147 Million, Minus 1

There has been a ton that has gone on in the past month and I am sorry that I have not posted it. I am going to have to put up pictures of Christmas, Disney World, and our super warm Jackson January. Hopefully once life slows down a bit I will be able to do that! Haha

I am very excited about 2012! This is year is going to bring a lot of change with it, but I am so very excited about what the Lord is doing in our lives. I am going to try to do better about sharing the ways that the Lord is working in both of our lives. 

But for now...

  

We have begun the process of adopting a baby from Russ*a! 

While we both want to have biological children someday, we are excited that this child will be our firstborn. There are over 147 million orphans in the world and as believers in Christ we know that we are called to care for these children. Throughout scripture that Lord has commanded us to love and care for these children who do not have parents who can provide for them. For some people, it may mean praying for or financially supporting couples pursuing international adoption. But for us, it means bringing a child into our home and raising them as our own. For us, it is 147 million orphans, minus 1. 

We know this is not normal for a couple to start their family through adoption and so we will explain in the future how we got to this point. We have finally settled on a agency outside of Chicago. We are in the process of being approved to adopt a baby as young as possible, although they will probably between 6 months and 18 months when we get them home. We are not specifying a boy or a girl because we we would not have that choice if this were our biological child. :) 

We would love for you to join with us as we travel along this journey. First, adoption is expensive and in the future we will be sharing ways that you can partner with us. Most importantly, Josh and I would greatly appreciate your prayers for us as we begin this process and for our baby. Even though we don’t know where this baby is yet, we know that God already knows who this baby is and has picked him or her to be a part of our family. 

We know that the journey ahead of us is long and may be hard, but we are so excited to bring our baby home. We cannot wait to be parents and we hope that you will be praying for us in the weeks and months ahead as we prepare for this baby, and then as we are parents to this little boy or girl. 

  

Josh and Courtney 

This crazy journey....

This past week has been so crazy, but it has been an absolute blast! It was Homecoming Week at Union, which is a part of my precious husband's job. Just to brag for a moment, he has worked so hard. I am so proud of him and all of the work that he put into this weekend.

There were a lot of events packed into the week, especially the weekend, and then we added an Alabama/ LSU game that made me bite all of my nails off, more alumni events, a trip to Nashville for our sweet nephew Issac Graham's baby dedication, class, a test, and a dinner with my sweet college friends. There was a lot of cooking and baking that occurred, but not a lot of pictures that were taken of the process. Sorry, sometimes getting food on the table is about all I can do. 

But here are a few a pictures of the week! Enjoy! 

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes for Union Night

Cardinal and Cream Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hot Air Balloon at Homecoming! It was incredible! Photo from Union University. 

  

Fireworks over Miller Tower. Photo from Union University.

Photo by Union University. 

Carrot Cake that my family demolished. Sorry that there are no pictures from before. 

But it was pretty, I promise. Maybe you can tell from the top that is left. 

The much more demolished Campfire Cake. This might be my new favorite. 

In the midst of all of the business, I am learning to rest in the Lord and to trust in his timing. It is amazing to feel the quietness and peace that comes from His Love. So no matter how busy your week is, trust in the promises of our great God. 

The LORD your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;  

 he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Courtney Leigh 

Sugar and Spice

Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year! I don't know if it is the weather or the leave changes or the smells of fall, but regardless I love it! 

This recipe is the definition of fall to me. It taste wonderful and make the whole house smell delightful. I found it last week and could not wait to make it! It was the perfect addition to a lazy Saturday morning.

I hope you all enjoy! 

Pumpkin Spice Bread

3 cups sugar

1cup oil

3 eggs

2 cups pumpkin (canned works just fine!) 

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

lemon juice 

powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two bread pans. Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.

Combine sugar, oil, and eggs, mixing well. Add the pumpkin and mix on low until combined. Mix in dry ingredients, adding to the pumpkin mixture a little at  a time. Stir in a cup of raisins or chopped nuts if you would like. Pour evenly into the bread pans and bake for 1 hour. 

While the bread is baking, mix together the glaze. Start with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of powdered sugar and add lemon juice until it becomes a smooth glaze. You want it to slowly drip off the spoon. After taking cakes out of the oven, allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before turning them onto cooling racks. Flip them right side up. 

And this is where is gets messy! Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the loaves. The glaze will drip off the sides of the bread, so you may want to put paper towels under the cooling racks, or at least clean your counters before if you want to taste the icing drippings like I do! We don't waste icing in our house!

Happy Fall everyone! Hope you enjoy! 

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I love making cupcakes. Seriously, it is one of my favorite things to do. And I am continuing to find people around me who are willing to taste them, one of the many blessings of working with college students every day.

My favorite new recipe is for Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. These are so easy, cheating really, but they are really incredible. I can't have a lot of chocolate, so I was looking for a cupcake with a white/yellow cake base. You can put whatever type of icing you would like--I choose both chocolate and vanilla.

I love chocolate chips, so I can get a bit carried away, but you can add as many chocolate chips as you would like.

So here you go!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
(adapted from a Taste of Home)

1 box of a yellow cake mix
1 box of instant vanilla pudding (3.4oz)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 small bag of miniature chocolate chips

In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachement, combine the cake mix, pudding, and oil. I just used the lowest setting for this. Add the water while it is mixing to keep the pudding from clumping. Beat on low for about 30 seconds or until the ingredients are combined. Add the eggs, beating until combined after each egg is added. Then beat on medium for about 2 minutes. The batter will be much lighter and more fluffy. Stir in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag of chocolate chips. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full. The batter rises a lot so be careful to not get them too full. Bake at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes are golden brown. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before moving to wire racks.

Enjoy! 

Courtney Leigh 

Taste and See

Well, you don't get to taste (that is coming soon) but you do get to see. We are pretty much done with the kitchen. And I have pictures! We are working on other rooms this week, so you should get to see those soon!

The first big change is the wall color.... 

 And then we added an island. It is movable and probably one of my favorite things in the house. 

We added blinds to the doors, but I love the huge windows, so for now, they are staying like they are. 

 

 Added a bit of decoration behind the sink, but still tried to leave it open into the other rooms....

 A fun little Pinterest find that I made. 

Another fun little decor thing I made that gets a lot of use in our house. 

 

One of my favorite additions, a poster print stapled onto the back of a window pane. 

 Another favorite, my very talented sister made this for my birthday! 

I hope you like the room as much as we do! More pictures to come soon, and lots of recipes that I have been testing out! 

Courtney Leigh