Experiments

No dinner plan, end of the month, odd groceries...

So start throwing them together. Why not, right? Little bits can come together into something good, if you give them a chance.

This afternoon I made an empty-out-the-freezer casserole. It's delicious. (in my opinion...)

2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed
6oz elbow macaroni, boiled and strained

1 pound mixed vegetables of your choice
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 stick margarine
1/4 cup of flour
1 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp salt
black pepper
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella

1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 tablespoon pimentos
Milk
Bread Crumbs

I know that's a long list... but hang tight.

-Saute the onion in the half stick of margarine until tender, in a 6 qt pot. 
-Add flour and spice and cook over medium heat, for 3-5 min, stirring occasionaly.
-Add evaporated milk and three cheeses, cook until cheeses are melted. Turn off heat
-Add cubed chicken, mixed vegetables and cooked macaroni. 
-Add milk until sauce is a consistency you like, and everything coats evenly when stirred together.  (I used close to a cup and liked it, but Quinn thought it was too dry, so you might want more)
-Pour into greased 9x13, sprinkle wth bread crumbs (and more shredded cheese if you like)
-Bake at 400 for 30 min.

It needed more salt... but that I'll leave to your discretion. I didn't mean to make a 9x13's worth for two people, and baked half of it in a smaller casserole and the other half is in the freezer. Since Quinn thought it too dry, (he eats baked soup and calls it casserole)  I'll try making more sauce and pouring it over it before I rewarm it, but this was creamy without being soupy, and I very much enjoyed it.

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(This is Ethan, my babiest brother, during my shopping day with my family a couple weeks ago)

(And this is Ethan's nephew, baby Ned, who could quite easily pass as Ethan's brother. Ned is Sis-in-law Tyana and brother Josh's second born)

(This is still the same shopping trip. Leah, the fourth sister, is the one taking the pic. Ethan is in the front of the stroller, talking to Mom, who is sitting beside her Mom, who is my Gramma)

Aldi still has 99cent strawberries, so I'm planning on picking up another 10 pounds tomorrow afternoon, so I'm gonna use the last pound that I've been hanging onto and make a brownie and strawberry trifle.

Best brownies in the world:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted.
6 Tablespoons of cocoa
1 cup of sugar

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour

Beat everything but flour together, just until combined. Stir in flour, gently. Spread in greased 8x8 (or 9in round. I like making them in a round pan and cutting them in wedges) baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Cool in pan.

You can add anything to these and they're fantastic. Nuts, caramel, chocolate chips... I even like to beat cream cheese, an egg and some sugar and swirl that into them for a marbled look. It's divine.

Tonight I'm blending strawberries, cream cheese and vanilla pudding to layer with cubed brownies, and I'll top it with cool whip and chocolate covered strawberry halves. I can't wait. 

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Had a hummingbird at my feeder yesterday! First one of the season! But then... today the screen door, which came off it's tracks this week, blew over and smashed two of the flower inserts. *sob*   It was rather distressing. Thankfully though, it didn't knock the whole thing down, and Quinn said we can get replacements for the broken flowers.


Speaking of Quinn; He, being his ridiculously clever self managed to strip and splice the laptop's power cord using a pair of scissors and a pair of wire cutters. (I really need to get this guy some tools) so I'm actually writing from home, while doing other things, and without the obnoxious smells that belong to the library. He's so hot.

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Signing out. I have baking to do.

Buy-One-Get-One-Free Tuesday...

God is good.
Life is fun.
I hate doctors.

And that about sums it up.

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I made a stir fry for lunch yesterday that totally flopped. Okay, so not totally, but I have yet to use beef in a stir fry and have it come out with any texture than that of leather.

Today I pulled all the beef out, chopped it and simmered in it broth until it was chewable. Heated the rice and veggies in the oven and when they cme out I poured the whole mess of meat and broth over it. It was so much better than yesterday.

**********

Oh hey, it's buy one get one free day at Chick-fil-A!  Only on shakes, but hey, that sounds pretty fantastic to me.

