Little Mrs Domestic

Hiatus

2011-03-16T12:51:00.002-05:00

I am currently on a hiatus from the blog. I am in the process of organizing and prioritizing my time and this is something that just didn't make the cut. All of a sudden my current job which has an unkown future, decided to put me back on full time for the moment because of other employees finding better jobs elsewhere. And to earn some extra income I had just started selling Mary Kay. (that is my personal site) And don't forget those huge details that I am currently going back to school and trying to spend as much time possible with my family of 4.

I guess it was inevitable as I barely post anymore like I used to do. And lets be honest, it's not like mine was some awesome informational blog. But I'm going to leave it up for now because I know that a season may come back upon me where I may start writing again about goofy stuff and recipes but for now it just isn't happening. I am going to continue to keep my book club blog going as I will still be involved with my book club but that is about it which isn't even very much. If you comment on something or have a question I will still get it by way of littlemrsdomestic(at)gmail(dot)com. Thank you for reading and hopefully one day I will pick this back up and continue.

Puppy

2011-02-11T08:55:00.001-06:00

Please meet my new dog. I am fully aware how crappy this picture is with shadow's etc... but I just don't really care right now. Anyways his name is Aubie. My kiddos bounced around Aubie, Charlie and Scooby but decied on Aubie. I still think he looks more like a Charlie but I'm getting used to it. He is a long-haired daschund. We have a love-hate relationship... I love him because he is so cute, sweet and good natured... and then hate him when I step in a puddle of pee at 6:30 in the morning as we are still getting him trained. Oh the life of puppies.

Tres Leches Cake

2011-01-24T10:46:00.003-06:00

I have no picture because I am a nerd and didn't think to take one...BUT I did want to tell you that I tried this recipe from The Pioneer Woman and it was scrumptious. It is called Tres Leches Cake which means 3 milks but really it's more like 4. Back in December we could make a traditional Mexican dish for extra credit in Spanish Class and instantly I thought of this cake. I was unsure of how I would like it considering the texture is spongy and wet but it came out great. I would recommend this cake if you are looking for something different for dessert. Maybe break out some frozen blueberries from the summer (which I did) for garnishment and it is a treat! Check out the link above to see the pictures on her site and a step by step.

My biggest recommendation is just make sure you have a mixer...a standing Kitchen Aid mixer was such a blessing, I could not imagine having to whip all those eggs by hand. I know I'm spoiled. Anyhow check it out and put it on your list of things to bake.

It's Better to Build Boys than Mend Men

2011-01-18T15:19:00.000-06:00

I recently wrote about another book I read called, It's Better to Build Boys than Mend Men by S. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-Fil-A. If you are interested in reading what the book is about head on over to the book club blog by clicking here. Happy Reading!

One more resolution for your list....

2011-01-14T15:14:00.001-06:00

As you make your resolutions for this year I just wanted to make a plug for one that I think more people should add to their list. Please make an effort to help your planet. I'm not an extreme environmentalist who is going to go lay in front of a bulldozer but I do make an effort (and make my family make an effort) to regularly carry out the 3 R's. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. My mom and grandparents took the time to teach and show me that taking care of the earth and doing your part is important. And I am already passing that along to my kids and most anyone who crosses the threshold at our house and then some.

Just think if EVERYONE did a little bit what a huge difference it would make. Littering and those who think our earth is an ashtray are two of my big pet peeves. I wish more people would just make a tiny little extra effort every day to think about their trash and where it is going. If your city doesn't offer pick up recycling, usually there are recycling drop offs somewhere near you. I am not going to go into too much detail on this since I did push it pretty hard on my soapbox back this past earth day so if you want to read more and find some helpful sites click here.

So please people, make a resolution to pay attention to your trash habits and recycle, hit up some yard sales every once in a while and see what you can re-use around the house. Thank ya kindly!

War Eagle!!

2011-01-10T12:08:00.001-06:00

Sooo I'm not sure how many of you care or watch college football. But our Auburn Tigers ~~are playing in the~~ WON the National Championship tonight so I have to show love and say WAR EAGLE!

Courting Trouble

2011-01-08T08:38:00.000-06:00

Head over to my book club blog to read about a book I just finished. I recently read Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist as a recommendation from a great friend. Check it out in case you are looking for something to read and it just might be something you find interesting. You can read find the post by clicking here.

Have you read any good books lately? I looove recommendations and almost always follow up on them. Happy Reading!

Save your feet

2011-01-07T10:04:00.001-06:00

I got some new shoes for Christmas. These are Indigo by Clarks and cost a bit more than I am used to paying for a pair of shoes but I felt like it was worth it. I wasn't too crazy at first about them but they have grown on me and are very comfortable. The more people I see having terrible painful problems with their feet as they get older kinda freaks me out. So my goal is to stop buying cheap shoes and take more time to invest in something a little better for my feet. Yes I still may wear the high heel here and there but not near as often as I used to. I just don't think the temporary cuteness is going to be worth all the pain later in life.

Anyways so I may sound like an old nagging person in this post but just thought I would share something that I am kinda glad I realized at a younger age. Listen to your elders when they try to give you advice, they just might be saying something useful. Save your feet! Hopefully you will need them for a long long time. :) Happy New Year!

Book Club

2011-01-05T16:11:00.000-06:00

As many of you know I also have a blog for my Book club over here. We are starting off our new year and thought you might be interested in the book we are reading. I read or rather listened to it on CD a couple months ago and loved it. I hope you enjoy as well. Head on over to the book club to get more info.

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Nail Polish

2010-12-21T12:26:00.001-06:00

I am too impatient and money conscientious to go to the salon and have my nails done most of the time..or make that all the time... To top it off I have terrible nails and terrible talent at painting them. But I do like to paint my nails periodically. I recently have been on the look out for some new colors and came across this Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. And I had to share with someone that this new bottle is my nails new best friend. I love it. The brush is flatter and different or something and it makes it soo much easier. I barely had any mess ups this time around. And the polish is staying on extremely well compared to other polishes I have tried. I personally think it looks great and is worth the $6 to $7 a bottle. I am currently wearing the above color called Commander in Chic and plan to get some other colors now that I know how awesome this polish has turned out to be. Hope you are having a great December!

Rachel's Film Blog

2010-12-14T15:40:00.001-06:00

Not tooo long ago I told you about my cousin who had a blog while she went traveling around the world working on organic farms. Since then she is back in the states and has a new love for blogging that helps her fuel her love of writing. Check out Rachel's Film Blog over at http://www.film-obsessed.blogspot.com/. She has already given some great reviews on movies I was wondering about and I personally think she is doing a great job. No matter what your movie taste she will probably cover something in your genre. You can check out her first post explaining the blog, here. I hope you enjoy!!

OH and you can always find her now on my right hand side bar. :)

Oranges for Halloween!

2010-10-25T13:03:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post these last year and almost forgot this year. Last year... I think.. or maybe the year before... I ended up on the list for the preschool party as bringing fruit. But I didn't just want to do a fruit tray so I made these. And just in case you can't tell from the picture I have outlined the steps for you here. Get ready because it's extensive.....

1) Buy some oranges.
2) Place the oranges in the clear plastic bags so that they are individually wrapped.
3) Draw Pumpkin faces on with a sharpie.
4) Voila!

I know that was strenuous... but I think you can do it. And you more creative people out there can probably take this and run with it with all kinds of cool ideas. But hey I thought it was pretty nifty for a last minute deal.

Happy (early) Halloween!!!

P.s. Don't hate on my pumpkin faces.

New Dress

2010-10-08T11:03:00.001-05:00

I recently picked this Tucker for Target dress up at.... well Target obviously. :) It's really comfy and goes great with a pair of black leggings and flats. It was the last dress on the rack and happened to be a M. Lucky me! As a happy surprise I figured out later... it has pockets!!! I'm not sure what it is but I love it when a dress or skirt has pockets.

And as I was going into Target yesterday I saw a woman wearing the Tom's wedges I want.. except she was wearing them in black. I wish I knew somewhere near me that sold them so I could try them on first. I'm just funny about buying shoes online without trying them on before buying. So if you are a local and see them out and about please let me know! Hope you are having a great October!

Philipa Gregory's Tudor Series

2010-09-28T08:58:00.003-05:00

Lately I have been listening to lots of books on CD. I am going back to school so I have even more travel time in the car to listen. I am really enjoying my pleasure reading this way since I don't have alot of time to just sit and read non-school related items right now. Recently I read (listened) to 3 historical fiction books by Philipa Gregory. They are the first three books in her Tudor Series. This is during the time of the Tudor reign in England back during the 16th century. You may recognize the name of King Henry VIII and his 6 wives? Or maybe you saw the movie from a couple years ago called The Other Boleyn Girl? Well this is the time period that this particular series is set. I haven't read any other books of hers but do plan to when I find the time and I do recommend the three I read. I enjoyed them and liked to read up on them afterwards to find out what was more fact than fiction, etc.

I know I'm a history nerd. But moving on.. here are the three I read and you can click on the title for it to take you to her site to see what they are about and more information.

The Constant Princess

The Other Boleyn Girl

The Boleyn Inheritance

I have to say I equally enjoyed all three and look forward to more of her books when I have the time or more become available on CD at the library. And if you haven't seen the movie, The Other Boleyn Girl, I would recommend that too. Different from the book of course, but still a good movie with good actors.

Happy Reading!

WWOOFing Travels

2010-09-09T12:24:00.000-05:00

My cousin Rachel recently started up a blog to tell about her WWOOFing Travels. And if you don't know what WOOFing is... it is... "World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms." Yeah cause I had no clue either. Anyways it is a public blog and I know some of you who would be interested in the Organic Farming and others of you that should be! :) She just started her journey September 1st on a Farm in GA so you won't have too much to catch up on. She will be traveling to a farm in France soon as well but I'll let her tell you all about it.

Please check it out! Here's the link. :)

Toms shoe wishlist

2010-09-04T21:31:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago while visiting family in Birmingham we were window shopping and I saw a super cute pair of Toms wedges that had a cute striped pattern. Now of course they are nowhere to be found because of fall lines coming out. But there is always next summer. Back to the point, I went to a party the other night and the hostess girl had on a super cute pair of Toms wedges in one of the new fall colors. So now I am in love with a new pair. But I'm torn on the color I would get if I bought some...

This is the cranberry and then the Ash.

Aren't they both adorable? And supposedly super comfy. They cost a pretty penny but some child without shoes will get a free pair too. You can learn more about Toms on the site here in case you haven't ever heard of them. If I ever do splurge and get a pair I will be sure to fill you in on the details.If you have an opinion on the color, I would be glad to hear it! :)

Awesome Water Bottle

2010-09-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

Can I just tell you that I love this water bottle? Really I do. A friend of ours told us about them and first hubbie got one, then me and now I am a believer. After switching to this type of re-usable bottle, I have found myself drinking way more water than ever before. I think it's because of the bite-tip and you don't have to lift the bottle up to drink out of it. (I know sounds lazy... but wait..) Hence you drink more each sip because it's easier to multitask with this bottle. I have seriously been putting away at least 4 of these a day which are 24 oz. each which equals 96 oz a day which is way over my requirement. I have noticed how much easier it is to drink out of these bottles when I am exercising and driving now. Here is there official website but you can also get them other places online as well as Target stores. Anyways I just had to share that with you in case you are interested. I know lots of people have issues trying to drink lots of water so this may help you!

I know water bottles are sooo exciting to talk about and all so I'm really glad I made your day. :) Now go get a bottle and see the difference!

P.S. You can thank me later.

The 23rd Psalm

2010-08-19T12:11:00.002-05:00

I just realized that I don't think I ever told you about the book that our club read back in July..... so here goes.....

Back in July we read the book, A shepherd looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller. This is a great little book that breaks down the 23rd Psalm piece by piece and is written by an actual Shepherd. It opens your eyes that it is not just a Psalm that is often read at funerals. It is a Psalm of love between the shepherd and his sheep. I'm not going to re-type everything about the book, so if you are interested you can check out what info I gave out over at the book club here.

And while I am thinking about it... back before I started this blog, my book club blog was still budding so there are some books I haven't told you about before. Which includes another one on the 23rd Psalm that I thought, what a better time to tell you than now! Back in January 2009 we read the book Traveling Light By Max Lucado. Another book that talks all about the 23rd Psalm. I came across this book back in Summer of 2008 right after my mom died because the verse had been read at her service and this book was listed as with the topic of grief. And it turned out to be so much more than that. Again, if interested and to see more about the book you can see what else I wrote about it on the blog here. And you can look around if interested and see what else I wrote about this book since it was one I broke down by chapter.

Happy Reading!

New Kavu Purse

2010-08-18T08:30:00.001-05:00

Recently Hubbie bought me a new purse.. with my help of course! I had seen these for a long time now and wanted one for the times I didn't feel like lugging my purse with all it's emergency "just in case" stuff. There had been some occasions that it would have been a great time for me to have one. And then when we were visiting family and I was taking the kiddos out to a science museum by myself.. I thought GEE one of those purses would be so handy right now that I happened to be able to borrow my sister-in-laws. Then I was sold that I needed one and looked but couldn't find the right one I wanted. I always go safe with color choices so I really wanted something fun and didn't care if it matched everything or not. So I looked and looked....

And now I have one! The above one to be exact. It's so nice for when I am in and out of places with the kiddos because the strap goes across your body and I don't have to worry about the whole balancing of child and purse.I know it is small and compact but you would be surprised by how much it holds! I am absolutely in love with the convenience of it and have found myself using it constantly. They have several styles available and made out of several different fabric choices. I chose this one because it is water-resistant instead of going with the typical canvas bag that they carry. If interested in reading more about the different styles you can go to the Kavu site. I will most definitely purchase more bags of theirs in the future!

Back To School!

2010-08-16T12:43:00.001-05:00

Today is back to school day for ALL of us! My son starts the 2nd grade, hubbie starts his first year of teaching and will have a 4th grade class, my girlie girl will start the 4 year old school year and I will be going back to college! What fun! I am so excited for all of us! My son's teacher is super sweet and to tell you what a small world it is... I used to work with her back during my lifeguard days in high school! Who would have thought!? My daughter is excited because only one more year to Kindergarten and she will finally get to be in one of her favorite teacher's class starting today!

I know a while back I told you that I was all confused and contemplating what I wanted to do and then I decided not to post anything until it was certain... so for now it's certain and I am posting. I am going back to school to get my bachelor's and will major in history. I threw around the idea of majoring in English for awhile... but then when it came down to it I decided that I am going to take the majority of my classes in what will make me the happiest. Especially when I know so many people who have a bachelor's in "x" and do something totally different. So here I am on the road to back to school and I'm really excited about it. I already have about 30 hrs done so I'm not completely starting from scratch. I am taking 14 hrs this semester and hope that falling back into the swing of things will not be too difficult. And what do I want to do with a bachelor's in history you may ask??? Well honestly I'm not completely sure myself. I have some different ideas floating around in my head but for now I am just going to get my degree in what I love and process other details when the time comes.

If you or those in your family are going back to school or getting ready to I hope you have a great start and a great year!

Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury

2010-08-10T22:36:00.003-05:00

Recently I read the first two books in the Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury. They were the books Redemption and Remember. I loved the first one so much that it is going to be my book club's August Selection. Karen Kingsbury is a Christian fiction inspirational author who's fiction is known as "life-changing." Karen writes about real life situations that happen to people all the time and most anyone can relate to at least one of the situations she has written about. I highly recommend them as do millions of other Americans. You can visit Karen's website here and read many testimonies from those who have read her books. Here is a description of the first book, Redemption:

A Betrayal: Kari Baxter Jacobs is furious, hurt, and confused. Her husband, Tim, a respected professor of journalism, is having an affair with a student. Stunned, Kari returns home to the Baxter family to sort things out. But when an old flame shows up, she is more confused than ever. A Decision: How can Kari forgive her husband? And what about her own revived feelings for Ryan, a man she knows she should avoid? What remedy could possibly ease the pain? A Hope: The gifted writing team of Gary Smalley and Karen Kingsbury brings us a profound story of redemption. A betrayal. A broken marriage. Will Kari ever love again? A story of love at all costs. (end quote)

I plan to read the rest of the series and will let you know when I'm done. But for now I figured I would tell you about this month's book in case you wanted to read along with us. Go to the above link for the blog for more information on this series/book. Happy Reading!

Eat, Pray, Love

2010-08-06T08:58:00.000-05:00

Recently I decided to pick up the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and see what all the fuss is about. Especially with the new movie coming to theaters with one of my favorite actresses, Julia Roberts, I thought I should go ahead and check it out from the library. On one hand I have a friend that LOVED it and on another hand a friend that didn't care for it and couldn't get into it at all. So I decided I needed to make an opinion for myself. In case you are reading this and haven't heard about the book, This is non-fiction story of a woman's healing journey through Italy, India and Indonesia. The book is about 352 pages and to find out what it is about here is what I found off of Amazon:

Gilbert grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery. Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce, the author, in her early 30s, divides a year equally among three dissimilar countries, exploring her competing urges for earthly delights and divine transcendence. First, pleasure: savoring Italy's buffet of delights--the world's best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners--Gilbert consumes la dolce vita as spiritual succor. "I came to Italy pinched and thin," she writes, but soon fills out in waist and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with the divine at a sacred ashram in India, Gilbert emulates the ways of yogis in grueling hours of meditation, struggling to still her churning mind. Finally, a balancing act in Bali, where Gilbert tries for equipoise "betwixt and between" realms, studies with a merry medicine man and plunges into a charged love affair. Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in the year's cultural and emotional tapestry--conveying rapture with infectious brio, recalling anguish with touching candor--as she details her exotic tableau with history, anecdote and impression. (end quote)

Well I read the book and have to say that I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed her story, humor and attention to detail for her reader as she traveled through the three countries which I have never been to. And by saying that I liked the book I have to tell you that I do not condone or agree with everything in it. It is one of those things where you just have to agree to disagree and not judge others decisions and just enjoy the story. I like her ability to make fun of herself and the courage that it took for her to do what she did as she tried to put her life back together. I would recommend the book with this warning of keeping an open mind and that just because you read it doesn't mean you have to agree with everything she says, just enjoy the story and admire the tales. There is some cussing and intimate sexual detail shared just so you are aware. With all this being said I would definitely read the book again and can't wait for the movie. It will def have to be a girl's night out so I can go see it in theaters.

