What fear has done to my writing.

Gosh, it seems like forever since I've blogged. Life seems gloriously busy right now. I always have scenarios that pop up I think would be great blog stories, but for some reason I always find an excuse to keep from sitting down and writing them. Sometimes it's pure laziness, but most of the time it's about being afraid to say what's on my mind.

About a year ago I became painfully aware of other people who could be reading my blog since it's open as public. I suddenly had stage fright when I would sit down to write! I managed a few posts but not the amount I really wanted to do. I started worrying about what others thought and if I was offending them. I certainly didn't want to turn anyone off by the things I would write. Unfortunately we can't please everyone, especially with the broad range of people that are reading this. On one side I am encouraged by many to keep writing, on another , I am told my blog is "to churchy" and I'm sure my terrible grammar and punctuation may turn people off too (I was only a C student). I also battle my own head when I start thinking "who wants to read what I have to say?", "Am I interesting enough to read about (if I don't have kids)?" and "Do I always have to be happy and positive in my blog?" Don't get me wrong, I love telling true stories that are just everyday scenarios and telling them in a way to make people laugh. It's my way of being transparent and reminding people to find humor in our everyday lives. But I certainly don't want to be thought of as a downer because I decided to write something that someone doesn't agree with.

As I sit here writing this I keep back spacing, second guessing what I want to write next....

The bottom line, I need to push away the fear of what others think and keep writing about the things that I am most passionate about and the thoughts that consume my head. Some days I aim to humor my audience, some days I want to uplift them and other days I simply just want to say what's on my mind.

Hopefully you will stay on board for this ride. If not.... oh well!

Homemade Ice Cream!!

We were inspired!! Last weekend we got to go to a Birthday party at the Stampers. And at the party they served the best Chocolate-Peanut butter homemade ice cream. It was especially refreshing since it was so hot that weekend. While we were at the party I started thinking about our ice cream maker. The fact that we got ours as a wedding gift and still had not used it. Every year we talked about getting it out but always seemed to procrastinate. I guess for some reason, I thought it would be much more complicated then it really was, which caused the procrastination.

This probably sounds very shocking for someone who really knows me. Ice cream is actually my favorite edible thing on this planet! I have always liked ice cream, but I didn't eat that much of it as a kid. I didn't actually love it until I started working at Friendly's in 1993. Of course I loved the taste of their ice cream, but more then anything, I loved serving it. Building a sundae was like a masterpiece for me. I always tried to make them as attractive as possible and made the scoops as big as I could get away with. After a short while, my co-workers started to say my sundaes had "Sommer scoops". I actually had a few customers that wanted me to make their sundaes! The part I loved the most was presenting the sundae on my customers table. Their eyes would bug out of their heads and then a smile would light their face. The first bite would make them close their eyes. It's always flattering to a cook to see an empty plate and that is how I felt when I made my sundaes. I worked for 7 fun years at Friendly's during high school and college. When it was time to leave, I dearly missed serving my customers and making my sundaes. Now, the only person I get to wow with my sundaes is my husband. He always seems impressed when I bring him a sundae.
This is the ice cream maker hard at work for the first time spinning and spinning. Thankfully we did this outside because we ended up with a lot of water on the ground.And this is just after we pulled it out of the machine and after we added the chocolate chips. It was more like a milkshake. We later found out this was normal after we read the troubleshooting tips in the directions. It tasted wonderful at this stage but it still wasn't ready to serve, unless we wanted a milk shakeSo into the freezer it went. We kept peeking at it every couple hours and stealing a few spoonfuls off the top.And here it is! The finished product, Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. YUM! I was so surprised at how creamy and smooth it was for home made ice cream and such a simple recipe too! We now have a lot of ice cream to eat between the 2 of us. It's a challenge we're ready to take on. ;)

"If They Ask About Your Savior"

After reading Facebook, it seems like everyone had a great day at church today! This must have been the day that everyone was paying attention in church and soaked in the messages given. I am one of those people that was extra attentive today and it started in our Sunday class.
In an effort to shake things up in our class, our whole class went and sat in with another class that was being instructed by Dr. Greg Ryerson. He is a wonderful teacher that provides great leadership within our church and always speaks encouraging words.
Dr. Ryerson's class was studying 1Peter 3:13-17 today and also provided us with a study outline. This passage is about always being prepared to give an answer when someone questions the hope that you have and dealing with the possible slander that is often spoken by cynics and non-believers. "It is better, if it's God's will, to suffer for doing good rather than for doing evil" (1Peter 3:17)
The title on the notes read "If They Ask About Your Savior". There are 3 points on the notes:

1) Be Confident- " Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread" (Isaiah 8:12-13 NIV)

2) Be Calm- "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" (John 14:27 NIV)

And the third point is the one that I identified with the most today because it was a hard reminder of exactly where Christ should be in my life. The big word was SANCTIFY: to make holy; to set apart as sacred. The notes were asking me, what parts of my life should be sanctified, set apart for Christ.

3) Be Committed- " I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20 NIV)
Practical ways to Sanctify Christ: Give him the first.....
a. first moments of every day
b. first day of every week
c. first consideration in every decision
d. first place in your life

Powerful results of sanctifying Christ:
a. You'll have a readier answer when questioned.
b. You'll have a cleaner conscience when judged.
c. You'll have a stronger endurance when harassed.

This was a great message with a great instruction guide. A reminder to keep HIM first in everything I do, even when being confronted by others.

Blueberry Pancakes for the books.

Tonight I believe I made my best Pancakes to date. For some reason, pancakes always seem to be the one thing I tend to mess up. The only reason I can think of is because I usually make the box mix pancakes. They are so easy to make that I find myself doing 10 other things at the same time, resulting in burned pancakes.
So, we were at the grocery this weekend and found some fresh blueberries. I immediately felt like I was having a blueberry pancake craving. The blueberries then hopped into the cart all by themselves (I know, yeah yeah). And in the middle of my afternoon of job hunting, I found myself Googling "blueberry pancakes" and came up with this scratch recipe.
All of my experience with homemade pancakes resulted in a heavy brick like thing that really had no taste. But for some reason I felt the need for a challenge (or maybe the picture just looked really good). All the reviews seemed great and it appeared I had all the needed ingredients. So I thought I would give it a shot.
This is the recipe I found on Allrecipes.com called
"Todd's famous Blueberry Pancakes"

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen blueberries, thawed)

In large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.
in separate small bowl, wisk together the egg and milk. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix thoroughly. If batter is too thick, continue to add 1 Tbsp at a time of extra milk until desired consistency. Batter should still be pretty thick. Stir in melted butter, then fold in the blueberries.
Let batter sit for 1 hour on counter ( a must).
Heat up griddle to med-high (or 350 degrees). Melt a pat of butter on griddle surface.
Ladle 1/4 cup batter on griddle for each cake. Turn when bubbles rise all around.
Serve with butter and warm syrup and enjoy! 1 batch makes about 8 medium pancakes.
I actually doubled this recipe so I could have some extra to freeze and have for breakfast later.
And this is the final stack! I could not believe how awesome they were. For scratch pancakes, they were actually like pillows and not bricks. The sugar adds a subtle sweetness and the blueberries add the yummy tartness. I think I drove JR crazy with my mmm mming the whole time. This recipe is definitely going in my keeper file.

Holiday "Sales"

I learned a lesson in "sale" advertisements in the newspaper today.
Today was what I thought to be my last opportunity to finish my Christmas shopping since the weather will likely be bad for the rest of the week. I was pretty much done except for Jonathan's gift. I've been watching the ads, waiting for the best "sale" price to pop up on what I was looking for. Well, this Sunday's ads weren't the best but I had put it off for too long and it was now or never. I looked in other stores last week for their advertised prices, but never seemed to find the advertised "sale" price on the shelf. I would then walk out of the store frustrated because I couldn't finish my shopping. It seemed all the stores were advertising the same item for about the same price, but the item never seemed to be available when I got there.
This weeks ads had only one store advertising what I wanted and thankfully for the same price as the other stores from last weeks ads. Since I know the husband will read this post, I will need to leave the item and the certain office store anonymous. So, I made sure to hit the store today, Monday, to make sure they would still be in stock. I made sure to take the ad with me this time and thankfully I did because the store did not have their ad sitting out for people to browse.
I proceeded to search the store for the item I was looking for. Just as I was about to give up and ask for help, I found what I was looking for. I compared the item numbers to make sure they matched up to the ad I had in my hand. I then noticed that the store did not have the sale price marked next to the item in the store. In fact, the item was marked in the store $100 more then then ad. I looked up and noticed that there was a sign next to the model that said "out of stock". I was crushed and nearly had a meltdown right there in the store. I had waited too long for the best price and now I couldn't afford any of the others that were not on sale.
I continued to stand there and ponder a plan B but couldn't come up with anything else. I then looked at the item again and saw that even though the item showed as "out of stock", there were still tags left to be pulled for the item. So.....I pulled a tag. I began to plan how I was going to handle this when I took my tag to the counter for my "out of stock" item. I was preparing myself to play dumb when they would tell me that it was out of stock and then I would ask for a rain check for my item at the sale price. I thought it was pretty silly that they would be "out of stock" of an item they were just advertising the day before which is why I thought a rain check would be fare.
So I stepped up to the counter and just when she was about to take my tag, the phone rang. The girl took the call to help another customer. As she was on the phone, I began to sweat. I was nervous! I was starting to think I was going to crack under the pressure. After what seemed like forever, the girl got off the phone and took my tag and said,"hold on a minute". She went to the back counter to talk to someone with my tag in her hand. They both looked at me and then I heard her say "well...she has an ad with her". The other person nodded and then my checkout girl went to a back room and came out with the "out of stock" item in her hand. Once I got over the relief I felt for not having to put on the act, I started to feel a little manipulated by the "out of stock" sign they had by the item when I first saw it in the store. And of course I had to show the girl the ad in order for me to get the sale price. Then I said "oh wait a minute, I have a coupon". Her jaw dropped as I gave her my 10% off coupon. If I could have read her mind right then, I know she was thinking "I just took $100 off this thing, now she wants another 10% off? the nerve!" Yes folks, I had the nerve!
I then paid for my item and wished the girl a Merry Christmas.

Shopping lesson for the day: Never assume the signs in the store are correct AND always take the ad with you. Sometimes you just have to get the nerve!

You Are More

As I was on the road tonight, I heard this song on the radio. A song I've heard many other times, but for some reason, I was listening more closely to the lyrics tonight.
So often I find myself wondering how it's possible that God can still love me knowing my past sins. This song reminds me that I cannot define myself by my past mistakes because I have been remade. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

You Are More by Tenth Avenue North

There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Clifton Mill 2010

This year for Christmas, we got to do one of our favorite things, we visited Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio. If you have never experienced Clifton Mill, you MUST add it to your list. If you are feeling a bit sluggish this Christmas season, this is the place to go to put yourself in the Christmas spirit. Thankfully it was only cold and not super cold and this is likely to be the only decent night of the weekend before the weather moves in to keep us all indoors. Needless to say, this place was paaaaacked! But as packed as it was, people still maintained the Christmas spirit.

The first Clifton Mill light show was in 1988 which started with only 100,000 lights. They have now expanded to over 3.6 Million lights and ever since the beginning, it has become a favorite for both of our families. We don't go every year, but when we do, there is always something new that's been added. This year was no different.
The 2 of us in front of The Water Wheel of Lights. After trying to take our own pictures of the 2 of us, someone offered to take it for us. LOVE this picture!

That's me.

These are the lights on the covered bridge. Since we were here 2 years ago, they have since added "The Covered Bridge Light Show". A motion light show done to the Trans Siberian Orchestra classic song, Christmas in Sarajevo. On the weekends they do this show every half hour. All the lights go out through the whole mill and the show begins on the bridge. Very awesome.

This is "The Waterfall of Lights".

A picture of the 7 story mill all lit up.

Part of the animated miniature village of Clifton. This is a miniature version of the Clifton Mill at Christmas.

This is also something new that has been added since the last time we were here. This is part of the miniature village. A moving Ohio State game! You can see the team in the back playing the game and the band in the front spelling out O-H-I-O, complete with a little man popping up to dot the I.

Great times at The Clifton Mill.

Old Fashioned Chicken N Dumplings

Two years ago, I was introduced to Old Fashioned Chicken N Dumplings at Thanksgiving Dinner with Jonathan's brother and family. As soon as we got home that weekend I became obsessed with mastering the old fashioned dumpling. My previous tasting of Chicken N Dumplings consisted of a batter like dough that was dolloped and steamed on top of a chicken stew. Don't get me wrong, I still love this version of Chicken N Dumplings (especially when Carol makes it), but I was determined to learn how to make an old fashioned rolled Dumpling.
So my obsession began this time, 2 years ago. I was able to get the recipe for the dumplings from Steve's family and I was able to use a traditional chicken stock recipe for the broth. In the last 2 years, I have made this recipe enough and manipulated it enough now to say that I have mastered it to what I think is a GREAT Old Fashioned Chicken N Dumplings. I am now officially ready to debut my recipe with the hopes that someone else may have their interest peaked enough to give it a try. Keep in mind that everything in the broth can be modified to your taste but the dumplings should be made to the recipe. The key to this recipe is to have a very flavorful broth and to roll the Dumplings to just the right thickness. Do not be intimidated by the wordiness of my recipe, it really is quite simple. Below is the recipe and the finished product that was made tonight.
Old Fashioned Chicken N Dumplings
Stock------
3-4 lbs. of chicken parts or 1 whole chicken, rinsed thoroughly.
4 Celery tops with leaves, rinsed (the leaves have the most flavor)
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thirds
1- Med. Onion, peeled and cut in half
1/2 tsp minced Garlic
2 Bay Leaves
3 Tbsp SALTED Butter
1 tsp pepper
1-tsp salt
2-tsp Chicken bullion Granules (optional for those watching salt intake)

Put Chicken in large stock pot and fill pot with cold water until water comes about 1" over chicken. Add all other Stock ingredients except Chicken Granules.
Bring stock to a rolling boil on high, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove pot from heat then remove chicken to cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, strain all other ingredients from the broth and discard, leaving only broth. Add Chicken Granules to broth and stir to dissolve. Taste broth at this point to test the salt and pepper. Continue to season to taste if necessary. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard all skin and bones and begin to pull chicken meat apart with hands into bite size pieces. Add pulled chicken back to broth.

