Amy Scott's Thoughts

March Madness! March 23, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 1:03 pm

I apologize. I feel like my blog is getting a bit neglected right now. March has been so busy and so full that when I have down time I’ve spent all my energy and I really have nothing left to write about. I don’t like that feeling, but it happens from time to time. It’s just life. Busy, crazy life.

Lego Trophies!

Here are a few highlights from the past couple of weeks. My hubby had Pinewood Derby races last weekend that went super well. Jeremy is creative and he made his own trophies for the kids out of Legos. They were a big hit!

We had a big day of meetings as a team at work to talk about our personalities and leadership. It’s always interesting to see how everyone around the table falls when it comes to personality assessments. We’re all different and it’s insightful to know where someone else is coming from. It’s also empowering to know who you are and how you’re wired.

The title of this blog doesn’t just have to do with my busy month, it also reference the fact that I got pulled into doing a NCAA bracket again this year. While I would say my choices are an improvement over last year… the team I picked to win this year is already out. This really shouldn’t shock anyone considering I don’t watch college basketball. This is what happens when you pick at random!

This week kicked off celebrating my hubby’s upcoming birthday. We had dinner with my parents and sister to honor the birthday boy. We had pizza and pie and my dad did our taxes in the middle of it all. Exciting stuff, I know! I’m praising the Lord that we don’t owe anything and my parent’s sent us home with a ton of leftovers – pretty good night in my opinion. We have more birthday festivities tomorrow with Jeremy’s family and then Monday (the actual birthday), Jeremy and I have plan to go out to dinner to celebrate. It’s nice in this busy season at work to take time and focus on how awesome my hubby is! He is worth celebrating!

Of course with a major event coming up in the next week, I decided to take on a major spring cleaning project around the house. Makes sense, right? Okay, timing might not be my thing. I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week going through our closets and purging. Part of the process was reorganizing our closets and getting better storage solutions to contain and organize our stuff. This lead Jeremy and I on a trip to The Container Store because Walmart and Home Depot didn’t have the right sized storage containers. As always, The Container Store didn’t disappoint and I was able to finish up all my reorganizing last night! It feels so good!

This leads to me today! Where… I… FINALLY… decided… to… REST! Praise the Lord! I had left over pie for breakfast and jumped into watching Les Mis – a random purchase from the day before. It’s been nice to be a bit low-key today. Eventually I’ll have to get ready for church this evening, but right now I’m trying to forget that I’m a responsible adult. It’s kind of hard because my mind keeps going over when I’m going to print the programs for Easter Eggstravaganza and how many I should make and what colors I should use and will we have enough paper. Then there are lanyards to update and wait! Isn’t today supposed to be a day off? Well, sort of… oh my! I might be going a bit crazy. This too shall pass, right?

So that’s the update for me! It’s been a full month of meetings and family and big events and pie and basketball (that I don’t really watch, but Jeremy shares the updates) and car races and taxes and birthdays and all those other normal day to day commitments! No wonder they call it March Madness!

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The Bunnies Are Back! March 20, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 11:45 am

I couldn’t help it… When I saw the Bunny Mallows back in stock at our local Walmart, I had to pick up a bag! I had so much fun making mini-cupcakes last year with these fun marshmallows on top. Of course, I couldn’t do the exact same thing as last year, so after a trip around the seasonal section, I came home with cute polka-dot and green cupcake cups and some fun sprinkles! For a flavor change, I went with lemon cake mix and strawberry frosting. I really like the pink color of the frosting and was hoping for a Strawberry Lemonade flavor combination! Here are some photos from the project, as well as a glimpse into the bunnies from 2012.

2012 Bunnies

The Supplies

2013 Bunnies!

A Bunch of Bunnies!

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St. Patrick’s Day and Other Random Holidays! March 17, 2013

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 1:56 pm

For the most part, I’m a sucker for holidays – any holiday! I love wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day and yes, I am a pincher! If I don’t see green on you, beware! Last night as we were getting ready for bed I reminded my hubby of his need for green. Of course, this sent him into a rant about how much he doesn’t like St. Patrick’s Day. He informed me it was a made up holiday and then I gave him the history of St. Patrick and why he is a good guy to remember. Jeremy responded that no one knows the story of St. Patrick and that is not the reason they celebrate. I agree – very few people celebrate the missionary who wasn’t Irish, but witnessed to the Irish people. I just learned on Wikipedia that we celebrate March 17th because it was the day of his death, so even I learned a new fact today.

