This weeks happenings

Well we finally did it! It took us a while, but after all this time, it is finally done! I talked about it here. Over a year ago! But little by little we completed our mission.

We got rid of one of our storage sheds!! We cleaned it out!

Everything! We threw away two truck loads of junk!

We brought the rest home for more through going through

and hopefully throwing more away.

That is $50.00 back in our pockets each month.

Some things will be kept.

Some will be given away (does anyone need a twin mattress set?). Free to a good home!

Some things will be taken to Louisiana and put into our storage shed that we own

and don't have to put out money on each month.

Those things will be things like Megan's very large collection

of Barbie dolls and baby dolls that she wants

to keep so someday she can show her children!

Other weeky events included:

Making fig preserves!

In August when my parents came for a visit, they brought me several gallon freezer bags

full of frozen figs.

These figs were picked and frozen by a very dear lady who has more figs than she can

do with herself, and is such a doll that she is willing to share

with her friends. Thanks Sis Phyllis!

The figs are delicious!

I just used one gallon bag to make these. I was just testing the recipe and it turned out well!

I thawed the figs, cooked them down in a water and sugar syrup. Added a little salt and some vanilla flavoring. I let them cook down very slowly, for about three hours, stirring often and staying very close to the pot.

The next batch I will add some sliced lemon instead of vanilla.

And another batch I will add strawberries to the mix.

I have fond memories of fig preserves.

My Granny Holaway use to make them when I was a kid.

We had a fig tree in our yard and she would come visit and I would climb up and pick figs,

she would then go home and make preserves and bring some back to us.

I loved them on toast!

I had forgotten about fig preserves for years until I was pregnant with Noah.

I started craving them. I searched and searched and finally found some in

Mountain View, Arkansas.

I bought a jar and ate my fill.

Then I started buying them at the Farmers Market at $6.00 a jar!

But thanks to Sis Phyllis, I have my own for just the cost of the sugar and my time!

Yummy!

And finally, this is my new kitchen curtain. For years, I have decorated my

kitchen in peppers. But when we moved into this house, I decided to change

the decor. I wanted to go with the "waiters" but just never did do much

toward decorating. The kitchen is smaller than I am use to and counter

space is precious, and I don't have any wall space for hanging plaques or pictures.

So I just didn't do anything.

While visiting the Goodwill store I ran across these curtains. They looked brand new,

never used. I paid $1.50 for them. I just couldn't

pass up such a deal. And I like how they look

in my kitchen window. It added a new

feel to my small kitchen. And for $1.50 how could you go worng?

Well, that about wraps up the week, other than the fact that we have all been sickies. We have been treating allergies all week. I suppose it is the change in the weather that is bringing it about.

Speaking of change:

Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend. Fall back! We get an extra hour on Saturday night to either sleep, or whatever...

But starting next week it will be dark much earlier and we will have to start

staying inside more and the days will seem much shorter. Lord knows I

could use longer days to accomplish the things on my to-do lists, but I suppose for

a few months, we will just have to deal with shorter days and more indoor

activities. Which sends me looking for one of these.

http://www.amazon.com/Uplift-Technologies-DL930-Day-Light-Affective/dp/B0009MFUWC

Because we know that less daylight= SAD for some of us.

Maybe this year I will actually try the light therapy. Wonder if Goodwill has one of

those lamps? HMMMMMMmmmmm......

Spiritual Food

While visiting the library a couple of weeks ago, a book was accidently checked out and put with our books. When we got home we discovered it. Turns out it was a Beth Moore book. I have read of Beth Moore, and heard others talk about reading her books but I have never read one. So I thought that maybe it wasn't really an accident and maybe there was something in it that I needed to read.

The book is, A Woman and Her God. In the first chapter she talks about the void that God created in each of us, in order for us to seek Him to fill that void. I have always heard it referred to as a God-shaped void, that nothing else would fill. I have known people who seek in the wrong places to fill that void, only to become addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex and other things which do not fill their void. People have ruined their lives along with the other people in their lives, seeking after the wrong things. If only they realized that only God would fill that void. If you allow God to fill the void, then you would not be seeking in the wrong places, because you would be complete in Him. Then He would bring into your life the things that would compliment you and it would be good things to give you an abundant life.

Beth Moore quotes the scripture Isaiah 44:20

He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside,

that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

She talks about the "lie" being anything that we hold to for our strength, of comfort or to fulfill us. Other examples she uses is food, alcohol, drugs, money, or work. She says that our cravings will help us see what "lies" we are holding onto.

While reading this scripture in the KJV of the bible, I saw a reference scripture for the word lie.

So I looked it up and it was Romans 1:25

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

The next scripture says:

For this cause God gave the up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

The scripture continues on in this vein and it got me to thinking about what is going on in our world today. The evil that resides here. The world has become an evil place, if you doubt, just listen to the evening news or read the newspaper. That is all the evidence I need to tell me that the world has tried to fill that God-shaped void with things other than God. And as He states in Romans 1:28, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. They are believing the lie, and will be damned.

