Cleaning Shop?!

just a quick plug/reminder for all:

if you have (or know anyone who has) rugs, beanbag type chairs, lamps, bookshelves, a couch or armchair that they are trying to rid themselves (or their spouse?) of... :) I WANT IT ALL :)

trying to transform my classroom, so if you want it gone, i'll take it (well, probably...) :)

LOVE, denise

p.s. and, as always, if you have any books you are trying to get rid of to make shelf space, i'll take those, too! :)

The Truth is...

The truth of the matter is that it is too easy to feel overwhelmed. It is all too natural for my flesh to scream out in panic instead of listening to my heart that says, "Slow down. Take a deep breath, and listen to your Father who wants to bear these burdens FOR YOU!"
Why is it that we allow so many minor things of this life to rise up and take over the thrown of our hearts and to consume our thoughts? Why is it second nature for me to become irritated at my students for not understanding such "simple" ideas, or to think to myself, "How am I supposed to work from 7-5, attend countless meetings and trainings, cook dinner, be HOME for dinner, grade mounds and mounds of papers and still have enough time and energy to give my husband the attention and encouragement and love that I truly desire to show him all before bedtime (which is SUPPOSED to be 9:30 f0r us old, early risers... yeah right...)?!"
Why can I not just be still for 30 minutes to spend time in the presence of my Father who can put these things into perspective for me and take the irrational panic out of my day?
Why, in the times that I am NOT diligent and consistant in my time with the Lord, do I feel that I "cannot possibly spare another moment in the day even to read The Word" when if I DO make the time and I DO spend it with Him, it seems ridiculous to think anything contrary.
This life is short, this world is sinful, and I am a daughter of the King of it all.
Maybe it's time I start acting like it... Or maybe that time was many years ago...

Words of Beauty.

Oh, to have the gift of writing like those whom I admire...

To have the ability to paint pictures of beauty and sorrow and laughter in someone's mind's eye just by penning words onto a page...

Thanks, to all who stir my heart with their words.

Love, Denise.

Classroom Deco

So, a few weeks ago i sent out an email to the few contacts i had onhand at the moment. that was not a lot of people... ;) so... i just realized that i should just post the email here! it's pretty lengthy, but the attached article is so great, i really hope you're intrigued enough to read it.
love you all, denise.

Hello All! Just wanted to drop you all a note to say “Hello” and to let you know a need I’ve come across in my classroom. Well, I say a “need”, but honestly it’s a desire… I have always wanted my classroom to be a comfortable place where my students WANT to be (as much as you can WANT to be in a classroom, I suppose).
I was sent an article/video yesterday that absolutely made me green with envy (in a good way?) because this woman’s 7th and 8th grade classroom (which is EXACTLY what I teach…) is my dream class. No joke… I’m attaching the article/video if you want to read/watch it at all. I found it fascinating, but maybe it’s just because it’s what I do? Anyways, to the point: I am brainstorming every possible way that I can transform my classroom (SLOWLY…) into this dream room that I have in my fantastical imagination, and one way that I can start is to just let people know some of the basic needs for the “look” of the room:
The big need there will come in the form of beanbags (or other type seats beanbag-ish), lamps (table OR floor lamps), and RUGS (big and small). I'd also LOVE to have at least one love seat or couch and one arm chair. I know this sounds silly, and I know that if I go to yard sales and thrift stores I’ll find some, but the reality of it is that it will take me years and years to have the time to find them and, more realistically, have the money to purchase them (even if I do find them at thrift stores or yard sales).
SO… I’m not asking for money!!! Please don’t think that. All I’m asking for is for you to please tell anyone you know who is trying to get rid of these things that I WANT THEM! I don’t care HOW ugly or old they are, I’ll transform them if I need to and clean them up the best I can. I just need things to work with.
Sorry…that was TOTALLY long… I tend to be long winded, no? anyways. I love you all and you’re great. Thanks so much, in advance, for your help with this!! Hope to see you soon!