Happy Reading!

Coasters

2010-08-05T16:00:00.005-05:00

About a month ago we went to an amusement park in North Carolina called Carowinds. And we rode this coaster. It's called, "The Intimidator" which is named for the late Dale Earnhardt for you racing fans and is the tallest, fastest and longest coaster in the Southeast. AND right before we got on some girl was puking off the side as the next car came through. Ick... kinda had me second guess myself... but we rode anyway and I have to say it wasn't that bad. But I kinda don't see the thrill of coasters holding me anymore. I was just indifferent. It was fun I suppose but then again I just didnt' see the point. Other coasters in the park seemed just as exciting and were per the hubs and his dad. But I received much more fulfillment watching the kiddos and going on rides with them. I'm not sure what all this means exactly... I'm officially a mom? a parent? a nerd? boring? hmmm lots of contemplation but that's okay..... I will go on more roller coaters but for now if I never went on another one in my life I think I'd be okay with that.

If you want to check out more information about it, click here to go to the website for Carowinds!

A Constant Heart By Siri Mitchell

2010-07-22T16:33:00.000-05:00

This week I finished reading the book, A Constant Heart by Siri Mitchell. This book is about 384 pages of historical christian fiction although the Christian part of the description is quite downplayed. Here is a brief description of the book from Amazon:

"Born with the face of an angel, Marget Barnardsen is blessed. Her father is a knight, and now she is to be married to the Earl of Lytham. Her destiny is guaranteed ... at least, it would seem so. But when her introduction to court goes awry and Queen Elizabeth despises her, Marget fears she's lost her husband forever. Desperate to win him back, she'll do whatever it takes to discover how she failed and capture again the love of a man bound to the queen." (end quote)

This book historically takes place during the time of the first Queen Elizabeth's reign in England. This book was odd for me. It was compelling in the sense that it kept me wanting to turn the pages and see what happens next but at the same time it was lacking. Lots of parts felt repeating and then the end finished up so quickly that it left you wondering why the book took so long to get to the climatic point and then just end. I have to say it was quite interesting learning about the ways of beauty during that time and how it can certainly be compared to the lengths people will go to be accepted among their peers. All in all.. I can't say it was a bad read but I do question the overall structure and quick ending. I was torn as to whether have it as a book club selection or not and have decided not to read it at this time as a group. And whether you decide to pick it up or not, I do hope that you enjoy it as I know others have! To each their own! :) Happy Reading!

Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury

2010-07-21T09:21:00.001-05:00

Recently I read the book, Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury. I was looking about for something for the book club and after a family member recommended this one I decided to check it out. Karen is the author of many many books and this is one of her stand alone titles. This is Christian life changing fiction and about 336 pages. Here is a description of the book:

"Sometimes hope lies somewhere in the shades of blue. Brad Cutler, twenty-eight, is a rising star at his New York ad agency, about to marry the girl of his dreams. Anyone would agree he has it all … a great career, a beautiful and loving fiancee, and a fairy tale life ahead of him—when memories of a high school girlfriend begin to torment him. Lost innocence and one very difficult choice flood his conscience, and he is no longer sure what the future will bring except for this: He must find his old love and make amends. Haunted by the past and confused about the future, he turns to God seeking forgiveness and redemption. Three people must work through the repercussions of a decision made long ago before any of them can look toward a new future." (end quote)

Spoiler alert... what I'm about to tell you tells you what the book offers healing from and I know it doesn't tell you in the description but feel like it's something you should know about going into it. This book deals with healing and forgiveness between a man and a woman that went through an abortion in their younger years. There are several great themes that the author incorporates into the book other than just that and it is a good read. I'm sure that if you or someone you know (man or woman) had been effected by an abortion that this book might help look at things differently and help them in their healing. Our book club won't be reading this at this time but still thought I would share with you in case you are interested! You can check out Karen's site here and see all the comments and reviews. Happy Reading!

Fireworks setting

2010-07-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

Over the 4th of July I figured out that our little point and shoot has a Fireworks setting. Soo... of course I tried it out! Sadly these are the best two pictures I got because: a) I have no clue what I was doing and b) It was really hard to figure out that timing just right. Anyways.... thought I would share with you in case you have a little point and shoot... check out your settings you never know what you might find! Oh how I long to have a big girl camera that isn't a 35 mm...... :)

The Measure of a Lady by Deeanne Gist

2010-07-19T11:12:00.002-05:00

Recently my book club read The Measure of a Lady by Deeanne Gist during the month of June. This book was a great and easy read.... but also a page turner. Many of our members, myself included, found that we had trouble putting the book down. The book is a Christian Historical fiction but also falls under "Humorous Romance." It is about 320 pages long and here is a description:

"Rachel Van Buren arrives in Gold Rush San Francisco with two wishes: to protect her younger siblings and to return east as soon as possible. Both goals prove more difficult than she could imagine as her brother and sister are lured by the city's dangerous freedom and a missionary-turned-gambler stakes a claim on her heart. Rachel won't give up without a fight though, and soon all will learn an eloquent but humorous lesson about what truly makes a lady. Speak Politely. Even when you're the only respectable woman around, protesting the decadence of a city lost to gold fever. Dress Modestly. Wear your sunbonnet at all times. Ensure nobody sees your work boots muddied by the San Francisco streets. Remain Devoted to Family. Protect your siblings from the lures of the city, even against their wishes. Stand Above Reproach. Most difficult when a wonderful man turns out to be a saloon owner. Rise Above Temptation. No, not even just a little kiss .... When these rules become increasingly difficult to uphold, can Rachel Van Buren remain a beacon of virtue in a city of vice?" (end quote)

This author has several books out but this is the first that I have ever read but would love to try some others of hers. If you have a book club she has great resources for book clubs on her site that go with each book. The ladies of our book club all said they would recommend it to others so here we are recommending it to you! Happy Reading!

Ranch Style Chicken

2010-07-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I made this Ranch Chicken recipe from The Pioneer Woman's website. It doesn't have Ranch in the recipe... honey mustard actually....but since she lives on a ranch... hence the name Ranch Chicken. I didn't let mine marinate as long as she did due to time and had to improvise with a couple things but it was REALLY good! Hubbie and I both give it two thumbs up and will be having again soon. Sorry I don't have a good picture but it was an afterthought when I was cleaning up leftovers and stuff. So.. To get a printable of the recipe, see step by step and much better photos; I urge you to go check out the recipe found here.

Have a great day!

Scrabble and cheaters...

2010-07-14T09:30:00.003-05:00

Lately I have become obsessed with Scrabble on Facebook. I received Scrabble for Christmas once when I was young but never really got into it. Sadly I'm horrible at it and every now and then get lucky. But for the most part terrible. I think my problem is that I tend to rush. I see a word regardless if it's high in points or not and stick it to fast. Anyways.. regardless of my misfortunes of losing often I'm pretty obsessed. I guess it's just fun using your brain. Nice exercise for it.

What I don't like is those that completely defeat the purpose of playing and cheat and use word generators. I just don't see how it could be possible to get an awesome 6 or 7 letter word every turn!?? I mean reallly?? So I was convinced that even though I am terrible there must be some kind of cheat source online. And what do you know I Googled and there it was... A Win Every Game Site. I was quite irritated. I just don't understand cheaters. My stats are horrific but who cares if I have only won 5 games and lost 46. I'm enjoying myself and don't need to cheat just so I can win.

Okay well enough of that. Stepping off the box. Just wanted to let you know about it in case you like Scrabble too and didn't know you could play it on Facebook. It's nice because you can play with friends or start games with strangers and it saves your game for you so that if you only take your turn once a day it's still there. Have a great day!

New Swimsuit

2010-07-06T13:49:00.000-05:00

First off I hope you all had a fabulous celebration of our country regardless of all it's flaws. :)

Second, I just have to share with you real quick that I got a new swimsuit. I have been on the lookout for a new suit for two years now.. I know that sounds really bad but I'm extremely picky, not willing to spend a fortune and like one pieces. So that makes my search really super hard. I had been eyeing the above suit but it is expensive and it wasn't sold anywhere near me to try it on anyways. Then finally this weekend when visiting family, I found the suit 50% off at their Belk. Whoo hoo! Normally I'm not a big Belk shopper but I think that is mainly because our Belk does not have half the stuff the Belk I went to this weekend did. I also picked up a new dress and necklace thanks to hubbie's mom but I'll show those to you later.

Have a great day!

Vacation

2010-06-24T11:23:00.000-05:00

I know I've been out of the loop for a while but next week I am officially on "vacation" so I probably won't be bothering with the computer or blog much. But I still want to wish you all a Happy 4th of July and remind you to keep those on the Gulf Coast in your thoughts and prayers. This oil spill is messing with our businesses and way of life pretty bad. Hopefully when I return to the computer I will post some things I have stored up for ya'll. :)

Hope your having a good summer!

Spinning

2010-06-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to my first spinning class.. ever! I have always heard people talk about it but had never gone and then a friend asked me to go and I agreed. I have to say I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I had heard that your hinney would hurt.. .boy did it ever.. And I thought people meant the muscles in your bottom... no they mean YOUR BOTTOM.... just to clarify for you. If you have no idea what spinning is, it's an indoor cycling class. There is a whole world of spinning that you can find out more about by clicking here.

I'm still not sure I understand why they call the seat a saddle.. but it doesn't really matter. I will def be incorporating more classes in to my work out and would recommend them for others. Have a super day!

Princess Cake

2010-06-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

THIS is the princess castle cake I made for my daughter's birthday. It's not really much to look at and now I know exactly what I did wrong.. but oh well! The kids loved it and I know that is all that matters. Click here to see where I got this idea and see a MUCH better version. IF I ever make a castle cake again and if you decide to go off this chick's idea, you should stack the cakes to get a thicker bottom. I thought I was doing what she said she did, but my layers were thin which is why I went with three. I would def do it differently next time around. OH well live and learn!

Like I said the kids loved it.. when my daughter got up that morning and I showed it to her in the fridge... she got wide eyed and said.. WOW. That was all I needed to hear. :)

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

2010-06-11T16:45:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you... but yes I am a Twilight Fan.. or for that matter a Stephenie Meyer fan as her other book The Host is awesome too. She is just such a captivating writer. I could probably read anything she writes. I'm not sure how she does it because it's so simple and easy to read.. maybes it the emotions she brings out that you actually feel when you are reading it. I don't know but if you haven't read Twilight... DON'T judge till you have. I'm not saying they are the best books ever written but definitely fun reads that amazingly don't get old... like Harry Potter... or The Tale of Two Cities.. okay am I losing you now?

Annnnyways... back to point of post. I recently read the book, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner for free online and thought that if you didn't know or maybe you forgot that you should read it too if interested. Here is a description of the book from Amazon:

"Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by this riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery, and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion." (end quote)

If you didn't know... the next movie is coming out soon, Eclipse. And this book goes along with that. As a gift to her fans you can read the book online here until July 5th. Pretty Sweet. And even with this being only a novella, I really enjoyed it all the same. I could probably read 50 vampire novella's by her and they would not get old. Well enough of this Twilight craziness.

Green Onions

2010-06-07T13:30:00.000-05:00

Did you know..... that you can re-grow green onions aka chives? I did not know this until I read about it on one of my favorite blogs awhile back. So one day I decided to try it and it worked,.(see above) Check it out over at Pastor Ryan's Blog, This is Reverb. On that particular post (he has before/after photos) there are some other neat things that he shows you how to do as well as lots of scrumptious recipes.

This post of his on an easier way to make bacon has changed my life.... or atleast made making large amounts of bacon or bacon bits easier. :)

Check it out, you just might find something you like too! Hope you are having a great week!

So you think you can dance...

2010-06-04T09:58:00.001-05:00

I'm not a big TV watcher but last night I happened to tune into some of the show, So you think you can dance! And I have to say its pretty cool watching what these people can do. Most of them are really talented. One particular that could not make it through stood out to me and I couldn't wait to share with you in case you hadn't seen him. He has auditioned before and actually done a performance on the show. Talk about doing the robot good.... WOW. Here is the link on youtube because I'm not sure if posting this video will work or for how long if it does. When you go to the spot on youtube look down the right hand side and you can see other performances of his.

Isn't he amazing? Inspiring? Stinks he can't make it through to do the other stuff but I think he probably knew going into this he wouldn't be able too. At least the show gives him the recognition he deserves. It will be interesting to see when he does perform on the show later in the season! On here the video is kind of cut off on one side so def check it out on the other site if you are interested. :)

Refiner's Fire Series by Lynn Austin

2010-06-03T14:02:00.001-05:00

Back in the month of May, my book club read the first book in the Refiner's Fire Series. We read, Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin. A lovely lady from our book club had loaned me the three books in the series to read and I have to say I loved them all. These books don't have to read in any particular order because all three have separate story lines that are interconnected by different characters. Each book is a different perspective on the civil war and each is around 400 pages. Here are what the three books are about in the suggested reading order:

1) Candle in the Darkness (South Perspective): CAUGHT in a nation splitting apart. ANGERED by those who would enslave others. EMBOLDENED by a passion to make a difference. TORN between the one she loves and a truth she can't deny. Here is Caroline Fletcher's story. Candle in the Darkness, Book One in the Refiner's Fire series, tells the story of a timid southern girl who finds her voice as she begins to tell the truth about the atrocities around her. A short stay in the North confirms her abolitionist feelings, but when she returns to the South she finds herself torn between her home, a beloved suitor who doesn't share her feelings, and the principles she knows are true. Standing for right may mean standing alone. Does she have the courage? (end of quote from author's site)

2) Fire by Night (North Perspective): This compelling story of love and sacrifice follows the lives of two very different young women—one seeing the world for the first time and one who has seen too much already. One DECEIVED by a life of wealth and ease, the other DESPERATE to flee her true identity. In a land SHATTERED by war, unlikely heroes test the limits of their strength? And discover that LOVE has a meaning far beyond their imagination.(end of quote from author's site)

3) A light to my Path (Slave Perspective): SHACKLED in a world where authority is not questioned, Where the will is BATTERED as surely as the body, Hope will not be DENIED. But BROKEN chains bring daunting choices: The way of revenge or the way of the SPIRIT.This is Kitty Goodman's story. This powerful conclusion to Lynn Austin's REFINER'S FIRE series brings to a close one of the most acclaimed sagas in Christian fiction ever. Each of the first two novels won Christy Awards for Historical Fiction. Now Austin completes her trilogy with a dramatic examination of the Civil War through a slave's perspective. Riveting, eloquent, and gripping as all of her previous works, it's the conclusion for which you've been waiting. (end of quote from author's site)

I accidentally read them out of order so can tell you that the order is not a necessity. And remember this is coming from someone who does not like it when things are out of order! Nevertheless these books have everything. They are historical fiction with romance, action and inspiration to keep you page turning. I have to say that the first and second were probably my favorites. I didn't think I would like the 2nd at the introduction of one of the main characters but it turned out to be really good. Everyone in my book club loved Candle in the Darkness and had plans to read the other two books if they hadn't already. With that all being said, my reading group and I recommend these books! Happy Reading to you!

Yummy Carrot Cake

2010-06-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was my father-in-laws birthday and his favorite cake is... you guessed it.. Carrot Cake! I had never made a carrot cake before nor ever tried as it just wasn't my thing. But after this weekend all of that has changed. I successfully made a yummy carrot cake.. and liked it!! Sadly.. I took no photos as every time we had it out I was too busy thinking about eating it and well you get the drift... So sorry! But you can go to this Pioneer Woman link, get step-by-step photos and recipe card! When I found out I was going to make it from scratch, of course this is where I went to get my recipe!

I did not make a sheet cake as PW had done but instead two 9-inch cake pans.. and it kinda drooped in the middle. It was an excellent recipe but next time I will probably do a sheet cake as directions indicate. I have to say though that the icing is the main thing that a carrot cake has going for it. Because just the cake by itself has a bitter taste to it and just wouldn't be able to hang with other cakes without the cream cheese icing. You won't find me making this on a regular basis but it was a crowd pleaser. And as far as preparation it was an easy cake to make other than the grating of the carrots.. those took a little time...but other than that easy!

So next time you need a carrot cake in your life.. please check out PW's recipe! Hope your having a great day!

A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers

2010-05-26T11:58:00.001-05:00

Back in April my book club read, A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers. This is a huge book (542 pages) but mainly because it is 5 small novella's combined into one. This book is part fiction/fact story of 5 women of the bible from the perspective of the author. Here is what the book is about:

"In this compilation of the five books in the best-selling Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers, we meet the five women whom God chose-Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Each was faced with extraordinary-even scandalous-challenges. Each took great personal risk to fulfill her calling. Each was destined to play a key role in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World." (end quote)

I did not get any negative feedback on this book. Everyone who has read it loved it. You obviously have to take into account that these are from the Bible but with alot of "what if" views and dialogue added in. I was constantly in awe of these women that God chose to bring on the line of Jesus and amazed at his forgiveness and redemption. I would recommend this book 100%. It even has a "seek and find" section that tells you where to find the stories in the bible with related scripture. It's like your own little Bible study with every book. If for some reason your library does not have the book that includes all 5 in one you can often check them out individually as follows:

Unveiled: Tamar's Story
Unashamed: Rahab's Story
Unshaken: Ruth's Story
Unspoken: Bathsheba's Story
Unafraid: Mary's Story (Mary the mother of Jesus)

If you have any questions about it just let me know. You can always check out my book club blog for my take on each individual book. Happy Reading!

