We drove up to Richmond today and took my nephew to the state fair. It was a fabulous day. I only cheated on my diet with Indian fry bread and homemade doughnuts but I shared both. Not bad considering all the temptations.
Thank you Lord for giving me a beautiful day in the midst of such turmoil. I know you are in charge and I will continue to trust you.
Please pray for me and my family. There is some unspoken spiritual warfare happening right now. The devil will not win.
This is my thought as we go through this right now.
If Satan was an angel and God made the angels then how can Satan be stronger than God..... HE IS NOT!
GOD IS MY STRENGTH AND MY SHIELD !
UPDATE: I made this bread again with full flavor beer but preferred it made with the light beer.
I have been busy baking things from scratch again. My sister had her in-laws in town last weekend and they (in-laws) drink beer. The problem is they left a six pack in the refrigerator hoping my brother-in-law would drink it. He has turned a new leaf , has no desire to drink and has not had a drink in 6-7 years. So now the dilemma of what to do with the beer.
Well I remember going to a dinner at a friend's house and they had baked beer bread. They said it was easy and let me tell you it was delicious.This is coming from someone who does not like beer at all. The beer acts as the yeast and the bread was just oh so good.
Well I'll be , lets try it.
Beer Bread
3 cups self rising flour
1 12 oz room temperature beer
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp melted butter
First send the deacon from the church to get the beer, the cashier already knows they drink. Oops did I say that. Just joking. Any way, Preheat oven 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients but butter. Yes you have to use your hands. My nephew did that part and the measuring of the flour . He had a ball. Place in a well greased loaf pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Pour melted butter over loaf. Bake another 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
I used a Light beer but you can use any beer including non-alcohol beer. You can even add herbs and cheese to change the flavors. No we did not get drunk because the alcohol bakes out. Let me tell you was it good. Ummmh.
THOUGHT: You know the old saying, when life throws you lemons make lemonade... Well....... When life throws you beer, make beer bread.
Do you ever wonder what people are thinking when they ask or say different things?
Today I was back in my so-called office doing some work when a customer came in that I really did not care for before today and believe me after today she did not make it any easier for me to like her. She came in and asked my employee which was my cousin, a young male, where the heavy girl was today. I was in the back listening to everything and all I heard was "heavy girl". Is that all people see?
Do they not see that I am also tall. I have brown hair. I am nice. I am young. I have brown eyes. I try to dress nice. I have pretty skin. No , they only see that I am heavy. Why are people so shallow? Do I have to tell you that this lady is extremely heavy herself?
I told my cousin the next time to please defend me and say that the tall, brunette is in her office. I think she would get the hint but then again she probably wouldn't.
Do people not realize that people with weight issues struggle everyday? Some of us really do try not to be heavy. Statements like that just send us back to the cookie jar to drown in our sorrows. It's a cycle.
Don't judge people on their weight. Find something else about them to describe them that would be an encouragement. Look at their eyes, height, hair color and beyond.
Sincerely,
Me (fresh from the cookie jar)
Well , first off let me start off that I have started my healthy living lifestyle, again. Yeah I know I am off and on and up and down. Well I weighed in and I have lost five pounds since my last weigh in three weeks ago. YAY!
I have been getting the Mickey D's yogurt parfaits again as a snack. Ummmh, they have the best tasting yogurt ( and I am not a yogurt eater) but the best part is the granola. I get very upset if they leave out my granola. That is the highlight of my snack.
I was browsing some recipes and ran across some home-made granola recipes. I was fascinated because it never dawned on my that you could make it. Well I know it doesn't grow on trees but I never thought about the making of granola. So I decided to whip up a batch. I have to say it was mighty good too. Now I just need to stash some in my purse so I won't get so upset when Mickey D's forgets my granola.
MY GRANOLA RECIPE
Well first I need to tell you I do not follow recipes to a T but will give you what should happen.
