Cathryn & Co.

Dear Teacher

2012-01-17T13:22:00.000-06:00

Dear teacher,

I have entrusted you with my dear, precious child (ok, maybe not so precious all the time, but still precious to me and to God) for seven hours a day, five days a week. For my young child, that means you will be with him more waking hours than I will. That is a scary feeling.

Who are you? What kind of personality do you have? Will you love my child in the way my child needs love? Do you have the morals that I want my child to learn from someone that spends that much time with him? Will you honestly seek out the best ways to help him comprehend the concepts that he must learn at his age? Or, do you just consider this a job and do the same things the way you have done them for ten, twenty or even thirty years? Are you a screamer or will you give my child that special hug that only a teacher can give when my child needs it? Will my child look up to you or will he be indifferent to you? Will you be the teacher that is disciplined and requires discipline in return? Children can sense the kind of love that is real, that comes from discipline. Please don’t let them do whatever they want to make them happy. Life is not that way and they need to learn that at an early age.

Do you comprehend that teaching is not a competition with other teachers? It is God’s gift to you and you are to do your very best as though you are teaching for the Lord, not for the other teachers or even the administration. Do you find yourself jealous when other teachers seem to be doing a better job than you or maybe when other teachers get a compliment? Do you talk about other teachers behind their back trying to make yourself seem more important? Shame on you. Do not be slanderers or gossipers. Do not be jealous! Try to learn from that person. Go to other teachers and ask questions. Sharing ideas is wonderful. No one person knows it all. Learn from others. See if they have a method of teaching that you might use. It is NOT a competition! It is my child’s life at stake. No matter what the grade, you influence them whether it is a positive influence or a negative one. What my child sees and learns from you could be the beginning of a wonderful life or the beginning of a life of misery.

If my child doesn’t get the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, he will feel he is a failure when he is older. If he doesn’t learn how to interact with others in a mannerly and considerate way, he will not achieve the things in life that could be his. If he doesn’t learn to respect his teachers, he will never respect adults in life. If he doesn’t learn to abide by the rules, he may land in jail. You are molding my child’s life. This is not a job, nor a competition. It is my child’s life you are dealing with. Each day before you enter the classroom, please pray that it will be the day that makes a difference and I will be praying for you. In my eyes, you have the most important job in the whole wide world. Don’t abuse it but adore it.

Have a Blessed day!

2011-12-09T16:50:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would share a few pictures of my Christmas decorations this year. Not much changed, but they are still fun to look at if you are like me! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you are enjoying this time of preparation for the big day as much as I am!

Have a Blessed Season!

Texas Corn Bread

2011-11-22T14:59:00.000-06:00

I am bad and I didn't take a picture, but I so wanted you to have this recipe! It is absolutely the best corn bread you will ever eat. At least I think so. My mother bought the little cookbook around 50 years ago. It is "LBJ Barbeque Cook Book" by the caterer to the LBJ Ranch - Walter Jetton. The actual writer is Arthur Whitman. Be sure to read the entire recipe. It is quite comical since it was originally made to be cooked out on the open range. I added my more modern version at the end for all us Southern City Folk.
I had not had this recipe in a rather long time and I still had memories of this recipe being the one that turned me on to corn bread. My mother is 83 now and has been cleaning out and giving things away for several years now. She was giving away some of her cook books since she rarely uses them these days and I told her that was the cook book I wanted. It might be the oldest thing she has that reminds me of my childhood. I remember the day trip to the LBJ Ranch and her purchasing the cookbook. Was the recipe as good as I remembered? It ABSOLUTELY was!!

Here is the recipe.

Texas Corn Bread

(LBJ Barbeque Cook Book)

Read entire recipe before starting!

1 cup yellow cornmeal

½ cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup sweet milk (that is plain milk to you young readers)
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder

Mix corn meal, flour and salt. Add all the other ingredients and let stand at least 15 minutes without

mixing. Grease the skillet well and heat it. Now stir the mixture and pour into the skillet. Cover the
skillet and bake in the coals, checking every few minutes to see that the heat is right. It is cooked when the top crust is a golden brown color. You will find that the bottom is somewhat moist at this time.
That is fine, for it should be.

HOW I MAKE IT FOR THE MODERN WORLD

Put ½ stick butter in cast iron skillet in a 400° oven and let it melt. Mix corn meal, flour, 4 Tablespoons powdered butter milk and salt in mixing bowl. (I use powdered buttermilk all the time since we don’t drink regular butter milk. Keep it in the refrigerator after opening the container so the powder won’t turn to a hard brick). Add all other ingredients plus a cup of water (to replace the liquid for the buttermilk) on top of the powdered mixture. DO NOT STIR! Pour the hot melted butter on top of all the other ingredients. Let stand for 15 minutes without mixing. This is a very important step. At the end of 13 minutes, return the cast iron skillet to the oven to get hot again. After the full 15 minutes, stir the batter, pour into the hot skillet and bake in 400° oven for 18 – 20 minutes (uncovered) until the corn bread starts loosening around the edges and the top is starting to turn golden and the bottom is really brown. This is so good when it comes out of the oven that you don’t even need to add butter to it! Might want to make two recipes so no one will know you ate the first one all by yourself!

I also made this today with white corn meal because my mother's recipe for corn bread dressing says to use white corn meal. Works great with that too. Hope you enjoy!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

2011-10-16T17:40:00.001-05:00

I am so excited! My daughter upgraded her camera, so I got her old one which is more complicated than a point and shoot type camera, but hopefully, I will be able to do better pictures for my blog! I am starting with my fall decorations. Everything was done on automatic since I was learning about tripod usage. I am really basic. :)). Enjoy the fall pictures and hope they inspire you to do something seasonal at your house. I do think if you decorate for the seasons it says you love your home.

I can see those last two are really dark. Oh well, hope they inspire you nevertheless. Hope you have a Blessed week!

Friends

2011-10-14T15:31:00.000-05:00

What kind of friend are you?

What kind of friend do you prefer to have around you?

One that always agrees with you or one that can help you to see other ways of looking at issues?

I have found too many times we want friends that will agree with us no matter what the issue. For instance, your other half, better known as a spouse, husband, wife, etc, does something that really sets you off. It is just infuriating or maybe frustrating or so dumb. You get my drift. They are just so opposite of the way we think they should be. We have all been there. (If only everyone were as perfect as we are.) Girls are really bad about this....they run to their best friend and start ragging about their husband. The friend so many times starts agreeing and may even add fuel to the fire. Something that may have started out a small issue suddenly becomes major. It may eventually make you want to give up on a marriage!

Is this the kind of friend you really need and is this the kind of friend you ought to be? I want to suggest the answer to that question is a rather large NO! A friend should be there to help you see the issue clearly and maybe even help you see the spouses view point - no matter what her view point is. Sure she may agree he is a jerk, but she shouldn't tell you that right at this moment.

A true friend would try to give you positives to look at, help you calm down, and work with you until the situation becomes better. She would think before she speaks negatively. She wouldn't add fuel to the fire. She would pray for you and with you. After all, a true friend would want to do all she could to help you keep your marriage together.

Think about the kind of friend you are. It could change your world.

Have a Blessed day!

Life's Challenges

2011-09-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

Building character. How does that happen? How long does it take? What is the process one must go through? I really don't have the answers, but by the time you reach your mid 50's, I guess you have developed character whether it is a good character or bad. The past month, I had an opportunity to reflect on the type of character I have built.

I am not exactly the best at getting my mammograms done in a timely fashion. One year suddenly is two or three and then I decide I must go. This time and the last time also, I got called back in for a second look. This time, it was inconclusive after 7 films and an ultrasound, so I was on my way to UAMS in Little Rock to try and get a conclusion with a MRI. Now that was an experience! But that isn't my story. My story is about all the days between all the procedures.

From the first mammogram to the second one was a wait of over two weeks. During this time, I got aggravated having to wait so long and decided I was going to tell the radiologist about it. (He is a friend.) That is a long time for someone not to know if they are sick or not. However, as I was sitting in the waiting room waiting on the second one, I realized if they did it all in one day, you wouldn't have time to reflect and see your real character.

I am not one to really worry. I truly believe the Lord is in control and He will see me through wherever my journey in life takes me. (Now if it is my child, I might not be as strong, but with me, I am pretty good at handling things.) While waiting on the second mammogram and ultrasound, I sensed that I would need the next step, but I know from countless other women, that this does not mean there is a real problem. Sure enough, the doctor came in and told me quite honestly, that he could not make a call whether what he was seeing was anything or just a false something and that he would like for me to have an MRI. I am a logical person, asked where I go for that and he gave me a list of options and said it would be best if my OB/GYN made the appointment for me. This had been going on for 17 days, so I drove straight to the gynecologist office (another friend of ours) and got the appointment made for 2 days later in Little Rock. (If I went to Little Rock, I could take a bumper my husband needed to have chromed and see my daughter too! So that was a logical place to go for a logical thinking person. ha)

Went on a Friday for the MRI expecting the results the next week but it actually took 15 days. (No one told me to take the films with me so they had to be mailed. If this ever happens to you, TAKE THE FILMS.) This is when I had time to reflect. What if the worst case scenerio happened and I had cancer. I truly didn't believe that would happen, but you have to prepare. The worst ending (in the world's eyes) would be death. Was I ready for that? Without any hesitation, I said yes. I know where I am going when I die, and I know who will be waiting for me when I get there. For a Christian, it is the ultimate reward and healing and I truly believe for a Christian, death is not a bad thing when you face it. In my heart, I knew that would not be bad at all, EXCEPT for the husband, the daughter and my 83 year old mother that I would be leaving behind. These three people depend on me for lots of things (at least I tell myself that.) That would be the hardest part because I would feel I was letting them down and not carrying my load til the end of time which should be many years from now. But I know, people die all the time and the ones left behind learn to deal with it, each in their own way. By day 13 of waiting for the MRI results, I knew deep in my heart all was clear. I had a real peace that only comes from the Lord.

The biggest blessing from this whole event, was not finding out that everything was ok and I did not have cancer. The biggest blessing was seeing that I am truly not a real worrier even in the midst of a situation like this and seeing the true peace one can have during such a time. It is a peace that only comes from truly knowing the Lord as your personal Saviour.

A quote that came across facebook today:

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." - Bernice Reagon

Have a Blessed Day!

Learning from Trees

2011-07-29T10:58:00.001-05:00

Jeremiah 17: 7 -8
"Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

This is one of my favorite scriptures and so applicable today with the drought going on in Texas, but even if there were no drought, it still speaks to our hearts. We all have times of drought in our lives. Our nation is facing the largest debt crisis in it's history. Some have lost their jobs, their homes, their businesses and maybe even their retirement due to this economy. Some face medical issues where God is the only answer. Where is your confidence placed? Do you feel it is up to you to solve the problems you face today? Or, is your confidence in the Lord?

Matthew 6:27-29 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are

Matthew 6:30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

If you are a person of great Faith, share it with others who may not be so Blessed. God is good ALL the time.

Have a Blessed day!

Salty Lessons

2011-07-14T10:32:00.000-05:00

Everything is better with salt and sea salt is even better for you, but that is not what this blog is about. A little salt makes most things taste better, but too much salt can ruin the best dish. Ask my son-in-law. The first meal my daughter ever cooked for him included my mother's peach cobbler recipe. I suggested she double the recipe so they would have plenty.

PEACH COBBLER

Cream together:

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup sugar

Sift together:

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir in:

1/2 cup milk

and margarine mixture until smooth

Pour into greased baking dish. Drain juice from 1 large can of peaches; reserving the juice. Place peaches on the batter. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar and pour juice over sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Easy enough! Double the recipe for a 9x13 dish.

Not easy when you have never cooked a dish, practically, and you are cooking for someone that could possibly turn out to be your future husband, and you are doubling the recipe. What if you double the salt and read the measurement as cups rather than teaspoons! I won't repeat what the son-in-law said, but he had to spit the dessert out of his mouth.

Fast forward to this past month - about 4 years later to this picture:

That is the same daughter TEACHING a group of my friends how to cook some new dishes! She is a Pampered Chef hostess now in her spare time. Who would have ever thought that she would have come so far in 4 years. The fact that she moved to a small town with 1 1/2 restaurants (one is only open for breakfast and lunch), a pizza place, Sonic and now a Subway has contributed to the need to learn how to cook, as well as being married to a hard working farmer who works long hours in this awful heat and needs a substantial and good meal at the end of the day. She can make the most awesome dishes now and even has learned to bake home made bread! Move over Pioneer Woman! Look closely at that first picture. She is even making that food look pretty!

Moral of the story: Read the recipe carefully. Cups mean cups and teaspoons mean teaspoons. A little salt does wonders in life. Too much can ruin a good thing. Nothing is life is hopeless if you set your mind to do it. You too can become a good .................. whatever it takes to fill in that blank, if you try. And, it doesn't hurt to make mistakes if you learn from them. God is a forgiving God and you too should forgive yourself and move on and accomplish your goals. And, last but not least, I am one proud mother!

Have a Blessed day!

Parents

2011-05-27T13:03:00.000-05:00

Something to ponder. For those of you with young children, you cannot fathom the amount of love that you have for your child or children. No one can explain it to you before you give birth to your own children, but it is truly amazing love. No words can describe the depth of love you have for them. Am I right?

So think on this, that same love you have for your child, your parents have for YOU. Yes, maybe you don't see that love or feel that love coming from your parents, but it is there. As a parent, you don't lose that love for your children, ever. Your parents would die for you just as you would die for your children. Please don't forget that. Maybe they have not always been there for you. Maybe they haven't always exhibited their love for you in a way that you could see it, but it is there. Maybe (surely) they have made mistakes, but these mistakes were not intentional. Being a parent is always a learning process, even when your children have children. But they love you still.

Include them in your lives. Forgive them when they do not do or act exactly the way you think they should. Forgive them for not loving you they way you think you ought to be loved. Treat them the way you would want your children to treat you one day when the roles are reversed. Don't put higher standards on them than you would want your children to put on you one day.

Pray for them.

They are your parents.

Have a Blessed day.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2011-05-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

For those of you who live in Texarkana, have you been to the Mixing Bowl? It is one of my favorite stores - one of those stores where you can find any kitchen gadget and I love kitchen gadgets. One thing I bought my dear 83 year old mother was something that looked like a plastic tomato. It is made to store left over tomato. Since my mother lives alone and eats salad almost daily, I thought she would love that. She told me today she was storing 1/2 of her apple in it as well as tomatoes. (not at the same time...ha)

My latest find was the small bundt pans.

One recipe makes two cakes.

Those are on small plates so don't be deceived. I used my mother's recipe for Cream Cheese Pound Cake and made two. One we had for Mother's Day with strawberries and fresh whipped cream and one got frozen for a weekend of camping. It is a simple recipe and doesn't take pounds of butter like most pound cake recipes. I thought you might enjoy having the recipe. Yes, you definitely can make one large cake, but the two small ones were fun!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1 yellow butter cake mix
1 - 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
Vanilla

Cream together cream cheese, butter and water. Beat until smooth. Add cake mix. Blend. Add oil and sugar. Blend. Add eggs one at a time mixing in between each one. Add vanilla. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

I also used a sugar free cake mix and substituted Splenda for the sugar with this same recipe and it turned out just as good. That works great for anyone who may need to watch their sugar intake.

A good way to spruce up a cake mix and an easy recipe for those of you who are not used to baking. Enjoy!

Have a Blessed Day!

Birthdays

2011-04-16T09:18:00.001-05:00

This week I celebrated a birthday. When you are young, that is a very special day in your life - one where you expect the whole world to take note. There has to be a party, gifts, friends, cake, etc. Then you become a parent and the world doesn't stop for your birthdays in quite the same fashion as when you were the child. But, you are newly wedded and hopefully someone will remind your hubby to do something for you! Fast forward 30 years into marriage. These are pictures from my birthday.

Do I fly radio control airplanes? NO. Does my husband fly radio control airplanes? A big YES! This is the weekend for his club's Big Bird Event. People started coming in on Wednesday for this weekend event. Since Gary is president of the club, he was out there waiting on them. He even took our camper out so he could stay with them.

Since my birthday interfered with this event, I went by Ironwood Grill - got HIM a rib eye and me their wonderful quesadillas and we ate at the flying field for my birthday. When I was 25, I might have been upset about this lack of attention, but at 57, it was actually very relaxing. I had a very busy week designing houses and since I work from my home, it was a nice break to get out of the house.

The lesson from life this week......don't sweat the details. Don't think the world has to center around you. It is such a Blessing when things like this do NOT bother you anymore. You learn to just go with the flow. Take what life hands you and have fun with it. Setting expectations may lead to disappointments. It is more Blessed to
give than to receive. Living life with that attitude is a sign of maturity.

Have a Blessed day!

Do You Need a Boost?

2011-04-08T09:18:00.000-05:00

Do you have trouble getting good cell phone service in your home? Do you have AT&T cell service? Well we sure have that problem! When we built out home, we used foil backed decking on the roof and the walls. The utility bills are great, but the cell service was terrible. If you called us on our cell phones, we either had to go outside or ask that you call us back on our home phones. Sometimes I had to resend text messages up to 10 times to get them to work and the phone had to be in certain areas of the house. Sooooo annoying!

Yesterday we got a letter in the mail from AT&T offering us a free product to correct this problem. Free? Made me skeptical so I went on a hunt to see what the catch was. Turns out, there was NO catch. It really was free and there was no monthly charge for it. All I had to do was take the letter into my AT&T store and they would give me this product. I don't know why or how we were chosen to get this product for free, but I am certainly glad we were! It is call the 3G Microcell.

It hooks into you wi-fi or internet service. You have to be on high speed internet. I opened that letter about 3:45 yesterday afternoon and by the time night fall came, Gary had it installed in our home. Simple installation. Just a couple of cords to plug in. It is amazing. We are like normal people now. We can sit on the couch and talk on our cell phones! The only negative that I can see is that if YOU come to my house and want to use YOUR cell phone, it still will not work well. It will only work for up to 10 REGISTERED phones. You go online and register the numbers you want and those phones will have the boosted service. But hey, how many times are you at my home wanting to use your cell phone? If you come to see me more often, I will add you to my list of registered phones. :)

Hope this helps someone out there with the same problem that we had.

Have a Blessed day!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2011-04-06T12:43:00.000-05:00

Gary has talked about having a garden this year. Groceries are so expensive and we have all of this land. I remind him that we also have large rabbits, a ton of birds, at least 10 deer, geese, armadillos and multiple other varmints roaming around at night. And, I am usually thinking to myself (I don't say it out loud to him) how he will not get out there and work a garden. He has radio control airplanes to fly, houses to build, meetings to attend. He dreams of things like........

CHERRY TOMATOES

RED RADISHES

WHITE RADISHES

and, I think of bulbs that will bloom one day!