Dragon Tongue and White Squash

2010-05-25T14:19:00.001-05:00

So.. recently I received a whole bunch of fresh veggies from my office managers garden. Yay! And.. among them were Wax Beans.. aka Dragon Tongue Beans and White Squash. (See below pictures)

Isn't the white squash so pretty? They look like pretty white flowers. Then the wax beans... well not so much. When I saw them I thought.. "Eeww looks like snakes!" To which my manager replied, "Well people do call them dragon tongues." So since I am the new bolder trier of different foods I decided I would give these a go. And I have to say I was not impressed with either. I wasn't a fan of yellow squash before I tried the white squash and it still wasn't doing it for me. I didn't gag with either one which actually says alot but I just didn't enjoy eating them very much. OH well, I hogged the green beans instead. Atleast I did try though!

I didn't get a garden going this year.. sad... I know.. but maybe next year.. and I can already tell you I won't be including these two veggies unless I find another way to cook them that makes them more appetizing. Have you ever had either of these before? I tried looking up some recipes that might make them better but haven't had much luck yet. I'll be sure to let you know if I find anything.

Staring, Cleaning and Super Mario

2010-05-21T14:21:00.001-05:00

Lately I have been doing some staring. Not at people mind you.. weird. But at the computer. Everyday I click on the blog.. look at it and contemplate posting. I sign in.. check out some other blogs I follow and contemplate posting. Then decide eh forget it, I'm just not in the mood and tell myself I will post something the next day. And well as you can tell it's been happening alot lately. I'm not sure what my problem is right now. But then today.. I stared at the blog and gave myself a little pep-talk. "C'mon... stop putting this off and start writing." I have things to share with you like a few books, a castle birthday cake...fail, and other miscellaneous goings on.

Anyhow lets just start with what my current project is: spring cleaning! I've been working on it the past few weeks and still am working on a big cleaning and organization of my entire house. I'm talking every inch I can get to without having to move a dresser by myself, etc. We're talking toothbrush scrubbing. I have found dust in places that I'm honestly embarrassed to admit that it never occurred to me to check there before. I am taking it room by room, closet by closet. Working on one thing at a time and scrubbing, vacuuming and cleaning every surface the best I can. I'm throwing away some stuff but am able to recycle most of it or give it out for hand me downs.

Which by the way, speaking of recycling I have been super excited as I found somewhere to take glass and tin cans locally. Check out this site, Earth 911, type in what you are looking for and where you are and it is a super big help! Whoo hoo! K back to cleaning ramble....

Anyways I can't wait till this project is done because I already feel so much better knowing how clean everything will be and everything in it's proper place. But I am ready for it to be done and I know Hubbie is too. To show you how psychotic I am in wanting to get it done.. I even cleaned on Mother's day. Hubbie wanted to know what I wanted to do and when my answer was to clean he looked at me like I was crazy. And I'm sure many would say, "well for mother's day he can help you clean!" But no. He does help clean alot and this isn't one of those regular cleans.. this is a deep clean, organizational type of clean where only control freaks want to do it for themselves. Yeah.. remember I said psychotic? Anyhoo that's where lots of my extra time is going lately. But just so you don't think I am too crazy we did go to my fav restaurant for mother's day dinner. :) And in case you didn't know... that is the trick. If you try to go for lunch, everyone is taking their mom's out for Sunday Brunch/Lunch after church or whatever and you would probably have to wait forever. BUT if you go at dinner... no wait! Atleaset that was the way it was around here. Remember that for next year! So anyways I'm happily cleaning and organizing.

And the other night I did play a couple hours of Super Mario Brothers 3 which was quite lovely and a nice break from my usual hustle and bustle. I was a terrible mom and refused to let JBW play with me as he is only allowed video games on the weekends for limited time periods because I wanted some "me" time but that's all okay. He was ~~happy~~ content just to watch. But it was nice to just play all the levels, do what I wanted and not use any whistles if I didn't want to. :) I'm going to have to do that again sometime soon and hog the Super Mario, it was nice.

Well I hope you have a great weekend!

Field Day round 2

2010-05-13T08:40:00.002-05:00

Today was JBW's second field day. Annnd let's just say the morning went waaay better than last year. We weren't rushed, got sunscreen on successfully BEFORE leaving the house and just so much better than last year. But because of the popular story of last year's Field Day I am re-posting it here in case you missed it a year ago from shortly after I started this blog-o. Hope you enjoy.

So I have to share with you my ordeal from this morning with my poor son. Pretend that you care okay? *nodding head yes* Also note that I am not a drama queen, this is exactly what happened and remember this space is going to be used for my weird random little stories that turn into super long stories... so get used to it people!

Today is JBW's first field day. In case for some reason you have no idea what field day is... deprived child you... It's a BIG deal for kids. They get to play games and sports outside ALL day long at school. So naturally you would want your kid to have sun screen on because they are in the sun ALL day.... got it... ALL day! Well of course I remember everything... but the sunscreen. Leave the house the whole time thinking... gosh I feel like I am forgetting something.. but oh well got to go. Get down the road aways and AHHH I forgot to put sunscreen on JBW. So now I'm like AHH I don't want him to come home a lobster and say "Why oh why didn't you remember to put sunscreen on me mom?" Odd enough I have become somewhat of a freak about sunscreen and I am constantly getting on to hubbie to use it so I guess this is my payback. Well I have to drop AEW off first at her school so when I run in there I check to see if they have any sunscreen and nope they don't.... of course. At this point I really wish I was one of those people that carried my make-up around all day so I would have my moisturizer with the SPF 15 at least. But nope I'm not one of those people.

So as we leave her school and head off to his I start to think.. okay we are doing good on time we can run in a gas station really quick get some sunscreen and I will apply it as we wait in the car line. I knew the sunscreen was probably going to be expensive because we live in a tourist town plus gas stations over price everything anyway. We run in the gas station, find the sunscreen and of course they have no little bottles of what I need, only big. The accelerators are in the small bottles, go figure. So as I gag on my vomit for having to spend close to $15.00 on a bottle of sunscreen *gasp* you would think I'm good to go. But wait the story isn't over. I decide to apply to his legs real quick in the gas station parking lot because I won't be able to do that in the car line. So we get his legs really good and rush off to school. We get in the car line... but wait.. there is no car line! Where are all the cars that usually make me late to work??? OF all days of course today has to be the day that no one decided to drive their kid to school or something. Ahhhh so I try to let anyone and everyone who wants in front of me but still time is short and ticking. I hurry and slather it on his arms, face, ears, and neck in an awkward angle since he is leaning to the front from the back and I'm trying to half turn but still go slow down the car line and not hit anyone. He's uncomfortable and reminding me to rub it in so people don't see the white stuff on his face. Yes, of course we had to get the super thick white kind that does not rub in easy. I'm trying really hard to get it all rubbed in and everywhere and it's time to get out. I assure him that it's all rubbed in and barely get to tell him bye because I am holding up the line at this point. So as I drive by him while he is walking I roll down the window and shout I love you and as he turns to look oh no.... there is a slight glimmer of a white line on his cheek. Poor guy. Hopefully he won't notice or if he does will forget about it by the time I see him next.

So why you ask did I share all this with you? So that you will be prepared of course! From now on I am keeping a bottle of sunscreen in with the first aid kit in my trunk. Note: my bottle is like a lotion bottle NOT an aerosol bottle. It's probably not a good idea to keep those in your car with the heat, so use good judgment people. And you may be wondering why the sunscreen is such a big deal... Well are you fully aware of the damage the sun can do to your skin and the fact that it would have bothered me all day long? I know people in their 20's who have had skin cancer already and the doctors told them it is from lack of proper protection as they grew up. *shudders* I will not have that on my conscious, I want to know that I protected the kids or at least tried to anyway. Well as I pulled out of the car line I said a little prayer that he would not get burned or be all splotchy because of my quick job on this face/neck. That's all I need is for him to come home and have a blotchy tan because of my finger smears! So hopefully it will be alright plus it could be worse and I could have just not cared, but lucky for him I do! But I will continue to wonder how it goes all day till he gets picked up and I get an update from hubbie (remember I am going to the conference tonight). Now if you are reading this and thinking about a time when you forgot to put sunscreen on your child for field day... I am in no way saying you are a bad parent or anything like that! I promise! I am just sharing my issues which we all seem to have from time to time! I hope I didn't bore you to tears with my story and that you have a nice weekend.

***Update*** He did not get splotchy nor sunburned so we were in the clear! YES!

Sorry I'm slacking on the blog lately. I'll catch you up some time soon. Have a great day!

The Cross Gardener by Jason F. Wright

2010-05-06T16:18:00.002-05:00

I know I am behind in the bloggin world but bear with me....

Recently I finished up reading The Cross Gardener by Jason F. Wright. I have read other books of his previously and this story intrigued me as well. This book is a Christian Fiction and about 293 pages long. Here is what I found to tell you about the book from the authors website:

The Cross Gardener is an inspiring story of a man touched by tragedy - and a quiet stranger who helps him rediscover the joy to be found in life, love, and family...John Bevan believed life was complete. Married to his high school sweetheart and father to a young daughter, John finally had the traditional family he lacked as an orphaned child. But that all disappears when a fatal car accident changes his world. Filled with sorrow, John withdraws from life and love. He erects two crosses at the scene of the accident and visits daily, grieving. Then one morning, he encounters a young man kneeling before one of the crosses, touching it up with white paint. Conversations with the mysterious stranger - known to him only as the Cross Gardener - begin to heal John's heart. But only when they undertake a journey together does John truly come to see what he must embrace in this world - from the secrets of his own past to the sorrow of the present - if he is to start his life anew. And only as the journey ends does John divine who his guide may really be. In The Cross Gardner, Jason F. Wright tells a timeless tale that explores the questions we ask when our lives are touched by loss: How do we carry on? Who will show us the way? The answers John Bevan finds may illuminate your world as they did his - for even in our darkest hour, we are not alone. (end quote)

I enjoyed the book for a bit and have to tell you it is a tearjerker but just never felt that "wow" factor. It was an easy interesting read and I'm glad I did read it. It helped me to understand how to empathize with those who put the memorials at roadside accidents. I never did understand why people would do that because it didn't make sense to me but now I have an idea and "get it" so to speak. I'm a little uneasy at the fictional idea of the who the cross gardener is and how things work out after someone dies. I don't think it will be a book club selection for our club for that reason and like I said before if it didn't wow me I'm not going to risk it on everyone else. But like Jason's other book, The Wednesday Letters, I was mediocre about it but another friend loved it. So as always don't take my word for it but discover a book for yourself. If you have lost a loved one, this book just might be helpful to you. Happy Reading!

Didn't fall off the face of the earth

2010-04-30T11:59:00.000-05:00

Just in case you were wondering or curious or you may not have cared at all.. but I didn't fall off the face of the earth this week. I just happen to be super busy with sick kiddos, a busy work schedule and other fun stuff. Hope to start back up like usual next week. Hope you are having a splendid week and will have a great weekend!

Extraordinary Women Conference 2010 Recap Part 4 of 4

2010-04-26T08:30:00.003-05:00

Okay we are almost done with this… part 1, part 2, part 3 and now the final part 4!! Just in case you didn’t know, this is the last part of a recap of the Extraordinary Women Conference I went to in Pensacola, FL a few weekends ago. The theme was, “Embracing Powerful Peace.”

The third speaker of the day on Saturday was Sheri Rose Shepherd. She was another speaker whom I have never heard of but was completely in love with by the time she was done. You are going to get tired of hearing me say this but another woman with an amazing testimony! And her story is like so many other women that I think it makes her easy to relate to and see someone who has been through something you might have been through. And you can see that she came out on the other side, OKAY! You can look at her website here to get her full story and see all her books. Again rather than try to paraphrase every story and bit she talked about I am going to just highlight the main points that I wrote down:

- “How we feel about ourselves does not make up who we are in Christ.”

- “How we feel about ourselves is constantly changing, but how God feels about us never changes.”

- “Don’t allow someone’s bad comments and lies to decide who you are in life instead of allowing God, the author of your life, to decide who you are.”

- “Whoever said whatever they said about you did NOT give up their life for you!”

- Sheri continued with an acronym for Freedom, I don’t remember all the scripture she referenced but have a few written down here that I was able to catch:

o F = “Fight the good Fight”

o R = “Run to God!”

o E = “Enter into praise and prayer!” Isaiah 43:2

o E = “Eliminate the Enemies Weapons!” Hebrews 12:1 and 1 Peter 5:8

o D = “Do what God tells you to do!” Ephesians 5:1-6

o O = “Operate in your appointed position” Ephesians 3:20

o M = “Move on!” Isaiah 43:18

- “He is God and I am not. Don’t play Jr. Holy Spirit”

- “How many of us would say that we are “living the dream”? Many would not but God says that he is going to give us his dream which reaches far beyond what dreams we could ever imagine to further his kingdom.”

- “Our appointed positions in life change over seasons. Don’t allow circumstance to control your feelings”

I urge you to check out Sheri Rose Shepherd and remember who you belong to and who gets to decide who says who you are! I will certainly let you know when I get a chance and have the time to check out her books, they all look great!

The last speaker for the day was the hilarious Chonda Pierce. Chonda is a comedian who uses clean humor to relate to people and lift spirits. This is my third year watching her and she does not disappoint. Chonda is a funny speaker but does get to the heart of things and I wrote down two things from her talk:

-“Through my depression I was able to learn to Glorify him because of who he is and not how he makes me feel.”

- “Do you think that Jesus died and bled for you on the cross for you to live just a mediocre life?”

Chonda has battled depression and seems like an unlikely person to be a comedian but her way of getting you to laugh and to think about your circumstance and the way you are living is refreshing. There is no doubt that God is working through her to help others who battle similar problems. Chonda hinted at the idea of a movie in the works and I can’t wait to hear more about that. She has or will be appearing on the Wanda Sykes show and I hope that many people are able to see that you can be funny without being disgusting and using bad language. I can’t wait to see what she is up to in the future, I urge you to check out one of her books or DVD’s or catch some videos on youtube. Hopefully she will be able to give you a laugh and a gentle uplift!

This concludes my recap of the Conference this year. Boy did I do a better job this year taking notes than I did last! I have pre-ordered my tickets and plan to attend again next year. It’s such a fun weekend that I strongly urge you to attend one near you if you have the chance. You can go to the Ewomen site here and see what conferences are coming near you. Have a great day!

Extraordinary Women Conference 2010 Recap Part 3 of 4

2010-04-23T08:30:00.002-05:00

I did part 1 and part 2, now on to part 3! Sorry to break it up like this but I just didn’t want my post to be ridiculously long. In case you haven’t seen the other’s this is a recap of the Extraordinary Women Conference I went to in Pensacola, FL a few weekends ago. The theme was, “Embracing Powerful Peace.”

The second speaker of the day on Saturday was Angela Thomas. This was my third time hearing her speak and she was just as good as always. The first year I had not a clue who she was but have since grown to love her. I still have yet to read any of her books but do hope to find time at some point. Angela gave some great personal stories as only she can do with this particular one about a peaceful maid she had named Beverly who used to spit on the Devil at her house. She goes on to tell us she wants to share with us a kind of 6 part “Peace theology” so that maybe we can leave feeling a little bit more like the peaceful maid Beverly. And lucky for you I wrote it down… and will share it with you! Here are the scripture and the quotes from Angela:

1) “Peace of God comes to you because God is Peace.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2) “God sent his son to BE our Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, [a] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

3) “When we become his follower we can have his peace.” John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

4) “Stay connected to God and you will have even more peace. Jesus tells his disciples 11 times in 10 verses in John chapter 15, “Remain in me.” We must stay connected to God to keep his peace. When Jesus was speaking to the disciples in the Upper Room the night before he died he talks to them and he told them the most important thing found in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” “Jesus knew how much we would need to remember that and that is why he told them this last. Just as we are telling a child, a spouse or a friend a list of things to do before we go... don’t we always remind them of what’s most important at the end… last… many times the last thing you say to someone before you go out the door is… I love you. Jesus told us this here because he knew we would need the reminder of peace.”

5) “The Sprit of God produces peace in our lives.” Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”

6) “The deep, abiding peace from God is almost unexplainable.” Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

- “We can not get lasting peace by ourselves.”

- “World Leaders don’t bring lasting peace.”

- “Stop being negative and begin to be more positive and at peace. Others do not want to be around someone who is negative and bitter. God is the ultimate reconciler. You can lay down your bitterness and negativity because he is going to figure it all out someday.”

- “No one comes to Christ through Judgment; We must love each other to Christ.”

And so concludes what I have written down for Angela. You can check out her website here. Angela has an inspiring testimony of being divorced; raising 4 kids as a single mom andso much more that so many women can identify with…I hope that some of what she is sharing can help you as you find peace. I will keep you updated if I read any of her books!

After Angela, the concert for Saturday was Mandisa! See how close we were!? This is the second time I have seen Mandisa perform and I was not disappointed. The first time I saw her I was quite a bit farther back than this so it was nice. If you don’t recall, Mandisa was a contestant on American Idol a few years back but even though she didn’t make it on Idol, God had other plans for her. Her voice and music is so amazing and inspiring that I never get tired of hearing her songs. I have her CD, True Beauty but would love to own Freedom as well. On the CD I have, every single song is good!

A new song that she sang that had many tears in eyes that day was, “You wouldn’t Cry (Andrews Song)” I had never heard this song and it was so so sweet. She wrote this song for Andrew’s Mom. She told the story of a woman she met at a conference who was pregnant and how she found out some time later that the woman lost the baby. Mandisa said she made an inspirational mix CD for the woman and sent it to her but felt like a song was needed that came from Andrew’s point of view. She sang us that song and it was beautiful. I urge you to take a listen here. It can be of some comfort to those who have lost loved ones.

