!

Fancy Diet Cupcake

{I made these back in March but never got around to blogging it.}

 We've started a couples small group this semester and I've volunteered as the "facilitator"

Doesn't it sound fancy?


All it really means is that I get to annoy them by sending out too many emails, keep up with important dates and be the mean person who says we have to stop talking and actually get started on our lesson.

Sounds right up my alley, huh? :)

Actually it's a lot of fun, specifically when it comes time to keep up with important dates, aka BIRTHDAYS! Last month we celebrated John's birthday. Knowing that he is a huge fan of Reese's, I knew I needed to incorporate them into the dessert. I also knew that Cody and I were doing a MAJORVACATIONDIET, so I wanted to try and make it semi- healthy.

So... I took the Diet Cake recipe (using a chocolate cake and DDP) and make cupcakes with it. I then topped with cool whip and chopped up Reese's and viola, a beautiful, healthy cupcake!



The key is all about how you ice them. At first I tried to spread it on, but it wasn't looking too great. You can see bottom layer of the cupcake on the right how this turned out.



So then I decided to try and use the Cool Whip like I would real icing. I spooned it into a baggie, cut the corner off and went to town. SUPER easy! Honestly, I liked the look of the Cool Whip better than I do real icing!

I was slightly worried that people would definitely know they were diet by the taste, but everyone had great things to say about them {hopefully they weren't lying to me!} The one draw back is that they are pretty crumbly, so these would really be better served with a plate and fork. Plus, the icing was rather tall so it was slightly hard to get your mouth around it! Oh well... I was more concerned with presentation that function!

Try it out at your next party! You'll be surprised at what a hit they are!

South Beach Pasta-less Lasagna.

Let me just tell ya, no carbs = no fun.

Fo real.

My typical day used to look like this:

Breakfast: egg white & ham on a slice of bread
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Pasta Lean Cuisine & 2 slices bread
Snack: Popcorn
Dinner: Salad, Meat, Veggie (usually corn) and Bread

Here's how that stacks up now:

Breakfast: egg white & ham on a slice of bread
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Pasta Lean Cuisine & 2 slices bread
Snack: Popcorn
Dinner: Salad, Meat, Veggie (usually corn) and Bread

Yeah. It's not very much fun. The good news is that Cody and I have both lost 3.5 lbs in 3 days. Which is enough motivation for me! I've had the hardest time coming up with inspiring dinners. There's only so many times you can eat salad/veggie/chicken,steak,porkchops before it gets a little boring. I have also had a huge craving for lasagna. {most likely because I can't have it right now}

Yesterday at lunch I was hit with a dose of inspiration and came up with this recipe last night. Now, we are a little deprived around these parts so our taste buds might be a little biased, but I thought this was a great meal and will definitely keep it in our rotations!

Start by cooking a pound of ground turkey with chopped up onions:


Once the meat is justalmost finished cooking, add some mushrooms and let them saute till soft.


Grab some frozen bell peppers ($2.54 for a bag at Walmart, best thing ever!) and microwave till soft.


Start by placing a thin layer of meat & mushrooms in a casserole dish. {I used single serve Fiesta ones. Fiesta makes every meal better!}


Then add the bell peppers:


Then a layer of ricotta cheese: {less for your husband if you're not sure if he'll like it!}


Topped with pasta sauce:


Then a little more meat, sauce, and finally topped with cheese:


If you have plenty of time, pop into the oven at 350 until warm. If you are on time crunch like we usually are, microwave for 2 minute, serve, then spend the next 12 minutes blowing on each bite to cool it down. Thoroughly enjoy eating something different besides grilled {fill in the blank}

Serve with roasted asparagus.


{I sprinkled with olive oil, garlic and lots of pepper. Roasted at 425 for 10 minutes. Not totally sure we're asparagus people or that I made them correctly, but it was nice to have a different veggie on our menu!}

Hope you enjoy!

p.s. - I can't guarantee that spaghetti sauce is allowed on the South Beach Diet. You can have 10 cherry tomatoes, which I figured was couldn't be that much worse than Spaghetti sauce. Plus I made the sauce, so I know it's relatively healthy.

p.p.s - did you see glimpses of my new counter tops and back splash in my picture? {swoon.} they are so gorgeous. we should finish them up this weekend so I can blog about them soon!