Don't those all look wonderful! We have such a green thumb! Well, actually, all of these are inside our house. I pull them out every year in the Spring to make us look like we have green thumbs.

I like to keep our island seasonal and it is large enough to have all those pots on there along with various other things. Everyone that comes into my house asks if the tomatoes are real.

I did feel the Spring in the air a couple of Saturdays ago and made the trek to Lowes and planted my garden.

RED BELL PEPPERS AND BANANA PEPPERS

Two plants total.

EARLY GIRL TOMATO

with three blooms already

BIG BOY TOMATO

Not sure this was exactly the garden my husband was dreaming of, but it will be all I want to take care of. Four plants to be exact in the flower bed right off of my screened porch. There won't be any need to pull the old canner out of the closet. But we will have fresh tomatoes and peppers one day if the birds don't enjoy them first.

Have a Blessed day!

Questions on Heaven

2011-04-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

Reading is something I never really did until I was in my forties. I used the excuse that it put me to sleep which was really the truth. Then the Left Behind series came out and I started after about 4 of the books had been written so I really got into the habit of reading. Did it still put me to sleep? Well, sorta, kinda, but I learned if I got drowsy to get up and go to the bathroom or get a drink or do a few jumping jacks to get my blood flowing and I could read longer. (Well, I really didn't do the jumping jacks, but I probably should have!) The books were really good too, so they kept my interest. Now, it is hard for me to go to sleep at night if don't read. And it is even harder to go to sleep if the book is really good. I am to the point I almost wouldn't need a television to exist. I know, that is drastic!

Last night I started a new book and just let me tell you, I finished the book before I could go buy groceries today. It was GOOD! Less than 200 pages on the Ipad. One that I couldn't wait to blog about. It is called Heaven is for Real and is wrtten by Todd Burpo, the father of the 4 year old that experienced heaven and survived to tell about it in his own way.

(Yes I captured that picture from Amazon so we have the little arrow wanting you to open the book and look inside. ha)

Have you ever wondered what we will look like in heaven? Have you ever wondered if there will be animals in heaven? Have you ever wondered if you will still need glasses in heaven? Have you ever wondered if your family members will know you? Or will you know the baby you miscarried and never got to meet? Have you ever wondered if when you pray, someone is really listening? And, does it really help the situation you are in when you pray? And the most fascinating part is have you ever wondered what Jesus really looks like?

You know, if you never think about heaven, then you might need to think about whether you will really be there or not? The book answers that question too! Even if you aren't a reader and think you don't have time to read a book, please buy this book and read it. It is very enlightening. Who knows, you may get hooked on reading too.

Have a Blessed day!

On Reactions

2011-03-17T14:23:00.000-05:00

I was just asked by Google to give them my phone number. If I don't, I could lose all my information if I forget my password or get hijacked. I think I will take my chances. I don't need anyone else trying to sell me anything by phone. I don't think I will forget my password. If I do, then so be it. Have any of you ran across this?

That is not why I signed on to my blog. I had a thought that crossed my mind the other day about dealing with spouses. We have been married 31 years and I do think it has finally gotten somewhat easier. Don't let this discourage those of you that haven't been married but just a few years. I am sure it won't take you as long to figure out your spouse and their ~~wierd~~ different ways. As I posted earlier, Gary and I have both started trying to use a treadmill faithfully. We turned Gary's office/guest bedroom into an exercise/guest bedroom. We moved Gary into my real office which is another whole story in itself that I really can't post about since Gary reads my blogs. Life goes on.

Since the room has a treadmill now, it must have a tv. Purchase number two (treadmill being number 1). Then the tv needed a home so we made purchase number three. (Maybe it would have been cheaper to join a workout center!) I looked the internet and local businesses over and finally found the right media cabinet for our room.

I absolutely love the finish it has. It so goes with our house and the decorating style I have used. We had to wait weeks for it to come in. Finally, it arrived. Of course, where we have this sitting in the room, it blocked a huge G. Harvey print that was hanging on the wall. The print needed to be on the opposite wall and that is where life's lesson came into play.

The room is pretty tight on space and due to the weight and size of the painting, I had to have Gary's help to hang it. I had a small metal table in the room and I put it over next to the new media cabinet to get it "out of the way". When Gary picked the painting up to see where I wanted it, the painting bumped into the little metal table which fell into the new media center. Metal against wood. Not good. How would you have reacted to your husband sending your precious, one of a kind metal table flying into your new, precious media cabinet? Precious, or .......

Would you tell him how stupid he was?
Would you yell at him?
Would you go balistic?
Would you point out for him to be careful because he could be damaging something?
Would you have said, "Babe, you need to watch what you are doing"?
Would you have called him something you wouldn't want your children to hear?

That is my point today. He is an adult. He didn't pick the painting up and say to himself, "Let's see how many things I can destroy while this is in my hands." He knew, as well as I did, the consequences of what just happened. I didn't need to point out his mistake. He is an ADULT. He could figure that out for himself. He didn't need me helping him make that judgement. What he did need was my assistance to pick up the little metal table, move it over just a little more (and even possibly while moving it, I could check out the new media cabinet for any damage, for which I am thankful to report to you, there was no damage.) What good would it have done for me to complain? None whatsoever. Would it have changed any thing? In fact, the next time I needed help, he might not want to help me. It was a time to keep my lips sealed and to say nothing and show no disgust on my face. Stay calm and collected. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT AND HE IS AN ADULT! He didn't need a lecture or one of those looks that would kill.

So many times in life, we need to keep our mouths closed. We don't need to say everything that is running across our minds. None of us are perfect.

Matthew 7:12 reads, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

This one verse could save a lot of relationships.
Have a Blessed Day!

Bacon Grease

2011-03-15T11:41:00.000-05:00

It stinks getting old, especially when your life centers around food, and the doc (God love him - he is a dear true friend) tells you that you have to change your eating habits. Actually, it is probably more like you have to give up ALL your eating habits. What makes it even worse is when you have the opposite problem that your spouse has. I am not suppose to eat fat - he is not suppose to eat sugar or carbs. The only thing left that we can share are green vegetables. Not good. But you know, it isn't near as bad as even a few years ago. New products are coming out all the time to make your life better when you have to eat healthier.

I grew up where you never threw out the bacon grease (yes, we really ate bacon and still do when the babe and the farmer come to town). Bacon grease was a necessity if you were cooking in the South. It was used for cooking almost all vegetables, making gravy, scrambling eggs, greasing the pan for biscuits - you name it. We stored it in a jar and never ran without. And if a little flavored the pot, a whole lot made it wonderful. This was like Paula Deen and her butter. A real Southern cook had to have her bacon grease. I am here to share with you that you can get the same flavor without the grease. I have found three wonderful new seasonings that bring back the flavor in cooking.

This little box is a life saver! It comes with 6 or 8 little packets. Just dump one packet into the vegetable you are cooking along with the broth or water that you are using and you will never know you didn't have the bacon grease. It is wonderful in peas, green beans, and last night I made cabbage in a skillet with this and my next product and water. NO grease, olive oil, butter, PAM whatsoever. And it was just as good as the real thing. And it has all zeros in the nuitrition label except for sodium. You may not even need to add much salt when using this product.

I added this to the cabbage also. It is J&D's Bacon Salt - Original. This is Gary's favorite new thing to cook with. He adds it to everything! Sure glad he doesn't make desserts! (Oh, we aren't suppose to have those anymore. oops! Dr. Gabbie - sorry) It is a low sodium product or so it says on the label. It is another way to add the flavor of bacon without the fat. I found both of these products at Super One Foods in the seasoning section. If you can't find them in your favorite grocery store, you can always order them online.

This last product was actually the first one I found out of the three. Boy does it make hamburgers taste better, even if you are grilling them. It is also great in a lot of vegetables. It just gives them a hint of out doors cooking. And have you noticed how Wal-Mart is getting new things all the time. I found mini cucumbers there that looked about the size of a wiener. They are wonderful and crisp. No large seeds in them. They also had mini colorful sweet peppers to add to the salads. They look like miniature bell peppers. Use one or two of these when cutting up your salad and you don't waste the other half of a large one. We love those in our salads. You know salads and broccoli are about all Gary and I can share these days besides the treadmill.

Have fun cooking healthy and have a Blessed Day!

Guard Your Heart

2011-03-10T18:12:00.000-06:00

My heart suddenly became burdened today for young couples. I know that problems can happen in all marriages, but it was young couples that spoke to me today. I just wanted to take a moment and say, "Guard your hearts and your families." Don't take any family member for granted. Treat them as special as you would if you knew that you would never see them again after today.

Recently, I saw a young couple that you would consider the ideal young family. They are successful, have a darling family, go to church, involved in the community....you name it, they are the epitomy of what you think a young family should be. But I was told, rather matter of factly, that the young father was known to have cheated on his wife. My heart was BROKEN! The family is together and I don't really know any circumstances or details or even if the rumors are even true, but it got me to thinking how easily life can change.

We sometimes get wrapped up in our children, our jobs, the community, the church and let those closest to us fall by the wayside. Take time today to tell your spouse how much they mean to you. Do something, maybe weekly, to make them feel special. It doesn't have to be big - just special. And, most of all, never put yourself in a situation where you can be tempted. Married people do not need to go on a regular basis where singles hang out. Does that sound anti-social? Old fashion? Maybe it is, but maybe it will save a marriage. Is your marriage worth it? Don't you think it would be better to do activities with married couples who have healthy relationships? Why put yourself in the position of having to say "No" to something that could break your marriage apart? Life is hard enough when you avoid these situations all together. Sunday school is the best place in the world to find friends trying to make a great life for their families. They will have more in common with you than anywhere else you might look for friendships. It is a great place to start life long friendships with people all working for a common good - family.

On another day this past week, I was around a young couple who is doing it right. They started their marriage by joining a church and getting involved. I mean really involved. Before they started their family, they were teaching in the childrens department at their church. They had made many wonderful friends in their church and you could tell, the church loved them. When they had the birth of their first baby, the hospital room was proof that the church loved them. They had visitors coming and going from the church. Lots of young couples visiting. It gave me chills to see how this young couple has grown in the Lord. They are guarding their hearts, serving the Lord and trying to do things right and I told them how happy it made me to see how their lives were going in such a wonderful direction. They are not my biological children, but they are my children in my heart.

You choose the life you want to live. Learn from other's mistakes. Keeping a family together for a lifetime takes work. It is hard work sometimes. And, it is even harder when you don't allow the Lord in to help. One of my favorite verses in the Bible speaks to this.....

Proverbs 4:23 "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

Have a Blessed Day!

Gold Dust

2011-03-06T16:17:00.000-06:00

Should I assume that those of you who did not comment on the last post actually got your feelings hurt? (SMILE). We all have that happen occasionally. I decided I needed to make a neutral post so I am going to give you a wonderful recipe for a seasoning mix. It is from a dear friend of my mother's. This lady is now in a nursing home with Alzheimer's which makes this recipe all the more special. I will give you the recipe and then tell you how I have used it.

MaMa's Brisket Rub
8 - 11 lb. brisket, trimmed
1 cup meat tenderizer
1/2 cup hickory smoke salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
3/4 cup chili powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/3 cup paprika

Mix all ingredients together except for brisket. Store in a jar. Rub brisket liberally with seasoning mix. Bake, covered at 200 degrees for 14 - 16 hours, OR,
Bake, covered at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 250 degrees for 4 hours.
You can also put it in a browning bag when cooking this way.

Now for my story - I couldn't find the hickory smoke salt so I made the mix without it. I had a pork loin and wanted to smoke it so I added the rub minus the hickory smoke salt to the loin, put it in the smoker for 4 hours and served it to Gary for dinner. I had tasted it right when it came out of the smoker and thought how good it was! Gary was eating it for dinner and said he thought this was the best meat he had ever had in his mouth. Score one for me! The flavor was outstanding!!

A couple of weeks later, I decided to grill some hamburger patties. I added this rub to the meat along with some frozen chopped onions and a small amount of real bacon bits. As Gary was eating his patty (no bread), he said this is really a great hamburger patty. I confessed I had used the same rub as I used on the pork loin. Score two for me! We have started calling it gold dust, because it was really making meat taste better.

Then, I decided to finally use it on a brisket. Gary has always loved watching cooking shows that deal with barbeque. He has never quite perfected the art of cooking a brisket. The last one he tried, he marinated for days in some concoction and then sent it to the smoker. He ordered me to mist it with apple juice several times during the day. It was a major ordeal. I smelled like mesquite wood all day. The brisket turned out ok, but not perfect. Really too black on the outside (duh - the sugar in the apple juice burned). We ate it, talked about what he should do different. He wasn't quite there yet on perfecting a brisket.

Well......I decided to cook MY brisket a few weeks later. I sprinkled the rub on the brisket liberally (still minus the hickory smoke salt) and put the brisket in the smoker. Nothing more, nothing less. I never misted it. I totally let it cook on its own. I cooked it 8 hours and we brought it in. You guessed it.....a great brisket! I do think you need to add some salt to the brisket rub if you don't have the hickory smoke salt. That was all this brisket lacked. And, if you don't have a smoker to cook the meat in, you would really need the hickory smoke salt to give it that wonderful smoked flavor. But I think this rub will make any meat taste better. It was also suggested that the rub be applied the night before cooking to allow it to work better, but I am here to tell you, it was good even when it didn't have time to "work".

Gary says he is giving the meat smoking up to me. I assured him it was not me, but a simple rub. Don't you find most of the wonderful things in life are simple - not complicated.

Have a Simple, Blessed Day!

GROW UP!

2011-03-01T18:46:00.000-06:00

I have a real pet peeve that I am going to rant on today - people who think of themselves as responsible adults yet they get their feelings hurt over and over and even worse, they are always telling people they got their feelings hurt. I just want to go up to them and say "GROW UP!" Someone doesn't come over to speak to them - they get their feelings hurt. Someone did this for one person and not for them - they get their feelings hurt. Someone forgot their birthday - they get their feelings hurt. Someone has some material possession which they cannot have - they get their feelings hurt. Someones children treat their parents better than their children treat them - they get their feelings hurt. Someones child is a starter on the team and their child is surely better than that one - they get their feelings hurt. (That one really bothers me because they teach their child to react in this same way.) Someone is asked to participate in something and they weren't - they get their feelings hurt. The list can go on forever. They get their feelings hurt over the small and the not so small. No one or no thing in life is quite good enough for them - ever. I know the Lord must have blessed me with the gift of over looking most things in life that people do that annoy or should upset me and for that I am SO thankful! My motto is life is too short to get upset over the little things. But I also feel life is too short to let the rather large things in life upset you too.

I think this concept came across to me probably after having a child. I realized then that life is NOT about me. So many parents never realize that. They still want life to be all about them and their children take second place. Excuse me! If you want to have first place, then don't conceive children. Once you have a child, you move on to second base. They are your responsibility and they should come first. You should WANT them to be first. They need their clothes washed, their tummies fed, their minds stimulated, their bodies hugged, their souls loved, their bottoms spanked, their attitudes corrected - the list goes on and on. It is your job, your duty, your hearts desire to do these things for them. More than likely, there will not be any time left for you for at least 18 years. Does that sound awful? Then you are probably getting your feelings hurt on a daily basis. You should have so much love in you for that child that it is no more about you, but about caring for them. When you become selfless like this, then you stop getting your feelings hurt. That is the beginning of this process.

You begin seeing your life as how can I help those I love, and maybe even those I don't love, rather than how can everyone help me. Selfishness is the root to getting those feelings hurt. It is not all about you. You should want to help others and be glad they do not have to help you! There are lessons to be learned when you feel you have been wronged and that is how I try to look at life. Maybe the Lord put that unjust thing in my life to teach me something. Don't get your feelings hurt. Learn from it. You are responsible for making YOUR life good or bad. NO ONE ELSE is. Not your spouse, not your children, not your co-workers - YOU. If you find yourself in the position of having hurt feelings more often than you should, look at yourself for the solution and not to others. Maybe keep a log of when you get your feelings hurt and what the situation was. You may be surprised at how often this happens. When reading over the log, you may even be surprised at how childish the things are that hurt your feelings. If it were someone else getting their feelings hurt over this, would you think they were being petty? Concentrate on helping to make others happy. Forgive the person that hurt your feelings. Ask Jesus to change you. Acts 20:35 says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." I say, if you concentrate more on giving, you will have less hurt feelings. Life is not always fair. It is how you deal with the unfair times that shows the world the real you.

Have a Blessed Day!

Removing Mundane

2011-02-23T10:15:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share with you a few new decorative items I have added to my house in recent days. Thought it might prompt a new idea for your house!

The first one is with apothecary jars. I have always had an attraction to jars. I love how there are so many shapes, sizes and colors. And apothecary jars are even more wonderful. They just shimmer and make the house feel so clean. I know that might be weird but that is what they do for me. Now mind you, if they aren't sparkling clean, they won't give me that feeling. The nice thing is the large variety of things you can put into the jars to make them work in your home. Most of you know my home is not a girlie home. Every man that walks into my home says how much they love my house. I know. My husband is blessed to have a wife like me. (Smile) I have always had some tomboy in me and that comes out in my decorating style. So apothecary jars didn't quite fit in.....until now. I finally found something that would make them work in my home!

Old games! I found this old bingo set at a garage sale for 10 cents! I bet the lady would want it back if she could see it now. As a child, I played hours of bingo with my family and friends. This brings back warm and fuzzy feelings for me every time I look at those jars sitting right above my office desk. Another thing I found was this -

Old wooden dominoes. A piece or two was missing but that didn't matter to me at all. I found these at the Canton, TX Flea Market and because of their large size, there were enough pieces to fill this jar and a jar for Whitney too. If you have never been to this flea market, and you love looking at junk and even new things, it is touted to be the largest flea market in the world. Honestly, if you stay close by (which is hard to do due to the size of this event) and shopped the entire weekend, I dare say you could not walk the entire event. To find the really neat things, you have to shop the outside vendors. These dominoes came from a little elderly black couple that had set up shop. He was so sweet about telling me there was a missing piece. I am thinking I don't care cause I am decorating with them, but I acted disappointed. Then when I got ready to pay, he sent me to his wife. That was one smart little old man! ha Still looking for old Scrabble games. Those little wooden letters would look so cute displayed in another apothecary jar. Never think they are only for lemons, plums and apples. Think outside the box. That is what makes a home unique.

The next item I got was from Pottery Barn and was a lot more than 10 cents for sure and my husband posted on Facebook that it looks like the old time dryers women used to dry their hair. It is my touch of contemporary added to my relaxed home. See what you think.