Okay that’s it for today with just two speakers left! Have a great day today!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T08:30:00.003-05:00

Happy Earth Day! By definition Earth day is as follows: A day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. I don't typically do anything extra on this day... but I guess my extra thing to inspire awareness could be to do a post on trash that I had wanted to share with you all. I do recycle. I'm blessed that our city provides recycling pick up for lots of items. We recycle aluminum, paper, cardboard, plastic containers, newspaper, egg cartons, plastic bags, etc. I need to start looking into glass recycling facilities that are local because that's one thing they will not pick up. And my husband hates getting me on my soapbox... "if everyone did their part.. it wouldn't be so bad...." I'm like the recycle police at our house and if I find something accidentally thrown in the trashcan.. everyone knows it. But I think it's good I am teaching my kids, just as I was at a young age, how important it is to do this. My friends now make fun of me and say... "You watched that Captain Planet show didn't you??" And.. nooo I really didn't.. I remember that show vaguely but I got this way from what I was taught as a kiddo. My mom and grandmother recycled so I just learned to do it too. My grandfather took me on coastal clean-ups at a young age and it just stayed with me.

So back to a couple weeks ago, hubbie and I happened to catch this Dave Letterman show re-run.. and just happened to catch an interview with a Captain Charles Moore who is the founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. They were talking about one of the huge masses of trash that floats out in the ocean. That's disgusting. Click on the link for the foundation and they have the interviews on the main page. Even though I do try to be conscientious of what I am throwing away... it still was like another wake up call. And the pictures.. of what is found inside fish and birds that they are eating makes me want to vomit. I will go ahead and tell you that your welcome for not posting those pictures here but you can find them on your own in the links I've given you or just google "mass of trash". You can also check out this recent article on Yahoo, here.

Gosh I don't even know what else to say because this could go on to a laundry list of complaints and should haves, and should dos and I know you don't want to read about all that. I am encouraged to hear of more and more companies making products out of recycled materials and the people who make Sun Chips announced a chip bag that you can throw in your compost. Which is basically what the captain said was the answer... make products that can be thrown in the compost. We use plastic materials for sooo much stuff and plastic varies so much with it's uses that he said the answer is to make something that biodegrades and won't continue to break down into this plastic dust that is in our water, our air, on the ground, the stuff we are eating.. blech. It's to bad all these amazingly intelligent scientists aren't put to work creating more materials like the Sun Chip bag or researching alternatives to plastic instead of researching other nonsense. But I know.. everyone has their opinions...

Okay, I'm stepping off now.. I wont' continue to go on.. but I think you get the point of this little soapbox rant. Think about what you are using and throwing away. Become someone who recycles, reuses and reduces! Each little bit someone can do makes a difference. Check out your local area, many cities may not have the recycle pickup along with trash but do have a facility somewhere where you can take it and dump it in the correct bins. I don't claim to be some extreme environmentalist or whatever that is but I just like to think that I'm trying to my part somehow and I hope that you would want to as well. You can even make a difference at your work too. Since I've started my job here, we now have a shredding service that recycles and I try to encourage everyone to throw paper in the shred box even if it's not something that has to be shredded... it will still all get recycled! And I have a basket in my office where we put random cardboard from lunches, tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls, office supply boxes, aluminum cans or plastic bottles, etc. And I take it home once a week and empty it at home to recycle. Everyone can do something. Will you?

Remember to enjoy the outdoors and take care of them! Happy Earth day!

Extraordinary Women Conference 2010 Recap Part 2 of 4

2010-04-21T08:30:00.014-05:00

Now to continue my recap of the Ewomen Conference! We left off on Friday night and now let’s move into Saturday! I am going to break Saturday up into a few parts because these may get a bit long.

First up speaking was Lysa TerKeurst whom I had never heard of before. Lysa is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and has written several great books. You can check out here website here. This was my first time ever hearing her and I have to say that she did not disappoint. Her testimony was Amazing! And she said so many amazing things along with her testimony that I’m not sure how to paraphrase them all soo I think I am just going to list the things she said. Remember, I’m sure she is not the first person to say a lot of this but this is what she talked about at the conference. Yup...so here goes… OH and remember the theme for the conference is, “Embracing Powerful Peace.” Okay…. Now here goes with Lysa’s quotes:

- “The most peaceful place to be is in the center of God’s will.”

- “God doesn’t intend for us to have a religion but a relationship.”

- “God is not a vending machine.”

- “If you are a “bible friend” to one of your friends… Don’t ever give up!”

- “Brokeness is universal but so is redemption.”

- “God didn’t create us to be human DOings but human BEings. God shows us how to be and then the doing will come along natural.”

- “Apply James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”, to dealing with disappointment.” She said we have to have this daily dependence on God. She used the story of the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land and everyday they had to get enough manna for just one day. She said, “We are to go everyday and ask God for our portion.” She said we say, “God will you be my portion in this moment of…. (you fill in the blank)” “When you are having those feelings of despair constantly go back to God to ask for his portion of patience or strength or whatever it is you need.”

- She continues using the example of Jesus praying and said, “If even Jesus had to ask for his portion why would we think we wouldn’t have to?”

- One thing that really stood out to me also was when she asked if we think we are a thankful people. She said we need to change the way we think of things. “Praise God that we are ABLE!” “We don’t HAVE to clean the house… we are ABLE to clean the house.” “We don’t HAVE to go to work… we are ABLE to go to work!” “We don’t HAVE to exercise… we are ABLE to exercise!” etc.

- “BE joyful, BE prayerful, BE thankful” Here’s an example of looking at things this way from a friend of mine who wrote it as her facebook status after the conference,“I am JOYFUL that I am ABLE to clean my house today! I am PRAYERFUL that I don't get lost in the dust...but I am THANKFUL that I have a house to get lost in!!!"

- “I don’t HAVE to live my life... I am ABLE to live my life.” It certainly makes you think about your perspective.

Of course she said sooo much more than that but that is what I have in my notes and what she emphasized the most. I really like the part about how we are not human DOings but human BEings. It all goes back to the reminder that our works or how “good” of a person we can be does not save us, only the grace of God does. And I have found myself reminding myself that I am ABLE not that I HAVE to do things. Lysa mentioned a new bible study/book she has out called, “Becoming more than a good bible study girl.” I hope to look into that one at some point as it sounds intriguing. Be sure to check out Lysa on her site.

Okay… now moving on.. Compassion International partners with Ewomen Conferences to get kids sponsored. Remember I mentioned Compassion to you back here? Okay good. Well they had a speaker represent Compassion named Richmond. He gave an amazing testimony about a little boy that was sponsored by Compassion and how his life was changed, only to find out that little boy was him. Richmond’s story was only one of sooo many. More than 150 children were sponsored at the conference and that doesn’t include the people who took the information home and did it later. Richmond stated that three things will happen when you decide to sponsor a child. 1) Changes the child’s life 2) Changes the sponsor’s life 3) Changes in the Body of Christ. Richmond, his mother, brothers and sisters have all come to Christ and Richmond is now sponsoring other children. Take a minute to check out Compassion International.

Okay that is the wrap up of Part 2 of 4 because this got really long! And I would move on to the next speaker but I have a fear of this getting really out of hand. So stay tuned for Part 3! Have a great day!

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

2010-04-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

Recently I finished listening to Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I have several classics on my reading list and when I was looking for something to listen to on CD... this classic came to mind. I have never read any of her famous novels but have seen some of the movies other than this one. So I finished listening to it and have to say I enjoyed it. That is... after my brain caught up with the british accent and the fast elegant talking. At first the reader was talking what seemed to be so fast and then with her accent and elegant dialogue of the time.. I was having difficulties. But I got used to it and enjoyed the book. Here is what Amazon has for a description:

Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility is a wonderfully entertaining tale of flirtation and folly that revolves around two starkly different sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. While Elinor is thoughtful, considerate, and calm, her younger sister is emotional and wildly romantic. Both are looking for a husband, but neither Elinor’s reason nor Marianne’s passion can lead them to perfect happiness—as Marianne falls for an unscrupulous rascal and Elinor becomes attached to a man who’s already engaged. Startling secrets, unexpected twists, and heartless betrayals interrupt the marriage games that follow. Filled with satiric wit and subtle characterizations, Sense and Sensibility teaches that true love requires a balance of reason and emotion. (end quote)

I enjoyed the setting of the story and reading about scandals that could happen today but handled with so much more grace and care than would be done in today's world. I did enjoy her style of writing and look forward to reading some of her other novels... or listening to them.. just depending on what I have time for first. I think it's very important to read the classics beyond your education in school. If books can stand the test of time and be so wildly popular so many years later that has to say something. You may find the book dull and outdated but I felt it was a refreshing read compared to other works of this time. I will have the movie from the library soon and will let you know what I think of that too. Happy Reading!

Honeybees

2010-04-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

For some odd reason I recently received a catalog from Williams Sonoma even though I have sadly never shopped there. Would love to be able to... but haven't. Needless to say I decided to browse through the magazine today to drool over some of the fine assortment of products and saw this...

Okay look a little closer...

See the little honeycombs and little bees? Isn't it adorable? I am a sucker for this pretty yellow... and just couldn't get over how cute. What a fun set this would be to have a few pieces from one day. The tea pieces aren't really something I would use but the serving pieces would be nice. Not anytime soon mind you but someday... Well if you are interested, here is the link on WilliamsSonoma's website.. Sorry but I just couldn't help but share the cuteness. Have a great day!

Turkey Meatloaf from Archives

2010-04-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

Archives... weird. Weird that something from just a year can be Archives. Anyhow... since I haven't the slightest bit of time to discipline myself to write today..I am going to re-post one of the first recipes I ever posted in case you are new and have never ever read it. It's quite delicious.. be nice about the pictures though.. they aren't very good. Enjoy!

Yummmm.

I know these pictures do not do it justice but appearances aside, it is really yummy. This has become one of our favorite dishes in our house. When I made it last night I decided I had to share it with you. Now keep in mind, this is coming from an extremely picky eater who never ate meatloaf until I found this one. I have always had issues with the onions people pack into them... ICK! But this one is onion free, YES! My office manager started the South Beach Diet a few years back and she was telling me about this great recipe she found in her book. We had switched our dishes with ground beef to ground turkey a long time ago to be more heart healthy. Which by the way so much stuff taste so much better with turkey. So anyways I decided to try it out. Now what you would think would be a hangup for me with the recipe turned out not to be a problem at all... shredded zucchini! I do not, will not, could not eat zucchini on a boat or a plane or any other way... but I will eat it shredded up in something! Weird I know. Without further adieu here is the recipe. I am going to give you what I do with the recipe and if you really want to know EXACTLY how the South Beach Diet does it then you should prob go buy their book, Sorry.

Turkey Meat Loaf Recipe

1 can (6 oz) no-salt-added tomato paste (If you want extra tomato sauce and really have enough to cover it, you should buy the next size up in the can section 14 oz maybe? I can't quite remember.)

1/2 cup water

1 clove garlic, minced (I just buy already minced garlic and put it in to your taste.)

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves ( I always add a few other miscellaneous spices so just whatever floats your boat.)

1/4 teaspoon salt

16 ounces of ground turkey breast

1 cup oatmeal (I usually just use bread crumbs.)

1/4 cup liquid egg substitute (I just throw one egg in there.)

1/2 cup shredded zucchini (This equals to about a whole zucchini but it just depends on how much you want in there. I shred it on a cheese grate.)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the tomato paste, water, garlic, oregano, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 min (I don't think mine ever simmers for quite 15 min but whatever just don't burn it!). Set aside.

Combine the turkey, oatmeal or bread crumbs, egg, zucchini and 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture in a large bowl. Mix well. Shape into a loaf and place onto an ungreased 8" x 4" loaf pan. (I don't use a loaf pan. Instead I use a 9"x13" baking pan and line it with that wonderful Non-stick aluminum foil. Yes it really does work and it doesn't stick at all with the added bonus of less cleanup.) Bake for 45 Min. Discard any drippings. (I never seem to have drippings.) Pour 1/2 cup of the remaining tomato mixture over the top of the loaf. (I try to cover it all over but it doesn't always work out. And you may not be able to cover it all if you want to serve any sauce on the side. Bake for an additional 15 min.

Cool for a few min before slicing and serve the remaining tomato sauce on the side. This makes enough for probably 4 with NO leftovers. You can make it bigger or do two loaves next to each other in the pan and it makes for great leftovers. Then just serve with whatever sides you like.

Is your mouth watering yet? Well maybe not but I know it is making me hungry. Lunch... anyone? Ahh... hubbie took the leftovers today... oh well. I hope you don't let the pictures or zucchini deter you from trying it becuase if I can do it YOU can do it.... seriously. I'm still learning in this great big cooking world and when I do achieve something fabulous I just feel like giving myself a little pat on the back... YES I cooked something and it was good! If you ever decide to try it, let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!

Movie not to see...

2010-04-15T10:20:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I enjoyed a day off with the family who is currently enjoying spring break. Ahh the days of spring break... almost makes me want to be a teacher to have off with hubbie and the kiddos. ALMOST... but I know that is not the proper motivation to be a fulfilling teacher.... back to point... Anyways after a morning at the beach we spent a lazy afternoon watching movies and napping and it was quite nice. The only thing I would like to share with you is that hubbie and I watched a movie that I would not recommend. The men who stare at goats. I don't share my thoughts on movies that often but I'm honestly not sure what the point of this movie was... to tell an almost true story from time past... but after completion of the movie it left me wondering why in the world I have just wasted an hour and 34 minutes of my life with such a blah movie. I would almost need to watch it again to give it another chance to pay closer attention to grasp some sort of moral or point.

Comedy def was not the point.. inspirational...nope not that either... historical teaching... nope... don't kill goats or other animals for pointless tasks.... maybe but that is stretching it... I'm at a loss. You think for a bit it may be a story of discovering yourself for the reporter in the story... but I'm still not positive.

If you have seen the movie and can offer any insight as to why you enjoyed it, please shed some light on me, it would be most appreciated. Then maybe I can have that "ah-ha" moment! But otherwise if you haven't seen it, even with the all-star cast I wouldn't recommend wasting your time. Even hubbie who will be more favorable to movies than I, was at a loss as to what the point was and what a waste it was. But... Enough of this nonsense for today. Have a wonderful day!

Extraordinary Women Conference 2010 Recap Part 1 of 4

2010-04-14T08:30:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I attended the 2010 Extraordinary Women Conference a/k/a Ewomen. Let me just say it was amazing! This was my third year in attendance and I have to say it just doesn't get old. The conference is broken up into Friday night and all day Saturday. So this part 1 will be just Friday night and I will continue on other days the rest of the information. You can click on the above link to the site to see if they are having one in your area and who the speakers and performers are as each city varies. But I am going to tell you about who we had this year in Pensacola, FL.

First up on Friday night we enjoyed praise and worship with Mandisa and her band GloriousFunk. The band was good leading worship but still just didn't have the same.... I don't know.. just wasn't the same as Charles Billingsly had been the past two years. Annnnyways...

The first speaker was Karen Kingsbury. This was my third time to hear her speak and she is always a joy to listen to. Karen is the author of tons of books that are considered life-changing fiction. I have read a few of hers and I have to say that what I have read so far I haven't been disappointed. You can probably find them under my books posts on the blog. Anyhoo, the theme for this year's conference is, Embracing Powerful Peace. And the main scripture is Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." So this was the jumping off point for the speakers talks. Karen used a book analogy and used 3 points to discuss, "How to have and know what the Happy Ending of your life will be". 1) Love deeply 2) Laugh often and 3) Find life in Christ. She gave several funny and inspiring stories and of course had to make us all cry.. again.. with her book, Let me Hold you Longer. It was a joy to hear her speak once more and a treat to hear her son sing a son he wrote. Not sure if he has a future career as a singer or would want one, but most certainly as a songwriter. It was a very beautiful song. Not sure where you could find it online but some browsing around her site might do it. Don't forget to pick up one of her books! Odd's are your library has them! You never know how your life might be changed by it.

The concert for the night was performed by Jeremy Camp. We had amazing seats and I decided to take a picture of him performing to show how close we were to the stage. We were in the center, 4th row back for both days so it was really nice. Def the best seats I have ever had at one of the conferences. He did an amazing job and I def would recommend to you to check out his site and listen to some of his music. He shared his moving testimony and I can say I definitely wouldn't mind hearing him perform live again. Please check out his music!

Well that is all for part 1 today. I hope you have an excellent day!

Dragon Birthday Cake

2010-04-13T11:30:00.005-05:00

Recently we celebrated my son's birthday and we had a dragon theme because of the movie How to Train your Dragon. You know this movie... with the super cool dragons? We took the kiddos to go see it for the birthday celebration and it was a really good kid's movie, nice and clean. Makes you want to have your own pet dragon.. although I know that is impossible... still makes you like the dragon though. And I would recommend it. But the point of this post is because we had this dragon theme I had to figure out what kind of cake to make. Sure I could get one from my favorite bakery but I really wanted to save the money and do it myself. Even if I did run the risk of another cake like last year. I contemplated the idea of just doing a sheet cake and getting the little dragon toys to put on it to take the easy way out.. but then I found this "how to" guide online and decided that it's not like I am going to have that many birthday's to do this kind of thing as the kids get older, so I am going with it and will make my own dragon looking cake. You can click on the HowTo link to see a picture of what I was using as an example. And here is how it turned out...

OK.... calm your laughter. But I really don't think it's THAT bad for a homemade cake. JBW was very proud and had to show all the kids and parents as they walked in the door. It could very easily be confused for a dinosaur.. but that's okay. The tail should have been longer but I was running out of icing so I had to shorten it a bit. At first glance you might think this is a ton of cake but really it is just two 9 inch pans cut up to make the shape. Okay so you can get a picture step by step over on the "how to" guide but I do want to tell you what I did different for a couple of the parts as I was doing some fast improvising. So here is the list of what the site says you need with my changes in Italics:

2 9-inch (23cm) round cakes

6 cups of frosting, your choice of color - I just made a regular butter cream frosting recipe that is supposed to cover a cake.. I didn't check the cups or anything but I did have to hack the tail a bit in an effort not to have to make another batch.

