Tuesday Giveaway: Over The Grave

AND THE WINNER IS... #8, Aaron!

Please note that I did not succumb to Aaron's threat about our air conditioner (Aaron is a good friend... and a maintenance guy at our apartment complex!); he actually did win. :) Also, sorry for the lateness in posting a winner -- it's been a crazy week!

Let's do it again soon. If anyone wants to host a giveaway (up-and-coming etsy entrepreneurs??), let me know!

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I promised you a giveaway....

You've already heard me mention (a couple of times!) that my church, Sojourn, just released Over The Grave, the first volume of a two-part CD set dedicated to "revamping" the hymns of Isaac Watts. Here's a little blurb about the CD (written by our Pastor of Worship & Arts, Mike Cosper):

In the midst of the Reformation in England, Isaac Watts recognized that people needed to see the gospel in the psalms and hymns of the church, and they needed to sing them in language and metaphors that they understood. In this, he became not only the father of the modern hymn, but the pace-setter for contextualizing the gospel for the people of God.

As musicians, pastors and songwriters, our desire was to explore the hundreds of hymns that Watts wrote during his lifetime, to learn from the incredible range and depth of his lyrics, and to re-envision those songs with modern language and melodies. In particular, we gravitated towards themes that seem unfortunately absent in modern worship — themes about God’s wrath and judgment, His righteousness, and a dramatic vision of the cross and atonement of Christ.

This CD is the first installment of the Isaac Watts Project: songs inspired by and adapted from his hymns. The record was written and performed entirely by musicians from Sojourn Community Church — 35 in all. It is our hope that this project, like Watts’s hymns, will point us beyond the music and lyrics to see the glorious Savior who inspires them.

The release party was last Friday night, and it was awesome. Southeast Christian Church (which is the largest church in KY, I think!) was kind enough to let us use their new 75,000 square-foot youth building, "The Block." It is a truly incredible facility. Check it out:

(Since I'm not a great photographer, the images above were all stolen borrowed from Chuck Heeke and Ryan Harvey, two very talented photographers. You can see more pictures of the event by clicking on their names.)

Sojourn ended up signing a record deal (read more about it here) with Bonded Records (part of Universal Music), and I can't wait to see where Over The Grave goes. I love it, and I think you will, too! In order to win your very own copy, leave a comment on this post. A winner will be selected at random on Saturday (the 27th) at noon.

Good luck!

A Fitting Sunday Post

I don't know about you, but I find this to be absolutely hilarious. What if God text messaged the 10 Commandments?

1. no1 b4 me. srsly.
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omgs
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)
5. pos ok – ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/ m8
8. dnt steal
9. dnt lie re: bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf’s m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.

M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl.

ttyl, JHWH.

ps. wwjd?

I think #1 and #10 are my favorites. But myob!

(PS: My next giveaway is coming up, and it's a good one! Be on the lookout, srsly.)

Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

My last attempt at making dessert failed; maybe this one won't. Tonight, instead of working out, I'll be trying my hand at crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.













I hope they taste as yummy as they look! I'll keep you posted.













(Thanks for the heads up on the recipe, Lauren!)

If you were me, this is what you would've had for lunch today.

I had a yummy chicken caesar salad for lunch today in one of my new salad bowls from TJ Maxx.














You like? (The bowl, not necessarily my lunch choice... although feel free to comment about that if you feel so led.)

...and yes, I had a diet coke to drink. But I've been thinking a lot about drinking water, and I'm convinced that has to count for something.

I drink no H2O, you know?

This post started out as a comment on my friend Laurin's blog... but then I just kept typing... and it quickly outgrew the length of an acceptable comment. So here goes nothin'.

Laurin recently posted about drinking water (drinking is a verb there, not an adjective). She said that she fills up a 32 oz. bottle of water in the morning and then tries to finish it by lunch, at which time she'll reward herself with a tasty beverage of choice (for her, a sweet tea... for me, Diet Coke every time!). I think this is an exceptionally good idea. You see, I almost never drink water. Ever. Go ahead and start judging me; I know it's bad. I drink less than 20 0z. of fluid per day, and most of that is my daily Diet Coke, which I nurse from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. It has a special place on my desk at work. Sometimes I don't drink anything after I get home from work, even with dinner. Most of the time I will fill a small glass with water or something, just because it seems like the right thing to do. But most of the time, if it's been touched at all by the end of dinner, it's because Wes finished his glass and was too lazy to return to the kitchen for more.

So. I've been working out lately (totally shocking, if you know me), and I know I'm at a risk for dehydration. But here's where I tell you more about me than you perhaps wanted to know -- when the Lord knit me together in my mother's womb, He only gifted me with about 1/4 of the normal bladder size. I have trained my body not to expect much in the liquids department, because if I do intake even a semi-normal amount of liquid, I am in the bathroom nonstop. But I'm not exaggerating. Non. Stop. It is seriously annoying. So yes, 12 oz. of DC in a day and I'm basically done. Go ahead and murmur under your breath about how horrible I am. I KNOW! I just don't know how to fix it apart from inserting a catheter.

