Tasty Restaurants in San Antonio

Do you watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri?  Doesn’t that show make you so hungry? I always want to try the restaurants he visits, so while we were in San Antonio last weekend, we did just that. We went to The Cove and The Magnolia Pancake Haus. YUM!

The Cove offers what Guy calls “The Best Lamb Burger Ever!” That’s right, a burger made of lamb! Now I’ve never had a lamb burger before my trip to The Cove, but I can tell you that this just may be the best burger I’ve ever had.  Though, it’s hard to judge between it and The Triple Bypass Burger at Dry Creek Café in The Houston Heights.

Leaving The Cove satisfied.

The next morning, we had breakfast at The Magnolia Pancake Haus, and I ordered Banana’s Foster French Toast. Oh dear, this was a yummy breakfast. The toast was done just right.  It was thick and soft, not gooey or crunchy. And yes, banana's foster was poured on top! Here’s a pic:

That’s it--I’m going to have to whip up something tasty.  Hmmm, I think I might make myself an orange mocha iced coffee.  (Stay tuned for the recipe.) And if you get a chance to go to San Antonio, I super recommend these restaurants.

How God Brought Michael and Me Together

This past weekend my hubby and I went to San Antonio to celebrate our one year anniversary, which is actually next weekend. (Our timing is always a bit off.)

Yes, we’ve been married almost a whole year!

At one point during our little vacation—I believe while we were having dinner on the river walk—we began to reminisce about how we met. Michael and I met at our church, and began dating two weeks later.  However, what I really want to share with you is the back story.

I didn’t start dating until college.  My first boyfriend and I dated for a little over a year; however, I should have ended the relationship about a week into it.  Red flags popped up immediately, but I wanted a boyfriend and I believed that those fed flags would just go away.  They didn’t.  In fact, more just kept popping up. The relationship ended with my heart hurting far more than it would have if I had heeded the warning of those red flags early on. 

However, through this guy, I found a small church that loved the truth of the Word and each other. God taught me so much about His Word and gospel and grace at that church.  He provided me with mentors that He knew I, a young naive college girl, would need. A couple from the church, Bo and Sandra, led a young adult Bible study on Friday nights, and I had never heard the gospel preached so powerfully and clearly as I did there. But that couple moved to a church closer to their neighborhood.  And later my small church dissolved.  I felt lost. My mom told me not to worry—I would find a new church, and there I would find a husband. Wishful thinking, I thought.

Bo and Sandra still continued their Friday night Bible study. I asked them about their new church, and decided to visit that Sunday. I knew from my first visit to Harvest Bible Church that I wanted to become a member.  I thanked God for bringing me to a church that cared so much about the gospel.

I believe it was the next Sunday that I met Michael.  He went to Harvest too, and Bo and Sandra had invited us both to lunch.  (And for some reason, Bo felt the need to sit between the two of us at lunch.  We still joke about that.) That week Michael began talking to me over email and on the phone and two weekends later we started dating. Eight months later we got engaged, and six months later we got married.

I say all this to say, I felt lost, wondering how God would bring good out of a bad situation.  However, look what God did—in a roundabout way, He used that bad relationship to prepare me and lead me to my husband, a godly and wise man who I respect and trust.

This weekend Michael and I got to look back at the amazing work God has done in our lives. Can we not trust our God? Does He not have everything under His perfect control?

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

What is an amazing way you have seen God work in your life?

This post is linked to Living Well Wednesdays.

It's Time to Let Go of Some Frustrations

Things have not gone my way today. I’ve lost half my hours at one job because of funding cuts, and I’ve been given a schedule at my other job that cuts into my time with my hubby.  I’m an English tutor, and today I walked into my first tutoring session frustrated and angry when I needed to have patience and compassion for my student. As I walked over to the table she was seated at, I prayed that I could be a good tutor.  She asked me how I was as I sat down next to her.  I lied and told her I was fine.

Seconds later, however, I knew God had answered my quick prayer.  He gave me patience as I read through her paper and listened to her questions, and he gave me compassion for her as she got frustrated with herself.  I was able to focus on my job, and give her clear explanations for her grammatical errors and how she could correct them.  She thanked me because she finally understood what a dependent clause is and how to format dialogue. She left saying I was a blessing and thanking God that He had helped her find a tutor that could clearly explain grammar rules to her.  I don’t think she realized how much of a blessing she had been to me.

God works in amazing ways, doesn’t He? He knew that we both needed each other at that very moment, and He brought us together to calm both our frustrations at once.

I’m still upset about issues with my two jobs, but it looks like God is telling me that He is in control and I can trust in Him.  I can give my frustrations to Him.  It’s time to get on my knees and have faith in His plan.

What is God asking you to let go of today?

This post is linked to Walk with Him Wednesdays and Weekend Linkup.

