Jen Russum

I didn't read my Bible yesterday. Well, actually I did, but not until 11pm at night. So technically I read my Bible, but I went through my whole day without being infused by God's Word. Not a good idea...

You see, about three and half years ago,  I made the switch {thanks to much prompting by Micah when we were dating}. I stopped making all my "I don't have time before work/am too tired in the morning/I read better at night" excuses for not meeting with God in the morning, EVERY morning. It was a decision that changed my life. I have never known my Savior so intimately, loved Him so fully, obeyed Him so often, or delighted in Him as much as I have ever since I made the switch to meeting with God at the start of every day. If you haven't made the switch yet... if reading God's word is a "when I have a free five minutes/at the end of the day/at best a few days a week" activity for you, may I strongly encourage you to change? It's so worth it, friend, even if you are tired in the morning or overwhelmed at thinking of the day ahead or in a rush to get to work or get the kids off to school. In fact, the more daunting the day ahead, the more essential it is to start with time in God's Word. It just might change your life. It did for me.

As I said, yesterday was a mess-up day for me. Not that God loves me any less if I forget to read my Bible... there is grace for the days when it gets pushed aside, but I try to put Him first at all costs. I probably rush out of the house without reading my Bible only a handful of times a year. Maybe two handfuls. But yesterday was one of those days...

I left my house before 7am to substitute teach at a local high school. After work, I stopped by the post office to mail a package and headed to ASU to meet with my professor about my mommy blog paper {which I will be presenting at a conference in Seattle in less than two weeks. Eek. This equates to a constant feeling of stress as I feel unprepared for the conference and the days are ticking away.} After hauling my hot, sweaty, book-laden self all over ASU's campus, meeting with a couple of students, and thankfully avoiding a parking ticket, even though my meter had long-since expired by the time I got back to my car, I headed home to make dinner. Let's just say it was one of those nights where I should have just pulled some Trader Joe's stir-fry out of the freezer and called it good, but instead I decided to try two new recipes. Usually I am a pretty good cook, but last night was not my night. Two hours, one trip to the store for a forgotten ingredient, and a huge mess in my kitchen later {Mental note: read recipes carefully before making them. When it calls for a food processor and you don't have one, it gets very messy trying to use every other electric kitchen appliance you own to "process" your cauliflower...so much for trying new vegetables!}, I finally sat down to eat alone. Micah called in the midst of my cooking to tell me he was going to be late. The recipes both turned out to be mediocre-bordering-on-gross and half my night was wasted. After cleaning my kitchen, I headed to the coffee shop across the street, which is where I usually spend my Thursday nights studying, but I was too frazzled by this point to really concentrate. I headed home at 10pm hoping that Micah had done the few little chores I had left for him on a list - the main one being to put new sheets on our bed, so that I could fall into it and go to sleep. Micah had not done the chores and had instead gone on a two hour run {marathon training}. While I was glad that he went running, I found myself angry that he didn't do his chores first. I simmered in this anger as I folded clothes and changed our sheets, even though I was telling myself.... this is life...you are being refined...you should be joyful despite your circumstances. It was a battle of the heart...be mad...have joy...be mad...have joy. Sadly, the mad side won. At least for a while...

Then Micah and I prayed and he asked for forgiveness and suggested we read some Scripture together. He asked me to read James 3 to him about controlling the tongue. Ah, sweet conviction. Micah fell asleep right after listening to the passage, but I found myself yearning. This Bible in front of me. These sweet words. I longed for them. I had not covered my day with God's Word from the start and now I found myself in bed, tired, convicted, emotional, and feeling a void. I needed to read God's Word. I read James 3 again slowly and then my heart whispered to me "Psalm 84." Usually I am not the type of person who just reads any chapter of the Bible that comes to mind. I believe that reading the Bible is most fruitful with a reading plan, but last night was out of the norm. I turned to Psalm 84 and this is what I read...

So here’s where you come in… I need your best purse inspirations. What should I buy? I want your ideas… Please leave me a comment below with links to any purses you like. Store and brand do not matter; in the past I’ve had purses from H&M, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Kohl’s, and Target. I would even be open to buying something from Etsy or from an online shop. It just has to be cute. The only rule is that it can’t cost more than $50. I am not a thousand dollar purse type of girl. $50 is my limit for something that might or might not get set on the floor of a public bathroom. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. I need a new purse to love, so please show me what YOU LOVE!

