Happy Birthday, Chase!

Happy 23rd Birthday to the most wonderful husband in the world!

Just a few reasons I love you:

• You challenge me and don't ever let me stay complacent in my walk with Christ.
• Your passion for life, the Lord, learning, photography, loving, travel & people.(lots of L's)
• You encourage me to face fears: skydiving, 24+ hour flights, moving hours away from family, cooking chinese food, etc :)
• You put up with this

( and this )

• You love me so well & continue to pursue me even when I'm a brat.
  
• You support my endeavors and show me how to make them more gospel centered.
  
• You make me eat weird stuff...or at least try it (Malaysia was a great place for that)
• Your loving & giving heart
  
• Your capability to be silly with me
  
• 

You're the best. I love you :) Happy birthday.

Post Thanksgiving Wrap Up

Well...The Davis' had such a wonderful Thanksgiving in Texas! It was definitely a whirlwind - we didn't ever stop - but it was a blast and we enjoyed every second of it! (no pictures to show - i'll be better about that for Christmas!)

Highlights:
-Two thanksgiving meals. yes, that's right. two. (in one day)

-Black Friday shopping with my mom. We weren't crazies that got up at 5 am to be the first ones at any store -- but just semi-crazies who hit the stores early to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

-Lunch with Jarratt & Aunt Janet! I haven't seen my Jarratt in 6 months. For those of you who don't know - Jarratt and I are cousins that are the same age and have grown up together and hit every milestone together. birthdays, awkward teenage years (except that punk never had to get braces), high school graduation (with our kitty cakes), off to A&M, etc. You get the idea. We haven't seen each other in 6 months because every time i came home this summer, he had something else going on. Super frustrating but an hour at Chick-Fil-A brought us back. haha

-Chase's birthday family dinner at Mia's that Billman got to come to! Margaritas, enchiladas, family & friends. can't get much better than that.

-THE WEATHER. I mean, really. Sunny & 75° every.stinkin'.day. Loved every second of it. Now I'm back to the frozen tundra that is Gunnison, Colorado. Don't worry, that's what this is for...

-30+hours in the car with my husband. Between the 14 hour drive to Texas and commuting back and forth between Celina and Dallas, we had lots of quality time & conversation...and I'm so thankful for it...not to mention our dance parties to MGMT & M.I.A.

that's all folks :) i've got a to-do list's butt to kick.

love.

I know it's not even thanksgiving yet....

...but the Oswald's would love to wish you a Merry Christmas!

Owl Family - The Oswald's
Now available in the oh, sweet joy etsy shop!

**********

In other news : I mailed and won my first giveaway ever today! (well, technically I won last week but didn't see it until today!) Congratulations, Kate for winning Ollie the Owl.

I won a $50 gift certificate to the shop of oh, so talented Lisa Leonard, which i am THRILLED about. I won it through (the adorable) cakies blog

HOORAY!

love.

What to Eat Wednesday :)

This recipe is probably old news but its my absolute favorite salad (that is super easy, with tons of variation!). I'm changing the recipe to how I made it last night because it was the best. This was plenty for Chase and I, with leftovers for lunch today! Enjoy :)

Oriental Chicken Salad

SALAD
Half a head of the purple cabbage (is it called a head? haha) chopped, as for slaw
Half a bag of mixed julienned carrots & green cabbage.
One pack of chicken flavored Ramen noodles (don't cook them!), broken up
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
3-4 sticks of celery chopped into thin slices
One bunch of green onions, chopped (YUM)
2 Chicken Breasts Grilled and cut into bite-sized pieces

DRESSING
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
flavor packet from ramen noodles

Directions
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk & Pour desired amount of dressing (I never use all of it...it gets too greasy)
Stir all ingredients & dressing well
Chill in Refrigerator. It tastes best when it has chilled for a few hours.

Variations:
-you can also use mandarin oranges, almonds, broccoli.
-I always either cook some chicken, chop & put it in there before chilling or just put it on the side right before.
-I think chow mein noodles (the crunchy ones) would also be good in it

Love.

a lesson gladly learned

if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
isaiah 58:10

This verse has been on my heart for the past few months and I couldn't figure out why. I've done some heart searching and the Lord really called me out on my selfishness.

SO with that being said...I am so pumped to say that 20% of all sales for oh, sweet joy will being going to Compassion International (the more money there is...the more kids I'll sponsor) and Love 146.

in other news, check out Heather's blog for an owl giveaway and the story of how all this came to be!

love.

Exciting News!!!

So I've been working all day on a witty blog post. Life interfered and I'm so OK with it.

I randomly went to the Child Style Magazine website (I knew I would be featured in January but not so soon!) and found my owls & a blurb about my new venture: oh, sweet joy.

Here is the link! You should probably comment and say something nice haha (Just kidding but kind of not. )

http://www.childstylemagazine.com/2009/11/“oh-sweet-joy”/

Love. Our God is GOOD.

Thankful

For our women's small group, we are taking turns telling our "story" for the next few weeks. The template, if you will, for this is supposed to be 3 people, 3 places, 3 events that have shaped you or had an impact on your life.

I just sat down to briefly write down some notes so I'm not completely winging it and I came to a few conclusions.

• I have never had a huge, tragic event in my life.
• I have had some incredible people in my life that have impacted who I am and have definitely given me the weird sense of humor that I have developed over the years.
• God truly works all things together for my good. Every mess up, every heartache.
• My life has been so easy compared to most people's it seems. I feel spoiled.
• Family is a common theme on every important event in my life.
  
• My husband is one incredible man. He puts up with all my crap and attitude. :)
• Our God is faithful....
  
• I am so thankful.

I encourage you to make a list of what you are thankful for...maybe even take the time to think about 3 people, places, and events that the Lord has revealed His character through. It really puts the dirty house, busy schedule, and broken vacuum cleaner in perspective.

Love.

What to Eat/Drink Wednesday

I don't have a recipe for ya today, folks. BUT I just made a (non-alcholic) drink that is SO yummy.

One part POM (pomegranate juice. so good)
Two Parts Sierra Mist/Fresca/whatever citrus drink you can find cheapest
Splash of pineapple juice.

Serve over ice and drink a few. You won't be able to stop after one.

Love.

p.s. cute new ivory owls in my etsy shop. ( ohsweetjoy.etsy.com ) i'm working on ornaments. get pumped.

Happy Tuesday. Have some pie.

I mean, this is just brilliant. I love etsy for the fact that it distracts me from facebook and boosts my creativity. Now, I'm not getting into the fake food business but i couldn't resist from posting this considering we are mere weeks away from thanksgiving! (whoop)

Visit beckym.etsy.com for more of her creativity. If you are looking for a fun Christmas gift for a cute kiddo who loves to be in the kitchen with mom, I would recommend her stuff. Sheer genius.
I mean, how realistic is THAT pumpkin pie?! awesome :)

Happy Tuesday.

Love.