3 cups rolled oats ( Yes that's plain old fashioned oatmeal, learned that today too. By the way I tried to add extra oats for a less sweet granola and accidentally doubled to 6 cups, but its fine )
1/4 cup of slivered or chopped nuts ( I used almonds)
1/3 cup shredded coconut ( optional for some but I used it)
1/4 cup maple syrup ( well I poured a little more but that's me, remember I had a lot of oats)
1/4 cup honey ( ditto from maple syrup)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon ( for those of you that really know me, I don't like cinnamon but this is not much for all the oats I used)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oats, nuts and coconut in large bowl. In small saucepan, heat maple syrup, honey, cinnamon and vanilla until mixture is warm, 2-3 minutes. Stir, then pour over oat mixture. Stir with rubber spatula until evenly coated. Coat one large cookie sheet (two if you used 6 cups of oats) with vegetable oil spray. Spread granola to cover pan in even layer. Bake 5 minutes, remove from oven and stir. Repeat every 5 minutes until oats are lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes. Cool granola in pan. It will get crisp. Store in airtight container 1-2 weeks.
You can add sunflower seeds, dried apples, raisins, cranberries, dates or any dried fruit to the mixture. Be creative and use what you like. And this is a healthy snack too. This is also sinfully easy and the kids can help too. My nephew was my oats mixture mixer.
In the future, refer to me as.....
Miss Wannabehomemaker
Well, I had Chinese food yesterday and my fortune said, " You are on the right track." Well ok what track is that because I do have some decisions I am contemplating but have not veered in any direction yet. Then I went to pull out a potato today in the potato bag and this is what I found.
Yes, that is a heart shaped potato. Two potatoes that grew together to form a heart.....
I think someone is trying to tell me something.... Stay tuned for more signs, I hope .
OH BOY DID IT HURT! I went today and had a "me" day. I had a pedicure and a manicure. Well I also watched a girl have her brows waxed and decided to go for the gusto and have that done today too. I told her not to go too drastic. As you can tell it looks good and I actually like it. But the moment of pain was excruciating, My eyes teared. The lady said in her broken English, " eyes tear." I said in my broken language, "HURT!"
Milestones... Today would mark the 34th birthday of a good friend of mine who passed away 22 months ago. The milestone is not only her birthday but the finishing of her memory book that I will present to her mother and daughter. Yes it took me two years. I just did not have the peace that it was finished. I have that peace now and hope to present it her mother this week.
The last card she sent me was on Valentine's Day a few years before she went to Heaven. This is the sentiment:
When the winds of change come, stirring things in our lives, friendship is what steadies us.
And you've steadied me time and again. You've helped me find a peaceful state of mind just by listening and assuring me that this too shall pass.
You've hung in there with me when things have come up that took time away from our friendship.
You haven't judged me when I've gotten slightly off course, and you've celebrated with me when things were set right again.
Though we don't always know what's going to happen tomorrow, it feels good to know one thing for sure-we'll always be there for each other, we'll always be friends. -Diana Manning
Tears come to my eyes as I type this. I still have and cherish this card. I try to keep all the cards I get from friends but good intentions don't always have the follow through but this card was never lost and I am thankful for that.
The song that brings a smile to my face on every remembrance of her is by Michael W Smith, Friends. Here is the chorus.
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends
If I can leave you with two things I can leave your with is :
1- Do not take your friends for granted, tell them what they mean to you
2- God Friends are Forever Friends because we know we will see them in Eternity. Make sure all your friends are God Friends
One out of the three links on this page was for wilhoite. Well Amy went to be with the Lord yesterday. I never had the opportunity to meet Amy but I ran across her blog off of my good friend's blog at Noodlesnest. She has battled cancer since 2006 and the Lord chose to release her from her pain and sickness and bring her home to her eternity in Heaven. I would check her blog daily for updates and never in her sickness did she waver from who God is and how much she loved God. What a testimony!
Amy,
I never met you on earth but I know I will meet you in Heaven. This is my verse for you.
