NEW SITE

Check out the NEW site:

www.thestippichs.com/lindsay

The 'Infamous' Foyer

Well, here it is. The first peek into our new home... oooo..ahhhh...

Ok, I cannot lie. I cannot stand the foyer. There.... I said it. And yes, I do feel a little better.

It's just such an awkward space. We live in a cluster house, so things are a bit smaller than your usual "house". But we still love it here... it's our first place!

So we've finally tackled our little space in the foyer. Here is the before and after.

                                                               (before... boringggg....)

                                                        (after... so cool and hipster!)

Ok, so that big 'S' in the middle frame, I am gonna change that out when I make a trip to kinkos and get something that looks similar to the 'P' in this blog... (who i have a mild obsession with and steal all their ideas). I think it's the 8th picture down, you'll see it on the wall if you look reeeeeeally close. like freakishly close. Make sure you grab your glasses, or put those contacts in!

By the way, there is a trick to hanging frames! What you need to do, is get some big cardboard paper (I just used mine that came with the frames) and mark on the paper, where you are going to put the nail. Then go ahead and put it where you want it on the wall and start nailing. It's WAY easier, and Paul was ALL ABOUT this idea since he hates "with a passion" as he puts it, hanging.

Also, I got my frames from Michaels, each were 40% off, so I only ended up paying 50$ or something like that. And all the stuff in the frames? Well, I just printed a pretty 'L' and 'P', for Lindsay and Paul, an 'S' in the middle for Stippich, and the other frames have different memories in them. A fun, and unique wall that nobody else will ever have. I love that.

Another tip that I've been learning... USE THINGS FROM AROUND YOUR OWN HOME. I used that table runner from my dining table, and I pulled different accessories from around the house.

back to the blogging world

I am back. I know, I know.... 4 months later or something ridiculous like that. And I am going to start blogging about something a little bit different. And that is... redecorating our first house!

I am super excited, we have a list of projects to do over the next couple months, and over the next few years! It's going to be awesome. Check back for some how to do's and some before and after pictures!

My Uncle Mark's bbq ribs

do you want the easiest recipe in the world? Something so easy and great you're guests will think you are a real chef??

CHECK.


THIS.


OUT!!!

Infact, I can even tell you off the top of my head, just from making it ONCE.

Uncle Mark's BBQ Ribs

(YUMM... maybe I should make this tonight. Oh wait... it takes 5 hours...)




--> Preheat oven to 275 degrees, lay ribs on a baking sheet after you salt and pepper both sides.  Cover with foil and bake for four hours. Uncover, pour bbq sauce ALL OVER THEM, and bake uncovered for 1 hour longer. Serve with extra bbq sauce!


(And for sides, I used fresh broccoli, and boxed macaroni and cheese :) )

charity water

Have you heard about charity water? I just found out about it through one of our friends, who is wanting people to donate money to this, instead of getting him presents.


love. this. idea.



The water that kids and families all over the world are drinking is muddy and contaminated. Completely unacceptable.

If you want to donate, go to Eugene's charity water. Check it out.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup, perfect for a night like this!

So, I am not actually making this tonight, but I had to talk about it. I made this recipe for a few friends, found it out of a magazine, and it. was. a. hit.
(delicious, easy, and nutritious... the top 3 things you look for in a recipe!)
OH, and I used the pastries for the pot pie, and I definitely recommend it.

Chicken Potpie Soup Recipe

By Woman's Day Kitchen from Woman's Day | November 1, 2010

This comforting classic never loses its luster, especially when it’s spun into a soup, with chicken thighs, green beans, leek, carrots, celery and parsnip in a thyme-infused chicken broth, served with puff pastry rectangles.

• Active Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 leek, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 medium parsnip, diced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1⁄2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1⁄2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 1⁄4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-oz box of 2), thawed as package directs
• 4 oz fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-in. pieces

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.

2. Melt butter in a 5-qt pot. Add leek, carrots, parsnips and celery. Saute 5 minutes or until softened slightly. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute.

3. Stir in broth. Add chicken, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

4. Meanwhile, unfold puff pastry on a cutting board. Cut along folds in dough and then quarter crosswise to make 12 rectangles. Place rectangles on ungreased baking sheet.

5. Bake 12 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Let cool.

6. Remove cooked chicken to a plate to cool slightly. Add green beans to simmering soup; cook 5 minutes or until tender. Remove soup from heat.

7. As the green beans cook, shred chicken with fingers or two forks. Add to soup. Top with puff pastry or serve it on the side.

ENJOY and stay warm and safe. No school again for tomorrow, will we have school Wednesday????

Merry Christmas!

What a special FIRST Christmas for Paul and I. A day we will never forget. Our first Christmas with snow. (never thought it could happen!)

(yes, we had to have one of these cheesy kissy ones!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful day filled with blessings and joy!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!!

Smoky Chicken Chili

As Christmas gets closer, I find myself getting a little sad. I mean, I love Christmas so much, that I despise the day after. It's the worst feeling in the world. It goes from extreme happiness to extreme sadness. Am I the only one? Is this crazy or what?

On my happier Christmas note, I am ready to make this wonderful recipe for Christmas dinner. I had it at my aunt's house on Thanksgiving and it was absolutely delicous. YUMMMMM...

SMOKY CHICKEN CHILI (recipe from Southern Living)

Pick up smoked chicken from your favorite barbecue restaurant to make this dish, or use a barbecue-flavored rotisserie chicken from your local supermarket.Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: Makes 9 cups

Ingredients

• 2  poblano chile peppers, chopped
• 1  large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1  medium-size sweet onion, chopped
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 2  (14 1/2-oz.) cans zesty chili-style diced tomatoes
• 3  cups  shredded or chopped smoked chicken (about 1 lb.)
• 1  (16-oz.) can navy beans
• 1  (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1  (12-oz.) can beer*
• 1  (1.25-oz.) envelope white chicken chili seasoning mix
• Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream, lime wedges, baby corn, sliced black olives, chopped red onion, tortilla chips

Preparation

1. Sauté first 4 ingredients in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in diced tomatoes and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour. Serve with desired toppings.

*1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth may be substituted.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Del Monte Diced Tomatoes Zesty Chili Style and McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning Mix.

3 things.

3 things I need (slash want) right about now.

1. A nice, big ole' cup of hot chocolate.

2. Our new sofa!!! Which we get on Saturday. 

I. can. not. wait.

3. Homemade Christmas sugar cookies all decorated and delicious.

(If you can get me any of these things immediately, I would greatly appresh. )

my heart.

I just had to share a few things that have touched my heart this week.

For those of you that don't know, I work with Kindergarden at Hickory Hills Elementary. It is a district 1 school, which means a lot of them may not be able to afford food, so the school let's them eat breakfast and lunch free. So as you can imagine, there are quite a few kids that may not be as blessed as us. It truly breaks my heart daily to see/hear what some of these kids go through. But boy can they brighten my days too!

As I was walking up to the office the other day, I noticed a girl staring at the tree that we have set up in the front. Now let me tell you, it's pretty... but it ain't that purdy, if you know what I mean. Nothing special at all. But she sure thought so....

I looked at her and whispered "beautiful tree, huh?" She looked at me with the biggest eyes... "I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. .. I just hope one day I can have something this beautiful in my house". My heart broke (of course, I instantly go home begging Paul to give our tree to this family, which he kindly tells me no, but maybe we can buy them one when the sales go on after Christmas) :)

A lot of our kids have never seen Christmas trees, and it's so exciting to get to see their little faces light up around this time of year.

(Another sweet thing that happened) Today when I walked into my class, Ms. Russell had bought my favorite cake (red velvet), had the kids sing happy birthday to me, and had each kid make me a card. They were SOOO excited to share their cards with me they could hardly stand it (aka: had to put a few kids in time-out unfortunately, for pushing and whatnot). I had a few kids they came over and hugged me for so long, I had to literally pull them off with all my might. "Mrs. Stippich, I love you so much and hate when you aren't here." (Heart breaking again). It was so special of them to think of me, and I made sure to tell them that they were my best birthday gift this year. 

(first of all, like how I am creepily poking from behind the card??)

This card was from one of my students. One of the reasons I loved this card (well obviously I love it cause he drew a picture of him and I, DUH) But the other reason is because he couldn't even spell his name at the beginnning of the year, and in the card, ALL by himself he wrote.. "happy birthday Mrs. Stippich. I love you. Have a great day- (and signed his name)" WOW. How awesome is that!?!?!

Hope this brings some joy to your heart, and remember how blessed we are for all we have!

Creatively Christmas

I. am. inspired. Truly inspired people...

First of all love THIS idea from one of my old college aquaintence's blog's. (Really great blog by the way)

And love all of HER ideas for making a fun//cheap//creative//decorative Christmassy home.

I am going to do it. I am going to make my own decorations. I will be creative. I WILL!!!!

So anyways, check their blogs out for some kewl (yes, I really did spell it like that) Christmas ideas..

encouragement & faith

Encouragement is such a wonderful feeling, and it really does keep me going.

At school today I got to hear these encouraging words from some students:

"Mrs. Stippich... thank you so much for teaching me"
"I think you would be a really good dance teacher"

And my favorite... "You're my favorite kind of teacher"... wow. makes my heart melt.

I love encouraging and getting encouraged. If we all help encourage each other and lift each other up, think of how confident and proud we could be :)

This video encourages me to be strong in my faith, and that miracles can happen. You never know what purpose God has for your life. This video is of my Aunt Penny and Uncle Robin.
(I also nannied for their daughter, Meghan's, kids which are shown in the video as well.)

Be Encouraged... ----> click here to see their AMAZING story of faith.

happiness.

I'll tell you one bad thing I'm really good at... when I'm having a hard time, everyone knows. It's something I'm working on... that, and finding happiness in my job. How do you find happiness in a job? Are you suppose to enjoy it all the time? or everyday?

wouldn't it be nice if God just told us exactly what we'd be great at and love. But God knows better than that. My goal is to find happiness in all that I do, what is something that makes you happy?

For me:

1. Living a life for Jesus, knowing that I am not in control (something I still struggle with daily).

2. My husband. Couldn't be more thankful for that relationship.

Those 2 things are something to be happy about daily. What are some things that make you happy?

28 days!

Oh Christmas twee, Oh Christmas twee...

How handsome is my hubs?

My favorite time of year is OFFICIALLY here. I can now listen to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate, sit by our non-existant fire, and... I get to celebrate my first Christmas with my love! Couldn't ask for more. What are you excited about this Christmas?

Here's a recipe I can't wait to try for the Holidays from Southern Living...

Nutty Oatmeal-Chocolate Chunk Cookies (family favorite)


2.5 cups uncooked regular oats
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 or 4 (1.55 ounce) milk chocolate candy bars, chopped
1.5 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Process oats in a blender or food processor until ground.

Beat butter and sugars at meduim speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla; beat until blended.

Combine ground oats, flour, and next 3 ingredients. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate candy bars and pecans.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool... yield: 6 dozen.


Happy Holidays!!

I'm thankful for...

1. Let's state the obvious first. My husband, Family, Jesus Christ, and my Friends. Couldn't do life without any of 'em. (Well maybe some of the family... KIDDING!)

 (Paul singing sweet, sweet music to me I'm sure!)

 (I'd be jealous too of my awesome friends)

(doesn't get much better than family at Thanksgivin'!)

2. my ability to have never cooked in my life, to becoming a professional chef. Okay okay... not "professional" but pretty darn good. I make my own bread now, that's got to count as being a good cook right? I mean, I went to a professional cooking class with mom once...

(I mean... just look at that look on my face. It tells it all..(aka: sheer terror))

3. Getting to stay in the Everswick's house. I know I just talked about them, but it is dreamy living under their roof. I feel like we should just change our last name to Everswicks, and we are automatically awesome everywhere we go. (They're a pretty big deal around here)

And lastly... I am thankful for my freedom, my job, and for all the blessings that I have!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING... or as Paul said at the end of his professional phone interview... HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

My Mom's Sundried Tomato Dip

I think it's been over a week since I've written in here? Waaaay too long.

