RN

I haven't posted in weeks because I have been studying my head off for the NCLEX! I knew it would be a distraction so I decided not to blog any until I took the test, which I did last Friday. And, IT. IS. OFFICIAL. I am now a Registered Nurse. I found out Sunday that I had passed. Those two days of waiting were torture, but the excitement and relief when I found out made it worth it. Yup! Molly Morgan, RN. I just cant stop saying it! One of my best friends also recorded me signing my name for the first time with RN behind it. All through nursing school, each semester I would tell people what percentage of a nurse I was. So after first semester I was "1/4 a nurse", then after our first year it was I am "1/2 a nurse". And now it is just RN, and it is official. :) It was kind of a joke and thought was just for me but little did I know this video would end up on YouTube, but thanks Andrew for the keep sake!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtoTAokXQVk

LAME! I know. And I know this newness and excitement will probably wear off so I am enjoying it while it lasts. I cannot wait to find the perfect place for me, as far as a job, so I can start what I have wanted to do for so many years. I have wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember. Except for those times when I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but nursing seemed like more of a challenge for me and something with limitless possibilities. The road to get here was not easy. But I never gave up on my dream. I knew it was what I wanted to do. I know now it is what my calling is, and I know the Lord was with me every single step of the way, because there is no way I could have done it alone. I definitely give Him all the credit that is more than deserved. It is also hard to believe that it is all over. No more late nights studying, no more taking years off my life due to stress, no more "what do I have to make to pass" moments, and no more TESTS! WHAT a relief! I am also so proud of all my classmates! They have been a constant support system, so encouraging, and some of the best people I know. So grateful for each and every one of them. We also were blessed with some really great teachers who really cared about us, wanted us to succeed, and have taught us so much to carry on with us as we start our careers. I think they have a sometimes under appreciated (by some) job, but without them we wouldn't be able to do what we do, so I am thankful for them!

I now look at this point of my life as the beginning of the next chapter of my life, and I am also SO excited for it all. I may not have the perfect boyfriend, currently be engaged, married, or living "the life" like I thought I would at this age. No wait. Like the southern culture thinks I should at this age, that's better. But I am passionately pursuing the cross, and I am following in God's direction for my life, what ever and where ever that may be. I know His plans are far higher than my own, and He has never not been faithful before. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me and I am ready to find out!

Coming soon: More recipes, guest writers, Miss Mississippi pageant week, and the 2012 election.

Verse of the day: "Whoever loves God is known by God." 1 Corinthians 8:3

Exodus, Excuses, and Evidence of a Promise

Lately I have been reading through the Old Testament. I really wanted to understand it more, and really take a deeper look into the old familiar stories heard many a summers growing up as a child at vacation bible school. Ahhh and who can forget those VBS songs. Pharaoh, Pharaoh Oh baby! Let my people go! HUH! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! And one of my personal favorites, God told Noah to build him an arky arky. God told Noah to build him an arky arky. Which reminds me of one of my favorite things I ever made at VBS when I was in elementary school, and I still have it today. Not sure why I loved it so much but I did and it was Noah’s ark with some animals. I was so proud of it!

How cute!
Anyways, As I’ve been going through the Old Testament, I just decided to start from the beginning and read it straight through. Right now I am on Exodus. I forgot how exciting the story of Moses is. But it sure wasn’t without trials and frustrations, but also, to me, a clear definition of FAITH. The part that stuck out to me the most started at chapter 3 with Moses at the burning bush. God has appeared to Moses and has told Moses He is sending him to Pharaoh to bring His people out of Egypt.

Starting at verse 11: “But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt you will worship God on this mountain.”
God even then proceeds to, how I imagine it, have a 10 minute conversation explaining EXACTLY how this is going to go down, how He will be with Moses, what is going to happen, and what to do. He even gives Moses miraculous signs that he will use so that the Israelites will believe Moses that the Lord had actually appeared to him.

Moses AGAIN tries to come up with another excuse, saying he is “slow of speech and tongue.” Which means Moses may have had a stutter, or maybe a lisp, but some sort of speech problem. Either way, Moses was FREAKING OUT and looking for a way out. A. Because God just appeared to him in a burning bush, proclaiming he is “The God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God is Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Who will ever believe him? And B. Because God has now chosen him to lead His people out of Egypt. SCARY! He was having major doubts about his ability to lead.

(Verse 11)Then the Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, I will help you speak and teach you what to say.”