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
Since Wednesday , I have nothing but stress and bad news of some sort. I have overcome some of it but can feel the tension in my shoulders. I won't go into details but a few of you know what last week was like. I know the Lord does not give you more than you can handle but I think I was on the brink of explosion. I even had stress at church of all places.
Well I put in my cd devotions this morning and listened to them and they were exactly what I needed and I prayed to have a smooth sailing week. Please keep me uplifted in prayer this week
Maybe I will go to the Y tonight and relieve some tension and pop some praise cds in my walkman.... I am the only one with a walkman, I don't know anything about Ipods.
I am sure you remember my southern gospel obsessed customer I wrote about a few months ago. Well he struck again.
I had to call him about something that he had ordered. A cd of none other than a southern gospel group. He informs me that he is going out of town next Saturday and if he does not pick it up by Saturday he will pick it up after the 16th. This is fine and dandy but he had told me that the day before when he called to check on his order.
About an hour later, he calls asking me the difference between DVD and HD DVD. You know exactly what I was thinking, I was thinking I was the 411 operator again but this time as a Help Desk. It had nothing to do with anything he had ordered . He just had the question and I guess I was the lucky candidate today. I guess I must sound DVD intelligent when really if the DVD doesn't work at home I rub it on my shirt and hope it works when I stick it back in. I am not technologically educated. He told me he would call an electronic store and ask them. My response was, good idea. Before he hung up though he told me that he was is going out of town next Saturday and if he does not pick the cd up by Saturday he will pick it up after the 16th. OK that was three times in two days.
Twenty minutes later he calls and says that he called the electronic store and they told him the difference in DVD and HD DVD and then proceeds to inform me on it for twenty minutes. I am now knowledgeable on DVD and HD DVD. Have any questions call your local Christian bookstore because they can call me, lol. Guess what I he told me yet again, you got it. He is going out of town next Saturday and if he does not pick his cd up by Saturday he will pick it up after the 16th.
Around four when I was getting another busy spurt, the phone rings... You guess it. It is him again. He wanted to know about another southern gospel group and was telling me about this months southern gospel magazine. He asked his total for his cd again and informed me..... i know i know you are tired of reading it and I am tired of hearing it. He is going out of town next Saturday and if he does not pick the cd up by Saturday he will pick it up after the 16th.
I then prayed for some relief for the last two hours of work. One good thing about being closed on Labor Day and having another day off too is that is two less days I have to hear.......
well I will just let you guess what I was going to write....
I discussed this with a friend and he said "well it's good you can have that kind of personality to draw that up." Why is there always someone in your life that sees the glass half full when you only see it half empty. I am thankful for his friendship though.
If you come to my house you will fast discover that I collect change. I have been doing this for years. After a year I average $500 or more and that is my vacation money.
Sometimes I get a little obsessed with collecting change. I will give someone a dollar before I will give someone a quarter. Sad, I know. Even if I have the exact change in my pocket, I will give the cashier another dollar in order to get more change for my vacation fund. I have been known to come home from shopping all day with about five dollars in change because of my obsession.
It has been a few days since I have deposited any change in my change buckets because I have been using my check card instead of cash. So just imagine my excitement when my meal tonight came to $7.01. I had the penny in my pocket but no I was not going to use it . Woohoo I was going to get 99 cents back. The cashier said. "Don't you have a penny?" I said, "nope." I know it was a lie but I did not have a penny for that purpose. My change is not for that purpose it is for vacation. So was it really a lie, hmmh. Well the police officer behind me says, " I have one." My response, " Really I am ok, I like change." He looks at me like what bozo likes change and makes a mental note probably to follow me home tonight to see if I have been drinking. The cashier rolls her eyes. First I was thinking, No she didn't but I let it go as she took the penny from the officer. I was polite to the officer and said thank you as a southern girl should always be polite but I was fuming and thinking....
THANK YOU BUT I REALLY DID NOT WANT THE PENNY!
At that point I felt guilty about telling the cashier I did not have a penny and now my little lie had spread to a police officer. I could not let them know I had a penny.... so silly, a penny, but oh you see the webs little white lies weave.
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