Mrs. Denise Power
7th/8th Reading
Navo Middle School

Has is been that long?!

WOW!!!
ok, so i'm just now realizing that the last time i posted... i was still at Fidelity Investments, we were planning our trip to Annapolis, and our friends Sarah and Ben were still living in the US... man. that was a while ago, eh?
ok, so to run through just a FEW things that have gone on:

- I am now a middle school reading teacher in Denton ISD! Praise Jesus! Aaron and I have been praying for an opportunity for me to teach since before we were married. The Lord was more than faithful to bring that about. What's even better than just getting hired on to any school is that one of my Assistant Principals here is actually half of our Pre-Marital Mentor Couple from just before we were married last year! It's been such a blessing and releif to know an administrator and to feel comfortable enough to ask questions that i may have otherwise kept to myself...as silly as that may seem.
- My sister, Lynn, and her husband, Luke, just received Luke's acceptance letter to SouthEastern Seminary in North Carolina! This is bittersweet news for us. They live in the south part of Fort Worth right now, so we hardly ever see them anyways... but in mid-January, the Henderson Duo will be making their big move to (just outside Raleigh, i think...?) North Carolina for Luke to persue his Masters. Such a great opportunity though :)
-Aaron and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on August 30 of this year... so... that's neat :) We took our trip to Annapolis, MD to stay with my Aunt and her family and it was SUCH a blast. We really did have a great time. i'll post pictures sometime soon... hopefully ;)
-i really want to go home...

sorry for the intterupt. just realized that i CAN go home. so i am.
:) more later.

Mr. and Mrs. Ben and Sarah Long

So our dear friends, Ben and Sarah, are off to Cairo, Egypt for two years... they leave next Tuesday. There was a going away party at the ever hospitable Clay and Emily's casa last night for our sweet friends. We will miss them SO MUCH!! But we're all so excited for the amazing opportunity they have to preach the gospel of Christ with their lives in the city God is placing them in! Please be praying for Ben and Sarah as they prepare to leave all that they know to live in Egypt for the next two years. THANK YOU!!

Annapolis, MD!

We are going to Annapolis, MD for our one year anniversary at the beginning of September!! My Aunt Karen and family live right on the Chesapeake Bay so we will be boating/kayaking/sailing/crabbing/maybe a jog or 2 through the Naval Academy grounds, etc. for 4.5 days! We have to introduce AP to life on the East Coast! He's never been! i'm so excited that we're able to do this! I thought i'd gather a little preview of what we get to look forward to! unfortunately the site is not cooperating today, so i'm unable to label each picture, so i'll post some from the Naval Academy, some from downtown Annapolis and just some random photos to give you an idea of what we'll be seeing! Enjoy! :)

Power House

Well, we are all moved in to the new place. We will drop off the keys to the apartment (our very first home together! aww!) tonight. Hot water should be waiting for us at the house tonight (very exciting!!!), and internet will be hooked up tomorrow morn. :) it's coming together -slowly, but surely... we are really just swimming in boxes at this point!
it's amazing how it seems that we have NO furniture now that we're in the house as opposed to the apartment! haha.
I'll post pictures soon. we'll do a before/after scene. :)
We're hosting 2 wedding showers in the next 2-3 weeks, so hopefully i can pull this off!!! YIKES! any tips on pulling the place together fast would be much appreciated!! :)

more soon.

Chair Heaven

Hello, all :)

I need to do a real update, and that will be coming shortly, but first, i'd like to share with you a little piece of love: from the Power home to yours... the current domestic obsession of mine... my vintage rocker that i picked up for FIVE DOLLARS at a yard sale saturday. I removed the YUCK-UGLY fabric that it had, and am in the process of reupholstering it as we speak! I got the new fabric for 50% off at JoAnn's Sunday. i just finished the back cushion, as i had a bit of time before work this morning, and actually found my staple gun! WOO! i wanted to share a few pics of the almost finished work! :) enjoy!




love, denisie.

p.s. staple guns make my right pinkie numb... haha.

New Picture Post! Woo!