Sorry the second picture is dark. I am not a professional photographer and don't really care as much about the quality as the affect on the look of my room. That lamp is so heavy that I could barely carry it from my office, where I assembled it, to my living room - maybe 20'. It is real quality. I think it has to weigh that much due to the boom arm that sticks so far out. If you like this lamp and want to order it, make sure you read the size and know for sure it really is 52" wide! It takes a rather large space to display this lamp but I think it updated the living room just a bit. I think every house needs a mixture of styles. Nothing bores me more than a truly traditional house that is matchy, matchy. I look for the unusual and figure out how to make it work in the house. Speaking of unusual, take a look at this.

It is an old, stained window frame that my LOVING husband so GRACIOUSLY hung for me. Another heavy piece, hung in a difficult place, but I knew he could handle it. I put some hooks into the frame before he hung it and have plans to change the things hanging on it from time to time. Of course, it would look good with nothing hanging, but it gives me an outlet to change things around. That piece may stay with the house should we ever sell. It took quite a bit to get it into place.

Hope this inspires you to look for something besides a painting to add to your walls. I love paintings, but a house full of one type of thing gets mundane and boring. Kind of like people with only one interest in their lives! Broaden your horizons whether it is in the home or in your self. The more things you try, the more chances you have of getting it right. We all fail sometimes but it is those who learn from failure that go further in life.

Have a Blessed day!

Cooking, Making Memories, Etc.

2011-02-21T20:32:00.000-06:00

My daughter reminded me that it has been 5 weeks since I have posted. I know you are all having withdrawals. NOT. What have I been doing? Well, there have been two baby showers to give, one family birthday to celebrate, Dallas market to attend, 4 weeks of no voice, super bowl party for a few friends, re-purposing a room in our house, etc. This has to have been the busiest January and February in my life. I thought winter was suppose to be slow. And in between all of that we had three large snows. Texas never has three snows in three years, let alone in one year.

Living in the country when it snows is absolutely the best. It is the ultimate in peaceful and I am at a time in my life that peaceful is just heavenly. Since I office from my home, I really can't claim to have a snow day. My computer still works, but for a couple of those days, I did take a break to sit by the fire and enjoy a bowl of chili. Did you ever wonder what people up north that get snow after snow do for food? In Texas, if it snows, we eat chili. After three snows, I am tired of chili. What if I lived where it snowed all the time? Would we get to where we could eat other things with snow on the ground? I even noticed on Facebook how everyone here was making chili. It got rather comical. There won't be anymore chili in this house until next winter I can assure you.
Tonight I made a new salad dressing recipe a friend gave me. She said she really didn't enjoy eating lettuce until a friend gave her this recipe. Now she takes romaine, cuts it up, applies this dressing and eats it daily and it sure can't be as fattening as that favorite white creamy stuff we all love to eat. The other wonderful thing about this dressing is that you do NOT refrigerate it. Leave it in the cabinet, pantry, on the counter or wherever you decide to store it. Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Shake and store in cabinet. Do not refrigerate.

Very simple, light and makes eating lettuce a whole lot easier. Of course, it would be good on a whole salad with all the fixin's too. I just didn't happen to have any of that stuff tonight. I served it with frozen P.F. Chang dinner that took 11 minutes to heat. If you have never tried the P.F. Chang meals in the bag, they are great. I cooked a little rice to go with it. What an easy meal!

Aren't we blessed that we live in a society where there are easy meals? I love telling the story about making lasagne that took two days. One day to make the sauce so it could blend the flavors and then the next day to put the lasagne together. When Sam's Club opened and I bought a Stouffer's Lasagne and served it to the family one night, Gary made the comment that he liked that one better than the other ones I normally made. He had no clue it was a frozen store bought one. Well, needless to say, that recipe has never been used by me since then. I love to cook and I don't feel guilty taking short cuts on a good meal, but I refuse to take a store bought anything to a party. The whole fun of a party is sharing a good recipe! I can remember my mother taking so much pride in her cooking when we would have "dinner on the grounds" at church. All the women would try to out do the other ones. The one that sticks out in my mind the most was when we were taking two coconut meringue pies to one of these gatherings along with the rest of a meal. That is when everyone had a car with a back seat and floor board. Remember those days? None of the SUV's for transporting everything - and no seat belts or car seats! Mother always drove to church because Dad was the pastor and would go earlier than we would. That meant my older sister got the front seat and my younger sister and I always had to sit in the back seat. We pulled up to the little country church and I hopped down out of the seat to get out of the car. Dear me. Not a good feeling. The pies were under my feet. My shoe went down into one of the pies. Thank heavens it had Saran Wrap on it! I think I might have squenched my mother's Spirit that day at church. It was truly a day for making memories! I hardly ever make a coconut pie without thinking about that day so many, many years ago.

Have a Blessed Day!

Organizing Recipes

2011-01-16T14:20:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, I got an ipad a few months ago and absolutely love it. I love reading books on it. You can make the font as small or as large as you need as well as read in the dark. That comes in handy sometimes when your significant other likes to go to sleep before you do. You can even read it while you are on the tread mill. I love playing Words With Friends on it. Totally addicted to that! Cathyst in case you need a new playing partner. I use it to keep up with friends on Facebook. It is just my new best friend.

Last week I had to make several desserts for our annual chili lunch so I decided I should put the recipes on my ipad and use it for my reference. Several years ago, I started saving all my favorite recipes as pdf. files on my computer. When someone asked me to send them the recipe, all I had to do was attach the file, rather than type it each time. I thought that was wonderful. Well, as wonderful as that is, having all these favorites on my ipad is even more wonderful.

Actually, I started out with it right by my mixer. This might not be the best thing to do. At one point I looked and there was a sprinkling of powder sugar all over the ipad. I might suggest you put it on an adjoining cabinet, a little bit away from the action. There is an option to make the recipe fit the screen. Almost makes cooking a lot of fun.

Just a quick little over view of how you do this, in case you got an ipad for Christmas. First, you need to have the Adobe Reader App. Mine is on the second row, far right side.

Then you need to make a folder in Adobe Reader to hold all the recipes. Mine was ingeniously named Recipes. :) Kind of hard to see, but you get the idea.

There are several ways to transfer your files into Adobe Reader. Open the reader, and at the top on the left side is a blue ball that says info. Touch the ball and it will tell you how to transfer the files depending on where you have them stored.

A little hint is to use the wrench in the upper right hand corner. Choose the files you want to move, click on Move at the bottom of the page and then on Done at the top of the page. Go to the folder where you want to store these files and repeat the process using Paste instead of Move. Be sure to click on Done after each action. After you have all the files transferred to Adobe Reader and in the Recipe Folder, you can click on the recipe and voila' - start cooking.

If you have any questions, just email me and I will help you figure it out. It is really very simple. If you don't have an ipad yet, I suggest you start collecting your recipes on to your computer so you will be ready to transfer them when you do. I also have the Food Network App on the ipad so I can access all the recipes I have saved on that website. There are so many possibilities with the ipad. Organizing and locating your favorite recipes has never been easier or more fun.

Have a Blessed Day!

Real Freedom to Be Ourselves

2011-01-15T16:10:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we had our 7th Annual Chili Lunch in the barn. This is something that Gary and I look forward to every year. This year we had 70 pounds of meat, 20 bags of Frito's, 2 chocolate Heath bar cakes, 2 Ooey, Gooey cakes, 3 large recipes of banana pudding, 1 coconut cake, 7 dozen chocolate chip cookies, and all the trimmings you need for wonderful chili. I handle cooking the desserts and Gary is in charge of the chili making. We forgot to get the camera out until about halfway through the event, but this will give you an idea of the crowd size.....people coming and going for 2 hours.

I think it is an event that everyone enjoys, because no matter what the weather, we always have a crowd.

This year we had an extra special good time as seen in the following picture:

When this guy walked in, he got just the reaction you would think. Everyone in the barn started laughing and all the women sure needed a picture with him. After all, who in the world would wear this jacket? Someone comfortable with his manhood for sure! Maybe a drug rep? Maybe a comic? Maybe someone that knows he is loved? Maybe someone over 50? Maybe all of the above.

My son-in-law, so I was told, questioned if the person in this picture just walked into this large group with that jacket on - as if he couldn't comprehend someone doing that! That was when I started thinking about at what point this happens in life. Do you think real freedom is before kindergarten and after 50, or does it happen when we all become empty nesters? Now we don't have to worry about embarrassing our kids, so we can return to being ourselves once again. Is that it? When do we feel free to be ourselves once again? When are we secure in ourselves enough to walk into a room loving the fact that everyone will look and laugh? It is really a freedom from peer pressure isn't it! A freedom from making our kids pass out from embarrassment.

No matter when it happens, or how it happens, it is wonderful. There is so much fun to be had in the world, if only we didn't take ourselves so seriously; if only we didn't let others impressions of us take charge of our lives. Teenagers could learn a lot from their parents. Be yourselves. Don't we all love being around people who can be themselves, be relaxed no matter what the situation. They cause all the rest of us to have a whole lot of fun. Oh, if we could all be that way!

I am glad to be a friend of Donnie Wattinger - even if we all have a question of his manhood now. :)

Have a Blessed Day!

My Husband Fell in Love Tonight

2011-01-08T18:53:00.000-06:00

Even though I can barely talk and haven't been able to talk most of the week, being the loving wife I am, I cooked dinner for Gary tonight. I might should mention that he has been cooking for me all week. Maybe he felt a little sorry for me since I have felt terrible this week, but I think the real reason is because I bought him a new electric smoker for Christmas. If anyone needs any meat, we probably have it and it is probably already smoked for you! He has cooked pork chops, roast and baby back ribs so far and has a brisket that he is getting ready to go on tomorrow. He is loving his new Bradley smoker.

Back to me....well maybe not! Gary loves the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. It is a potato based soup with bacon and sausage in it. I looked on Copy Kat Recipes and found one to make for him. I did GOOD!

He LOVED it! I ate one bowl and he ate one bowl. Then he had a second bowl and after that this is what I saw.......

Just had to have a little more so he was eating out of the pan directly! Glad there was no one else that wanted any! LOL But wait!!!!! He gets more desperate!!

Oh heck! Just go for the whole thing. Well, maybe he posed for that last one just to give you gals a laugh. You know how he loves getting attention from the women. Needless to say, the soup was all devoured and if we ever open a restaurant, this will be one of two soups served. (He is always talking about what we will serve should we ever open one - which we are NOT ever going to do!!)

I will give you the recipe just in case you want to make your husband happy too! Here is the brand of sausage I used.

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

Yield: 8 servings (Guess Gary ate at least 6 of those, ha)

1 1/2 cup spicey sausage links

2 medium potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" slices

3/4 cup diced onions

6 slices bacon

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 cups Kale leaves, cut in bite size pieces

2 Tablespoons chicken base

1 quart water

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Since my sausage were fully cooked, I sliced them in half lengthwise and grilled them for a few minutes. Then I cut them in 1/2 inch slices.

While they are grilling, place onions and bacon in skillet and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. (I used the pre-cooked bacon so I used a little olive oil in the pan to saute the onions.) Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken base, water, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add crumble bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve. I reserved some bacon for garnish.

Hope you enjoy this as much as HE we did. If you have a meat eater like I do, it is a hearty meal for him.

Have a Blessed Day!

A Lesson from our Vacation

2011-01-03T13:23:00.000-06:00

Gary and I took advantage of the slow time between Christmas and New Years to escape for a few days. This used to be our tradition several years ago before basketball games started interrupting. Now that we are empty nesters again I hope we keep the tradition going. We have enjoyed taking the old Tahoe and just seeing where it might take us. We get off the beaten path of interstate travel to see America. This time, we decided on Savannah and Charleston and what a neat place they both are! I chose a few of our favorite pictures to just give you a slight taste of what we enjoyed. The first was Savannah.

We stayed at The Marshall House which is Savannah's oldest hotel and it was wonderful as you can see from the pictures. The bottom right picture had nothing to do with the hotel, but everything to do with Paula Deen and The Lady and Son's restaurant. That is her version of chicken pot pie and was it ever yummy!

The next leg of our trip was to Charleston.

It is so much larger than Savannah and we absolutely loved it! It is a great place to fly in for a few days and fly back out if that is the kind of getaway you prefer. There is so much to do there and a car is not necessary. We learned a lot about the Civil War and saw many beautiful mansions and churches. I could have spent an entire day just photographing gates! My kind of place for sure.

It is also the place where I told Gary I found my next blog idea.....on Compromise.

Would you think the couple that built this house would ever have to compromise? If you really look at the picture, it stands out dramatically. She wore hooped skirts and wanted a round porch and he preferred square porches so this house is how they compromised - well maybe rather than compromise, they each got their way, but the poor house got compromised on the design for sure.

Life is that way, full of compromises especially when you are married and/or have children. No one ever gets their way all the time. We have to compromise for different reasons. Maybe there isn't enough money to do it your way. Be strong and resist the temptation to live beyond your means. If you have to charge something in order to have it, then you need to rethink the desires of your heart. It doesn't hurt to wait until you have saved the money first, and then buy it. New concept to many I know, but so much more rewarding when you feel you have worked for something.

Maybe the spouse just doesn't like your way. Step back and look at it from their view point. Perhaps they have a better idea or at least an idea where the two of you might meet in the middle. Don't be so strong willed to think you are always right. You aren't. We all can be wrong at times.

Maybe the child really wants something that you do not feel is best for them. Look at the situation and see if there is a way to compromise, or, are you just being selfish and wanting your way and not taking the childs view point into consideration. Don't say no, just to be saying no. The child needs to feel like they win sometimes! ha Of course we can't compromise on convictions and moral principles in life, but on other things it can be a give and take world.

I know it always seems like you are the one that does the giving and never gets to do the taking, but it really isn't that way, if you could stand out of your situation and look at it from another view point. Everyone compromises in their own way. If they don't, they lead a sad life of selfishness. Don't look at compromising as not getting your way. Look at it as a way to grow closer to your spouse and your children. You are working together for the good of the family and after all, isn't that what be all want in life - to make strong families with lots of wonderful memories. Compromise is not a negative thing, but so much more a very positive thing in life. It is a sign of maturity. It means putting others first before our wants and that is what being a great parent is all about.
Have a Blessed day!

Christmas Love!

2010-12-17T11:10:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The following are some of the Christmas cards I have received so far with pictures on them. I love getting this type of card. Sometimes this is the only time I may see the people all year. I appreciate the fact that they worked hard to get the perfect picture, select the perfect card, take the time to address them and most of all spend the money that it takes to brighten my day. Thank you! (Sorry Calverts, I couldn't figure out how to make you horizontal in the program I used to make the collage. ha We still love you!)

Just with these few pictures, it makes me realize how so many lives are changed so drastically in one years time. There are those with new family members and those who have had their family members given up to God this year. Either way, life will never be the same for them. As I sit here writing, I can quickly count at least five wonderful couples that will be having new babies in the coming year and two of those are twins! One thing for sure this next year, we will have plenty of baby things to buy! There is nothing more special than having a new baby in the family and it is something you cannot truly understand, the fullness of that statement, until you have your own baby. The love that you have for a child cannot be explained in words. The only way to understand it is to know God's love for us. After having a child, holding them and providing for them, you can then more fully understand the love that God has for his children - for YOU.

We go about our busy lives and may not take the time to realize that God loves us, no matter what the circumstances may be, no matter what we may or may not have done. He does not give up on us just as we would never give up on our own children. We are there when they need us, just as God is there for us. My prayer for the young families reading this is that you will make it a priority this year to put God first in your lives. Attend the church of your choice on a regular basis. Get your children involved. Get yourself involved. It will be life changing. I have never understood how someone can face all of life's problems without having the Lord actively in their lives. It must be so devastating! Learn to lean on Him, to trust Him for all your needs. Talk to Him. Ask him for the things you need in life. To paraphrase, you have not, because you ask not. He can give you the wisdom you need for raising a child. He can provide the answers to life's tough situations. He can work miracles where we see no hope! Getting involved in church and most importantly, Sunday School, will provide the new friends that your family needs. It will provide a peace that passes all understanding.

Remember why we have Christmas. It is the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Let him be a part of your family this year. The love you feel for your children, God wants you to feel from Him. You can be His child, if only you ask.

Have a Blessed season!

On Teaching Independence

2010-11-01T11:43:00.000-05:00

What to say, what to say.....there are so many things that young parents need to know. I have been pondering what is the most important thing a parent should teach their child. I would hope we all know that leading them to a personal relationship with the Lord would be foremost. That should be a given, but after that, what would be next. My sweet DIL (well, actually, she is Whitney's SIL so we just made her my DIL since her husband's parents are both deceased) has been going through a major ordeal in her house in the recent past - her precious angel could not go to sleep on his own. He preferred to have his mother or father rock him to sleep no matter how many times he would wake up at night. Not good for the parents or the child. Now look at this face......

How could you not get up 10 times a night to rock him back to sleep! He is absolutely the most adorable thing! And that brought me to this blog.....what is the most important thing a parent has to teach his child.

One thing would be independence. In this case, this adorable little boy needed to learn independence with his sleeping habits. As the mother so well put it, he had never had the opportunity to go to sleep by himself, so therefore, he didn't know how. They had to let him cry for a few minutes one night and then he slept all night by himself for the first time in 10 months. The second night the crying only lasted one minute and he slept all night. I have to say with Whitney, it wasn't quite that easy. It only took two nights, but we had crying to the point of throwing up to deal with. She was 14 months and REALLY spoiled to the rocking chair! ha With both children, it was one of their first lessons in independence.

Why did it take my DIL 10 months and me 14 months of enduring no sleep to let our children learn this lesson? Because we love our children so much and didn't want them to have to be without any of their "needs"? Because their need for being held filled our need to nurture? Because in our minds we were not being good parents if our child were upset? All of the above and more I am sure. The fact is, it doesn't hurt our children to cry when there isn't a real problem and as I had to learn, it doesn't hurt to let them cry until they throw up. They can only do it twice. ha Sleeping at night without being rocked and cuddled is the first step to independence.

So many of us think it is our duty to give our children all of their hearts desires. When we do this, they do not learn independence - they learn to rely on others for all their needs. They do not learn patience - they learn that whenever they want something, they should get it now and never have to wait until they can work for it, afford it, deserve it. They don't learn the value of things because they never had to earn it. They don't learn the concept of sharing because they always had their own.

So the hard lesson for parents is that we are to be PARENTS. It is our job to raise strong, healthy, independent children physically, emotionally and mentally and in order to do this, we have to know when to stand strong so our child can learn a lesson on their own and when to be there so they can fall into our arms. There is a fine line between the two. For me, it was much harder to let her learn the lesson "on her own". I had the "falling into my arms" come naturally! ha It is hard to see our children unhappy, suffering, discouraged, failing, struggling, crying. But what can they learn if we are always there to rock them? It is through our struggles that we grow to mature adults and grow close to the Lord. It is where we learn life's lessons.