I've been living on ice cream this past week. It's pathetic. I NEVER have ice cream more than once or twice a week and I've had it 9 times in the last 8 days. So bad. So good.

Of course, I've pretty much been eating non-stop. I think I may be setting calorie records..

_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_

Yesterday was the anual Federated Music Club recital, and two of the orchestra classes were performing. Thankfully, I wasn't required to be there, so I went about my day in a blissful freedom.

My family has been having some serious van engine issues, so last night, while I was sitting in the living room at my Mom's house, I said "so, I guess you guys are skipping the performance tonight?"  Assuming that they weren't trusting the van to get them there...

The entire room full of jabbering teens went silent.

Mom blinked at me. "Performance?"



They didn't make it.

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It's hot in here, and I really don't have more to say.

'cept that I got to peek at baby yesterday. I had a kidney ultrasound and the tech who was doing it works three days a week in my OB's office, so as soon as she'd finished her check list she turned the screen to where I could see it and we watched him kick his feet around and wave his little fist. He's so much bigger than he was last time we looked at him. <3

 ============

I've been messing around on all the shopping sites that have baby registeries, trying to find one I like. I've already got three... but I don't think I'll stick with any of them. I love my Amazon list, but things keeping disappearing off of it 'cause they cease to be available. Not cool. I'm trying Diapers.com right now,  but it doesn't really have a good selection.  Except the Puj Tub. That's just awesome.

I think I'll just have to go to Sears and do a hands-on registry. I'm not liking the online stuff. :P

Gonna run for now. I'll talk at all ya'lls later.

-Joanna

I just discovered

... that the chairs here at the library can raise and lower. It was completely out of necessity that I discovered as much. The chair was at it's full height and the keyboard felt as awkward as a knife feels when wearing 4 inch heels in the kitchen. Surely you know what I mean...

So, I've been searching high and low for a way to report a user on craigslist, and the closest thing I can come up with is flagging a post. Darn.

I got scammed.

I picked up a Pack n Play on Saturday. The ad said it was in "perfect condition," but it looked dingy in the pics, so I called and asked if it was at all discolored. Her answer was "No, it's practically brand new, in perfect condition. That's just the camera."  She wanted half the price that they are new, so I decided to go for it. It was, after all, the darling safari print that I had chosen out of all the basic pack n play prints.

I got there and the house was thick with smoke, but once again, as I walked in, she restated that she'd only had it a week or two, and that it was basically brand new. They had packed it up, but I unzipped it to get a general idea. What I could see looked perfect, so I paid her and her very creepy, hugely obese, fu manchu and tattoo adorned boyfriend and got the heck out of dodge. Walked around to the driveway and discovered that my keys were locked in the car.

That's the second time I've done that since I got pregnant. Creepy.

So, rather than go back inside, I sat on the asphalt by my car and googled (thank God I had the smart phone in my pocket) pop a lock 'cause roadside assistance said we'd used our 4 helps and it would cost $60 for them to hire someone, haggled with pop a lock and was told that there'd be a one hour wait due to the fact that it was Saturday and everyone was busy.

So I sat there. For an hour. Three creepy tom cats would NOT leave me alone. One of them kept licking my arm. Another kept nibbling my flip flop. I kept hitting both them with my shoes, but to no avail. 15 minutes of slapping them resulted in them flopping in the grass 5 feet from me, watching me. I called Ashley. We talked about Dr's visits and creepy people in her office at work. I called pop a lock. It had been over an hour. They were five minutes away.

When the pop a lock person got there I was surprised to see a round, middle aged woman with a pooh bear tee shirt get out of the car with her bichon frise in a doggy purse. As soon as she saw that I was pregnant she was apologizing all over herself for taking so long. It took a few minutes to convince her that I didn't expect special treatment just 'cause I was carrying a baby. Even at that she seemed to feel very badly. 