I just want to take a second to introduce you to my LOVELY sponsors. I think these ladies are the greatest and you should probably hop over to their blogs and say hello! {And if you want info on sponsorship, click HERE. My rates are just about the MOST affordable out there!}

Heather is one of my dearest blogging friends. She e-mailed me out of the blue this summer and I happened to read her message on my first wedding anniversary. Micah and I were in our hotel room getting ready for dinner and I read the sweetest e-mail from the sweetest girl. So now July 11th is my anniversary with my sweet hub and my friendiversary with Heather. She blogs over at Finding Beauty in the {Extra}Ordinary! Go say hi!

Sweet Heather

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Jacqueline writes over at babEblessings and is the mama to a sweet little boy, Grayson {that's one of my favorite boy names by the way - probably because it reminds me of my favorite color... GRAY!}. She has a crazy, difficult, beautiful pregnancy story, so head over to her blog to check it out!

Baby Grayson

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Izzy blogs about all things creative over at izoriginals and she also runs a fun etsy shop! Go check out all her awesome paintings!

An Iz Original!

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Jhen Stark is an amazing woman, mama, and photographer. It is a blessing to read her blog, From Here to Eternity, and see what God is doing in her life. She also started a new photography biz called Stark Love Photography and her images are beautiful!



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Aunt Dede's Basement is one of my favorite Etsy shops! I love her potholders, jewelry racks, and ruffled shower curtains. Basically I love ALL of it!

On Tuesday, I shared my first set of tips regarding all things food management... cleaning out the fridge, meal planning, shopping carefully, and trying to avoid wasting food. Here are my second set of tips on how to be a good steward of food and stretch your food budget to the max!


Buy in bulk carefully. The result of shopping at Costco can be a like a girl who spends too much time in the weight room. While lifting weights is important, getting too bulky and losing all your feminine appeal is gross. Well, shopping at food warehouses can be the same way. Getting a good deal on items you use often is awesome. It's like toning your biceps. Buying everything in bulk and having your pantry look like a grocery version of hoarders -with giant boxes of cereal, cans of soups and papers towels exploding EVERY where is also gross. Micah and I have a Costco card, but I rarely ever use it except to buy gas. Wanna know why? We have no kids, so buying in bulk is a little ridiculous and we live in an apartment, so we don't have a lot of extra room to store goods and groceries. Costco is awesome for items you use constantly - chicken broth, toilet paper, Orbit gum. But it's not so awesome for most other products that you only use occasionally. Even though 50 ounces for $5.00 is a great deal, it's really not if you only need 8 ounces and you could get it at your neighborhood market for $1.00. Just spend the dollar and get the heck out of Costco!

Buy produce in moderation. If there is one thing I am passionate about, it's produce selection. I hate seeing people lop a ton of produce in their carts that I know is just going to go to waste. Because here is the thing about produce...it goes bad. Pretty quickly. Of course, if you have like five kids at home, then sure, buy your greens in bulk. But for the rest of us who only have two, three or four people to feed, go easy in the produce section and choose wisely. I know this seems counter-intuitive to the whole "5 a Day" campaign or the new food recommendations where half your plate is supposed to be made up of fruits and vegetables...but do you want your plate filled up with ROTTEN fruits and vegetables? Because that's what happens if you don't know what you are doing in the produce department... Feel free to stock up on produce with a good shelf life. It's fairly easy to keep apples, oranges, potatoes, onions, and carrots for more than a week. I try to keep some of these things on hand at all times. Just make sure you store them properly. But other fruits and veggies only last for a few days, so buy them in moderation. Only buy as many berries, bananas, and green leafy veggies as you can realistically eat in the next 3-5 days, and plan your meals around them. If you are buying ingredients for a fresh salad, that salad should probably be on tomorrow night's dinner menu. If you are planning to serve strawberry shortcake, that better be the dessert over the next two to three nights, otherwise your strawberries will get all squishy and gross.

Perfect fruit bowl for a week of healthy eating! ALL of this got consumed!!!