Growing up I enjoyed the school parties and crafts and goodies that surrounded the holidays. My mom was very sweet and would often give my sister and I small gifts on days like Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day. I always look forward to these days. The traditions can make even a senseless holiday seem fun. As an adult, I will admit that Jeremy and I don’t spend a lot of money on Valentine’s Day – mainly because it’s right after Christmas and in-between both our birthdays. If we got presents on Valentine’s Day it would be four months in a row of gift giving which can be a little hard on the budget. I have no problem spending Valentine’s Day with my sweetie and appreciating our relationship. It doesn’t have to be expense.

St. Patrick’s Day is an easy holiday in my book as well – just wear green and don’t get pinched! Not a lot of big drama or planning or spending. Back in the day when we were first married Jeremy and I made Easter baskets for each other and then it went the way of Valentine’s Day. It didn’t make a lot of sense to keep the endless gift giving going. However, chocolate bunnies are still a tradition without the basket.

I will admit that Earth Day and Arbor Day don’t get much attention from me. President’s Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day are always appreciated for their long weekends. Columbus Day… doesn’t really rank high, not that I don’t appreciate what Columbus did. Veteran’s Day I don’t get off, but I do normally start my Christmas shopping that weekend so it kind of redeems the day, plus I really do appreciate what Veteran’s Day stands for. I’m sure there are probably some random holidays that I’m missing.

It wouldn’t be a holiday blog without a shout to the two best food holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas! Those are high up on the list, but I think they are for most people. We also can’t forget Independence Day – Jeremy was sharing last night that the 4th of July is totally validated because it gives you a reason to blow things up. I like it for the summer BBQs.

Oh! And you can’t forget the holidays that aren’t really holidays – like Pi(e) Day which we just celebrated this last week or Red Cup Day in November. If there aren’t enough random holidays, it’s fun to add some made up holidays into the mix!

As you can see, I love holidays. Good food. Long weekends. Seeing family. Remembering loved ones or important historical moments. It’s all good. So my philosophy is wear green on St. Patrick’s Day and have fun with it. Why not?

How do you celebrate some of the more random holidays? Any made up holidays that you enjoy?

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Oh Easter Eggs… March 15, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 4:26 pm

Ready to fill!

It seems like Easter Eggs are a never ending topic of conversation right now. With Easter right around the corner, everyone wants to know how the filling of 70,000 candy filled eggs is going. I’m happy to report that it’s going well. We only have a couple bags left and they should hopefully disappear this weekend! I know I’m planning on grabbing one for my Growth Group on Monday.

70,000 eggs seems like a lot… because, well, it is a lot. The great thing about filling eggs is how easy it is. Everyone can chip in and make a big task manageable and fun. My mom called me this afternoon to tell me that she would be filling eggs while watching a movie. This inspired me since I’d recently purchased more candy and I had a small bag of eggs sitting around the house. I decided to fill some myself. It doesn’t take too long to fill a bag of eggs. It can be incredibly social depending on how you fill the eggs. My Growth Group has done it together twice. My Wednesday night class filled eggs together this week. It’s just a fun activity to do with a group because it’s not too challenging so you can chat and laugh while you do it. It hardly seems like work.

Yes, please!

I will admit that filling eggs is probably my favorite part of Easter Eggstravaganza. Set me down with a bag of candy and a bag of eggs and I’ll go to town on the them. It’s not complicated and it’s not overwhelming. Seeing 70,000 at one time is a little overwhelming, but we don’t expect one person or one group to fill them all. We do them together as a church community and it always gets done. I love contributing in this way.

By the time Easter rolls around, I will be ready to move on past eggs and egg related conversations. However, it’s not all about the eggs. We have volunteers to coordinate, prizes to purchase, a petting zoo to set up and a pony rides to get in place. Don’t forget inflatable bounce houses and face painting. It’s great to see the community get involved as well – Applebees will be doing our face painting as well as giving out coupons. McDonald’s donated close to 1000 free dessert tickets that we’ll hand out as the first kids arrive. Even OSMI, donated some youth passes. The prizes and donations keep coming in this week and I’m excited to share these goodies with our community.

Just two weeks away from the big day. Until then, I will probably have many conversations revolving around eggs. I guess I can keep my sanity given it’s only a season. One that will quickly be here and gone.

Join us!

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Me again! March 13, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:15 pm

I couldn’t help but laugh yesterday when we got invited out to dinner. Of course, I wanted to see family while they were in town, but that would put my “plans with other people streak” up to 9 social days in row. I’m not sure that is a record, but it’s been a crazy week and a half. Anything but routine. However, that leads me to today. Wednesday. Yes, I’ll have class tonight, but today I feel like myself again and that my life has somewhat gone back to normal.

