Oh how good it feels to sit down and look through blogs and let my mind just go...........

I want to thank those who have prayed for my mother and I.  Thank you so much.  She is in ICU still after having  surgery on October 27th.   I thought many times she was not going to make it but she has.  She should've only been in the hospital for a relatively short stay but had one complication after another with pneumonia and respiratory failiure and her body becoming septic and blood clots and the list goes on.  She had a tracheotomy and peg tube yesterday put in and will move from ICU to a long term critical care unit and then on to a rehabilitation home for a year the doctor said today.  This all has been horrifying.  My mother was a well person before all this and got around great with no serious health issues and was very active and happy.   She had just had new flooring put down in her house and had gotten new furniture for her den and sun room.  She was enjoying her new car and loved wearing stylish clothes and was in Church every Sunday to give you an idea of how Mama is and of how shocking this has been for us.

As for me?  I stayed with her constantly for 17 days and then a sister came from another state and has been with her while I came home and got some much needed rest.  I believe I have been at my breaking point and have been just teetering on the edge of somewhere I've never been before.  I covet your prayers for my mother and myself and my entire family.  

I hope, as time allows between trips back and forth, to blog about other things again.  I love my blog and I miss it.  I think it would be good for me to do so and it would help me get my mind off of things if I'm able to.  So come back and visit. 

 

It has once again been a while since I have added anything to my blog! Well so many different things have happened since my last entry.

We have ended the courtship with Nathan. Thankfully we are still able to be friends. This is a blessing, because I still enjoy his friendship. I believe that that is one of the true blessings of courtship, if things do not happen as we want them to we can still be brother and sister in Christ. I don't really know what else to say on the subject except that, we have learned A LOT about courtship, and are now not so blind as to what is coming. I have told my mother that the next time some one is interested in me I do not want to know until my father has gotten to know him.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


I would appreciate any prayers for my birth mother who is going into surgery on the third of December. She is going to have a hysterectomy (spelling???) I am praying that she will be able to heal and adjust quickly! I am planning to go visit for Christmas.


Can you believe that Thanksgiving is around the corner? I am sure that the time only goes faster the older you get. When I was younger I felt that it took FOREVER for a year to go by. Now I blink and we are nearing the end of 2008. The Juggler suggested that we make place mats. I think that this could be tons of fun, so I am going to google designs for Thanksgiving place mats. My wonderful...most amazing....lovely....spictacular (thank you mother dearest) mother is giving us next week off of school! I plan to get caught up on Christmas gifts that I am making, and Spanish....some how I got a few weeks behind...:(

I have been reading for the past two weeks

To Kill a Mockingbird     By: Harper Lee

I am really enjoying this book, except for the foul language. It is really horrible how people treated others! They surly did not love one another as they did themselves.

Well Little Bear is trying to get into my lap...and I have to put the key board away when her little fingers are in reaching distance....

Little Woman

Two years ago today, our sweet Joshua was born still.  Today, we remember a son that God blessed us with, even if it was for a short time. 

Hi from Down Under,
I'm trying to grow Stevia for the first time this summer, and I can't seem to get the seeds to germinate. Is there any trick to it, do you know, or am I better to try and find a plant at the nursery?
Rachel L from NZ

I did not have success at growing from seed though it was my first try from seed. I did get a sprout but it didn't make it after that. I may have over watered I don't know. They do say that it is hard to grow from seed. What I did is got the plant and grew from the cuttings. I have three new plants from cuttings I could have made a lot more. I put the cuttings in straight permilite till it rooted (saw new leaves grow) and then put them in soil and a little bigger pots.

Hope that helps

huh... I wonder.... a lot to be able to sell.... but what about just for family/homestead use? Thanks for the idea... I think I will look into this as a supplement to honey.

Thank you for your comments and questions. This is my goal to supplement our sugar or sweetner intake with stevia. I am selling and using stevia green powder that you can cook with.

I will be expermenting on ways to use it and the taste. I will try and keep you all up to date on things I try what works and what doesn't.

limeaid with stevia

Right now I am drinking limeaid with stevia. I started to drink just a glass of water with a lime then thought I'd try adding one of my stevia tea bags to it. Not bad though I may try putting the stevia bag in a little bit of hot water and then try adding it to cold glass of lemon water. Kind of like you do with ice tea. I will let you know how that goes

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal

I tryed the recipe below and it tasted good. I used soy milk next time I will use regular milk to see what it taste like.

I've posted about the numerous home improvement projects we've done at our current house. Here's the behind-the-scenes commentary.

My husband is a perfectionist. This can be good and bad when doing home remodeling. On the down side, it can take A LONG TIME to finish something because it has to be just right. No second rate work is allowed, even though it might cut the project time in half. We will work as long as we need to in order to get it right. On the positive side, though, things look GOOD afterwards. Not just good, REALLY GOOD! And not only do they look good, but we know that what lies underneath the surface (like electrical wiring, insultation, etc) is also installed correctly. There are a lot of short-cuts that you could take when repairing a home - like not putting enough insulation in the walls, using old and not-up-to-code wiring - and to anyone just looking on the surface you wouldn't know the difference. But we know. And we're trying to do what is right, not only by us but by those who may own this home after us.

I also must say that living in a home while you are doing home improvements is NOT EASY. As a woman, it is my tendancy to want a clean home. I am an organizer by nature. I love to clean and put things in their proper place. It is very hard to live with rooms torn up, with everything out of place  (because it has no place), with drywall dust covering everything and with tools strewn throughout the house. This is the hardest part of do-it-yourself living for me. My hubby does all of the really hard physical labor part. I deal with the emotions of my house being chaotic and I struggle almost daily with keeping that chaos from affecting my inner being. It really is a struggle for me. There have been seasons when we can't have anyone over because of the remodeling projects. And that whole first year we lived without a kitchen. Actually the first 24 hours in this house we lived without running water!

A friend of mine said "Wow! It's like you were camping... for a year!" Yeah, basically, that was it. I have to try to keep it all in perspective. So I lived without running water for a day. There are people who travel miles to carry water to their homes. I lived without a kitchen - meaning that I didn't have a room in my house with a fridge and a stove and a sink. But we still survived. We had food to eat and ways to prepare that food. I lived without a laundry room for years. Now I am all the more grateful for laundry machines being so handy. Millions of people throughout history have lived with so much less - this reminds me that I am blessed... with or without a proper kitchen or running water. When I remember that, I live through the chaos and can even find joy in the midst of it.

I'm off to give a big hug to my hubby and maybe even to my laundry machine too

You guys know that I am not normally a twice a day blogger, but today I am just so tickled that I have to share a few things with you!

... My blog is nearing 50,000 visitors!!! Can you believe that.  Now I have had quite a few more page views, but actual visitors is almost 50,000!  Those of you who have stopped by and actually read what this gal from Georgia's blog has to say... or at least look at the pictures. :)
 Ya'll have blessed me a bunch and I want to bless you right back.  I am going to be compiling a prize.  And I will give this out Friday! So make sure you leave me a comment on this post by then.
I know that it will have a few handmade ornaments in it for sure, but who knows... I might think of a few more things to add.
***I will update this as I decide! :)***

Also... You all know of my LOVE of Vision Forum.  They still have the opportunity for you to receive FREE shipping on any order of $20 or more!  That is a great deal in itself, BUT it doesn't stop there!  There is 20% off their Beautiful Girlhood Collection and so much more.  Check them out.

And last but CERTAINLY not least!!!!!!!
 My SISTER is going to have her baby!!!!!  She has always had her babies early.  Her first was 6 weeks, second 4 weeks and now our new little one will be here by the weekend!!  She has done so beautifully through this whole pregnancy, I am so excited!  She is almost 37 weeks with him and we are thrilled!  She is going in early because she is leaking fluid... but she is dilating also... so whooopppeeeee!!!! Another precious little nephew to hold soon! :)

So to celebrate this fantastic week... I will be hosting the giveaway!  Make sure to enter, tell your friends and help me celebrate this big week!!

Love to all...
My Cup Runneth Over...

Today's Tips:

• If you plan to make fruitcakes for Christmas, you need to make them now, this week, because most fruitcakes have to "season" for at least a month and are even better if you can let them set longer.
  
  
• I know some of you would love to give them as gifts, but I suggest starting small until you have some success with them. The ingredients for fruitcakes can be expensive. If you buy a ton of ingredients and make several batches that subsequently flop you can be out a lot of money.
  
  
• Be sure to allow you fruitcake to age for at least a month before you put it in the freezer. Freezing stops the aging (or seasoning) process.
  
  
• Always bake at low temperatures: 250 - 300 degrees is best, but some recipes do go a little higher depending on their ingredients.
  