Ok... recap of the past few weeks? But of course! Here goes:

Work is going well for both Aaron and myself. Memorial Day is about a week away and we're really looking forward to the day off to go hang with the Power fam out at the In-Laws' place! Hello free veggies!! ;) man... i don't think i'll ever get over their garden! haha

Audie and Joannie (AP's parents)
This was their garden back at Easter. I can't wait to see it next weekend!

We are still in the process of looking for a house to rent this next year starting at the end of June. We are actually leaving in just a few minutes to go look at a handful of houses before church tonight.

Aaron's sister Jordan will be living with us this coming year, which is exciting! So if anyone knows of any great homegroups for freshman ladies, please let us know, because we really would love to see her get involved and have some fabulous women around her this year! Jordie's will be graduating from Allen High on June 2! WOO!

Our dear friends Ben and Sarah got hitched Friday evening, and the wedding was beautiful and perfect. :) Here are a few great shots from that night:

Mr. and Mrs. Ben and Sarah Long!

Mr. and Mrs. Aaron and Denise Power ;)

The Men

Miss Kelley Howard and myself striking a pose on the dance floor...

Jeremy and AP

"Was there dancing?!" Are you kidding me?! This woman was a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader for goodness sake! OF COURSE THERE WAS DANCING!!!
We showed those cheerleaders how to bust a move Denton-Style... ;) hahaha

And speaking of graduation... my baby sister, Lynn (whose wedding is in less than TWO WEEKS now!!!!) graduated yesterday from University of North Texas with a degree in Finance! Way to go, Lynnie! Here are a few shots from the day:

Family Love

Aaron made me do it... ;)
Also, I'm pretty sure this was just after I managed to slam a full cup of punch into Aaron's arm, soaking and embarassing myself in front of everyone... Goob.

We are somewhat lopsided siblings... don't judge us.

After some mild coaching, we straightened up again...

AP and my dad on the way to Lynn's grad ceremony in the rain

Lynn and the man she will marry in T-minus13 days and counting! The Mr. Jerry (Luke) Henderson :)

Also, I know many of you have been praying with us that I might be able to find a teaching job this fall, and I actually had an interview this past week with the school that I would REALLY like to teach. The interview went well, and I am praying to get a call for a second interview. They want to have all of their teachers for next year in place by the end of the month, so please keep praying! I really appreciate it!! Thanks!!

And last, but not least... Random updates!

*our tomato plants are SO HUGE now! it's unreal! they were both only about 8 inches tall when i bought them! I'm excited for them to ripen so that we can eat our homegrown tomatoes!! :)

*I planted some seeds to start a few string bean bushes, and they have sprouted up so quickly! I am about to transplant them into a few more containers to give them growing room :) beans will be exciting to have, too!

*the asparagus is strange... i keep thinking its done...(it doesnt produce much...), but then i'll find another one random stalk growing! haha. so strange...

*I have located the recipe for Chili's Honey Mustard recipe, and it is fantastic! :) it's so delicious on chicken sandwiches or pita paninis (lovingly referred to as Panitas). It is equal parts mayo, dijon mustard, and honey. add a few sprinkles of paprika, and mix together well! Presto! you're done:

I'm really hoping that wherever we rent this year, they will allow me to use a small bit of the backyard to have a real garden! maybe i'll just do a raised garden that we can move with us :) that would be cool... Let me know any ideas you all may have!

Oh! I know several of you lovely ladies are sewers, so if anyone knows of someone that is wanting to get rid of a sewing machine (that works...) tell them i'll take it! Or even if you know someone who has one and just never uses it, so they would like me to babysit it for a while! :) i've been itching to make things lately, but my sewing machine is SUPER old and keeps knotting up on the back stitch and/or not stitching at all... one day i'll have a real sewing machine that was not once someone's junk they needed to get rid of!! one day... ;)

Happy Beautiful Sunday, all!

Love, Denisie Power.

