It's whats for dinner......

Herb Crusted Pork Chops

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

4 boneless pork chops, fat trimmed

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced(I didn't have an parsley so I just left this out)

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Rub mustard evenly over pork chops.  Combine panko, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper in a large bowl and dredge pork chops in panko mixture.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil to pan and swirl to coat.  Add pork chops, saute for 2 minutes or until golden brown.  Turn pork over and place skillet in oven for about 8 minutes or until pork reaches 145 degrees in the center. 

From the blog of http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com

Garlic Oven Fries

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium red potatoes (2 1/2 to 3 inch), each cut in 8 wedges
• 2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 500°F. Spray a metal pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, toss potatoes with oil to coat. Sprinkle with basil and garlic salt. Arrange in single layer in baking pan.

2. Bake uncovered 15 to 18 minutes, stirring once, until potatoes are tender but crisp on outside.

**Red potatoes have a slightly waxy texture and retain their shape better when cooked than russet potatoes do.

This recipe is from my friend Carlee's blog! http://carleejoy.blogspot.com

Happy Fall from the Crowders!

Hello October

Time if flying by. Can you believe that Christmas is just 12 weeks away? This excites me! 

Ethan and I have successfully made it to fall break at Southern. Ethan is working extremely hard right now and he is probably at the hardest part of the semester. He is taking 4 classes and one of them is Greek. This is tough and I am so proud of how hard he is pushing himself. He stays up late and wakes up early working on homework and writing papers. He is very diligent. He is enjoying his classes(well maybe not greek...haha) and he likes all of his professors. At this point in the semesters things are busy so we make it a point to have date nights and I also enjoy studying with him at the library.

 I am really enjoying my SWI class. It is pushing me and challenging me in my walk with Christ and I have been the opportunity to sit under the leadership of Maria Moore. Her husband is Russell Moore and he is the President of The School of Theology at Southern. I have loved spending time with her and the other 7 girls in my small group. 

We are excited because we are getting some visitors in about 6 weeks. Some of my family will be driving up to spend a long weekend with us! I am counting down the days :)

We have begun making our plans for Christmas. We are thrilled that we get to go home and see all of our family. There is nothing like being home for Christmas!

Prayer request: Ethan is looking for a new job. There has been some issues with flexibility at his current job and that simply does not work with his school schedule and his need to take as many classes as possible in order to finish in a timely manor. Please pray with us as we are trying to trust in the Lord and his timing. He is in control. He is faithful. He is always good and gracious.

The weather is beginning to cool down here and I have had my fall decorations out for a few weeks now!

I have been asking Ethan for a pumpkin for weeks now and the other night he came home with these little guys. I love them!

 Our house is currently filled with the wonderful smell of Apple Cider. Thank you Yankee Candle.

Our God has been so faithful to Ethan and I. He never ceases to amazing me and His Gospel continues to mold my heart. I am thankful that as the seasons change I see His purpose for the different seasons in our life. He is our creator and He knows what is best for us. He is the glorious Christ!

Fall is upon us!

Last night Southern hosted their annual fall festival. This years theme was Buffalo Bill's Wide West. It was amazing! The seminary went all out. There was all kinds of amazing food and activities to partake in. They even had a western show! Here are some pictures from last night!

Ashley and I!

They had wagons and hayrides! Ashley and I were extremely excited ride the wagon....Ethan and Brian weren't to trilled at first but I think they secretly enjoyed it :)

We loved our wagon ride!

They also had a stagecoach! The line was far to long to ride it though.

My new friend!

Today we got a nice cool front and it officially feels like fall here! I pulled out my fall decor and we bought a new Apple Cider candle! 

Tonight we went and tired out a new pizza place that just opened and it was great! We loved it. These next two pictures make my smile. I am so thankful for Ethan. He makes life so much fun! I absolutely love being his wife.

Apryl's visit to Louisville!

We loved our time with Apryl this past weekend! She flew in on Friday afternoon and was with us until Monday afternoon. It was her first time to Louisville and her first time seeing Southern! She is one of the easiest house guests ever! She is so chill and it was nice to just relax! Here are some pictures from our weekend! 

Right after picking Apryl up from the airport

No trip to Louisville is complete without a trip to Chuy's

We went bowling on Saturday night and I won both games :)

Go Apryl go!

Ethan's turn!

Another must do when you come to Louisville is trying Comfy Cow ice cream!

 On Sunday we took Apryl to church with us and then later that night we roasted marshmallows over the stovetop :) They were really good!

On Monday we took Apryl to see our good friend Kendall! Apryl requested to hang out with Kendall and meet her kiddo's so we were excited that it worked out for us to see each other!

We also grilled out with our friends Brian and Ashley and enjoyed our last little bit of time with Apryl on the way to the airport.

We really loved our time with Apryl! She is such a great big sister and has such a sweet spirit and a servants heart! 

We love you Apryl!

These are a few of my favorite things....

Date night with this handsome fella!

Hanging out with sweet friends

Anything Orange and Blue....Go Gators!