Now here comes the best part (verse 13). By best I mean worst:

“But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

My first thought was WAIT WHAT? Moses? Are you serious? This is THE big man, God Almighty, you are talking to. He picked you out to lead his people out of Egypt and you just said send someone else to do it? YOU, old man, have LOST YOUR MIND. Then I was forced (as so often this little thing called conviction likes to do) to realize how many times I have done the same thing. How many times I have made excuses not the do what the Lord has called me to do. Nah, just pick someone else to do that. I’m too scared. I can’t do THAT. What a tragedy. How much have I missed out on by making excuses, self-doubting, and being scared? Complete lack of faith that God will be with me in whatever I do, especially with His work. He has promised us over and over again that He will be with us and never leave us. And JUST like He did with Moses, the Lord will be with us always, guiding and directing every step of the way. He gave Moses a way, He gave Moses the words to say, He gave Moses a helper in his brother Aaron, and He told Moses what to do. And He can do the same for us today. All we have to do is trust that and have complete faith in Him, even when times get hard and we start to question, Why? and Are you sure God?
I am reminded of this these verses:

“…As I was with Moses, so I will be with you all the days of your life.” Joshua 1:5

“…Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

“..Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So I say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

So let the Lord fight for you today. All you have to do is be still. Trust in Him and His promises that He will be with you always, and know that He is in complete control. Go confidently in whatever direction He has called you. Don't put it off, or ask God to let someone else do it when He has called you to do it! Don't be afraid to take a chance, follow God's plan, because he will bless you greatly for it.

Cake Take Two - Say that 10 times!

Here's the cake that I was supposed to have made yesterday but dropped on the floor. What a disaster. Don't worry, the cake is in a good place now. We have febreeze scented garbage can bags so I'd like to think that's a good final resting place for a cake. Also, I found a new free photo editing site that I really like. Its called FotoFlexer. Check it out if you are into that sort of thing. And the pictures for my recipes are edited with a "Retro" effect that I am liking. I found this recipe in the Country Special edition of People Magazine.
So here we go!
Here is what you need:

Devil's food cake, eggs, cocoa powder, vegetable oil, powdered sugar, whipped cream (if you want to substitute instead of all the whipping cream), heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and a Hershey's bar with almonds.

Start with the devil's food cake mix

Add the eggs...

And the water.

Then the vegetable oil. I hope those eggs can swim.

Cocoa powder and vanilla extract and mix all together for 2 minutes.
Flour and grease to 9' baking pans. Or make it easier for yourself and use some non-stick spray.

Evenly divide the batter between the baking pans. And cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then take them out and let them cool completely on wire racks. While you are waiting for them to cool you can start on the icing!

Start with your heavy whipping cream. (You can use some "whipped topping" here instead of the heavy whipping cream). If you like to be lame and skinny. I was sort of lame because I used half heavy whipping cream, and half "whipped topping." It would have turned out better had I used all of the heavy whipping cream. Go figure.

And then add the powdered sugar. EXPLOSION WARNING. Powdered sugar loves to shoot off a 4th of July fireworks display in your face. Maybe not as bad with one of those fancy mixers, but I do not have one of those so it really likes to go everywhere when mixing.

Add in the vanilla extract. Mmm...
Mix all together until it forms soft peaks. Which is this:


Next, chop up the chocolate bar. Fold into the icing. And when the cake has chilled in the refrigerator for one hour, go ahead and ice that bad boy.

And enjoy! Also enjoy a nice long run afterwards because this thing is not cheap on the calories!

Recipe: Chocolate Celebration Cake
Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz.) package devil's food cake mix
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup powedered sugar
4 (1.45 oz.) milk chocolate bars with almonds, chopped and divided
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two (9-in.) cake pans. Combine first 5 ingredients and 1 tsp. of vanilla in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer at low speed until ingredients are moistened. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Beat mixture at medium speed 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans.
2. Bake 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire rakcs. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
3. Beat whipping cream, powedered sugar and remaining vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold chopped chocolate bars into frosting. Spread mixture between layers and on top and sides of cake. Store in refrigerator.

Verse of the day: "For the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is His name!" Luke 1:49

Heaven is For Real, But My Cake Is Not.

I enjoyed a quick little beach trip over the weekend and it was much needed. A little escape from NCLEX worries and the dreaded job search. When I'm at the beach, I like to try and read a book. This time I read this little jewel:

Heaven is for real. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. I don't want to give away the good parts but it is about a little boy who was near death and while on the operating table, spent some time in heaven. Yeah, yeah I know what you are thinking. Yeah right, That's not possible, and there's NO way I believe it, but you HAVE to read it. This little boy describes things that are backed with scripture that no ordinary 4 year old boy would just know. I have no doubt about this little boy's experience and what all he says gives me chills just thinking about it. It also got me seriously thinking about Heaven and eternity. This book gives me so much reassurance that I can fearlessly face death one day, knowing what is in store. Heaven is a place of perfect happiness and eternal communion with God that we as Christians who know Jesus as our personal Savior are promised. Here are some quotes about the book:

"You will be moved by the honest, simple, childlike accounts of a little boy who has been to heaven. It's compelling and convincing. Its a book you should read. If you're ready to go to heaven, this book will inspire you. If you're not ready for heaven, allow a child to lead you. Like Colton says, "Heaven Is For Real." -Don Piper (Speaker and Author, 90 Minutes in Heaven)

"A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe." -Ron Hall (Coauthor, Same Kind of Different As Me)

"Colton's story could have been in the New Testament - but God has chosen to speak to us in this twenty-first century through the unblemished eyes of a child, revealing some of the mysteries of heaven. The writing is compelling and the truth astonishing, creating a hunger for more." -Jo Anne Lyon (General Superintendent, The Wesleyan Church)

PLEASE read it! Its worth it. And when you do, you will understand this picture, and it will mean as much to you as it does me.

