faith

I 

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.  I was made weak, tht I might learn humbly to obey...

I asked for health, that I might do great things.  I was given infirmity, that I might do better things...

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.  I was given poverty, that I might be wise...

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.  I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God...

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.  I was given life, that I might enjoy all things...

I got nothing I asked for -- but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among men, most richly blessed!

-unknown Confederate soldier

That's pretty much all I have to say today. :o)  We just found out that My Angel has to go back in two weeks for her third major surgery in six months.  We've all been a little overwhelmed and anxious, (ok, and emotional...) as she hasn't even fully recovered from the last one yet.  In a church meeting yesterday, we discussed the hard things that Moses and his followers endured on the way to their promised land.  The teacher said, "The Lord used a rod on their backs to make them strong."  I'm not really a fan of this form of discipline. :o)  But it's amazing how experiences like this turn us to our Heavenly Father and build our faith and strength in Him.  It's the best option I've found so far!

Keep Smiling!

Tomato Bacon Basil Pasta

So it's actually called "Pasta with Bacon and Basil," but my kids have always gotten a kick out of calling it 'Tomato Bacon Basil Pasta'... For some reason you have to take a big deep breath in order to get the entire name out...

WAAAAAY back when we were seriously starving college students living in a trailer park in on-campus housing, we had a good friend bring this yummy dish to us and it has been a favorite ever since. We make it almost as often as macaroni and cheese. It's pretty much the same thing, only in a fancy sort of way...

Pasta with Bacon and Basil
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and shredded into bits
1 large tomato, diced
12 oz. thin spaghetti noodles, cooked
1-2 tablespoons dried basil
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
onion salt to taste
Pour into a large bowl; toss, and serve warm.

This would also be yummy minus the bacon for those of you who prefer it that way. :o)

Sooo good served with a tossed green salad and crispy, warm, homemade french bread.  Also good with nothing else.  That would be how we ate it this time...

Enjoy!

faith. family. friends.

After the adventures that the last several weeks have brought our way, we couldn't be more grateful for these three things in our lives.  They simply are the best gifts in life, and we would never make it through the challenges we face without all three.  Our friends and neighbors have stood by us and given us strength through inspired words and kindnesses, our families have been right along side us sharing love and support every step of the way, and our faith in a loving Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ have increased as we have felt comfort and peace and strength through the entire duration.  It has been one of the hardest things our little family has gone through, and I haven't every day carried the roles of mother, housekeeper, caregiver, nurse, nighttime aide and schoolteacher with a smile...and My Angel still has a couple of weeks before she'll be able to head back to school and a couple of months before she feels herself again, but every day we have felt the hand of God, often through family and friends, and we are so grateful.


From Robert D. Hales ( 'Gratitude for the Goodness of God'):

"Gratitude is a state of appreciation, an act of thanksgiving, which causes us to be humble because we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else which lifts us and strengthens us.
Ingratitude is the attitude of being unaware or not recognizing when someone has assisted us or helped us or, even worse, when we know we have been helped and have not given thanks privately or publicly.
In some quiet way, the expression and feelings of gratitude have a wonderful cleansing or healing nature. Gratitude brings warmth to the giver and the receiver alike.

Gratitude expressed to our Heavenly Father in prayer for what we have brings a calming peace—a peace which allows us to not canker our souls for what we don’t have. Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future. A recognition of and appreciation for our gifts and talents which have been given also allows us to acknowledge the need for help and assistance from the gifts and talents possessed by others.

Gratitude is a divine principle:
“Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” (Doc.and Cov. 59:7.)

This scripture means that we express thankfulness for what happens, not only for the good things in life but also for the opposition and challenges of life that add to our experience and faith. We put our lives in His hands, realizing that all that transpires will be for our experience.

When in prayer we say, “Thy will be done,” we are really expressing faith and gratitude and acknowledging that we will accept whatever happens in our lives."

Trust me, we're humbled. :)
Keep Smiling!

banana pancakes. with banana caramel topping...

If you asked either of my girls what their favorite breakfast is, this would be in the top 3.  And let me tell you that is a rare event, as they both thrive on being as different from each other as possible...  This recipe came to our family from my childhood, it was a favorite with (most of) my siblings as well. We save it for special occasions, (like weekends!) you know, to keep it special...

Banana Pancakes
1 cup mashed bananas
2 cups bisquick baking mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Mix together baking mix, eggs and milk until smooth.  Turn in bananas.  Pour thinly 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. (Or use your cool smiley face pancake maker like mine!) Let cook until dry around edges.  Turn, cook until golden brown.  Serve with topping.

