On Holiday

Sigh...
Well, I am at my buddy Michelle's house quickly and desperately using her computer. Mine is packed....somewhere.
We have all of our worldly possessions packed in our big truck and

other assorted places,

waiting for the big move in.

There came a point in time when we were loading, that we really thought..."Oh, man all of this stuff is just not gonna fit!!" At that point I desperately started doling out our stuff to our friends who were there helping to load the truck.
Hey, all you guys...I want my stuff back eventually ok!!

We are waiting for closing on our old house, and then in turn closing on our new place!!

So, until then I will be stealing moments on friends computers and longing for mine.

I will miss you.

But I will be back!!

Gotta run!

Reys of Light

I gotta tell ya, I was feeling pretty down yesterday.
Not hopeless, or downtrodden.
Maybe weary is a better word.
Tired of all of the wheel spinning and uncertainty.

I needed to pack yesterday, but found myself dawdling as I ran the few errands that I needed to run. I just didn't want to come back to the house to see it in such disarray, or tape up another box of my stuff, til who knows when, or make any more phone calls to services needing to be added or canceled.
I suppose the worst part of that which I dread, is when the service agent asks, "When will you be in your new home?"
I just don't really have the answer for that at this point because I have no control in it at all and that is...
...it is
...well, it makes me weary, uncomfortable, unsettled.

Like a fish out of water.

Well maybe not that bad. hee hee hee

Oh, that shouldn't make me laugh but it does.

Now, please don't get me wrong here.
I am not talking about my joy being suffocated. I am just talking about regular human weariness as we wait for God to completely lay his path in our lives.

So, while I was out yesterday running those errands...by the way...at every stop I made yesterday (well besides Starbucks) there was a Brinks Security truck. Strange, but true.
That was so not a real sentence, but I am gonna leave it.
So, while I was out running those errands, I picked up some Sushi, so I could settle in to my phone calls and eat while I was on hold.
Sushi helps with weariness.
Of course I am making that up... you know this, right.

I had spoken with a fellow from AT&T the day before and came away feeling like I had made a trip to the dentist and we had pulled some teeth. He truly didn't seem the least bit concerned about the needs I specifically stated, or the price point I was attempting to stay at.
There is so much more I could say about that phone call, but none of it is nice so I will skip to my phone call back to the company the next day which I was dreading.

Frankly, I was calling to cancel all I had set up the day before. I had found a cheaper price and felt as though my time had been needlessly wasted by this fellow who seemed to have his own agenda.
I took a deep breath and dialed in.

I don't want to bore you with the whole conversation, or the details of the transaction.
What I want you to know is that when you are feeling weary, but you know that your security is in God, you gotta trust that he is following you around with a money truck.

Okay, let me try to say that differently.
I feel like I was given a gift yesterday when Rey answered the phone at AT&T.
It didn't take me long to figure out that this man was different. This man listened, he encouraged, he pushed and pulled numbers and services to best suit our family.
And all of this he did with an unmistakable gentleness and kindness which made his light evident.
I am talking about the light of Christ.
Rey had a glow about him. Yeah, I know I didn't actually see him, but none the less I know this to be true.
We were on the phone so long, that we got to chat about our families, our favorite christian music artists, the struggles of moving, and the blessings of life.

Rey ended by reminding me that God is in control, and that he too would be praying for an easy period of closing and moving.

Why do I feel so completely flabbergasted that God took the time to work out that little miracle in my life?
He takes the time to follow me around with his security truck, ready to rescue my weary soul, giving me energy and motivation to keep on keeping on when all I want to do is sit and eat chocolate ice cream with chocolate ganache stirred in.

This gave me a healthy reminder that we are representatives of the master in all that we do.
It reminded me to be a gentle encouraging light throughout my day, because there may be a weary brother or sister in need of a boost.

It reminded me of this verse...
Matthew 5:16

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Rey, you did the Father proud yesterday, and I have a feeling today will be the same.
All the rest of you out there, lets shine some light today...okay?!

Woes and Truimphs!

We are (allegedly) one week away from closing on both of our homes.
You know that means that I am insanely busy, right??
I mean more busy than I usually am.

