I love Lakeland.

As a teenager, which is pretty normal, I couldn't wait to get out of this city! I thought there was never anything fun to do and I was always soooo bored. 

But now, as an adult, wife, and mother, I love Lakeland! It is such a great mix between a big city and a small town.  And while yes, the ever increasing traffic is giving my patience a run for the money, there are so many things I love about it.  I have lived in other states so I know what else is out there, and nothing has felt like home quite like here.    

I LOVE that almost anywhere I go, I run into someone who I know.  

I LOVE that we have events like First Friday, Pics on the Promenade, and a great Christmas Parade where the attraction is more the fellowship beforehand than the actual parade.

I LOVE that I have a group of friends who we have grown up together and now are having babies together.

I LOVE that my husband is a pastor at the church where we have attending almost our entire lives and now, where my children are growing and learning.

I LOVE that I live in central Florida and the beach is an hour in either direction.  

I LOVE that the weather is beautiful, and while this summer promises to be scorching hot, we don't have to shovel several feet of snow.  Ever.

Most of all, I LOVE that I am growing my family surrounded by a great community.  A "village", if you will, full of church family, MOPS family, friends of all ages, and an ever changing flow of people God puts in our path to serve every day.

I don't know why I felt the need to write about this, but if you are a part of my Lakeland family, or anyone we have had the privilege of crossing paths with, know that we love you and are so glad to have you as a part of our life.  

thankful,

bc

(in)spired deals review and giveaway!

There are a lot of things my house "says" to me when walk in the door. A lot of the things I really don't want to hear.
For instance:

"Hey, you didn't put up the laundry"
"Look, the sink is filled with dishes"
"Wow, Madi left her toys out again"

But that's ok. I have realized my house is never going to be perfectly spotless and there will always be laundry waiting for me. And I am ok with the toys everywhere because before I know it, my children will be too old for them.

So I choose to overlook the things my house says that I don't want to hear. Because when I walk into my home, I see love, fun, laughter, joy, and most of all, evidence that Jesus Christ is at the heart of our home. I love putting little touches of Jesus throughout each room, and when I saw this wall art on one of my favorite blogs a while ago, it went on my wish list immediately.

Look how beautiful this wall art from Urban Soul is -

*image courtesy of Dayspring

It looks black in the picture but when you look up close at the finish it has bronzy texture across it. The art can either stand alone or be hung on the wall. It's so awesome! I cannot wait to find the perfect place to put it and the perfect family picture to fill the frame. To see the rest of the Urban Soul collection go here. There are a few more that I want. (hint hint) :)


Because I love you and because Dayspring is awesome, they are offering you a giveaway! The winner will receive a $20 gift card code to go shopping at the Dayspring Online Store.

And even MORE! Everyone can use the code MAY20 at check out to receive 20% off your order during the month of May! :)


To enter is easy. You can do one or all of the following. Of course, the more ways you enter, the better your chance of winning!

1. Comment on this post and tell me what you would get from the Dayspring store if you were to win this giveaway.

2. Facebook about this giveaway and leave a comment letting me know you did it. Sample FB post, I entered to win a $20 giveaway from Dayspring and you should too! http://bit.ly/kkmQc6

3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment letting me know you did it. Please include @mybfjesus in your tweet. Sample: I entered to win a $20 giveaway from Dayspring and @mybfjesus. You should too! http://bit.ly/kkmQc6

4. Subscribe to my blog and then leave a post saying you did it! (or if you already do, tell me that too!)

Good Luck to you all! The giveaway ends Tuesday, May 24th at midnight, so enter quickly and tell your friends!

Much Love,
bc





PS- Shipping charges will still apply to your order. The code is one time use and will expire August 31, 2011.

PPS- The FTC wants me to tell you that Dayspring gave me this free item for me to review and also provided the giveaway for you lovely readers. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Things I Love About Hilton Head Island

Ahhh. This last week of vacation was heavenly. Relaxing on a beach in South Carolina with my family was exactly what I needed.

It was our first visit to Hilton Head Island and we enjoyed it so much, I couldn't wait to share with you. Its a great, family-friendly vacation spot.

1. The beaches are beautiful and HUGE! The beaches at HHI are some of the most unique I have ever seen. In the mornings, the tide is far out leaving almost 600 feet of beach and little "islands" surrounded by shallow water where you can find starfish and sand dollars aplenty. I read in some magazine that the tide comes in 6-8 feet every hour, so by the late afternoon the beach is smaller and has lost the hard packed sand leaving just the fluffy white.

2. EVERYONE rides bicycles. Its one of the coolest things I've seen! All along the beach, down the roads, between the resorts, and everywhere in between you will see tons of people riding bicycles. You see bicycle rental shops scattered everywhere. On Wednesday we rented bicycles for the day and rode down the beach for about a mile and back to our resort. It was awesome! (Note to self - make sure your return trip is not into the 10 mph wind, it makes for a strenuous workout)

3. Although highly developed, the city has maintained tall trees and controlled landscaping so you can't see it all. Surrounding all the resorts, hotels, and golf courses are tall trees and lush plant life that disguise the expansive buildings. The result is a beautiful island that looks almost isolated in appearance but peeking through the trees you see signs of city life. As far as we could tell, the city has a building code that requires the restaurants and shops to keep their paint colors muted and natural and if you don't know what you are looking for, you would pass right by your destination and not know its there!