8 chocolate covered graham cracker cookies - I couldn't find these square cookies at the store and didn't have time to check at another one so instead I used Hershey bars. Which I think the kiddos enjoyed much more.

8 gummies and 2 Sunkist fruit slices - This is for the toes and eyebrows, and I just used those generic store brand orange slice gummies for these. I didn't cut them up or anything.

2 Blue Fruit Roll-Ups (flat, square kind) 1 Red Fruit Roll-Up (flat, square kind) 1 Yellow Fruit Roll-Up (flat, square kind) - We don't eat fruit roll-ups at our house so after I used the ones I needed I just put the leftovers in the goody bags for the kiddos since they come individually wrapped.

1 Large marshmallow - I didn't need a whole bag of marshmallow's for any other reason so instead I picked up a pack of oreos which is much more likely to be eaten at our house and broke apart one to make the eyes... something I didn't realize till I got home was that the filling was red... oh well though it still works.

2 Chocolate chips

2 Hershey's Kisses

2 Wooden Skewers - Didn't have these and wasn't going to buy them so instead I used some straws that I had in the cabinet. They were def more flimsy so the wings rested on the back leg but I really don't think it matters.

So that is all the details I have to share. OH and I think there was one more thing that suggested using a marker top for scales in the icing... but I was just a teensy bit busy that day and really didn't care about the scale effect. Sometimes you just have to know when to edit. One more picture below for a slight side view.. sorry I didn't get any of the back but I think you get the point. Hope you have a wonderful day today!

A little Happy Birthday gift to me...

2010-04-12T11:00:00.004-05:00

I had been drooling over the above cook book stand for quite some time. And it just recently occurred to me that I didn't share this little happy with you. I had purchased it a couple times for different shower gifts. Then the week of my birthday back in March it happened to go on sale for a few dollars cheaper than regular price. And since I had just received some birthday money I decided to splurge and pick it up for myself. And I have to say I have not been disappointed. I have enjoyed having my recipes propped up. It's easier to see from a few steps away. They have had it in different colors before but all I have seen are black and Bronze. I picked up the Bronze one. And was thinking wouldn't it be just a cute shower gift to get someone this cookbook stand and..... THIS cookbook....

Yes... I still want this book. Didn't get it for my birthday and didn't splurge on it so maybe mother's day? Not that I need to eat half the food in here very often but still... there's hoping. If you are interested in the heavy duty pretty cook book stand, I picked it up at Target.

Hope you have a great day today!

The fly swatter

2010-04-09T08:00:00.004-05:00

Wednesday night my daughter said something funny and I couldn't help but share. You may not think it's funny but the other day my sister laughed and said I should start a blog just based on the things that come out of her mouth. So I was tickled by this brief little sentence out of the mouth of babes and have decided to torture you with the story of it. Your welcome.

Recently there have been many mosquito hawks escaping into our house at night and the children scream and freak out till we re-assure them it's not a monster bug coming to eat them or anything. So by now.. they are pretty much over it. So the other night when AEW (3 years old remember) comes running in the kitchen to tell me that there is a mosquito in the bathroom.. I just sat and thought to myself... uhhhhh..another mosquito hawk.. aren't we over this yet. Then she continues to explain very quickly as if having read my mind and as if we are in a life and death situation.....

"Well it's not a mosquito hawk thingy that eats the little mosquitoes it IS the little mosquito and hurry quick it's in the bathroom!"

I breathe.. and head to the bathroom to destroy the evil bug. I get in there and it's not a mosquito at all but a simple house fly (mental note: need to pull out some more books on bugs for the kids to differentiate between insects.). Ughhhhh I think...that's all?!.... and I don't really feel like getting the swatter and spending 20 minutes at 8:30 at night chasing a fly. So I tell the kids...

"Oh it's just a housefly... just ignore it for now."

kids: "oh"

.....minutes later... JBW is in the bathroom trying to swat it with a comb...

me: "Please stop whacking the comb all over the bathroom.. it will be fine."

AEW enters to be involved in whatever is going on.... and her exasperated know it all response....

"Noo JBW....MOM has to get the killer thing to kill it! uh you can't just use a comb!"

Ha. I wish I could convey to you the hilarity of the serious tone in her voice about the "killer thing" aka fly swatter. The end.

Epilogue: I never did get the killer thing and kill it. Not sure where it ended up. It probably found it's way outside (hopefully) or will be vacuumed up sometime in the near future.

I hope that you have an amazing weekend! I know I will.. I am attending an Extraordinary women Conference and can't wait! Have a great day!

PW's Potato Salad

2010-04-08T11:00:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week I told you how I made Potato Salad for the first time and would post later this week... well it's later. This was my first time mainly because I don't like Potato Salad so I never really had a drive to cook it. But hubbie wanted some and it sounded like a good side to throw in with dinner. Since i had no clue about Potato Salad I decided to check out my faithful and favorite blog, The Pioneer Woman. And of course, she had a potato salad recipe!

And well, I made it and it was fabulous! Or at least other people thought so... because I wasn't about to try it. I know, I know.. I say I'm getting better but the mayonnaise/mustard/pickle concoction involved was not something I'm ready for... YICK... baby steps people.

Okay so I am not going to bother re-posting recipe here since you can go to her site and get an amazing step by step photo process and print a recipe card. But judging from my family's reactions I do recommend it. Click here to go to it on her site.

One last thing... the ONLY thing I changed about the recipe is that I diced er uh chopped some potatoes rather than using a ricer or whatever it is that she is doing. And for some weird reason mine came out all yellower than hers. Not sure why but nevertheless just want you to know that was all I changed.

Hope you enjoy! Have a great day!

Still haven't figured out anywhere new..

2010-04-07T10:36:00.005-05:00

Last year about this time I wrote the below post that I have re-posted here to see if any newer readers have any ideas to help me. After I wrote this I just hoarded all my 35 mm film and when I went to visit hubbie's family in SC I took it to their Ritz. And basically that's what I'm doing again. Until I have a rockin digital camera I still fall back on my good ole Canon rebel 35 mm to take pictures at times. Anyways keep reading and see if you have any suggestions.

I learned this week that my absolute favorite place I get my pictures developed is gone. Yup GONE. They closed the Fairhope shop and are now only in Mobile or Pensacola. What to do?? I just love the crispiness (technical term) of the print and the white borders. If you compare a Wal-Mart photo and a Ritz Camera photo, there is a HUGE difference. I know that some online services give you the choice of white borders with digital prints but these are for my 35 mm. SO now I have to find somewhere new to go because Pensacola and Mobile are out of the question. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where do you get your stuff developed? I am very particular.... I heard that Walgreens isn't to bad.. but I just don't know! I guess I could see if they have a through the mail system. What to do?

Any help you can offer is much appreciated. Have a great Wednesday!

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew

2010-04-06T08:14:00.005-05:00

Our Book club just finished up this book for the month of March and I hadn't shared it on the blog before, so figured it was time. I had read the book a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it and figured my fellow readers would as well. Who knows you might even too! The book is non-fiction about the life of Brother Andrew who co-wrote it with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The book is about 255 pages and really doesn't have any fluff. There are no lacking parts, it is a story of constant action. Here is what the back of the book tells you:

As a boy, Brother Andrew dreamed of being an undercover spy working behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself working undercover for God. His was a mission filled with danger, financed by faith, supported by miracles. Told it was impossible to minister behind the Iron Curtain, Andrew knew that nothing was too hard for God. Crossing "closed" borders, he prayed, "Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to Your children. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see." And they never did. For thirty-five years, Brother Andrew's life story has inspired millions to step out on their own journeys of faith. This young Dutch factory worker's near-incredible adventures testify of God's step-by-step guidance and hour-by-hour provision-available to all who follow His call. Far from being over, Brother Andrew's current adventures are his most challenging yet. In a new prologue and epilogue, his story is carried into the new millennium with an account of Andrew's work in the "closed" societies of Islam.(end quote)

I had a great response on this one and those who read it really enjoyed it. It is a constant reminder of believing in God's provision in any circumstance. I encourage you to read it and share with others. The work that Brother Andrew has done and continues to do for the Glory of God is amazing. Happy Reading!

Happy Late Easter!

2010-04-05T12:08:00.003-05:00

Wow. I was just looking back at what I wrote last year the day after Easter... since ya know I've been bloggin for one year now.... and completely forgot I was sick last Easter. Thankfully this year I am nice and healthy aside from a dose of continual exhaustion. But that's my fault and could make a whole other post. :) Moving on....

Yesterday we had a great Easter at Church and at home with our family. Hubbie and I were greeters yesterday during the service and we enjoyed it. So often we miss seeing so many people beause of us teaching/working in the back every other Sunday. And it was nice to get to see all our church family as they came in the doors. Our Pastor gave a sermon that rocked. If it had a theme I guess you could say it was, "There's a resurrection goin' on!" He talked about those who try to discredit the resurrection of Jesus and about the continual resurrection that is celebrated everyday. Jesus died so that we could have a Resurrection too. He died and rose again so that we could have eternal life as well. Our Pastor used lots of examples of how often there really is a

"resurrection goin' on!" Every time some one gives their life to Christ, "There's a resurrection goin' on!" Every time we decide to react to someone with love instead of anger or unkindness, "There's a resurrection goin' on!". Every time some one chooses to turn back to their spouse and/or family, "There's a resurrection goin' on!" And it could go on for quite some time but those were just a few examples. He would name these things and the congregation would respond, "There's a resurrection goin' on!" He got this quote from another pastor who's name I can't remember at the moment and built on it from there. I really enjoyed the message of hope, renewal, Resurrection and how he got the rest of us involved. And I don't think I was the only one that enjoyed it being that he had over 10 people "like" his facebook status with "There's a resurrection goin' on!" haha! And funny that when I got online today I see that one of my fav blogs had the theme of a continual resurrection as well.

That afternoon my family came over for dinner. We had Boston butt and other fixin's. I know Boston Butt probably isn't very traditional.... But hey! it was what was in the freezer! I made PW's potato salad and will share that with you later this week. Overall it was a really nice day and I'll get more into other details of the weekend in other posts. For now, I hope you had a great Easter weekend! And remember, "There's a resurrection goin' on!"

Have a great Monday!

One year

2010-04-01T12:06:00.010-05:00

Today is my blog-anniversary and I can't believe I have been writing for a year now. I know I can be slack at times and it goes slow and certainly been slack this week... but a year? My how time goes right on by. I have posted 230 times and can't believe that people actually sometimes read it in this big wide world of the Internet. Or I can't believe the places they are from. Sometimes I wonder how people come across my blog... I certainly feel bad for them when they Googled, "Yummy Yummy Sauce" and get this post. More often than not, people Google for books and come across me or the Cool Whip icing is a big favorite. Or they have seen me on some one's blog post making a comment. Goodness knows that the majority of my followers are friends that I threatened to become a follower or else.... what else I don't know... but it sounds good. Thank you friends and those of you followers who are just because you want to.

So. A year. Wow. Looking back at all the random things I have talked about I have an urging to change my blog title. To what else I'm not sure.. but other than cooking I didn't quite get into all the other little projects in my dreams. I know I am quite clear that this is all ATTEMPTS at LittleMrsDomestic activities but I just don't feel like it fits anymore and maybe never did.

OKAY whoa need to stop right there...because this post is not supposed to be depressing or questioning. I guess I am just in a funk this week and not in the mood to write. But I am pondering changing the name to something not quite so specific as I start another year of writing. Who or what or when... I'm not sure.

I have had lots of stuff going on the past couple weeks and will for the next couple weeks. I suppose that maybe after I am done with these few weeks of extreme busy I will be better and more in the mood to write.

And as I write all this self-involved blog talk.. my mind returns to a bigger matter. Today is Maundy Thursday in Holy Week. Today we remember Jesus and what he taught us about servanthood and what happened during that time before Good Friday. I am stealing from my Pastor's FB status and sharing with you what the word Maundy means in case you are interested, "The word “Maundy” is a derivative of the Latin, “mandatum” from which we get the English word “mandate”. It comes from the first word of the phrase “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos” (“A new commandment [mandate] I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you”), the statement by Jesus in the Gospel of John 13:34." I urge you to think about this day and how Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and how Jesus shared his last bit of time with them. Pick up a bible or go to Biblegateway and check out the Gospel of John and see what Jesus did for you.

Anyhoo it feels wrong going back to me but I want to say thanks for reading and commenting. Unless you are a blogger, I understand, it's hard to empathize with the desire to have comments and what it's like to be notified when someone comments on your blog. But for those of you who don't know.. it means A L O T. Thank you. Thanks for sticking around for a year and hopefully I will be doing this another year and getting better. I hope you are having a wonderful week! Don't forget to remember what today is all about.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

2010-03-25T12:14:00.006-05:00

I just finished listening to this book on CD. This is one that had been on my reading list for some time now and when I was looking for another book to listen to on CD the library happened to have this one. This book is about 204 pages and tells the story of Steve Martin's life of stand up. And instead of repeating information here is what Amazon tells you the book is about:

At age 10, Steve Martin got a job selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland. In the decade that followed, he worked in Disney's magic shop, print shop, and theater, and developed his own magic/comedy act. By age 20, studying poetry and philosophy on the side, he was performing a dozen times a week, most often at the Disney rival, Knott's Berry Farm. Obsession is a substitute for talent, he has said, and Steve Martin's focus and daring--his sheer tenacity--are truly stunning. He writes about making the very tough decision to sacrifice everything not original in his act, and about lucking into a job writing for The Smothers Brothers Show. He writes about mentors, girlfriends, his complex relationship with his parents and sister, and about some of his great peers in comedy--Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage. This book is a memoir, but it is also an illuminating guidebook to stand-up from one of our two or three greatest comedians. Though Martin is reticent about his personal life, he is also stunningly deft, and manages to give readers a feeling of intimacy and candor. Illustrated throughout with black and white photographs collected by Martin, this book is instantly compelling visually and a spectacularly good read. (end quote)

I enjoyed listening to it but I had also checked the actual book out from the library so that I could see the pictures he included. It was interesting to hear about his life and I learned alot about him. Like I had no idea it was he who coined the phrase, "Well excuuuuuussseee ME!" How funny!? It was an entertaining quick read/listen and I did enjoy it. If you are a fan of Steve Martin's I would recommend it. He reads the book on CD so I think that listening to it is probably better than reading but I would do like I did.. and get the book for pictures too. It's nice to have the visuals. Happy Reading!

"Best Frosting ever"

2010-03-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

Hello! I would have posted this sooner but I have been taking care of sick AEW and wasn't in the mood for writing. Above you will see the cupcakes that I made for a fundraiser at church Sunday. I know it's not Easter yet but that doesn't mean we can't go ahead and have some cute stuff. I do want to tell you that I did try the "Best frosting ever" recipe I told you about Friday. And the conclusion is.....

I don't think it's the best frosting I have ever had.

Whew.. there I said it. Yes it was yummy buuuut it's just not the best. I have had far better butter cream or cream cheese or cool whip. BUT my friend CB did text me and tell me that she thought it was the best icing ever. So I think it just depends on you. I would recommend trying it because you just don't know, it may be the best ever frosting for you. But for me, I don't know that I will be using it again any time soon. Plus this frosting is a touch more work than a regular frosting so I am partial to the ones that everything goes in one bowl....wham bam your done.

Annd, Enough of me. You can go to the Tasty Kitchen blog by clicking here to see the recipe and watch The Pioneer Woman's step by step. Hope you enjoy! And here's the hope that you are having a great week!

Trying out another new icing recipe this weekend...

2010-03-19T08:30:00.002-05:00

(Pioneer Women's Photo)

This week I was asked to donate a dessert to a function at church for the upcoming weekend. You may remember that I have tried out several icing recipes in the past and shared them with you, cream cheese, cool whip and some other ones that were just attempts at butter cream so you know I like icing and am always searching for the best recipe. My mom had the best icing recipe ever.. but we never had it written down and my attempts to re-create it are rather depressing. But I digress, as I have been pondering over what to bring, The Pioneer Woman posted this recipe that she had found on Tasty Kitchen. And if you still don't know what Tasty Kitchen is.. please check it out.. but not when you are hungry because it will just make the hunger pains worse.

Anyhoo I decided that I am going to make Chocolate cupcakes and use this new recipe. Yup ANOTHER new icing attempt... I wonder how many posts I have that say this? But Oh well! This recipe is different because it has an odd ingredient.... flour. So I couldn't help but be intrigued by "That’s the Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had" title and have decided I have to try it out too. I will be sure to let you know the verdict next week. Until then I hope you and yours have a splendid weekend!

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-03-18T09:19:00.004-05:00

Today is my 25th birthday. And it seems quite self-involved to talk about my birthday on my blog for some reason even though if you think about it a blog is quite self-involved... but I have to share with you a funny story. Yesterday as you know was St. Patricks Day... the day before my birthday every year since St. Patricks day is always on the 17th of March and my birthday always on the 18th.. got it? So every year as long as I can remember some form of my birthday celebration winds up taking place on St. Pattys. Why? Maybe because everyone is already celebrating and my birthday is so close... why not just celebrate both!? But more often than not something else is going on the day of my birthday that is inconvenient so changes are made to accommodate.

Hence.. yesterday the friend who's turn it was at work to bring the cake was going to be out of the office today so she brought my birthday cake yesterday. It was a super yummy chocolate fudge cake from Wal-Mart. Very moist and heavy. So I left the leftover cake in the fridge at work for us to eat on more today. Well I leave work pick up JBW to head to church to get AEW and have Wed night Study. I tell JBW about the cake (which chocolate is his favorite) and tell him how I will bring him some home tomorrow (which is now today) And he is completely not interested... so I think to myself okay that's weird... he'll probably change his mind when I bring it home.

