America's Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

It's a slow and relaxing day in the Sotomayor household today and this weekend.  We are preparing for a big transition in our lives (not a baby); more details on that at a later date.

I've had a longing in my heart lately to spend more time with the Lord.  It's been a little hard due to changing jobs and learning a new field.  It's been absolutely amazing but that desire and longing has always been present.

I didn't realize that I've been trying to put old wine in a new wine skin.  I've been listening to some amazing sermons lately and one topic was to stop trying to do things like you did into today's life. That means that my life back then cannot be fitted into my life today.  My life back then was great and my life now is great.  It looks much different but I'm learning that I have to let that old life go and be flexible with my time, even though it's not what I want.  I must be willing to change my routine to spend time with the Lord.  That is very hard for me because I love routines.

I woke up early this morning so I could do some work and spend time with the Lord.  I have done little work and just spent time with Him, praying, journaling, and reading a couple of scriptures.  I woke up with a thankful spirit.  God has been so good to me and Sean this year.  It's been a season, a year really, of transition for us.

Transition isn't always easy.  It's about a season of flexibility, humility, pruning, and discipline.  One thing I have been praying about during this time is to remain thankful and have a spirit of gratitude.  I don't want to lose that.  I don't want to become entitled with the things that our Father has given us.  He can easily take it all away.  I'm not one to be patriotic but I have learned over the last few years that America is great and we must support it as a whole, even when we disagree with the choices of our leaders.  America is the land of the free and the home of the brave.  We must pray for our country.  God's mercy is new every morning.  Every morning we get a new chance in this world.

I'm so thankful for His new mercies.  I'm thankful for His loving-kindness.

Well, this post is not where I wanted to go but I think it's meant to be.  I hope you enjoy the thoughts that were going through my head this morning.  I hope you enjoy your time with your loved ones on this 4th of July.  I truly appreciate all the men and women who serve daily to keep America free and great.  You are the heroes of this country.

We give praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks, Your wondrous works declare that Your Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders.  - Psalm 75:1 [AMP]

[I apologize for my rambling. I feel like I am all over the place in this post and I have more to say but at this moment I can't articulate it into words]

Thanksgiving

 This year Sean and I got to spend Thanksgiving in St Pete Beach.  Sean's grandparents live there and we got to go to the Yacht club for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was fun too!!  Here are some photos from our fun time at the St Pete Yacht Club:

We liked this guy's outfit.

I'm pretty sure this is Mr Frederickson from UP.

My traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the club.

I had this amazing apple dessert!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Appreciation Dinner

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Light at Fort Myers had an Appreciation Dinner/Thanksgiving dinner.  There was a committee of ladies who put this together and I was honored to be a part of this committee.  The idea of an "Appreciation Dinner" is to buy someone's meal that you appreciate.  It's that simple.  With the short time of planning this event, we did not do it the way we had originally planned but we still had a great turn out for our first one.  The meal for adults was 3 bucks!  And for kids, it was one dollar.  You can't beat this price for a Thanksgiving meal.  This will be annual event at Light. 

The committee consisted of about 10 or so ladies.  We all cooked a turkey (if not more than one) & dressing, some of us cooked a ham, some did desserts, some did the mashed potatoes & green beans.  We asked the congregation to bring dessert as well.  Some of the ladies decorated the fellowship hall.

This is us meeting a week before the event to make sure we all know what we are doing.  We had a great time planning this event for the church.

The four pictures below are what I made for the dinner: brownies, cupcakes, ham & turkey.

     

 This is my TURKEY recipe that I used.  It turned out great!!  Well, I actually did not try it but Sean did and said it was great, so I will be doing this again.  I did it in a crockpot because I have never cooked a turkey and you can never go wrong with a slow cook meal.  Plus, this was easy & recommended by one of the ladies for me to do.

Below are some random photos of the event.  Please disregard the alignment of them, I am having some issues with the photos aligning properly.  I hope you enjoy them!

   

The ladies above are amazing.  Deanna (left) made the fellowship hall look wonderful!  & Gaila (right) was our wonderful director of this whole event!

                                                

        

    

      

This is my plate of food.  It was delicious!  Sorry but I prefer ham instead of turkey on Thanksgiving.

       

We had over 200 hundred people come to eat & fellowship with us!  We were so thankful to have guests and family to come to this event.  We cannot wait for next year's dinner!  We also had entertainment throughout the meal.  Thanks to all who performed!  You all did a great job!!

happy thanksgiving!