Foodie Post - Review of Kale Chips

I'll be the very first to admit that I can't cook that good.
I'm not that inventive with my food at home. My husband is super picky, so if he doesn't like something more than likely my four year old will pretend he doesn't like it either.

Since I've been on my "health food" journey the last 6 months or so, I've discovered Kale.
I would have normally never eaten Kale until I went on a juice fast, which I highly recommend for anyone who needs a reboot of energy!

I started by buying Walmart Kale and washing it, then I got into organic produce and Whole Foods carries a much bigger variety. Anyway, I would put a little olive oil and sea salt on it and put it in my small convection oven until it turned crispy. You can look up youtube videos on how to do it if you don't know how, like pulling the leaves from the stem,etc.
Those are delicious! My sons even loved it.

Then I found a site selling bags of it with different flavors and thought I'd give it a shot!
I received 3 large packages (I'm assuming the packaging was recycled, or at least it seemed that way.) Three different delicious flavors: cheese, jalapeno, and some other kind that mentioned hazelnut but didn't taste like hazelnut.

These are really really rich if you ask me, but they are still delicious.
If you are on the go like me, definitely better than a bag of chips/fries, etc.

I personally like mine better, but I like the bitter taste of plain kale, I guess.

Let me know if you have any recipes for Kale, I'd love to try them!

Bless you ladies :)

Kayla

Our normal

Happy Monday ladies! 

I've been scarce the last few days because my oldest son got hurt at school on Friday morning.
He fell on the concrete and hit his front teeth. Graceful like his mother I assume.
Luckily only one was knocked loose, but hasn't came out. His dentist said there's not much to do anyway considering it's still a baby tooth. 
As eventful as my weekend was I wanted to share with you a Halloween picture of my youngest. (I have none of the oldest because he refused pictures with his friends around, plus he was running to each house.) 
These are also Iphone photos, be aware! lol 
The first one is of my little country boys together, not fighting for one minute. :) 
Don't worry, it resumed shortly after.

To get back to the topic I've been thinking of for a few weeks...
Why do we idolize being busy? Obviously by my blogger name, I'm busy as well.
But we have competitions on who is busiest. 
Let's sign up for everything imaginable and wonder why we feel overwhelmed.
We have class trips, class parents, church classes, bible studies, tball games + practices, snacks, dinners with family, cook out with friends, remodeling the house, homemade costumes, couponing, juicing, photography, blogging, and somewhere in there we fit in housework, cooking, and looking half way presentable. Some of us even try to work out!
Are we not setting ourselves up for failure? Every day something is not getting done, you can't be your best at a few things because we are constantly okay with being mediocre at 50 other things. 
We are mediocre employees, moms, wives, church members, grandchildren, sisters, etc.
My goal is to pick a few things, do my best, and be the best at them. I can't do it all anymore, and I'm not even doing a decent job at trying. 
My Halloween treats for my boys' parties are not done yet, and I'm sure I won't start until 10 pm Tuesday night. My house IS clean, but I missed church. 
I also have a trunk that needs decorating before Wednesday and it's not even cleaned out. 
Groceries need bought, but my kids' clothes ARE ironed. 
Am I talking to myself here, or do any of you feel this way too?
My husband and I have not had a date night in months. When you stretch yourself too thin, you can't spend extra time or attention on yourself or on those you love. 

As a reminder, the Bible talks about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. 
Girls, she does a lot.. and it is all about her family. But I can bet that God wants us to know about this woman and what she does well. 
Let's not minimize our family or values to be "busy". 
Slow down and smell the roses, it's so so worth it. 

Have a perfect night with your family. If you don't have a family yet, spend it with someone who just needs someone to talk to. 
No ones life is perfect, we can all stop pretending. Let's get real. When was the last time you spoke to a lady who you just asked how their day was and they were real, they said "girl I'm just exhausted and I feel chubby today!". How would you react? 
You don't have to know someones life story to know not everything is sweet as peaches. 
We don't have to complain, but we also don't have to give facades to make each other feel less adequate. (Even if it's unintentional.)
I'll be the first to admit today that I don't have it together. I don't eat much meat (just because I don't like it). I prefer mostly organic produce and products. My husband is a hunter, like hardcore, Duck Dynasty kind of hunting. 
He isn't just the guy that goes out during rifle season to get any 'ol deer that walks up...
I'm talking about his year is carefully calculated, feed plots planted, cameras out, stands up, obsession starts in July kind of hunter. Are we opposites? Absolutely 100%.
Our life isn't perfect, but it's OURS. 
My kids are adorable to me, but they fight all the time. That is not perfect, ya'll. 
Just be you, and do it so well that you no longer care to keep yourself busy with the other stuff.

