It's August!

Is anyone else blown away by the fact that August is officially here? Most of my athletic training friends are preparing for football season either next week or the week after! College will be back in session soon, as will primary schools. Wow! Where did summer go? This is the first year in twenty years that August/September doesn't signify a new "year" for me. That's a weird feeling...!

Anyways... I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but Judah and I will be staying in our current location through December/January. He signs on to a new job the week after next. Thankfully it is close enough that we won't need to move and his commute to work isn't much different, it only changes direction. That's definitely a blessing since we love this house and are in a pretty good location concerning we still don't have a second vehicle. That should come at the end of this month or next :)

In other news, we are still on baby watch!

Maple has become extremely territorial though and she lays down constantly, so I am expecting babies very very soon. And praying that it goes well for mommy and babies :) As you can see in the pictures her fleece camo arrived earlier this week :D she seems to really enjoy it and clean up is soooo much easier for me. I see it as a win-win.

On the "working front", I had a conversation with the director of the Christian Sports Medicine Alliance, an incredible Christian-based organization that does mission work around the world and domestically, all through the avenue of sports medicine. We discussed my strengths, which I believe to be writing and teaching. I love educating others and I feel I put my best foot forward when I write. This is why I tend to favor email versus phone calls and why I am enjoying this blog.

The director explained that CSMA has two-three pages of space in Christian Sports Today magazine and they need someone who could contribute articles. *pick me!!!* So I am starting to construct my first article and then I may get my work published on a monthly basis :D That'd be exciting and would provide me with samples I could submit to other magazines and maybe spread my reach :) I'll be sure to share my first published piece. And no, it doesn't seem that my articles need to have a Christian twist to them, rather my articles are sports medicine related. My first article will be on concussions since we are going to be amid football season soon enough.

Anyone else excited that NFL is literally right around the corner?? Me too. I LOVE watching the games.

Also, I discussed opportunities with the CSMA director taking more initiative in WV as a liaison for CSMA. I emailed the President of WV's Athletic Training Association to ask how I could help out. He replied back stating that WV still has to tackle the issue of licensure. What does that mean, you ask? Before I graduated college I took a written exam and became national certified as an Athletic Trainer. So I can call myself a Certified Athletic Trainer. However, most states require that you have a license to prove you are in fact able to perform the duties of an Athletic Trainer. For Texas, I had to prove I graduated from an AT program and that I had my national certification. There are typically two or three ways to earn licensure, it varies state to state. However WV does not have this license so anyone can call themselves an Athletic Trainer. Hopefully you can see where the problem is with that! He also said that he would pass my resume along to other Association members to see where else I could be used.

I am excited because something that most AT's lack is time. But I have lots of it on my hands! So I'm praying that God has ways that He will use me these next few months :) I'm also happy that these are all Athletic Training-related endeavors, so although I may not be earning a paycheck, I am keeping my foot in the door of AT and building my resume for when I do return to work!

Keep your eyes out tomorrow for a fitness related post, giving the update of what workouts I have been up to lately :)

Happy Friday everyone!

L.O.V.E. Series Part Three

Sacred Marriage Chapter Two, Gary Thomas
"Finding God in Marriage"

This chapter contains purely Christian belief, but serves as a strong reminder for the integrity of marriage.

Thomas begins this chapter by reminding us that God is the ultimate Creator. He also provides example after example from the Bible of how God wants to relate to his people as through the way a husband and wife relate in a marriage. Meaning, God wants a loving and intimate relationship with us, as opposed to a "blind adherence to principles". Being a Christian is not following a set of rules, but instead it is creating and maintaining a relationship with our Lord and Savior. 

Okay, so how does this play a role in marriage?  I find it to be best explained through Ephesians 5:

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Marriage is the single, best analogy to compare Christ's unfailing love and commitment to the Church. Thomas argues that Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 says it best that our number one priority as Christians is to please God. Therefore, we pursue our marriage with the goal of pleasing God. And how do we accomplish this? As discussed in previous posts already, through selfless living. We've discussed this concept in the context of making our spouses happy, but what if we aim to make God happy with our marriage? Well, I think the answer is obvious that if you seek to please God, you will in effect please your spouse. 

Thomas goes on to discuss reconciliation, defined as: "to end a relation of enmity, and to substitute for it one of peace and goodwill". God's mission in sending his one and only son to Earth was to reconcile mankind with Him. Why shouldn't our marriage reflect this monumental task? We should be developing a relationship with our spouse that models "forgiveness, selfless love, and sacrifice".

This is precisely why God never intended for divorce and why He hates it (Malachi 2:16). To carry your message of Christian faith, you must first live it. It's pretty difficult to convince people of anything when your message is "do as I say, not as I do"... Thomas states that the number one reason he seeks the integrity of his marriage is because he sees it as his Christian duty. God wants you to please Him and the best way to do this for a married couple is through nurturing your marriage.

Finally, Thomas ends the chapter with a discussion of lightning. There are places throughout the US that receive a significant amount of rain. As a result, when lightning strikes, there is little chance of  a fire starting. However, there are other places where it is always so dry, the smallest spark can set off a raging wildfire. Every single marriage faces temptations ("sexual temptations, communication problems, frustrations, unrealized expectations"), but if your marriage is heavily "watered" with the foremost desire to please God above anything else, the conditions won't be right for a fire to engulf you after that lightning strikes.


