A Snapshot from Life

02/25/2011 - A night by the fire (at Nana and Papa's)

He Chose Me!

At the moment I am reading C.J. Mahaney's book Humility: True Greatness. I've been meaning to blog about it, but have not really had time lately, or just flat out forget to. But in chapter 8 Mahaney was talking about "Identifying Evidences of Grace", also known as evidences of God's grace, or what I like to call EGGs. In this part of the chapter, he was talking about God calling us to Himself, and gives this Charles Spurgeon quote which I loved!

"I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He shose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards, and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love."

Wow! How true is that?

Winter Jam 2011, Part 2

So to continue my story of our amazing night... where did I leave off?... Oh yes, the performances ending.

When we came out into the foyer, there were tons of people! And since there were not many people in the line for Red, we jumped in. It was so cool to meet them, and I got my cd over signed. I was also very happy for Josh to meet one of his favorite bands ever! I got him a poster for the guys to sign, and so he'll be able to remember this amazing memory! 

Next we were off to see KJ-52. It was really cool so see him out and about talking to fans and taking pictures, rather than sitting behind a table. Kel and I got pictures with him, and were pretty excited.

Kutless was just around the corner. Their newest cd (as of 2009) was $5, so of course, I bought one for them to sign. They have always been a favorite of mine, so that made it really special when I got to talk to the singer, Jon Micah Sumrall for a minute.

Since David Crowder Band was not signing that night, Newsboys were next. And like Kutless, their cd's was $5. Had to get it! Now at this point we were waiting in the loooooong line, and I really wanted to go back to KJ-52's table and get a cd. So my wonderful brother came with me. When we got there, the lady said it was $12, and what are the odds I only had $11. Went back bummed, but were still excited for the night. When we finally got to the table, and handing our cd covers, the australian drummer on the Newsboys, Duncan Phillips, grabbed my hand. He asked me my name, and I told him Brittany. And he said it in his wonderful aussie accent! Then he pointed to Stacy, while still holding my hand, and said "is this beautiful lady with you?" I told him yes this was my aunt Stacy. And he said Stacy in an aussie accent too (she was pretty thrilled). Then Kelsey (standing behind me) shoved her arm through and said "And I'm her sister, Kelsey". He let go of my hand with a laugh and shook hers. It was amazing! When we walked off, Stacy told me she thought she was about to see him propose to me.

As we were walking away, Stacy said she could give me the $1 I need for KJ-52's cd if we wanted to try again. So we did. And as we were talking up, we saw two guys packing up the stuff. Then we relized, it was KJ-52 himself! It was amazing! I asked him if it was to late to get the cd, and he said it wasn't, and he sold it to me himself!!!! AHHHH! And since there was no line of people, he was able to sign it to me, and did a silly face on the front. How cool! He also gave me his pack of 5 Gum. Just the four of us were able to hang out with him and talk to him for a few minutes. It was amazing! What a way to top off the night!!! Could not have ended better than hangin' with KJ! 

When we got back to the car, all of us could not stop saying "Oh my gosh! What a night!" God planned it out Himself, and truly blessed us!

A Snapshot From Life

02/22/2011 - I love storms!

Smoked Salmon Pizza

Last night I ventured to make Smoked Salmon Pizza from my NBC Sunday Night Football Cookbook. This is Sunday Night Football's commentator, Cris Collinsworth's recipe. I cannot stand Cris Collinsworth, but I thought I'd give his recipe a try.

You need;
- One 12-inch thin-crust Boboli pizza crust (but I went the cheap route, and went with Pilsbury's pizza crust)
- One 8oz package cream cheese
- 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons bottled horseradish
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons capers
- One 4oz package smoked salmon, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup red onions cut into rings
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

First, bake the crust as directed on package. (I did this, but I think next time, I'm going to do it a little less than the time directed, but I think it would be a little better with softer crust. But my mom said it was good crunchy. Either way is up to you.)
Next, in a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, horseradish, chopped onion, and caper. Mom said to leave out the caper (whatever that is), and the horseradish... well... I couldn't find it anywhere at Walmart, and since I was at Walmart, there was no one to be found to help me.
When the crust has finished baking, and cooled off, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over it. Top it then with the salmon, and spinkle the dill.
I also made a plane cheese pizza for the kids and Josh to enjoy. And served it with a salad.
The pizza looked a mess, but boy did it taste good! Mom said it's a keeper. Very simular to lock and bagels (one of my favorites!). But this recipe would be even great as party food.

Hope you enjoy it just as much as we did!

A Snapshot From Life

02/20/2011 - Happy 4th birthday, Lili!

Number 100!

