Southwestern Soup Recipe

Well, if you're like me, the changing of the weather brings about cravings for some good soup! I got this recipe from a friend and made it last night. It's soooo easy and very good. I thought some of you in the blogging world might like to try it too.

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can pinto beans (Of course I left those out!)
1 lb. Velveeta cheese (If you like extra spicy, get Mexican Velveeta.)
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes

Brown ground beef with chopped onion. When finished, add corn and beans. Melt Velveeta and mix with rotel and diced tomatoes, then add to beef mixture. Stir and cook until warm. Serve with crackers or Fritos.

Hope you enjoy! If anyone decides to try it, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HALEY!!!

So you know I had to post this! :) I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Girls weekend soon! Hope you have a wonderful day!!! I love you.

Tagged

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...(taken from my life list post in April)
1. get married and have kids (can I put those together?)
2. ride a gondola in Italy
3. see Gavin Degraw in concert
4. go to Los Angeles
5. take a cooking class
6. be debt-free
7. visit all 50 states

7 Things I Can Do...
1. cook
2. sing (decently at least)
3. crochet
4. take pictures (love photography)
5. love
6. take things way too personally
7. analyze

7 Things I Can Not Do...
1. drive a stick shift
2. laugh without crying
3. be without my family for a long time
4. eat a bean...of any kind
5. touch a cotton ball
6. listen to someone reading- at church or school, etc...IMPOSSIBLE
7. be patient

7 Things That Attracted Me To My Hubby...
***So obviously I can't complete this part. If anyone reading wants to stop and send up a prayer asking God to please be sending a husband my way it would be much appreciated...seriously!

7 Things I Say Most Often
1. "That's hilarious"
2. "Oh my word"
3. "No way!"
4. "I just got that out of my mouth"- to my students
5. "No talking in the hallway" - once again, to my students
6. "huh?"
7. "God, please, please, please....."- as I'm praying, of course

7 Celebrity Crushes
Wow- this is so fun! Can I list seven here, too? Okay, I totally have a crush on Mark Sanchez, too. Go to Haley's blog to see his picture. Currently, I have a crush on Dan from Survivor. He's not exactly a "CELEBRITY" I don't guess, but he's on tv.

I also have a crush on Maksim from Dancing with the Stars. I think he probably knows he's hot though...

And last but not least.....


I tag Cortney, Paige, and Ginger.

Nicholas Sparks

For those of you that don't know, Nicholas Sparks is my all time favorite author. Even as a reading teacher, I have to admit that I don't spend a ton of my time reading unless I can find a really, really good book. Well, Nicholas Sparks is amazing! In case you're not familiar with who he is, he wrote The Notebook, which is one of my favorite books of all time. I'm sure you have all seen the movie, which of course was taken from that book. He also wrote Message in a Bottle, which was a movie, and recently Nights in Rodanthe was released in theaters.

Three of my friends and I heard Nicholas (I love how I am calling him by his first name now...) was going to be doing a book signing a couple hours away, so we took off work and headed to see him. We arrived an hour or so early to take our place beside the table where he would be. The crowd grew, the vast majority being women of course. We waited patiently for him to come out of the elevator that was facing us. Finally, the doors opened and there he was! He looked exactly as he did in the pictures on the back of each book. Actually, he looked a little younger in person than in pictures.

He stood up on the table so we could all see him and talked with us for a few minutes before the actual book signing began. He told us about his passions, which of course is his writing, his track team (He coaches for a local high school.), and the Christian school he and his wife opened. The maximun enrollment is 300 and the curriculum includes world travel, which the students do during the school year. Needless to say, I was really impressed. When I finally got up to talk with him, I told him I wanted to teach at his school! He joked and said I'd be forced to travel the world if I did that! Ummm, can you imagine being paid to do that? It's not a bad idea. Probably the most exciting thing he told us that day was that the next movie that will be made from one of his books is Dear John. Next to The Notebook, that is one of my favorites. If you haven't read it, go get it now! He also said Disney has purchased the rights to his next book, but he hasn't even started it yet! They already know it will be a movie starring Miley Cyrus. So, ole Nicholas is doing pretty well for himself.

Here are some pictures from our day. It was a really neat experience! I'm excited to go back to school and tell my students how their teacher got to meet one of her favorite authors!

My new favorite song

While I'm Waiting
by John Waller

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord