Calzones and New Running Shoes

To help my our lives be a bit easier I have tried to come up with a menu for two weeks, do the grocery shopping, and then try to stick to that plan, hoping to save time and headache. So far it has worked quite well and we have eaten like kings and queens. Well tonight we tried a new recipe: Spinach/Chicken Calzones. Now the neat thing about this recipe is that I found it on someone's blog when I googled for this recipe. So anyway the calzones were a success and we very much enjoyed them. We had extra filling so we are going to put it over pasta and make another meal completely. Since we found this to be such a tasty treat we thought we would share the recipe with you. Enjoy!

Three Cheese, Chicken, and Spinach Calzones
1 package pizza dough mix (or make your own, which is what I did)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large garlic clove minced
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 1/2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can use leftovers or simly cook this chicken)
15 ounces ricotta cheese, drained of excess moisture
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I actually just sliced and chopped a ball of mozzarella cheese)
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1 egg
Egg wash * 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk

Preheat over to 400F and lightly greased a baking sheet, set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the spinach by handful and cook until wilted (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and drain spinach of excess liquid in a colander.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all three cheeses and the egg. Mix the wilted spinach. Tear the cooked chicken into small pieces and mix into filling.

Prepare dough according to package directions. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out into roughly a 12 inch round, cut in half (I cut it into four pieces). Spoon filling onto one side of each dough section and fold the dough over to enclose the filling. Pinch the edges tightly to seal in filling. Cut a few slashes in the top of each calzones to release steam during baking. Repeat with remaining calzone and trasfer both onto prepared baking sheet. Brush the calzones with egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove fromover and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting. We had marinara sauce with our calzones. Here a picture of our dinner.




I also got some new running shoes, which I tried out this evening. They are fantastic and super bright and cute.



So these are the adventures of the day! Can't wait to share more of the adventures of the Turner Home!!!

Cleaning and Organizing - What a Sense of Accomplishment

Let me begin by saying that this has been an usually busy summer, wedding preparations, wedding, honeymoon, week at home, youth camp, and now I'm actually at home, just HANGIN! So Monday after cutting the grass and doing laundry, I watched T.V. for the first time all summer. Like I just sat and watched reruns of shows for about 3 hours. I know completely crazy, so I decided right then and there that I needed another project and wasn't ready to tackle my classroom just yet. Now for the past year I've been telling Aaron that I was going to clean his office and redecorate it. Well that finally took place yesterday. I took everything out, painted an accent wall, and then put only those things that needed to be in his office back in, everything else either found a new home and went in the trash. I finally left church around 6 yesterday evening but I had accomplished my goal (minus the pictures being hung and curtains) I do enjoy cleaning and organizing!

The BLOB

Here is one of the activities that the students could participate in during their free time. Two of our guys were the top "Blobbers" and everyone wanted them to "blob" them. Check out this video to see what I'm talking about. Needless to say most of our girls looked like had been beated but they loved it regardless.

Global Youth Camp

Pictured above is our group, with the beautiful mountains in the background. This year we attended Global Youth Camp in Chatsworth, GA. Our scenery was absolutely breath taking, right outside our rooms we could see the Smokey Mountains. The temperature was cool in the morning and evening and quite pleasant during the day.

The theme for the week was Warrior- Call to Destiny -the scripture was based on 1 and 2 Samuel and the story of David. The students were challenged to get rid of their Deadly Pets (sins), being chosen for God, Trophies, Chosing our Friends Wisely, Average to Awesome, and What difference can I make? The messages each day were challenging and enlightening. What we discussed is that the students are begging to learn more and grow spiritually but simply don't know now. We also discovered that we have a lot of students that carry a great deal of hurt.

Here's how the day went: woke up and breakfast at 7:45, then morning rally (which included morning exercises and the challenge for the day). The students were divided into shires and they had to collect scruples (points) for their team. This could be done in several ways such as: competing in team games, reciting scripture, and bible drills. By 9:00 the students were sent out for morning rec and small group time, while the adults headed downstairs to have a special session with Roger (our speaker), 10:30 worship, 12 - Lunch, 12:50 FREE TIME FOR ADULTS, this was track time for the students. The students were allowed to pick a track (something they might be interested in) 2-5 Free Time for the students (the students could participate in many different activities) 5:10 - Dinner, 6:30 Evening Rally, followed by church time, then the students were sent out for Roll Call and MY FAVORITE PART - the adults stayed in the auditorium and prayed over every chair and then spent time praying as a group. 8:00 Evening worship, 10:00 Church time, 11:00 In Rooms, 11:30 - Lights Out.

Many of our students expected to get that same warm fuzzy feeling that they got last year (just feeling the Holy Spirit come into their lives). This year however the students felt more of a burden and a tug on their hearts, whether it was conviction or just a hurt that they were continuing to hang on to. We had several students who stepped up as leaders. Now the real challenge comes, we as a group must continue to encourage each other and actually act on the suggestions that we made at camp.

Please pray for our students, adult leaders, and Aaron, as we continue to strive to listen to God's will on our lives and group.

Expectancy

Expecations- we all have them. In the past month I have had many expectations. Expectations for what our wedding would look like, sound like, how the food from the reception would taste, how people would react when they heard "How He Loves" sung by Aaron or would they even recognize his voice. Expectations of the honeymoon, plane ride, car ride to the resort, food there, and married life in general. The reality of it all is so much more than I could have ever expected.

Tomorrow Aaron and I (along with two other brave chaperones) will take 24 students to Global Camp in Chatsworth, GA. Let me back up just a bit and give a quick recap of our fabulous group of students. Last year we took 11 students to the same camp (in Panama City). It was during this time where we really saw God take a hold of these students and grow them like we had never seen before. We watched God grow our group of students, watched the students rally around each other in times of need, spend time together outside of youth activities, and generally realized that they enjoyed hanging out together. The past year has been amazing to watch. Which brings me back to the title "Expectancy"... What are each one of us expecting from the "camp experience"? Wednesday night Aaron talked about this and asked the students to go to camp expecting something. Now I ask myself the same question: What am I expecting?

Please pray for us. We begin our journey bright and early in the morning (it is a 7 hour drive, with a time change, and breakfast and lunch pit stop along the way). We will head back home Saturday. Pray that the students and adults eyes and hearts are open to what God has to say to us during the week and we will actually listen and take action.

My Expectations: To watch our group unify even more, truly hear from God, and then take what we have learned home and share with those we come in contact with. We love you all and can't wait to share the updates!