Feed on
Posts
Comments

2012 Bookshelf

Nov 30th, 2011 by

I am currently going through a book on leadership with my friends, Bev and Karen.  Karen is a life coach trained by John Maxwell and team, and has been coaching us on building our leader skill sets.

One of the things I read recently is about being intentional in your personal growth; I define “personal” to include “spiritual”.  To help achieve this, you need to make a plan.  One of the things you can do is commit to the following:

  1. Read one personal growth book per month.  Pull aside one year’s worth of books and commit one to each month.
  2. Listen to one personal growth CD or message per week (I would include Sunday service as this…)
  3. Attend one personal growth
I have a library full of books I have not read yet.  They just keep piling up.  So, I decide to pull twelve books I am committed to reading over 2012, and invest in really reading and applying what I have learned through these books.
But, which ones to choose?I prayed, closed my eyes, and started grabbing…
Here’s my list for 2012:
January: ‘Released from Bondage’ by Dr. Neil T. Anderson (wow, what a way to start the New Year!)
February: ‘Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
March: ‘Magazine Writing That Sells’ by Don McKinney
April: ‘Crazy Love’ by Francis Chan (one of my all time favorite books.  I started to put it back on the shelf, but I decided that it was time to read it again.)
May: ‘Made to be Loved: Enjoying Spiritual Intimacy with God and Your Spouse’ by Steve and Valerie Bell
June: ‘Tea and Inspiration: A Collection of Tea Celebrations to Share with Your Lord and Your Loved Ones’ by Mary Pielenz Hampton
July: ‘Taking Care of the Me in Mommy’ by Lisa Whelchel
August: ‘Solid Answers’ by Dr. James Dobson
September: ‘Sabbath Keeping’  by Lynne Baab (Another book I already read, but worth re-visiting…)
October:  ‘Your Money Map’ by Howard Dayton (I might move this one up…)
November: ‘Mastering Motherhood’ by Barbara Bush
December: Living in Jesus by Marilyn Meberg

Posted in MISC. | Comments Off

Day After Thanksgiving – Apple Hill Christmas Tree Hunt 2011

Nov 26th, 2011 by

Our friends, Katie and Chris, have a tradition of going to Apple Hill and chopping down a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  The invited us last year and were invited again this year.  It is quickly becoming a wonderful tradition for us as well!

We left our house early and it was such a bonus for constantly be 20 to 30 minutes ahead of the crowds everywhere.  We started at High Hill Ranch for hot chocolate and apple doughnuts…

The guys…Chris (AKA Dizzy), David, and Randy

 

Next stop…Smart’s Tree Farm…let the hunt begin!



Next stop…picnic at Boeger winery…


We came home, got into our jammies, watched the movie ‘Scrooged’, ate turkey leftovers, then decorated the tree, while sipping on mexican hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music!!  It seems like every year we say this is the best tree yet.  This year is no exception…


I used a couple of boughs from the tree to make this simple swag for the front door…


Some of you might recognize the pieces…love and miss you, Grandma…

The boys started this tradition a few years ago.  The spend every night sleeping under the Christmas tree through the holiday season.  Tonight is their first night…

May your holiday season be full of love, peace, and joy.  May the love and grace of Jesus be felt as you go about your days.
 

Posted in FAMILY | Comments Off

Thanksgiving 2011!

Nov 25th, 2011 by

It was an early morning for David.  He played a breakfast concert at Safe Haven Ministries, a homeless shelter in Sacramento.  These two pictures were posted by our friend, Sandi, who was the female singer…

I stayed home and slept in. I was greeted this morning by a pilgrim, shouting “Happy Thanksgiving!”   Both boys stayed in costume all day!

Watching me dissect the turkey organs.  ‘A’ gave a play by play narration into his iTouch and ‘R’ made background music on his…

We stayed home and kept it quiet with dinner just for the four of us.  On the menu:

Roasted Turkey

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Wild Rice Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Sweet Potatoes with Onion, Garlic, and Maple Syrup

They wait all year for the turkey leg!

The wishbone.  ‘R’ won, but it was the closest break I have ever seen…

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your!  May the Lord bless your Holidays!

Posted in FAMILY | Comments Off

Scarf Night

Nov 25th, 2011 by

Our small group serves the homeless once a month with a warm meal.  We go to a public boat launch where many hang out and live in the bushes nearby.

My friend, Lori, decided it would be nice if we were to provide a little something extra for our guests when we serve in December.  So, we would make a n0-sew fleece scarf.

I went to Jo-Ann fabrics and told the guy at the cutting table that I wanted to spend a certain amount of money and wanted to make as many scarves as I could for  our homeless ministry.  He shared with me that he used to be homeless and thought it was great that we were doing this.  He ended up discounting the fabric 50%, so I ended up receiving twice the amount of fabric I had budgeted for!