Dumplings-----
2 cups All-Purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp SALTED butter
1 cup milk

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add cold butter and cut in with a pastry blender until small crumbs form (cutting the butter in with 2 knives will also work).
Add milk and stir with a fork until a sticky dough ball forms. Turn dough out on to a wide floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough ball and a rolling pin.
Begin to roll out dough, and adding only enough flour as you go to keep from sticking to rolling pin and counter. Roll dough to about 1/8" thick (when dough cooks, it will plump to about 1/4").
Take a pizza cutter and begin to cut dough into long 3/4" wide strips and place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Add a second layer of wax paper if necessary for a second layer of dough strips. When dough is all on cookie sheet, place in freezer to firm.
This can all be done while the broth is simmering.

When the chicken has been added back to the pot, return pot back to burner and bring to a boil. As soon as the broth starts to boil, the dumplings can now be added. Pull dumplings from freezer and begin snapping each strip 1 at a time into 1 1/2"-2" pieces and adding 1 piece at a time to the broth. Stir lightly. Once all pieces are added, reduce heat to a light simmer and cover pot. Continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Old Fashioned Chicken N Dumplings is now ready to serve!
Hopefully this VERY inexpensive comfort food will keep your family warm on a cold winter day.

Merry Christmas!

Good Bye ol' Ranger Boy

A few months ago, Jonathan stated that he was now interested in selling his 1988 Ranger Hot Rod. It really surprised me because I know how much time and money he has put into the thing. He drove it home in 1992 to his parents house as a 4 cylinder and after about a year it ended up with a V8 engine that sounded pretty mean. With lots of help from family and friends over the years he was able to do quite a bit of work on the truck .
My memories of this truck start in August of 2003 when Jonathan pulled up to my parents house to pick me up for our first date. I remember looking out my window wondering what all the racket was. I think my dad was a little bit impressed when he eventually heard what all he had done to the truck. Jonathan whisked me off for Pizza and a cruise through the Taylorsville Dam. It was definitely a rough but fun ride and of course as guys do, he had to show off a bit...LOL! It has made many skid marks through the years and created lots of late night noise.

A few weeks ago, one of Jonathan's connections called him and said that a guy was looking for an older Ranger to fix up. Jonathan jumped on it. He sold the truck tonight. Below is a picture of the truck loaded up.
I forgot to mention that we did keep the most important parts of the truck. The heart (motor) and Transmission were pulled this week before it was loaded up. Maybe one day we will get to transplant these items to a new body and bring a another car to life.

And here it is being driven off. We had to keep watching as he drove down the road out of sight. A small tear came to my eye as I began to think of the movie Herbie. A rough looking truck that may one day be turned into a race truck. The new owner has promised to stop by after he has it all fixed up and maybe we will get to post some new pictures one day. Hopefully we will get to see him at the track on a Saturday night in all his new glory.

Garden Check 2010

We are now about 2/3 the way through our garden season. Over all I would say this year has been good so far but VERY weedy. I have also had to do a lot of watering this year since it has been so dry. The rain we had earlier last week was a God send. I am just hoping now that the forcasted rain for this week holds true, otherwise it's another long week of watering.
Above is my corn. We opted for the Silver Queen this year rather then our usual Chubby Checker from the last 2 years. We should have our first round ready to come off at the end of this week.

And this is my Watermelon patch. this is only 3 plants (hills). I am a bit nervous on these. I'm not sure what to expect when. The plants are getting huge but I have not seen any melons starting yet. We have seen the blooms for the past 3 weeks, but not much more then that. I am hoping we see a little more action by the end of this week (fingers crossed).

And these are my 2 Zucchini plants. I was certain that since the plants were pretty small, we would not see anything on them this year. Boy was I wrong. There were many blooms on both plants. We went from 0 to suddenly 2 were ready to pick after last weeks soaking rain. I am certain there are many more to come.

And here they are!!

And this is what I made with the small one today. Baked Zucchini Chips. Not to bad, but I think I prefer them cooked on the grill. Maybe next weekend we will get around to that.

I am now going through my recipes trying to find my Grandmothers Zucchini Cookie recipe that are definitely on the cooking agenda for this year.