I've ranted long enough and no one even read all this. 

God Bless you ladies. 
Kayla

Mean Girls

Catchy title eh?

I was recently submerged into Beth Moore's bible study Esther. 
Although I did the study several years ago with her (not actually with her but via dvd) but this time it hit me in a different spot. I'm only on session 4 or so, but she was talking about mean girls somewhere along the way.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever.) I'm not going to be talking about Esther today, I'm going to talk about us ladies. I feel qualified because I am one. We all know the mean girl, the one everything is ALWAYS about. We know the girl that is so self absorbed she posts pictures of all the new clothes she just went out and bought while we haven't shopped in months.
Most memorable mean girl in my mind is the one who wears revealing clothing around our husbands, just to see if he will look.
Beth Moore dares to say in her study, "Keep your breasts to yourself". I found this hilarious, but then it hit me! This is so true ladies. Your goods are for your husband only. And to take that to the next step, if you do that in front of my husband then I turn into the mean girl! Let's skip that part of the story.

But the mean girl I want to talk about today is the one in the mirror. Oh yes, I said it.
I don't show it. I'm not purposely mean, but down in my heart I feel it sometimes.
When someone gets a new vehicle, or they don't have baby puke or snot on their cute clothes like I do. When they brag that their husband stayed up all night with the teething baby I feel like I could totally lose it.
How about the secret competition between us ladies? Who dresses cuter, which kids are smarter, more athletic, which one walked sooner?
Am I reaching anyone ?
We are ALL women, women of faith. God did not make us men for a reason!
The next time you are on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, etc and you feel your heart's jealousy.. remember that when someone's grass seems greener on the other side, start watering yours!
Every single one of us has a purpose and yours may be vastly different than your girlfriends. That being said, we all have trials. Each of us carries burdens not intended for us to carry, each has a heavy heart for some reason.
Let's encourage one another, love one another, pray for one another.
If a lady seems to be "doing more" for God's kingdon than you, and you feel down about that..ask her what you can help with. You may be the blessing she has prayed for.
We are all here for the same ultimate reason, to bring Glory to our Father and bring those far from Christ near.

Be with me as an encourager this week, love your lady friends, be a friend.
Don't be the mean girl.

Blessings ladies! Happy Wednesday (which I thought was initially Tuesday! haha)

Kayla

I'm a slob.

There, I said it.
All these moms pinning organization stuff on Pinterest, I do that too.
I just never get to it.
I'm thinking my 4 1/2 year old is a hoarder, no joke. (My husband might be also.)

I swear as soon as I clean something, four little sticky hands mess it up again.
I've almost given up, except I don't want a messy unorganized house.
So I figured I'd share some "end of the year, hope I get this done" goals with you.

1. Clean out boys' rooms. Old toys, broken toys, toys not played with, etc.
2. Clean out my room. Old toys, broken toys..lol that's a joke. Mostly old clothes in there.
3. Get rid of old sippies, bottles, plates. Stuff we don't use.
4. Shred all old useless paper.

There you have it.  I'll keep you updated on how this goes. It HAS to be done by Christmas.
Seems so far away, but we all know how that holiday likes to sneak up on us.

Anyone else have tips or a Pinterest link for some much needed ideas?


Have a blessed Monday!
Kayla

Something small, something big

I want to breifly touch on something sensitive today that has been pressed on my heart lately.

Years back, as I was maturing (and I still am), I started noticing that the more I asked God for help, the more He cleansed me.
A cleansing is not fun, it is meant to purify your heart. Sometimes that means pulling things out of your deepest, darkest closet.

Lately, as I have dug more into the Word and become more involved with spiritual friends and more involved in church; I feel like I'm cleansing again. 
You have to look deep inside yourself to become greater for God.
 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, unless you abide in me." John 15:4

Any part of your life that is not producing life, light, productivity, joy, and radiating God's love through you should be "pruned". Toxic relationships, tv shows, music, etc.
Don't get me wrong, no one is perfect. But if you are looking for a more meaningful relationship with our Almighty, you must abide in Him.
I looked up abide at www.m-w.com to give us a clearer picture of what He is asking when He said "abide in me".

 to wait for : await

2a : to endure without yielding : withstand

b : to bear patiently : tolerate <cannot abide such bigots>

3: to accept without objection <will abide your decision>

: to remain stable or fixed in a state

2: to continue in a place

 

Some words in this definition stick out to me- endure, patiently, remain, accept without objection.

If God has lead you to a certain direction in your life, and you are supposed to abide

 in Him.. Does that mean you won't endure trial? Absolutely not. Everyone will face trials, but are your trials going to be worth the reward? We can bank on that.

