Last Pep Rally

Friday, October 30 was Courtney's last Freshman Pep Rally! The cheerleaders performed a dance to Thriller. Courtney is the goul with the Jason mask and Jaguar sweatshirt!

Positive Attitude

How can you know what you have in your heart? The answer is simple; just watch what is coming from your mouth.

Have you ever noticed how fun it is to be around positive thinking people? No matter how bad the circumstance, negativity never enters their minds, or crosses their lips to form negative, words!

Negative attitudes come from negative thoughts. We know that none of this negative stuff is coming from God.

How do we get to a place where our positive attitude is natural?

God's version of a right attitude contains nothing negative. It starts with right thoughts — God’s thoughts!

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Matthew 15:11
It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
Matthew 12:33-37
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger

Karen Wolff of Christian-Books-for-Women.com has tips for positive thinking

• First, focus on what you're thinking about.

It is possible to control our thoughts, regardless of what we've been led to believe. As soon as a negative thought comes into your mind, purposefully make it a point to replace it with a positive one. (2 Corinthians 10:5) At first, this may take some work, because chances are, we will probably have a lot more negative thoughts in our head than positive ones. But eventually, the ratio will reverse itself.

• Second, stop letting other people's negative attitudes influence yours.

This may mean we need to stop hanging around with people who do nothing but spout negative stuff. We can't afford to do this when our goal is to become more positive. The negative people in our life aren't going to like it when we stop participating in negativity. Just remember that birds of a feather really do flock together.

• Third, make a list of all the areas in your life that you want to change.

List all your negative attitudes too. If you can't think of things to put on your list, just ask your family. I'll bet they'll help you make it a really long list!

• Fourth, take some time to write strong, life-giving, positive affirmation statements.

Make a commitment to read those statements out loud every day. Enjoy how great they make you feel. Know in your heart that you're making progress, even if you can't see it just yet. Just keep affirming the positive.

• Lastly, take time to pray about this.

You can't change by yourself. But you can spend time with the One who is able to help. Do what you can, and let God do the rest. It really is that simple.

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Bacon Wrapped Chicken

This is one of our favorite recipes. I have to make it three ways. Dink likes the original recipe. Courtney does not like the cream cheese or jalapenos. My favorite is the chicken without the bacon. Jalapenos are placed on top to indicate which ones are stuffed with the jalapenos.

We usually cook the chicken on the grill. Tonight I am going to bake in the oven.



I borrowed this photo because it looks better than mine. LOL

BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN STUFFED WITH CREAM CHEESE AND JALAPENOS

INGREDIENTS

Chicken breasts

Cream cheese

Jalapeno peppers

Bacon

DIRECTIONS

Slice the thick chicken breasts into two thinner pieces. Spread cream cheese on the chicken. Spoon jalapenos over cream cheese. Roll up the stuffed chicken pieces. Use toothpicks to help hold it together. Soak the toothpicks in water so they don't catch on fire. Wrap the chicken pieces in bacon. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. (We usually cook on the grill).

Fall Bash

Our church's annual Youth Group Fall Bash (Bonfire).

Courtney-Batgirl & Lauren-Batman

Allie-Pebbles, Lizzy-80's Rocker, Hannah-Hershey Kiss, Courtney-Batgirl, and

Mollie-Snow White

We always have to have a CrAzY shot!
Arriving at the church. Photo with Anna-Minnie Mouse.

Anna and Courtney

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Wordless Wednesday

Fall Break Trip

GRUMC high school students went on their annual Fall Break trip. This year’s trip was whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. Courtney has never been rafting and she was so thrilled to raft on Class IV rapids!

Getting ready to leave for the trip!

Worship Group Time!

There was a zip line, a bungee swing, and a rock wall.
Getting ready to hit the rapids!

Preparing for Flashlight Sniper Game!

Hanging out with friends!

Bonfire and Smores!

Wordless Wednesday

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Menu Monday

Monday- salisbury steak, green beans, mashed potatoes chili over rice

Tuesday-bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos, wild rice, and squash

Wednesday- spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread

Thursday-grilled pork chops, green beans, loaded baked potatoes

Friday - tailgate football game

Saturday-pizza

Sunday-grilled burgers and veggies

Freshman Scrapbook

I haven’t made Courtney a scrapbook in several years. Working at the school, I just didn’t have the time. Now that I am at home (still not lots of spare time), I decided it was time to start Courtney a freshman scrapbook. Since August, when school started, I have an abundance of photos…did I mention I love to take pictures!!

A friend and cheer mom sells Creative Memories. I went to her house last night and purchased a few items. I still need to go to Hobby Lobby and get a few more supplies.
The memory book is so cute. It is silver and has shiny stars!

I hunted and finally found all of my scrapbooking materials. Needless to say, everything had to be ORGANIZED!

Organized and ready to begin! Now, what needs to go on the first page? I always have the hardest time on page 1.

Fun after church

God has blessed Courtney with the sweetest friends. Every Sunday after church, the girls make plans for a little fun before returning to church for Youth.

First, the girl chose to eat at Huey's for lunch. Huey's has the best burgers and cheesy fries. Of course, the girls could not resist the extra toothpicks. Let me explain! You get a straw, put a toothpick in it, blow in the straw, and try to get the toothpick to stick in the ceiling. Courtney was the champion! She got THREE to stick! We laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes!

Allie and Courtney
Hannah, Mollie, and Anna

After lunch, we missed the movie! The girls decided to go to Dillards.

The DIVAS.

The Winter Ball will be in a few months and the girls wanted to try on dresses.

Courtney's favorite. She decided to wait and not purchase the dress because Dillard's has a limited supply and will have a bigger selection by Christmas.



The girls posing in their favorite selection.

Anna and Courtney

After Dillard's it was time for an ice cream break...Baskin Robbins.

Hannah, Allie, Mollie, Anna, and Courtney

The last stop was the new Halloween store. The girls are going to help at church with the little children. In addition, at school everyone can wear costumes at the end of the month on Friday for Halloween.

The girls searched hard until they found something with a THEME all 5 could dress-up. Flintstones it was. The store would not let you take the accessories out of the bag to try on...just the costume. The girls took turns trying each character.

Courtney found one she liked...Batgirl. I will post another picture with all the accessories.


Needless-to-say the afternoon flew. I got the girls back just in time for Youth. I can't wait to find out what they plan next Sunday.

Spirit Week/Day 5

Homecoming Spirit Week

Day 5-School Spirit Day