I headed home, tired, hungry, overheated, and ready to kill something. Got home and took the play pen to the back porch to set it up and air the smoke smell out of it. As soon as I opened it I knew I'd been had. It reeked of baby barf, cat pee and smoke. I spent an hour with hot soapy water, then bleach water, then disinfectant spray, scrubbing and cleaning. It looks alright, though one of the bars is pretty stained up, but I haven't yet been able to bring it in the house, even with daily lysol and oustings. Quinn picked up a odor killer that he's used in cars before, and we're gonna try that. If I can get it to smell decent then I'll try to get my $60 back out of it, but if I can't then I'll try to sell it for $40.

Needless to say, it was an icky day.

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HHI should have a different selection process for the water aerobics instructors. There are prenatal classes, fibromyalgia classes, heart patient classes, etc...

Gail is wonderful. She's 70 this year, skinny as can be and absolutely darling. We all love her.

Traci is also wonderful. She's probably mid 40's, and still trying to work off baby fat from her 6 year old, so always gets in the water with us to work out for the hour.

Beth... I can see Beth being hated.

Gail and Traci both are out and about 15 minutes before class starts, greeting people, catching up on news, getting the girls all warmed up...

Beth, last night, came out right as the class began, as she jacked the 80's music up loud and danced to the edge of the pool with her perfectly tanned body squeezed into a white Dillards one piece. One of the girls made a comment about her "cute swimsuit" and her high pitched, giddy response as she flipped her platinum highlights over her shoulder was that she "hates to splurge on stuff like that but she was browsing Dillards the other day and thought it was just altogether too cute to pass up!"

ugh.

We all were missing our abs.

And our tans.

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It smells terrible in here. I'm at the B-wood branch and I usually go to the Center. I thought the Center smelled bad, but wow. It smells like a combination of sewage, onions, bad socks, sweat and garlic in here. So gross. I've got semi-permanent goose bumps from the shivers it's been inciting.

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Rachael Ray had a guest on her show today who was showing how to declutter spaces and use "green" items to decorate. One of his items was a gorgeous terrarium in a glass bowl. I've been googling them, trying to find one like it, but no such luck. His was carpeted with live moss and had some mini ferns in it. Can't find one that looks like it, but here's a cool idea:

It's all live moss...beautiful, isn't it?

 A couple weeks ago Quinn found these coffee tables, which I think are totally awesome. Is that really strange? I dunno... I think moss is gorgeous though, and I love having plants around the house. I'm terrible at keeping them alive though... *sigh*

Anywho, that's my blurb for the day. I'm off to a Homeschool convention to accompany my orchestra classes this evening. Looking forward to seeing Mom and the kids there, but I always dislike this performance. I dislike any performance where I get stuck playing an electric keyboard, but that's just 'cause I'm "an elitist snob." (or so I've been told.)

For now...

Goodbye. :)

I know His promise never faileth...

I know, I know, that Jesus liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know, I know, that life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.


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At the library. Came here from Q's workplace, where I met him for his fifteen minute break. Went there from Aaron and Jenna's place, where I was picking up Q's bass guitar case and Cory's violin that had been sitting there since they moved in almost a year ago. lol. Before that they spent about a year sitting in our family's basement. We have the bass...but since it stays home I hadn't even thought to miss the case.

This is a very noisy keyboard.

I'm hungry.

Gonna run home for 10 minutes from here to fix a blt (Jenna was making them for lunch when I was there an hour ago and now it sounds too good NOT to make!) then I'll be off to water aerobics. I missed all three classes last week. Skipped Monday on purpose, then Quinn had Wednesday and Friday evenings off work due to the accident, so I stayed home with him. I'm looking forward to going tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~

Friday's appointment went... I guess it wasn't good or bad. Dr L didn't know what to think. Due to the Monday night incident he's ordered an ultrasound of my kidney and referred me to a neurologist for the leg thing. Also, we did a full blood panel and a urinalysis and everything came back clear. I guess that's good, though two more appointments on the calendar is not something that makes me happy.

__________________

Quinn's been to the chiropractor twice this week. He's even more sore then he was before he went. Poor guy.

I can't wait to get back to our health-care-free existance. I hate all this doctery stuff. :P

**********

When I found out I was pregnant I started reading through the Bible out loud. It takes a lot longer to read out loud then it does to read to oneself. I made it through Genesis and part of Matthew, got sick, and let the habit go. Lately I've been reading the Psalms out loud, but just today I got back to Matthew. There are so many amazing stories packed into so few verses... it's overwhelming to read the gospels more than a bit at a time.

