This week has been incredibly busy, more so than the usual go go go of chasing after a toddler.Earlier in the week it was Easter Egg Hunts & Santa Claus time. And the hustle and bustle all started again yesterday afternoon at around 2:00. My parents showed up to watch the baby girl and visit with their beloved grandbaby so I could go have fun. If this is your idea of fun....

Stirrups!!!

Oh, the glorious visits to the girly doc. I mainly went to this one to check out a practice that delivers at the new women's center that opened up five minutes from my house versus the baby megacenter version in downtown Atlanta where I delivered Makenzie. I really did like the practice I delivered with the first time, but there were some things that I thought would be a better fit at the new one and I had to try it out. I am very glad I did because I LOVED them! Everyone was so nice! And since it is a smaller practice, they really took time to visit with me and discuss things. They reassured me that the steps I had taken to get my cycle back to normal and the additional weight were most likely in my best interest since it put me at an optimal level of bodyfat for conceiving and that I was doing good. Plus, it was comfortable. Is that even possible? That is the sign of a good girly doctor right there. And they even said they hope to see me again soon. I hope so too. 🙂

Yesterday also included tutoring my last session until after Spring Break. As easy as tutoring is, it will be nice to get a week off. Of course, last night we also went to our church's annual prayer path, that I talked about here. It really was a special occasion and worth the added hours to our already busy afternoon schedule. It was so moving, that we ended up spending over an hour longer there than we anticipated. Between really soaking in the prayer time, chatting with some friends who were there at the same time, and letting Makenzie have a little playground time...

...we were going to be getting home quite late for us. On the way home, I started trying to think about dinner and what to make. We knew we didn't want to take more than 15 min to whip something up since we were at that ugly hungry stage. But I also knew I still wanted a healthy dinner. I realized that's not so hard to do in a short time! Heck, we had been doing that all week.

Pasta, Roasted Veggies, & Chicken Sausage

Taco Night!

Brussels, Cheetahs, & Morningstar Buffalo "Wings"

And Wednesday night's winner was...

Eggs on Toast

(Source) <--- Need one because I was too hungry to get my own picture. But you get the gist. Except my plate was on whole wheat toast and x2. 😀 This was so quick and easy and still a healthy dinner. Yes, it may not have been the most balanced and it lacked some greens, BUT it is much better than our quickie dinners in the past. Things like a bowl of Peter's Frosted Mini Wheats cereal or stopping at whatever we could find on the way home came up, but were quickly passed over because who needs those options when you can turn to other simple dinners. Here are some things I do when looking for a quickie at dinner time. You will have to figure out other quickies on your own. 😉

• When planning your weekly meals, always plan in a couple quick fix recipes to whip up on nights you are suddenly out of time for dinner. It never fails that at least one night per week I either won't want to cook or will suddenly realize I don't have the time to cook what I intended. Such a stress relief to already have back up options available.
• Intentionally make leftovers. We always make leftovers of roasted veggies to use for lunches or in another dinner. Things like our pasta dishes always have a ton of leftovers because we use less pasta and more additional ingredients in our dish. Other great options for saving leftovers for a quick fix are casserole type dishes, soups, meats cooked in the crockpot so you can easily shred/chop them to toss in other meals, etc.
• Don't feel bad for using frozen. Sure, fresh foods are better. We all know that. But sometimes there is a need for frozen products like Kashi pizzas, Morningstar/Boca/Quorn products, Amy's Organics burritos and meals, etc. I do say try to choose the option with the best stats and shortest ingredient lists (you know 20 listed instead of 30 ;)), but there is a time and place for these things in our lives. And sometimes they are a dinner saver.
• Use quick cooking methods. If none of the above suit you, just cook things fast. Eat your veggies either raw or slightly steamed. And go ahead and use the microwave for quick cooking. If eating meat, cook up ground beef or turkey or thinly slice your chicken breast before cooking. Or eggs! You can cook breakfast for dinner, since those meals tend to be less time consuming. Make a "kitchen sink" salad where you just toss together things you have at the ready in your fridge or pantry. If you know it will be a busy night, prep the crockpot for a ready to eat meal in the morning.
• And sometimes, a bowl of cereal or a stop at Subway is just fine too. 🙂

How often do you resort to quickie meals? Any suggestions you can share?