We will be saying goodbye to this house which has served us well these last 14 years and in turn saying hello to our new home, and anticipating the blessing it will be for our family.
So, while I would love to be here typing away telling you tales of woe and triumph, I simply cannot; as time does not allow it.
And really, truth be told...my fickle artist brain doesn't allow it either.
You know how those artist types can be, blown by every little wind, unable to produce should the time and circumstance not be perfect for ultimate creativity.
Yeah, not much of that perfection has been available lately.

But I can't just leave you hanging out there with not even a tiny tale to keep you coming back.
I mean really, someday I truly will type the end of the wedding saga and I want there to be someone out there to read it.

So, here are a few tidbits of woe and triumph to keep you going until I can manage more.


My 6 year old daughter presented these envelopes with color coded love notes to my husband and I last week. Inside each envelope was a five dollar bill and some change.
This was the last of her fun money that she was sincerely, unselfishly giving to "help pay for the new house".
Yes, it made me cry. (triumph)

Friday was my remove the fish from the pond so I could relocate them day.
We have
cross that...
had 10 fish.
I could only find 9. My big glorious orange and white beauty was missing.
I assume it was eaten by some horrid creature.
Yes, it made me cry. (woe)

Okay it didn't really make me cry...but it did upset me. It was there earlier in the week. I should have known something was,
dare I use the word "fishy" here? Yes I think I will.
I should have known there was something fishy going on, when the other fish didn't come quickly to the surface to eat last week. Self preservation???

A friend of mine has a neighbor who is also moving and downsizing. She has a beautiful wood dining room table and chairs, (as well as an entertainment center) that she simply has no room for in her new home. She was searching for someone who would appreciate what a special thing they are and love them as she did. The Lord brought the two of us together. She had no idea I that I have been contently using a plastic covered 8 ft. folding table for some 12 years or so, and that I truly will appreciate having something so nice!
This totally made me cry!! (triumph)

Our other large fish got a little feisty in his temporary home and jumped out over the edge. You know what they say about a fish out of water...I can assure you it is true. (woe)

Thanks to the hard work of so many of my dear friends we have about 85% of this house packed and ready to move. It takes a true friend to come over and sort through your 14 years of accumulated dust covered treasures. (triumph)

Wow, look at the time, I gotta get!!

Here is something I want to keep in mind this week especially.

The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
Mmmmm, that is nice.
I like to be directed by someone who knows what they are doing, don't you??

Try something new

Hello blog readers!
It is a classic Monday full of laundry and other household duties which have fallen to the wayside during the course of a busy weekend.

Today I would like to introduce you to a few of my new kitchen friends. You may have met these happy helpers before, or you may be like me and need to make their acquaintance.
I have a buddy who is an outstanding cook (and all around wonder!) I found it interesting that she is the one who first introduced me to all three of these products over the course of the last few years!
I have so much to learn, and am glad to have friends with more experience to guide me along and to teach me new things!

So, here you have them!


Of course this is in no way a product endorsement or advertisement, this is just stuff I like to use.
Okay, got that out of the way.

I used all three of these things in what I am calling "3 bean chili" that I made yesterday.
I thought about sharing the recipe, but of course I was making it up on the fly and didn't measure a single thing. That makes for frustrating recipe writing!!
It was basically chili with three beans. Ha, ha, ha...helpful aren't I? I was determined to get some nutrition in my family and took the bean route.
I had left over black beans, a can of white kidney beans, and also a can of navy beans.
See... 3 beans.
I also used a can of tomato puree, (love that stuff) and the items found in the Product Highlight Section of my blog.
Don't go looking around for that particular section...I just made that up.
You can actually just keep reading below.
But it sounded cool right? Product Highlight Section...
Maybe you should just ignore my weirdness and keep reading.

Our first product highlight is Kitchen Basics Stock!


