Yum...yum..yummmm!!!!

Stop what you're doing.

No, seriously. 

You need to put down whatever you're doing and go and make this recipe! 

It is seriously that good.

Black Bean, Cilantro and Lime Rice Bowl

2 Cups brown rice, chilled

2 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups diced tomatoes (about 3 roma tomatoes)

1 bunch green onions, sliced

3 T Canola oil

3 T red wine vinegar

3 T water

Juice of a fresh lime

1 small jalapeno

1/2 cup cilantro (or if you love it like I do, closer to 1 cup)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 avocado

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1. In large bowl combine chilled rice, beans, tomatoes and green onions.

2. In small bowl whisk oil, vinegar, water, lime juice, jalapeno, cilantro, sugar and salt.

3. Pour dressing over rice and toss to coat. Cover and let sit at room temp for 30 minutes or so.

4. Top with cheese and avocado.

This recipe serves 4 as a main dish or 6 as a side dish.

And waaalaaaa! Dinner is served! I got this recipe from www.afoodiestaysfit.com which has a lot of great recipes and advice!  Some of the many reasons I love this recipe is (1) it's SUPER easy, (2) it is fresh and extremely flavorful, (3) very filling without making you feel bloated or gross and (4) it's healthy! This recipe is definitely a keeper. So go make it now!  

  

Thanks Wisconsin!

This weekend we are celebrating our one year anniversary with Wisconsin! And so I thought to myself, "what could be better then a post completely dedicated to some of the memories we've made in Wisconsin?" And the answer to that question is nothing. 

So here ya go! 

You've been good to us, Wisconsin....And we're sticking around for another year!

Feeling so incredibly blessed by my sweet husband who continually shows me how much he loves and supports me. He is a daily reminder of God's grace in my life.

Seriously...how did I get so lucky??

 

Today is my beautiful sister's 24th birthday!!

I am so excited to be able to make this post for her because she is so deserving of a celebration.

She is my partner in crime.

One of my very best friends.

Someone who always knows how to make me laugh.

Someone who knows me inside and out and still loves me (and that's saying something!).

My favorite person to be silly with but someone I know I can cry with.

We weren't always close. In fact, I think it's safe to say we spent a good amount of our lives torturing each other and driving each other crazy!  But that's what sisters are for, right?

It took her going through one of the most difficult things she's ever faced to bring us together. And we've never looked back.

Mandy is one of the most incredible people that I know. She's one of those people that just glows. People are drawn to her for that reason. She has a joy in her that bubbles up and pours out to those who are lucky enough to be surrounded by her.

She is as stubborn as they come! She's a Johnson after all. :) But she's not afraid to fight for what she wants and to stand up for what she  believes in, and that's one of my favorite things about her.

My greatest wish for Mandy this birthday is that she know how loved and cherished she is. She has had to face some really tough things lately, things that I can't imagine going through. I'm so proud of her for staying strong and for doing what she knew she had too. 

Mandy, I hope you know that you have 100% the love and support of your family and many friends behind you. We love you so more and you are so special to us. More then that, you are also so very loved by God. No matter what has happened, what has been done to you or the choices you've made, His love for you never wavers. You will always be precious to Him.

Happy Birthday Mandy!!

We love you soo much and we're so glad we got to spend the weekend with you.

Thank you for always being there for me and being the best sister I could ask for. You have taught me so much over the years and I'm so incredibly grateful for you. 

No matter what, I will always be there for you. One thing I've learned through our ups and downs is that you can't break the bond of family. No matter what life brings us, we'll always be sisters.

Family is forever.

Today was one of those days that are just...blah. Everything I needed to do seemed to have an extra step, every stoplight turned red...you know what I mean? Ever have one of those days? Well...as frustrating as it was, all day I've been trying to look on the bright side and find things that I really did love (ok...maybe liked) about today. Here some of the things I came up with:

• Even though Bailey took off when I was walking her this morning and I had to chase her back and forth in the field by our apartment, it meant that I was able to get a nice morning work out which never happens.  Bonus: I kept sinking down in the snow since it's starting to melt which helped target my upper thighs and Lord knows we could all use a work out there.  
• Although there were major attitude problems with the two year old it was a beautiful, sunny day. And if I have to listen to whining, I might as well be able to be outside and enjoy the weather at the same time. 
• Cambrya (the two year old) has recently started to pronounce my name like Forrest Gump. I'm not sure how or where she picked it up but I definitely get called "Jenaaaay" all day long. 
• I got to have coffee with my lovely friend Shelly! Just having that to look forward to helped my day go by much faster! 
• And speaking of looking forward to things...Mandy is coming down this weekend and I'm so excited! Pretty sure she should just move. :) 

So maybe not all of these things I was genuinely excited about, but at least I can laugh about them and that definitely makes the day better. Here's to a better tomorrow! 

Guess who made a cameo appearance on www.busybeelauren.blogspot.com

in her Valentine's Day post..

:) :)

Go see if you can find us! 

"The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in the courts of our God.

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,

to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my Rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

Psalms 92:12-15 

Jason and I have talked before about how when we're older we don't want to be like those people. You know the ones I'm talking about. The older couple that's cranky and seems to have a complaint about everything. The ones that can't stand that "newfangled" music and complain about drums in Church. Yeah, those people. 

We've decided that as we get older we will continue to grow and evolve. We'll never stop trying to be better at being the person God has called us to be and our faith will not retire. 

I stumbled upon these verses tonight as I searched through the Psalms for something that would speak to me. I received news today that my Grandpa Clark is not doing well and I just needed some Truth to encourage me. These verses remind me so much of my sweet Grandpa. Not only the parts about still bearing fruit, although those absolutely apply. One of my fondest memories of him is us discussing theology. I had been a student at Bible College for a year or two and all of a sudden my grandpa, a retired preacher, was asking ME questions. He loves to learn and wants to grow, and that's rare. 

The last part of these verses really sums him up though: to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my Rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Grandpa's life has always had a greater purpose and that is to reflect his Savior and bring praise to Him. He has taught me more then he'll ever know about what it means to live a Godly life.

Please keep my Grandpa in your prayers, that he would be comfortable and feel peace. We are confident about where he is going and rejoice in the fact that he will be with his Lord soon. He will be dancing on golden streets! 

Please keep all of us that he's leaving behind in your prayers as well. As comforting as it is to know he's going to heaven we are all losing a very important person in our lives. 

Snowmaggedon!

Today is one of the days that you dream about when you're growing up. A day when you wake up, roll over to open your blinds and the first thing you see is this:

And then you run out into the living room because you can hardly believe your eyes and your met with this view:

 

And for the icing on the cake, we opened our front door and this was all that we could see:

Keep in mind that this is at eye level, not ground level. As in almost 6 foot tall drifts. Yup.

It's official: we are snowed in!!!

The only negative thing about being snowed in now versus when you're say, 10 years old is a little thing called a job. Thankfully though, it seems like everything around here is closed down so neither of us had to go into work. Which is probably a good thing since it was a few hours before we could get out our front door.

So I've spent my day with this handsome man shoveling!

Ok so maybe he did most of the shoveling.

But spending the day together is definitely the best part of this snow day. 

We're staying in our pj's, eating blueberry pancakes, watching movies and playing phase ten. 

It has been a fabulous day. 

Wishing everyone a safe, fun and warm snow day! Enjoy it! These things never happen in Wisconsin.