When I get super busy I notice that I don’t read and write as much. In fact, the last few weeks I really haven’t the desire to pick up a book. Strange, I know. I’ve learned that I only have so much energy and when I choose to invest it being social a lot of the things that feed my introverted soul get push to the wayside. It’s been a great day for me to journal. I miss my times with a pen in hand or spent at the keyboard (like right now). I also gave a couple hours to reading. Surprisingly, I went from having no books I’m interested in to a pile sitting on the window sill next to me. This feels normal! This feels like the Amy I know so well.

I also had time to make a class snack. I’ve been going a bit retro in my class snacks. Last week it was no-bake cookies from my 1963 church cook book and today it was Rice Krispie Treats. Out of the blue, they sounded so good! I can’t remember the last time I’ve made them! My favorite part of the process would be cleaning up the bowl with a spoon after it’s all said and done! I can’t let those small krispies covered in marshmallow go to waste, now can I? I’ll do my best not diving into the pan before I have a chance to share them with the girls!

I don’t want people to get me wrong. I’ve had a delightful time socializing over the last week. On Sunday I had a tasty dinner and dessert with my parents and sister. You can’t beat the combo of Chipotle and Menchies! They are a match made in heaven. Monday I met with a children’s pastor from down south. The great thing is we are around the same age and in the same line of work. Living in rural Lewis County means my interaction with other female ministers is limited to non-existent. I really enjoyed getting to know her and I do believe we will meet again in the future. After one coffee date it was off to another, I met with my mentor, Vicki, since I was in her neck of the woods. It was great to catch up since I hadn’t seen her a while. I love my times with her because she encourages me so much. No matter what she is cheering me on and telling me that I can do it. It’s nice to have someone believe in you even if you are unsure of yourself. Like I mentioned at the beginning, yesterday was dinner with Jeremy’s brother while he was over on this side of the mountains. It was a great meal and I’m always glad for an opportunity to see out of town family members.

Today is a short break. A calm to be me and do what I do best. Tomorrow I have a breakfast meeting with another children’s pastor. It’s blind date week for me since I haven’t met either of these children’s pastors before. As valuable as networking can be, I’m always a little on edge when meeting someone for the first time. I have my own insecurities I have to deal with. Tomorrow night is our local AG business meeting. The nice part is that it will take place at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants! General Tso’s Chicken here I come! So as you can see, even a busy schedule has its perks. I have a feeling that March will continue at this pace with a Pinewood Derby this weekend and our giant Easter Eggstravaganaza quickly approaching. I’m thankful though for quiet days where I can read and write and make childhood treats for my girls. These days are the ones that hold me together. I finally feel like me again! Here’s hoping the feeling sticks around!

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Professor for a day and other happenings! March 9, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:42 pm

I told you I would give an update on how teaching a college class went. Here it is… It went great. The class was small – only three young ladies, but that was okay with me. It made for a very informal and conversational environment. We were talking about some heavy topics in children’s ministry so it was great to have that focused time with them. The awesome thing about being a partner with Jeremy in ministry is that opportunities like this are available to me. Because I do a lot of mentoring and personal meetings with students, I had plenty of real life examples to accompany the chapters in the book we were discussing. I love sharing with young people that I am an ordained Assemblies of God minister. It’s not about being cool, but I hope it inspires them to do the same thing and get credentialed. I’m not just a wife or administrative assistant, I am pastor at the front lines. I always want that to be clear. It was an excellent opportunity to share my passion of pastoral care with these college students. Jeremy and I make a wonderful team and between the two of us, we were never searching for something to say next. The time flew by! I was a little concerned that we would fill it all and it happened effortlessly. God is good. They told us we covered the chapters more thoroughly than any of the other subs had done in the past. We felt good that we have given them some solid things to think about. I’m learning more and more that it’s easy to talk about my own personal experiences. I don’t have to be a brilliant teacher, I just have to share what I’ve learned from walking down this path a little farther along in the journey. I love teaching. So who knows, maybe in a few years down the road this whole college professor things might be something worth pursuing. I’ll need to get my master’s degree first, but honestly, I love school and learning. There are so many options and potential for the future. Teaching this class was a win for me and I’m glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone to do it.

Uncle Jeremy playing with the kiddos!