Surprise flowers from Ethan!

Ethan has successfully completed week two of this semester and things are already crazy busy. I started my Seminary Wives class for this semester and already love it! Ethan is working really hard to manage all of his course work and I am really proud of him! This is my favorite time of year. I love all of the fun events that happen between now and Christmas! So many exciting things!

My sister Apryl is coming to visit us labor day weekend and we cannot wait! I love visitors! This will be her first time to Louisville so we are excited to show her around campus and around the city! I will post pictures of our adventures shortly after her visit!

Summer Lovin'

Can you believe it is August 1st? Ethan starts classes back in 2 and a half weeks. Here are a few photos to recap the past few weeks!

Ethan and I gladly partook in Dress like a cow and get free Chick-fil-a day! We love Chick-fil-a and will do almost anything for free food!

 Ethan doesn't get alot of Saturday mornings off so 2 weeks back when he was off we took full advantage of it! We went to breakfast at this fabulous breakfast/brunch place here in Louisville! Here is a picture of me with my (to die for) stuffed french toast! 

My most recent do it yourself project was a headboard. We got the idea from our friends in North Carolina and it was surprisingly easy! I absolutely love the way it turned it and I think it makes a big difference in our bedroom. Here is the before and after picture!

Our most recent investment was a grill. Ethan was really excited about this buy. We love it and have used it several times since we purchased it. It nice because Ethan is helping alot more with dinner :)

Last week I was a Vacation Bible School volunteer. The apartment complex that we live in hosts one every summer and one of m friends asked me to help with arts and crafts. I really loved meeting so many new people. We had about 60 kids. I am so thankful that these sweet kids were loved on and that they also heard the Gospel!

Last weekend we grilled out with the Hinton's and the Mathew's and my favorite part was loving on Miss Story! She is 8 weeks old and getting so big! 

That's all for now folks! Hope you are enjoying your summer!

A time to reflect

July 12th 2011. The day we began our lives in Louisville. Tomorrow makes one year in Louisville! I honestly cannot believe how quickly the year has gone. I have spent some time reflecting over this past year the last few weeks and the one thing I keep going back to is God's faithfulness in our lives. I wanted to take a few minutes to share what God's faithfulness has looked like for us over this past year.

Jobs. When we arrived in Louisville we had no jobs and just enough money to get us started. God quickly provided me with a full time job that I have held over this last year and that I enjoy. Not long after I began working Ethan got a part time job. God is faithful.

Our church home. We began attending Highview within a few weeks of arriving in Louisville and really enjoyed it. We struggled to get plugged in for the first several months, but in January Ethan began an internship under the Education paster at a different campus and so we moved to that campus to get involved there. We simply love it. Highview has several campuses which are all great, but we just feel so much more at home at campus we now attend. I have gotten plugged in with choir and praise team. We love our Sunday school class. Ethan has been given many opportunities to teach in different settings and he really enjoyed the internship. God is faithful.

Friends. Thankfully we had several established friendships with people in Louisville and if it would not have been for those we would have felt lost. It was a lot harder to make friends then we at first expected. Most everyone in well adapted to their lifestyle and it was hard to break in. The Lord graciously blessed us with new friends who we have grown so close to. They challenge us and encourage us. God is faithful.

Homesick. This has been by far been the most difficult part of this past year. I cannot tell you how much we miss our families. My heart breaks at the thought of missing out on what is going on back home and if it is brought up in conversation you will most likely see tears in my eyes. I have realized now more than ever just how important family is and how much we love our families. Ethan and I would not be who we are or where we are if it where not for them. It's still hard. I think it will always be hard. Being homesick for my family constantly reminds me that this earth is not my eternal home and that homesickness ultimately points me to be homesick for my heavenly home. God is faithful.

Financially. God has provided in this area in an extremely vivid way. We live pay check to pay check yet because of God's grace on our lives we do not go without the things we need. Yes, we make sacrifices, but ones that are well worth it. We successfully made it through our first year of seminary debt free. This was a huge goal of ours. God is faithful.

Our marriage. I am so thankful for how the Lord has grown our marriage. He has pushed us to our limits, driving us to lean fully on Him, and reminding us that He must always be the center of our lives. Constantly reminding us that Christ's love for His church is a picture of marriage. What a blessing marriage is and oh how it sanctifies us! My love, trust, dependance and gratefulness for Ethan has grown so much and for this I am extremely thankful. God is faithful.

Spiritually. Christ has been teaching me many different things, but the thing that He is teaching me the most is contentment. I have always struggled in this area and know that to an extant I will until Christ's return. However, I am slowly learning how to place my contentment in Christ. He is everything I need. Life, breath, peace, joy, humility, thankfulness and so much more. My contentment must be in Him. God is faithful.

I am thankful for all that I have learned over this past year and as Ethan and I plan for the year ahead I have high expectations for what the Lord is going to do and show us. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be here and for training that both Ethan and I are receiving.


God is so very faithful and for this we must praise Him!