Moving on..So go to church and come home to the lights out except for two candles (2 5) lit on a birthday cake with hubbie and JBW saying surprise! And I was quite surprised!! They had gone in to cahoots together unknown to AEW and I and bought me a birthday cake and cards! (side note: Hubbie coaches high school soccer and has a game on my birthday night so would be unable to do the cake tonight.) And wouldn't you know it... hubbie picked out the EXACT same cake that my co-worker had picked out!!! How Ironic? ... and fattening too... very fattening.. So of course JBW wasn't interested in my cake at work because he had other plans!!

I had no idea Hubbie was doing anything of the sort but was so surprised and happy.... Even with two cakes! Last night before I went to bed I put this as my facebook status, " got a yummy chocolate cake today at work.. had a good night at church and then came home to find a birthday surprise of the same kind of chocolate cake. How funny is that!? Sooo good but soo bad!!" To which my friend VP replied, "If a man has 2 cakes he should give a man with no cakes his extra cake." Oh, wait...was it coats or cakes? I'm going with cakes :)" Which had me laughing at my desk this morning and will prob keep me in smiles all day. And I am def sharing my cakes... I hope my co-workers take their fill!! This weekend we are going out to dinner with some friends at my favorite restaurant and I am really looking forward to it.

So that's the end of my silly/fattening little story! Hope you have a good day!

The Mysterious Benedict Society By Trenton Lee Stewart

2010-03-17T15:47:00.007-05:00

n the past couple of weeks I have been listening to a children's book series called, The Mysterious Benedict Society. I first saw this book in the newspaper because the author came to a local bookstore for a signing that the children in the area had won in a contest. I was intrigued by the name and the way the cover looked and thought it might be interesting. Because of my lack of time to read and too many books to read I chose to listen to them on CD from the Library. There are three books in the series and I am unsure if the author will write anymore. The books are fiction and have quite a bit of pages, but like other large children books, Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, I think if the child is interested enough they won't mind the long book. Here is a little summary of each book and it's picture from the books main site:

Book 1: The Mysterious Benedict Society

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. With their new found friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all? (end quote)

Book 2: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

They are back with a new mission: a mind-bending international scavenger hunt designed to test their individual talents. As they search for all the clues and riddles Mr. Benedict had hidden for them, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance face an unexpected challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and require them to fight for the very namesake that united them. (end quote)

Book 3: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

"Is this the end of the Mysterious Benedict Society?" Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before. (end quote)

I like how the author wrote the book to make it easy to relate with different children. I also liked that these children were not interested in television to have fun. In the book these children were clever and smart and liked solving riddles, puzzles and mysteries. I would recommend these for your kiddos and hope to have mine read them when they get old enough. Happy Reading!

Nutella

2010-03-16T10:36:00.004-05:00

I have a slight addiction to peanut butter. It's soooo good. I don't think I have had much that I didn't like with peanut butter... other than a pb & J..because I don't like jelly. Anyhoo.. a friend of mine told me that if I like Peanut Butter so much.. do NOT try Nutella because it is equally addictive. And if you don't know what it is here is the handy definition from the site, "Nutella® (pronounced "new-tell-uh") is a tasty unique spread made from the combination of roasted hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. Nutella® has no artificial colors or preservatives."

Soo.. for a long time I didn't think anything of it and stayed away. Then last week Target had it on sale so to try it I wouldn't have to pay full price and decided to go for it. It was definitely a bad and good move. Very yummy... but def a temptation. Slathering it on a couple pieces of toast is soooo good and I highly recommend you don't succumb to the temptation. That is unless you are one of those people who can eat whatever and whenever they want and never gain an ounce of weight. Then feel free to eat away because it is certainly not low on the Sugar and Carb count. Other than on some toast.. Does anyone else have some other suggestions for how you eat your Nutella?

The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser

2010-03-15T08:30:00.004-05:00

I just finished up reading the 443 page book, The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser. This is a Christian Fiction based on some historical facts and settings. Here is the description from the back of the book:

Getting Past Her Grief Would Lead Her Across Town - To a Whole New World Mary Swan Middleton has always taken for granted the advantages of her family's wealth. But a tragedy that touches all of Atlanta sends her reeling in grief. When the family maid challenges her to reach out to the less fortunate as a way to ease her own pain, Mary Swan meets Carl - and everything changes. For although Carl is her opposite in nearly every way, he has something her privileged life could not give her. And when she seeks his help to uncover a mystery, she learns far more than she ever could have imagined. (End quote)

Months ago a friend of mine referred me to this book back when I first started the book club. Well I am always reading for new options and decided to pick this one up finally. I was originally hesitant because I knew it had a sequel (The Dwelling Place) and wasn't sure if this book could stand on it's own without the next book(s). This is a good sized book and I have to admit has taken some time for me to get through. I felt like the beginning opened strong, lagged throughout spots in the middle then finished up with a bang. Throughout the middle I had to make myself pick the book up and read and thinking that it's not going to be one I would care to read on to the sequel. Then at the end it had me in tears and loving it. I guess in a way now I understand how some felt about Redeeming Love who felt the same feelings. And now I know (when I have time) I will read the sequel. I feel like the author left lots of questions un-answered at the end about all the different people who played such an important role in the life of the main character, Mary Swan. Anyways this will not be a book club selection for us but that's not to say I wouldn't recommend it. When I do get around to reading The Dwelling Place I will def share that with you too. Happy Reading!

Lynn Meadows Discovery Center

2010-03-12T09:11:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday we went to the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport, MS. It was a little ways from where we are but not to bad of a drive. An easy day trip. The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center is the only Children's museum in Mississippi and it did not disappoint. The kids had a blast and we did too playing with them. AEW's favorite part was shopping at the "Supermarket." We took turns shopping and checking each other out. It was soo much fun. (I know I'm a big kid too!) And JBW loved the climbing structure you see above. I honestly don't know how to describe it so just check out the picture and take my word that it was pretty cool. This place had so many different play scenarios set up that the kids were practically overwhelmed with excitement. They had a pretend airport/airplane area, tea party, TV studio, train, and so much more. Please check out the website for the center and you can see what I mean. It was only $7 a person and it is so worth it. It has been over a year now that we wanted to take the kids and finally did. We plan to go back again soon with some more friends and maybe bring a picnic lunch.

On another note.. Thankfully the weather was beautiful and traffic wasn't bad unless you count the rogue refrigerator. Yes you heard that right... refrigerator... in traffic... As we were driving to the center we start to hit some slooow traffic and figure it must be some kind of accident up ahead. We get to the problem.. and on the other side of the interstate are cars stopped and a refrigerator lying on the side of the road. In the middle of the median is the car that apparently hit the fridge with it's front end all messed up. But.. no truck anywhere to be seen that even looks like it could have been carrying it. Sooo this means that those poor people had to get hit by a refrigerator and that.. not very smart person... who didn't tie down there fridge good enough didn't even notice when it flew out! (Or they did and just didn't stop.) BUT I am giving them the benefit of the doubt here people. Just think when they got to where they were going, get out and see the fridge is gone!!! Whoa that would be freaky. Anyhoo... just had to share that little random happening with you since it all happened on our trip to the discovery center.

I hope you have a super weekend and if you are doing any traveling, watch for refrigerators!

Guernsey Sweet Cake

2010-03-11T08:30:00.002-06:00

Recently my book club read the book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer. I told you about this book back here on the blog. And we had our meeting at the end of February where I wanted to make a traditional Guernsey dish for that morning. I chose to make a Guernsey Sweet Cake out of some recipes a friend had given me. Her family is originally from Guernsey and she still goes back to visit with those still living there so she had some good ones in her arsenal but me not being as skilled as her just took the easy way out. And of course I had to share with you. As always my notes are in Italics.

Ingredients:

6 oz butter (not margarine)

6 oz caster sugar aka superfine sugar (I just used regular sugar)

3 eggs

5 oz self rising four

3 oz plain flour

1 to 2 tblsps milk (I used 2)

Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add milk and finally fold in mixed flour. Bake in a 2 Ib. loaf tin or equivalent size for approximately 1 and 1/2 hours at 325. I baked mine in a 8 inch cake pan because I didn't have a loaf tin for 1 hr and 15 min.

I was kinda freaked out making it since I had no clue what it was supposed to turn out like. And after it was done... my thoughts were.. is it like a cornbread? a pound cake?.... hmmm I would have to say it's like a cross between the two. Slightly grainy like cornbread but not really possibly because of me using regular sugar than using superfine... ?? Although a pound cake would be the best comparison because it would probably be real good with some fruit and cool whip. But we just had it plain with coffee and that was good too. So there you have it folks, An easy from scratch traditional Guernsey Dish. OH and if you don't know what or where the Island of Guernsey is... click here!

Oscar Dress picks... sort of...

2010-03-08T12:13:00.012-06:00

I know I know. It's the cliche thing to do today.. comment on the Oscar dresses.. but I felt like overall last nights were way better than what we have been seeing. I'm not one to usually watch award shows... more often I just like to look at what everyone was wearing and who won the next day. But last night, hubs and I actually watched quite a bit of it and it wasn't too bad. Or at least not from my perspective considering I don't really have past shows to compare it to. Anyhoo lots of pretty ruffles and detail on dresses and bright lipstick. I'm not a fan of bright lipstick... not sure why....because it's just unnatural maybe ... not sure.. Well I started to write out this whole long depiction of my opinions and thoughts on the dresses that I liked and didn't like... and halfway through I lost interest. SO here are a couple of my favorites and that I would so wear somewhere in a heartbeat.. Not that I have anywhere extra special to go.. but you get the point.

Kristen Stewart.. Surprisingly well put together. And the dress has a beautiful flow to it.

Helen Mirren. Such a beauty as always!

Rachel McAdams... Beeeeautiful! I love the colors and her too!

Demi Moore.. I'm not a fan of skin color dresses usually but this is gorgeous.

Penelope Cruz... and I don't even like red usually but this is fantastic.

And that is all of the opinion you are getting out of me today. Zip. The end.

Wasn't going to talk about this today originally..

2010-03-05T10:35:00.007-06:00

But... after reading an update from one of my favorite blogs, This is Reverb. I decided I had to share with you too and pass on the information. I could go on about how yesterday I took my two children to the doctor who were feeling a little under the weather and I was shocked to learn one had strep throat but I won't bore you with that story. Instead you are going to head over and read Ryan's latest post on his current trip in Kenya and be touched by what Compassion International is doing there. Ryan and his wife have gone to Kenya on a bloggers trip with Compassion and the trip will be highlighted on all the different blogger sites who have gone. Ryan will continue to update about his trip but I felt the need to share this initial post with you so that you might be inspired to keep reading and maybe sponsor a child.

Another favorite blogger, Pioneer Woman, also had family that went to the Dominican Republic on a trip with Compassion International and you can read about their experience by clicking here. Compassion sponsors children from all walks of faith all over the world not just Christian ones. Okay well that's it for today. Go read up on their stuff and consider what they are doing and maybe what you could do to help. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

New developments in my picky eating...

2010-03-04T11:33:00.004-06:00

Now to some of you who know of my life long pickiness against many foods in general, this may come as a surprise. And others of you it may not be a surprise... but nevertheless I am sharing it anyway because frankly.. I don't have the info I was going to share with you today because I left it at home.. and this is precisely the kind of thing I would pick up the phone and call my mom about if she were here. So here it is folks... the moment you probably never thought would happen... I.... like... BROCCOLI! Yup.. I sure do. This past weekend we were eating at a luncheon and in the salad there just happened to be little bits of broccoli. Of course some ended up on my plate and lately since I am feeling more adventurous these days in my tasting I decided to eat it! And thought wow.. it's not that bad.. grant it there was salad dressing involved... but STILL!

This is a huge breakthrough for me people. Not to many years ago I would have turned my nose up at the broccoli and shoved it to the side of the plate to be left lonesome. But nope.. this week I have actually been eating broccoli florets as a snack throughout the day... with some help from veggie dip. All this being said... I may not be able to do the fully cooked broccoli.. because of the mushiness of it. But I am up to trying it... maybe with some cheese slathered on top.. I always hear people talk about it like that. Anyhoo.. rest assured progress is being made in my eating habits and I will update the next time we have any major developments. In the meantime.. resume your regular schedule.

"Do unto Otters..."

2010-03-03T15:09:00.006-06:00

Recently while browsing the bookshelves at the Library for some books for the kiddos I came across a new children's book author... or you know.. new to me anyway! Her name is Laurie Keller and she writes and illustrates her books as well as illustrating for others. I picked up the book, "Do unto Otters. A book about Manners." I thought it was a cute play on words and looked promising. Took it home and JBW got to reading it before I could and fell in love with it. He has read it to many times to count since I brought it home. And after I finally read it with him I couldn't get over the adorable story and all the little details the author puts into her work. And there are lots of little details! Each page is like a treasure hunt as you look around to see all the little funny things she adds to the story.She even has special details for the title page and each book's ending about the author is different and pertains to the story of the book. They are so funny! I was so captivated just as JBW was that I have ordered the book online for him and will be sticking it in his Easter Basket. I know he will be excited! She took something that children sometimes find hard to understand and made it fun to use good manners. And this book is just the tip of the iceberg, she also has several other books available. And like some crazy person I now have checked out from the library every book she has written. We haven't started them all yet but I'm excited because they all look promising. Last night we did read the book, "Arnie the Doughnut" and we fell in love with that one too. It was quite funny. I know I sound like a stalker or obsessed as I continue to gab but they really are great children's books. I hope this author continues to do what she does best and I have a feeling we will be purchasing other books of hers in the future. Check out her fun website for a list of all her books and other info.

Sorry I missed ya yesterday, I had the day off!!! Hope your week is going swell!

Update on the Duvet

2010-03-01T11:07:00.002-06:00

Remember back here when I told you about how I am browsing for a Duvet? Well I did purchase the one I showed you, the white with the stripes... and got it in on Friday evening. Kudos to PotteryBarn for super quick standard shipping, but I didn't like it. The fit was just all wrong. It looked like it would look great on a queen size bed but on the king it just looked horrible. The stripes were all off.. and YES I did have it on the correct way and YES I checked the package, measured and everything and it was def a king. I was quite irritated but called PotteryBarn to get my return number and their customer service was super nice. Now I know to write down the measurements of that bed set and know that for the king I will need something with longer sides. Makes me want to move back to a queen size bed... lol. Anyhoo... so for now I am still on my search.. wish I wasn't so picky. But I will just have to keep a watchful eye out. I will most definitely update you when I find something. Have a great Monday!

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

2010-02-26T09:49:00.006-06:00

Recently I finished listening to this book on CD, Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. I am a big fan of his and love every book he has written so far with this one included. Here is what Mitch's website tells us about the book:

"Albom’s first nonfiction book since Tuesdays with Morrie, Have a little Faith begins with an unusual request: an 82-year-old rabbi from Albom’s old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy.

Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which throws him back into a world of faith he’d left years ago. Meanwhile, closer to his current home, Albom becomes involved with a Detroit pastor – a reformed drug dealer and convict – who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof.

Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, impoverished and well-to-do, Mitch observes how these very different men employ faith similarly in fighting for survival: the older, suburban rabbi, embracing it as death approaches; the younger, inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.

As America struggles with hard times and people turn more to their beliefs, Mitch and the two men of God explore issues that perplex modern man: how to endure when difficult things happen; what heaven is; intermarriage; forgiveness; doubting God; and the importance of faith in trying times. Although the texts, prayers and histories are different, Albom begins to realize a striking unity between the two worlds - and indeed, between beliefs everywhere.

In the end, as the rabbi nears death and a harsh winter threatens the pastor’s wobbly church, Albom sadly fulfills the last request and writes the eulogy. And he finally understands what both men had been teaching all along: the profound comfort of believing in something bigger than yourself.

Have a Little Faith is a book about a life’s purpose; about losing belief and finding it again; about the divine spark inside us all. It is one man’s journey, but it is everyone’s story." (end quote)

I really enjoyed listening to this book and cried in the car as it finished up. I plan on making this a book club selection for our group as soon as it comes out on paperback because right now it's only available in hardcover. I would recommend picking this one up. It's not very long (only 192 pgs) so it would make for a quick read. Listening to it on CD was only 4 hours. Albom isn't pushy on either religion but just tells these two different inspirational stories. As with his other books I really don't think you will be disappointed. Happy Reading!

No one's perfect

2010-02-25T09:06:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I never did venture into blogging land because I just was not in the mood to write.. lately I have been like that especially on my book club blog where I am supposed to be writing all the time. I guess I just have writers block or something... I'm not really sure. Although that may not even pin it down correctly... I think it really has just been one long downward spiral since I started it last year for the book club. As month's went on comments were fewer and then none and I think motivation has slowly been slipping away. But that's okay too. I know just as well as anyone that people are busy leading their busy lives. The pressure to do it has been placed by me alone and I am the one who can choose to remove it (the pressure), which I have been slowly letting slip away. You live and learn and oh well no one's perfect.

Anyhoo yesterday I especially had placed pressure on myself as I had volunteered to cook the meal for Wed. night church. It seems to always be the same rotation of people cooking and now that I had some time I could take off and help, I wanted to do so. I cooked this bean soup recipe and served it with bread. I got it all ready in crock pots (Thanks VP for letting me borrow yours) and put in the fridge on Tuesday night. Took it to church on Wed morning when I took AEW to school. I was so busy getting that together and making sure about it that I forgot to put an actual lunch item in AEW's lunchbox. Yes there were snacks and other things... but no sandwich, no chicken fingers, no corn dog, nothing. And what is worse is that I didn't realize it till this morning when I went to go make her lunch and couldn't remember what I gave her yesterday... later to ask her about it in the car and she confirmed what I was afraid of... there was nothing. She had cereal and a banana for lunch. Which I know isn't the end of the world and luckily I always over pack snacks anyway. But still... it makes me feel like a horrible mom. I apologized to her and she didn't seem to mind to much. But I def know that I don't want to let that happen again. I need to step back sometimes and focus on one task at a time and not multitask like a crazy person physically and mentally. I will work on this and it is okay. I'm sure I'm not the first mom in the history of the world to make this mistake and it certainly won't be my last mistake. But that's okay because no one's perfect. And I am showing AEW that I'm not perfect and make mistakes and it's okay for her too.

I recently read the following Homeschooling post on PW's site by Mrs. G and had to share this quote with you as recently compliments were raised to me on how I can seem to do so many things with my time,

"You know those women who always look impeccable, whose houses and cars are always clean, whose nail polish is never chipped—who always seem to have it together?

They’ve probably got bodies buried in their basements."

Not that I have a basement or any bodies buried for that matter... but I found that statement humorous and also true and felt nudging to write about this. No one really has it all together and if they do they just might be cracking up too. The same women that compliment each of us we are turning around and thinking of things we wish we did like them. Our society certainly places high standards that we in turn place on ourselves and each other and sometimes we just need the reminder that it's okay to not always have it all together. I certainly don't have it all together nor want to pretend I do and I'm okay with that. No one's perfect. Thankfully I have the personality that can easily let things go. Dishes can sit in the sink dirty for a night and the world won't end, the floors can be messy for a night....err... few nights.. and the world won't end, the kids can stay up an till 9:30 if that's what it takes to spend some time with them that day and let them know they are loved and the world won't end because bedtime was not on time. I urge you to go here and read the full article by Mrs. G which does have to do with homeschooling but can really be applied to everyone where sometimes we just have those crazy days. Each one of us is more alike than we notice. NO one's perfect.

Oh and in case you are wondering. Dinner turned out fine.. little salty but fine. SO first cooking experience for many folks was a success. Have a good Thursday!

Browsing for Duvets and possibly the winner

2010-02-23T14:18:00.008-06:00

Apologies for yesterday's absence. I hope you and yours had a nice weekend. I know we did as my grandmother came and stayed the weekend with us and the weather was spectacular as well. But on to other matters, we are in desperate* need of a new bedding set. (*adjectives added for pure dramatic effect as our current state of bedding could continue to be used for quite some time with problems and all but that is neither here nor there) Ours is ripped in places and one side of it the material beads up and it weirds me out to touch it and it's just not soft. I have this weird thing about touching certain surfaces like velvet and this weird bumpy thing our comforter is doing, etc. Anyhoo this is something hubbie and I both want to update in our room and go back to a duvet like we used to have when we first got hitched. I happened upon a super sale at JCPenney last week and picked one up. Now to find a cover. We both want to go back to neutrals like we have had in the past and then I can mix in colors as I feel like it. This so far is the #1 choice that I found on sale at Pottery Barn.

It's a tan color called Sandalwood for the stripe detail. And the below picture is another white duvet but not a candidate for purchase because of $$ and it has ruffles that I don't believe Hubbie would agree with but anyhoo it's for general purposes of showing you the look I am going for here.

I like how they have different patterns and colors of quilted pillows mixed in with the white. This is what my plan will be: find those quilted items to mix in on clearance at Target or PB as well as a nice quilt to throw on the bed for pops of color and warmth. Hubbie and I are strange and enjoy sleeping with our fan on full blast regardless of the temperature outside so the quilt will be used. I love quilts but one for our bed would not suffice, I have to have the comforter/duvet as well. So anyway this is what I am going for and will let you know after I have completed my browsing what I decide with the purchase. And since I will continue to browse clearance sections for my other pieces I believe the revamping of the bed set won't break the bank. Which by the way have you seen how much a King bed skirt cost lately?? *shudder* That is one purchase I don't look forward to making and will def keep scoping out the clearance. If I was cool enough to know how to sew I could whip up my own but for now my torn one will suffice until it's replacement. Enough of rambling on about bedding. Have a great Tuesday!

He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado

2010-02-19T08:30:00.002-06:00

Recently I finished up reading the book, He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado. This is a non-fiction book all about what Jesus dying on the cross means to each of us. I am looking for a book for our group to read during Easter time and so far no luck. I enjoy Lucado's writing and his style but while I enjoyed the book at times it wasn't quite what I was looking for right now. Here is the Amazon review:

Reading a Max Lucado book is as comfortable as having coffee and conversation with a close friend. He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart is signature Lucado: warm, conversational storytelling blended with scripture, humor, and vulnerability.
Lucado invites us to understand the symbols surrounding Christ's crucifixion and celebrate the significance of the promises they offer. From the sign in different languages tacked to the cross ("I will speak to you in your language") to the burial clothing ("I can turn your tragedy into triumph"), he speaks of each symbol as a "gift of grace" that reveals God's love for mankind. Lucado takes us to Calvary and shows us our sins nailed between the hand of Jesus and the cross. "You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you," writes Lucado. "You've chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, 'If only I could make up for those bad choices.' You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours." Whether he's bantering around phrases like "the hall monitors of holiness" or crafting a deeper expository on the crown of thorns, Lucado neatly balances the task of making his words accessible to a broad audience while delivering a meaty message on God's greatest sacrifice. Pick up this insightful read, and you'll be glad you made the choice. --Cindy Crosby (end quote)

This book is about 157 page with a study/discussion guide in the back of the book. Lucado has other books centered around Easter that if I have time I may look into for April since I couldn't get one picked for March. I also picked up another book by him called The Great House of God which breaks down The Lord's Prayer but couldn't really get into it. I know that we will do another one of his books for the group at some point but need the time and nudging to come for the right one. He is such a talented author I hope you will consider to read some of his work. He does such a great job of connecting with his reader. Happy Reading!

Laughing Cow Chicken and CousCous

2010-02-18T12:39:00.003-06:00

Sorry. I know I am slacking in the post department for the past couple days. BUT I was off work Tuesday, went to a Mardi Gras parade and played Super Mario with friends the rest of the afternoon so just never bothered with the computer. (HEY... don't knock super mario... if that's what your thinking.) Then yesterday again I had more than half a day off work and just didn't bother. Anyhoo I want to share this dish with you that I threw together one night and have now made quite a few times for hubbie and I. I don't have an exact recipe but thought I would give you the jest of it.

3 boneless skinless chicken breast

6 wedges of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese - see picture- (or whatever you want to use)

1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon olive oil

Misc. spices

Preheat oven to 375. Rinse chicken breast and cut in cubes. Place cut up chicken in skillet with olive oil. Brown chicken and sprinkle in whatever misc. spices you want to use. While chicken is browning combine all other items in baking pan. I line mine with the non-stick foil for easy cleanup and no sticking with the cheese. After chicken is done mix in pan with other ingredients and cook in oven for 15-20 minutes or however long it takes to be sure your chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Serve with whatever veggies and sides you like. I serve ours over couscous with the veggies on the side. Sometimes I find the couscous in a box flavored Parmesan and it goes nicely. (See picture.) Well I hope you enjoy if you decide to try it out. Have a great day!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

2010-02-15T10:53:00.004-06:00

Just a quick note to share with you what I learned yesterday at church that I had never seen before. What a cool Valentine!

Hope you had a good day yesterday, whatever the circumstance. I wonder how someone figured this out. Suppose I could Google it but it really doesn't matter. What a message to think about. Have a good Monday!

Snow!

2010-02-12T08:54:00.005-06:00

Look snow at the beach! Sike! That's not our beach... just some random pic from online. We may or may not have a bit of snowfall here in Southern Alabama today. It will be interesting to see. It hasn't snowed here since 1996 so as you can tell it is a rare occurrence. For the sake of my kiddos who are home from school today, I hope it does a bit. Won't know till around lunch time though where we may see 1-3 inches. I'm not holding my breath. If it does come it will probably barely stick then melt and everything will continue to be all wet and mush. A little north of us they are already getting it from what the news is showing. SO wish us luck and safety! You never know with all those folks around here who have no clue how to drive in icy conditions! If we do get a speck or so I will be sure to take pictures so you can laugh at our minuscule amount. Have a nice weekend!

What not to waste chocolate on...

2010-02-11T11:30:00.008-06:00

I remember thinking of something to write about today, now have forgotten and just wasn't inspired by anything else... so this took hold and I can't not write about it. Please be patient with me and maybe you can help offer some insight. In recent weeks local chocolate shops have had commercials running on TV for Valentine's Day. They advertise for a "Chocolate dipped champagne bottle." Wait.... What?? Why in the world would you want a glass bottle... dipped in chocolate? After viewing this commercial several times now I had to find out why this is a big deal.

I went to handy dandy Google this morning only to find it to be a common occurrence, there is even an article on Ehow about how to do it yourself, "Make a bottle of wine into a extra special gift. Everyone will be impressed with your talent." Yeah... everyone will be reallly impressed I'm sure. It says that the chocolate comes off with a "magical zipper" for you to enjoy. But other thoughts cross my mind.. why not just give me a box of chocolates, if you did it yourself.. how much chocolate did you have to waste to cover one bottle, did they wash the bottle before dipping it, and how many bottles were dipped in the same chocolate bowl as the one I have... was every one washed really good?

I apologize if you are a lover of this type of gift but I just am trying to understand. I don't understand how some sites say this is one of the top Valentine's gifts you can give... I mean really? Thank you, but no thank you. It's just bazaar in a culture where we try to special up every little thing. What will they think of next? *not that I am against making things special.. but hopefully you get the point.*

My advice if you want to "impress" someone by making them something chocolate try some cake pops/balls like these found on Bakerella's site. Seriously go look at the Valentine's treat she made!! Or like PW talked about recently on the Tasty Kitchen blog, there are all kinds of yummy items to be found on there. I want to make the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles asap. I have such a weakness for Cookie dough...it's sad. (by the way no raw eggs in the recipe in case you were about to tell me that I shouldn't eat cookie dough because of raw eggs. Glad that's clear.)

Okay well enough for today. Thanks for reading my psychotic ranting about something soooo insignificant. Happy Thursday to you!

Couples Retreat

2010-02-10T09:29:00.008-06:00

So last night we watched the movie, Couples Retreat. It was actually pretty funny but most of all I loved looking at the scenery. This movie def got me day dreaming about a tropical vacation. I mean the resort they were at in the movie was crazy!!! And this morning I couldn't help but google it and find out they were in Bora Bora. How gorgeous. I actually lost a few moments of sleep last night pre-dreaming about my own fantasy tropical vacation. So out of sheer curiosity I decided to Google it today and found out that for one of these villa's for one night is about a $1,000.00 not including taxes, boat fees, etc. Def will need to win the lotto for this one... or save until I'm 80. But a girl can dream can't she. I would certainly settle for some other tropical resort in a heartbeat. Makes me want to call a travel agent and start saving up for one... wait are travel agents still around??? Hmm. I remember when I was little I used to pretend play,"travel agent" with friends. But oh well never mind that....sorry bout the rambling... oh yeah back to the movie, Check it out with caution as it will cause you to desperately want a tropical vacation but it does have some laughs. And I will leave you today with this parting picture for a slight taste of what you see in the movie.... ahhh... soooo pretty.

Chicken Soup by PW

2010-02-09T09:00:00.001-06:00

Recently Pioneer Woman posted a new soup recipe and I decided I had to try it right then and there for dinner. Sorry it's been a few weeks and I am finally telling you about it... but I kinda forgot. I ran out at lunch and picked up the necessary items that could not be found at home and made it that night. Not the smartest move because it was rather time consuming and we ended up eating late... but delicious nevertheless. If I were you, I would go to PW's link and check out the step by step photos she provided as well as the printable recipe. Now you may notice that my soup doesn't look exactly like hers so here I am of course going to tell you real quick what I did differently. Here are the ingredients with my notations in Italics:

Ingredients:

1 whole Cut Up Fryer Chicken (I used three boneless chicken breasts because that's what I had on hand and didn't have to fool with the whole pulling off the bone process.)
2 whole Carrots, Diced (I used probably 6 carrots cut up.)
2 stalks Celery, Diced
½ whole Medium Onion, Diced (optional-which I chose the optional route and left them out.)
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoons Turmeric
¼ teaspoons White Pepper (more To Taste)
¼ teaspoons Ground Thyme
2 teaspoons Parsley Flakes
16 ounces, weight Frozen "homemade" Egg Noodles (I didn't have the noodles she recommends nor did I have the time to make homemade so I used No Yolks Egg noodles.)
3 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
And she doesn't give you the measurements for it(or at least it wasn't there when I was cooking) but she does show you a picture of her using chicken base so I guesstimated and added 2 tablespoons of Chicken Base.

We had ours with grilled cheese and it was super yummy. It made enough for two nights of dinner and a couple lunches. Even though time consuming, really easy and I will definitely be making this again. I wonder.. maybe I should do all the recipes on PW's site or from her cookbook as my task. Would def have to start exercising more often and I'm pretty sure someone has probably already thought of this. Oh well just an idea. Happy Cooking! Enjoy!

Simon's Cat

2010-02-08T12:09:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we were over at my grandmother/sister's and celebrating my grandmother's 87th birthday. We were all sitting around when one of the cats decided to join in on the conversation and made itself at home on my grandmother's lap adding in it's meow's whenever it felt necessary. It reminded me of a funny video I saw about a cartoon cat. I was telling my sister about how it is a cat trying to wake up it's master. She had never seen it and I decided I would have to find it to show her. Well this morning as I was looking it up, lo and behold there were other videos of this funny cartoon cat in addition to the original. And what do you know? A book! I guess since last time I had seen the original video, it caught on so much that the creator has expanded. Here is the original video that I saw of his, turn your sound on.

Isn't it just the cutest and funniest? Anyhoo if you do like it check out his whole Youtube Channel and see the other ones. I really like the new one, "Snow Business." And you can also go to the creator's website and see an interview by him about how it all started, again see all the videos there and check out his book (pictured above). How cool that he took a funny little cartoon he drew and it turned into this. Can't argue that the Internet isn't good for somethings! :)

So when I discovered this morning all of this I just had to share it with you as well. You just feel so special,huh? Hope you have a great Monday and that Simon's cat brightens your day a bit.

The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall

2010-02-05T14:25:00.008-06:00

Recently my book club finished up it's January Selection, The Ultimate gift by Jim Stovall. This was my second time reading this book and I still enjoyed it. This book is a fictional story and short, only 127 pages. Here is a brief description from the website:

Red Stevens was a self-made man who gave his family everything – and ruined them in the process. Now, as his estate of mega companies is divided among greedy and self-serving relatives, one member is singled out for a chance to do something special: Red’s great-nephew, Jason. The Ultimate Gift takes the reader through Jason’s incredible work to gain his Uncle Red’s inheritance through a series of challenges. Every step of the way, there is a lesson for Jason and the reader. It’s a quest for what it means to live life well that has captivated millions of readers throughout the world, and has also become the basis of numerous educational and philanthropic initiatives that build upon the inspiring insights that unfold in this stirring story. (end quote)

This book is such a quick and easy read that I urge you to check it out from your library and give it a shot. It has values that we often forget to carry into our everyday lives. It goes over several gifts we have that we don't take the time to pay attention to. Examples include, the gift of work, family, friends, money, problems, laughter, etc. Or if you just can't bring yourself to read the book, check out the movie. It is a great movie and I don't think you will be disappointed there either.

Even if you don't care for the movie or the book, It's all about the value of the information it's giving you, remember the gifts! Annnd if you do read the book and your interest is sparked there is a sequel from Jim Stovall titled The Ultimate Life. The Ultimate Life is equally short and informative. If you would like to check out in more detail what I wrote about the book, check out my book club blog Serendipity. Go down on the right hand side and click on The Ultimate Gift, Hope you enjoy! Happy Reading!

Julie & Julia

2010-02-04T13:37:00.004-06:00

The past couple days I had off from work so I watched Julie & Julia... finally! I had borrowed the movie from a cousin and had it for a month now. And I have to say I really enjoyed it. I liked the story and I love movies that have truth in them. I adore Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Right afterwards I was definitely ready to go cook and eat something and go read a book about Julia Childs! lol! Hence was my face book status after watching it and several friends mentioned I should do something of the sort. Well it certainly wouldn't be French cooking because that is sooo not me. And I just don't really feel like cooking through a cookbook at this time. Maybe something else.. something different.. hmmm.. anyhoo while I think about that.. I will continue.

One of my friends, Cook like a Champion, did mention that there actually, "are a ton of cooking blog groups that cook/bake their way through a certain cookbook. You can compare your results to others in the group and discuss the recipes and such." Def something to consider and think about. But right now I just don't have the time. And is it bad that if I did do something like that I would want it to be sweets? Which could be the farthest EVER from what I need at the moment.

On the other hand this could be a grander opportunity for me to try some new things and maybe stop being quite as picky. Would probably still be picky... just not quite as picky as before. Something to ponder. I have several cookbooks lying around the homestead so we will see. If I do I doubt I would set a limit of a year. Instead maybe just cook page by page and keep you all informed throughout the weeks till I'm complete. I'll keep you posted if anything comes up.

My First Award!

2010-02-03T07:30:00.000-06:00

Wow. Can I just say that I am really surprised. My first blog award from amongst my bloggie peers. Melanie over at Melanie's Randomness gave me the Happy Award because my blog makes her happy. What an honor!

Since I won the Happy Award I have to list 10 things that make me happy and I'm trying to go for some not quite as obvious things:

1) Bible Study, when I'm not involved in one I feel like something is lacking.

2) The kiddos and hubbie who always keep me laughing... or trying to anyways. :)

3) Cupcakes... or probably any kind of cake I like really.

4) New books.

5) Painting... even though I never do it.. it's very relaxing and I enjoy it.

6) Spending time just talking with friends but again..something I don't do often enough.

7) Saving money at the grocery store.

8) When people tell me how much they like the book club books we are reading.

9) Attending the Ewomen Conference Every year.

10) When I cook/bake something that actually turns out really good.