As, I mentioned in my last post, this week has been a very social one for me. Jeremy joked that people are going to think I’m lying when I say that I’m an introvert. Well, I am not lying. I am just a friendly introvert. It’s been so fun to have family in town this week. After our day in Seattle, Jeremy and I drove back home to hang out with his parents and our niece and nephew. Jeremy hadn’t seen the kids yet, so it was a lot of fun to watch him interact with them. He is a wonderful uncle! Yesterday, we drove down south to have dinner with Jeremy’s brother and his wife. We got dressed up and went to a nice restaurant. It was a lot of fun. Nice to do a date night and go all out! Today my friend, Kaly, and her son, Lucas, come over for brunch and to inspect our new floors. It’s fun to have people over to take a peek at the floors. I had fun playing with Lucas on our new area rug. He loves remotes and coasters. The simplest things can be so entertaining. I also had a great time catching up with Kaly since she doesn’t live in the area so we only see each other once a month or so. She was down visiting her parents. I always appreciate when she includes me in her weekend plans!

Enjoying a dinner out!

The busy life just keeps moving onward. Tomorrow Jeremy’s dad is coming over to help Jeremy assemble his new green house. Jeremy is like a kid at Christmas! We’ll have dinner with my parents and sister tomorrow night as well. Monday, I have two meetings down south. One with another children’s pastor and one with an old friend and mentor. I guess the social streak will be 8 days in a row. Not bad for a little introvert.

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Social Week March 6, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 1:48 pm

Even as an introvert, I do have some weeks where it seems like there is always something going on and people to see. This is one of those weeks. It’s all good fun stuff and I’m getting to hang out with some great people.

One Last Meeting

Monday, I met with my A/G Network mentor before she leaves for Africa later this month. We’ve been meeting for about a year on a monthly basis. At first it was a little strange meeting with someone that I’ve never met before. Since she’s been in missions her whole life, I wasn’t sure if we would have anything in common. The great thing is that there is a lot you can learn from people who have walked different roads in life. She’s been able to offer me a whole different perspective on ministry. Plus, she has really great stories about living with no power and running water from time to time. I admire our missionaries so much and what they are willing to do to share the gospel around the world. Her heart and commitment to Africa are inspiring. It was sad to say “good-bye” to our monthly meetings, but thanks to technology, I know we’ll keep in touch. Monday was also a Growth Group night for me so I had some ladies over for our study on One Thousand Gifts. It was a full day!

Hangin’ with my niece!

Yesterday, I got the joy of having breakfast with sister-in-law, Andrea, and her kiddos! It was a great morning. We had doughnuts, which I totally can’t remember the last time I had one. Very tasty! My nephew taught me how to play stick golf on his mom’s phone. Let it be known that anything related to golf I am extremely poor at and this game was no exception. Lucky for me, Carson cheered really loud when I finally got the ball in the hole. It made it worth it. Since this branch of the family tree lives three hours away, it’s always a special treat to see them and hang out.

Today, my sister came over for lunch. I made french toast and she chatted with me while I made no-bake cookies for my class snack. Even though we live within a half hour of each other, her school and work schedule can sometimes be opposite of mine. It was fun to catch up on life and just chill and relax. One of the great things about hanging out with April is that there really is no frills necessary. We sit, we talk, we eat. Nothing fancy. I don’t mind being that kind of hostess!

The big day of the week will be tomorrow when Jeremy and I teach a class at Northwest University. Just call me Professor Amy! Jeremy and I went over the material this morning and I think we’re set. Now we just got to do it. Hopefully it goes well and I can add it to the list of things I’ve accomplished. It’s just one day… I do realize it’s not the same thing as teaching a semester. Baby steps. After the class, we’ll see if traffic allows me to go to a family party that evening. So the socialness just keeps on coming!

Friday we have a dinner plans down south with Jeremy’s brother and his wife. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so it will be great to catch up. We’re going to a new restaurant for Jeremy and I. It will be a bit of a food adventure. I like checking out new places.

I will admit that Saturday is looking pretty good to me. Yes, I will still have church in the evening, but I’ll have the ability to stay in pajamas until late afternoon if I want to. I’ll need a little down time after all this socializing. It’s a good week filled with fun opportunities with awesome people. I probably won’t have much time for blogging, but I promise to let you know how the teaching experience goes. Maybe this will inspire me to get my master’s degree and become a college professor…. who knows!

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Continued Adventures in Domesticity February 28, 2013

Filed under: Cooking Experiments — Amy Scott @ 7:27 pm

I feel momentum after Monday night’s soup success. I thought I would share with you some of other projects from this week. As promised Tuesday night was cake pop night. I have officially decided that I don’t like making cake pops. These turned out just fine, but really the whole process is just a little too much for me. I would prefer to make cupcakes. I think once I get to the candy melt part cake pops lose their fun factor. It’s a slow process to dip them all and make sure all the excess drips off so it doesn’t run and make a mess. I did learn from my mistakes and made the cake pops about half the size of my last attempt. This made for less casualties and helped the candy melts go a lot farther. I took these cake pops to my class last night and they were a hit. The only problem is that I have a lot them left over and I know I don’t need to eat them myself. Oh temptation… I will say no. I hope!

