_For Jessica...

I am of the mindset that eating should be viewed as a way to pamper your body. You can make or break yourself with your food choices. Depending on what you eat, your body will either love you for it and work with you, or hate you for it and work against you. One of the 903 girls and dear friend, Jessica Cooper and husband have decided to eat as whole as they can and organic when possible. She blogs about new recipes they try and gives the scoop on local farmer's markets. I love it. I have always been a hippy at heart and LOVE eating clean and whole. I LOVE the taste of most fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I love to pamper myself with what I eat, so I share in their quest to make the healthiest food choices possible. I have recently been looking for new recipes to try and my dear friend Cindy gave me this one. Enjoy, Jess!

Ingredients:

One Spaghetti Squash
Pasta Sauce
Ground turkey
Italian seasoning
Garlic clove (optional)


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and place face down on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, put your sauce in a pot and doctor it up however you'd like. Brown your turkey meat (or cut up chicken) in a little bit of olive oil, italian seasoning, and a clove of garlic (if you're into that sort of thing) and put it in with your sauce. Simmer that junk {while your squash is cooking}. After your squash is done cooking, take it out and turn it over...take a fork and run it over the flesh. If it strings like spaghetti and can easily be picked up it is done! The flesh will also take on a darker yellow color when it is done. Cook the squash for a little less time if you like your "noodles" al dente. Do the taste test, your tongue won't steer you wrong! Scoop the "noodles" out with tongs or a fork, plate it and put your sauce on top! It's delicious.

I have fallen in love with spaghetti squash...I don't know if I will be able to go back to eating processed pasta noodles now that I have such a healthy alternative! I have found a lot more recipes using spaghetti squash, so if you like it let me know and I will pass those along as well!

Happy eating :)

i wish i could get on facebook at work

No, not because i am THAT obsessed with what a few friends and a hundred acquaintances are up to...but because my profile contains all of my *pictures* of the friends i love and i would love to show you! So, that title was actually a trick.

What i really want to talk about is not facebook, but how THANKFUL i am for my {amazing} friends.

This weekend i went to the mountains with some of my {favorite} girls in the world. This past April, Eternal (my church), hosted a silent auction to help raise money for the Guatemala trip i went on this past summer. Diana won a weekend {away} in the mountains! So about 10 of us girls went on up. We had an amazing time.

Here are some highlights: (hopefully i will have pictures to share later, once my computer at home is fixed :)

1. we made an amazing fire without the help of any boys!

2. we sang and worshiped together. i have missed that.

3. i got to actually hang out with kylie and heather!

4. amy lost her footing and was drug about 15 feet by the ridiculous swing

5. there was a river that flowed behind the house...the image of seeing that river by the light of the moon and stars will never leave me.

6. we played hilarious board games

7. i got to spend quality time and pray with my favorite amy coccia

8. i got to spend time with lauren dean...i have been wanting to do this for a while because i think [she is just precious!]

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Amy and i drove back to town Saturday night so we could go to worship on Sunday. Amy was playing, so she had to get back, and i have just MISSED worship! Being out of town is not conducive to regular church attendance. It's definitely {not} about attendance for me, or my church for that matter... i MISS my wonderful community when i spend a lot of time away from them. They are my heart.

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Sunday my dear friends Jonathan and Lizzy surprised me right before church was about to start! They were coming into town from Hilton Head for Melissa's baby shower that afternoon, and decided to come early for church. I was startled by Lizzy's voice whispering in my ear, "is someone sitting here"? I yelped. I was SO surprised! After church Lizzy, Jonathan, Josh, Maria, Niles, and I went to lunch and then to the baby shower in Charlotte. At the baby shower the {903 Girls} were together again (minus Julie), and had a great time.

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I LOVE our group of girls from college...they're more like sisters. i don't have a sister and they are the closest things i have to that type of relationship. We are all so different but come together so well. Lizzy's baby shower is in 3 weeks and Julie is coming into town for it!! i couldn't be more thrilled.

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So this weekend i was reminded of how {blessed} i am by my friends, old and new. You ladies and gentlemen have NO idea how much i love you all, and how i wouldn't be able to make it in this cold world without your friendship.

God is good.

where have i BEEN??

That's the 1,000,000 question!!
my life was a bit of a whirlwind over the summer! {wait, that's a lie} i did whatever i wanted to do for 10 weeks this summer, and that just happened to [not include blogging] i know you're dying to know, so here are some things i did do:

1.) went to the lake with amy...daily

2.) stayed up late with amy...nightly

3.) went to charleston with amy...weekly

4.) hung out with kyle...weekly

5.) went to guatemala for 2 weeks

....and here are some things i wanted to do, but didn't....

1.) blog more ;)

2.) take a few weekend trips to out of town places

3.) organize my craft things...and my house. and my life.

4.) lesson plan my first entire semester of school

even though i didn't get some things done that i wanted to do, it was great to not have a care in the world during the summer for the first time in years. the very existence of schools and their wonderful hours never ceases to satisfy my longing for free time. speaking of schools and jobs, i need to get back to mine and finish these medicaid billings :-/

but all of that to say i'm baa-aaack and ready to keep everyone up to date on some [important] decisions coming up. though true, that was fully intended as a teaser so you'll keep reading and then give me great advice ;)