Cream Cheese Treat

I made this yummy treat on Christmas Eve for breakfast. It's a cream cheese/crescent roll dessert. It's so easy to make and is one of our favorites!


2 packages crescent rolls
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Spray 9x12 pan with Pam.

Spread 1 package of crescent rolls on bottom of pan. Mix both cream cheeses, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla. Spread over crescent roll. Layer the other crescent roll package over cream cheese. Spread melted butter on top.

Mix 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Refrigerate leftovers.


And don't forget to serve on a cute plate like the Christmas plates my parents got me last year!

Glory to God

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

-Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas!
Jason & Diana

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas Eve

This morning we woke up to this:




Once the sun came up and the snow slowed down, we went outside to see how high it had piled up:


We also made snow angels in our backyard:


There are still little snow flurries right now, so hopefully we'll wake up to a white Christmas tomorrow!

Unconditional Love

I really enjoy reading books. I've heard several people talk about Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and it just so happens my good friend let me borrow it. I just finished reading it this weekend. If you've never read it, I definitely recommend it. It's amazing! The book is a retelling of the biblical story of Hosea.

I really like Redeeming Love because it shows God's love for us–no matter what we do. He is constantly forgiving, always in control and His love is unconditional. This book is a beautiful reminder of that. So if you're looking for a good read over Christmas, you should definitely check out this book!

Mess

Remember when I said my house was a mess?

I wasn't lying...

The bedding from our bedroom was piled on top of the bed in the guest bedroom. And the black thing on the right? That was the top part of our entertainment center.

A dining room chair, living room TV, photo albums and more.

This room was the best! It was like a maze to walk through. You're looking at the other parts of our entertainment center, Black Friday shopping from the Container Store that I hadn't unpacked, new garland that we bought for Christmas and sooo much more.

Our floor was finished Friday, so we were pretty busy this weekend moving everything back to its place and re-organizing. We are still in the process of moving everything, but it's good to have a place to finally sit down!

A Little Taste of Heaven

This is one of my most favorite dessert dips. It's called Chocolate Chip Dip, and it's super easy to make! I made it yesterday for my friend's Christmas party and everyone loved it!


1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) *

* I've never added the nuts. I'm not a huge fan of them, so I don't add them.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Whisk in the vanilla and set aside to cool.

Beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture, and beat again for another minute.

Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.

Garnish with additional chocolate chips or nuts, if you choose.

Serve with graham crackers, Nilla wafers or pretzels. My favorite is graham crackers! Spread it on the cracker and eat...mmmm...a little taste of heaven!

Wisdom

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:17-18

That's Life

I don't typically blog a lot. My life isn't always very interesting. I don't have kids, so I can't post cute pictures of them or tell funny stories about things they said. I don't have any pets, so I can't upload videos of them running around. I don't take cool pictures either. Those are the kinds of blogs I read, so mine seems kind of boring to me right now. But since this is called Life with the LeMaster's, I'll just tell you what's going on in our lives right now.

Our house is a mess. Not a mess like we have dirty clothes on the floor that need to be picked up. Not a mess like there are dishes piled up in the sink. Not even a mess like I probably should've cleaned a week ago. No, it's worse. Much worse. We don't have any flooring. We're living on our concrete slab. Which would be cool if it was stained and looked nice. But instead it's stained with worker's shoe prints, spills and who know what else from when the house was being built.

So why don't we have any floors right now? Ok, I exaggerated a tiny bit. We have floors in the bedrooms because they're carpeted. But the rest of the house–concrete slab. Apparently there was too much moisture being soaked up through the foundation so it was causing the planks to curl up. So the floors are now ripped up. A sealer will be put down and we will get new flooring hopefully this week or next week.

Not a huge deal, but it's really hard for me because I'm an organizer. I like things neat and clean. Our house is anything but that right now. Most of the furniture is scattered throughout the three bedrooms so it's not in the way when the new floor comes. We can't decorate for Christmas yet, which is ok, except that Jason and I raided Hobby Lobby one weekend and bought some really cute decorations for Christmas that I'm dying to put out! I also bought a few things at The Container Store over Thanksgiving so we could get more organized, and I can't do that yet either.

Although it's hard for me to not clean and organize, I think this is actually good for me. Houses that are lived in aren't typically going to look like model homes or the living rooms you see in magazines. And Christmas decorations might get you in the holiday spirit and make your house look cute, but they're not the real reason to celebrate Christmas.

So when it comes down to it, we're living on our concrete slab, our house is a mess and nothing is organized or where it should be. But that's life. Things will look better, be cleaned up and get organized and back to normal. They always do!