Also reading A Man Called Peter.  I remember at least starting it when I was 12 or 13, but don't remember whether or not I ever finished it. Quinn picked it up about the time I finished the first chapter and was hooked, so I gave it up for three days while he blasted his way through it. Now he's working through the sermons in the back of it a bit at a time, so I pretty much have posession of it again. Spent a couple hours sunk into the couch at Panera reading last night while Quinn studied. It was a lovely couple of hours.

I hate using my glasses, but they make reading much easier. I can't wear them to walk around or I get "see sick, from seeing too much," as Tigger would say.

I miss Pooh Bear.
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Made tater tot casserole yesterday. I had a sudden craving for it about the time I walked past the frozen potatoes at Wal-Mart. It's the easiest thing ever.
 
Tater Tots
Ground Beef
White Onion
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Milk
Shredded Cheese of Choice (I like monterey jack)
Salt
Pepper
 
Chop your onion and brown with your ground beef, salt and pepper. Strain and put into casserole dish. Mix enough milk into your cream of mushroom soup to make it pourable, and pour it over the meat and onions. Sprinkle with cheese. Top with taters. Bake at 400 until tots are crispy.
 
Enjoy way more than is healthy.
 
******************
 
Gonna run home now. ttyl.
-Joanna

Um... Wowzers.

Talk about crazy.

-Thursday afternoon was my OB apt, as I mentioned before, and my appointment with Dr. L is for Friday morning. 

-Sunday I spent in bed with pretty severe low back pain and cramps, other than the few hours we were gone for church, and a few hours late afternoon to go get dinner/lunch 'cause I hadn't been up to cooking.

-Monday night we spent 2 hours at labor and delivery 'cause we thought I had a kidney infection. Turns out I simply have a kidney stone(s) that I just have to deal with, unless I end up so miserable that I go to the clinic for a pain med prescription.

-Tuesday I spent the day in B, having a wonderful time trying to keep up with my Mom, 4 sisters, babiest brother, 2 sisters in law, niece, nephew and Gramma while we shopped outlets and ate Chili's. I talked to Q around noon, and he was on his way home from class on his bicycle. At 3:30ish he called me to tell me he couldn't come pick me up that evening 'cause he was being driven home on narcotics after spending nearly 3 hours in the ER. RIGHT after we talked, he was headed through an intersection and a Ford Escape decided that her "yeild" meant "GO NOW" and he got to taste her passenger door.

Not. Cool.

So my Dad drove out to B when he got off work so that I could come home without ending the entire shopping party, 'cause as insistant as Quinn was that he was okay (no stitches or broken bones) I was dying to be home. I got home to find him limping around the parking lot trying to clean his car. The remote was lost, I had the phone that gave us internet access, there was nothing to eat that didn't require serious prep, and he was bored silly. So (with me driving and him freaking about my driving) we went to fill his pain med presciption and pick up Chinese and a movie.

I was glad to be home.

-Today. Went to the police station to get the official report. He called around to insurance companies and some friends for advice as far as legal action is concerned. Went back to the ER to pick up his x-rays to take to his chiropractor to see what kind of care we're looking at for the next forever. Nearly puked in the hallway walking past the ER from the incredible urine smell that permeated the hall.

Now we're at the library because the power cord for the laptop is dead and we've been using the phone for ALL our internet. It's not bad for fb, but email and banking and such can be frustrating.

Tomorrow...who knows. Hopefully we make it through a day without any crisis...

...but I still have to go the dr on Friday. Yuck.

He's sitting at another computer updating his blog right now... so if you want his (far more entertaining if it holds true to form) version of the story, check out lostcyclist.blogspot.com. Check it out anyway... his posts are always fun. <3

4. The Lord kept Quinn from being hit by the FRONT of the SUV.

5. I don't have a kidney infection and didn't end up being admitted for observation and medications on Monday night.

6. I was able to spend the day with my family on Tuesday, despite the emergancy trip to the hospital Monday night.

7. Quinn is feeling good enough to go back to work tomorrow...ish.

8. We have EXCELLENT insurance.

9. I have awesome parents who do things like drive 2 hours out of thier way so that I can quit worrying and be with Quinn.

