We are PB girlz

KD sent this to me...which is so very wrong right now! We leave for our Mexi vaca in: 24 days, 9 hrs and 48 mins...(but who's counting right?) and I am on my " eat healthy now" plan and shed some poundage so I can eat easy at the all inclusive, buffet laden, fruity umbrella drink, dessert table, 24 hr food service Holiday destination!

So this little gem will be waiting for me when I get home!....or maybe this weekend. Whatever, it's peanut butter and says it's " low fat"....which MUST be true!

Anyway, here it is, try it! I have another recipe for a choco mug cake YUMMERS! Figure this one would be taken to a whole other level with choco chips added! Drool...peanut butter AND chocolate? Heaven I tell you...it'll be there!

Let us know if you try it and what you think!

ENJOY!

http://kirbiecravings.com/2012/02/peanut-butter-mug-cake-low-fat-version.html

Freedom

KD:  Life is so full of crazy busyness, days fly by and I have no clue what I've been doing or just did!

Blogs ago I mentioned that we were taking a financial course.  The theme of the course is "live like no one else so you can live like no one else".  Well after a month we are definately seeing a difference.  Crazy how all of a sudden we have money.  It (money) is working for us, we are in control and for whatever obscure reason "it" is multiplying! 

In our relationship my hubby is the freespirit, I'm the nerd! After 23 years of marriage we are  finally on the same page when it comes to money.  A couple days ago we did a budget together and guess what?  It worked!  Oh my, happy dance for the nerd.  Freespirit was rolling his eyes eager to move on to more exciting things (not sure what could be more exciting)!  But together we are going to crush the heavy weight of "never having enough" and start walking in the freedom of "My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills". 

Check out http://www.daveramsey.com/home/ we have learnt so much and know without a shadow of a doubt that God does not want us to be a slave to our finances but to walk in authority over them.

Now off to check out some old barns and abandoned buildings (no, not to buy but to explore)!

Pink Pancakes and Memories

These are crazy beautiful! And I'd like to say the creation of my own hand..but alas, my pancake design skills are limited to bunnies, 4 leaf clovers, the alphabet and a very crude and simple hearts...all be them pink!

Valentines Day in our home, always meant, pink heart shaped pancakes, for any given meal. In fact, it became such a tradition that when I didn't make them only a few years ago I was told they were missed, it was V-Day and it would be an ok idea if I made them! Amazing how something so small and seemingly insignificant can become a comfort and special memory. 

We can think it's grand gestures and Big events that impact....but I think it's as simple as a little red food coloring in your pancake batter and a little extra time pouring, to remind yourself and your little ( or big) ones that you love them and think they are special and you love them with a very BIG piece of your heart.

Happy Valentines Day!

Too much fun!

I was introduced to Pinterest. And being the Social Media Socialite that I am...I've been having SO much fun on it!
My greatest joy is not so much repinning others pins, but finding my own on the internet and seeing how many times they get repinned!
Sam and I have had an absolute HOOT looking for pins for this particular board of mine....
but shhhh...it is not for our sons to find out about! hehe
I think our daughter will have a much better sense of humor about it, or maybe be naive enough to think I'd never do any of this! Our sons however, may be more suspicious of their Mother! ( of the Groom)

Hope you enjoy and find some laughter! And feel free to add any suggestions! The more the merrier!

Check out my pinterest link to the right of the page :O) And the board labelled " Mother of the Groom...."

LA: Our Mom always sang.

Yesterday a song was running through my head that our Mom use to sing to us...I believe her Mom sang it to her too.
It's sweet and brings warm memories to me...maybe not to my Mom when during my elementary school years, I was reading The Little House on the Prairie books, I asked her if she wrote on slates and went to a one room school house? It was an honest question from a little girl who had no concept of history at that point, but I think I made her feel old as she quite kindly, but firmly pointed out that Grandma, not herself, would have been closer to that generation! They did in fact have paper in her school and lived close to town so they also had separate classrooms for different ages and grades.
I was schooled and learned a little that day...but still wasn't sure how they could have had paper waaaaay back then!
And to be honest..... this song didn't help the mystery for me.....