New York

Jason and I took a vacation to New York last month. Before we went to New York, we flew to Dallas to spend some time with my family. While we were there, we toured the new Dallas Cowboy's stadium. Yes, it really is that big! We were able to see the locker room, one of the suites, the press box and the club where the players run through to go to the field.


This picture was taken in one of the suites. The field wasn't down because they were doing some work on the stadium.


This was taken in the Miller Lite Club where the players run through at the start of the game.

After spending the weekend with my family, we were on our way to New York! Our first dinner in New York was at an Italian restaurant, La Bottega.


After that, we went to Madison Square Garden and Times Square.


The next day we went to the Today Show and then toured NBC studios. We saw Brian Williams' studio, the Saturday Night Live studio (which is much smaller than I imagined) and Jimmy Fallon's studio.


After that, we walked around Rockefeller Plaza and then walked up and down 5th Avenue. In the afternoon, we went to Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. We got lucky and were able to sit on the front row! It was really fun to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff, like how they transition between commercial breaks and how a make-up artist touches up Jimmy Fallon's face constantly.


We went to the Statue of Liberty the next morning.


This was my favorite part of the trip. I was so excited to see the Statue of Liberty and tour it. We bought tickets online to go all the way to the crown. I had read that you have to be able to climb about 30 flights of stairs to get to the top. I kind of thought, Oh they just say that; there's probably an elevator. Boy, was I wrong! We had to walk up all 30 flights on a tiny spiral staircase to get to the crown.


But once we were there, it was worth it. The views were amazing! Of course, we also had to walk all the way down the 30 flights too!


This picture looks a little weird because it was kind of rainy and it's taken from a window in the Statue's crown.

We went to Little Italy and ate at a pizza shop called Lombardi's which was probably the best pizza I've ever had! They say Lombardi's had the first pizza oven in the United States.


We also saw Chinatown, SoHo, TriBeca, the Financial District and Grand Central Station. We walked through a lot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but that place is so huge we couldn't see it all.

And, of course, we went to Serendipity and had their famous frozen hot chocolate–which was amazing!


We had our picture taken at the same table where the movie was filmed.


One of our favorite places in New York was Central Park. We walked all the way around the Jacquelyn Kennedy Reservoir and saw a beautiful sunset.


Jason and I had such a fun time in New York. We would love to go back one day!

Waiting

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." -Psalm 32:8

I receive an e-mail devotional every day. One of the devotionals earlier this week told a story about a woman who went to Bible College. She said while she was in class, a student asked the professor, "How do you know God's will?" The professor thought about the question for a minute and then responded, "If you want God's will with all of your heart, He won't let you miss it."

I think that sometimes it's easy to be impatient and do your own will, rather than waiting on God's will. Many times we don't surrender everything either. It's scary to just let go. But if we truly desire God's will for us, we have to surrender, we have to wait and we have to seek Him. That's where I am right now. Except I sometimes worry and stress instead of fully surrendering; I sometimes try to plan the future instead of waiting for God's timing; and I sometimes try to figure things out on my own instead of seeking God first.

But it'll come. Everything will fall into place. God will speak. He always does!

Two Years Ago Today...

Jason was putting on a nice suit...


My mom and sister were helping me get dressed...


We celebrated with our friends...


And our families...

Jason walked his parents down the aisle...


My dad walked me down the aisle...


We said our vows, exchanged our rings...and...


We got married!

Happy Anniversary, Jason! I love you!

Girls Weekend

Last weekend I went on a girls weekend vacation with my mom and sister. We went to Florence, Georgetown, Round Rock, Austin and Salado. We had a ton of laughs, did a lot of shopping and had a great time!

Our first stop was Florence. We went to a winery there and had lunch. The winery was in the middle of a neighborhood and is based on Italy.




We also went to Georgetown and did some shopping at their town square. We saw this statue outside one of the stores and took a picture with this nice gentleman!



We decided that since we were so close to Austin, we would do some shopping and tour the Capital.


I had so much fun with my mom and sister on our girls trip! I think we should make a girls trip an annual event!

Newness

I've been going through all of our pictures since I decided to make a book of each year we've been married. I recently came across all of our honeymoon pictures. It was fun looking at those and remembering how excited we were to go on our honeymoon in Las Vegas. Here are two of my favorites:



Our honeymoon will always be special to me, not just because it was our honeymoon, but because it was the first vacation we've ever taken together. When I remember that time together, everything was so new to us–a new step in our relationship, a new life together, a new "normal" way of living. Now almost two years later, we're still settling into our way of life, but we still experience new things like new responsibilities, new friends, new traditions and new habits.