10. He has awesome parents who gave up their day Tuesday to get him home/taken care of while I was in B with no way home.

Library is closing and I have a book ready to pick up. I'll ttyl.

I am poured out like water....

...and all my bones are out of joint:

My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him;

All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him;

And fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel.

For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath He hid His face from him; but when he cried unto Him, He heard.

(Psalms 22)

...Our drops of sorrow may well be forgotten in the ocean of His griefs, but oh, how our love ought to rise! Come in, O strong and deep love of Jesus, like the sea at the flood in spring tides, cover all my powers, drown all my sins, wash out all my cares, lift up my earth-bound soul, and float it right up to my Lord's feet, and there let me lie, a poor broken shell, washed up by His love, having no virtue or value; and only venteruring to whisper to Him that
                if He will put His ear to me, He will hear within my heart

faint echos of the vast waves of His own love

which have brought me where it is

                                       my delight to lie....

Even at His feet forever.

-C.H. Spurgeon

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Pastor D. quoted an old African proverb yesterday: "The same sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay."   The ocean of God's love is there for every man. His light shines on the heart of every person, and every heart is given the choice to be made like clay, or like wax. To melt in the presence of truth, or to let that truth harden them. How vast is a love that is great enough for all? How valuble is the blood that can cover every sin ever commited? How perfect the righteousness that can purge every destroyed life? How great the mercy that can turn ashes into beauty and give joy in place of tears?


~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

I had to take down my hummingbird feeder last week while the roofing crew re-shingled our building, but today I got it back up. This time it's full of sugar water, and any day the hummingbirds should  hit our region... I can't wait.

I managed to pour hot sugar water over my thumb after boiling it down. It's another stupid wound that doesn't have visible signs, but hurts like heck. Waa.

Can't believe the beauty of God's world today. The oil pan in my car was leaking, so we had to take the car to the shop. I'm getting pretty good at staying off the main roads in S-field, thanks to Q's coaching, so I got a huge dose of perfect weather and gorgeous spring while driving through town. Everything is in bloom and the trees are just starting to fill out. Birds are going crazy, singing their hearts out, building their nests, falling in love...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The sea is His, and He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

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Potassium diet. Ew.

Went to my OB appointment on Thursday and she's sending me to another dr. 'cause of my leg issues. (buckling under me, losing strength in them for 20-40 minutes at a time, so on.)  So sometime this coming week I get to see ANOTHER dr. and do ANOTHER round of tests. Ew. The OB is a HUGE stretch for me, coming from a practically dr-free life for 20 years, so this is just overwhelming and depressing on a whole new level.

Thankfully, Dr. L, who she is sending me to, is someone I have met and actually like. I went to Quinn's check up with him a couple weeks ago, which was his first since he switched insurance providers and therefore the first with this dr, and I thought Dr. L was fun, efficient and overall a likable guy. Quinn found him a little too business like, but I like it when people mind what they're supposed to mind. I think that was a special little thing the Lord did for me (having me meet Dr. L ahead of time) because I almost didn't go to the clinic with Quinn, then I almost just sat in the lobby during the appointment, and I'm not even quite sure how I ended up in the exam room...

So, anyway, talking to Mom about it, we were talking through basic deficiencies that might be causing  said issues. Calcium is not one of them, as I have a high dairy intake and take 2000 mg of calcium in a high quality supplement every night. What Mom came up with was potassium. A potassium deficiency can cause basic muscular dysfunction.

I did some googling, found a couple of lists of foods high in potassium and amounts recommended  for pregnant women, came up with the number of 3500 mg or 80-100ish mEq, and made this list of things to consume every day for four days to see if my cramps lessen and I get back to the point where I can walk more than 20 ft at a time:

-2 smoothies a day containing :

1/2 cup plain yogurt (which is a high potassium source, weirdly enough)

8 oz blueberry/pomegranate juice (found a bottle at Wally with 365 mg per 8 oz. It's nasty though. Quinn smelled it and said "dang. You could clean floors with that."  Yeah.) 