How much do you drink? Is the command to "drink 8 8-oz glasses of water per day" a fad, or is it really necessary to be healthy? Please inspire me. Maybe I'll buy a water bottle....

Absent from Flesh, Sojourn Style

Want to hear one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands? Check out this video of our church's band leading worship at Advance '09. (How I wish I could've been there!)



This song, a remake of Isaac Watts's "Absent From Flesh," actually isn't on Sojourn's latest CD, Over The Grave, so enjoy it online while you can. It's one of my favorites. Here are the lyrics Watts penned about that day when our sinful flesh will no longer hinder us:

Absent from flesh! O blissful thought!
What unknown joys this moment brings!
Freed from the mischiefs sin has brought,
From pains, and fears, and all their springs.

Absent from flesh! illustrious day!
Surprising scene! triumphant stroke
That rends the prison of my clay;
And I can feel my fetters broke.

Absent from flesh! then rise, my soul,
Where feet nor wings could never climb,
Beyond the heav’ns, where planets roll,
Measuring the cares and joys of time.

I go where God and glory shine,
His presence makes eternal day:
My all that’s mortal I resign,
For angels wait and point my way.

Sharing the Love (Potato-Salad Style)

I've stumbled upon a definite winner in the recipe world, so I thought I'd share the love.














This recipe is supposed to taste like the potato salad from Mark's Feed Store. If you're not familiar with MFS (it's a Kentucky thing), they have great barbecue... but the best thing on their menu (in my humble opinion) is their potato salad!

This recipe makes a TON of "sauce." It calls for 3 lbs of potatoes, but I recently made it using 5 lbs and still had a little bit of extra sauce at the end. (Note: it also helps if you add the sauce bit-by-bit instead of dumping it on all at once and there being too much... whoopsies. Been there, done that!) I didn't use any celery (I'm not a fan), I added a pinch of ground mustard (but be careful... too much and it has a real zing to it! ...been there, done that, too), and I used 5 or 6 eggs (I love hard-boiled eggs!) instead of 4. Tasty!

Since I'm sharing a success, I'll also share a failure... I made blueberry cobbler tonight and was not impressed. Almost all of the reviews say it's "the best ever," but I beg to differ! Granted, I don't think I cooked it long enough, and I cut the sugar in half... ok, ok, so maybe it was my fault. :)

What's your favorite recipe? (Or favorite recipe disaster?) I'm dying to know. Especially if you have a good one for blueberry cobbler....

Since you asked....

Many of you kindly left comments on my giveaway post indicating that you'd like a "real update"; however... I don't really have much to tell you! Life is zipping by; I can't believe it's already June. The 29th will mark two long wonderful years with my hubs. :) We are looking forward in anticipation to July 29; not only is it my 25th birthday (see my wist on the lower right!), but we're headed to California with our dear friends for 2.5 weeks! Let me also mention that those dear friends are preparing to move across the hall from us before we leave. I can hardly wait.










Alicia, we are going to have so much fun!

Also, I'll get to visit my bestie when I'm in CA:










Sweet Mia... can't wait 'til we're lounging poolside 24/7!

Other than that, it's same old same old. I straight up lease apartments like it's my JOB. Twice a month I do get a three-day weekend, though, and I'm not gonna lie, that is what keeps me from looking for another job. :) I do enjoy working at the Village Manor, but a girl can only take so many 10-hour days and angry tenants before she breaks down and cries in front of the guy who's yelling at her about his hot water being out. Oh wait -- did I forget to blog about that? Let's just say it wasn't one of my finer moments. Professionalism? Sympathy, yet a firm resolve? Nah. I'd rather sob.

Wes is keepin' it real at the Seminary and Starbucks, and he read more books last week than I have in the past two years. Speaking of my meager I've-read-that-recently list, here's my most recent accomplishment:












It was a funny read, complete with "that totally happened to me" and "omg I'm so glad that never happened to me!" moments. For those of you who don't know, I waited tables in a previous life for over six years. (I only wish I was kidding.) Thanks for thinking of me and picking up that book, FIL. :)

Tomorrow is one of my much-anticipated days off, and I think I'll spend it doing laundry and cleaning the shower. And maybe pulling out the bed to vacuum behind it. Oh, and perhaps I'll go to Target... just for a little excitement.

In the meantime, why don't you check out Sojourn's latest CD, Over the Grave... I promise you'll love it! You can listen to two songs from OTG and many others on their facebook fan page.











How's that for an update?

I don't know about you,

but here's what I'd do with an extra $55:














Oh. so. cute!
[Courtesy of oh, hello friend]

(Giveaway winner announced tomorrow!)

Monday Giveaway!

AND THE WINNER IS... #14, Laura!

Thanks for entering, everyone; that was fun. Let's do it again sometime soon!

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I haven't blogged in 2 weeks?! Whoopsies! Let me make it up to you.

How about a giveaway?

Ok, this will be a small one, but hopefully you'll think it's fun.

Pictured above and below are some of my favorite journaling tags. I have three packs (33 different tags) up for grabs. To enter, just leave a comment. Easy peasy! Just make sure that I have some way to contact you.

I'll pick a winner (using random.org) on Wednesday at noon. Good luck! :)