In the many years I have been apart of the blogging world, (3 blogs of my own, and many I have done with others) I have never reached 100 posts! The things I have blogged about is a very wide rang. From my sports, to life on the farm, to what God has been teaching me. I'm very thankful that God allows me to use something, such as a blog, to share His amazing grace and the work He is always doing in my life!
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has read and commented on my blog. I love reading what you have to say about my blog. Means the world to me when you comment! Thanks!
So...... this is my...
One hundredth post!!!

Winter Jam 2011, Part 1

For the last few weeks my aunt Stacy has been talking to the 3 of us about going to Winter Jam 2011 in Mobile. Well, yesterday afternoon, we decided to go... very last minute! I wanted to go, but I was not dying to go like Kel and Josh.

The drive over was so much fun. Having that time with our wonderful auntie was a blast! Went to Starbucks, ate at Panera Bread, acted crazy, and had lost of time to chit chat.

Following the directions from the web, we could not find the place where it was being held. Even Kel's iPhone didn't give us good directions. When we asked a police officer on the campus of University of South Alabama, he told us where Winter Jam was, and that last year they had to turn back 2,500 people, and there was more people turning up this year than the last. At this point it was already 5 minutes since they opened the doors, and we had not yet had the car parked.

Once we parked, and got to the line, it was already 15 minutes since they opened the doors. As we stood in line, we started making plans that if we didn't get in (which we were expecting not to) we would go see a movie. The line moved pretty fast, and we made it in! Just $10 each at the door! Crazy!

Just 20 minutes after the doors opened, it was packed! We finally found some seats, but they were kinda behind the stage. But we were really close to the performers.

First up was one of the bands we were really looking forward to, and one of Josh's favorites, Red. It was awesome seeing them live. And what was also really cool was behind the drums, they had a fire machine (or what ever they are called). So during the really have parts, the fire would blow in several directions. I was very happy Josh got to see his second favorite band!

Next up was Newsong. Didn't really care to see them, and all I have to say is, it was very interesting. They were a lot older than I expected them to be, but that wasn't what I thought was interesting. They were in skinny jeans! And that's not all. Keep in mind we had just seen Red, and they had a fire machine... Newsong started blowing glitter and confetti! I just started laughing, and leaned over to Stacy to tell her what I thought was funny. And just when she replied with, "I know, it's very intersting" they started playing the old song Shout. That made us laugh even harder! Now they did play Sweet Home Alabama (since we were in Mobile) and that was fun.

Francesca Battistelli was next, at this point Josh and I went out to go check out the Red booth, and I bought their cd, Until We Have Faces, that came out a week and a half ago for $10. I was pretty excited!

When we got back to our seats, David Crowder Band was coming out. That was cool seeing them, because most of the songs they played I know. And since they are from Texas, at the end they did a hoedown. One guy even played a  banjo. It was fun!







When David Crowder Band was done, it was time for an intermission. Kel and Stacy went looking around, but Josh and I stayed with our seats. We enjoyed watching the setup guys up together the Kutless' stuff. And then KJ-52 came out, and was goofing off. 

Stacy and Kel made it back just in time for the next performer. KJ-52 did a song and it was awesome! He also had us doing some dance moves, which Stacy and I did!

Kutless then opened up with their version of It Is Well. I loved it! Next song was one of my favorites of theirs, Strong Tower. The rest of their performance was amazing. Jon Micah Sumrall (the singer) did a few songs on the grand piano they had on stage. It was great!

Up next was Newsboys, and boy was that awesome! They came out singing one of my favorite songs, Dynamite by Tail Cruz. Singer Michael Tate and drumer Duncan Phillips (who in fact is Ausie!) can running down the lite runway. But the keyboard and guitar player came in on platforms that moved through the air. (See picture.) Watching Michael Tate dance, reminded me sooooo much of Michael Jackson. He even did some of MJ's moves.

Through out the show, they would lift these things up off the stage and hover over the crowd. It was awesome! At one point, they started playing one of Kel's favorite song, Play That Funky Music. She had a great big smile on her face! 

During one of the last songs, the platforms rose above the crowd just like before, then Michael Tate went to the end of the runway and rose into the air. (see picture.) And just when you thought that was all, the drummer was raised, turned sideways, and started spinning. It was crazy! Their whole show was very well done and professional. Even more so than when we went and saw TobyMac a few years ago. And just when you thought they were going to end, they started playing the tune of Jesus Freak (which I was really hoping they would since Michael Tate us to be on dc Talk). But then, when you thought "this can't get any better!" KJ-52 came out and did TobyMac's part of the song! Can you say "ama-za-zing"?! I of course was screaming and singing along! What an amazing concert it was!

(Since this post is a little longer than I wanted it to be, I'll be posting Winter Jam 2011, Part 2 soon.)

A Snapshot from Life

02/13/2011 - Winter Jam 2011, Mobile, Alabama. KJ-52!

A Snapshot from Life

02/12/2011 - You read right, 4:27 AM. I have not been up that late since... well, I can't remember when.