1/2 cup strawberries (to break up the taste) 

-2 bananas

-1 baked potato, skin on

-1/4 cantaloupe

-1 cup of frozen broccoli

-1 8 oz glass of milk

And it comes out to right around 100 mEq a day. I kept it high so that if I miss an item then I'll still make the recommended amount. 

The smoothies are soooo nasty and it's the juice that does it. Not sure how to disguise it...

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I'm pretty used to eating this much produce on any given day, but the juice in the smoothies is making it hard. I'm used to a nice, yummy, strawberry, pineapple, orange smoothie when I make a smoothie. (probably 5 or 6 times last week)  I just downed a 16 oz glass of the filthsome blueberry/pom stuff for breakfast and I'm feeling rather nauseated. 

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Didn't get around to potato pancakes yesterday morning, as it was on orchestra morning and Quinn made me promise to sleep until the last minute, so I had a boiled egg and a plum for breakfast. 

I'm gonna make them for brunch today. Yay!

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Quinn stopped at RedBox last night and got Wolverine, 'cause I hadn't seen it yet. Other than seeming very long, and the retarded scene with the Blob, I very much enjoyed it. Reminded me of a debate between Aaron and I years ago when Reign of Fire came out and the first x-Men was still pretty new, and Aaron was all in love  with Matthew Mcconaughey's  build and starting to work out a lot, but I insisted that next to Jackman, Mcconaughey was a scrawny dork... Aaron and I had a LOT of debates at that stage in life.

We were some of those siblings who did absolutely everything together and adored each other, but fought 90% of the time. About everything. About each other's friends, about clothes, movies, schedules, plans, food, etc. The only thing we didn't fight about was our Jesus. It's hard to fight about Him. As soon as He comes up in any conversation it becomes so easy to be pleasant and understanding. 

He has this way of doing that to people...if they let Him. 

Thank God for Christ. 

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My 5 year old baby brother got baptized on Easter morning! Story goes that he went to Mom on Saturday evening, insisting that he needed to be baptized because it was a picture of Jesus rising from the dead, so Mom told him to talk to Dad about it, so he went to Dad, and they agreed that he needed to be baptized. Sunday services the next morning, and no one thinking that Benjamin was going to be baptized until a later date, but church ended and Benjamin went running to the church crying "no! Wait! You forgot! I HAVE to be baptized TODAY!" 

So everyone waited for 40 minutes while the guys pulled a stock tank to the front yard and put a few inches of water in the bottom of it, then they all gathered round and the sweet little man was baptized. The pictures are precious. I, sadly, was not there,  but on Monday I got to talk to him about it and he was all smiles and nods and happyness. I'll post a few pics as soon as I can get them from my Mom.

I was baptized on Easter Sunday in 98. It was a huge deal to me. My brother Daniel was baptized the same day.... it's so amazing to be a part of a family that adores Christ Jesus and always puts Him first.

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God bless and keep you all!

-Jo

Lord, You are more precious than silver.
Lord, You are more costly than gold.
Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,
And nothing I desire compares to You.

Hmm.

Rachael Ray is a little skanky this morning.... She's grating stuff by hand and it's shaking her whole body, and I highly doubt anyone is looking at her hands....

I like to turn her show on at about 11:40, so I just catch the fun recipes at the end. Yesterday Quinn came in from class about 10 minutes before her show was over and sat on the couch totally appalled. Her entire recipe was butter, potatoes, more butter, eggs, more butter, white bread, more butter... 

It's my favorite way to cook. ;)

This morning she's making massive spicy burgers. They look sooooo good. She grates her onion into her meat instead of chopping it. It's that kind of simple genius that makes me enjoy her show.

That, and the butter...

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Meat loaf for dinner tonight. I'm making a 2.5 pound loaf and I'm wondering how long it will last. We'll probably fry leftovers for sandwhiches tomorrow. How I love fried meatloaf.