God has blessed us more than we ever thought through our marriage. Sometimes it's easy to get comfortable and overlook those blessings. I don't want to do that. I want to always remember and feel the "newness" of everything.

Pictures are nice to have because they capture some of our favorite memories. A lot of times we just take pictures of the big events in our lives. But the truth is, sometimes it's the small things in life that give us the best memories. I'm trying to live each day with a "newness" and hold on to my favorite times, big and small.

Random Thoughts

Jason worked at an event on Saturday that his job sponsored. When he came home in the afternoon, he suggested we go on a spontaneous trip to Hobbs, New Mexico. So we called our friend Tim, all hopped in the car and drove to Hobbs for the evening. We went to Black Gold Casino and played the penny slots and 5-cent slots...high rollers, I know! We had a great time, but unfortunately, Jason and I didn't make any money. Tim, on the other hand, did! Right before we were about to leave for dinner, he placed a bet on #1 in Roulette and won $35! After that, we ate at Tia Juana's, the same place we ate after our Carlsbad trip earlier this year. Then, we headed back to Lubbock and watched Home Alone 2!
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I try to workout regularly, but that doesn't always happen. When I do workout, I do Pilates. I realized recently that I don't really get my heart rate up very often, so maybe I should start doing some cardio. So I bought The Biggest Loser workout last night and tried it for the fist time. It's so hard, but I feel great after doing it (although I am a little sore)! If you're looking for a challenging workout, try The Biggest Loser!
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I'm sometimes really bad about getting pictures printed. Now that everyone pretty much just has digital cameras, it's so easy to not get your pictures developed. Before, when everyone had cameras with rolls of film, you just take the roll of film out, get the pictures printed and put a new roll in. Now that we don't use rolls of film, it's easy to just dump all your pictures on your computer to make space on your camera. So I've been thinking lately that I need to get all of our pictures printed that are just sitting on our computers. But then, my sister gave me a great idea last week. She is using www2.snapfish.com to make photo books of all the trips she and her husband take. So after thinking about it, Jason and I decided to do that, but make yearly books. Our books will start the year we got married–2007. We'll design a book that has all the things we did that year: wedding pictures, honeymoon, our first apartment, etc. Then we'll do the same for 2008, 2009 and so on. I've started to collect all the pictures that I want to put in each book, and then we'll start designing the book. I think this will be a really cool way to follow our journey in life!
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This weekend, Jason and I are going to Dallas to visit my family. We can't wait! We always have so much fun seeing my family and just relaxing with them. It's a nice get-away for us!
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Until next time, have a great day!

Surprise!

This past weekend I threw a surprise birthday party for Jason. I had been planning his party since April, and wanted to tell him about it several times–but I didn't! I almost blew it the day before the party because I convinced myself Jason knew everything. I was so nervous he would find out about the party, so I was looking into every move he made! But again, I didn't say anything.

Here are a few pictures from the party:

Jason opening presents

Jason and me

My family came in town for the party. Jason and I were so excited to see them! Jason didn't even know they were coming into town.

My good friend Abie helped me with all the planning. I couldn't have pulled off the party without her!

Some of our good friends and their cute babies

Happy Birthday, Jason! I love you!

Survey For Married People

I was tagged by Lindsey for this survey. Here goes!

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary: November 4, 2006
2. When is your "marriage" anniversary: August 4, 2007
3. How long have you known your spouse: About 5 years
4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: 2 years
5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? In our Sunday School class at church
6. What is your spouse's full name? Jason Robert LeMaster
7. Do you have any children? Not yet...maybe a few more years!
8. How many? None
9. Do you have any house pets? No pets either...yet
10. Do you own a house or rent: We own
11. Do you live in a country or town/city: City
12. What is one of your favorite activities together: We like to watch movies and cook together. We also have a thing about driving around and going in houses that are being built.
13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: We had a lot of fun in Las Vegas for our honeymoon!
14. How many siblings (including in-laws) do you have? I have an older sister, two brothers-in-law and one sister-in-law
15. What church do you attend: First Baptist
16. Is this the church you were married in: Yes, this is the church where we met
17. What town is your current address at: Lubbock
18. Do you work or stay at home? I work
19. Where did you go on your honeymoon: Las Vegas
20.Who drives when you go out together? Jason
21. How long have you been together? We've been together for 5 years and married almost 2
22. How long did you know each other before you started dating? About one day
23. Who asked who out? I kind of initiated it...
24. How old are each of you? 23
25. Whose siblings do/did you see the most? We see Jason's family more because we live in the same town
26. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Figuring out God's will for us
27. Did you go to the same school? We both went to Texas Tech University
28. Are you from the same home town? No, we grew up about 6 hours away from each other
29. Who is smarter? I think I'm more book smart, and Jason is more "street" smart
30. Who is more sensitive? Definitely me
31. Where do you eat out most as a couple? We usually stay home and cook, but when we do eat out, we love Mexican food
32. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? California for a Mission Trip while we were in college
33. Who has the craziest exes? That would be me!
34. Who has the worse temper? Probably me again...
35. Who does the cooking? We both cook
36. Who is more social? Jason
37. Who is the neat-freak? Most definitely me
38. Who is the more stubborn? Probably Jason
39. Who hogs the bed? Jason! He says because he is bigger than me, he should get more of the bed
40. Who wakes up earlier? I do
41. Where was your first date? We went to Coldstone Creamery and walked around the Tech campus
42. Who has the bigger family? Jason has more siblings, but I probably have more aunts, uncles and cousins
43. Do you get flowers often? Occasionally
44. How do you spend the holidays? We alternate back and forth between our families