There is not one most important thing we can teach our children, but a lifetime of things. We don't need a lesson on love because that comes natural for parents. We would lay down our lives for our children. We need lessons on teaching independence, on letting our children fail and take responsibility for their actions, on helping them to make right decisions all through life, on being protective, but not over protective. Stand in the background so they know when they really need you, you are there, but let them learn life in their own way. Remind them that life's path is straight and narrow and they may have to walk alone at times or in this case, sleep alone at times. Much of the wisdom we gain in life comes from parenting. It keeps us close to the Lord and seeking His wisdom for directing our children's paths. What a blessing it is to be parents. Keep up the faith and have a ....

Blessed day.

On Being Prepared

2010-10-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

This weekend we experienced some bad storms around our area of the woods as you can see from the picture I took out our living room window. On Sunday evening, it got bad enough for us to start moving a few things into our storm room as a precaution. When we built our home, we were fortunate enough to be able to add a real storm room in the house. It is used daily as our food and dish pantry.

As you can see from this photo, it has rather thick walls. They are made from cinder blocks, filled with rebar and concrete, much like a bank vault. Even has a concrete ceiling that is actually tied to the foundation. It was designed by Texas Tech and we have built quite a few of these in homes over the years. Out of the 7 years we have lived in this house, we haven't even averaged once a year on going in thinking we might be glad we had this room, but the few times we have used it, it sure made me feel safer than without the room.

The main reason for this blog is to get your minds to thinking about what you would take should you have to vacate your home suddenly. That favorite stuffed animal or blanket your child has to have to sleep! Your wedding rings or other special jewelry, old pictures (not all of them, but the favorites), documents, keys, passwords to computer, combinations to safes, medicines, whatever you and your family deem as important. What did I put in the safe room last night? First was my I-Pad and second was my I-Phone. I know that is kind of sad isn't it, but they are very important to me and contain a lot of valuable info on both. Next was make-up and some hair products - mainly because they are so expensive to replace and one of the first things I would need the next morning should a disaster ever occur. (We weren't in a huge hurry to get to safety either! ha) Gary suggested I put in a coat for us since we would be wet and cold if the house blew away and I took our NOAA radio in the room. I did grab the "key" to my drafting program so I would be able to work. I could reload all programs on a new computer, but without the "key", I would be unable to draw houses. No, I didn't unhook the computer and take in there because I have everything saved on Carbonite, an outside service that does the saving for me without me even thinking about it. Gary made sure the flash light was working and brought in fire power. I know this is a sad commentary on what we thought was important and that is my point totally!

Let me suggest you type a list of what you would want to "grab" in a hurry should the need arise. List them in order of importance in case you can't save everything on the list. Think about what you would put these items in whether it be a tote, a bag, a luggage, a crate (let's not get carried away here). Put the list inside this bag so you will have it at your finger tips and place the bag in a place where it would be easy for you to get. Hopefully, this is something you will prepare for and never need! But just in case you do, you will have it.

Another suggestion would be for those of you with children, go over the routine of how to escape from the home in case of a fire. For older children, discuss where you would meet them in case an emergency happened and you were not at the same location. Buy a NOAA radio and keep fresh batteries in the case (not in the radio since they will corrode over time). I suggest buying one that you can crank in case the batteries fail. You might want to keep it in your bag at all times. You might also want to consider saving your important documents and pictures on an external drive that you could keep in the bag. A gun safe works wonders for storing important papers, pictures, etc. Should your house ever catch on fire, have the fire fighters keep a hose going on the safe. The things may get smoke damage and some heat damage, but they probably will be worth saving.

Hope this has prompted your brain to working and thinking of precautionary steps you need to take to save things that are important to you should the need arise in a hurry. Thinking ahead could save you lots of sadness later. This certainly isn't an exhaustive list, only one to start your mind in the right direction. And remember, material things are just that - material. They can be replaced and a whole lot of them, you would probably never replace. Saving your life is the most important thing.

Have a Blessed Day!

On Being Subtle

2010-10-19T12:12:00.000-05:00

"Ol' Gair"......I can hear Katie, Amy or Whitney saying that right now. I have a funny about Gary that you gals will appreciate. Most of you who follow my blog remember all those weekends at the lake where Gary could be comical - like standing in the boat dancing to "Who Let the Dogs Out" or singing "I'll be gone til November..." or quoting his favorite line from "Pink Panther" - "Does your dog bite? That's not my dog". You girls would endure anything just to get to be on the lake looking for Mr. Right. Isn't that the truth? ha

Most of you never have been in the truck with him while he is driving though. He has a terrible habit of not holding his foot steadily on the gas pedal. He presses in, lets off, presses in, lets off, presses in.....you get the point. I attribute this to his career of being what the guys call him, "a drive by builder." He does most of his driving in the city where he has to let off on the gas pedal a lot. This action will make the strongest stomach queasy. Even when you talk him into using the cruise control, he reverts back to using his foot.

Well a couple of weeks ago, we went to eat fish about 20 minutes away from T-town. We had another couple in the car and coming back, Gary's very close friend was riding up front with him and he calmly said, "You could use your cruise control." I cracked up laughing. The conversation started about how he always drives like that. Gary's come back after we discussed his bad habit was "You sound like my wife. She b*tchs about my driving all the time." Of course, I had to defend myself, so I made the remark that I tried to be nice about it and not complain in a rude manner. Gary's reply was, "Ok, you are a subtle b*tch." We all had a great laugh.

That weekend we were with Whitney and Matt and I was telling them our story. Matt said, "Boy, I bet that made you really mad." I told him that was not the case at all. We all laughed about it and that is the point of this blog - to let you young couples know not to take things so serious.

Gary and I have been married over 30 years now. I know his heart. He didn't say that out of anger. I have learned over the years that he doesn't like me telling him what to do or how to do it, but sometimes a woman has to do what a woman has to do. You know the saying, "Behind every great man is a woman pushing." If we are to train them to be good husbands, we have to subtly let them know how they can improve. Do NOT nag. Talk in your sweetest voice when you want to be subtle. Tell them in that sweet tone that you aren't saying this to be b*tchy, BUT....... Or, say, darling, would you like to...... (maybe it could be put the cruise control on or whatever you want to complete that sentence.) Are they going to take this with a smile? NO, but it won't be as bad as if you sounded like a total nag. They WILL at least know you aren't mad at them and even if they snap back, they might think next time.

You know, none of us are perfect. We all have our quirks, bad habits, things that pester the fool out of our spouse. Sometimes we don't even realize what we do bothers the other person. Life can be short. Don't let the little things cause you to give up, get mad, ruin your relationship, ruin a day together, break up a marriage. Find ways to work through the tough times. Talk about it, but be SUBTLE! :)

To quote Gary, "There was only one perfect man and we crucified Him." Life is not perfect. It is how you work through it that speaks volumes about your character. Eventually, if you work hard at your marriage, you too will get to a point that when your spouse says something like that to you, you will laugh and not feel so threatened.

Have a Blessed day!

Radical Concept

2010-09-29T12:40:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I have posted. I seem to be seeing that statement on a lot of blogs that I follow. I think we read them from our iphones on Google Reader and since we aren't on the computer as much, we tend to let the days slip by without posting. At least that is my theory. ha But, I have just finished reading a small book that has really prompted a lot of thinking on my part. Not something that one would normally think about reading. Many of you have read the book, "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper. Wonderful book about a man who was involved in a car accident, died, went to heaven for 90 minutes and then was revived to come back and tell his story. If you haven't read it, you should.

My 82 year old mother was in Walmart looking at the books and bought one even more interesting - "23 Minutes in Hell" by Bill Wiese. Hell is not something we sit around talking about. Some may not even believe it really exists. Ministers don't mention it in the pulpit for fear of offending some of the members. Not a pleasant thought. Don't think I have ever read a blog that talked about hell. Just not a popular talking point. We like to think that if there is a God, why would he want us to go to hell? He is a loving God afterall. Sure we might send murderers, thieves, molesters there but not us, because we are good. That is what prompted this blog. The writer gave an example of being good that spoke miles to me. Here it is....

"A girl was looking at a beautiful hillside covered with lush, green grass. She noticed a herd of sheep standing on the hill. They looked so white and clean, especially against the dark green grass. The girl went to bed, and the next morning she walked outside to look at the sheep. However, it had snowed all night. The sheep were still there, but now, against the unblemished white snow, they looked dingy, even dirty. In the same way, our "goodness" when compared to God's standard for "good" falls far, far short."

None of us deserve salvation, but because of Jesus, our sins can be covered by His blood and we can become white as snow, if we only ask Him to take control of our lives. Yes, I believe in a literal hell - one with a bottomless pit full of non-consuming fire. I understand that is radical thinking for some of you. God wishes for none to go there. He even sent His own Son so that you and I wouldn't have to go there. All we have to do is to accept Him into our heart. The time is now.

Have a Blessed Day!

Not Last This Time

2010-08-30T16:58:00.000-05:00

I know you all read about me being last at Nacho Club to have an i-phone. I absolutely love it! It seemed a little large to me after carrying a Razor for so many years. Well no longer can you call me last. This past week I ordered me this......

The I-Pad!

I LOVE IT!!!!

Since it has been so hot, Gary has been staying in the house a lot in the evenings. Normally, he goes to his barn and tinkers with either his radio controlled air planes or his old cars and I have peace and quite in the house. I can leave the television turned off if I want to (which is normally the case) and read or play on the laptop. When he stays inside, the laptop is not available to me. He researchs any and everything. When we are watching something on tv and we wonder how old someone is, he googles it. When we are on HGTV, he googles whether the guys are gay or not. That totally makes me mad at him. ha Whatever crosses his mind, he googles it and finds the answer. If only we could retain all this wonderful info, we could be super smart! ha If he isn't googling, he is talking on one of his radio control websites to all the other pilots he has met over the years. There is something on the computer to keep him busy all night.

Then I had this other "problem". I got addicted to Words with Friends and do you know how small those letters get on an i-phone when your eyes are tired? And when you have 6-8 games going, there is always someone to play with. So, after asking Whitney several questions about what the I-Pad will or will not do, I broke down and ordered one. Let me just tell you, it is the answer to all my problems! ha

If you are thinking or considering or have never thought about ordering one until you read this, let me give you one suggestion. Step up and order the one that comes with 3G capabilities. I debated and after discussing this with Gary, we thought it would be better to have it and never want it, than to not have it and decide we need it. You don't have to take out the plan with AT&T unless you decide you want to and even then, you don't have to sign a contract. We have wireless in our home, so we haven't signed on to a plan, but I can see if we travel, we would want to get the 3G for sure. There is even an APP for Craig's List and Pottery Barn! ha And they are large enough to actually see the items listed. And the most wonderful thing for me is pre-ordering the books from my favorite authors and being able to read them on the I-Pad in the dark if I want to. They will notify you when a new book is coming out by your favorite authors. No more having to stalk Sam's Wholesale Club making sure you don't miss one. And, the most expensive book I have seen is $12.99. Much cheaper than the stores.

The only down side I have noticed is that you can't text like on the I-Phone. Well, you can through gmail or AIM, but not real texting as we are all addicted to. So at night now, when you think of me (I know you do all the time - or at least ocassionally), you can picture me on the couch in our living room with I-Pad in lap and I-Phone on the arm of the couch. I AM CONNECTED!

Have a Blessed Day!

Moms and Their Babies

2010-08-18T12:29:00.000-05:00

This is the time of the year that mothers cry. At least it is the time of the year that I used to cry when Whitney was going back to school. After all, the teacher was going to have more waking hours with my daughter than I would. What if the teacher was not really "called" to be a teacher? What if the teacher was a screamer? That would make me cringe! What if the teacher was lazy and didn't challenge my child? That would make me cringe even more! What if the teacher wasn't loving? There were so many unanswered questions when school was starting and kindergarten was the absolute worse year for all of those anxious thoughts. However, I did cry on the first day for each year of elementary school I think. We had a group of moms that would get together for lunch or breakfast to try and console each other, but that really didn't help because we were all down. Maybe it was losing control that was the root of this. Or maybe just the fact that our baby was growing up. It is just a fact of life that it is a sad day for most moms. I found a few pictures that brought back memories.

Her class picture from kindergarten. Missing a few teeth I see.

Whitney's kindergarten graduation. Oh how precious was Mrs Logan!!!!!! I had nothing to worry about with Whitney spending more time with that lady than with me. She was a wonderful influence and we loved her so much! We loved her all the way through high school! The Logan's were such a big part of Pleasant Grove Schools. They are truly missed by all who knew Alice and Clarence.

This picture is not from kindergarten but I couldn't resist adding it. She was artist of the day. And those glasses! One theme runs in all of these pictures.....big bows were in! And we had one for every outfit. :)
Our school experience was wonderful and I really had no reason to cry.

Today I find myself teary eyed again. Whitney is back in kindergarten, but this time, she is the teacher. She has worked all summer on getting her classroom to be the best it can be. We have scrounged, begged, crafted and out right bought all sorts of things to make this year a wonderful year for the students she will have. When she posted pictures on Facebook last night, they brought tears to my eyes. This time because I know how hard she has worked and I realize how Blessed her students are going to be to have Mrs. Kelly as their teacher.

Sorry, this is so blurred, but it is a glimpse of all the specialness that she has added to this room. I am sure most of you have seen the better pictures on her Facebook page. So glad she has gotten her master's and started teaching kids how much fun it can be to read and write and do arithmetic! ha Kindergarten sets the pace for the next 12 years. I think these 16 kids will have a postive experience with a teacher that will love them close to as much as their parents do. We are proud of you! I will also be remembering all you moms out there that will be shedding those tears in the next week. You will finally grow to long for that day!

Have a Blessed day and school year!

Motherly Advice

2010-08-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

No, I am NOT announcing that I will be a grand mother.....but that would be a cute way to do it! ha I am here to give you some motherly advice. If you don't follow this advice, you may turn this adorable crying child into this.....

A spoiled brat!

And we certainly don't want to live with that or be around that type of child. What is my advice? Very simple. Do NOT promise your child a treat for every time you leave them with a baby sitter or for every time you take them to a store and they are well behaved. Why do we always feel the need to reward good behavior? What ever happened to expecting good behavior as the norm and punishing when there isn't good behavior? You might say accentuate the positive.....well I say, that is spoiling a child for something they should be doing anyway. We need to teach our children that polite, mannerly behavior is expected - not rewarded - and bad behavior will not be tolerated. Crying and making a scene will not get the child anywhere unless it is to time out. Treats started out as something to give on special occasions. We have taken that way too far.

Along this line is another bad thing we are doing these days......we are making our children think they are all winners. There are no losers in life. That is not true. There ARE losers in life. Only those that work hard and achieve are winners. Don't give every child a trophy. Let there be winners and losers. Teach your child how to lose gracefully. When they grow up, there will not be anyone there telling them they are winning even when their performance at work is less than acceptable. Teach them the hard lessons in life in small doses as children. Give them a reason to strive to be successful.

The hardest thing in life is to be a parent to your children and not just their friend. They are precious little angels and you cannot give them enough love and attention, but it needs to be balanced with reality. Always count to 10 before you speak out in anger or hand out punishment. And, never have punishment that punishes the entire family or punishment that you really can't follow through on because it is too tough. Think before you speak and speak in a calm, loving manner when correcting. Oh, and never ever spank a child with your hand. The child will relate the punishment to the parent. Use a wooden spoon if you have to spank. There will probably be very few times in life you would ever have to use it.

Don't ask me why I chose this topic. Maybe working in Whitney's classroom getting it all ready for these little angels, might have tilted my brain in this direction. ha Or, maybe the Lord knew someone needed this.

Have a Blessed day!

Rat Rods

2010-07-24T16:50:00.000-05:00

For those of you who know us at all, you know that Gary always has a new toy and this time he has one that I really love. You may think I am crazy when you see this, but it is just darling! I have always loved the old original Fords and Chevrolets from the Depression era and now we have one! This is a 1929 Ford Roadster Truck - convertible and all! Do you notice something strange about it other than it being rusted out? Look close.

Do you know what that shovel was for? Maybe the next picture will give you a clue.......

It was a grave diggers truck! That is why the shovel is mounted on the side of the truck. That makes this truck really something to talk about! Does this look like a big project to you? Not at all.....it will be a Rat Rod. For all of us laymen out there, that means it will never have shiney new paint on it. He will leave it rusted except for the wheels........

Gary says the wheels always have to be clean and new looking. He can't take the rusted look on those. He will have G.W. Strickland Custom Homes, Inc lettered onto the truck in a rusted process so it looks original to the age of the truck and he will get it running and put new brakes on it. Not sure how far he will take the engine......to chrome or not to chrome.....ha

And what to do on the inside.....dashes have come a long ways!!!!

A lot of Rat Rods have Mexican type throws on the seats...ha We wouldn't want to make it look good for sure. Gary has always wanted a Rat Rod...after all, he has had plenty of the shiney street rods and antiques......

his current two shiney models, so now for the fun one.

Notice the convertible top! Let the Rat Rodding begin. Oh, if anyone has one of those turquoise and orange striped Mexican throws, we will take it off your hands! LOL

Have a Blessed day!

Oh Mercy Me!

2010-07-19T10:02:00.001-05:00

This weekend was a real working weekend. No rest for the weary. I helped to get a new kindergarten classroom set up for the first time. Wow! That is a major undertaking! No more are the classrooms with rows of desk and a chalk board at the front. Where is the front of the classroom anymore? Where are the desks? Little round tables have replaced them. Gone are the days that the room had to be painted pale blue, green or yellow to keep the children calm. Primary and bright colors are in! Polka dots abound! Every single inch is filled with absolute awesomeness. The teachers wear microphones now so the students can hear better. What happened to teachers straining their voices or talking soft until the kids got quite? There are computers, electronic listening centers, ipads, digital cameras and the over head projectors are now called Elmo and a lot fancier than we had. No more transparencies......it uses paper! It is just amazing! For free reading time, there is a tent in the middle of the room for two students to curl up in to read. Everything is done in "centers" - two here, two there, and two more here. Times have changed.

But the real change that totally took me off guard was when I needed to relieve myself. I was told I could go use the restroom in the teacher's lounge or use the one for the kids which was right across from the classroom. Since there aren't any kids using it now, I thought to myself, I will use it because it should be clean. (I do not like dirty restrooms!) I know I lead a sheltered life and don't get out into the real world much, but this totally took me off guard. A sea of purple on the floors and walls! When you open the door expecting a blah bathroom, this totally took me by surprise......a PURPLE MONSTER!

Never in my life have I seen this much purple in a room! The school colors are purple and white. And this greeted me when I opened the door along with these scenes......