Bananas about bananas. And may I just stop right here and say one thing about banana selection, one of my greatest passions? {I am not joking about this - I get really passionate about bananas and sometimes I cry to Micah on the weekend if I don't have any in my fruit bowl for the week ahead... he thinks I'm nuts...and he's probably right.} Again, unless you have six hungry children at home or some kind of strange banana fetish, do NOT buy a huge bunch of bananas. I'll tell you why...because all the bananas on a single bunch will go bad on the same day. If you buy them when they are slightly green, the next day they will be mostly yellow with a tiny bit of green at the top {best day to eat them in my opinion!}, the next day they will be all yellow with one or two little brown speckles, then next day they will be completely freckled and a little overripe, and then next day they will be ROTTEN - AKA waiting to be tossed in the freezer for the next batch of banana bread. So if you buy a bunch of bananas, assume they will all be bad in five days or less. But please NEVER buy a bunch of bananas. Please buy a few from a REALLY green bunch {the greenest you can find}, and a few from a slightly green bunch, and one or two that will be perfect for the next day's breakfast. That way all your bananas will ripen at a different time during the week. You are NOT obligated to buy the whole bunch people! Do NOT feel pressured! Aannndd... banana rant DONE.

Split it. We all know that you can save the most money by eating at home, but let's be honest, restaurants are good. Not only do restaurants allow us to try new recipes and experience someone else's cooking and try bites from other people's entrees around the table, but someone ELSE does the dishes, and that's worth some money if you ask me. Micah and I try to eat at home as much as possible {usually every weekday evening} and we both try to pack our lunches so we don't have to go out for lunch. But when it comes to the weekend, we know that we will probably eat out at least once, if not twice. The biggest way to save your wallet and your waist in restaurants is to SPLIT a meal. Micah and I almost always share an entree when we go out to eat. Not only does this save us $10-30 pretty much every time, but it also saves us a ton of calories. Because restaurant portions are HUGE and we really don't need a whole entree to ourselves. So instead of going home feeling stuffed and sickly, Micah and I always split and go home feeling satisfied, knowing we had a great meal and didn't have to blow our budget to do so.

Birthday freebies. My birthday was just last week, and let me tell you, I have enjoyed some great food since then FOR FREE. You know those little cards at restaurants where they ask for your birthday, anniversary, and e-mail address? May I highly recommend that you fill them out? Because said restaurant will send you a gift on your birthday. I promise. It will be in the form of a certificate for free food and you will love your life. This week, Micah and I were able to get two Havana Lattes and a homemade English muffin at our favorite Phoenix joint, La Grande Orange, for absolutely nothing. They sent me at $10 gift certificate for my birthday. Two days later, I met a friend for happy hour at another restaurant. We split an appetizer and then split my free dessert - a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Yes, please, and thank you. On Sunday, Micah and I went out to lunch after church with his mom. After enjoying our salads, we also enjoyed my free birthday Tiramisu. Yum. One of my favorite restaurants in Fort Worth offers birthday girls and boys a free BRUNCH during their birthday month. I am tempted to fly to Texas next weekend and get mine! It's so worth it to join the restaurant mailing lists and get freebies on your birthday. And if you hate the idea of getting junk mail from restaurants {because they will send weekly or monthly publicity emails}, here is my suggestion. Set up a junk e-mail account {or use an old e-mail address that you never check anymore} for all mailings of this variety. Then the week before your birthday and anniversary each year, log in to your junk account and print off all your birthday goodies. Your birthday freebies will be near the top of your inbox, and you will never have to look at any of the other junk mail at all. Happy Birthday to you!

Mmm... LGO lattes, how I love you! But I love you the most when you are FREE!

I hope these tips help you manage your food and grocery budget more efficiently, so that you can give more to others in need! And please share any other ideas you have down below. I would love to hear from you!

Well there have been some big changes on the fashion front in my home...

This is my new hair right after leaving the salon. The right is my failed attempt to show you {and my sister to whom I was trying to send a phone pic when this was taken} how the ends are lighter than the top. My sister told me I look pale. I protest! I am not pale. I simply used a flash when there was too much sunlight and the result is the pale look!

Trying to be creative with a dress over jeans. Micah hated this outfit because he did not like the fact that I was wearing skinny jeans, yet he could not see my butt. Ha! And going strong with the heels {as long as I know I won't have to wear them for more than a few hours!}

Birthday outfit! It was ONLY 94 degrees on my birthday, so I did what any desert-dweller would... I wore my cute new sweatshirt... with shorts! And check out my $5 fedora! LOVE!

