Show Us Your Life-Show Us Your Singles

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting "Show Us Your Singles" again. If you remember last time, I showed off my brother-in-law Eddy. Eddy was quite the popular guy I must say. I have never had so many hits to my blog ever. Eddy is still single and traveling the country modeling. He's getting ready to take his second trip to Haiti next month.

This time around I wanted to introduce you to my sister Rachelle, a.k.a. Auntie RoRo. She is 34 and originally from So California and now lives in Nashville, TN. She has no idea I am doing this and would probably tell me not to do it, so that's why I am not telling her. Don't kill me Shell. You know I love and adore you and just want to help you find a husband.

My sis Rachelle is the third girl out of 4. She's an amazing soccer player, professional singer, and has the most caring heart of anyone I know. She is funny as all get out and is truly the life of a party. She loves to have fun. She's one of those girls you find out is still single and think how is that possible? We've all tried to figure that out and it's beyond us, but we know the Lord has it all worked out already. Who knows, maybe it will happen through the blogosphere.

Rachelle works with women who are going through breast cancer and she truly sees it as a ministry and not just a job. She cares for the women who walk through those doors and have often prayed with them. She loves the Lord and has a way of praying for people that is truly spirit-led. She leads worship once a month for a women's bible study and I know those women leave being encouraged and inspired by what she says. She is the best auntie ever and she loves her nieces and nephew to bits. She's going to be an amazing mom one day. She has a way with kids that is well beyond her years. My sweet, strong willed Sydney Kate can throw a mean temper tantrum. I love it when Auntie RoRo is there because she can get her to calm down in ways that I can't even do and I'm her mom. I love you my sweet sister and can't wait to meet the man God has in store for you.

Sydney and Brooklyn wanted to sing a song for their Auntie RoRo and all the other single girls out there.


So if you'd like to get in contact with Rachelle, please email me at hopeinthewaiting@gmail.com and I will make sure she gets it.

Show Us Your Life-Testimony

Today's Show Us Your Life, is all about testimonies. I was blessed to grow up in the church where my parents laid the foundation for me. We went to church 3 times a week. I loved church and accepted the Lord into my heart when I was 5.

By the time I got to Junior High school, I was tired of going to church to be really honest. My sisters and I played soccer year round in Southern California and traveled alot because of it. We also played alot of games on Sunday. Soccer became my life and although I occasionally went to church, I was mainly going because my parents made me.

I got into high school and we changed churches. This was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. It was a big church, a few thousand members and they had a great youth group of about 300. I got really involved and made some really great friends. Friends that are near and dear to me to this day. I went to different camps and sang in the worship band.

When I was a junior in high school I went on a winter retreat to Hume Lake. I loved going to Hume Lake. There were churches from all over California and if I had to guess about 2000 high schoolers were there at one time. It was great. One night the pastor gave us a challenge after he spoke. He said, "When I tell you to, I want you all to exit the building and not say a word. I want you to go find a quiet place outside all by yourself to spend with God". I remember thinking to myself, Yeah right, like that's really going to happen. You know what? You could not hear one person talk as we all exited the sanctuary. It was the coolest thing ever.

To this day I can still remember where I went. It was snowing and freezing cold and I stood right in front of the lake. The moon was full and reflecting off the water and the stars were absolutely amazing. I stood there and cried and prayed for the Lord to forgive me for being so distant. I wanted to come back to Him. That night I rededicated my life to the Lord and made my faith my own. It was no longer my parents faith. It was mine.

When I got back home, I was baptized. I wanted to let everyone know I was serious about serving and following Him.

Show Us Your Life-Best Grilling Recipes

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life today and it's all about grill recipes this time. I have to say it has just been to darn hot in the south to grill. We do alot more grilling in the fall and spring than in the summer. Neither one of us want to stand outside and make dinner when it's this hot.

I do love to grill though. I love how the food tastes. It's just so yummy. Here is one of my favorite burger recipes that I make with turkey. If you've read my blog for long you know that I am a huge fan of organic meats. If I make any beef at home, I make sure it's grass fed, organic beef with no hormones or antibiotics. In this burger however, I use turkey because it's leaner and it makes the burgers so moist. So without further adieu....