The paintings are adorable - it was all the purple that almost sent me running for my life. I think this is something you have to see in real life to get the whole affect. It just hits you in the face - BIG TIME! I never liked purple to begin with and now everytime I see purple again, I will think back to the moment I opened that door. It was life changing. One of those moments that is implanted on my brain until the day I die, I am sure. Pure culture shock to this little old lady that leads her sheltered life. Bless ALL the dear teachers in our world. It is a whole new ball game.

Have a Blessed day!

My Addiction

2010-07-09T17:06:00.001-05:00

OMG! Why did I start this!?!?! It is the most addicting thing I have done in a long time! LOL

My lovely husband got me an i-phone for my birthday in April. I was the last hold out among all my friends and family. I was kind of scared that I might not be smart enough to take advantage of this phone since I had listened to a group of ladies (who shall remain nameless) ask 1000 questions at lunch to the one person that knew the answers. I sat there absorbing all the info and began doubting my skills. Now I am the one that sits at a computer all day drawing houses and admit that I am fairly good at figuring things out on the computer for myself, but this i-phone thing had me wondering. Well, after Gary set it up for me and I used it a couple of hours, I could see that an i-phone was not a scary object but loads of fun. Texting became our way of talking in this house! So about two weeks ago, I decided to venture on out into something a little more fun and even educational - Words With Friends. Why on earth did I do that? The phone is always making that little noise that someone has played and it is my turn. And I surely can't keep my friends waiting! It doesn't matter that I have houses to draw, bills to pay, house to clean (well, I do pay to have that done, thank heavens), yard to mow, etc, etc.....I MUST STOP and ANSWER that DING! The funny thing about playing is that you feel like you have seen that person today and everyday. It is a connection! Last week we had a car of five gals headed for Tulsa. All but one had the i-phone. Since I was driving, I let the one person without an i-phone use mine to play Words With Friends. They were all playing and not until we hit the Indian Nation Turnpike where there wasn't any cell service for a little while, did anyone talk to me. They were lost in getting those triple letters, double words, etc. When all the service was gone, I thanked them for starting to talk to me again. :)

(Just had to answer that little call to play...sorry....spelled FRIED for 16 points)

Where was I? Oh yes, so if you feel the need for interaction with friends and don't really want to get dressed to go out, just start a game or several games of Words With Friends and you will have constant companionship!

I am even thinking now about getting an i-pad. That would be easier on the eyes for playing Words With Friends, oh yes, and for reading books too and maybe even chatting with friends on Facebook. And don't forget, you can download Pottery Barn catalogues now with their app!

(Just had to answer that little call to play again....WARREN for 11 points. Not as good but used up a bunch of those R's!)

Oh, and one last thing.....I even read everyone's blogs on the phone and could on the i-pad if I had one. Now we all know that is a whole lot of fun and a great way to catch up with everyone and what they are doing. I wonder what our parents did without all this modern technology for keeping up with friends. I remember when we had a party line and a 3 minute limit with the one telephone that was in the hallway where everyone heard everything you said - even your neighbors if they wanted to pick up and listen on the party line! Those were ~~NOT~~ the days, believe me!

Guess I better sign off......Words is dinging again!

Have a Blessed Day!

Answered Prayers

2010-06-24T20:24:00.000-05:00

I have noticed most of my blogging friends are quite these days. We have all suffered a very sad loss in our lives - Cohen Marshall, 12 days old, went to the arms of Jesus a few days ago and it has just really affected us all. For 12 days, we posted on facebook prayer request; sent prayer request to our Sunday School classes and our churches; messages were forwarded all over the world, literally, and prayers and petitions were made to our Lord and Savior on Cohen's behalf by friends, family and total strangers. Never have I been a part of such a large prayer effort! It was amazing seeing the comments every few minutes of how people were praying for Cohen and his parents. We prayed for miracles and healing and I believe the Lord answered our prayers. It may not be the answer that we had in our minds for physical healing on this earth so we could hold, love and cherish this dear sweet baby, but it was the ultimate healing that the Lord gave Cohen. He has been made perfect and when it comes down to it, isn't this what we prayed for. We wanted nothing but the best for Cohen and what can be better than for him than to be with Jesus? Yes, it is the hardest thing we have ever experienced and yes, it hurts and hurts a lot. Our hearts are deeply burdened for Brent and Megan. I cannot even begin to fathom the pain they are dealing with. If we could ease their pain, we certainly would do it, but only the Lord and time can heal this pain. We will be there for them, but we can't take the hurt away. That is the toughest thing a parent has to do in life - watch their children suffer and there be nothing we can really do for them. We can love them through it and pray for them.

There is good that comes from everything. Sometimes it takes time to find it. In this case, we all came closer to the Lord - that is a good thing. God used a small baby to bring us closer to Himself. The girls and their close friendships were such a testimony to so many. In a world of so much bad, we were able to see what the love of great friends can really be like. My goodness - the way Brent and Megan conducted themselves, kept us updated, documented every detail they went through no matter how hard or how painful - that was absolutely amazing and will be such a help for future families who go through this same thing. And it will be exciting to hear one day what the doctors may have learned from this experience that will help other babies. Think of the counseling Brent and Megan will be able to give other parents that you and I would have no clue what to say. They are both such wonderful and loving people and will be such a positive influence on others. Wouldn't it be interesting if we could have everyone that kept up with this experience write how it changed their lives! That would be an awesome story! This is not the first time God used a baby to touch lives and if Cohen brought one person closer to God, then we have truly been blessed.
Have a Blessed day!

Miracles Today!

2010-06-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a day this has been! Do you believe in miracles? If not, I will have to pray for you because they really do exist. Today we have experienced two miracles. The first is the miracle of birth - not just any birth, but the birth of a dear baby with four heart defects and the stomach and liver on the wrong side of the body. He came into this world "screaming and kicking." That is truly a miracle from the Lord. The second miracle was when they tested and he had his two pulmonary veins and they were not obstructed! For the longest time, it was never certain that these veins had developed. They are there and working! Praise Jesus! It seemed the whole world was praying today. What a testimony.

This is a priceless picture.......

Daddy, Mommy and sweet baby Cohen. It has been a long hard nine months and this is only the beginning, but today brought hope. Megan and Brent have been real troopers! They have tried to stay positive and upbeat throughout this whole ordeal. I so admire them for that. They have drawn strength from their family, friends and most importantly, the Lord. They have gotten their priorities straight. Something a lot of us could learn from them. To read more go to http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/

And then there is this picture.....

I know it is small....but it says so much. Where would we be without friends? We all need someone to be there when the going gets rough. This group of gals made a pact upon graduation to stay close and it has been 8 years and here they are all together through thick and thin. They came from Fayetteville, Texarkana, Little Rock and Oklahoma City to be there for Megan in Dallas. They kept the world posted on the happenings of the day on Facebook and blogs and texting. They are truly Blessed to have each other. That is what friends are for.

We are not promised that life will be easy; we are promised that God will be there with us through the tough times and the good times. We seem to call on him more when it is a tough time. I heard one preacher say that he prayed for tough times so he would draw close to God. I have never had the nerve to pray that prayer, but isn't it so. We draw close when we can't do it on our own.

Thank you God for this day of miracles! ThankYou for this opportunity to see first hand what You are about. Forgive us when we fail You and drift from You. Bless Cohen as he has the surgeries his little body needs. Thank you for miracles!

We did truly have a Blessed Day!

Some of Life's Lessons This Week

2010-05-27T18:01:00.000-05:00

I must be getting really old cause I keep seeing lessons in everything I read and do. I may be slowing down way tooooo much and smelling way toooo many roses! ha Oh well, maybe you can reap something from my reflections. :)
In Sunday school we are studying the book of Leviticus - one of those Law books. Most of the verses last Sunday started with DO NOT......and ended with OR YOU SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH. Some were strange like do not wear two different kinds of cloth - I wonder what they do about blended fabrics we have now! Then there was do not sleep with your relatives, your neighbors wife, another man, .... or you shall be put to death. The punishment seemed a little harsh, but then the real lesson I gleaned from all of these DO NOTS is what one class member pointed out. We raise our children these days that it is ok to experiment and try things for themselves - make their own decisions. We don't give them imperatives like the DO NOT's in life. Are we doing them justice by not setting standards and requiring them to follow them and if they DO NOT, they WILL be punished. It is easier to let them explore and over look most of the things they do that we really don't like, because we don't want to rock the boat. We want them to like us and think we are cool parents. Maybe that is why so many of our children's generation lacks motivation to do good; have low standards for themselves; are under achievers and do not seek God's will for their lives. It is much harder to be strict parents where the child knows what is expected of him. So for you young couples starting on raising families, I know it is hard, but be your child's parent not just their friend. Of course, there are loving ways to accomplish this. Awesome responsibility!!

The second thing I realized this week was that it is common to hear the phrase, well nothing surprises me anymore. That is a sad commentary on our society. Things should surprise us. We should be shocked. If our standards were higher, maybe less of the bad in our world would be happening. If you knew that your world would be shocked if you did something wrong, it might deter us. We have become a numb society. Sad.

And, the last lesson I learned came from the book by David Jeremiah called What In The World Is Going On?. In biblical times, when someone left the table and had their napkin crumpled, it meant they were finished and not coming back. If they left the table and folded their napkin neatly and laid it beside their plate, that meant they would return so do not disturb their place. Now I honestly don't think many waiters in our day would know this tidbit, so you might not want to go to the restroom and leave you half finished plate of food with a neatly folded napkin beside your plate. However, the interesting thing I read, was that when Jesus was in the tomb for three days and He arose, the clothes that were wrapped around His body were not disturbed (they still had the shape of his body) but the cloth used on His head was neatly folded and laying to the side of the other clothes. This meant He would return representing the fact that He will return one day and we need to have our hearts prepared for His return. What a glorious time that will be! Are you ready?
Have a Blessed Day!

Blackberry Cobbler

2010-05-19T09:13:00.001-05:00

I made a wonderful cobbler a couple of weeks ago and wanted to let you in on it. To see the original recipe, you can go to the Pioneer Woman's website Here. I did double the amount of blackberries. I was using frozen blackberries and 2 cups just looked skimpy so I used the whole bag from Wal-Mart. It was just the right amount in my opinion.

For those of you that have been around our family for at least the last three years, you may remember the story of Whitney cooking her first meal for Matt when they had just started dating. She made peach cobbler by a recipe almost identical (our family recipe doesn't use self rising flour - it uses regular flour and baking powder and salt). When you read salt, surely you remember the salt story! haha The recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon of salt. She was doubling the recipe so that would have been 1 teaspoon to most people. But to Whitney's inexperienced cooking self, that turned out to be 1 CUP of salt. The logic behind that was that everything else was in cups so she was thinking cups instead of teaspoons. Was she just a little nervous or what?!?!!? Needless to say, the cobbler was thrown out and I made them another one while they went to the movies that night. That wasn't the end of the story. For one of their wedding showers, they had a stock the pantry shower. Well, each hostess brought her salt as a gift (along with a lot of other wonderful things to cook with.) She still, 3 years later, has salt in her pantry!

By the way, this recipe can be used with peaches and is absolutely wonderful too! Nothing like Southern cooking. Thanks Pioneer Woman!

Ingredients

1 stick Butter

1-¼ cup Sugar

1 cup Self-Rising Flour

1 cup Milk

2 cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees

Have a Blessed Day!

All About Reactions

2010-05-13T19:01:00.000-05:00

Came across a very interesting way to handle obstinate husbands today! haha Maybe you young gals don't have those, but we older women all agree that we do! ha I was reading another great book.....I hope you don't get tired of me telling you lessons I learn from good novels....and I read something that I have to share with you.

This book is by an author I have written about before in another blog, Debbie Macomber. Her newest book is "Hannah's List". A great book and an easy read. It wasn't until almost the end of the book that I really got enlightened on how to deal with conflict in marriages and relationships. Two of the characters in the book really love each other, but they can't stand to be around each other because it always turns into an argument. Now, I know this never happens in your marriage, but SHOULD it ever happen, I want you to think about using this technique to work through your problems. :)
Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle from top to bottom. On the left side, list all the things that totally make you mad about your significant other. The girl in the story listed when her boyfriend came home from a bad day at work, he was moody and took it out on her; when she cooked him a great meal, he always stood up to eat it - never sat down to savor the meal (he was a chef); he was an untidy person and then accuses her of hiding his things; and, he thought he was a better chef than she was. You get the idea. Be very honest with yourself about this.
Then you would think on the right hand side of the paper you would list the things about him that you love - WRONG! There might not be many things you can think of after making that list! ha So, on the right hand side of the paper, list how you respond or react to each thing on the left hand side of the paper. When he comes in moody and gripes, she argues back at him and they fight because she doesn't deserve how he treats her; when he won't sit down to eat, she insists that he does, and they fight; etc, etc.
As the character reads the list and how she reacts, she realizes that she was a part of the problem as much as the boyfriend. The one helping her to see this about herself tells of how her husband responded when she came home all upset and ranting and raving. He would calmly listen to her problems and when she was done, he would wrap his arms around her, give her a big hug and tell her how much he loved her. This only happened after the husband made his own list and they worked through the things that upset them about each other. It is all about REACTION. If your husband comes home tired and grouchy, remember he loves you and is needing your love right then. He isn't needing someone to fight with. Listen to his complaints, wrap your arms around him and tell him you love him and he is wonderful. WOW! That could change the whole evening. Even if he doesn't want to make his own list, start with yours and change your reactions. That might eliminate the length of his list one day! ha
I wish I had someone to tell me stuff like this when I was younger - not that Gary would ever cause me any grief! LOL Gary's favorite line is none of us are perfect - there was only One perfect person, and we crucified Him. Truer words were never spoken.
Have a Blessed Day!

Masters and Paintings

2010-05-10T11:22:00.000-05:00

Not a very good picture since I saved it from Facebook.....but it is a picture of a very good girl! ha We are so proud of Whitney getting her master's degree in education. Now she is a fully licensed teacher and will even be earning a better salary since she has her master's degree! Dad and I and Matt are very happy about that! ha But having a masters doesn't mean you are totally smart and always think clearly.

After graduation, Whitney and I went shopping. I had decided that would be our gift to her for her accomplishment. We had a full afternoon of shopping and got lots done. Maybe she will post pictures of her two new dining chairs we got for their table and the neat vase and live bamboo for the centerpiece. Then we had to buy groceries for the Mother's Day meal so we were pooped! She called in pizzas for us to pick up on the way home in the next town over from Carlisle. I asked her at the stop light should I take the service road and she said, "Oh no, just go straight." Well, straight was the entrance to I-40 and she realized that there was no entrance to the pizza place the way we were going. So I pulled over to the shoulder of the road and she had to hop out, run across the grass between the road we were on and the service road to get our pizza. She was totally embarrassed! That was a "duh" moment in life. Had she not done this, it would have been 10 miles to Carlisle and then 10 miles back to Lonoke. Not good for two tired women with two husbands at home waiting on dinner. Thankfully, I remembered to get the old camera out so I could let you all know about it! :)

When Gary and I got back home Sunday evening, I had a package waiting for me. A few weeks ago I ordered a painting from Trish Jones at Old Post Road. I love her little paintings with the scriptures on them.

I hung this just to the left of my computer. How nice to look at it while I work and to be constantly reminded to "Be joyful always; Pray continually; Give thanks in all circumstances." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. That could change the world if we all would live those verses out daily in our lives and, think how much brighter my days will be because this painting is there! You can order off her Etsy site or do as I did and have her custom make you exactly what you want. Thanks, Trish! I absolutely love it!

Have a Blessed Day!

Something To Make You Smile

2010-05-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

It seems like this past week or so, there are many of us going through some tough times in relationships, whether it is family, friends or business. Seems like everyone I know has told me something that they are trying to "get through". I read another good book that would put all of these things in perspective called "Safely Home" (I don't know how to underline on here - maybe someone can tell me) by Randy Alcorn, but this isn't going to be another post about a great book. Instead, I have some pictures that would make most of those following this blog at least chuckle, if not laugh right out loud since most of you know my husband. For those that do not, well what can I say, maybe that you are missing something (I won't say what) in your lives! ha Love you darling and I was just kidding. He is a wonderful man, (worries to much), and is about 6' tall to put these pictures into perspective, but does know how to have fun and let people laugh at him. I think you will see from the following pictures why I say this. Let me preface these pictures with a note that I know the quality is awful. The blurriness comes because the parties in the pictures are moving and I was using my cell phone that was only a week old, so I did good to get these pictures at all. I sooooo wish I had remembered I had video capabilities on the phone. It would have been so much better. Maybe this will take away some of the bad that seems to beset us lately. Enjoy. ( He is the passenger - not the driver)

Needless to say, they drew a large crowd of spectators at the car show! They took this little three wheeled vehicle for about a 15 minute drive and there were even more people there to watch them get OUT of the car. He said it really wasn't that uncomfortable but for $35,000 he really wouldn't want to take it around town to check on the houses he is building! ha I think he prefers his King Ranch for that.

Have a Blessed Day!

Same Kind of Different As Me

2010-04-29T09:26:00.000-05:00

I recently read a book that will make an impact on your life so I wanted to share it. It is non-fiction, which I normally do not like. It seems to me that a lot of non-fiction books get boring or have long sections that just don't seem to keep my interest, but this one is different. This one renews your faith in man and your faith in God. It shows you how short sited we are; how sheltered we tend to live our lives; and how we miss Blessings because we don't stay in tune to what the Lord would have us do in our lives. It is a real eye opener and a simple read. So step out of the box, purchase this book (Sams Wholesale Club had it) and change the way you look at the world. If you are reading this post, then you are more Blessed than a lot of people because it means you have a computer and an internet provider - that is Blessed! Thank the Lord for your Blessings and then share with someone else what the Lord has so graciously provided for you. Being self centered is an awful state to be in. You will never be good enough, have enough, look good enough, etc, etc. Become a giving person that dwells on others needs rather than on your own and THEN you will be able to see the Blessings you have been given. Start by doing something nice this week for someone you care about and maybe it will lead to you doing something nice for a complete stranger one day.

Enjoy reading and have a Blessed day!

Time for a Change

2010-04-19T11:01:00.000-05:00

Spring always makes me want to change something in my house. The sun has been shining in my eyes in my office for 7 years now and I decided it was time to do something about it. That got the ball to rolling. I wanted to use roman shades on the window since it is 7' wide and that would give me some fabric to add some style to the room. Then that made me think it would be the time to paint if I am buying new fabric! ha So I have had the office painted Superior Bronze from Sherwin Williams, a checked roman shade made, a new chair which required new cushions made for it, rematted the one large picture I use and then I changed all the open shelving decorations. One roman shade sure made a lot of work! Thought the pictures of the shelves might inspire you to do something new in your house. Here is the new roman shade.

And the new chair with the cute orange pillow/cushions......