The Flood

We've been having some crazy weather recently. Every day is different. It might be warm and windy, dusty and windy, chilly and windy, a nice summer-like day, or raining, hailing and causing a flood. I was driving home from work on Thursday and had to get under a gas station cover because I thought the hail was going to bust through my windshield. Here are a few pictures I took while I was stuck in the car for an hour.




As you can see, the intersection was completely flooded. There was no way Jason could come get me. He might have gotten stuck too. In the third picture, the small tuck sitting there was unfortunately stuck.

After the hail stopped, I was able to get on a side street and go home. On my way home, most of the streets were somewhat dry, like nothing even happened!

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.
Isaiah 25:4

In the past month...

I can't believe it's already been a month since I last posted! I can't believe March is practically over and it's almost April! How is it that days seem so much shorter and time goes by so much quicker as you get older?

To catch up, here are a few things we've done in the last month:

• We've started Netflix so we've been watching a bunch of movies. Changeling was really good; W was too political for me so I didn't really understand everything; The Promotion was pretty funny; Transporter 1, 2 & 3 were entertaining, but the fight scenes were unrealistic; I thought Madagascar was cute, but Jason wasn't impressed; we both liked Horton Hears a Who!
  
• I helped host my friend, Jacquelyn's lingerie shower. She received edible underwear from someone and her mom said, "How many calories are in those?" Haha, so funny!
  
• We celebrated our good friend, Jessica's birthday. We decorated like they did on The Office. We had barely blown up balloons hanging around and a sign that said "It is your birthday."We made 5 chickens on the grill, beans and salad. Our house was jam-packed, and I loved it!
• I went to Austin with Jacquelyn for her bachelorette party. We caught up with her cousin (another bridesmaid) in Salado--which is a really cute, fun town!
• We made dinner for some friends who just had a really cute baby boy!
• We visited my parents, sister and brother-in-law and had so much fun! The girls shopped while the guys went to the gun range. I also ate dinner with two of my cousins and had fun catching up with them. We ate at Hully & Mo, the restaurant owned by Brett Hull and Mike Modano from the Dallas Stars. I also ate some good, home-cooking from my mom! I can't wait to see my family again!
• We went to a fashion show at David's Bridal. Jason's sister, Jessica, was chosen to be a model for their prom dresses. She looked beautiful! It's hard to believe that I met her when she was only 12. I can't believe how much she's grown up and how beautiful she is!

That's about it! By the way, it's supposed to be in the 70s today and snowing tomorrow! Crazy weather! Maybe we'll get snowed in and won't have to work...probably not...

Carlsbad Caverns

Last Thursday when I got home from work, Jason said we should take a day trip to Carlsbad Caverns on Friday (we both took the day off just for fun). So we woke up Friday morning, packed some sandwiches and headed on our way to Carlsbad!


This was our first day trip together! I was really excited because I've never been to Carlsbad Caverns.


So we made it to New Mexico...


Then to Carlsbad Caverns...


They warned us it was a strenuous hike. We were really worn out afterward! Our legs and feet were sore for a few days.


The opening of the cave. This is where you can sit when the bats fly out. Too bad the bats are in Mexico for the winter. But, I think I would have freaked out a little if we had walked in the cave and bats had been everywhere.


Jason and me before we went into the cave.


One of the columns in the cave.


I kept telling Jason to stick his hand in the random holes in the cave. This is probably one of the holes I told him to stick his hand in. Of course, he never did it. I don't blame him...I wouldn't do it either.


These were really tall stalagmites.

After we finished walking through the caverns, we drove to Hobbs, NM and ate at a Mexican food place, Tia Juana's. It was really good! Then we drove back home. Jason and I had a great time on our day trip. I'm really glad we got to go!