*We sometimes just use one of our favorite 'regular' pancake recipes and add the mashed bananas in, it works just the same.

Banana Caramel Topping
3 medium bananas, diagonally sliced
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream (milk can be substituted)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix brown sugar, whipping cream, butter, corn syrup and vanilla in saucepan. Let boil, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, add bananas, stir gently until well coated. 
*We usually double the syrup but not the bananas. 

On really special occasions, we top it with cool whip. :o)

Enjoy!

balance.

Every year, after the holidays completely throw me off my groove, the new year comes with promise of change and progress.  Every year, I stack my life full of unrealistic, unattainable goals that  I am positive I am ready to conquer.  Then life happens and I have to adjust and my 'goals' are forgotten and move to the bottom of the list of priorities.  A few years ago, I made myself stop making big, long, comprehensive lists.  I set one goal instead, and that was to create simplicity in my life.  That year ended up being one of the most challenging of my life, and simplicity was not found.  Anywhere!  The next year, my goal was serenity, or finding peace and simplicity in the chaos of everyday life, even when it was challenging.  Because I had learned in the past, that my big, long, comprehensive lists just intimidate and overwhelm, I decided to start with some baby steps. I made an appointment with a doctor for a physical.  I don't do doctors very well... This was a big baby step for me. I told her how I was feeling, my symptoms, my fatigue, my fog, hair loss, inability to lose weight, did I mention fatigue? and she did blood work and an exam and couldn't find a thing wrong with me so she told me I was depressed because of my 'situation.'  She prescribed a pill.  I wasn't really ok with this diagnosis, so I didn't take the pills and I didn't go back to her. I went to a chiropractor.  He tried to help me, but eventually told me there wasn't much he could do to help me because of my 'situation.'  A year or so later, I went to another doctor.  She told me that I suffered from hypothyroidism, low estrogen, and vitamin D deficiency.  Wow.  She explained how each of my symptoms were created from different aspects of these conditions.  She prescribed pills.  I was so excited to find out that I wasn't crazy and that there really was something wrong with me!  I started on the pills.  After several months, I didn't really feel any different.  I was So. Discouraged. This was a turning point for me.  I started to look deeper inside myself and recognize what I was made of and why I had become who I was and what needed to change.  I recognized that for many years,  in the stress of life, I had forgotten to take care of my needs, even basic needs (like eating...sleeping...), that are important to being able to function the proper way.  I had become like an empty vessel, just going through the motions to survive and keep my family alive every day.  My mom and sisters and I at this point, started ourselves on a program that we called 'A Better Me' that focused on taking care of our whole self, not just our physical self, but emotional, spiritual and mental as well.  What we tried to do was way too much, and became overwhelming with a daily checklist of points for a lot of things. (I did get a really gorgeous quilt out of it, though, and some fun table runners...huhum...)  What I did learn from this was exactly what I needed to learn, that there is much more to being a better me than just the physical health that I had been focused on for so long.  In fact, the physical health is dependent on the mental and the emotional and the spiritual, so if I want to 'fix' one, I need to be focused on them all.  So I've started focusing my goals under these four categories, keeping a balance.  This year, I have set some goals for myself that I am pretty excited about.  They will challenge me more than I've challenged myself in a long time.  As I have suddenly found all kinds of time to myself, I've had to start finding who I am again, beyond mother and wife and caregiver.  It's a bit scary to peek way down deep inside myself and try to remember the things that have made me who I am for my whole life, but in the process, the peace is (slowly) being found, I'm finding more opportunities to smile and laugh, and I'm finding the passion for life that's been hiding deep down inside for a really long time.

Anyway.  That was a really long, too personal story about finding balance.  Maybe I'm the only one who has found myself at this point, but I'm grateful for the promptings and experiences that have led me to where I am.  And for the road that it's taken to get here, whether it's the path I'd have chosen or not.

Spencer W Kimball:  The average woman today, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluate the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be greatest and most enduring, and ridding herself of the less rewarding activities.  The endless enticements and demands of life today require that we determine priorities in allocating our time and energies if we are to live happy, poised, productive lives.

Also *So Inspiring*  from BYU Women's Conference 2011 Susan and David Bednar
By Small and Simple Things are Great Things Come to Pass

This is how I record my 'overall' goals for the new year.  A goal for physical, spiritual, mental and emotional goes under each flap.  The large one we do as a family activity. This year I made a small one that I can keep somewhere where I can refer to it often to check progress.
If you think it's something that would work for you, here is a small copy and here is a large copy.