Mashed taters and a salad for sides. I'm already looking forward to it. Not sure what I'm doing for lunch yet...

I love making meat loaf because it's NOT an exact science. Chop a little onion, pour in a little worchester, lots of black pepper, some seasoning salt, some bread crumbs, a couple eggs, a couple tablespoons of milk, a pinch of dry mustard, a pinch of garlic...

Mrs. Ray REALLY needs to do something about that neckline. She's grating onions again. wheesh.

And I'm gonna make an extra ton of mashed taters so I can make potatoe cakes for breakfast tomorrow. Quinn's never had them.... they're another nonexact science. A little onion, a little flour, an egg or two, more pepper, more salt....fry in a lot of butter...serve with fried eggs and bacon...mmmmmm.

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Spurgeon this morning was a cry to the sinners, citing the sufferings of Christ and quoting God who will "laugh at the calamity" of the wicked. He summed it up with "Trust in the Son of God and ye shall never die."

It's so easy to forget the simplicity of the love of Christ, but there it is. Trust in Him and ye shall never die. Let Him take care of your sins, your iniquities, your bad habits, your failures, and live. Live in the fulness of the Lord. Live in His joy. Live in freedom, and trust in the Son of God.

My faith has found a resting place

Not in device or creed

I trust the ever living One

For me his wounds shall plead

I need no other argument

I need no other plea

It is enough that Jesus died

And that He died for me

It's enough for me that Jesus saves

This ends my fear and doubt

A sinful soul I come to Him

He'll never cast me out

My great Physician heals the sick

The lost He came to save

For me His precious blood was spilled

For me His life He gave

What was my last post about?

I honestly don't remember. Oh well.

Had a lovely Easter with Becca, Nathan and Ella. We had even numbers; 3 boys and 3 girls, which means that I was terribly outnumbered when Becca to Ella to her room to change out of church clothes into comfy clothes.

We all decided that cold lunches on Easter Sunday were a beautiful thing. It didn't take a whole lot of prep, was virtually no mess, and was absolutely delicious. If you can believe it, I forgot to take pictures other than the one mobile pic I snapped of my chocolate covered strawberries and pound cake:

That kinda annoyed me, 'cause I should have taken a family shot of the three of them, and had Nathan take a good pic of Quinn and I. There haven't been any pictures of us together for several weeks.   But I'll live.

The menu for the day was Chicken Salad on croissants, Fruit Salad with orange reduction, Chips, Pound Cake and Chocolate Covered Strawberries. 

The chicken salad I can't really post a recipe for because there isn't actually a recipe for it. It's one of those things that Gramma and Mom have been making all my life, so I just know how to make it. We make a homemade dressing and pour it over broccoli, chicken and bacon. That's just how we do it.

The fruit salad was simply whatever fruit I wanted (plums, peaches, strawberries, grapes, fresh pineapple, kiwi and mandarin oranges) then I sprinkled a little sugar over it all and cooked 1 cup of orange juice, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of sugar down until about half of it dissolved. Cooled it and poured it over the fruit and it made a fantastic sauce. Messy, but yummy.

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So we've spent the week laughing at my tummy. When I lay on my back it moves... a lot. This little man is almost never still. He wakes me up in the mornings doing dolphin impersonations.I'm thinking I'll have a hyperactive ADD baby... but we'll see. ;) 

Getting used to the perpetual ligament pain. Starting to ignore it for the most part. I've got my legs back this week, which is a HUGE blessing. We actually spent 45 minutes walking around the mall last night and I only had to sit down once! YAY!  

I am hungry All. The. Time. If I eat a lot, though, I get sick. If I eat as often as I want to, I get sick. So, I eat my three meals a day and have 1 or 2 snacks. Usually cheese bread or sugar free yogurt or something like that. I sit around day dreaming about food though. It's scary. 

Have to go to my OB appointment without Quinn this week. It's the first (and only) appointment that they scheduled for anything other than a Tuesday afternoon, and he can't get time off for it. :(   I need to write a list of things to talk about, 'cause he's usually my memo pad. lol. 