This comes in several varieties including chicken (in a gorgeous school bus yellow box), and vegetable (in a fantastic kelly green box). Oh, color how it invades my life!!
It is a staple on my grocery list. I mainly get the chicken stock, but have found that there are times when beef stock is a necessity! I am not a Martha-make your own stock kind of gal. Not that I am opposed to that kind of behavior, I just don't have time or energy in my life for that right now.
This stock is excellent right out of the box. I really like the fact that it doesn't have any crazy weird stuff in it too.
Like what you ask? Well, MSG for one thing.
Autolyzed yeast extract for another...actually that is a type of MSG. Look it up!
I stay away from that stuff cause it makes me feel bad.
I am a feel good kind of gal.

Next up, Wondra Quick Mixing Flour!

I am in theory, opposed to enriched and bleached flour and go out of my way to not use it in my baking where it is the main ingredient in a recipe. However, I do make an exception for this Wondra Flour. I had no idea this was even on the planet until just a few months ago.
This is an outright tragedy for a girl who believes gravy to be a food group.
It is light and airy and fine. It is to flour what powdered sugar is to sugar.
It doesn't clump and glump when you are trying to whisk it in to make something thicker!
If you make gravy or sauces at all, it is a must have kitchen companion!
Yesterday I knew I would want my soup to have a little thickness so I simply added this in to cook with my ground beef a bit after it had browned. When the stock went in, it thickened up nicely!

Last thing to introduce today...
Ancho Chili Pepper


YUM!!! This has a slightly sweeter, milder flavor than classic chili powder.
You know how you get in a rut of just buying the same old ingredients. That is me, I bet that is you too. We know what works and we stick with it.
What a travesty!
What a devastation to all those other miraculous flavors out there waiting to be discovered.
This chili pepper when into my 3 bean chili yesterday too! It was the star of the dish, giving a subtle spiciness and terrific chili taste. Oh YUM!!

To finish my 3 bean chili off I added some corn tortillas cut up in small pieces.
It was a hit and everyone said it should be added to the "hey, you should fix this again" list.

I hope you are getting out there and trying new things....maybe this short list will inspire you to do just that today.
Have a great week!

Dollars for dirt

In an effort to make our old back yard agreeable to the new person buying this home we are filling in our fish pond with dirt.
Well, we are taking the fish out first and transporting them (somehow) to the new home. I have grand plans on this matter, all of them involve me doing a lot of screaming and jumping around as I try unsuccessfully to transfer the fish to the bucket.

Fish make me very squeamish.

Moving fish out of water freaks me out pretty badly.

Fish flopping in the grass...well that makes me jump around and scream because there is NO WAY I am gonna reach out and actually touch the fish to save it, but I desperately hate seeing it writhing around in agony like a fish out of water. Okay, it is a fish out of water but there truly is not better word substitute for getting you to picture that atrocity.

So, it should be interesting.
10 fish with their destiny in my hands.
Maybe you should be praying about this in advance.

Anyway this isn't about fish, it is about dirt.

I set out to find cheap dirt yesterday, phone in hand, fingers ready for dialing. I am a frugal gal, and pretty close to broke as well so when it comes to spending money on dirt....well that just fights with my inner thriftiness.

Here is how the phone calls went...

ME: "Hello, do you deliver dirt?"

THEM: "What kind of dirt?"

ME: "Uhhhhh.... cheap dirt??"

silence

more silence

ME: "I am just filling in a hole, it doesn't have to be special dirt."

THEM: "Do you want topsoil?"

ME: "I dunno, is it cheap?"

THEM: "Well it is $22.00 a yard, how many yards do you need?"

ME: (thinking.... that is cheap????) "Uhhhhhh my husband says we need 3 yards."
Hopefully cluing them in that I personally don't know anything about dirt, but am just the dirt liaison while my husband is at work.

THEM: clicking the adding machine keys
click click click..
"Okay, lets see... 3 yards of dirt" click click click "times 22.00, unless you wanted the blah blah blah dirt, it is $24.00 a yard"
I say blah blah blah because for me, and my long life of experiences there is just dirt, and cheap dirt is the only kind on my mind.

ME: "No thank you, I will just take the first dirt you spoke about."

THEM: still key clicking, "We have a delivery minimum of 4 yards, is that going to be okay?"

