Divorce in the Bible?!

This past weekend our Pastor gave a fantastic sermon about divorce and what the bible has to say.  He like the rest of us don't have all the answers but I think he gave some fantastic insights! I'm going to link the video at the end of this post.  Please take the time to watch it.  I know it seems long but he really is funny and weather you are married, single, engaged, or divorced he speaks to it all.

I want to share a portion of an email that I sent to our Pastor regarding this message.  It shares a bit about Mr. J and I but I feel that it's important to share because it could be very helpful to someone else.

Before Mr. J and I got married we talked about marriage and what we each wanted and the one thing we made clear to each other was that divorce was NOT an option!  He comes a divorced home (thankfully his mom remarried when he was young and he has a great father!)  and my family is a LONG story, so we knew that isn't what God wanted and not what we wanted either.  I think going into the marriage knowing that divorce wasn't even an option saved us.  The first two years of our marriage were horrible! When you talked Sunday about standing on the edge of divorce and waiting to take the plunge, it brought me right back to those first two years.  I know if divorce would have been an option we wouldn't be together today.  Instead God broke both of us, brought us back to Him, and here we are going to celebrate 11 years in June!  God is SO good!



I encourage you all to click the link below! Take the time to watch the video and share if you want.  It could make the difference to you or someone you love!

CLICK HERE to watch!

Love, Lacey

Blog on Hold

I'm sorry this post is late!  I usually blog a few days in advance and pre-schedule them to post on certain days later in the week or the next week.  But this week I came down with the flu.  OH MY GOSH!  It was horrible!  My fever hit 103.6 at one point and I thought I was going to die.  Okay not really but I was FREEZING, my hips hurts worse than after a 10 miler, and I could barely walk to the fridge for more water without getting tired.  I'm thankful I'm on the upswing but I still do not feel so great!  I'm working on an uplifting blog for tomorrow (Friday) but for now I will leave you with this picture I found on dumpday.com (who thinks of these names?!).  We have had a fawn & black pug both and they really are the laziest and sweetest couch potatoes EVER!!  AWE!!  I just want to steal these two.  SO CUTE!

Have you ever had the flu? What did you do to get over it?

Love, Lacey

My California Adventure - Part 1

Welcome to Part 1 of my California adventure!! I'm not sure how many parts this is going to have and they are all sure to be picture heavy.  So if you don't care about or don't want to see my adventure feel free to skip it.  But I hope you will come along on this adventure with me!

It all started on Wednesday February 26.  My flight was to leave our local airport at 6:20 am.  So you know what that means? I had to get to the airport around 5am. That also meant I needed to leave our house just before 4:30am!! This is not a time that I am usually awake, let alone functioning to be driving or speaking to other people. 

Yep!  That is exactly how I felt on the plane! Thankfully our airport has a Seattle's Best (it's not a Starbucks but at 5:30am I take what I can get!) so I got a latte and settled in to wait for my flight.  We took off on time and the flight was full but I had a window seat all to myself!

I like Chicago!  I wouldn't want to live there but I do like to visit. I've never flown into O'Hare after (or before in this case) dark. So I had never really realized what the streets looked like all lit up. I took this picture out the window as we flew over.  I just thought the perfect lines of the grid pattern and the lights were all so beautiful.  I don't know.  It just spoke to me. 

To pass the time on my flights I brought this book.  I LOVED it!  I would HIGHLY recommend it to any runner or really anyone!  Bart Yasso is just an amazing person and a real inspiration.  I finished the book before I even got to Cali. I also had to get some really nasty delicious coffee because I was DRAGGING!

It's really hard to see but that's the Grand Canyon (or at least part of it)!  I've never been out west before so this was the first time I had seen it.  We actually saw it a bit better later on but I was in the middle seat and didn't want to reach other the sweet lady next to me to take 101 pictures of it.  But I can tell you even from the air it was AMAZING!  I started dreaming about going there and running on the rim, or on the floor, or down the path or anything!  I really want to go see it in person now!  I was seriously in AWE!

I no more got to Cali and promptly asked my Sis-in-law to take me to the nearest Starbucks!  Oh sweet nectar of the gods did it tasted so good!  

One thing I don't think I mentioned is that this trip was a surprise to my sister.  She knew my step-mom was coming to visit but she had no clue that I was coming.  So we decided to surprise her with a nice dinner out.  So we went to the Stone Brewery.  They have a beautiful outside seating area and the most amazing menu! This picture was just inside the front door.  This giant "stone" was beautiful! And wearing sandals in February, while sitting outside to eat was a definite bonus!

Tikka chicken spicy Marsala with quinoa and veggies. I didn't know what tikka chicken was (and still don't) but it was just about the best thing I have ever eaten!  The Marsala sauce was indeed spicy but not over the top.  The quinoa and veggies were delicious!  I ended up mixing the quinoa and veggies in with the Marsala sauce and that was amazing too!  We split a bottle of wine between the 4 of us girls (my sister, my sis-in-law, my step mom, & myself) and that was amazing too! The wine was by Paco & Lola and it was very delicious! 

My sister-in-law said they had some gardens just down a walkway from where we were sitting so we went to take a look.  It was beautiful!  This picture does not even do justice to the gardens.  The area pictured above is known to hold weddings and lots of reception type parties.  There were a few tables down that little walk way and then a pond and a few chairs that you could just sit and relax.  The frogs in the pond were super loud and obviously happy with the cool but beautiful evening!  This place was gorgeous!

And it was the absolutely perfect place to surprise my sister (in the middle). She walked in, did a double take, and said "What are you doing here?!?!?". I was super happy to give her a giant hug!  I haven't seen her since she moved to Cali in September and that was far too long to go without hugging my sister! 

Have you ever surprised anyone with a trip?  Have you ever gone on vacation alone?

Love, Lacey

Buying Cheese in Bulk

I wanted to share with you a little money saving tip!  We are a family of 5 with only one income.  So we have a pretty tight grocery budget.  I meal plan and do the best that I can with what I have. I thought I would share one of my favorite money saving tips in hopes it will help someone else!

We go through a lot of shredded cheese!  I make Mac'n'cheese almost every week and we have tacos and chili often and all those mean the need for shredded cheese.  So I buy this big bag of shredded Colby Jack from Sam's Club for about $14.  

I put the big plastic bag in this metal bowl to help keep it upright.  I cut the whole top off the bag since I'm going to separate the bag out into smaller bags so no need for the resealable top!  I pre-open about 10 Ziploc quart size freezer bags and put about 2 cups of cheese in each bag.  Most of the bags of shredded cheese you buy in the store are 2 cups so that is what I do.  But you could easily do 1 cup or 4 cups or anything that you wanted!

After I scoop them all out I squeeze out most of the air, seal the top, and fold the bag over.  I get about 12, 2 cup bags out of that 5 lbs bag of cheese.  If you do the math that averages out to about $1.17 a bag!  The last time I looked a 2 cup baggie of shredded cheese at the grocery store was well over $2 and closer to 3 or 4!  

Any time I need to make something or we are getting low on cheese in the fridge, I just go out to our chest freezer and pull a bag out!  I usually have to buy more cheese within 2-3 months and the cheese is just as good the last bag as it is the first!  If you are looking for a way to save some money at the grocery store try buying shredded cheese in bulk! I have found it's a great way to save some money!  Hope you try it out!!

What is your best money saving tip? What over tips would you like?!

Love, Lacey

I'm Traumatized by LAX

Here is the traumatizing story of my 24 hour trip home from California! I was due to leave San Diego (Stay Classy San Diego) at noon on Monday.  I got to the airport around 10:30 and made my way to the ticket counter.  I got my boarding pass (no checked bags) and went to find my gate.  I got a small snack and sat down to do some reading and relax before my flight.  Soon they announced that my flight was delayed by about 15 min.  I thought "Ok that won't be too bad".  I knew I didn't have a long layover (40 min) but I knew basically where the gates in LAX were and where I needed to go.  Well then the delay got longer and longer and we waited and waited and by the time we got on the plane and in the air I had 10 min to make it to my plane.  With a 25 min plane ride and at least another 5 min tram ride to the gate I needed I knew I wasn't going to make it.  