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Gonna go make food. As always. 

Thanks for reading!

On an entirely different note....

A blog I love to read (Holy Expereience, in my sidebar) keeps a running list of things she is grateful for. She's in the thousands now, and I have been meaning to start keeping a list as well. Just the numbers themselves are a reminder that our God is a good God.

1. Mourning Doves on my porch rail.

2. My Husband's hands on my growing tummy, waiting to feel our little one kick.

3. Quinn's 20 minutes of driving back roads to find unclaimed daffodils in the ditch for me.

Meals and more meals.

Food ranks with sleep as one of the most hateable things that we love. There's a never ending demand for it that could drive you out of your mind if you stopped to think about it, but we delight in doing everything we can to make it as good as possible.

We bought new pillows for our bed today. I put them in cases and instantly flopped on the bed to "try them out."  Not that my 10 hours in bed last night wasn't enough....

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So. Menu? I didn't come up with a distinct plan. I bought chicken breasts, sausage, ground beef and a roast. Strawberries were on sale (4 pounds for 5 dollars) so I got 8 pounds of them and, after dipping enough for Easter Sunday, I will slice and freeze the lot of them. Also got plain yogurt so Quinn can beef up his protein shakes. I stuck some of it in the freezer. We'll see how well that works.

Picking up fruit and veggies tomorrow. I have a lot of rice and a lot of brown beans. I love stir fries and when you're making them for two people then broccoli and shredded carrots and a few bell peppers go a long way over rice. Don't even need any seasoning other than salt and black pepper. 

Need to make sure and keep the fresh whole wheat bread made. It's a great filler and the fiber from the fresh ground flour keeps the carb count down.

Meals for the coming week:

Eggs and bread/granola/pancakes for breakfasts


-Pancakes-
2 cups whole wheat flour (if you have to buy it from the super market then half whole wheat, half basic white flour)
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Veggie/chicken stir fry over basmati- several times

Roast beef and potatoes- then stew with the leftovers.
(super easy. Just made a pot with nothing but beef, potatoes, frozen corn and carrots in it and it's super yummy. If you like it thick, whisk a little cold water and flour together and add that to your simmering broth.)

Whole Wheat Penne with sausage marinara.
(since I don't make 20 qt batches of homemade sauce like my Mom does, I sautee italian sausage, minced garlic and an onion together, add a can of my favorite brand of mushroom marinara, throw in some extra italian season and a bay leaf and let it simmer. It turns out pretty okay. Not as good as the from-scratch stuff that I'm used to, but it kills the sugary canned taste.)

Brown beans and corn bread

(also easy. leave the beans in a bowl of water over night, rinse them and dump them in a crock pot with a ham hock and half an onion and cook them at 350 all day.)



And so on so forth.  Easter we're doing a light cold lunch of chicken salad croissants, fruit salad and chips with pound cake and chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. I'm looking forward to that... very much.

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Baby has refused to fit any of the names we've been trying on him, so we'll keep trying.

He also decided to sit on a nerve all day yesterday, making it impossible for me to walk more than a few steps without shooting pain through my lower abdomen.  It made water aerobics difficult, so I pretty much just stood still and kept my arms moving. Figured it was better than nothing.

Also, since Tuesday night, my legs have been numbish and weak and I've been fighting dizzy spells. I've been having a hard time walking in general without them (my legs) buckling underneath me, and had to sit down twice to get through a shower.  Therefore, we had cold cereal for breakfast and Quinn had to wash dishes to make lunch. I'm about to put rice in the oven and start some chicken simmering for dinner, but I'm honestly not sure how I'm gonna make a meal happen. I gained 4 pounds in 4 days this week, which I've been told is a blood volume rise, and I'll just have to let my body reset for a little while. Blech. This sweet baby boy is creating quite a lifestyle shift already....

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Air conditioning is on. Our appartment faces west, so as soon as the sun shifts low we get baked. Feels like such a wast of song birds and breezes to have the windows closed though.


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Signing out. Thanks for reading. Comments? Food ideas? Favorite stir fry seasonings?