  
• Because they take so long to bake, line the pan with 1-3 layers of brown paper (you can use a brown paper sack) to prevent them from getting too brown and drying out. Make sure the paper comes up a couple of inches past the top of the pan.
  
  
• Fill the pan only 2/3 full with batter.
  
  
• To help prevent the fruitcake from drying out, place a pan of hot water on a lower rack in the oven while it is baking.
  
  
• To test whether it is done, insert a toothpick. If it comes out moist but not gooey, it is done.
  
  
• Let fruitcakes cool on a cooling rack before taking them out of the pan. When cool, dump them out of the pan and peel off the paper.
  
  
• You can bake in muffin pans or mini loaf pans, but be sure to adjust the baking time. It will be shorter.
  
  
• Don't store in a plastic container. The fruitcake will absorb old flavors that have been left behind in the plastic. Wrap in plastic wrap; then foil. Do not wrap with the foil touching the fruitcake because in some cases it can cause a chemical reaction.
  
  
• You can take any basic recipe and change what you put in it as far as the fruits and nuts are concerned. Just be sure you use the same amounts. For example if it calls for one cup of dried pineapple, you can replace it with mango as long as you use one cup.
  
  
• Always mix the fruit and nuts with some or all of the flour for the recipe before you put it in. This keeps all these things from sinking to the bottom. Do this with any recipe that calls for fruit or nuts.
  
  
• As with any recipe, read it from start to finish before you begin!
  

Today's Recipes:

Here are 4 fruitcake recipes that you might try. The first is not your usual fruitcake, but I thought it was perfect for our web site (Poor mans fruitcake ;-) ) and the second is a more traditional one. Number 3 is a no bake and the fourth, (No Fail fruitcake) I dedicate it to all the first timers.

Poor man's Fruitcake

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
4 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each cloves, nutmeg and salt
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. gum drops, no black ones
3 cups raisins
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and line two 9x5 loaf pans with brown paper. Sift flour, and spices. Cut gum drops into fourths, and mix those, the raisins and nuts with part of flour mix. Cream together butter, sugars and eggs. Alternately, add the flour mix and applesauce. Add soda to hot water and mix it into the batter. Then add the vanilla. Add gumdrops, raisins, and nuts mixture. Bake for 2 hours. If you use a tube pan instead of loaf pans bake 30-40 minutes longer.

Christmas Wreath Fruitcake

(Don't forget that you can take out anything like the dates or fruits and replace them with equal amounts of something you prefer.)

1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup red and green cherries
3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup candied pineapple, diced
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp.  lemon zest
4 eggs
2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300°. Mix first 8 ingredients. In separate bowl cream butter, sugar and add lemon zest, eggs and lemon juice. Mix into flour mixture. Bake for 2 hours.

No Bake Fruitcake

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2 cups raisins
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups candied pineapple chunks
2 cups dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup dried currants
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups almonds, chopped
1/4 cup candies cherries
1/2 tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt
4 cups graham cracker crumbs

Grease a 9x13 loaf pan. Mix everything well and pour into the pan. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 1 week to age.

Never Fail Fruitcake

This is a big recipe but you can easily half it. Using half, you can make 22 cupcakes but, if you do, only bake them for 40 minutes.

1 lb. candied cherries, chopped
1 lb. dates, pitted and chopped
1 lb. candied pineapple, chopped
1 lb. pecans, chopped
4 (8oz.) pkgs. coconut
3 Tbsp. flour
2 (14 oz.) cans of sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease two 9x13 pans and line with brown paper or parchment paper.  Mix everything very well and press into pans. Bake 1 1/2 hours. Cool and remove from pan.

This was all taken from my newsletter:

Living On A Dime

  Today I am thankful that my husband and I both have the day off!!!  Yeah!!!!  This happens like....never.  Well, it happens every Sunday, but  we are so busy with worship and catching up on what needs done that we don't have time to enjoy one another.  I made bacon and eggs for breakfast and we sat down and had that and coffee together before the children got up. 

  I am also thankful that my husband still has a job.  He is connected with the auto industry (selling parts in a dealership) and a few others have been laid off where he works.  And I'm sure you've heard all the fuss about whether or not to bail out the industry.  Crazy and scary.  BUT....... as always, God is and will take care of us. 

  Well, better go.  It is so seldom my hubby has a day off that I think he is waiting for me to tell him his next move; kinda cute.

Melanie