Chocolate Cake Pops with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tonight I had the joy of making dinner again. Oh yeah, two homemade dinners in one week! I must be like Martha Stewart or something! Just kidding. I guess I made waffles on Tuesday, but that was from a mix, so we’ll call it semi-homemade. I’m trying to make my food and not just microwave it (or pour a bowl of cereal and call it dinner). The menu this evening was Sausage and Ricotta Stuffed Jumbo Shells. They were so tasty. I’ll be honest and admit that tonight was a team effort. My hubby cooked up the meat and we both stuffed the shells together. I’m not trying to prove myself so I was perfectly fine working side by side in the kitchen. Stuffed shells is something I’ve always wanted to try, but never have. Once again, Food Network Magazine was the inspiration. I didn’t follow their recipe, but they had stuffed shells featured in an article and the picture looked so good I had to get jumbo shells when I went grocery shopping. Totally worth it!

Yummy Stuffed Shells

I’m not sure what tomorrow holds. No cooking/baking plans yet. I’m thinking Saturday might be a cookie day. The great thing about trying new recipes this week is that I’m learning cooking isn’t impossible. I’m sure I will fail and succeed in the kitchen, but the more I try the more comfortable I will become with the whole cooking process. It’s not 1950, but there is something nice in my head about making dinner – at least once or twice a week. For the other days, there is cereal! :)

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Guess who made dinner? February 25, 2013

Filed under: Cooking Experiments — Amy Scott @ 6:27 pm

Bubble, Bubble!

If you guessed my hubby, Jeremy, you would be right about every other day off the week, but… NOT TODAY! Today I made soup for the first time – completely by myself! I’m pretty proud right now! You have to realize that I have next to no cooking skills. Every year I tell myself that this is the year I’m going to start cooking dinner. I’m really good at Kraft Mac and Cheese and anything you empty from a box and put in the oven. However, to me that doesn’t really count.

I loved getting Food Network Magazine over the last year. It was a Christmas gift in 2011. This year I decide that I couldn’t live without it, so I subscribed for three more years. I know that three years is a long time, but it was the best deal for the price. I usually make one thing a month from the magazine and it’s usually the best looking dessert that catches my eye. While the key-lime cheesecake bars will probably be next, something else looked good too. Okay, a lot of things looked good. It was the cheese edition! How could it not? I stopped to ponder making their Apple-Cheddar Soup with Bacon. It sounded like a great flavor combination that reminded me of going out for fondue. This Friday, I made sure to add the ingredients to our shopping list.

Apple-Cheddar Soup with Bacon!

While the directions say it should take 40 minutes, it took me about an hour. I crisped up some bacon in the pot. I chopped up the onion, apples and potato. I stirred frequently to make sure that nothing burned. I added the liquid ingredients and then the cheese! This was my first time making soup, but it was also my first time using the stick blender. Very educational.

Normally when I cook, I feel like the food wins – not in a yummy tasty way, but in a it conquers me kind of way. I’m always stressed about does that look cooked all the way through, should it smell like that, should it look like that. I’m always second guessing myself. You should take that as a sign that I really care for those who are going to eat it. No food poisoning on my watch. Surprisingly, everything went as plan and nothing caught me off guard. Hurray!

I sprinkled some bacon on the top of the bowl and took a thick slice of bread for dipping because to me bread and soup are made me to dipped together. It was tasty! Jeremy gave me his approval and so far we’re both still standing! Woo hoo! Success! For those of you who make soup from scratch all the time, don’t mock. This is a baby step in the right direction for me. I’m trying to discover other uses for my kitchen besides baking. But speaking of baking, I’ll be heading back into the kitchen to make a sheet cake later this evening. I’m going to attempt cake pops take two tomorrow night. I think I’ve learned from my mistakes so hopefully my second attempt will turn out better then the first. I learned the hard way in the cake pop world that size really does matter!

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The Final Result! February 23, 2013

Filed under: Home Improvement — Amy Scott @ 8:55 pm

After a long week and a whole lot of saw dust, we’re finished with the flooring project. Well, almost. Some small things will need to be done tomorrow, but for the most part it’s finished. In fact right now I’m watching Toby try to jump up on our chair and a half. With the loss of traction, he doesn’t always make it. Poor doggie. We’ve really turned his whole world upside down. Here are the pictures of the final results!