Psalms 19:14

Week 17 - Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Top 10 Websites

I'm falling behind on my posts this month - I guess I'm just busy!  I'm trying to catch up but it's not really working.  Today I'm back with another list.  Sometimes, I find the lists the hardest to come up with because I can't use pictures.  Maybe I'll do a list with pictures sometime - that sounds like a fun idea!

Today I'm going to share my top 10 websites.  Not necessarily the ones I like the most, but the ones I spend the most time on.  Most of them are fairly obvious and I bet a lot of people spend significant time visiting these sites.  Enjoy...and feel free to share with me your most-visited websites!

Top 10 Websites

1.  Hotmail.  The first thing I do when I sit down at my computer is check my email.  I have a Gmail account also, but I've used Hotmail longer and it feels more familiar so I use it as my primary email address.  Even when I'm looking at other websites, I usually have a tab or window open with Hotmail...just in case I get an email!

2.  Facebook.  I don't often post much on Facebook, but I like to look at what other people are doing.  I'm kind of a stalker on Facebook!  Occasionally, I put pictures up or make a comment, but usually I just look. 

3.  MSN.  I read a lot of my news and random articles from MSN.  Not because I think it's the best site for that, but because it the website that comes up when I log out of Hotmail!  I'm lazy and instead of going to another site for news, I just read the one that comes up.  I find it keeps me updated with current events, but also gives me a sampling of really random stories - which I like!

4.  YouTube.  I watch YouTube almost every day, but I don't just surf around and watch random videos.  There is one particular family and I watch their daily vlogs regularly.  Other than that, I don't use YouTube.  But, since I use it every day, it made the list.

5.  Pinterest.  When I get bored, I look at Pinterest.  There are so many funny, creative, and inspirational things on Pinterest.  I get ideas for cooking, crafts (which I rarely do), travel, and other fun projects.  Also, there are lots of funny quotes.  Pinterest is fun when I'm bored!

6.  Amazon.  Another website I look at when I'm bored.  Lately I've been buying lots of little things on Amazon: for our pets, for our new house, etc.  I like shopping on Amazon because of their selection and free shipping (sometimes).

7.  Blogger.  Obviously I spend a lot of time on Blogger because I spend time updating my blog.  But, I also read other blogs (some on Blogger and some on other sites).  I have a list of blogs that I check daily to see what fun things my family and friends (and some strangers) are up to.

8.  Craigslist.  I've just recently started using this website regularly.  Because we have a house now, we are starting to look for "household" things to buy.  Although we're not in Oregon, my parents are kind enough to check out and buy things for us.  Our first purchase - a lawnmower!  It's fun to be homeowners.

9.  Allrecipes.  Anytime I need a recipe, I go to Allrecipes.  I have found so many delicious dishes and I like the feel of the website.  I think I'll use it a lot more when I'm in Oregon and I'm cooking more regularly.  I also like the helpful video tutorials they have.

10.  Kayak.  Anytime I need to look up travel tickets (airline or other) I use Kayak.  I find it usually gives me the best deal.  Sometimes I look at it just to see how much it would cost to take trips.  One of my favorite things to do is plan vacations - so even when I don't have one scheduled, I'm often looking!

Matthew 19:26

Week 16 - Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Sometimes we limit God when we think things in our lives are too big or difficult to change. God can do anything! We need to believe that HE is able!

Cool Whipped Frosting

Time for another recipe and I'm really excited about this one!  For Easter, I wanted to make a coconut cake, but I wanted a light, fluffy, white frosting that was EASY To make.  My mom suggested making a pudding/cool whip-based frosting and it sounded like a good idea.  Then, I found this recipe and it was exactly what we had in mind.  The recipe calls for vanilla pudding and vanilla extract, but since I was making a coconut cake, I changed it a bit.  I used vanilla pudding, but I added coconut extract and I added shredded coconut too!  After I made the frosting, I realized it was my new favorite frosting recipe!  It is delicious and light and fluffy and not runny!  We frosted a layer cake and it worked wonderfully.  The recipe can be changed for any flavor combination: chocolate pudding and almond extract; lemon pudding and lemon extract; vanilla pudding and coconut extract; etc.  And, you can also add anything to it: coconut, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.  If you need a quick and easy frosting - try this!

The ingredients 

(mine include coconut and coconut extract)

 Mix the pudding and milk.

Add the extract and add-ins.

Fold in the Cool Whip.

Frost the cake and ENJOY!

Cool Whipped Frosting:

1 box vanilla pudding (but you can use any flavor)

1 cup milk

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (again, you can use any flavoring you want to make different frosting)

1 cup (more or less) of any add-in you'd like (ex: coconut, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.)  (optional)

Directions:

-Mix pudding and milk together.

-Add vanilla extract (or any other flavoring) and add-in.

-Fold in Cool Whip.

-Spread on cake (and lick the spoon).

 

Dirty dishes - excellent!  The spatula and whisk were hardly used, next time I will just use the spoon!

Cool Whipped Frosting
Taste: 5 out of 5
Dirty Dishes: 5 out of 5
Time/Effort: 5 out of 5
TOTAL: 15 out of 15

Roman 5:8

Week 15 - Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It's important to remember that Christ died for us before we repented. We don't have to be perfect for Him to love us and forgive us. He's already died for us and we just have to accept the gift. He is RISEN! Happy Easter!

Southern Caribbean Cruise

Here's another video of another cruise we took.  No, we don't normally take cruises every month (I wish) but we happened to take these two back-to-back.  It wasn't exactly planned that way, but we enjoyed it.

This cruise left from Colon, Panama so we had an easy commute.  My parents flew down and took it with us.  It was a different feel that other cruises I've been on because most of the passengers were Latin American (only 60 English speakers on board).  But, we still had fun.  The only problem was that my mom was sick.  She stayed in her cabin for most of the cruise and we were all sad that she couldn't enjoy herself more.  I guess that means we'll just have to take another cruise so she can fully appreciate it!

For some reason, I didn't take a lot of video footage during the cruise.  So, in order to make a more complete video, I added pictures.  Enjoy!

James 4:7

Week 14 - James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

God is always with us, even when we are being tempted by the devil.