4. The Panera Bread has a drive-thru! This is really exciting to me (I know, I'm weird), but I have always wished our Panera had a drive thru, and then here, at HHI, it did! It was great to send Josh for a quick breakfast and he didn't have to worry about getting out. I know, its the small things in life.

5. Our hotel was the Hilton Oceanside Resort, check out their website here. It is an awesome place to take a family, but at the same time, if you are kid-free, you won't be bothered by screaming children. :) They have two pools, one just for adults and one for families, and the hot tubs are restricted to adults 18 and up. There is a playground, a fire pit, a ping-pong table, an upscale restaurant, and tons of other things we didn't get a chance to visit. Oh, and did I mention the pools are heated? What an added bonus!

6. The weather was great! It was pretty chilly in the mornings, but by noon it was warm enough to be on the beach and then hit the pool.

7. The resorts are grouped into "plantations" or clusters and each section has a guard gate where you have to check in before proceeding to your designated area. This is terrific because the public beaches are FAR away from you and not just anyone can have access to the beaches around you. We were worried there would be a lot of beach traffic because it was the beginning of spring break, but because of the controlled access, there were no problems.

8. I am throwing this one in for my husband - there are golf courses every where. I saw one designed by Trent Jones and a couple other notable people. So, if you or your spouse are into golf, you've hit the jackpot.

9. There is an outlet mall nearby! (soon to be two) There is a Tangier Outlet just down the road from the beaches and they are opening a second branch right next door. So, when you are taking a break from the beach, you can shop your heart out.

10. Last but not least, there are tons of fun things to do. You can play putt putt, go the the family fun center, rent a movie, take a boat tour, go fishing, ride bikes, hike a nature trail, play on the beach, and tons of other things we couldn't even get to.

So, if you are looking for a vacation spot, check out this website to see if Hilton Head Island is for you. We will definitely be going back!

Headed back to the real world,
bc

Tasty Thursdays: Pizza Burgers!

This recipe is another favorite of mine from the Biggest Loser recipe collection. I love it so much. Its great when you really want a hamburger with all the fixings, but not the calories.

What you need:

1 lb 96% lean ground beef
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
3 ounces low-fat mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1/3 cup low-sugar or low-fat marinara sauce
4 whole grain/wheat hamburger buns

What to do:

Preheat a grill to high.
In a large bowl mix beef, spices, and salt until well-combined. Divide mix into four equal portions and shape into balls. Press each into a patty that is about 1/2" larger than the diameter of the buns.
Grill burgers for about 2 minutes per side for medium rare, or until desired doneness. Do not smash with a spatula. About 1 minute before they are done, place cheese on top and let it melt.
Meanwhile, put sauce into a microwave safe bowl and warm on low for about 30-60 seconds until hot. Place bun halves (cut side down), on an upper grill rack or away from direct flame until toasted, about 20 seconds.
Place each bun bottom on a serving plate, toasted side up. Place burgers on top of the bottom bun. Spread 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce on each bun top, flip onto the patties and serve.

Makes 4 servings.


I hope you and your family enjoy this twist on a traditional burger.
Bon appétit!

bc

I'm So Blessed

Today I have been thinking about how blessed I am. So many times I feel down and forget to be thankful, but today, I recognize how blessed I am and how awesome my life is.

My Blessings:

1) My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

2) My incredible husband. He works so hard to take care of our family. And when I am tired and overworked, he washes dishes, does laundry, and vacuums. Now THAT is my kind of man. :)

3) My beautiful daughter, Madi. She is the light of our lives and brings us joy every day. There is nothing better than an unprompted I love you.

4) My awesome family and my incredible friends. Life wouldn't be nearly as full and joyful without them.

5) A fantastic church home and church family. It is a beautiful thing to know that I can fellowship with other believers every week.

6) A wonderful home to call our own. With our life the past couple of years, this has become such as special thing. I won't take it for granted ever.


There are so many more things I could list, but these are definitely my tops. I just wanted to take a few minutes and share how awesome my life is. Regardless of how little money we might have, how busy life gets, or how my husband/child may drive me crazy (haha), my life is so full and God is so good.

I hope you can say the same!
Much love,
bc

Vacation - Part 2

So, to continue on our vacation photo journal, the next day we went apple picking. It was a ton of fun. The weather was perfect and we had a great day as a family.

We lucked out on the day we went to the apple orchard. There was a preschool field trip going on at the same time, so Madi got a few perks. For one, she got to milk a cow!


And they also had a petting zoo open, so she could see a calf, goats, sheep, and even a baby chick up close.

(SO PRECIOUS!)

The first orchard didn't have "you pick" open during the week so we had to drive down the road to the next one so we could pick our own. It was great. Madi loved to "twist and turn" the apples off the tree. And Daddy enjoyed helping her get the ones off of the top.




We came home with quite the haul of apples and this new gadget, which has become my new best apple friend. It makes preparing anything with apples a million times easier. And it also fun for Madi (and me!) to use.



And it was incredibly helpful when it came to making an apple pie and apple sauce. It is an apple peeler, corer, and slicer. And you can interchange them. So it can core and peel, core only, peel only, core and slice, or core, peel, and slice. Its pretty awesome. And I will show you the apple pie I made in the next post. And lets just say that this baby made peeling and slicing the 14 apples needed a WHOLE lot easier than the last time when I had to do all that with just a knife.

If you are interested, you can find one here. :)

Happy Halloween!