Keep Smiling!

reduce. reuse. recycle.

I got my craft room 'workspace' for Christmas.  Count Studley sacrificed a couple of days of his break last week to put it all together and get it in.  He was very patient with my particular-ness.  Especially when my opinion changed occasionally (ok, frequently) during the whole process.  I've just waited for So. Long. and I wanted to make sure we did it right the first time! I am so excited about it and love it to pieces already.  I didn't ever imagine that my little corner of the basement that didn't even have walls could ever be such a heavenly place for me.  It will be a couple of weeks before I have it all finished up, but I'm so excited to post pictures!  We had to wait on the flooring, we've had a few silly things come up like mini vans and surgeries and new wheelchairs and trips to Australia... 

In order to install it, I had to clean out the 'organized piles' of tools and supplies and projects in my craft room.  It's been fun to take a minute here and there to sort through and organize things the way that I want them to be.   In the process, I recognized, though, that I really have collected a lot of supplies and have a lot of 'finishing' of projects to do.  I thought it would be fun to challenge myself this year to finishing up all of the projects that I have started that I am interested in, and getting rid of the rest.

This is my condensed pile of projects.  Yes, that is actually a large laundry basket. Mostly sewing and quilting, but some other goodies buried down inside as well.  I will post pictures each month of my pile reduction to hold myself accountable. If the items in this basket need purchased supplies to finish, I am allowing myself that.  Beyond that, I am going to allow myself one project a month that I don't already have supplies for, everything else that I create has to come from my 'in-stock' selection. 

On another note, I've decided that I'm in for the long haul with this blog.  It's becoming a good friend and is helping to fill a very large void that not working outside my home (while my kids are at school) had created in my life.  It's keeping me productive and accountable and it's brought a lot of joy and excitement back into my brain these last few months.  So I've decided that once I have 20 followers (thank you to those who are following already!) I will do a monthly drawing from those followers and send one lucky friend one of the completed projects I've created that month.  Not really a give-away, more like gratitude, for supporting me as I keep myself motivated...

So as soon as I have 20 followers, the first drawing will be for a pair of these slippers.  I made a few pair for Christmas gifts. (and I had to make a pair for me first, you know, to make sure they were any good...) The pattern came from here.  I used all different combinations of fabrics for them, and they all turned out cute and unique. I changed up the pattern's process of putting them together a little bit to make it work better for me, and they ended up being pretty simple and fun to create.

So there you have it.  I'm grateful to each of you for helping me to find and create inspiration in my life! 

Happy Crafting!

rice krispie pops

Well we kind of fell off the globe for a while there, but I think we're back. At least mostly back. We have had a bit of a wild ride the last few weeks but I think we're going to make it. I very foolishly thought that I could get enough posts up and ready to go before My Angel's surgery to get me through Christmas, I LOVE the 'schedule' feature that blogger has added and thought I could make good use of it. That ended up not happening so much... I was worried that if I stopped I wouldn't get myself going again because I seem to have a problem with motivation sometimes (right now), and right now, this is the best thing in the world for me. :o)

We haven't had a lot of time (or energy) for fun, but we did have some fun family time with my sister this week. They came to stay for a couple of days and my cute nephew wanted to make cake ball 'eyeballs' on a stick like we did at Halloween. My energy level being what it is right now made me process it as 'make cake, bake cake, cool cake, make balls, freeze balls, coat balls, decorate balls, set balls = I get tired just thinking about it' so I said, "How about Rice Krispie Treats? :o)" He was cool with that, and we even put them on a stick.  As we started making them I had to laugh because this is the state we are in.  We didn't have enough Rice Krispies and no regular marshmallows.  So we used the chocolate marshmallows left over from the cocoa at the Christmas late night parties, and used half Rice Krispies and half Cocoa Pebbles.  I actually think this was a fabulous discovery.  They were pretty yum.  I followed the regular Kellog's Rice Krispie Treat recipe (here), put them in an 8 x 8 pan instead of the 9 x 13 to set so they would be thicker to put on the sucker sticks and then cut them into rectangles.  We melted some chocolate and dipped the end of the stick in it before inserting it into the end of the rectangle to help hold it in. Then we dipped the bottoms in the chocolate, and my nephew sprinkled the sprinkles all over it and we put it in the fridge for a bit to harden up the chocolate.

                                            Fun. Easy. Yum.

Enjoy!