 

Patiently- boy do I struggle with this one. Let's skip this one, we'll come to patience another day. :)

To accept without objection- Can we all just agree God certainly knows more than us? I know as a woman I feel like I'm right ALL the time, but when it comes to God I've got to learn He knows infinitely more than me. I am trying to learn not to object when He leads me somewhere.

To remain stable or to continue in a place-  Let's just say I'm not stable and I usually can't stay in a fixed state of emotions. But I think we could take this part of the defiinition a step further, staying constantly and stable in the Word. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

 

This week my goal is to abide in Him, and cut off what branches are not producing fruit. I want my life to reveal God in the most gracious ways. I want His joy to radiate through me, and shine on others.

Girls, remove those vines that are not bearing fruit. Ask God to cleanse your heart. If you need prayer during this process, please contact me.

 

Spring cleaning in the Fall, who knew?

 

Kayla

 

Sneak Peek, 15 month old!

I'm going to get to my regular blog post a little later, but I just had to share this picture with you all.
He is a total mess, look at the dirt on his face! This is my youngest son, he's the smartest little thing I've ever met. He really knows how to work his momma.

I took this in the shade, in the evening, with my new camera. I'm learning how to edit my photos, wow there is lots to learn. This little angel has the most gorgeous eyes, but I just couldn't get the light correct.. maybe next time! He is such a miracle baby to us. I had such a hard time during my labor with him. He was sunny side up, and when they flipped him he got lots of fluid down his lungs and was in ICU for 5 days. Ever since he came home after he was born he has excelled at everything. He's so competitive just like his daddy!

Can't wait to share more with you all later.
Here's something I think of each day when I see my boys.. (borrowed from some episode of Oprah I must have seen years ago.)...Do your eyes light up when your children come into the room?
On stressful days at work or when I get held up in a meeting, I really hate to take it out on my kids. They are my world. I try my hardest to make sure they see how excited I am to see them each and every day.

Today, make sure that when you see a loved one (no matter what else you have going on) make sure your face lights up when you see them. Make someone feel special today.
Happy Monday everyone!


Blessings to you,
Kayla

All He needs is All you have.

It's a rainy day here in Oklahoma. Perfect to curl up with a good read and a cup of coffee and submerge yourself into learning.

Since I commute around 40 minutes to work each way, I frequently listen to podcasts. I listen to mostly either bible study podcasts or sermons.

I currently listen to an amazing pastor with such a great gift to get you in the Word, his sermons will stick with you forever. Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church recently released a book called Greater.

 

 

This book just gives you such a great feeling about your purpose. He talks extensively about Elisha and Elijah from the Bible, and applies it directly to your life. He also preached several sermons about those prophets as well, they are life changing. Free on Itunes and well worth downloading. I'm currently halfway through and read another chapter or so this morning; a few lines stuck out after prayer this morning that I wanted to share with you ladies.

 

In 2 Kings 4:1-7 there's a widow that owes creditors and they are most likely going to come get her sons if she can not pay her debt. She comes to Elisha and tells him of her trouble, probably thinking he would just pay her debts for her or offer comforting words. Instead he asks her what she has in her house? (verse 2)

She tells him she has nothing except a small amount of oil. He tells her to go to her neighbors and ask for empty jars and shut the door behind you and begin filling them.

When she started out with a little oil, she ended with filling each jar to the brim and the flow stopped as soon as she was done.

She tells the prophet what happened and he instructed her to sell the extra oil and pay her debts.

God not only met her need, He gave her more than she needed.

Most of us are exactly like the widow, we only think about what we don't have.

If only we have more money we could change the world. We excuse ourselves of God's plan for us because we don't think we have enough to offer. If we had only grown up in church our entire lives then we would feel equipped to volunteer at church.

If we hadn't gotten a divorce we would feel lead to testify for our faith.

You don't have to have "more" of something for God to use you; He just needs ALL of you.

Give Him all you have, and He can supply the rest.

You are all He needs.

 

 

Ladies, let's come together and not allow the lie that we aren't enough for God's plan or that we don't have enough to give.

You are enough.

 

Thank you for joining me.

Happy Friday.

Love to you all,

Kayla

 

 



 

Woman's best friend

I'd like to introduce our family's dog, Itchy.

He is literally THE best children's dog ever. My boys adore him.
Itchy is an Australian Shepherd and he loves to tackle my four year old like they are playing football. Which I think is hilarious.

On the topic of friendship, have you ever had a season of loneliness?
At points in my life I could not figure out why I did not have that "best friend" .
I now understand it was during that time God called me closer to Him, taught me things about myself  that I may otherwise not have known.
During seasons of doubt or loneliness, ask God to show you things. Ask Him to give you wisdom to grow into the person He has called you to be.