School days, school days

Good ol' golden rule days.

Reading and writing and 'rithmetic. 

Learn to the sound of the hickory stick.

You were my bashful beau,

I was your girl in calico.

Those were the days when I loved you so...

When we were a couple of kids.

To me, that had old school house written all over it!

But thank you Mom, for always filling our home with singing and beauty. ( I'll talk more about our Mom's amazing creativity on another post, unless KD beats me to it!)

Heart of My Heart

Just wrote out my goals, and was about to start journalling and thought maybe my thoughts would be ok  on here.


Been thinking lots, praying and trying to figure out what I really want to be....what I'm suppose to be and what I am destined to be...when I grow up.


When I was younger, (being the youngest I think added to this), I always was waiting to grow up. I never felt  Old enough, Big enough, Wise enough, Ready enough, for much of anything. I was waiting....always waiting.
Even after I had 3 kids, I was still waiting, for what? To grow up. Or maybe to feel grown up.


I remember reading about David, and how Samuel came to anoint the next King and asked Jesse to gather all his sons. From oldest, strongest, biggest....down the line he looked at each of them...nope, nope, no, uh huh, not that one...and so on...then finally he turned to Jesse and said " Don't you have any other sons? "
Well, ya, but he was just a kid watching the sheep. Samuel told him to send for him.
David arrived, stood before Samuel and ta da... he was anointed to be next King of Israel. A kid? Well, the truth is, he didn't become king immediately, but he did eventually,  and one of the greatest in history.
But the anointing came when he was just a...kid. And Samuels words rang within me and still comfort me.
" Man looks on the outward appearance...But God....looks on the heart"


How wonderful and comforting it is to know that God, doesn't judge me on my outward appearance...even when I screw up and blow it. He looks at my heart...my heart of hearts which is so desiring to do what is right, to seek His will for my life. My heart that sometimes is so clouded by what I see, what I feel and what I experience...No, He looks at my deepest heart and holds that as precious, knowing who I truly am, even the me that I am still discovering.


And right now, even though I feel like I've finally grown up, I am still waiting and wondering what Destiny He has for me...something that is hidden in my heart of hearts...that He will reveal in His perfect timing. I kind of think I know what it is....and I hope in a way I'm right...but also feel overwhelmed and scared and even maybe hope I'm wrong!  Which is again, a great indication that God may just very well be right in the middle of it. Too Big? Ya, God's Bigger!

So, keep me company? I can use encouragement and support as I continue to seek out and explore what possibly could be my divine destiny chosen specifically for Me...for such a time as this.

LA....Dreamy....not so much

I'm awake, it's 3:32 am and this is not an unusual occurrence. I have seen more mid sleep am's than I can count.
My husband use to say people with clear conscience's sleep well, gee thanks hon! 
I have no clue as to why this is, why I don't sleep, why I can be wide awake at this exact time for months on end as regular as clockwork, why sleeping pills don't help, change of diet, cutting out coffee, increasing my iron, praying, meditating, pleading, crying......I have my moments.
I do know KD and our Mom have the same issue. So it's genetics. Well big whoop, like it helps knowing that?!
No, we will find a solution! We WILL sleep all night and wake in the morning like we've been told "normal" people do!! How grand that will be on a regular basis!

My plan of attack is having a session with our HK ( Health Kinesiologist) Linda Orr Easthouse.
We are a family who chooses alternative medicine, something you'll learn more about as we go along and you get to know us more.

So, in a week or so, I'll be having another session with Linda and will be addressing my sleeping....or lack there of.
I'm excited! And will keep you all posted.