The lady at the cash register was not pleased.  She kept trying to figure out why he discounted the fabrics, told the manager, and the manager said, “well, I didn’t approve it.”.  I let them know it was for a homeless ministry and they begrudgingly honored the discount.  I am praying for the nice guy that he won’t be fired for his act of kindness.

With all this fabric, I realized this project would be too big for just me and the boys, so I made a last minute invite for anyone to join me that same evening to make scarves.  My girlfriends Ginger and Jeanette came with some of their kids.  Not only that, but Ginger brought a cutting table and rolling straight edges for cutting.  It made for an incredibly efficient session.  She did all the cutting of the scarves, Jeanette and I cut the fringe, and the kids and moms tied the knots.

It was a fun night, and we were thrilled to discover that we made 69 scarves!!


Chelan was in heaven!  He would not let ‘E’ go!

Posted in SERVE | Comments Off

Weekend with Heidi

Nov 22nd, 2011 by

One of my WA state BFFs joined us for the weekend!

She flew in Friday night and I took her to visit her great aunt and uncle.  They live about 20 minutes from me.  After a good night sleep, we had a leisurely morning around the house, then drove up to Apple Hill.

First stop…wait for it….High Hill Ranch.  They make these delicious apple cider doughnuts.  I also bought kettle corn, caramel apples, caramallows, and a Christmas gift from one of the craft vendors.

Me and Heidi!

Next stop, El Dorado Orchards.

I had not been here before and was very disappointed.  Their website makes the place look charming, with craft vendors, BBQ, a train ride, etc.  They had nothing but the train open. We went midday on a Saturday!   The train was $3.50 per person and it was a little track that went around a pond.  The boys wanted to go, so I decided to let them and Heidi and I would wait.  Nope.  They required an adult to go with the kids AND the adult had to pay as well.  GRRRR.  But, I decided to have us go because the boys were being so good tagging along with us girls.  So, I shelled out $10.50 for a ride where it took longer for us to wait for everyone to board than the ride itself.  Oh well, you live and learn…

There was a vineyard next to the orchards.  We walked through them a little and ate some of the grapes!

One of the many Christmas Tree farms in the area…

Waiting for lunch at Abel’s Acres…

Last stop: Boeger Winery.  I love their Barbera.


Went to BJ’s that night for dinner.  BJ’s Brewhouse is a chain restaurant that has a menu the size of a book.  I was trying to find gluten free options, but it would take forever to get through the menu.  I asked the server if they had a gluten free menu and they did!  I ordered a steak salad.  Yum!

Heidi and I stayed up and watched the movie, ‘You Again’,  with Kristen Bell and Jamie Lee Curtis, and a bunch of other great ladies.  Cute chick flick.

Sunday, we attended church.  David was coincidentally playing ‘big church’ , and it was neat to have Heidi watch him play.

After church, I passed the boys on to David and Heidi and I spent the afternoon in Old Sacramento.
Here we are messing around in one of the stores…

On the drive to the airport to send Heidi home, God blessed us with the largest rainbow I have ever seen!

A fun weekend with a special friend!

Posted in FAMILY | Comments Off

Weekly Wall Calendar

Nov 22nd, 2011 by

Here’s a wall calendar I made.  Got the idea from Pinterest.  I bought the Wallmart frame for $10 (the frames are 4×6)

I bought a pack of decorative paper for $5 and the letters for $2.  The papers are a little to busy for my taste.  I might swap a few of them out for some solids…

Dry erase pen to write out the daily agenda.  I placed this on a central wall in the kitchen.  We can see our day at a glance!

Posted in ORGANIZE | Comments Off

Service Project: Feed My Starving Children

Nov 22nd, 2011 by

The boys and I were incredibly honored to join some friends and create meal packets that are being sent to countries in need. A local church hosted this event.   I had never heard of the organization, ‘Feed my Starving Children’, and was in awe over the efficiency and infrastructure this organization has in meeting the practical need of providing nutrition for children in extreme poverty.

If you have an extra moment, I encourage you to visit their  Video Library.  Check out the second video.  It is 5:04.  This is the one we watched before we began our two hour shift.

We worked in teams to fill  plastic bags with food.  Each bag contained six meals.  In each bag is a coffee cup full of rice, a smaller coffee cup of soy protein, a small scoop of dehydrated vegetables, and a Tablespoon or two of what is called ‘chicken flavoring’.  It looks like the powder you get in a ramen noodle packet.  The difference though, is that it’s not a scoop of sodium, it’s a scoop full of vitamins and minerals.  The bags were weighed, sealed, and packed into boxes

‘A’ and ‘R’ took turns sealing the bags and placing the bags on numbers to make sure the proper number of bags go into a box (36).  I held the bags for sealing, and packed the boxes.  It was an awesome team effort with good friends.  Our table ended up filling 22 boxes of 36 bags each!   22 boxes x 36 bags per box= 792 bags packed.  792 bags x 6 meals per bag = 4,752 meals!  I am not sure how many tables there were, and I don’t recall the final numbers.  The only number I remember hearing from them is that in our two hour session, the total number of meals for that room totaled feeding 136 children for a whole year!