Soo this is one of my favorite appetizers that my mom would make. I love eating this with fritos, but you can eat it with raw veggies as well (I always automatically go for the unhealthy, but who doesn't?). I made this recipe on July 4th for our friends, Rachel and Matt Solik, and I must admit... it was not as good as mom's. (But I guess that's just the way it is) Enjoy!

Mom's Sundried Tomato Dip

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes in oil drained and chopped (8 tomatoes)
8 oz. of softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 Hellmann's Mayo
10 dashes of Tabasco
1 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)

Puree the tomatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, Tabasco, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the scallions and pulse 2 or 3 times. Serve at room temperature with Fritos or raw veggies.


ALSO, I don't know if you've noticed but at the top, lefthand of my page, I have a tab for recipes if you wanna check them out. Thanks!

Only Jesus walked on water, right?

So get this! There is this group of guys that have started a new sport where you RUN ON WATER.(yes, you heard me right). Now, I know Jesus was literally walking on water, (and no human will ever be able to do that), but never thought I'd see the day for running on water...

Watch this and be amazed!!

quick post

soo randomly searching northmetro church, I stumbled across a friend of mine's, Matt Solik's, video. Wow. Get a box of tissues ready!

Engaged, 1 year later

1 year ago today, I got engaged to the love of my life, Paul Michael Stippich aka PMS.(best initials ever)

What an incredible blessing he has been. I feel like after we got married I really got to know him, REAL fast. ;) Here are some of my favorite things about Paul:

(I love this picture!)

1. Well I am sure most of your remember that the summer of 2009, Paul went to China for over a month, and wrote me a letter for everyday he was gone. I love that even today he STILL surprises me... whether it's bringing home flowers or my favorite candy (he just brought me some sour patch kids!), or writing notes all over our apartment, or giving me a foot massage every night (I know... I am one lucky gal!)

2. He is the most selfless man I know. Always putting me and others before himself. He is a true servant at heart. I am learning all about how to serve, through God and through Paul.

3. Paul is my best friend. I mean... if you walk in to our place, you will find us laughing or just having fun together. He makes me laugh like nobody else can. He is also caring, and drops everything for me. Prime example: I usually fall asleep way earlier than Paul (Yes, I am an old lady and if you know me, you are fully aware of this), he always lays down in bed with me until I fall asleep. After I fall asleep, he goes in the den and plays "Call of Duty" (my least favorite game in the entire universe) with all his buddies online on the PS3. If I call his name at all, no matter what he is doing in the game, he stops immediately to come to my rescue. He is my hero :)

(Wasn't too thrilled that I looked like a little boy when he proposed, but still so THRILLED!)

Ok, I could go on for hours, but I'll stop there. If you know Paul, you know I married a one of a kind, and a truly loving, great man that loves Christ and me more than anything in the world. A year ago today, I had no idea what I was getting into, but man... I sure am glad I did. Being with Paul has been the happiest time of my life.

Did I mention we live in a basement?

I love our second family, The Everswicks (or as Paul likes to call them.. the Ever-so-slicks) upstairs, aren't they precious?

(Rick, Emily, Max and Riley livin it up in East Asia baby!)

I just have to brag on them because they play such a huge role in our marriage. What an incredible influence they've been in our lives. They are always setting a great example of the lives we want to lead, which is a life full of love, living for Jesus!

Here are some of my favorite things about living in their basement.

1. Emily's delicious baked goods. She is always baking (she's one of the one's that's helped my decision to bake bread). And she always shares her goods with us :)

2. Hearing Max play guitar above our bedroom. I mean, I love it. It's just so beautiful.

3. Getting to relive my days of "sleepovers" with Riley. I still love all that little girl stuff, and I get to relive it again. duh. love it.

4. I don't know if you know the Everswicks, but they are known to be the "near perfect" family. I mean, I hope to just take away an ounce of their amazingness.

and lastly, 5. We get to be a big part of these wonderful kid's lives, and I couldn't ask for more.

(on another note, am I an old woman for watching Monk? That show is my obsession. Anyone? Anyone at all?)