Letting Go of What Is Not Eternal

At the very beginning of our marriage, an awful fear came over me: What if this man I’ve just made a vow to and him to me under that big oak tree, what if he dies?

Lord, you’ve just put Michael in my life.  Please don’t take him away.  He is my security.

I wrestled over this for months, leaving the evidence of wet pillowcases behind.

Through this inner fight, I continued to pray for wisdom.  Jesus died so that I could be filled with the Spirit. He died so that I could have an intimate relationship with Him.  He hears me.  And the Spirit led me to the wisdom of His Word.

I had been reading through 2 Corinthians, and God had been working on my heart day by day, convicting me, encouraging me. When I came to 2 Corinthians 4:18, He both convicted and encouraged me about the matter I had been struggling over in my heart.

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

That day, in my prayer journal, I was finally able to write this prayer:

Lord, my focus has been off. My focus has been on what is seen.  If I am focused on and living for those things, then I do have much to fear, because I will lose them. But if I live for You, I will not struggle in vain.  You are eternal.  Let me struggle for You, not the world.  You have given me good things on earth.  You have given me a wonderful husband. However, I am not to worship the gift, but the Giver.

Confession is freeing.

Michael is the single most important person in my life, but he is not eternal. And he is not my security.  Only Christ Jesus is my security.

And I could not have rest from the wrestling in my heart until my wrong thinking and God’s truth were revealed to me.  God opened my eyes and brought me comfort, because He is my eternal security.

What non-eternal things have you held onto? What scripture helped you to let go?


This post is linked to Walk with Him Wednesdays and Living Well Wednesdays.

Crocheted Coffee Sleeve

I just think crochet coffee sleeves are adorable, especially when buttons are incorporated, so I was excited to find dreadlock girl’s coffee sleeve patterns. And like me, she also taught herself to crochet by watching YouTube videos.  Yay for the internet! :)

I followed her two button coffee sleeve pattern.  What’s really cool about this pattern is that the sleeve is adjustable because the triple crochet stitches are the button holes.  The other cool thing is that you do not have to crochet button holes.

I did make my sleeve a little bigger than dreadlock girl’s. I figured the length of the foundation chain by measuring it against a grande Starbucks cup, because I knew that would be its home most of its life.  So my foundation chain was 35 chain stitches long instead of 29.

I also used Impeccable from Loops and Threads Impeccable and a size H/5.0mm crochet hook. The buttons are coconut shell buttons, and I just tied them on with a small piece of yarn. Here's the finished product:

This was a birthday present for a good friend of mine. (The one that I’m the matron of honor for.  I used purple yarn to tie on the buttons because that’s one of her wedding colors.) I joke that I rarely see her without a Starbucks in one hand, so I thought she needed one of these. :)

Crocheted Baby Hat with Pompom

No, I’m not pregnant. I’m a new aunt, and this is for my new little nephew:

I got the pattern for the hat from Melissa at http://blog.innerchildcrochet.com/.

I used Surgar’n Cream yarn and a 6 mm crochet hook.

Don’t you just love that big pompom on top? I made it by wrapping yarn around a 1 ½” piece of cardboard 75 times. Then I just sewed it on top.

I also found a crochet pattern for a little baby baseball cap.  How cute!  I'll let you know if I decide to make it.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Have you ever been to Papa Murphy's? Well, last time I was there, the lady in front of me ordered a chicken alfredo pizza. I watched the employees make it behind the counter, and I thought, "How yummy! I could do that at home." So I did. (I like to make pizza...because I like to eat pizza...and making it is cheaper than buying it.)

Here are the main ingredients I used:

 pizza crust mix, alfredo sauce, chichen breasts, spinach, pizza blend cheese

I made two 12" pizzas for about $5 or $6 dollars total. (Sorry I don't have an exact cost, but just know they were cheap.)

Prep time was about 15 minutes, and cook time was about 20 minutes.

First, I cooked two chicken breasts in olive oil and seasoned themwith garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary and a little salt and pepper.  I just sprinkled all these on 'til it looked good to me.  So sprinkle to taste. I like to use lots of seasoning--I hate bland chicken--and it was the chicken that really made this pizza pop. (I like alliteration.)

Then I made the dough.  I used Jiffy's pizza crust mix, so making the dough was like magic--just add water and ta-da! (You have to stir and let it sit for 5 minutes, too.) The toughest part of making this meal was spreading the dough out on the pizza pans. The box says to oil your fingers; I just used flour to keep my fingers from sticking to the dough. (I'm not good at following--or reading--instructions.)

Next, I spread on some alfredo sauce from out of the jar and added the toppings. I sprinkled on fresh spinach, the chicken from earlier, and a pizza blend of shredded cheese. You could also add slices of roma tomato, onion, and mushrooms. That would be nice, but I didn't think about this until my pizzas were already in the oven.

Here's the finished product:

Yummy!