Waiting on Baby

Happy Boxing Day to all of my Canadian friends.

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. 

We had a quiet Christmas  Eve with our two sons before the whole family came together on Christmas Day. And you know, it doesn't matter how old they get, these boys still love to get toys.

Just a couple of little radio controlled cars...

kept these two...

 entertained for hours.

But now that the gifts have been unwrapped and the refrigerator is stuffed full of leftovers, we Obi's are on baby watch.

Yes, the newest member of our crazy clan  is set to arrive today.

And this grammy can hardly wait. 

So I'm going to cut this short, but I will be back with an update and photos just as soon as I can.

***UPDATE***

Baby has arrived!

At 7:18 this morning we welcomed Taegan Olivia into the world.

All 7 lbs. 2 oz., 18.5 inches of her.
Both mother and baby are doing terrific and we are all celebrating this brand new life.

Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com  

Nothing But a Big Ol' Smile

This year, I'm celebrating the release of my first holiday book.

So it only seemed right to share it with my new church family.

After the Christmas cantata Sunday night, at the annual church-wide Christmas party, they allowed me the privilege of doing a benefit book signing. 

And get a load of this.

The men...

Were just as excited as the women.

It was so cute.

Strapping ranchers buying books for their wives. Okay, so some of the wives came up later to get another book or two, but still. I thought it was so precious. I mean, these are the kind of guys we write about in our books. The heroes who long to make their lady happy.

You gotta love it.

Kind of like this little guy.

Who scampered off soon after I took this pic.

I love how the calves get so furry for the winter. 

Oh, and then there was the "super" moon.

A glorious display of God's glory.

You know, by now my house usually looks like the North Pole threw up.

But things are different this year. Yet despite the frustrations, I choose to find joy in the simple things. Because joy is everywhere. 

Joy isn't about things or feelings. It's not about the twinkling lights or the music.

Even in the worst of times, joy a choice. 

A choice to celebrate being alive, knowing God has a plan for you. 

It's the peace of knowing a Baby came into this world for the sole purpose of saving you.

Looking at life through the lens of joy gives you a different perspective. 

One I know I could stand to look through the whole year through.

How about you?

This holiday season, will you choose joy?

  

Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com  

Honey Mustard Shrimp - for when you really don't want to cook

Wouldn't it be great if we could all just slow down and savor life?

It seems the older I get, the more this hectic life disappoints me.

We're all super busy and always on some sort of deadline ,whether it's getting to the grocery story before the game or getting the book to the editor, or just getting the laundry done.

Where is time to slow down and simply enjoy?
(We,, you could just go back and look at Mindy's post from yesterday. :) )

I'll save you the philosophical rants because ... well...I don't have the answer.

I've been trying to simplify my life, but so far I'm not really managing all that well.

I was thinking of all this as Monday morning dawned and once more I was rushing out the door into a day that wouldn't slow down until somewhere after 9PM.

I don't like the rushed feeling so I try to savor little moments when I can.

The gorgeous blue of an October sky.

The scent of woodsmoke when a neighbor used their fireplace for the first time.

The crunch of autumn leaves under booted feet.  I love autumn because I can wear boots again!

The sense of home when you come in and close the door behind you.

So what does all this have to do with Wednesdays and recipes?

Just that I was coming home tonight too tired to even contemplate going to the trouble of pulling together anything complicated. I had a meal planned, but once it came time to cook it.... let's just say cereal and milk held greater appeal. :)

Enough with the whining!

All this just means is I'm really happy when I find a super simple meal that tastes delicious. Here's one that I came up with off the top of my head when I was hungry but had no energy to cook.

I've been on this honey mustard kick (as you might recall from last week's post).

On the spur of the moment, I pulled some frozen shrimp from the freezer and defrosted them while I walked the dog. These are pre-cooked so I didn't really have to do much. I spooned out a dollop of honey mustard into the saucepan with enough water to dissolve it. (Note: it turns white!)
Then I broke the shrimp into bite sized pieces and mixed in with the mustard and stirred until warm.

I had no idea what I was going to serve it on but I suddenly remembered Missy's vegetable pasta so I pulled out some spaghetti and quickly boiled the water.

In only slightly more time than it took to cook the spaghetti, I had an amazingly delicious meal.

I love when out of the depths of dinner-planning despair comes a culinary success!

So what do you think? Are you over-stressed, running hither and you or have you found the secret to savoring life?