Open my eyes Lord, don't let me believe a lie, help me to see the lies in my own life. Help me to rid my life of the things that are not of you. Things that I may be using to try to fill the void that only you can fill. Keep my eyes wide open in the spirit, so that I won't be fooled or mislead by my own lusts or desires. Keep my heart and eyes set on you and on TRUTH! I don't want to lose this precious truth of your word.

Visit with family

The Twins!

Don't ask me to tell you which is Brennan and which is Jaylen.

Here is big brother Caleb in the red shirt, playing with Noah

Weekend events

Here are a few photo's from our weekend. Megan, Noah and I went to the Rendevouz and Fall Festival. Had a great time. We also went for a short canoe ride. I didn't get photo's because I was afraid that the canoe would tip and I would get my camera wet. So I left the camera on dry land for our canoe trip.

Fall is here...

Bittersweet October.

The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking,

perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.

~Carol Bishop Hipps

We're Back

We made it back to Arkansas yesterday. We had gone to Louisiana for Daphne's wedding and decided to stay a few days.
The wedding was great! It went off without a hitch, except the groom was in the emergency room on Friday evening and unable to be at rehersal. But all is well, he is doing much better, and was able to be well and alert at the wedding and made it through the honeymoon without getting sick again. The couple made it back home Tuesday evening, just in time for me to visit with Daphne for a little bit.
Andrew and Lauren drove back to Arkansas on Sunday. But Megan, Noah and I stayed over.
Monday we went to town and met a good friend there and checked out a flea market and the Thrift store. Then we all went out to eat.
Tuesday we got up and drove to another near by town and visited with cousins that I hadn't seen in over a year. We got to see Kendra's twins. They were only a week old! They were so tiny. Brennan was 5 lbs plus and Jaylan was 4 plus pounds. How precious they were. I will post my photo's of them later. We had a good visit and then we went back to my mom's to enjoy a wonderful meal of chicken and sausage gumbo cooked by a wonderful lady who is an angel! Thanks Sis Dianna!
We got up on Wednesday and drove the six plus hours back home. I was glad to be home and today I am just taking it easy getting a slow start on the day. It is rainy and dark outside, one of those days that, if your lucky enough to be able to be home in your pj's, that's where you will be! And that is exactly where I am...

Wedding time

It's time, it's time! I can hardly believe that a year has already past since the planning stages began. Boy, where does the time go? http://dlynthomas.blogspot.com/2007/11/wedding.html
Here is where I first posted about it.

Since I will be away for a few days, I will leave you with this link to The Knot . Here is also a link to wedding traditions and where they originated.

And just in case you didn't get enough wedding stuff, here is a link to my daughters photography web blog. Did I mention she doesn wedding photography and will be helping with the photo's for Daphne's wedding and has several weddings booked where she will be traveling out of state to do? Not that I am bragging about her accomplishments or anything, you understand!

One last wedding thing...

Every mother generally hopes that her daughter will snag a better husband than she managed to do...but she's certain that her boy will never get as great a wife as his father did. ~unknown~

Departure from the norm...

I realize that politics is a divisive subject, and I am not the confrontational type. I usually live by the motto; Live and let live. I am not one to force my opinion on anyone else. And I truly believe that everyone has a right to their own opinion. Doesn't mean they are right, but everyone can believe what they want.

But I have to speak here...I have heard the liberal media and the liberals that they give voice to condemn Sarah Palin because they believe she doesn't have the experience to be Vice President. They spout that line that she doesn't have the experience to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Well, Wake up folks!!! What experience does Obama have to be the actual President? He has less experience running a government than she does. The fact is, he is running for the actual job of President! And his experience consist of what...community organizer? What's that? I know someone who has years of experience organizing community events and raising money to see things done in the community; doesn't mean she is qualified to be president.
Obama has several years experience in the Senate...
Well, Ted Kennedy has 46 years in the Senate, doesn't mean he should be president!!!

So my point is, wake up America. Don't be blind sided by the loud chants of "no experience" it is coming from the very side that is supporting someone for President that doesn't have experience to be President of the United States.

But beyond that, look at his background. He has very questionable ties to people who have tried to harm this country. His past is questionable and our knowledge of him is sketchy. It is just what "they" want us to know about him. What about the rest?

He is running against a man, who served this country and sacrificed his life and limb to defend this country and our beliefs, and freedoms. What has Obama done for this country? This race isn't about Palin and her experience or lack there of, as they would try to have us believe. This race is about two men, McCain, a man who has spent his life defending this country and protecting our rights, and Obama, someone who doesn't have the experience to be the leader of the free world. What has he done for the betterment of the United States as a whole?

Don't be fooled by the double-speak, look at the issues, not at the popularity of the candidates, but at the issues. Look at the facts, the real facts...not just the ones the liberal media is pushing to the forefront...

Vote for the good of the whole country, not just a select few. The liberal media try to tell us that the conservatives are out of touch with what the country wants...I say that we are more in touch with what people want, we are just more of a silent majority. They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease, lets not allow the loud mouth liberals to take this country away from us...

Got that out of my system!!!
Back to the regularly scheduled posting...