Prince of Peace by Akiane Kramarik

Also, as far as "Tasty Tuesday" goes.... I had the best looking cake I was making. Made it through the recipe and on the way to the refrigerator to let them chill I dropped them both on the ground and ruined them. Soooo, that recipe will have to wait until tomorrow, or whenever I get around to re-making them. They looked so good too. So I think its a better idea to do away with "Tasty Tuesday" and just leave it at "Whenever I have time and don't drop things Day" :)

Verse of the day: (WHAT timing!)"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

"Tasty Tuesday" Sort of...

I had the idea of sharing recipes every Tuesday for something I'd like to call "Tasty Tuesday." But since I didn't get it yesterday, and I cooked dinner tonight, today is going to be the first Tasty Tuesday, a day late.

I wanted to start out with a recipe that is so simple, ANYONE can do it. I know I have some friends that don't like to cook or aren't very good at cooking, but even they can make this and not screw it up! This will be one best decisions you will ever make. Step away from the sauce isle, put that jar of "spaghetti sauce" down, and don't you ever pick it up again. If you still use the tomato sauce that is in a jar that you got from the grocery store, shame on you! The sauce I'm about to share with you will change your tomato sauce life. This is a semi-homemade tomato sauce recipe that you can use with anything from spaghetti to eggplant parmesan (one moment...eggplant parmesan, yumm. Sorry that was distracting), to anything that calls for tomato sauce. Semi-homemade meaning I did not use 20 fresh grown tomatoes, parsley, and basil that I grew in the back yard garden. These are simple ingredients that you can get from the grocery store BESIDES that jar of tomato sauce (ICK), and make your own little homemade tomato sauce.

Start out by gathering everything you need:

Two cans of diced tomatoes, two cans of tomato sauce, one can of tomato paste, one onion, one clove of garlic, parsley, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper, sugar (that's the pink cup)

Next, chop that onion up real nice. You can use the whole onion or just a half, depending your feelings for onions. For me, we had a worldwind romance today, so I used the whole one.

Now pour some of the olive oil into your saucepan and let it heat up, not too hot because you don't want to burn your onions. Be nice to the onions, they haven't done anything to you and are only here to help flavor the sauce.

Next chop up your garlic, but don't put it in at the same time as you put in the onions. The garlic doesn't take as long to cook and it might burn. Salt and pepper them, and cook the onions until they become translucent. When they start getting close to being cooked, you have permission to add the garlic.

*If cooking spaghetti, now would be the time to add your meat and brown it with the onions*

For the tomatoes, start with the two cans of diced tomatoes. If you like your sauce thin and without so many tomato chunks, run them through a food processor, which is what I do. I don't prefer big chunky tomatoes.

Next comes the two cans of tomato sauce.

Pour slow, it likes to splash. As evidence by my white shirt I was wearing, which now looks like a kindergartner after lunch time.
Add the tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water (You can use the tomato sauce can and fill it with water and that is just the right amont.) Stir everything together.

Next comes the seasonings. Parsley and basil. Always better freshly chopped but not everyone keeps a fresh supply, so you can use the store bought kind. About a handful for each.

Now prepare yourself, for the most important ingredient of them all: SUGAR. Yes, sugar. The sugar helps reduce the acid of the tomatoes and if you leave it out you will be mad and think I am a terrible cook. I don't want you to think that after just the first recipe so please don't forget the sugar!

Now bring everything up to boil, then put on low and let simmer. The longer it simmers, the better it is, but if you are in a hurry, at least 15 minutes.

I made spaghetti tonight, so that is what I used the sauce for and this is the finished product:

PLEASE don't ever use that silly ole jar of "Spaghetti sauce" again! You now have no excuse because I just showed you how to do it! Enjoy!

Recipe for those who collect:
Semi-Homemade Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons basil
2 tablespoons sugar
Olive oil
1/2 cup of water
1 Onion
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Chop one whole, or half onion. Pour just enough olive oil to spread around to cover the bottom of the saucepan. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until translucent. Add garlic. For thinner sauce, run 2 cans of diced tomatoes through a food processor. Pour 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 cans tomato sauce, 1 can of tomato paste. Add 1/2 cup (or size of tomato sauce can) of water and stir. Add parsley, basil, and sugar (to taste). Bring to boil, then simmer on low for at least 15 minutes, best at 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Verse of the day: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17