This is my new way to create a "fall look" in Phoenix. Wear a cute sweatshirt or long-sleeved shirt with shorts. That way you can show off a fall top but still get some air-flow with the shorts.... I recommend this for temps between 80-99. If it's below 80 in PHX, you should probably be rocking a wool sweater, boots and maybe mittens.

Here is my best lipstick sample. Notice the pic on the LEFT. I am not pale, sister!

As I mentioned earlier, I think God is trying to teach me about stewardship right now. Learning how to use and enjoy what He has given me, instead of always wanting more, more, more. A few weeks ago, I talked about being a good steward of my closet. This week I want to talk about being a good steward of my FOOD.

Mmm... I love food. I love trying new recipes for dinner. I love eating my cereal with a banana on top every day for breakfast. I love drinking my homemade white chocolate mocha every morning while I read my Bible. I love eating ice cream for dessert. I love trying new restaurants or sharing a meal at home with friends. I love drinking a giant Diet Coke with splash of Dr. Pepper on top {"The Mix!"}. I love food.

But the truth is...people around the world are STARVING. Literally, dying of malnutrition. Sick and dying for lack of water and food. Sure the old "clean your plate" method isn't going to help a starving child in Africa {and has lead to gross amounts of overeating in our country}, but I do think we should be good stewards of the food God has given to us.... How can we stretch our grocery money and use the food that we already have at home to feed our families? How can we make wise decisions at restaurants?  How can we learn not to waste and to raise up children who see their food as the blessing that it is? Because honestly, if we made smarter decisions about the way we spend our money on food and if were more conscious consumers, we really would have more resources to help those around the world who will go without dinner tonight.

Here are my tips on how to be a good steward of food, and PLEASE feel free to add your own ideas below. I am always looking for ways to stretch my grocery budget!

Empty it out. The refrigerator and pantry that is. Micah and I, like many people I'm sure, try to deplete our food supply before we go on vacation. This summer we went to California for a week and then headed to Washington for two and a half weeks, so before we began these ventures we tried to use up all the food in the house. Our goal was to leave with an empty fridge and freezer, and apart from some condiments and salad dressings, we pretty much succeeded. But when we returned from these fun vacations, we thought "Why do we need to fill up our fridge again?" So ever since this past June, we have kept only enough food on hand for the week ahead. This doesn't mean we have NOTHING. Like if we got trapped in our house for a week or something, we would completely survive off cans of soup and rice and pasta {and ice cream!}. But we are trying not to be the Americans with the overflowing refrigerator, where food is lost and rotting at the back of the shelves. We fill our fridge at the beginning of every week with fresh meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables to last us for the next seven-ish days, we eat everything we have, and then buy fresh the following week. I try to keep one or two quickie meals in the freezer (pizza, precooked potstickers, etc.) for those last minute dinners and that is that. Just say NO to rotting food and try to empty your fridge every week.

This was our fridge the week before Labor Day. It was the most full it had been since the beginning of summer because Micah's brother and girlfriend were staying with us all week. I was feeding four and cooking a little bit more than I normally do and this was what it looked like. Notice there is still empty space near the back.

This was our fridge at the end of the week. Almost nothing inside!!! The Tupperware container is leftovers for Micah's lunch the next day and all other leftovers had been moved to freezer for future lunches and dinners. Hoorah!

Use what you have. Even when you are very conscious about only buying for the week ahead, food staples still tend to build up after awhile. Like that one night you planned to make spaghetti and then friends invited you over for pizza and now that spaghetti sauce is still sitting in your pantry... That sort of thing. So once every few months I try to take a week off from grocery shopping {meaning I still buy fresh fruits and milk, but pretty much nothing else} and use only what I already have in my own home to make meals. This might mean we eat some really great stuff like pancakes and bacon for breakfast {or dinner - yum!} or it might mean we eat really boring food like rice and a tiny bit of grilled chicken or it might mean we eat really weird meals like Mac and Cheese with tater tots and freezer green beans. The great thing is you can save almost your whole grocery budget for the entire week and really clear off your shelves.