Sunny San Diego

So by the time I get into LAX my plane was definitely gone and I had a voice-mail from my airlines telling me my new flight numbers and times.  Now remember I arrived at LAX some time around 2pm. The voice-mail informs me that my new flight will be departing LAX at 11:45PM!!  WHAT?!?!  I lost it!  I was instantly in tears and basically running for the customer service desk.  I talked to the actually really nice and helpful customer service and we sorted it all out that this was the earliest I could get home because of weather and the time difference.  I thought "Ok, this will suck a little. But it will give me a chance to get some dinner and have some alone time.  Probably read a little and maybe spot a celebrity!" I mean I was in LAX!  You never know who you will see, meet, and become BFFS!  I no more started walking to a deserted gate to sit down and I got another phone call from the airlines.  My flight has been cancelled due to weather and my new flight leaves at 1:20 AM!!!  Now I was NOT happy!  I went back to customer service and this time I was sobbing!  I kept saying "I just want to go HOME!" Again I had a very nice lady help me and explained everything and there was nothing to be done.  So I decided at this point I hadn't eaten all day (it's currently 4pm) so I needed to eat!  So I went to this cute little bar in the airport called Cole's! 

I ordered an Amaretto Sour.  The cool thing about Cole's is they don't use any mixes.  So the sour mix that normally would have been used in my drink was made from a mixture of bitters and something (I was still blurry eyed and not paying attention).  I always like talking to people in the airport cause you never know who you are going to meet.  When I sat down I instantly noticed the woman to my right had a British accent so I asked her where she was from and we struck up a conversation.  Her son lives in Maui, so she was out visiting him but he was soon moving to Vermont and her beach vacation days were coming to an end.  She said heading back to the south of England wasn't going to be the same as Maui.  Very sweet lady!  I have no idea what your name was but I hope you made it home safely!  Then to my left was a guy heading home from a guys weekend.  He was a Marine stationed in Hawaii and was on his way home from Park City, Utah where he had been skiing!  Seriously, I love getting people's life story in the airport! 

I also ordered one of the only GF things on the menu a Cesar salad which I forgot to say no croutons but OH WELL I know how to pick them off.  See that brown bit on the top of the salad?  That's a whole anchovy!  The salad had enough anchovies and garlic to make sure I didn't get attacked by ANYONE for a week!  But WOW was a good salad!  The dressing was awesome!  So I had something to eat and then walked around for a little bit.  I walked down to a little bakery and got a couple of Macaroons (sorry no pic) and then sat down for a little bit longer.  Then around 8 I decided I wanted to sit at Cole's (the bar tender was really friendly! HEY HOUSTON!!) and see if I could meet some more interesting people!

Well for awhile I was alone and then this guy sat down next to me.  Sorry for the creeper picture but I thought he looked so much like one of my friend's husbands I was trying to be sneaky for a picture!  Later I struck up a conversation with him about a drink he had ordered (a whiskey sour made with an egg white.  Actually really good!) and we ended up talking a good portion of the night.  His name is Kevin and he is a comedian living in New York City! Actually he lives in New Jersey cause it's cheaper but you know what I mean!  Go stalk him on twitter if you want @KevinShimko . Apparently he was also in the Ricky Bobby movie but only in the wide screen version.  Seriously we laughed so much!  He made the time pass and I'm thankful.  Also the guy in the purple and I talked later after Kevin had to leave.  His name is Myles and he is from Australia.  He is engaged and has a BEAUTIFUL baby girl.  We talked a lot about marriage and kids and being stuck in the airport and long plane rides (13 hrs from LAX to Australia).  So Thank you to everyone who made my time in LAX slightly less traumatizing!

When I finally got on the plane at 1:20am, I slept most of the time until we landed in Dallas around 6:20am and then I grabbed a coffee and rode the monorail to my gate. Thankfully I made it back home and was in my truck to go home by 12:30pm.  So by the time all was said and done I was awake (minus my naps on the plane) for just over 24 hrs.  NOT good for me.  I got home and took a 3 hour nap.  The above picture is what I saw coming home.  Snow!  Oh well.  I guess the gorgeous San Diego weather didn't follow me home! 

