chicken/homemade/kitchen/Recipes/tips/tricks

A Little Variation

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Some dishes are made to be prepared the same way every single time. They’re the best one way and one way only (Grammie/Aunt Cookie’s potatoes fall under this category). Somehow, others seem to be up for a little variation now and again. I usually prefer really thick, creamy chicken and dumplins. (See here for a favorite as of late.)

Last week, though, I was craving more of a broth-y variation. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I have to say, I was concerned. No cream. No milk. Could this be real life?

Chicken & Dumplins

They were so good. And, the dumplins? Yes, please. Yes, yes, yes.

Quick tip: chop your celery with your kitchen shears (clean, of course; I run mine through the dishwasher). It’s quite the time saver.

13 years/2014/anniversary/hair/Mr. Gray/photos

Lucky Thirteen

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 6 Comments

I’m not usually a Saturday blogger, but 13 years together seemed like a good reason to bust out some poor-quality (how do I get actual prints to digital without losing quality, anyway?) photos of us from back in the day.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gray’s long hair isn’t clearly seen in the only long-haired photo I have to share this time. I’ll keep digging. 

Dating
Fireplace
Spurs Game

Life’s a long road, and there’s absolutely no one else I’d rather travel it with!

2013/Aggies/art/Baby Gray/baking/Christmas/crafts/Elf on the Shelf/Halloween/Johnny Football/preschool/Teddy/tips/tricks/writing

She Thinks She’s All That Because She’s So Popular

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Actual words spoken by one of the girls I used to babysit. Words to live by.

Really, though, check out what was most popular for The Gray Matters in 2013. 

2013 Top Ten

1. Ready, Teddy?
2. Recipe for Life
3. Squee-gee, Thanks!
4. Halloween How-To
5. Hip Hip Hooray!
6. To the Good People of the Grocery Store, With Love
7. To the Aggie Family, He’s One of Us
8. De-licious
9. Destin-ation Vacation
10. So Tell Me What You Want (What You Really, Really Want)

2013/2014/church/faith/family/go/goals/mission/move/Revolution

Go.

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 7 Comments

In the past, I have set goals for the upcoming year and laid them all out nicely. Usually, if I made progress, it was early on, before I forgot about the goals (I’m just being honest here). I haven’t done a good job of keeping them at the forefront. 2014 is going to be a little different.

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As I’ve started thinking about the upcoming year, I’ve really felt lead to choose a word instead of making a list of check-off items. Go. In so many senses of the word, go. God has placed on my heart that it is time to go: to go back to our hometown; to go from our church where we have grown and learned so much; to go instead of always being a sender; I mean, I’ve even felt called to go running.

I teetered back and forth between go and no. As I was working my way through which to make my focus, Mr. Gray asked the question, “Why go instead of no? It seems either would be a good fit for you.” The fact is, no is not always something that comes easy to me, but it comes a lot easier than going. Being a go-er rather than a sender is something I feel God preparing me for. It is a much larger step out of my comfort zone, but it is something that seems to be a recurring theme.

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It’s time to go–deeper, farther, faster, slower–where ever I am called.

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” –Matthew 28:19-20


Photos by KLB Ranch Photography

2013/Baby Gray/faith/family/goals/Mr. Gray/parenting/work

This is my Reflection

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

I love reflecting on the goals I set at the beginning of the year and seeing how I did with things. I’m shaking things up a little for 2014–you’ll have to wait and see tomorrow!

1.  I will use our story to reach others for Christ. Somewhere, someone needs our story. That is why it was given to us. I will work to use it as a testament of God’s promises to me when the going got tough. I won’t keep secrets; I won’t bury it because it’s easier. I will use it. 

Well? Two very specific incidents stand out about this. I was able to reach out and use our story as a tangible example for others. That’s not counting the times I am able to use regular, everyday life experiences to relate to new moms and friends coming behind us in situations similar to ours. I still don’t have written words for all of what God has done, but I am getting much better at articulating in face-to-face situations. 

2. I will prioritize family above work. Working from home, I sometimes have trouble turning work mode off. I will make it a point to keep work behind family time.  

Well? I did better. I like to be Johnny On The Spot, and that is something I’m still working on daily. It’s ok for me to take time with Mr. Gray or Baby Gray above work time.
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3. I will build bridges. I won’t wait on people (family, friends, etc) to come to me to make things better. Life is too short. It is a two-way street, but I will do my fair share.

Well? I honestly can’t think of any time I did this, but I can’t think of any time I didn’t, either. I’m not sure I had a specific time to employ this. 