ME: "Uhhhhh, well I need the dirt so, yeah, I suppose that will have to be okay."

THEM: "Alrighty then, that is $88.00 plus a delivery charge of $25.00"
(or $35.00 or $45.00 depending on the place I spoke with) "bringing your total" click click,
"to $113.00, or $123.00, or 133.00." "Plus tax"

And they all said it as though it was the best deal out there!
They were genuinely proud to offer cheap dirt at low prices!!

ME: mouth wide open and aghast at the price of cheap dirt
"Well, thanks so much. I am still shopping around. I will get back to you."

Heavy sigh!

Idea.....

I decided we didn't need cheap dirt, we need free dirt.
As I was perusing Facebook yesterday a person came to mind who might possibly have some dirt.

So, I sent her a Facebook message.
(cause people don't actually use the phone to call people any more unless they are hunting for dirt).
I asked "Hey, do you have some random dirt laying around, or do you know of a good dirt guy?" I admit this is not worded eloquently.
But don't judge, I had just spoken to 8 proud dirt owners and was feeling like a lousy liaison.
She said "I don't really know how much 3 yards of dirt is, but we have lots of dirt. Come on over and get some, its free if you wanna haul it."

The dirt liaison then did a little dirt dance around the room! Woohoo free dirt. I placed the phone back in its cradle and dusted off my hands. My work was done.

Boy, I sure am glad I get to shop for a new fridge!
That is more in my comfort zone.

Have a great day...I plan to.

I find my poor little brain jumping around from thought to thought with little discipline for staying with one for very long.
Again, it is the unsettled nature of my life right now.
Just for fun, I thought I would type out a few for you.
It might be boring,
or insightful.
But, hey no one is forcing you to be here reading...most of you come of your own free will.

I have three books on my dresser. One I have finished reading, one I have started reading, and the other I am rereading. I just can't put any of them away! Why you ask? It is a very silly reason and has nothing to do with my naturally cluttered nature.
They all are beautifully designed in a red and black and white theme. This is visual delicacy, and I like to continually savor it.

My daughter left her tiny little string of pearls in my room. It reminds me that one day she will be a lady and that I am her constant example in that.


How now brown cow. Uhhhh, yeah...not sure where that came from but I was thinking it.

I still have two loads of laundry left. Guess I should have started sooner or worked later yesterday. So, Tuesday is now laundry day too.

I lopped off the bottoms of the last batch of asparagus that I steamed for dinner guests the other day and put them in a baggie in the freezer. I wonder if I will make something wonderful with that before the move or if it will get wasted. Some asparagus soup would be lovely.

I used to think cell phones were asinine, now I feel a teensy bit lost without mine.

I don't appreciate it when I order a fine steak at a restaurant, ask for it to be cooked medium well only to have the waiter sneer at me. I like it how I like it, ya know!! I have found the guys that cook at the Japanese steak houses are the worst about this.

Coffee is my friend. I think all of my buddies understand this and won't be offended at the level to which I hold this liquid wonder. I cannot get by without my buddies though!!

My thirteen year old hugged me today before he left for school, right there in front of his friend. I am feeling kinda weepy about that.

My middle son hates to go to school. I genuinely wish I could rescue him from this daily perceived torture. I know though that sending him is a better gift than allowing him to stay home. Maybe one day he will understand that too.

Having mini cadbury eggs in a bowl on my desk is not wisdom at its finest. I even chose a bowl with a lid, but that hasn't swayed me. Chocolate is my friend too!

My husband ranks right up there with coffee and chocolate. He is my friend.

I shouldn't have packed the envelopes yet.

I have had to return to my blog to retrieve 2 recipes within the last week...yup, packed the cookbooks too!

There is this man (whom I adore) who acts as a father to me. He reads this blog because he loves me. It certainly isn't because it is interesting subject matter or relevant to his life. Can I just say that touches me to the core! Everyone needs a Dad like that.


I am feeling a bit melancholy, can you tell. I think the moving out of this house where all my babies started their lives thing is creeping up on me.

Is anyone still with me? It matters not...

Off to have a day filled with wonder!