And then I had to have more orange.....don't you love the boxwood ball!

Birds are BIG this year! What do you think about my lime green canary! I love it! The grain bin was one of the original ones Matt's grandfather built on the Kelly farm. Whitney took the picture and I thought it went well in this grouping.

Another bird...from Pottery Barn. The orange vases are from H&N Floral here in Texarkana. You might want to check them out on Facebook too! A wonderful place to shop if you haven't been! I removed some of the shelves to give me taller spaces. Note the picture hanging on the back of the shelf. Gives a complete look to the area.

A larger view of the shelves directly over my computer center. Sitting in front of the rectangle boxwood is a little embroidered picture I found this past week in Little Rock that reads, "It's never too late to be what you might have been." How wonderful is that! The brown box above that is special ordered along with the boxwoods from Park Street Market! I hope that link works!

And last, but not least, I had to decorate on top of Gary's gun safe! ha Needed a little feminine added.

There is still one more custom painting I am having done as we speak. I will blog about it all on it's own, whenever it comes in.

I love the new office, but let me just say, I still really don't want to work. Even when you love the surroundings you are in, work is still work. We had a minister one time that told Gary and me, "that is why it is called work". Truer words were never spoken. I guess I really should be glad I have work to do and the health to do it! Thank you God for giving us a Blessed day!

The New Nacho Club

2010-04-08T13:43:00.000-05:00

Well as many of you know, I eat with a group of women every Thursday and we call it Nacho Club. This excursion started for me 12 years ago and it had actually been going on a few years before I started. When I first began, it was cheerleader moms (and Debbie). We would discuss all kinds of important matters concerning cheerleading, pep rally's, hanging those darn sheet signs on the fence and blowing up all those balloons for the pep rally and then of course, what we would hear that our kids ~~would~~ might be doing after the game or on weekends. It was a great way to stay informed and let me tell you young mothers or those that will be one day - you MUST stay informed. The kids called it gossiping, but I think it is a major way of protecting your child from all kinds of mischief. Of course, none of us have had kids in public school for some time now so we have become a real support group for each other. We can tell anything that is on our minds to this group of women and we know it won't go outside of that meeting - mainly because we can't remember it long enough to tell someone by the time we pay for our lunch ticket! :) We have dealt with MIP's, stalkers, great train robberies, awful relationships our kids have had, wedding and baby showers, deaths of parents, etc, etc. The list could go on forever. We don't have to remember birthdays or anniversaries (which is a relief for those of us without memories.) It is just a wonderful hour to sit and laugh and admit when we have done something really stupid cause we are all pretty much alike in that respect.

Well, today was the beginning of a new Nacho Club. The name more than likely will need to be changed. We haven't voted on it yet, but we did discuss how the name might need to be revised. See if you can tell from this picture what has happened to the old Nacho Club.

The new Not-Sho I-Phone Club!

Today Teresa was sporting an i-phone! She and I were the last two hold outs and she gave in! Now I am the only one with a Motorola Razr. All they do is discuss which APPS they like this week. Today it was the BUMP. Everyone of them downloaded this app and then proceeded to start bumping all their phones! IN THE RESTAURANT! At one point, I told them, "Don't look now, but there is a whole line of people on the other side of the 4' wall watching how funny you all are." Dottie's face started getting red and said "Not really?" I had to admit I had made that up, but I do believe the entire restaurant could hear them telling each other about their i-phones and how to work them. No need to worry anymore kids!!!! You are NOT being discussed - unless of course you have created your own APP - and THEN, they MIGHT talk about you! ha I am really thinking when the old Razr goes out, I will still save it and carry it in to Nacho Club so they will never know I gave in. Or maybe better than that, I will have to start carrying the I-Pad so mine will be bigger than theirs! It is really kind of scarey - six women with such powerful little machines in their hands. They could change the world!! Everyone needs a support group and for that, we seven women are VERY BLESSED! We have the best one ever. It doesn't happen over night, so start yours now. Between these women and the Lord, I can conquer anything!

Have a Blessed day!

two new finds

2010-03-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

Gary is out of town today so I have been totally useless. I have had the Food Network on all morning but my attention has been on reading blogs. I never really knew there are soooo many great ones out there. This could really get addicting! I came along two wonderful ideas that I would have never thought about in a million years. Ways to recycle old things. The first one is from a blog called 1829 Farm House where she turned 3 old chairs into one bench. Such a cute idea!

The other one is from my newest favorite blog called Funky Junk. This one is even more creative than the first. Here she took a real piece of junk and got a wonderful, useful wall piece. Look at this!

That is an old bed spring....maybe from a baby bed. These women have amazing ideas. Thought you might enjoy their blogs. I really need to get up and do something constructive - like wash my face and put on makeup! ha Have a great weekend and a Blessed day!

New Friends and the Captain

2010-03-18T15:25:00.000-05:00

Remember a few post back, I told you about having new friends over for dinner. There were 3 out of the 4 people we invited who were new to our town and our church. Well that dinner was a success and since then, the women have gone to lunch at a restaurant and yesterday we had lunch at one of our new friend's home. We have included another person from our Sunday School class who didn't know many people either. She was actually a neighbor to one of the newer people. So now, we have formed a foursome that enjoys having lunch and doing things together. I guess that really does mean the first night of entertaining was truly a success! One nice thing about meeting new people is finding new recipes and in this case a whole new ingredient! Voila!.........

That would be Captain Rodney’s Boucan Glaze which can be purchased at http://www.theeverydaygourmet.com/

And the new recipe is:

Captain Cheese Bake

½ c. mayo
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (softened)
2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 green onions (chopped)
6 Ritz crackers (crushed)
4 Slices bacon (cooked & crumbled)
½ c. Captain Rodney’s Boucan Glaze
Mix mayo, cream cheese, cheddar cheese & onions in greased quiche pan. Top with crackers and bake at 350 Deg. For 15 or 20 min. Top with bacon and Captain Rodney’s glaze. Serve with crackers and enjoy!

The picture is borrowed from the Pioneer Woman's website. Thanks Pioneer Woman and we all know everything she makes is wonderful so you know this will be to die for too! I don't know if the person that served this has ever heard of the Pioneer Woman, but I found the recipe there also. The glaze can be put on most anything I would guess. It is sweet and reminds me of pepper jelly in a liquid form. I think I could have eaten the whole recipe!

You know, one night of opening our house has led to more blessings than we would have ever expected - new friends, new activities, new ingredients and new recipes - and probably new inches on the old body! ha

Have a Blessed day!

Very Important People

2010-03-11T19:45:00.000-06:00

Got my office repainted this week. What a difference that makes! I will post pictures when it is totally finished. But, while I was moving things around I came across this picture. Do you recognize these people?

Yep! One is Whitney and the other one is none other than Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. He was the president of Texas A&M while Whitney was going to school there. This picture gets more impressive over time since both people in the picture are achieving more and more in their lives! ha (One is in Washington D.C. and the other is teaching in Hazen, Ar. Both are involved in wars of their own kind! ha) Another thing about Whitney's graduation was that the speaker was Barbara Bush. She is so funny and entertaining. I love hearing her speak. If was a fun and cold weekend and needless to say, Gary and I are very proud of our daughter. Thanks for letting me reminisce. On May 8th, we will be attending another graduation where Whitney will be getting her masters! Wonder if we can top this one?

Entertaining, Dilemas and New Friends

2010-02-26T23:45:00.000-06:00

This week we made the decision to entertain. We have a new couple in our Sunday School class that had just moved to Texarkana, so we decided to be hospitable and invite them into our home for dinner. I decided to have steak, twice baked potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls and upside down apple pie. I had a new 52" table cloth that I decided to put on my rather large table. I thought the way it turned out was rather nice, so I decided to show you gals how to use something small on a large table.

You can see I tucked it in on the long sides and made it look like a rather large table runner. I used chargers under the dinner plates and stemware for the glasses and had a rather unique table setting. I didn't take a picture of the completed table since I didn't want the new friends to think I was totally crazy with the internet!

Next, while cooking, I ran into a dilema. I usually use the Rhodes frozen rolls (the kind you have to let rise before you bake them) when I entertain. They are just like homemade rolls which I totally cannot make on my own. I put them on the baking sheet and covered them with a paper towel as I always do. Another thing I always do is turn my oven on 200 degrees, wait for it to get a little warm, then turn the oven off and put my rolls in there to rise free of drafts. I always leave the oven light on for a little warmth. Well, I had the oven busy cooking the potatoes for my twice baked potatoes, so my normal routine wasn't going to happen. What to do! I left them on the counter for over an hour and they looked dead. So this is what I did......

Do you see what I did?

Yes, I sat them on the back of our couch, placed the floor lamp directly over them and they rose perfectly in just the right amount of time for our guests to smell fresh bread cooking when they arrived! By the way, the package of 24 rolls had 26 rolls - that is the reason some are turned in different directions. They were a hit for dinner. We had the perfect combination for a great evening!

Two couples, both from Louisiana, ended up having lots in common. A great evening! As I have told you before, if you will invite people over, they will come. There is no reason not to have friends other than you not making the effort. The effort is truly worth it. And, it is so much more fun to have them into your home rather than going out all the time. They really get to know who you are when they come into your home. It is something very special you can do for others. Make a date and do it!

Have a Blessed day!

Spring Has Sprung....well not really

2010-02-22T17:24:00.001-06:00

Here is a picture of my island for spring. I know it is cold and spring is really NOT just around the corner, but I went ahead and put my things out - well at least my new things that I had bought. I found all the pots with the veggies growing in them (fake) at market on one trip from a place that was moving their location. I was able to buy these pots and bring them home with me. The darling little metal bunnies I found at the cutest store in Sulphur Springs, Texas on the way to Dallas. My suggestion to you is always have at least one place in your house (kitchen, dining table, bar, entry, entertainment center - somewhere) that you can change with the seasons or holidays. Take down some of the old and put out the seasonal. After the season is gone, bring out the old again and it will seem new to you once again. Your husband may or may not notice (or at least may not say they notice), but subliminally, it will tell them you are proud of your home and always want it to look fresh. Men work hard for what they provide for their families. I know you may work too, but men have this ultimate feeling of being responsible for the family. Keep the house looking fresh, clean and cheerful as well as keeping yourself that way. They like to be able to say look at my wife or look at my belongings......I have done good. I know it takes two these days to have nice things and it can't be done without you in most cases, but let them feel like they have accomplished this for themselves and give them something to be proud of. My mother always taught me to get up first thing every morning and get my self presentable to the world. Your husband will be happier and who knows, an opportunity may come up and you will be ready to go!

Have a Blessed day!

The Sparrow at Starbucks

2010-02-18T08:58:00.001-06:00

As you know by now, I usually just write my own stuff and I don't think it is too cool to do post that are forwarded emails, but I have to break my policy and send the following along to you. Most everyone that reads this blog knows our hearts are full of sadness and are looking to God for answers and healing for Cohen and his parents, Brent and Megan. As Megan always reminds us, God is in control. This piece reminds us that there are no coincidences in life - they are things that God does when He chooses to remain anonymous. I hope this speaks to you as it has to me. How do people handle what life deals them without the Lord?

I once read that a coincidence is just when God chooses to remain anonymous.......

The SPARROW at STARBUCKS

The song that silenced the cappuccino machine. It was chilly in Manhattan but warm inside the Starbucks shop on 51st Street and Broadway, just a skip up from Times Square . Early November weather in New York City holds only the slightest hint of the bitter chill of late December and January, but it's enough to send the masses crowding indoors to vie for available space and warmth. For a musician, it's the most lucrative Starbucks location in the world, I'm told, and consequently, the tips can be substantial if you play your tunes right. Apparently, we were striking all the right chords that night, because our basket was almost overflowing. It was a fun, low-pressure gig - I was playing keyboard and singing backup for my friend who also added rhythm with an arsenal of percussion instruments. We mostly did pop songs from the '40s to the '90s with a few original tunes thrown in. During our emotional rendition of the classic, "If You Don't Know Me by Now," I noticed a lady sitting in one of the lounge chairs across from me. She was swaying to the beat and singing along. After the tune was over, she approached me. "I apologize for singing along on that song. Did it bother you?" she asked. "No," I replied. "We love it when the audience joins in. Would you like to sing up front on the next selection?" To my delight, she accepted my invitation. "You choose," I said. "What are you in the mood to sing?" "Well. ... do you know any hymns?"

Hymns? This woman didn't know who she was dealing with. I cut my teeth on hymns. Before I was even born, I was going to church. I gave our guest singer a knowing look. "Name one." "Oh, I don't know. There are so many good ones. You pick one." "Okay," I replied. "How about 'His Eye is on the Sparrow'?" My new friend was silent, her eyes averted. Then she fixed her eyes on mine again and said, "Yeah. Let's do that one." She slowly nodded her head, put down her purse, straightened her jacket and faced the center of the shop. With my two-bar setup, she began to sing.

Why should I be discouraged?

Why should the shadows come?

The audience of coffee drinkers was transfixed. Even the gurgling noises of the cappuccino machine ceased as the employees stopped what they were doing to listen. The song rose to its conclusion.

I sing because I'm happy;

I sing because I'm free.

For His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me.

When the last note was sung, the applause crescendoed to a deafening roar that would have rivaled a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall. Embarrassed, the woman tried to shout over the din, "Oh, y'all go back to your coffee! I didn't come in here to do a concert! I just came in here to get somethin' to drink, just like you!" But the ovation continued.. I embraced my new friend. "You, my dear, have made my whole year! That was beautiful!" "Well, it's funny that you picked that particular hymn," she said. "Why is that?" "Well . .." she hesitated again, "that was my daughter's favorite song." "Really!" I exclaimed. "Yes," she said, and then grabbed my hands. By this time, the applause had subsided and it was business as usual.. "She was 16. She died of a brain tumor last week." I said the first thing that found its way through my stunned silence. "Are you going to be okay?" She smiled through tear-filled eyes and squeezed my hands. "I'm gonna be okay. I've just got to keep trusting the Lord and singing his songs, and everything's gonna be just fine." She picked up her bag, gave me her card, and then she was gone.

Was it just a coincidence that we happened to be singing in that particular coffee shop on that particular November night? Coincidence that this wonderful lady just happened to walk into that particular shop? Coincidence that of all the hymns to choose from, I just happened to pick the very hymn that was the favorite of her daughter, who had died just the week before? I refuse to believe it. God has been arranging encounters in human history since the beginning of time, and it's no stretch for me to imagine that he could reach into a coffee shop in midtown Manhattan and turn an ordinary gig into a revival. It was a great reminder that if we keep trusting him and singing his songs, everything's gonna be okay.

The next time you feel like GOD can't use YOU, just remember...

Noah was a drunk

Abraham was too old

Isaac was a daydreamer

Jacob was a liar

Leah was ugly

Joseph was abused

Moses had a stuttering problem

Gideon was afraid

Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer

Rahab was a prostitute

Jeremiah and Timothy were too young

David had an affair and was a murderer

Elijah was suicidal

Isaiah preached naked

Jonah ran from God

Naomi was a widow

Job went bankrupt

John the Baptist ate bugs

Peter denied Christ

The Disciples fell asleep while praying

Martha worried about everything

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once

Zaccheus was too small

Paul was too religious

Timothy had an ulcer...AND

Lazarus was dead!

No more excuses now!! God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are just the messenger. God bless you and those you are loving and thinking of. God has placed them on your heart for a reason!

Author: John Thomas Oaks

Have a Blessed day!

For Sale

2010-02-15T09:13:00.000-06:00

I have decided to paint my office which means that I will be needing some new things in there and will be getting rid of some of the old. It has been 7 years since we moved in and I am needing to change something! ha I will be selling this wing back chair and rug. I was thinking of asking $40 for each or $75 for both. The chair is covered in a chintz fabric and I think the picture shows the colors pretty accurately. The chair has been home to my purse all these years. It has very seldom been sat in. The rug is about a 4'x6' that has been in the family for about 15 years or so. Still looks new. I don't think you can wear rugs out! If you know of anyone that might be interested, have them contact me. I have found the new chair last weekend that will be replacing it and I really need to get the old one out.

Have a Blessed day!

Baby Facts

2010-01-25T09:05:00.001-06:00

This is for all you young women having babies. These are some interesting facts I learned.

Day 1 Fertilization! All human chromosomes are present and a unique human life begins.

Day 22 The baby's heart begins to beat with the child's own blood - often a different type than the mother's.

Week 6 At this stage, brain waves can be detected. The child's mouth and lips are present and fingers are forming.

Week 8 At this stage, every organ is in place. Bones and unique fingerprints begin to form.

Week 17 The baby can now have dream (REM) sleep.

This was taken from the National Right To Life Organization. I am not on a bandstand against abortion (even though I am against it), but I just thought those facts were so interesting for you gals since you are all starting new families. Those facts show the awesomeness of God. It is truly a miracle!

For those of you that already have a baby, you finally understand the statement that there is no way possible for you to understand a mother's love until you are a mother. So, so true isn't it! It is a love so deep. The same kind of love our heavenly Father has for us. Amazing, if you can start to comprehend that.

For those of you that will be starting families, enjoy your time with your spouse while you have the time. Babies definitely change your lifestyle! They make you realize what is REALLY important in life. And, after the baby is here, still make time for your spouse. Babies are the best thing ever to help you to NOT be set in your ways.

For those of you expecting now, get organized, babies won't break (under normal wear and tear) and they don't need 100 outfits for the first year of life! They outgrow those cute little outfits so fast. Night gowns, t-shirts and onesies are the more practical things to have. ha (Please send this statement to me when Matt and Whitney start their family. :) )

By the way, the picture to start this off is Whitney's new nephew. Isn't he just adorable! I have lot's of "motherly" advice, but I will wait for another day to send it to you.

Have a Blessed day!

Thank yous and Compliments

2010-01-20T09:46:00.001-06:00

I get my best thoughts for blogging when I am getting ready in the mornings. Today's thoughts were about appreciating our spouses. We take them for granted and they do so much for us. It is wonderful to have the security they give to our lives. When you get to our age, you realize that it takes both the husband and the wife to have a complete home. He changes the air condition filters and I wash clothes. He checks to see if the faucets are wrapped for the big freeze and I make the chili. He brings in the wood for the fire and I keep it loaded during the day so we could stay warm. He stresses over whether the tires have been rotated and the oil changed and I decorate the house. We each have our rolls in life. I know it takes years to get into these wonderful ruts so if the road is rocky some days, work through it. It will happen and it is wonderful once you realize it has happened.
I want to challenge you - compliment or thank your spouse every day for 30 days. Put a sticky note on your bath room mirror that says Don't Forget or something that will remind you to do this, but not let him know what you are doing. It is hard to make good habits! ha Keep a journal of what you say and how he responds. This doesn't have to be fancy.....notebook paper is fine. The first few days when you say something complimentary or thank him for something he may not respond in a very nice way or the way you think he should. He may even wonder what you are up to. Don't let the secret out of the bag. I predict that by the end of the month, his responses may be different and he may even start complimenting and thanking you more. It will be interesting to go back and read how the 30 days went and maybe, just maybe, you will have started a new habit that will do nothing but enrich your marriage.
Men have a whole different thinking process than we do. They stress over providing for their families and we stress over the day to day little things. They see the big picture, we see the minute by minute picture. They see things black and white and we see things with our hearts. They do worry about whether you are happy or not, even if you don't see it. And, we all know there are at least 3-7 days that we are not a delight to live with! :) So, start a new habit; keep a record of it and then report back to us how it is going. At least get one friend that will commit to do this with you and report to each other how this is working out. Don't talk negative. Pray about it. Commit to make your home a positive place to grow up in. The Lord will bless.
Have a Blessed day!