Be a realistic chef. Whether you love to cook or hate to cook, be realistic when it comes to meal planning. I enjoy cooking dinner and trying new recipes, but I also know I don't have a lot of time to cook during the school year. Usually I plan out about three dinners a week and assume that leftovers, eating out, or going over to a friend's house will take care of the other nights. If we need dinner and I've already made my three meals for the week, we always have one or two emergency meals in the freezer. I very intentionally do not buy any extra ingredients other than what I need for these three dinners, which are planned out before I head to the grocery store. If you hate to cook, perhaps you can set a similar goal for yourself - like trying two new dinner recipes a week. They don't have to be fancy {helloooo crockpot!}. Shop only for the meals you plan out in advance and limit yourself to a realistic number of meals for the week so you don't over-shop.

Meal plan with the weekly ads. You probably know all about this trick, but maybe you don't do it because it takes some work. Well, it's worth it; I promise! Plan out your meals based on what's for sale that week at the store{s} you shop at. Pork tenderloin is on sale? Mmmm... that sounds nice. Ground beef is on sale....let's make burgers this week...and tacos... and spaghetti. You get the idea. The only time I break this rule is when I am cooking something specific for guests. I don't always worry about whether or not the ingredients are on sale in that scenario, and it's always SO much more expensive for those meals. Sometimes I spend almost double at the store when I don't shop by the ads. That's just proof to me that meal planning based on sales is way more cost effective!

Cut carefully. Aren't coupons just all the rage these days? I feel like there are extreme couponing challenges EVERY where. On TV. On blogs. People are even posting about their savings on Facebook. Coupons are soooo in. And for good reason. Coupons are awesome. There is nothing like going through checkout, handing the cashier your handful of coupons at the end and seeing $40 drop off your grocery bill. I am a big fan of coupons and fully believe it's worth the time to cut them out. However, I also offer a warning. ONLY clip coupons for products you actually need, otherwise you might find that coupons cost you more than they save. I try to be very picky when I peruse the coupons. If it's a coupon for a staple we use often in our home or a necessary household product then I clip with glee. But I try to say NO to coupons that look good, but whose product is not one I would regularly buy. For example, $1.00 off a big bag of Pretzel M&Ms is a great deal, but my butt does not need a giant bag of M&Ms, nor do I need to spend that $2 on candy. Don't let coupons convince you to buy things you don't really need! Master the coupon; don't let the coupon master you!

I'll be back later this week with a few more food stewardship tips!!! And, again, please feel free to leave your own suggestions below!







Linking up to Amanda's Family Friendly Food week and Jami's We Encourage!

You know those classic cookies filled with chocolate and oatmeal goodness that you don't even have to put in the oven? Yes, those ones. Well, I think I have finally perfected the recipe and I would love to share it with you!



A few years ago, there was a little coffee stand near my house that I would go to regularly {aka every single morning}. Most days I would only get my regular coffee, but every once in a while I would treat myself to one of their giant, chewy, delicious chocolate no-bake cookies. They were amazing and they were only one dollar. But one day, tragedy struck... I decided it was a cookie day, but when I placed my order I was told that they no longer carried them. It was a sad day, indeed! But instead of wallowing, I set off on a mission. To perfect the no-bake. To recreate the cookie to taste just like the coffee-stand variety that I would never be able to taste again.

Because everyone knows the problem with no-bakes... sometimes they are just too dry... and oatmeal-y... and not chocolate-y enough. I hesitate to the use the word "moist" here, because my sister hates it...but let's be honest. You want a moist no-bake and HERE is how you do it...

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp. cocoa
3 cups oats
1 tsp. vanilla
2-4 oz. baking chocolate or 1/4 c. chocolate chips

In a saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, milk, cocoa, and chocolate, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and then cook for two minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and then add the oats. When oats are fully saturated with chocolate-y goodness, drop by spoonful onto wax paper or foil {if you are out of wax paper like I am}. Let cool until hardened {at least one hour}.





I tweaked the ingredients on this until I got them just right, but the real secret to this recipe is the extra chocolate. It makes the texture so smooth. Last time I made them {in these pictures}, I added two ounces of UNsweetened baking chocolate to the sauce and then added about an 1/8 of a cup of milk chocolate chips to the mixture right before spooning it out onto the wax. I didn't even stir in the chocolate chips, I just kind of let them halfway melt into each cookie and the result was amazing!


























I realize a cookie is still a cookie filled with sugar and butter and should be eaten in moderation, but don't you feel just a little bit better eating a cookie filled with healthy rolled oats instead of white flour? Because I know I do! And the fact that you can make these is under 20 minutes and not have to continuously check on a tray in the oven is just about the best thing ever if you ask me! Enjoy!