Have you ever been stuck at an airport for a long time?  Have you ever met anyone famous or funny or fun to know at an airport?

Love, Lacey

First Outside Run of 2014

On February 27 I decided to take my first outside run of 2014.  I stopped for a quick second to snap this picture! 

WAIT!!  Didn't I recently post THIS picture from out our back door?

Oh yeah that's because I wasn't at home!  I was lucky enough to go to CALIFORNIA to visit two of my siblings.  And while I was there the weather held out for about a day and then some nasty rain storms came through.  But before that happened I went out for a run.  I hadn't really run all winter.  I was too busy with my T25 workouts to run on our new treadmill and going outside (as obvious from the picture above) wasn't going to happen for me.  So I was a little nervous going out.  I set a goal for a 5k (3.1 miles) and took my phone with a map on it since I had NO CLUE where I was.  I thought I'd just do a quick out and back because those seem to be the best for me.  So I set out on my solo adventure in Cali. I went out of my brother's subdivision and took a left, I quickly got to the end of that street and decided to take another left.  I figured if I just took a couple lefts I would just take a couple rights to get home.  Silly me did NOT look at the streets I was turning on!  My new Garmin (first time I have used it since I received it at Christmas) soon chimed out that I had gone a mile, 11:03 pace.  I was pretty darn happy with that considering my average pace last year was somewhere around 10:30 so I didn't feel like I had lost a lot of time.  Pretty soon I looked and I was at my half was point, so I turned around and started heading for home.  Pretty soon my watch chimed out mile 2 with a 10:41 pace.  HOLY COW!  I couldn't believe it!  I felt like I was gliding on air but I guess I really was just settling into my old stride.  Here is where it gets a little shady.  As I mentioned before I had never even SEEN California before let alone this neighborhood and I had NO idea where to turn to get back to the street I DID know.  So I had to take a quick break to check my maps (thank you Apple!) and get directions on where to turn so that I knew where I was again.  Thankfully I hadn't passed the street and was able to turn right pretty easily!  So I turned right onto the correct street and soon after my watch chimed mile 3, 10:42 pace.  WHOA!  I ALMOST had negative splits the whole time!  So with the last .10 to go I turned on my "push to the finish" sprint and got it done!  Final time? 33:27!  Average pace? 10:47!  I am over the moon that this run happened (gotta love vacation running) and that it was as good as it was!  I have no doubt that T25 helped me keep my strength and cardio up over the winter.  Now if Spring can finally spring (is that redundant?!) here, I will be happy to get outside and get going on my outside run training!

Have you had your first outside run of the year? How did it go?  What is the weather like where you are?

Love, Lacey

Walgreens Blackhead Clearing Scrub Review

I want to share with you my current favorite face wash.  The Walgreen's brand Blackhead Clearing Scrub.  It is equal to Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser Scrub. 

The active ingredient in this face wash is salicylic acid (2%).  If you read my last review( here) of a face wash you will know I need salicylic acid in my washes.  It helps my face stay clear and gets my face really clean! I also like a face wash with a little bit of a exfoliate.  Something that I feel like it's taking off the dead skin but not going to do damage if I use it daily.  So here we are with the Blackhead Clearing Scrub.  I bought this on a whim while I was at Walgreen's.  I needed more face wash and saw this and thought Hey for $4 if I hate it then I'm not out too much.  

Let me give you the pros! This face wash is definitely gentle enough to use every day and it gives a nice tingle when you wash your face!

Now for the only con I came up with . . . the smell.  It doesn't bother me but it definitely has a bit of a medicine type smell.  So if you are easily offended you may want to take a whiff before you buy it.

My over all feelings on this wash is that I really love it!  The price is low, it lasts a long time, and it keeps my face clean!  I do only use it at night.  I could use it twice a day and it would be fine, but I feel like when I wake up my face isn't dirty enough to need a scrub.  I really do like this wash and will continue using it!  I would recommend this to anyone who has combo skin.  Just make sure you follow up with a good moisturizer. 

Love, Lacey