If there is food, they will come

2010-01-12T09:02:00.000-06:00

One thing that is hard on young couples, especially young couples with children, is to find friends to do things with. I remember when Whitney moved to Carlisle, a town of 2300, there was nothing really to do. She was new to the town and had no real friends there. I suggested she start a dinner club and invite 4-6 couples to come. She could do the meat, drinks and bread and let each couple bring the salad, veggies and desserts. I have never known anyone to turn down a meal and sure enough, it was that way for her dinner club. You have to realize all their friends in Carlisle are farmers so the men work until dark or later. I think they had 6 couples invited. The women came early and the men came when they were done working - in their work clothes if they wanted to. All it takes to get this started is someone with initiative. Someone to organize it. Someone to start it. Everyone wants friends and needs to socialize sometime. It takes effort but it is really worth it. Entertaining is soooo much fun, if you ever get in the habit of doing it! It doesn't have to cost a lot. Sandwiches and chips, or hot dogs - the main thing is the fellowship and the deep friendships that will evolve.
Gary and I love to entertain. Five years ago we started having our annual chili lunch at the barn. It was to say thanks to our subcontractors and suppliers. Well, it has grown to where we had around 200 people last year. It started out men only and now the wives are getting in on the fun. Last year the weather was awful and Gary thought we wouldn't have many to show, but he was wrong! If you feed people, they will come. Below are a few pictures from the 2007 lunch. One includes my Dad that went to meet the Lord this past year. Lots of memories from this chili lunch. Start your traditions now. They are so rewarding. Entertaining doesn't have to be on this large scale, but watch out! When you start with the little entertaining it could grow! ha

Have a Blessed day!

BBQ Rules

2010-01-06T20:23:00.000-06:00

Gary was the one responsible for this blog. He has read some of my derogatory man remarks. It is safe for him to read them now that we have been married 30 years and the fact that he says it is cheaper to keep me rather than get rid of me. I don't advise you young gals to let your guys read all the stuff that goes on in blogs. They are still young and might not overlook what you say or read! In my case tho, he is now giving me ideas for post. What a husband!

Let me preface the next paragraph by saying we did not write this - it came across as a forward on email. I can't give credit since I don't have a source, but it is OH SO TRUE and I do need to share it with you. I have never posted a forwarded email and probably never will again, but this one I just couldn't pass up. Enjoy!

BBQ RULES

We are about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity.

When a man volunteers to BBQ the following chain of events is put into motion:

(1) The woman buys the food.

(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.

(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill..

(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:

(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine...

(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.

(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring him something to drink while he flips the meat

Important again:

(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...

(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.

(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes..

And most important of all:

(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ' her night off ' and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women!

Have a Blessed day and tell your man how much you appreciate him.

Spend some, Save some

2010-01-04T11:21:00.000-06:00

Today's topic is money. Something we all need to spend less of and something we all need more of....or so we think. First off, let me say, NEVER lie to your husband when he asks you questions about money. Actually, never lie to your husband or your children about anything! I guess that could be another whole blog. Lying will never work - period.

When you are starting out in life, especially, there seem to be many "needs" when furnishing a house, clothing your children, etc. This is something that a lot of husbands just don't understand. They want a beautiful wife and children and a home to be proud of, but they don't understand the concept that it takes a little extra money to accomplish that. It is your job to search the world over and find the best value on things that you "need". Don't be extravagant and don't put yourself in the poor house by buying things when you can't afford them. Have self control. We all have more "things" than we really need and I think this is really evident this time of year. If you can't pay cash for these extras in life, don't buy them. The only thing worth going into debt for is a house and m-a-y-b-e a car. Gary and I decided early in our marriage that we wouldn't charge anything that didn't go up in value - even cars. Make yourself car payments until you have enough to pay cash for one - oh that is another whole blog idea! ha Back to my topic......

If you live with a husband that keeps up with the money spent and he asks you how much was that ("that" being whatever you bought and might feel guilty about), there are more ways than one to answer the question. What is his hobby? What does he like to spend money on? Think about it and then say, "If you don't want me asking how much it costs everytime you play golf (or whatever the hobby is), then I wouldn't always ask me what I spend when I go shopping." That might help relieve some of the questioning gals. Sometimes I do think it is good to let them know what things in life really cost tho. Gary knows that building a house costs a lot of money, but everything else should be less expensive. Fortunately for me, I pay the bills, I handle the money and I am conservative with it. He rarely asks what anything cost anymore. They have to learn to trust you and that takes time. Give them a reason to trust you. And, I know this may shock some of you, but they can have really good advice sometimes! Women think with their hearts and men think with their heads. Sometimes that is what we need.....a logical viewpoint. Another thing to remember, if you are in doubt on whether you need something or not, go home, sleep on it. If you still think you can't live without it and you can pay cash for it, then you might want to buy it. So many things that seem important today are not important tomorrow. If the item is sold out when you go back, say a little prayer and thank the Lord for not allowing you to spend money unwisely.

An older friend of mine always told me, "Spend some, save some." No better advice.
Have a Blessed day,

NEVER, EVER, EVER!

2009-12-30T17:10:00.000-06:00

I am wondering if you gals know what the above pictures actually are. In order, from left to right, they are a weed eater, a power blower and an edger. That is all you want to know about these three items. Period.

There is a thing that will happen with all men, if you aren't careful. Whatever you learn to use, to operate or to handle, they will let you. Unless you totally love yard work, I suggest you NEVER, EVER, EVER learn to even hold one of these things, let alone learn how to use one proficiently! Men will have you out in the yard doing a man's job. Tell your husband you are scared you will cut your foot off or any excuse not to use one of these guy things!

When you are newly married, you want to try and impress your husband by learning to do everything to keep your house looking great. DO NOT go there! After the new wears off and the honeymoon is over, you will be stuck with the yard work for the rest of your life. I learned this 30 years ago (our 30th wedding anniversary is January 3rd). I suggested that I could mow the yard. Back then, it was a small yard with a push mower. It was exercise and I really didn't mind helping out on occasion. Well, 30 years later I am riding a Kubota tractor with a 6' mower and it takes me about 5 hours a week to get the "yard" mowed. Fortunately, I realized after volunteering to mow, that I should NEVER, EVER, EVER learn to use anything else that was related to yard work! If I did, he would have me using it from then on!

So, act like a lady, a sissy or whatever you must - but don't learn to use guy toys. Leave that to the guys and you handle the inside of the house, the laundry, the kids, the cooking and all those other things a good wife would do! ha Leave the outside to the hubby.

Have a Blessed day (in the cool house)!

One Simple Act

2009-12-28T09:23:00.000-06:00

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Simple reading but profound advice. It is a book that one chapter a day would be wonderful reading, but once you start reading it, you may not can put it down. It only has 207 pages and would be a wonderful way to start your New Year. If only everyone in our world could follow these concepts, life would be so much better. To give you a feel for what is in store when you read, I am including the Ten Rules for Happier Living. The author states that she wished she knew who penned these rules, but I will give her all the credit for them. If you have never read her books, she writes about knitting groups and the things that go on in the groups lives. Cute books and so enjoyable. This book is different though and it helps you understand why her other books are so wholesome to read. Here they are -

Ten Rules for Happier Living

1. Give something away - no strings attached.

2. Do a kindness - and forget it.

3. Spend a few minutes with the aged - their experience is priceless guidance.

4. Look intently into the face of a baby - and marvel.

5. Laugh often - it's life's lubricant.

6. Give thanks - a thousand times a day is not enough.

7. Pray - or you will lose the way.

8. Work - with vim and vigor.

9. Plan as though you'll live forever - because you will.

10. Live as though you'll die tomorrow - because you will, on some tomorrow.

You might want to post these on your refrigerator to remind you to do "One Simple Act" each day.

Love you, hope you have a wonderful New Year and a Blessed day!

FYI - Fudge Recipe

2009-12-17T16:15:00.000-06:00

I know that you all are aware that my favorite cookbook is "Keep Your Fork Cookbook" (could someone tell me how to underline something on here?) and that Whitney sells them in her store. Well I have to warn you before you try this......the first candy recipe in the book is for fudge. It doesn't call for any milk like the recipe on the marshmallow creme jar does. Basically it is the same recipe with a few changes in amounts all except for the lack of milk. So I have made many fudge recipes in my life, but that one turned out to be more like concrete and mortar! It called to cook it twice as long as the one on the jar. I think the combination of over cooking and I hope an ingredient missing from the recipe made for something that had to be thrown away! ha I am giving you fair warning......don't try it. You won't be happy. Fortunately for me, I was a little leary of this recipe to begin with so I didn't waste my pecans. I think I will go back to my microwave recipe. Very simple and yummy!

So the lesson learned here.....no matter if you have been cooking for 2 years or 40 years, they all don't turn out right. I crossed that recipe off with a big X in the book so I would never make that mistake again. Laugh about it and try another recipe for whatever it is that you thought might be good and wasn't. One day you will land on a good one and you won't have to look any further.

Got to go back and make the microwave kind - only takes 5 minutes! Got the Sunday School Class party tomorrow night at my house!

Here is the tried and true recipe for fudge:

3 cups milk chocolate morsels
1 - 14 oz can Eagle Brand milk
1/4 cup margarine, cut into pieces

Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart glass bowl. Microwave chocolate mixture at Medium power (50%) for 5 minutes stirring at 1 1/2 minute intervals. Pour into greased 8 inch square dish. Cover and chill 8 hours. Cut into squares. Store in refrigerator.

Merry Christmas and have a Blessed day!

Surprise Ending

2009-12-14T15:21:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know my blog is suppose to be advice that you gal's might use in the future, but just a quick question. Am I doing something wrong? My favorite's list is not updating lately. That is SOOOOO aggravating! Any suggestions on what I might do to change that? I will come up with motherly advice later.

Christmas is really keeping me hopping. As usual, everyone wants a house drawn at Christmas time. I guess they think they need the house plan now in order to start the house in spring. Well, with that kind of logic, it makes me busy when I had rather be doing Christmas cooking, decorating, shopping, etc. Guess I shouldn't complain since it allows me to pay for all of the above things, but I am complaining anyway. And, to add to the stress a little, my "daughter-in-law" (by Whitney's marriage....ha) is about to have a baby! That means every Kelly in Carlisle will be going to Dallas when that happens so I volunteered to run Park Street Market while they are away. I have to keep my life in total organized order right now. Prioritze is the key word here. So, if you need something from Park Street Market, I will be coming back to t-town on the 23rd (night) and will be more than happy to have it wrapped and ready for Christmas Eve for you. Just let me or Whitney know.

And one other thing, Whitney is taking custom orders at this late date for frames and crosses. "Of course, mother can get that for you." I have nothing else to do! ha This reminds me of middle school and high school phone calls. So and so forgot to bring cups for his project so I thought you could bring some to the school for him. Or, Katie left her homework at home, could you go get it for her. They always leave their front door open. Or, Megan is sick and needs a ride home. Could you come take her? Girls, do you remember those days? haha I wouldn't change one thing about them. I loved having a multitude of children. Mrs. Cook knew if anyone needed to go home during the day, just to call me. ha Love you girls! That reminded me of this picture. Have fun looking at how you have grown. The big round eyes belong to my darling! hahahaha

I can't wait to see Mr. Baby Spingola!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed day!

Keeping Up With You Girls!

2009-12-08T16:32:00.001-06:00

Can't let you girls out do me on posting your Christmas decorating pictures! Why do the pictures NEVER look as good as the real thing when it comes to Christmas decorations? My fireplace looks the best it has ever looked but you can't tell it from the pictures. I bought some new cedar garland last year on sale and it is absolutely gorgeous on the mantle. The two outside houses were from Pottery Barn last year and the church in the middle is from Target. You can't tell they weren't all meant to be together and there was certainly a cost difference. In case you can't tell, they have glittery rooftops, and then there are glittery swags draped in the garland and glitter reindeer and sleigh from Frontgate catalogue last year after they did their markdowns. Sorry you can't get the real effect from this picture. The picture below is a close up of my coffee table keeping the woodsy theme going. Looks like I went out and collected berries for the season. Wrong! ha

And the picture on the left is a larger view of the same coffee table with the tree in the background. For those of you who have never been to my house, the tree is on a rolling base and we wheel it into a Christmas tree closet every year after the season is over - fully decorated. Saves a lot of time each year, but I dread when the lights quite working. All those ornaments are wired on tight for the 25' trip they take twice a year - once in and once out. Below is another view of the living area. This year I had the decorators put a few santas in the transoms.

On the right is a picture of my staircase. Each year we do something different with it. This year it had to have the stockings hang there since I went woodsy on the fireplace - all those red and green stockings did NOT fit in. We did add the fruit to the garlands at the bottom of the stairs. Another neat trick is all of the lights come on with remote controls on the stairs and on the mantle. Below is the arrangement on the dining table - all kinds of things going on there - even Pottery Barn ornaments hanging from the branches.

And last but not least, our island with a collection of large to small nutcrackers. Note the Christmas trees on top of the candle holders. Now that was different!

The fun thing about doing all of this is to put away your everyday things into a closet or maybe the storage containers that the Christmas things came out of. When Christmas is over, they seem new again. Hope you enjoy decorating your house as much as I do.
Merry Christmas and have a Blessed day!

Making Something Special Out of Something Not So Special

2009-12-05T19:38:00.001-06:00

Well that picture turned out really small! ha Oh well, consider the source and read on. I hate gift cards. They are so impersonal and seem to say you didn't want to take the time or effort it takes to buy a gift for that person. Ok, I know that it is better to let the person get something they really want or need rather than have to return all those unwanted gifts and have them feeling guilty about returning the gift you selected for them, but still.....I hate them. My sister always wants a gift card. She doesn't have lots of disposable income and the gift card allows her to shop after Christmas and that is fun for her. So......I tried to think of a way to make this interesting and special and I came up with what I think is a neat idea that you might want to use with your friends and family.

I found these gift card ornaments at Wal-Mart. You insert the gift card in the ornament to make it a little more special. But, I am taking it one step further. There will be 8 people at the Christmas where I am using these. I will be purchasing at one of the local banks 7 Visa gift cards valued at $25 and one at $50. I chose to have all the ornaments alike so no one can accuse me of cheating. I will insert the gift cards, hang them on the tree and on the night we open our gifts, each person there (including myself) will go to the tree and select the gift card ornament they want. Of course, I will take the last remaining one so once again they can't say it was rigged in case I win! We will take turns opening the ornament and the surprise will be which one of us will get the $50 gift card instead of the $25 one. It will be like my own lottery! ha Oops! I guess Whitney is in on my secret now - so please don't let the cat out of the bag Whit! I think this will liven the night up a little and make the gift cards just a little more special.

Moral of the story: You can always take a bad thing to you and figure out a way to work with it and make it not so bad - maybe even make it something that you like and will become a family tradition!

Merry Christmas and happy shopping!

Have a Blessed day.

Start Today or It Won't Ever Happen

2009-11-29T15:49:00.003-06:00

Everyone has posted what they are thankful for and the picture above is one of my great thanks. If you haven't met this group of gals, you are missing out on a blessing. They have been friends since elementary school and upon graduation from high school, they made a vow to stay close. For those of you that have been out of school for a few years or more, you know how hard it is to stay close to those friends you had in school. Friends from school move, start new lives and new families and become busy and old friends seem to take second place. And, that is understandable, but this group, known as the Fab Five, have kept their vow and have stayed very close. I am thankful for that.
There is another reason I am so thankful for them and that is really what prompted this blog - they all lead successful lives. It has come to my attention in the past few months how lives can change and women can be left on their own to support themselves. My 81 year old mother who never worked outside the home, always taught me that you need to have a career to fall back on. You never know when your life's road may take a detour and you are left to make a living for yourself. Girl's.......get an education and/or a career that trains you in something where if you are left to support yourself, you can. I will never regret quitting my job to be a stay at home mom when Whitney was born and I think if you can afford to do that, it is a blessing, but after she got started in school, the Lord blessed me with a job where I could stay at home and work and earn a great living. It started slowly and blossomed into a career where I could support myself should I ever have to. Besides the money, it is rewarding to feel you have accomplished something in your life. So, if you are out there and lack direction in your life, think about what you love to do or would love to learn to do and take a baby step toward accomplishing that goal. Start maybe by taking a class in a local college. You can do it! I have faith in you and you should too! You don't have to accomplish this overnight, but if you don't start today working on it, you will never get there.
Thanks Fab Five for the inspiration you are to those of us who know you. I love you all.
Have a Blessed day!

Spero's Dressing Recipe

2009-11-18T14:21:00.003-06:00

I know you are either too young to remember or never even heard of Spero's Restaurant in Texarkana, Ar, but they had a salad dressing to die for. Gary would go there just to put the dressing on Captain's Wafers and eat that until he ran out of crackers in the little plastic baskets. Who cared what food they served! He wanted the appetizer! ha Today I opened the Texarkana Gazette to see the Holiday Cookbook (a yearly thing they publish right before the holidays). The first recipe I see is for Spero's Dressing! That perked my day up! The restaurant has long closed so I guess now the recipe can be shared. It is very close to our favorite dressing at Park Place Restaurant. I thought I would share it with you. Beware tho - if you make it and start eating it with captain's wafer crackers, it is VERY addicting. Who cares about using it on a salad! That might be too nutritious! ha

Spero's Dressing

1 large jar of mayonnaise

1 small onion

2 boiled eggs

1 T paprika

1 T garlic powder

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree to desired consistency.

Now, does anyone have Park Place Restaurant's salad dressing recipe! ha
Have a Blessed day!