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the resting of your faith produces patience" James 1:2


"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

I am learning that every trial and struggle in my life led me to lean on God even more than I did the season before. Not only did I learn of my strength in Him, but of His perfect plan.
Ladies, I come to you today to tell you that the mountain you're facing is an ant hill in the vantage point of God.
He's calling you for something greater, something you can't see now because of where you are. I pray you call on Him for strength and wisdom.

What mountain are you facing? What seems impossible to you is not impossible to our mighty Creator.  Please contact me if you're in need of prayer.

Happy Thursday everyone.

Kayla

Fall has arrived

I believe Fall has officially arrived!

I have worn boots, a scarf, and a long maxi skirt this week. I love this time of year.
So versitile in the fashion aspect :)

Here's a glimpse of the pattern on my skirt. My husband is going to be so embarrased when he gets home this evening!

Have you ever felt led to do something? Like there was a calling upon your life.
Ever since I was a young teenager, I just felt different. Of course, I have fell off my course many many times. Waves of sin upon my life have nearly consumed me. But every single time, my savior has rescued me from myself the moment I called upon Him.

Sometimes doing greater things doesn't mean being famous, or having a million views on your blog. It means at some point, you changed one person for the better.
If I can help one person, my life is of significance. Even though I may feel like my calling is bigger than that; I surrender to what God is calling me to do.
I can't wait for you to be on this journey with me.

What have you done lately to make someone feel better? Sometimes all this world needs is someone to think selflessly.
Put someone else before yourself, do them a favor. An annonymous gesture could change someone's entire perspective on life.

We, as women, can be world changers. We don't have to accept this reality. We can, and will, make each day better.

God Bless,
Kayla

 

New Camera

I am very excited to announce my newest purchase.
I have been swamped just learning things and playing with it plus learning some editing stuff.
Very excited for the changes in my life and for all the blessings upon my family at this time.
Do you have any tips for me?

Happy Friday and God Bless.

Juicing Tuesdays

I really tried to think of a clever Tuesday blog title, but nothing came to me.

But truly my only reason to post today was to share this FAB juicing recipe.
I have been juicing off and on for about 6 months now, and I'm absolutely in love.
It's the best way to detox your body and revive your energy.
This recipe is tart and sweet, with a kick at the end. It's definitely a must try.

I actually don't own an expensive juicer because I was afraid I wouldn't stick to it, so my sweetie pie husband bought me a GE brand juicer for around $50 and it works perfect for what I need.
Juicing, you ask? It's a way to get more nutrients and vitamins. The reason you get more of the good stuff is because you can actually drink more juice from all the produce than you can eat in a single setting. There are certain veggies that I may not otherwise eat raw, that I can drink raw.
For instance, beets. I do not like beets, but I occassional put them in my juice. It gives it this vibrant purple color, and you can barely taste it.


Now to the actual recipe! I use about 3-4 pears, 2 limes, and a bunch of cinantro.
It's amazing. I thought it would be weird, but out of all the juice I've drank this one is a definite fav! :)

Happy Juicing!

Who You Are

This should have technically been my first blog post. I completely forgot to tell you who I am!

I am a mom, wife, daughter, sister, and lover of Christ. Those are first and foremost. Secondly, I work full time and work in our local church. And my name is Kayla.

I’m just starting my journey with my young family and I thank God for the things I have overcome in my life.

Here I am. I hope this is a place you can share and learn as a person each week. I look forward to getting to know anyone who follows a long. I am open to pray for anyone, if you’d like to reach me by email just let me know as well.

Happy October 1^st!

Monday Madness

Here we are again, another Monday!
I just wanted to ask, what are you simply mad about? What do you really really love?
Mondays seem to be reflection days for me.
My family’s weekend is always super busy, so when Monday rolls around I like to relax and reflect. The thing that keeps popping up in my mind is how silly my four year old son seems to be.
 Yesterday during church, our pastor was asking if anyone had prayer requests.
Oblivious to me, his little hand shot straight up. Once I noticed, I was so embarrassed and hurriedly yanked his hand down. I said to him, “What in the world do you need to tell him?”.
 He responded very matter-of-factly, “Mom, I just wanted to tell him about that time you didn’t give my new kitty enough milk…and how you killed him.”
My word, I have never in my life been so relieved that someone wasn’t called upon for their prayer request. *lol* Simple things like that make this life worth living.
 Every long night, screaming match, tantrum, puke fest, and pee covered toilet make it much easier on days like these.

  AND since it’s October 1st, and feels like Fall around here..
 The other thing I’m mad about is my boots I got last Christmas from my wonderful husband. I didn’t get to wear them much this year so far, so I’m breaking them in today. Brown leggings and all.



Happy Monday everyone! What are you mad about today?