One half of our ‘u’ shaped table.  This my  friend Kelly, her kids, and her brother (who is visiting from Hawaii!)

My friends, Heather and Betsy, and a couple of their wonderful sons…

Sealing the bags with ‘R’…

Packing the boxes.  ‘A’ did an excellent job of leading our group in the cheer, “Table Eight is Doing Great!”  This was the cue for a floater to come and pick up the box and place it on a pallet to be transferred to a truck.

I gently shook the bags to make sure they were securely sealed, then ‘A’ (or ‘R’) placed them on a number.  Once they reached 18, the bags were handed to me for packing into the box…

Cutie pie ‘C’, was our clean up kid.  Whenever a bag spilled, he swept up the items  and placed them into a bin.

These lovely friends are also family! Hope is in the striped shirt, Leslie and Colleen are her daughters on the right.  Meg is Colleens daughter on the left.  They all attend the Bible study I am in and Leslie and Colleen also homeschool.  How special it would be to share Bible study with the women in my family!

Some of our kids that attended this project…

We will definitely do this again next year!

Posted in SERVE | Comments Off

What’s for Dinner: Chicken Sausage, Wild Rice, and Sweet Potatoes

Nov 22nd, 2011 by

Yummy, yummy dinner!  I found this terrific sweet potato recipe on the Clean Eating Mama blog.  I modified the cooking technique to save time,(posting my version below), but for the most part, the ingredients are the same, although I used less onion and garlic than what she called for.  I could eat this every day!  ‘R’ loved the sausage.  I am taking posting the package so I won’t forget it…

Sweet Potatoes with Onion and Garlic

  • 3 medium/large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large bite size pieces
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • olive oil, about 2-3 tablespoons
  • 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
  • salt and pepper to taste

Microwave the sweet potato pieces until mostly cooked through, but center still firm.  In a skillet, heat olive oil, then add the onion and garlic.  Cook until onions are translucent.  Add the sweet potatoes and continue to cook on medium heat.  Do not over stir the potatoes.  Add the maple syrup and cook until a glaze forms.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Posted in EAT | Comments Off

Clean Eating and Gluten Free Mexican

Nov 17th, 2011 by

I found four recipes online and thought they would make a good dinner.  We had this and enjoyed it.

Vegetarian Tacos with Quinoa Tortillas, Cilantro Lime Rice, Roasted Veggie Mix,
and Black Bean Potato Stuffing 

Quinoa Tortillas.  I actually made handmade tortillas!  Using quinoa flour and brown rice flour, I made a tortilla that worked well with the dinner.  They took some getting used to in the sense that they were thicker, but the flavor was good.

The uncooked tortillas.  Oh look…my cat is on the counter…

Cilantro Lime Rice.  I did half white rice and half brown rice, and used olive oil instead of vegetable oil…

Black Bean Potato Taco Stuffing and Taco Veggie Mix.  Scroll down for the recipes.  The veggie mix turned out too spicy for the kids.  I rinsed the veggies and they never knew the difference.  The black bean potato stuffing was terrific.

Posted in EAT | Comments Off

Clean Eating Chicken Fried Rice

Nov 17th, 2011 by

‘A’ was in charge of dinner.  Chicken Fried Rice was the menu.  I took an existing clean eating recipe from
The Gracious Pantry, and altered it to fit our family taste preferences…

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed (original recipe had pork)
3 cups cooked black rice (original recipe had brown rice.  Black rice has more fiber and protein.  I used a rice called ‘Forbidden Rice’)
1/2 lb. green peas (I used frozen)
1 cup shredded carrots
2 whole eggs (original recipe called for an additional 2 egg whites)
5 green onions, sliced (I included the white parts)
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. olive oil
Chicken broth on reserve if you run out of oil in the pan.

Original recipe called for these, but I omitted:
1 cup bean sprouts, chopped
1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms

Topping: Soy sauce, low sodium to taste

Directions

In a large pan, cook the peas and carrots in the olive oil.  Add the eggs, and stir until cooked.  Add everything else and stir until well combined.  Let the rice cook in the pan long enough to create a little bit of a crust. Then, turn the rice over and cook for a few more minutes.

Top with soy sauce and serve.

‘A’ concentrating on grating…


Yum!  This is a dish we have about once a week.  This was the first time with the black rice.  We all liked it!  Good job, ‘A’!

Posted in EAT | Comments Off

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »