Do I need fixed?

Of course I need fixed!  Are you crazy!?!  Romans 3:23 says "Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God's glory."  do you see that ALL ... me, you, him, her, ALL!  It doesn't matter the sin; to much time on the computer, to much to eat(gluttony), adultery, un natural relations, to much to drink, sex outside of marriage,  I could go on but if you are reading this you get the point.    
Some of these things are necessary and good i.e. food we need food without it we really could not last a long time.  Sex is great for and inside marriage.  Jesus made wine.  For us sinful humans we take what is good and twist it to be harmful for us so much of the time.  Even in those things moderation is needed.  Yet as a sinful human that can be difficult in areas of our lives.   1 Corinthians 6:12 Someone may say, "I'm allowed to do anything," but not everything is helpful. I'm allowed to do anything, but I won't allow anything to gain control over my life.
I am thankful that I have a compassionate merciful Savior who took all my sins on that I might have eternal life.  John 3:16 God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.   He is gentle with me... but yes, YES I need fixed and only God can do that in me.  I am grateful He has made me willing.  

gluten~free twinkies

Even when I did eat gluten I really didn't eat twinkies.  However recently I have been craving the random cake things.  Off to google I went.... Gluten Free Canteen , had a "Out of a Box" recipe.  It starts with a box then there are a number of other ingredients.
It would have been easier if I had a long tube to squeeze the filling into bites.
I had extra filling so I drizzled it over the top too.
Not exactly twinkles, but pretty good.

boeuf bourguignon... that is what was for dinner.

For about a year now I have been contemplating making this recipe from gluten-free girl and the chef a love story with 100 tempting recipes(cook book).

A couple of days ago I started.  It is supposed to be an overnight kind of marinade... mine ended up taking an extra night.  I started cooking it last night, putting it away late in the evening.  The smell of it woke me up three times in the night.  Finally today I cooked it all the way.  At the end of the recipe though it calls to take the mirepoix and herbs.  I understand why the big pieces of herbs and the bay leaf should be removed.  What confuses me is why would one take out the carrots, onion, and celery?  Veggies are good for you and the fiber in them help a body's system.   I just left them in, maybe it should look "prettier," OH WELL.   I will say it was very good with the veggies.
There is something very satisfying about making food homemade.

Harvest Sweet Home

 There is a small grouping on the table.
The little shelf has silver sprayed pumpkins in it.

 I normally do not do any Harvest decor.  This year I really wanted to so....   Here is my little smattering of Harvest.  The green thing in this terrarium is something inedible but bumpy apple like, Ric found it while out geocaching one day.
 A little ribbon a few ceramic pumpkins a couple of green sunflowers, a random apple like orb, so burgundy leaves.

Growing Up Amish... A Memoir

By Ira Wagler.  

 This is Ira's story of growing up and how he endeavors to fit into the Old Order Amish community.   There is heartache and heartbreak through out as he figures out his way to God.  In the end there is peace in his heart.  
For some reason I did not realize this book is an autobiography when I started reading it.  As I was reading I was drawn to wonder and feel for his momma.  I can not imagine not being able to see my child.  I am glad for Ira that he was able to see in the end that God is loving and merciful and not available thru the laws that man set, but in direct relationship.  This book helps one see that there are all kinds of pain out there and that loving people thru the love that God gives us is crucial.


 I want to thank Tyndale House Publishers for my complimentary e-read of this book for review purposes.

Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today...

Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...

And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva... So tweasure your wuv.  

Impressive Clergyman ~ Princess Bride

Marriage is a blessed arrangement,...  It is also daily hard work, somedays it is even harder.  Many days it is ultimately the choice to love the other person rather than rely on some twitter pated feeling. 


That dream in a dream.  Interestingly here frequently I forget that Ric has a dream too and not always does my dream mesh with his dream.  


And love, true love will follow you forever... For me some days I wake up and don't even like Ric, however I have entered into a covenant with God and Ric.  So I choose to love him.  In my humanness I can only attempt to mimic God in loving my husband as God loves me even when I do not "feel" like it. Thankfully God doesn't ever not "feel" like it.


So treasure your love.  In the past year I have read a really great book it is called Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.  In his book he points out, Ephesians 5:33 But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands. The surest way to show love to your man is to respect him just as the surest way for your man to show you love is to cherish you.  Now honestly ladies I can say that when I read "RESPECT" shows your husband love I thought oh how LAME!  Then I put it to the test.  My sweet handsome husband reacted in ways I never would have anticipated. Treasuring means you take care of, you work to help it thrive.  People who treasure money make sure not to spend it un wisely, and to invest carefully.  That takes time, effort and research.  If I treasure my husband I am going to invest my time, my effort, and I am going to study him to know what makes him smile and what makes him frown.  Then I am going to do my best to make him smile.  Oh I am not saying being some door mat.  I am talking about investing my time in loving him.  And for Him ... the male ... that is RESPECT.  ( alternative words; honor, appreciate)  


I think all of us want what we see in pictures... you know all smiles and happiness.  The reality is:

We only see the good times in pictures, but it is the bad times that get us from one photograph to the next.

 ~ Just Married

  

Really how many of us frame pictures of our selves fighting or angry?  I don't have any of those kinds of pictures in my photo albums.

Then there are those moments... those beautiful moments!  The ones where everything just "fit."  Or the times that we are talking and no one else really understands because we are talking thru our own experiences.  Marriage is one of the sweetest hardest things I have ever done.  Thank God HE is with me... I couldn't do it on my own.

Stories of Faith, and Courage

Stories of Faith and Courage  from the war in Iraq & Afghanistan  is a a day by day reading thru the year.  The days are about different people or situations, and sometimes continuing situations. The stories are about 2 pages long, each day is ended with a short prayer and a scripture.   It is written by Jane Hampton Cook, Jocelyn Green, and John Croushorn.

I think that the "Dedication" sums up the book very well " Dedicated to those who live loudly for liberty in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families."

As a Chaplain's wife, I appreciate that the stories and adventures of our soldiers and their families are being shared.  Some of the stories made me cry, some made me laugh, and appreciate the sacrifices.  The stories made me think and consider how God would have me handle situations in my own life.

I want to THANK AMG and netGalley for the opportunity to read this on my iPad complimentary for review purposes.

Gluten Free Cookbook

Quick-Fix Gluten Free is written by Robert M Landolpi.  
The title is pretty self explanatory, this cookbook is specific to cook without Gluten.    


Mr. Landolpi's wife became ill and after some long searching and many incorrect diagnoses she   was found to have Celiac Disease.  He began creating recipes and then was inspired to share what he had learned the hard way.  Many are finding ways to make the original (wheat based) into something gluten free, such as cinnamon rolls, southern-style chicken and dumplings, spinach and ricotta cheese eggplant roulades or swedish meatballs.  Others would be gluten free naturally, such as bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds and goat cheese, or tangy thai baby back ribs.  I like how he has noted if he has found something works especially well, like a spice or a beer for battering.  He has a few recipes from breakfast thru dessert with interesting stops at teasers, tasty comforts and international flavors to name a few.  Mr. Landolpi also goes into a list of likely needed items in the gluten-free pantry, substitutions, and techniques.  


I recommend this book for people who have gluten issues at all.  Since I am gluten intolerant it  is very useful to me.  


I want to thank Andrews McMeel Publishing thru netGalley for being able to read this on my iPad complimentary for review.

Honor Begins at Home Courageous

Courageous is a novelization by Randy Alcorn, based on the screenplay by Alex Kendrick & Stephen Kendrick.
  It begins with the carjacking of a man named Nathan that turns out to be a law enforcement officer.  His new co-workers become close friends and surprisingly another man who is not in law enforcement is added to that number.  Their friendship lead to decisions to be the men God has called men to be.  Some of the choices they are left with are painful, some are hard, but they are all defined by a Resolution they take "witnessed by their family and their God."
I highly recommend that men read this book.  It draws a person in from the 2nd page.  I really like the moral of this book, which is that men need to be involved in their children's lives to effect a change in the world.  In short ... WOW!  Twist, turn, and MAN UP!
Here is my favorite paragraph in the entire book.
 " Nathan folded his hands on the table.  'We can't surrender to the culture.  We've minimized the role of fathers, so we've created a generation of barbarians--children who become men without growing up.  They stay in boyhood through their twenties and thirties, sometimes their whole lives.  They think of themselves first, indulge in pornography, do what they feel like, and leave their wives and culture and churches to raise their children.'"
I want to thank Tyndale House Publishers for my complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

More Pink

I love pink!  I have always loved pink from the moment I remember picking a color.  When I was a little girl my Gram painted me a picture of a rose in my favorite color... PINK!

Our 2004 Christmas Ornament from Germany

Here are a few more items in my collection, and the flowers left from our 25th Anniversary.
Thank you to Beverly from How Sweet The Sound for hosting Pink Saturday 


Jeremiah 29:11 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.

Moving

My father is so gleeful that he no longer moves his momma's piano!

This move has probably been the most stressful one I have ever encountered.  In part because we decided that I would come with Ric pretty late in the game.  We had planned that I would stay with the house until it sold.  Well after almost a year deployment being apart for even a few more months of our own choosing just was not realistic.  So while Ric started school I stayed back and prepared the household goods for pack out.  The packers packed us out in 2.5 days!  That is the quickest we have ever been packed and loaded!  Packing started Wed. and they left on Friday at 12:30.  As soon as they left I finished packing my car, locked the house up, and drove like a mad person to beat the movers to Leavenworth.  By 15:00/ 3:00pm they were unloading!  Today the movers came and picked up the empty except for paper boxes.

With many thanks going to my dear friends Shari and Ms Barbara for coming and helping me during the pack out.

Stealing Jake

Stealing Jake by Pam Hillman               This book quickly drew me in!
Livy's childhood left her feeling untrusting and fearful.  She has in the past few years come to know God, yet her past continues to haunt her.  The new life she has been living leads her to make sure other children do not grow up with the same hardships she did.
  The story of Livy's childhood is interestingly unwound as you move thru her present.  An interesting point that is an under theme is that God makes a way thru if we just will trust.
Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers for making this book available to me thru NetGalley.

Hawaii

4 wks after surgery for Tasha, 8 months old + for Teo

I spent 6 weeks and 3 days in Hawaii.  Going just a short 6 wks after Ric got home from his last deployment.
Our daughter Tasha had back surgery.  Dr. Orchowski fused her L-5 to S-1.  I visited Tripler so much that by the end of my trip I was able to direct people to different area's of the hospital.  Our grandson Mateo was 7 months old when I arrived.

Ric and I went to the International Market in 1989

                                  

 6 days before I left I made the girls get in the car and I drove them around the island.  They told me some 20 miles into the drive I had to turn around cause the road ended and we would fall off into the ocean.   Later they realized we were on the opposite side of the island and we hadn't fallen off into the ocean.  Tasha was able to see parts of the island she hadn't seen in her almost 3 years.

A CRUISE A CRUISE HE TOOK ME ON A CRUISE!!!! CAN YOU SAY FABULOUS!

He has promised me a cruise since Christmas 1988.  He took me!  We went to the Eastern Caribbean, San Juan, Saint Martin, and Saint Thomas, on Celebrity Solstice.
I can honestly tell anyone that for me this is on the same level as the first time I went to Paris.  Celebrity treated us to such decadent luxury!
We left on the cruise on 3rd of April returning 7 days later on the 10th.  Ric had just returned from a deployment to Kuwait of almost a year.

State Room 3133

Old Town San Juan PR

Marigot, St Martin

St. Thomas

Ric's favorite pic from the cruise

From the moment we checked our luggage at the porters we were treated like royalty.  We boarded and had lunch, afterward making out way to the Solstice deck our favorite quiet place to sit.  We had such a wonderful time that by the 5th day Ric was talking about the next cruise.  I think my favorite part of the cruise was the lack of phone coverage and internet.   We actually spent time together without interruption.

There will be more cruises!  I so enjoy the days at sea that I can just sit and watch the water pass.  Loving our quiet time.  Other than that the days we disembarked we were able to see places that we wouldn't go for a vacation to for any length of time, and we did not have to schlepp our luggage from hotel to hotel.  Most important was the service I received being gluten intolerant. (They even bake g-free on board)

He's on the PLANE!

I am so excited.  As I write this Ric is now aboard a plane on the other side of the world.  But on a plane which means he will soon be on this side of the world.  By the time you see this he will be home!  I have not touched his handsome face or held his strong hands in 333 days (or 479,520 minutes, or 7,992 hrs, or 1102 meals).
This year has had it's ups and downs and swerves and jerks.  I was able to spend a couple of weeks with my cousin, sometime with one of our girls before her family moved to Alaska, a month with the Freier Team, sometime with my mom when she came out to visit.  Beaux was sick and in ICU (vet) at K-State in Dec.
God is always good.  However, this year has gone quickly even though there were times I felt would never pass me by.  I am Thankful to a gracious God who makes time keep ticking at the same rate regardless of the good, bad, or ugly that we are walking thru at the time.  I am grateful that God loves me enough to put the right people in the right place for "such a time as this."  I pray that I have been faithful enough to what it is that God planned for me in this time.  I am human only with God's mercy and grace could I have been "enough."
Well I am off... to bed... prayerfully my last night of this deployment.

Footstools

In our bathrooms we have these little plastic foot stools/steps.  They are ugly and every time I look at them I think "surely there is something I can do to make this look prettier!"

So the other day I sat down and started sewing.  Here is what I came up with.  I have no pattern other than the stool itself.  I have to finish the pink one and make one more for the 3rd stool.

I am so excited!

Ok so there are a couple of reasons to be excited.  But right now I want to talk about makeup, GLUTEN FREE makeup.  I have been using my normal Bare Minerals .

For years I have not worn mascara more than one or two times a year because every time I did it hurt my eyes.  Well recently I thought maybe since people are talking about gluten free mascara I should look into that.  I am happy to say I am now wearing mascara on day 2 and am having NO reactions.  Other than compliments.   I usually go no more than 15 minutes without a reaction. This is very cool.  Maybelline!  The inexpensive stuff can you believe that!  Great Lash Big Washable Mascara (NOT the WATERPROOF!!!!)

3 Favorite things

Ok so this is a random post.  Today I just want to list a few of my favorite things.  Things that I am thankful I do not have to live without.
    My phone                                   My hair towels                                              My Wii

              

Affect Change

I am doing a Beth Moore Bible study,  Breaking Free.
This paragraph really strikes me.
"Sometimes we're willing to criticize what happened before us, but are we willing to take the challenge of positively affecting those after us?  The little slice of time God offers each generation is a trust.  Those before us who were not faithful with their trust will be held accountable, but we're still here.  We still have a chance to positively affect the generations that follow us."  Isaiah 39:5-8 ... what kind of "link" was Hezekiah?
Oh God help me to be faithful and honoring of the slice of time you have given me.

Be my Ma'amaw...

Friday night I was out with my friend Jamie and her 3.5 boys.  We had gone out to eat at the local mexican restaurant and then had come back to my house.  At the end of the evening Ry had decided that I should be his Ma'amaw.  So meet my newest Grandson... Rylee, he is 4.  No we don't have another kid.   Just have an extra grandson.

A long year

This has been an interesting year.  One which I am very grateful is nearly complete.  My beloved groom has been working far away.  God has been most gracious and merciful to us.  I am very proud of my handsome man.  He has been working to make his soldiers comfortable.

He has loved his soldiers as God has asked of him.  He has my utmost respect.  

Thank you to anyone who reads this who has lifted us up in prayer.  I appreciate it more than words can express.  We will soon be together again.