Shower, Food, and Changing the World

Well, my lovely sister had her first Bridal Shower this past weekend! I finally had a chance to upload some of our pictures from the day. Thought I'd share a few of my favorites. :)

Our mom makes the most AWESOME lollipops EVER!!! so she made some for the shower!!

****
Also, one of our new favorite meals is what we like to call "Buffalo Balls"... now, now... easy there. they really are balls... just probably not the kind you were thinking when first reading the name. :) Aaron and I decided it was time to make them again this week, so we documented the process to share with all of you lovely folks out there in blog-land! I thought I would share the recipe since it is SO easy and would be a fun "Family" dinner if everyone wanted to be a part of making dinner!
ready?
ok. You'll need:

2 rotisserie cooked chickens
Shredded cheddar cheese
Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce
Flour
2 Eggs
Bread Crumbs
Olive Oil

*shred the rotisserie chicken.
*Then add your desired amount of cheese.
*Add enough Frank's Sauce to allow the mixture to stick together.
*Mix Well!
*heat up olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
*Pack the chicken mixture into small balls in the palm of your hands



*in 3 separate shallow bowls (we use pasta bowls) have your 2 beaten eggs, flour, and bread crumbs ready for the assembly line :)





*dip each of the buffalo balls into the bowls (covering completely) in this order: flour (make sure you pat the excess off of them. they only need to be lightly dusted with the flour), egg, then bread crumbs.
*place the buffalo balls into the olive oil turning as necessary to fry them up to delicious tastiness!



*once they are browned all over, let them cool on a plate with a napkin (or if you're an Earth hater, i guess you could use paper towels!! ;) ) to let some of the olive oil drain off onto the napkin (or evil paper towels...).




ENJOY!!!! They're super tasty dipped in Ranch dressing or if you really like the spice, you could just dip them in extra Buffalo sauce like my crazy hubby!



As you can see we really enjoy making these together. Aaron has officially been dubbed the "Fry Master"... so you can be sure to call him by his title the next time you see him. :)

*****
One last thing: before i sign off, my darling husband, AP, wanted me to share a few paragraphs from his favorite magazine, "Relevant". So here they are, from a piece titled, "Reject Apathy" by Cameron Strang about how our generation is big on trying to change the world, but taking a look at if our approaches are working or not:

The problems are so big it'd be easy to say there's nothing that can really be done about them. But that's not true, according to Warren. The problem has simply been our approach. The Western "quick-fix" mentality is wrong.
For such enormous turnaround to happen, we not only have to break through destructive generational cycles in Africa, but also our own Western mindset that says we have all the answers.
Many Western solutions simply don't work in every culture. Likewise, the Americanized version of the Gospel, which many times emphasizes me-centered faith, doesn't translate outside of U.S. borders either. "American principles only wor in America," Warren says. French messages only work in France. But if a principle is biblical, it's trans cultural. It'll work everywhere. All we have to do is be biblical."

PICTURE POST! WOO!

Ok, so i REALLY do want to get better at updating this thing!!! so much has been/will be going on!!

TONS of weddings this summer! Just to list the FEW that i'll get to be a part of:

1. My sister, Lynn, and her fiance, Luke Henderson are getting married on May 30! I'll be Matron of Honor and am PUMPED! we love lynn and luke and are excited for luke to officially be a part of the fam :) Their wedding site, if you're interested:

www.mywedding.com/lukeandlynnhenderson.

2. Former roomie A (Jennifer Davis) will be married to her fiance, Aaron's former roomie A (Jeff Holm) on July 25! Dude. it's about freakin time :) I'll be matron on honor here, too and am PUMPED, yet again! Love these two.


3. Former roomie B (Kelley Howard) will be married to her fiance, Aaron's former roomie B (Jeremy Irwin) on August 15! Super excited about being in this wedding party as well! It's so fun to have so many of our closest friends who even feel like (or actually are...) family getting married in the same summer!! crazy!


... I'm not sure why people always complain about being bridesmaids so often... other than the fact that you're BROKE at the end of it, it's TOTALLY FUN!!!!! Seriously.