Last night I felt peace and joy like no other by visiting out church's annual prayer path that commemorates Easter. The prayer path is a series of different stations setup in the worship center of our church that serve to take you through various events of  Holy Week and to focus your praise on Easter and its true meaning. It is amazing how something that starts out so simple, truly turns into something beautiful after 30-45 minutes. And in some cases, leads to tears. *raises hand* Year after year I can't make it through without some tear duct action. Who can blame me?

It is the most glorious thing to remember and truly puts things into perspective and makes me grateful. I enjoy this experience so much, I just had to share it with you all. Forgive the poor quality pictures as it was dark inside and I wanted to be as discreet as possible in capturing it all (aka take one quick shot instead of a few to get the perfect one). But I hope it will give you the same sort of feeling and recollection of what happened this week many years ago. Join me on the short journey, will you?

We start the path with a few minutes of quiet. This is a time to calm your mind and become prepared for the remainder of the path. Take the time to really focus your mind and leave behind any outside distractions.

Praise

The next stop relives the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Remember the people waving the palms to glorify him and shouting praises for his good works. Take the time to think about all the reasons God deserves praise from your life. From the little blessings to the big ones, we all have reasons to be thankful. Consider all of those blessings and really say thank you to God.

Pillars of Praise

Think of one word or phrase that describes God to you and ways He is worthy of praise. Write it down on the pillar as a testament of God's strength and steadfastness in His love for us.

Following his entry, Jesus broke bread with his disciples at The Last Supper. He served them and gave them guidance. He warned them of his upcoming death and what it all meant. At this station, participate in communion by taking the bread and the wine as symbols of what Christ has given to you. His death for your life.

Bread and Wine

Fourth on the path, is the visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed right before his trial and persecution. He cried out to his Father God and laid all of his burdens out for Him to hear. He received comfort after his prayers, and although Jesus knew he faced something very difficult, he trusted God's plan and His duty in order to save us all.

Gethsemane Stones Cast Aside

Here, you are to consider something you hold onto that removes the focus from God in your life. Write it on a rock, and place it at the foot of the cross to physically show the act of letting go. I chose to let go of worry.

Following this is when Jesus was tried under Pontius Pilate and convicted to be crucified. Even though Jesus could have easily saved himself, he didn't. He died so we could be set free. After this we no longer lived in a world of law, but instead a world of grace and mercy. We are set free. To represent this, you are to walk through the barred iron gate and show you are free.

Leave the Prison

The next stop was where the tears came for me. I don't think anything more needs to be said than to look up at a cross with nails driven into it and a crown of thorns on top.

cross with nails

He went through that for me. And you. How amazing! And how could I not appreciate that? And to drive the point home...take a nail and hammer it in yourself to show that he took one for you.

Immediately afterwards, joy is restored when you stop to consider the Resurrection. He came back to show he was the perfect sacrifice, the son of God, and that His promises would be kept. Now we can know that there is abundant and joyful life in believing in Him. To demonstrate this, each person is to write a blessing on a sheet of paper to put in a dish...which will overflow, just as God's blessings overflow in our lives.

overflowing basket of blessings

The path ends with Jesus' visit with the disciples. Here, he instructs them to go out and share about him. To share his love and show people a life of mercy and grace and peace. How are we to reflect that same commitment as the disciples did? By being lights to the world in how you act, how you love, and how you praise God for who He is. Light a candle and exit the building to show that you are bringing your light into the world, to share with everyone.

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Isn't that amazing? And it only reiterated my thoughts on a recent post by Averie. She asked how people got involved in their various religions. What brought them to it? What keeps you in it? I have to say that religion is not what matters. Religion, in my opinion, is a focus on the organization, the guidelines, the rules, etc. Faith is what truly matters. There is a big difference in my opinion. Religion is important to know the basics of a particular belief, but the thing that can change your life for the better is faith. Religion will send you to church on Sunday and then home to move on with your life. Religion is possibly a compartment in your life, a checkbox to fill for being a "good person", etc. Religion is where hypocrisy and negative reflections come into play because your beliefs don't spill into everything in your life. Religion is not living, breathing, praising faith and belief in something. It is going through the motions of what is expected. Faith is the deep down, heart and soul, my-life-is-incomplete-without-it TRUTH that makes a difference. Do you have faith? Or do you have religion?  Faith is the relationship with God and understanding of what he does for you. Religion is saying you believe in something and not acting it out. You might think religion or no religion is enough,  but if you lived with faith, you would come to realize it is not. Not even close. Follow a path of faith. It will do things for you that you could not even imagine.