The principles from this chapter go well with what we discussed from Chapter One in the last post. God needs to be an integral part of your marriage. I am not saying that non-Christian marriages can't survive, because divorce rates do not differ among believers vs. nonbelievers. Really the message of this chapter is if you are a Christian, then God has to be the central key to your marriage. From personal experience I find that placing God in my relationship has strengthened our marriage beyond measure. I find that it takes a lot of pressure off the relationship. You no longer have these impossible expectations of your spouse, but instead you evaluate how well you are relating with God and how that positively or negatively affects your relationship with your spouse. It increases your accountability for the marriage relationship, which is sadly a trait that is losing itself in our "blameless" society.

This chapter doesn't provide much context for application, but chapter three discusses "learning to love". We will discuss how marriage teaches us how to love, not only our spouse, but also God. "Sacred Marriage" continually relates back to itself in other chapters, as you can already see. As we continue through this series, you will see how all these topics come together for a great marital foundation and strong relationship with God.


Readers: If you are a Christian, how has pleasing God strengthened your marriage/significant relationship? If you're not a Christian, what have you found to be the best way to strengthen your marriage/significant relationship? 

Spinach Calzone and Easy Fried Rice

You know you're a blogger when you're husband asks, "Aren't you going to take a picture of this for the blog?" :D

I've got two great recipes I want to share with you today, but before we get there.. watch this:

"Wait a second, why should you care what they think of you? When you're all alone, by yourself, do you like you? You don't have to try so hard, you don't have to give it all away. You just have to get up, you don't have to change a single thing." "Take your make up off, let your hair down. Take a breath, look in the mirror at yourself. Do you like you? 'Cause I like you"

Can I just say that I LOVE the movement taking place right now for women to empower themselves. :)

Now on to the food!

Mmm... spinach calzones! These were actually quite delicious and I hadn't planned on sharing them, but Judah told me I had to.

Spinach Calzones
     15 oz ricotta cheese
     2 eggs
     2 tbsp italian seasoning
     3 cups mozzarella cheese
     1 cup parmesan cheese
     10 oz. chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
     salt and pepper to taste
     32 oz pizza dough (you can make your own with this recipe)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together all the ingredients (minus the dough) in a large bowl. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll out into circles. Fill each one with about a half cup of the filling, fold over and seal the dough edges. (I used a fork to press together the dough edges). Place on a cookie sheet or pizza stone and bake for 30 minutes. To avoid cheese gushing out, poke a hole in the top of each calzone.

I swear that is pizza sauce and not ketchup! haha But seriously, these were delicious. Not too cheesy, not too spinach-y. It was a perfect combination and definitely not greasy like pizza place calzones. 

We had a total of six calzones because Judah wanted to make a pizza too. I froze three of them to eat later in the week. I will let you all know how well they come out after thawing. Judah ate one the following day, after being refridgerated and said it still tasted great.


Want a quick, easy, healthy weeknight meal with endless possibilities? Here ya go:

Easy Fried Rice
     2-3 tsp sesame seed oil (available in the Chinese food section of Walmart)
     2-3 tbsp soy sauce
     1-3 cups day old rice
     1/2 cup - 2 cups vegetables - green onion and any other veggies you want
     1-2 eggs
     1/2-1 pound of meat of choice

So this recipe isn't very specific because it is entirely up to you how you want to make it!

First, pick your vegetables. I have tried green beans (about 1.5 cups), summer squash (2 small sized), and frozen peas (1/2 cup) and they all have worked great. Start with those in a large frying pan/wok and 1-2 tsp of sesame oil. Dice two-three stalks of green onion and mix those in with the vegetables. If your vegetables won't cook in 3-4 minutes, I recommend cooking them via a different method first (I had to boil the green beans for five minutes before putting them in the pan).

Next, pick your meat of choice, if using meat. You can use only one or two eggs for protein if you would like. Chicken is a popular option. I have only tried shrimp so far. You can cook them separately, or start them in the pan before the vegetables. When I used shrimp, I boiled them in water first for four minutes (I bought uncooked shrimp).

Add one or two eggs. If using meat, I would add only one egg, if using no meat, add two-three depending on how many people this meal is for. Mix the eggs with 1 tsp of sesame seed oil first for added flavor. Divide into small pieces as it cooks in the pan.

Add the leftover rice. You want to use day old rice because it tends to be drier, which benefits this dish. I have used freshly made rice - it just makes a mushier stir fry. For the two of us, I typically use 1.5-2 cups of cooked rice and we tend to have leftovers. Add 2-3 tbsp of soy sauce to the rice and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined and heated through. Serve and enjoy!

This meal is meant to come together in literally 15-20 minutes from start to finish. Be sure to have all your ingredients out and ready before putting anything in the pan because it all cooks FAST. But it is extremely versatile and tastes great!

If you're someone who needs more exact instructions, this is the recipe I first used to make my first attempt at this recipe. But it really is so simple that I don't even need to look at it anymore!

The picture above and this one features white rice, shrimp, and peas:

Readers: what are your favorite fried rice ingredients?