Five Spice Turkey Cheeseburger

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg white
1 tablespoon diced white onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey
4 slices Gouda cheese
4 onion rolls, halved
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves (optional)
4 pineapple rings

Directions
1.Whisk together the bread crumbs, egg white, onion, soy sauce, minced ginger, five-spice powder, ground ginger, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix in turkey until just combined. Shape turkey mixture into four patties.
2.Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3.Cook on the preheated grill until the patties are no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes per side for well done. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Place a slice of gouda cheese on each patty; continue grilling until cheese has melted, about 1 minute. While the turkey patties are cooking, place the pineapple rings on the grill until softened, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
4.Assemble the burgers by placing a turkey patty on half of an onion roll, then top with the grilled pineapple. Divide the spinach leaves evenly among the burgers, then top with the other half of the onion roll.

Happy Grilling!

Wow!

Ok, I knew y'all would like my bro-in-law, I just didn't know how much. I love reading your comments. Thank you for posting them. I love the ones that posted for their friends. That made me laugh because that's so something I would have done. I think it's great.

Thank you again Kelly for hosting. What a great idea and so much fun. I sent Eddy an email to check out all the comments on my blog. If you left me your information, I am going to copy it all down and give a list to him. Don't be surprised if you get an email from him. He does leave for Haiti in a week so it might be after he gets back.

Thanks again for stopping by. Now it's my turn to check out all the links and see if I can find a guy for my sister who is single and an amazing catch. We'll see what happens. Have a great weekend.

Show Us Your Life-Single Boys

Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life and today it's single boys. This one was easy for me because I knew I wanted to introduce you to my brother-in-law, Eddy. Eddy is my husband's youngest brother and lives near us in Nashville. Around our house he's known as Uncle Eddy and the girls love him.

Eddy is 29 and a model. He's been in Kentucky all week shooting for Zappos.com. You can see him right here. A fun fact about Eddy is that he made it to the top 50 for the Bachlorette this season. He was flown out to LA to meet with producers of the show, but was told that his personality didn't mesh with Ali's so he didn't make the show. I don't watch the show so I don't have a clue, but Eddy is one fun loving guy so it's hard for me to believe. The producers love him so I think it's just a matter of time before he's on the show. We will see.

Most importantly, Eddy loves the Lord. He and Brian will be leaving to go to Haiti for a week to serve those that have been affected by the earthquake. I know it will be a life changing trip for both of them and can't wait to hear all about it.

Show Us Your Life-Favorite Verse

Kelly from Kelly's Korner Blog is hosting Show Us Your Life. Today it's your favorite verse.

I've had a favorite verse since high school. I even had it printed on the back of my Letterman's jacket. I even used it when I was in Christian music and I would sign my name on CD's and pictures, I would put Phil 4:13 under my signature. My hope is that the person buying our CD would look up the verse and be encouraged.

Philippians 4:13 reads, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". I never knew how much I would need this verse until I became a mom. Funny how God knew that even when I was back in high school.

There are days when I think, I just can't do this. Especially now being pregnant and taking care of 2 little girls. I am just plain exhausted. Then I remember this verse. I love that it says, ALL things. Not some things, but ALL things through Christ. I can't rely on my own strength, but Christ to provide the strength that I need.

I hope this verse can encourage you in tough times. If you have a favorite verse, please leave it in my comments so I can look it up. Have a great weekend.

Show Us Your Life-China Patterns

Kelly is hosting "Show Us Your Life" and today it is China patterns. When I got married 9 years ago Brian and I decided that we wouldn't register for China. We just didn't think we would use it that much and there was other stuff that we wanted more. There are times that I wish we would have, but I know practically speaking we probably wouldn't have used it all that often.

For everyday use we use plain white plates from Crate and Barrel that 2 of my bridesmaids lugged all the way from California with them on a plane. Bless their hearts. Those things were heavy. Thankfully they stayed in tack and 9 years later we're still using them. These are from Crate and Barrel and they are almost identical to what we have. Love them.

If I were to get married again to my wonderful husband, I would love this China. It's from Kate Spade and it's called Belle Boulevard and you can find it at Bed Bath and Beyond. I think it is just so timeless and beautiful.

This makes me want to go throw a dinner party. Who's coming over?

Show Us Your Life-Where you Live

Thanks Kelly for hosting "Show Us Your Life". Today it's all about your hometown.

I live in Tennessee, in a town outside of Nashville . I moved here with my parents and sisters almost 11 years ago now. I love the south. I'm a west coast girl born and raised in Southern California so I really didn't know how I would like it when we moved, but I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I love living in Music City. My sisters and I were Christian Recording Artists for 6 years and I love the sense of community you have here with other artists. I always joke that you never know whose going to be leading worship when you go to church. I'll refrain from name dropping, but it's a fun little perk of living here.

Of course we also have Country Music here which I love as well. If you are a fan of country music we have the CMA music festival coming up June 10th-13th. Nashville could use the support right now. The stars of country music have made Nashville proud. They have done their part to raise millions of dollars in the past few weeks to help flood victims.



We call the AT&T building the "Batman Building". It's the one on the far left. The Cumberland River is the body of water in the picture. Every 4th of July they do a televised concert from there with an amazing firework show to end it. It's a great time.

Being a football fan I love that we are host to the Tennessee Titans. I've seen many games at LP Field and it's always one of my favorite things to do in the fall.

I love the small town where I live. I guess 40,000 really isn't that small, but when you come from California, anything under 100,000 seems small. It just has a small town vibe to it. The girls go to school in our downtown. I love picking them up and then walking around looking at the shops and stopping for cupcakes or ice cream.

This is a civil war town with so much history. The historic houses here are breathtaking and I love taking walks through here in the fall. Most of all, it's a great town to raise a family. I'm blessed to call it home.

Show Us Your Life-Kid's names or future kids names

I love Fridays! Especially this week. It is nice to post on something other than the flood this week. Don't get me wrong I am so glad I have been doing my part to help and bring awareness to the tragedy that has unfolded in my city, but it's nice to post about something else today.

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting "Show us your life, Kid's names" today.

When I got pregnant after 3 1/2 years of infertility, I immediately started thinking of names. Thankfully, Brian and I were on the same page when it came to names so it wasn't really that hard. We liked the same ones.

Tragically, I lost my first daughter at 21 weeks due to cord death in the womb. I remember after she was delivered the sweet nurse came in and asked me if I would like to see a name book. I said yes. We really hadn't firmed up a name so I needed some help. The first name I came to was Zoe. For some reason it just fit my daughter. I can't really tell you why, it just did. Her middle name was easy. It would be my middle name, Renae. Our firstborn daughter would be named Zoe Renae.

When I looked up the meaning of both of those names I was thrilled. Zoe means Life and Renae means Reborn. "Life Reborn". It was perfect. My sweet Zoe never got to have life here on earth, but her life was reborn when she entered the gates of Heaven.

2 months later we were shocked when we found out I was pregnant again. By this time we had our boy and girl names picked out.

Brian and I love to travel. We wanted to have our kids first names be that of a city. When we found out we were going to have another girl we knew her name would be Brooklyn. Her middle name is Sophia in honor of my Italian heritage. Sophia means wisdom. I love her name and love the fact that I don't hear it all that often. Brooklyn Sophia was born just 11 months after losing our daughter Zoe. God is good!

Our next daughter arrived in spring of 2007. We knew her first name would be Sydney. The middle name however gave us some trouble. We couldn't decided between Grace and Kate. I remember 2 days after she was born the nurse came in to the room and said, "We really need to print her birth certificate. Have you figured out a middle name yet"? I told her to give us 30 minutes and then come back and we'd have it for her. Brian and I finally decided on Kate.

A few days after Sydney Kate was born, Brian and I were talking and realized something funny. Our favorite show at the time was Alias with Jennifer Garner. Her character on the show was named Sydney Bristow. Our other favorite show was Lost. My favorite character on the show was Kate. Both of these characters were strong women and so even though she wasn't named after these characters, she has definitely held up to the name. Anyone who knows my 3 year old knows how incredibly strong willed she is.

We do have a boy name picked out. We are praying and believing God for another baby. The girls even pray for their brother by name. It's so cute to hear them pray for him. We are keeping his first name a surprise, but I will tell you it's another city name. His middle name will be Stephan which was Brian's dads name who passed away this past January. It's also Brian's middle name so it's perfect.

Do you have any guesses on what his first name will be? I'd love to hear them.

Show Us Your Life-Money Saving Tips

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting "Show Us Your Life"-Money Saving Tips and I thought I would join in today. I love finding ways to save money. Around January I was introduced to Groupon. It has changed my shopping world. Check out Groupon and see for yourself. (If it doesn't come up as your city when you go to the website, click on "visit more cities" up at the top to see if yours is listed).

Here is how it works. You go to their website and sign up, for free, to receive their daily emails. Every day they send 1 deal of the day. You have until midnight to purchase the deal and then it goes away. It's that simple.

Here are the deals that I have purchased in the last few months.

1. 1 hour massage for $35 (Reg. $70)
2. 1 year pass to Adventure Science Center for entire family $45 (Reg. $90)
3. 1 room in your home painted $85 (Reg $250)
4. 5 Barre Sculpting Classes (This is like a ballet fitness class that I have heard kicks your rear) $22 for all 5 classes (normally $40 per class).

The savings are really incredible. They have something for everyone from restaurants and salons to entertainment and fitness and the list goes on and on. Check them out to see if they are in your city.

If you've used Groupon tell me about it. I'd love to hear what you bought. Happy shopping.

Show us your Life-Organizational Tips

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting Show us your Life-organizational tips. I love being organized. I'm a little obsessed really. Have been since I was a kid and I have my mother to blame. She labeled everything and everything had its place. I even started a business called Clutter to Calm so I could help others create a sense of peace and calm in their homes.

If you are new to my blog, welcome. Most of my Tuesday's Tips have to do with organization. Here an example of a Tuesday's Tip I did last fall. Enjoy!

Today's tip is keeping a well organized pantry. I have found that if you do so you will save time and money. One of my favorite things to help me keep organized is my P-Touch label maker. This is about the only thing Martha Stewart and I have in common. If you don't have one, you need to invest in one. They are not very expensive at all and they will help you in your pursuit to be organized. The other thing that I love is see through containers. I am not a fan of cardboard boxes. You can ask my hubby. We've moved twice and the first thing I do is unpack everything so I don't have boxes all over the house. They are usually unpacked within a few days. I love clear plastic containers, especially in a pantry, because you can see what is in them and you can tell when things are running low. Cereal for example, is great in containers. Otherwise if you have them in the boxes you have to open the box to see how much is left, or just wait for your child or hubby to say, "Mom we need more cereal".
Now let me say I am blessed to have a big walk in pantry. I know not everyone has a big pantry. I think it's all the more vital to be organized with a smaller pantry. We had a very small pantry at our old house and hardly any cabinet space. I had to make good use of every square inch. So it can be done with a small pantry.

I also keep my chips, crackers and breads in different small bins. That way all the like items stay together and I can see what I am running low on and what I actually have. Otherwise they would be all over the bottom shelf and I'd have to sort through to find what I am looking for. We have all of our recycling at the bottom. As you can see I need to make a run to the recycling center.
The other thing I do in my pantry is make zones. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I have little laminated white cards on the shelves. They read, candy & nuts, baking, canned goods, oil & spices, pasta, etc. You can really make yours whatever you'd like. This also helps the hubby know where to put stuff when unloading the grocery bags. :)

I have some storage on the other side as well. A place for grocery bags, which I recycle and reuse, plastic wrap and aluminum foil and my aprons. Use every inch of your space. Go high and use the back of the door if you have to. There are so many cool organizing tools out there for you to get started. It doesn't have to cost a fortune either. If you are fortunate to live near an IKEA, they have very inexpensive containers. Also check the Dollar Tree or Walmart. It might cost you a little money up front, but it will save you money in the long haul.

I hope this has been helpful. If you live near me and would like some help and suggestions I would love to help you. In case you are wondering, I have always loved to clean and organize. My first guinea pig was my best friend Christa who lived down the street. I was in 6th grade at the time and I basically kicked her out of her room to make it over. I spent all morning cleaning and organizing her room and when she came back she loved the results. Thus my love for organization was birthed way back then.

Show Us Your Life-Favorite Charities

Kelly, from Kelly's Korner Blog, is hosting Show Us Your Life-Favorite Charities so I thought I'd make that my post today. Brian and I have many, but I thought I would list 3 of them tonight.

The first one I love is World Vision. We sponsor 2 kids (one in Mexico and the other in Ghana)and a mother and son in Romania through this wonderful organization. When my sisters and I were in Christian Music we were World Vision artists. The best part about being an artist was seeing kids sponsored after our concerts. Even though I'm not in a position anymore to help children get sponsored, I can still be a sponsor myself. We also helped build a health clinic in Swaziland. Our dream one day, besides meeting our children, is to go to Swaziland and see the health clinic.

St. Jude is another awesome charity that helps so many. I remember watching the telethons on tv when I was younger and thinking how incredibly sad it was to see the devastating effects of cancer on young children. Now that I am a mom it takes on a whole new meaning. I can't imagine Brooklyn or Sydney being one of those children. I love that St. Jude turns no child away, ever. That is so amazing. I cry when I get the monthly reports of the child who is struggling to beat cancer, but it's a great reminder for me to be so thankful that my girls are healthy.

Ultimate Goal is a local organization that uses soccer to reach the unreached. My sisters and I got to travel to Sweden about 10 years ago with the founder John Stayskal and an under 16 girls team to participate in the Gothia Cup. It's a trip I will never forget. I grew up playing soccer and love that I can support John and the work he does to reach young people for Christ.

There are many others, but these are just a few of my favorites. I was reminded as I was writing of the verse found in Luke 12:48. It says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."