Trying to decide on just 10 things is actually more difficult that it looks. And I know you reading this may think it's cheesy like those goofy chain letters you get on e-mail but with this I am just so surprised and honored to have been chosen I can't not do it... I am quite pleased to have been given one. And with this means I have to list 10 other bloggers who make me happy.... this is even tougher trying to pick some that aren't already of the famous nature and who will never care nor respond but oh well...hmmm... Here it goes:

1) Confessions of a Southern Shopaholic

2) Children of the 90's

3) Makin Beeswax

4) The Bargain Buggy Blog

5) Cake Wrecks

6) Barack Obama's Teleprompters Blog

(not trying to get political.. but hey it makes me laugh and therefore makes me happy.)

7) Bakerella

8) Studio A Photography

9) This is Reverb

10) Quiet Life

Some of you reading this list are probably surprised I didn't put PW but I figure I mention her enough. lol. Thanks again Melanie, that was really nice of you. Have a great day everyone!

Day after Night By Anita Diamant

2010-02-02T08:30:00.003-06:00

Recently I finished up reading Day after Night by Anita Diamant. This is a fiction based on Fact book. It is 292 pages long and a fairly easy read. Here is what Barnes and Noble tells you about the book:

This striking novel by the author of The Red Tent is based on a dramatic true story: In October 1945, more than 200 "illegal immigrant" prisoners at the Atlit internment camp in Palestine were freed. The story of this rescue, the friendships it forged, and its aftermath is told through the words of four young women who at first seem to share little except their incarceration. Zorah is a concentration camp survivor; Leonie, a Parisian beauty; Shayndel, an ideological Polish Zionist; and Tedi, a formerly hidden Dutch Jew. As always, Anita Diamant constructs her plot with the dignity and moral force of a biblical story. Fiction that makes history real. (end quote)

I had previously read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant along with my book club and told you about it back here. I have to say out of the two I enjoyed The Red Tent more. Day after night was interesting and educating but I felt it was missing a wow factor. It had no problem keeping my attention right up to the end, but I felt like it just kinda fizzled out and had a bittersweet conclusion. Thankfully the author does include an epilogue but I have to say I just wasn't as excited about it as I was with her previous work. She has a couple other novel's out there I will one day probably pick up and try out but for now I need to whittle away at the current stack on my table at home. This will not be a book club selection for us. I did want to warn you that it does use cuss words and can be graphic at times (similar to how The Red Tent was) but it's up for you to decide what this book would mean to you. Happy reading!

Dresses at the Grammys

2010-02-01T12:28:00.008-06:00

I didn't watch the Grammys, I only heard a bit of it from another room but I do always like to look at what everyone is wearing. When I was a kid I used to always look through all my g'mas magazines to look at what the stars were wearing. I'm not high fashion by any means but I do appreciate beautiful clothes... and gawking at the not so beautiful. From what I have found online here are some of my favs even though much commentary on the Internet has them on the donts.

I'm sorry but I like this dress of Carrie's. I'm a fan of hers too and I like the different looking pattern on the top and think she looks great.

This singer whom I have no clue is, Keri Hilson. I think she looks great and many online are praising this dress... but ALL I can think about is.... Is that honestly comfortable? I mean really??

And then there's this guy? Larry Platt. How did he even get in? Wow. But kudos for him for bringing some belts to get the dang pants up off the ground. This continues to show you that in America you can do just about anything to become an instant celebrity! Don't get me wrong I do think people need to get their pants off the ground.

Now... there are so many do not's to me that this post could quite go on forever so just two.... for one.. Britney Britney Britney..... I mean really? *think Sat night live skit* REALLY? Bless her little pea pickin heart. For such a beautiful girl, she needs to fire her stylist.

And sadly yes I need to touch on the obvious. Lady Ga Ga. She def knows how to get your attention and has catchy music. But I don't understand the need for all this stuff in the outfit, nor how in the world she can move and walk properly. Just craziness. Each outfit needs a disclaimer or something explaining it. I wonder what podiatrist's think of those shoes?

I have to say I was kinda disappointed by the outfits of the night I thought many were not very good at all or just okay. Or the girls that were on the stars arms looked better than some of the stars themselves and that the guys really out shown the women. OH well. It's not like any of it matters really anyway. Hope you had a super weekend! Thanks for readin along. :)

What comes next...

2010-01-29T09:19:00.009-06:00

Today is the 29th of January, 2010... only two more days left and it will be February. It is crazy how fast time can fly by. It seems like we just started 2010 yesterday. This year hubbie and I have some decisions to make as to where to go from here with our goals. But before I get to that, let me back up a bit. Back in 2006 Hubbie decided to go back to school, AEW was born, sold our house, moved in with hubbie's parents for help while he went back to school and from there we were going to get him through school, then see what comes next. Well Hubbie graduated from school in December of 09 and got a job (thankfully) grant it, it's not a teaching position, still it's something with insurance! We all know it's hard for teachers to find jobs right now with the economy the way it is. But nevertheless one big goal is down! Done! Yay! So what are we going to do next?? Let me back up a little further so you have the whole story as to where I'm going with this post.

Back in 2004-2005 I started school getting my basics done. Well I got about 36 hours or so done and was starting to come out of the basics and needed to decide on where I wanted to take my degree. Everything I looked at that I was remotely interested in, if I just kept taking my basics, I wouldn't have needed this or that.. and you get the point. So I stopped. Since I wasn't sure, I didn't want to keep going and then come to find out I took a class for nothing. And then when Hubbie went back we decided that hopefully I could figure out what I wanted to do by the time he finished so I could go back. Okay so that brings us to the present. What do I want to do? Have I figured that out yet? Ummm that's a negative.

Right now and since 2004 I have worked for an awesome company closing real estate transactions. I work with a great group of people and great bosses to whom I call my work family. And the wok is nice too. But it's just not what I want to do forever ya know? Grant it I'm not trying to leave anytime soon, when I do it will be because I have a degree and it's for whatever job that degree is in. Anyhoo... what to do? I have tossed lots of ideas around in my head of things I would like to do it's just with the economy so crappy, there are no needs for anything I am interested in. And since I'm not even 100% on what I want, it doesn't help narrow it down. Lots of folks talk about nursing but I just can't do that... never ever ever been interested in anything in the medical field and I'm still not.

I took an online assessment tool thing that a friend told me about. It basically narrowed down for me all the careers I already knew I had an interest in: Book Editor, Book Publisher/Publicist, Art Teacher, Events Coordinator, History Teacher, Museum Exhibit Coordinator... and it had a bunch of other stuff it pulled up for me too but I was not interested. So now I need to go back to the different careers I saved that it picked for me and look at all the information and narrow it down some more. They tell you the average pay scale, what degree employers require and a whole wealth of other info. What to do? It's one of those times where you just want a bunch of people to come in and say you would be so good at... THIS.. and you need to go do it. If only it were that easy...

Okay so point of all this rambling you may ask... What comes next.. either I can figure out what I want to go back to school for to start this summer or hubbie starts up in the master's program. That seems to be our next step. Even though this post does not sound like it what so ever I do have the confidence and faith that whatever happens God will pull us through it. Remember this blog is also about what I would ramble on and vent to my mom about if she were here... so sorry if you are thoroughly confused and irritated with my writing. Nevertheless, I hope that you have a great weekend! I am excited it is the first book club meeting of the year. Wish me well!

Veggie Soup

2010-01-28T13:00:00.003-06:00

Mmmmm Mmmm good. I absolutely love this vegetable soup from Southern Living. And... I don't usually like this kind of thing, but thankfully my taste buds are a changing. It is quite possibly the best veggie soup you will ever taste. I received this recipe from my Pastor and his wife last year sometime and have since recreated it over and over again. It is a huge favorite at our house. Here is the basic recipe:

2 pounds ground chuck (we use ground turkey)
1 small sweet onion, chopped (I leave this out because I don't like onions!)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 (14-oz.) cans low-sodium beef broth
3 (29-oz.) cans mixed vegetables with potatoes, rinsed and drained
3 (14 1/2-oz.) cans diced new potatoes, rinsed and drained
1 (15-oz.) can sweet peas with mushrooms and pearl onions, rinsed and drained
2 (26-oz.) jars tomato, herbs, and spices pasta sauce
1 (14 1/2-oz.) can diced tomatoes with sweet onion
(and whatever other misc spices you might want to toss in!)

Cook ground chuck and onion, in batches, in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well, and return to Dutch oven. Stir in salt, pepper, and beef broth; bring to a boil.

Stir in mixed vegetables and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer at least 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Yumm.. these pictures want me to make this all over again right now! Now I don't cook the full recipe because it is just waaaaaaay to much. So I cut the recipe in half and it still makes a giant crock pot full. Probably close to 8 servings maybe? What I do is brown my meat on the stove and mix it all together in the crock pot the night before and then stick it in the fridge to cook the next day. This makes dinner so easy! And if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know this is my favorite way to prepare a meal! ha! Enjoy!

Why God made moms....

2010-01-27T11:24:00.002-06:00

I received this in my e-mail this morning. I have seen it several times before but I always take the time to read it each time. I think it's so funny and it puts a smile on my face. I have no clue who started it, etc. but it's still funny. JUST in case you haven't ever read it here ya go!

Why God made moms...

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3.. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3.. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine..

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Too cute..Well if you did enjoy it, share it with someone who has kids or might enjoy. Hope you are having a great week!

I'm curious about what your reading...

2010-01-26T14:57:00.010-06:00

(Source)

Even though I always seem to have a stack of books to read, a reading list on the computer of more than 100 books, and more books that are still in my head yet to be added to the list, I am curious. I am curious to know what you are reading right now. What is your all time favorite book (with author)? What is one book that you feel like you can read again and again and it never gets old?

I have several books and could go on for ages... It's so hard for me to pick just one when someone asks this question. A couple of my all time favorite books have to be Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens... and I know it may seem silly to some but The Harry Potter series. And I could probably continue...

Like I said.. it's not that I necessarily need these suggestions as I have quite a few that need to be read. But it's this thirst for more books and knowledge that never ceases and of great interest to me what books others are in love with. Why I want to do this to myself and add more to my list I do not know. :) But if you are out there and you are reading, please share with me, as I said, I'm curious. I always have the current book I am reading and what my book club is reading on my left hand side bar in case you are interested. Happy Tuesday!

Picture me Cooking

2010-01-25T16:36:00.006-06:00

HI there... hope you had a nice weekend. Real quick... Remember... I am a member on Tasty Kitchen... If you don't remember what that is I told you about it right here. (And anyone can join rather you submit recipes or not) Anyhoo.. I am far behind in those who submit recipes and they do an amazing job but you can also meet other members and find out lots of cool stuff and new blogs. Recently a new member added me and I found out she has a children's cookbook which will be featured on QVC soon... and well I'm short on time today and figured I would take a minute to do a quick post and share this with you because I thought it was so cool! Sorry no picture of the book but here's what a quick bit from her website:

"The first children’s book to combine a cookbook, photo album and activity book all in one! Cook along with your children, take photos of who they cook with and what they create then slide the photos in the provided pockets and you have an heirloom in the making! "

Go to her website here at http://www.picturemecooking.com/ and see lots more! So So cute! I def want to pick up one for our family at some point. That's all for today. Happy Monday!

NINE

2010-01-22T14:04:00.006-06:00

Yesterday a couple of friends and I went and saw the movie, NINE. If you didn't know, NINE is a musical from Broadway that has been made into a movie, similar to Chicago. I thought that it was going to be kinda like Chicago but really it wasn't. Had the same director but I liked Chicago better. I'm no expert on movies nor musicals so I may have no clue what I'm talking about. But I felt like it dragged in areas especially the opening musical number and I just wasn't that impressed. Definitely made me want to go to Rome though! Such pretty scenery. There were some funny scenes and some good music ones. I kinda wish I knew Italian... some words they said I wasn't sure about it. And I liked Kate Hudson's musical scene.. I never really pictured her doing anything like that but I thought she did a good job. You can check on the movie on IMDB here and check out who's in it and the trailer and if you want to know more about what in the world the movie is about you can go to here on Wikipedia. AND if you are wondering why in the world it is called NINE because I was def on the wrong track, here is what I found on IMDB:

"Nine is based on the film 8½, which stands for the number of movies that Federico Fellini had directed to that point. He had previously directed six full-length feature films: (1) Lo sceicco bianco (1952), (2) I vitelloni (1953), (3) La strada (1954), (4) Il bidone (1955, ) (5) Le notti di Cabiria (1957), and (6) La dolce vita (1960). He had collaborated with Alberto Lattuada to film Luci del varietà (1950) and directed two short segments: (1) "Un Agenzia Matrimoniale" from L'amore in città (1953) and (2) "Le Tentazioni del Dottor Antonio" from Boccaccio '70 (1962). These six full-length films, the three latter projects that he counted for ½ points each, plus this film added to 8½. Maury Yeston has stated that by adding music to the story, it was like adding an extra ½ to the story. The song "Nine" (excised from the film adaptation) adds further symbolism to the number and its relation to Guido and the story." (end quote)

Well if you do go see it maybe that will help. And maybe you will enjoy it more than we even though all three of us were kinda iffy on it. Have a great weekend!

Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

2010-01-21T08:30:00.001-06:00

I just finished up reading Cast of Characters by Max Lucado. This is the second book I have read by Max, the first being one of my favorites, Traveling Light. We read Traveling Light as our January Selection in 2009. Cast of Characters is one of Max's newer books and I picked it up one day a while back in the $5 book store in the outlet mall. I have just now gotten around to reading it as I am scouting out books for our book club this year. This is a non-fiction book that is 222 pages long with discussion points behind every chapter. Here is what the description states from Max's website:

We find our stories in theirs. We find our hope where they found theirs. In the midst of them all...hovering over them all...is the hero of it all: God. Maker. Shaper. Rescuer of sinking hearts.Do you believe that God can use you to accomplish extraordinary things? If you have any doubts, take a look at the heroes in the Bible. You'll find people like Mary, Peter, David, Joseph and Esther--ordinary people who allowed God to work through them in amazing ways. In Cast of Characters, Max Lucado gleans from several of his best-selling works to present some of the Bible's most interesting lives. Each chapter includes related Biblical text and discussion questions for individual or group study. Come closer to God's heart for you, by spending time with this cast of characters. Cast of Characters contains 22 character studies, profiling both men and women who loved and were loved by God. These heroes—from King David to Joseph, Moses to the Samaritan Woman, Abigail to Lazarus—may be known for their achievements, but Lucado explores how God accomplished more through their failures than their successes. Lucado reveals how these ancient biblical characters are relevant to modern concerns among people such as doubt, rejection, insignificance, purpose, humility, suffering, risk, and consequences. Extraordinary stories are told about the following characters: Mary, Peter, Matthew, The Samaritan Woman, Esther, David, Joseph, and more… (end quote)

I have to say I was not as in to this book as I had been with Traveling Light. Not to say that it wasn't good reading. I did like the way that Max presents you with the related scripture first on a character and then would take their story and make it sound like something going on in modern day times that makes it easier to relate too even though it's still the same story! How wonderful our God is a God of second chances and wants and uses imperfect people like you and I! I do not feel that this book will make it to our book club selections but that's not to say you wouldn't enjoy it. I believe as others have said about Traveling Light that it is a book that you may have to just be in that time in your life for it to be the most beneficial. I have several other Lucado books on my list to read and do hope we will feature another of his again sometime this upcoming year. Happy Reading!

The Elusive Chili

2010-01-20T10:00:00.001-06:00

For quite some time a good chili has always eluded me. Not exactly sure why. I have tried several different recipes and combined recipes etc but it always gets away. And it is always decent Chili... dont' get me wrong... but nothing to write home about. So this weekend somehow.. Hubbie and I decided to make Chili for dinner. It was cold and rainy and I can't tell you the last time we had Chili at home. I looked at the recipes that I had acquired and decided to scrap the recipes and just throw some stuff together that I knew goes in Chili and see what happens. And I have to say, we were not disappointed. And I need to write this down and make it my official chili recipe... until something better comes along. So anyhoo it's not any secret or anything and it's really super easy so here ya go!

1 can dark red kidney beans drained
1 can light red kidney beans drained
1 can black beans drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 pkg of Chili seasoning mix HOT (and people it really wasn't that hot)
1 Ib. browned ground turkey
1/2 cup water
1/2 can beef broth
1 pkg of turkey sausage (long link type, think kielbasa)
Other misc. salt/pepper and spices

Brown ground turkey. Dice up sausage in small pieces and brown sausage. Combine all ingredients in a big pot on the stove. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about an hour. You can actually cook it less or longer but that is about how long I did it the other day. Probably serves about 8 people. Hubbie and I always have a ton of leftovers which are great!

You could also do this in the crock pot which I will try out next time I make it probably. Instead of adding onions I served them diced up on the side (I hate onions) with shredded cheese, Frito's and sour cream. OH and some Tabasco for hubbie. Even though it was just the right amount of hot spice... he still likes his Tabasco. Ick! Next time I might add like a can of corn too.. who knows we will see what hubbie thinks. I hope I have remembered everything for you! Next time I make it if I realize I forgot anything I will be sure to come back and tell you. Happy Cooking!

*Disclaimer... I am a really picky eater so if you eat this and don't think it's that swell, well remember I'm picky and don't like all those chopped up peppers etc. in my chili. I'm sure others taste far better depending on your standards.... and that's all!*

Ladybugs and Pirates at Gymboree!

2010-01-19T10:00:00.003-06:00

Right now Gymboree has a super cute line of clothing out for little girls. One being cute colors of pink, navy blue and green with little pink lady bugs and butterfly's. I had some Gymbucks to spend and we hit up the store yesterday. I hate going in a store where they have so many cute options you don't even know what to pick! Thankfully I had AEW with me to give her blessing on what I was picking out... or rather she picked out! I never in a million years thought girls this young would be into clothing, etc. I always thought it came later. Anyhoo here are a few cute finds for AEW that we scooped up above. And JBW picked out a couple things also. They have a cute pirate looking line out for boys. You can't see the detail here in this picture really but the shirt on the left hand side is made up of all kinds of little pictures... like recycles, trees, bikes, etc. It's pretty cool. Anyhoo.. Starting to really look forward to warmer weather! Many Thanks to hubbie's mom!