Popcorn and Christmas

2009-11-16T19:09:00.004-06:00

Doesn't this popcorn look yummy! I can just smell it popping right now. I thought I would share something I did the first Christmas Gary and I were together, which means this Christmas will be 30 years ago that this happened. You see, Gary and I got married on January 3, 1980 so our first Christmas tree together was right before our wedding. We had bought our first house on Elizabeth Street in Texarkana, Texas and had moved in our things about a month before we got married. I remember sitting on our dark brown leather batchelor pad sofa and making a real mess that turned out to look like this.......

I sat there stringing popcorn for several nights. You use a strong thread...maybe a couple of strands doubled and knotted. The real hint is.......after Christmas is over......store it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. It is still as white as 30 years ago!!! I must admit I haven't used it for 6 years...since I had my tree professionally decorated, but I still have the popcorn in the freezer. (For those of you that don't know me really well and haven't been to see my house, I have a Christmas closet. My tree is mounted on a frame with rollers and I roll my fully decorated tree in and out of the Christmas closet. No more stringing lights and hanging ornaments. People that know my house and show it to others at parties and showers always open that closet to show it off. :) This was a must when I designed our house.) Anyway, if you like the old fashion tree and thought stringing real popcorn takes too long to use for just one year, now you know. Go for it! Makes a great memory for years to come.
Have a Blessed day!

Random Bits of Advice

2009-11-12T18:20:00.005-06:00

This blog will be random pieces of advice from "Mom". It is actually advice in reverse of what I was thinking about doing since the pictures loaded in reverse of how I wanted them. Oh well, just be glad I have some pictures - period! This first picture is something I think every bride should have and more importantly, every bride should use! I got mine for a wedding gift 29, almost 30, years ago. It was one of the most expensive gifts I received. I always loved baking desserts so I have used it so many times. I believe in having pretty things and using them. Don't store your beautiful serving pieces for special occasions. Use them in your normal, everyday life. And while I am on this picture - LEARN TO MAKE A THREE LAYER CAKE WITH ICING ALL OVER! Believe me, the first ones won't be beautiful and even today some of mine fall in the middle or look flat, but everyone loves a homemade cake served on a pedestal cake plate. You might surprise yourself and your hubby! Go for it!! The next picture is my new favorite storage container. It's for cereal and came from Bed, Bath and Beyond, but you can but them anywhere now. This one happens to be $9.99 and holds a large box of cereal. You can see through it so you know when you need to buy more and it has an idention for easy handling. The snap top lids are what I like the best. I have several sizes for storage. They really are easy to use.

This last picture is one I took while Whitney was returning some unused tile in Little Rock last weekend. I decided to wait in the car and saw this beautiful scene so I took a picture. I love fall and the beautiful colors that comes with it. The reason I am including this though is because November and February are the months that it is safe to prune your trees (if you have some.) That is when the sap is rising and falling. If you know me, you know I am not a big yard person, other than riding on the tractor to mow, but this is something I have heard all my life. So, if you have those low limbs that bother you when you mow, now is the time to do something about them.

Now those were some really random bits of knowledge! ha You never know where my brain might take you. Hope you can learn a little bit from each blog. It might not be something you use today, but maybe one day it will come in handy.

Have a Blessed day!

Value of Herbs

2009-11-09T09:05:00.003-06:00

The following was taken from the Sprout's Juice Bar weekly newsletter. If you would like to receive this newsletter, you can email them at sproutsjuicebar@gmail.com. I thought the list of what herbs do for you was interesting.
Have a Blessed Day!

Food is one of nature's most powerful medicines and herbs and spices provide many healing and nutritional benefits. The following is a list of common kitchen herbs that most of us have on our shelves and the health benefits they provide.

Basil - Calms the nerves, helps coughs, colds, flu and allergies.

Black Pepper - Helps stomach-aches, nausea and constipation, stimulates circulation and digestion.

Cardamom - Reduces gas and bloating, relieves headaches caused by indigestion.

Cayenne - Antibacterial, rids colds and flu, dissolves mucus and congestion.

Cinnamon - Antibacterial, strengthens digestion, increases warmth and circulation.

Coriander - Relieves intestinal cramps and spasms, helps with anxiety and nervous tension.

Cumin - Relieves coughs, supports digestion, helps with insomnia.

Dill - Relives cramps and gas, calms an upset stomach.

Fennel - Stimulates digestion, calms the nerves, stimulates flow of breastmilk.

Ginger - Helps with colds, flu, coughs, relieves nausea.

Parsley - Rich source of Vitamins A & C, antioxidant, reduces premenstral bloating.

Peppermint - Rids colds and flu, promotes digestion, cooling for hot days.

Rosemary - Promotes circulation, headache relief, calming to the nervous system.

Sage - Helps with coughs and sore throats, rich in calcium.

Thyme - Heals sinus & throat infections, antiviral, antibacterial.

Kitty Litter Cake

2009-11-02T14:39:00.002-06:00

This recipe came to me through a recipe exchange from one of Gary's mother's cousins. She is a lot of fun and an excellent cook. I am wondering who will be brave and be the first one to make this. If you do, please send a report on your blog or to me at least and let us know what kind of fun you had with it!

Kitty Litter Cake

CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 box spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 box of white cake mix
1 package white sandwich cookies
1 large package vanilla instant pudding mix
A few drops green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls or equivalent

SERVING "DISHES AND UTENSILS"
1 NEW cat-litter box
1 NEW cat-litter box liner
1 NEW pooper scooper

1) Prepare and bake cake mixes, according to directions, in any size pan. Prepare pudding and chill. Crumble cookies in small batches in blender or food processor. Add a few drops of green food coloring to 1 cup of cookie crumbs. Mix with a fork or shake in a jar. Set aside.

2) When cakes are at room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with half of the remaining cookie crumbs and enough pudding to make the mixture moist but not soggy. Place liner in litter box and pour in mixture.

3) Unwrap 3 Tootsie Rolls and heat in a microwave until soft and pliable. Shapethe blunt ends into slightly curved points. Repeat with three more rolls. Bury the rolls decoratively in the cake mixture. Sprinkle remaining white cookie crumbs over the mixture, then scatter green crumbs lightly over top.

4) Heat 5 more Tootsie Rolls until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with crumbs from the litter box. Heat the remaining Tootsie Roll until pliable and hang it over the edge of the box. Place box on a sheet of newspaper and serve with scooper. Enjoy!

Don't Live in Your House Forever!

2009-10-27T08:42:00.004-05:00

Ok, I promised to tell you why you don't want to live in your house for 30 years until you have it paid for. First of all, think about the house you live in now. What will it be like in 30 years? What will your family be like in 30 years? What will the neighborhood be like in 30 years? Those are probably 3 good reasons to not live in your house for 30 years right there, but I have another reason.

Your house will lose value if you stay there for 30 years (unless you are in some district like Highland Park in Dallas where the values go up no matter what and we don't have that district in Texarkana!) We have dealt with couples that 30 years ago lived in Texarkana's finest neighborhoods. They stayed in their houses until they were paid off, then they realized that the neighborhood was not what it used to be, the house was way smaller than most people live in now and should a spouse die, they wouldn't want the other one left in that older house in a run down neighborhood. So, they went out looking to buy a new home. Those people had to pay from $250,000 to $350,000 to get a home they would be happy with. Both couples sold their existing houses for about $70,000 - barely enough for a good down payment on the new home and they now owe for 30 more years on a house and they are in their 60's! NOT where I want to be in my 60's!!!

Gary and I, on the other hand, being in the building profession and loving new homes, bought and sold. Depending on the economy, we did this every 3 - 9 years. We sold the home when the neighborhood was in it's prime - not on the downhill slide. We would make a little each time on our investment due to rising housing cost and the fact that we kept our home well maintained. We always reinvested all of the equity and profit we got out of our house back into the new home and we would always finance the new home for the same amount of years that we owed on the old home. We never pocketed any money from the sell of the house and we never added years to paying off a home. The idea behind this is that you should be able to afford a little more on the monthly payments by the time you decide to sell the home and move up and you have a larger down payment each time. We are in our 50's and living in a house that is paid for and worth more than $70,000. (And, remember from the last post about money, we paid an extra $100 a month on the principal to get this debt down quicker.) Now which scenario would you rather have for your life - the two couples I told you about, or the one that Gary and I lived?

That is why I say you don't even want to consider living in the same house for 30 years. We made a commitment soon after we were married to never finance anything that did not go up in value. We saved our money and bought what we needed when we could afford it - even cars! I do NOT like paying interest to someone to use their money. There have been times we have financed small amounts on cars when there was 0% interest, but monthly payments are no fun. They take the joy out of life. I will talk more about that in another blogging time.

Hope this helps you down the road in life. Make wise decisions. Seek advice if you need it or even if you don't think you need it. There is always something that we can learn.

Love you and have a Blessed rainy day!

Vermicelli

2009-10-21T12:37:00.004-05:00

I have a new pasta recipe that I thought I would share today. I love pasta dishes! If some of you have macho husbands that like to have meat with every meal, I will tell you I added two grilled chicken breasts left over from the night before to this dish. I chopped them up and stirred them in. If your man likes to SEE the meat, then I suggest you slice that chicken and lay it across the top! ha

Enjoy!

Vermicelli
2 (12 oz) pkgs of vermicelli
4T canola oil
4T fresh lemon juice
1T Accent
1Cup minced celery
1/2 C onions, minced fine
1 bell pepper , minced fine
1 can ripe olives, minced fine
1 big jar chopped pimento, drained
1 pt. mayo
salt and pepper to taste
Cook, rinse and drain pasta. Add oil, lemon juice, and accent; refrigerate overnight. Next day, add
remaining ingredients. Chill and serve.

(I only made 1/2 half the recipe. This makes a very large amount. Great to serve a crowd! I really don't know why you would have to cook the pasta the day before. I think it would work fine as long as it got cool before you proceeded. One other thing, be sure to mince all the veggies. I used my food processor. The idea is not to crunch down on any bite size pieces. All the flavors mix better if they are small pieces.)

Time to Add One New Thing to Your Home!

2009-10-19T13:16:00.004-05:00

Fall always makes me want to update my house! And what better way than adding some new accessories! We build lots of very nice houses, but unless the person accessorizes the house, it is just a house with no personality. Here are a few ways to give your house an updated look. The three frames hanging on the wall to the right are in my bedroom. Gary made these frames and I painted them. They are for sale at Park Street Market exclusively.

The two pictures below are of the smaller frames that I paint. They hold a 3.5 x 3.5 picture. I am not sure which ones Whitney has left in her store, but if there is one you are dying for and she has sold out, I can make it for you. I can also make them in any color you like. This is just a side kick for me. Gives me something to do in my spare time! ha The smaller ones sell for $25. The larger frames above are around $70.

Contact Whitney at parkstreetmarket@gmail.com or go to her website and shop at http://www.parkstreetmarket.com/

Have a Blessed day and enjoy sprucing up your home!

Money Lessons

2009-10-17T09:44:00.002-05:00

Ok, time to hit a financial issue with you girls. My mind is loaded with these especially when related to housing issues. I wonder why? ha This weeks hint is how to pay your house off sooner, or at least build up more equity sooner.

If you have a 30 year mortgage and the mortgage company will allow you to make payments twice a month (1/2 when the payment is due and 1/2 in the middle of the billing cycle), depending on your interest rate, you can have that 30 year mortgage paid off in 18 to 21 years. Think of the interest that has saved you! By making 1/2 payments twice a month, it is equivalent to making an extra payment per year. If your mortgage company won't allow you to pay that way, send in extra money with the one payment. For instance, if you can send in an extra $100 a month with your payment (and be sure to write on the check that the extra is to be applied to the principle, i.e. $100 extra principle) that would be paying an extra $1200 a year down on your principle. I know I did this on our last house and when we sold it, I had saved 6 years of payments and had that much more equity in the house than I normally would have had if I had only paid the normal payment. Be sure to keep good records of the extra you pay and each year when you get your statement from the mortgage company showing what you owe that the amount has been applied.

Always when you take out a mortgage, make sure there will not be a prepayment penalty should you decide to pay if off sooner than the length of time on the original loan. Also note, making an extra payment per year does NOT allow you to skip a payment! And, last, I know you could put that extra $100 a month in savings and use it to pay off your house later, but honestly, how many are that disciplined to do that. A hundred dollars sent to a mortgage company is a savings that you can't cheat and take it out and it is earning you the interest rate that you are paying on your house since you are saving that much interest a year.

Next Money Lesson will be to explain why you should never buy a house and live in it 30 years to pay it off.

Have a wonderful and Blessed weekend!

Kid Notes

2009-10-14T07:59:00.000-05:00

I hope I am not posting too often. If I am, let me know. I am new to this, ha, but something has come to my mind that I think you could benefit from.

Some of you are starting to have families and some of you are teaching and dealing with God's precious little angels on a daily basis. And that is the point I want to stress. We are all God's precious little angels, even though we may not act like it. So, I want you to love the precious little angel but not their bad actions. It is easy to love the child that acts wonderful, but what about the one that can never shut their mouth, or stay in their seat, or doesn't seem to want to cooperate? You have to find a way to let that child know you love them even when they are bad or disappoint you, AND, you have to discipline them also. When Whitney was a baby, I read all of the James Dobson books on child rearing and a couple of facts stuck in my mind all these years. One was never to spank a child with your hand. They relate this to your "person" being mean. Always use another object should you feel the need to spat the hand or the bottom. I used the wooden spoon! ha (I know some of you won't believe I ever did that, but I did.) The child will relate the hurt to the inanimate object rather than the parent.

The other piece of advice I remember was to always count to ten before you lash out punishment. This allows you to take a deep breath and think. Punishment should not be something that punishes the entire family or classroom, only the child that needs to be punished. Hopefully, it will allow you to step back and look at the situation clearly and keep your tone of voice cool and under control. A screaming parent raises kids that scream. Yelling tells the child you have lost control and lets them know they have raised your dander. It lets them think you are on their level and not in control. Stay calm. Remember you are the one who has authority (under God) so act God like. I just never remember a time that God has screamed at me! ha And, I do remember times that He maybe should have!

I love you gals! Have a Blessed day.

I Am Second

2009-10-12T19:19:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to post a new blog today. I didn't really have anything great to post until now. I got one of the best websites sent to me that I have ever gotten and I wanted to share it with you. Go to: http://www.iamsecond.com/. There are pictures of lots of people rolling across the screen. Place your cursor on each picture to see who that person is and a brief description of them. After you see them all, click on the bottom of the screen on the word Seconds. I suggest you start with Bailee Madison and just go from there. Jason Castro even mentions David Crowder in his talk. For those of you that don't know David, he was born and raised in Texarkana and went to FBC and now has several CD's out and is well known in the Praise and Worship world. I told Whitney that it was all because he was in my 4-year old choir at church that he has become what he has. ha Hope you enjoy this site as much as I do. It appears to add new people daily so the site will always be something you will enjoy going to. Enjoy and have a Blessed day!

Bacon - Tomato Cups

2009-10-11T13:55:00.000-05:00

I thought it was time to share a new recipe with you girls. With football season upon us, you might need a new appetizer to make for a gathering and this one was wonderful. It comes out of my favorite cookbook - Keep Your Fork Cookbook. You can buy it at my favorite gift shop in Carlisle, Ar - Park Street Market. I think you can even get it online by going to www.parkstreetmarket.com. This cookbook is as close to having the same recipes as my personal hand written cookbook as I have found. It has turned Whitney into a wonderful cook since she lives in a town with only a couple of places to eat out. So here is the recipe:

Bacon - Tomato Cups

8 slices of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon basil
1 (7 1/2 oz) tube refrigerated biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine bacon, tomato, onion, cheese, mayonnaise and basil. Divide each biscuit into thirds (I used my kitchen scissors and cut them into three equal triangles), placing each one in greased muffin pans. (I rolled mine out with a rolling pin and laid them in the muffin pan. You kind of have to work with it to keep it stretched out to add the other ingredients.) Place a small amount of mixture into each biscuit. Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Yields 30 servings. I used a small amount of PAM in each muffin tin to make sure they would come out.

These were a hit to our party a few weeks ago. There were no leftovers for 22 people. They would be good for any party whether it is an early brunch or an evening party. Very easy mini quiche. Never took a picture since I wasn't even a blogger then! Sorry. I will try to do better in the future.
Have a Blessed Day!

Celery

2009-10-09T09:05:00.000-05:00

I went to the doctor last week and found out that my cholesterol is high. Not good and even worse is that he told me I probably needed to get on medication due to my age. Great. That got me to thinking about eating a little more healthy and I remembered a newsletter I got from Sprouts, a juice bar here in t-town, that was talking about celery and how it was one of the best foods you can eat. They said, "Celery is the number one medicinal food for lowering blood pressure. It also helps control appetite and lowers stress hormones. Celery is a great source of silicon which is very benefical for joints, bones and connective tissue." Now I don't care if you are young or old....we all could use celery for one of those items! ha

So here is what I ate last night for dinner (since I ate TaMolly's for lunch with Nacho Club). I took a piece of Flat Out Light Original (from Super One Foods back close to the deli - kind of like a tortilla but better) and layered it with spicey brown mustard, 98% Fat free turkey, imitation mozzarella cheese (they have really improved on these imitation cheeses over the years) and a stalk of celery the width of the Flat Out bread. I rolled this all up and it was sure yummy and so healthy! The only item that had any cholesterol was the turkey. This would be great to take in a lunch to work since there is nothing to get soggy in it and you get the celery for green, crunchy feel and nutrition to lower those stress hormones! ha

Advice for you young gals: Keep your weight off now!! Don't get to where I am. It is easier to lose 5 -10 pounds than 40 - 50 lbs for sure! Exercise even when you are dead tired. It will make you feel better. Then why do I have such a hard time doing something I know will make me feel better? Go figure.

Have a Blessed day!

Welcome to my world

2009-10-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

For those of you that may not be aware, I have a hobby of making barbed wire crosses and picture frames. I call this little hobby "Cathryn & Co." so that is where the name for the blog comes from. The hobby started about a year ago when Whitney opened her gift shop. I decided I could make her a few things to fill in the empty spaces and voila! it has snowballed on me! So on occasion, I will share pictures of things I have made and would like to sell, but this will not be my primary reason for blogging.
My plan with the blog is to share little tidbits of knowledge that I have gained over the years that may help you at some point in your life - kind of like giving motherly advice. I imagine the ones that read this would practically consider me their second mom anyway, so they are used to me giving advice. ha There will be random thoughts on a wide spectrum of issues. Hopefully, at one time or another, something will be useful to you.

Todays thought will be something I read online today and actually prodded me into starting the blog so I could share this with you:
"Don't tell God how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your God is." You know we probably all pray over the big storms in life, but we have real comfort when we pray over all the little things in life too. When you are young and starting new lives with spouses and then on to starting families, we don't always seem to find the time to talk to God about the little things in life. If you can learn to do that now, life will be much easier and a lot more peaceful.
Have a Blessed day!
Cathy