ALSO....

I've gotten a ton of new plants lately! It's almost warm enough consistently for me to put plants outside again without killing them! I got some new herbs for cooking and making our own tea with, and I'm sprouting some red potatoes to use as tubers to grow our own reds! Now i just have to find a cute squatty barrell to use for them! Help?
Can't wait to have a house where we can actually have a REAL GARDEN and grow our own fruits and veggies!!!

Some iphone shots from while i planted some of them yesterday:

tomatoes!

chamomile, zinnias, and marigolds

Sweet basil, parsley, oregano, and rosemary...

And some African Daisies just because i thought they were gorgeous, i wanted them, and it was my birthday, so i bought them for myself ;)

SO... hopefully i'm back on the wagon of updating again... we'll see. ;)

i have discovered a new love...

YUP! you guessed it. that love is of Butternut Squash. if you have never tried it, i suggest you get your cooking on soon. get on it. if anyone has any recipes that use butternut squash, you should share with me! it's so delicious! the one i tried today used Butternut squash, shallots, mascarpone cheese, and extra wide noodles.... delicious!!!
seriously, though. if you have others, do share! :)

p.s. i cooked with/bought shallots for the first time this week! didn't even know where to look for them at the store and had to google them to find out what they were... haha.

i love cooking :) i always welcome new recipes by the way! :)

Wow...

So I am definitely out of the loop when it comes to current events, other than the financial world (since I'm floating in the middle of that at work), so I may be incredibly behind and the last one to see this, but I am still shocked by it... I shouldn't be, really, but it is... wow... so blatant.

From some random blog:

The My Life on the D List star took home a creative arts Emmy on Saturday for best reality program.

“A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this,” Griffin said in her acceptance speech. “Suck it, Jesus. This award is my God now.”

Hello, World!

Have no fear, we ARE still here! :) sorry for the intense hiatus from blog world. I'll attempt a very brief update for now.

I believe the last post was just before I began my job with Fidelity Investments. That feels like SO long ago! :) i went through their 8 week training course and "graduated" with the top of the "class" :) It has been SO interesting learning the "financial world". Google a Roth IRA if you don't know what that is. BOOYAH. TOTALLY getting in on that stuff. TAX FREE????? heck yes. nothing in this world is free anymore... except this amazing little booger called the ROTH... :) love it. there are, of course, stipulations, but STILL...

So the late schedule (getting home near 8pm) is getting a bit old, but we're doing well. I almost had a schedule change for an hour earlier, but there was one person ahead of me to get it... so i'll get the change next go around. I'm just praying that that next opportunity is soon. :)

We stay pretty busy in our weeks with Homegroup (Both of us), Mentoring (both), Step Studies (AP), Bible Study Group (DP), Teaching the ninos on sunday mornings (both), church, etc.

Aaron's job is going well. He was hired on permanantly into his fulltime position, and he is enjoying the team he works with. He does a great job, and they definitely appreciate all of his hard work! He has had a few trips down to the Lufkin plant which has been good. He may be headed down there for another trip sometime soon. He has really enjoyed meeting the people that he gets to work with down there.

We've really enjoyed having people over to the apartment when we get the chance. We'll be starting to look for a rent house in Denton soon, to move in begining of July. We decided to wait on the house purchase for a couple of years. We were looking for a foreclosure to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but we decided to save for a much larger down payment in a couple years. For now, we're getting excited to get completely out of debt (car payment, student loan, parental loan...). There is a light at the end of the tunnel, ladies and gents. ;)

I should go get ready for dinner/church. We're meeting the Powers and the soon to be Hendersons (Luke and Lynn!) for dinner at Mr. Chopstix before church this evening. Should be a good time. Speaking of Lynn and Luke, their wedding is quickly approaching! May is so close! Definitely close compared to last April, right Lynn?? man, 13 month engagement... yuk. totally feel for you.

ok. I'll try to be better at this. no promises, though...

OH... and i got my hair chopped this weekend... about 11 inches from the back i think...