4. I will spend [at least] one night a week, uninterrupted, with my husband. Location, school, schedules, and whathaveyou sometimes make it hard for us to pull off an actual out-of-house date night. We’ll do at-home dates and call it a compromise. 

Well? We did pretty good at this. Between switching date nights with friends and going and doing, we spent some quality time together this year! I want to keep it up!

5. I will work to incorporate Spanish words and phrases into Baby Gray’s vocabulary. I’m no Spanish whiz, but I know enough to get him started. Mr. Gray and I would like for him to have some foundation for use later.

Well? I think this lasted about a month. He can count to ocho–thanks, Dora! 

Photo by KLB Ranch Photography.

2013/Baby Gray/grief/Mr. Gray/tips/tricks/writing

Worth Writing About

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 4 Comments

Every now and again, I wonder why I write.

[The search function on the site is apparently not working correctly; I had plans for a screen shot of all the posts about “why I write” here. Use your imagination.]

Is it just a place to chronicle our family fun? (While I love to do that, I doubt everyone is interested in baby stories all day, everyday.)

Is my goal to have thousands of readers? (I’m a little scared of a viral post, remember.)

Is it to paint the picture of a perfect life? (No, no, that’s not it at all.)

Do I just tell funny stories in hopes someone will show up with a DVD player? (By the way, T-Paw did Christmas morning.) 

Am I just here to share gross photos of hair from my carpet? (One of my biggest hits on Pinterest–of all things.)

Cleaning

Why am I here? What am I doing?

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I know God has given me a story to tell–to one or one thousand, one. I sprinkle in a little of the rest, but I ultimately want to shout from the rooftops what God has done in our lives. The grace He’s given us. The love He shows. The beauty from the ashes. He has blessed us immensely. I want the world to know it.

 Photo by KLB Ranch Photography.

Christmas/family/fun/Teddy/tradition

Christmas Eve Gift

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

Every year on Christmas Eve, my mom’s side of the family tries to beat each other to saying, “Christmas Eve gift!” I’m not sure any of us actually know why. Maybe there was actually a gift or prize in it at some point.

Gifts

I have to say, though, it was a lot funnier back the days before caller ID when we all answered every, single phone call with “Christmas Eve gift!” in hopes that it’d be someone else in the family calling and we’d beat them to saying it. (For a great visual, please picture me on my see-through cordless–yes, cordless, I looked far and wide for it–landline phone doing this.) The temporary humiliation when, “What?” came from the other end of the phone was worth it on the off-chance it worked to win at least one throughout the day.

We’re a fun bunch.

This year, Teddy Elf got in on the excitement as part of his farewell.

photo(48)

I’ve struggled with how to execute all the fun Christmas Eve stuff when we get home from Christmas with Mr. Gray’s family and Baby Gray is too sleepy to care (you can find last year’s meltdown here). This year, I decided we would do Santa’s cookies, milk, and his Christmas Eve gifts before we headed over to Gray Christmas, but Teddy Elf worked it out for me. I like it. 

Teddy’s farewell letter: 
Christmas Eve Gift! 
I’ve had so much fun with you this Christmas season! 
I hope you will continue to share Christ’s love 
All year, for all reasons! 
Now I’m off, off, and away 
To help Santa with the toys in his sleigh!
See you next year, 
Teddy

2013/Baby Gray/Christmas/Elf on the Shelf/sick/Teddy/tradition

Elf-Capades!

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

My goodness. This has been the strangest holiday season I can remember.

Matter of fact, this pretty much sums it up.

Mask

For a family that is pretty much never sick, this December has taken quite the toll. We are not letting it keep us down, though! (You know, except for the fact that we have pretty much been wingin’ the whole Christmas thing this year.)

Thankfully Teddy Elf has been here to keep us on track! He’s kept the giving and loving going all month! (You can see his previous tricks and treats here.)

Teddy has been helping us bake treats for friends.

photo 1

 He brought a sweet gift for Mrs. Behlen to enjoy.

photo 2

He helped us make goodies to package for the neighbors and friends.

photo 3

He divvied up Baby Gray’s fundraiser items and helped him with the thank you notes.

photo 4

One morning, Baby Gray got a special video message from him!

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He even got the treats all cute for the neighbors so all we had to do was deliver them–what a helper!

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(The only thing we’re missing is the morning Teddy showed up in Baby Gray’s shoes. We weren’t too sure what he was trying to communicate with that, but we are pretty sure it was the night Mama really didn’t feel like herself at all.) We’ll sure be sad to see Teddy Elf go tomorrow.