I'll also fill you in, and I'm sure KD will too, about our introduction to HK and how it's impacted our family and friends. I would explain it....but...well, I can't quite honestly. I'll tell you what Linda told me: " It's a marriage of Eastern Medicine, Western Herbology and....Quantum Physics. So if you understand Quantum Physics, you'll understand HK"
Oooohhhh.....Of course.....Quantum Physics. Ya, no, not so much. And well,not at all. 
Now, here's another thing about me, I'm ok not understanding something. I have no problem putting some faith in things, in people, ideas and solutions that I don't fully comprehend if I see the benefits. 
Like when KD and I were reading the same book series by Dianna Gabledon....she read a chapter and told me she wish she hadn't...too visual and disturbing. So I skipped that chapter. I'm ok with that...I don't need to know, I completely trust you on that KD, I don't need to find out what you wish you didn't know!
The Trinity, I don't get it, I don't understand how God is 3 persons, how that works, but I'm ok  with that...I'll walk by faith on that. Or how the engine works in my car, Please Sam, don't explain, I don't care...it runs, if it doesn't I'll go to someone who didn't feel the way that I do and actually learned about it.

So I'm actually ok with not understanding how HK works, I just know that it does and I'm so cool with that and excited to see what can be done for "our" insomnia!

If you want to learn more of investigate HK, here's a link to Linda's website and if you figure it all out and find out how it all works? Maybe I'll get you to explain it to me? Or not. It's ok, I'll just do a faith walk on this one too. 


http://easthousecentre.com/client-view/health-kinesiology


Have a look, tell me what you think! But for now...I'm gonna hit the hay again and see if the "wake" has worn off and sleep is available for the taking.

Time

KD:  LA is the mushy one of the two of us.  I'm realistic, she's dreamy, I'm black & white, she's grey...but we are both creative in our own ways, rock solid in our beliefs, stubborn, love travelling and discovery new places, we both like living our lives "out of the box" not doing things the "normal/acceptable" way (I believe we can give our parents credit for that trait).

By the way, I did get the job and I'm thrilled.  It will be exciting to see how God uses me in my new position.  It will be a huge learning curve and a test of faith relying on God for insight, wisdom and creativity.

Time...it goes so fast.  My husband and I are realizing this as we take a Dave Ramsey course on finances.  Okay, we totally blew it in our late teens.  In his book Dave shares a story about two guys who invested.  One started, when he was 19, putting $2000 away a year for eight years then he stopped.  The other guy started at the age of 26 and put away $2000/year, every year until he was 65 and his savings never caught up to the other guy who only invested $16,000.  Shared this wee story and chart with our kids.  Here is the response...
J:  "after eight years I can then spend my $2000 how I want"? Yes, then you can spend the $2000 however you want.  He is interested.
K: "65 is a long ways away" in other words, I am soooo not interested!

How many of us can/could relate to K`s answer?  For myself I hope to find financial freedom at this late stage of the game-never too old to learn!  I am sick and tired of the stress of not having enough money...too give, too relax when an emergancy does hit, too not have to hit the rainy day jar to buy a jug of milk. 

I`ll keep you posted in how it goes.

   

Hey KD

 Just a note, I'm thinking that some of the folks reading wouldn't know we live a "little" ways away from each other. Note worthy that it takes a boat and a good long car ride to get me to you. How many hours? No clue...a lot!
Or an hr drive and an hr flight, then another hr drive. So I guess we only live 3 hrs away from each other! haha

And I guess the fact that we only see each other maybe once every year or so. 

Most other stuff will be revealed as time goes on I'm sure. Like you're the older yet shorter one? hehe So technically you are my older little sister. Also, being the younger one....I am actually the only one of us that is empty nested! =D


Right...I'll stop now. 


Although we don't live close, and we rarely even call each other, we've emailed numerous times daily staying connected and filling each other in on our daily routines as mundane and un-news worthy as:

-I'm playing Mah Jong
-I need to pee, gotta go
-I didn't throw her/him through window, consider today a success
-Someone came in the store, gotta run
-C,L,I,J, K or J did:_______ ( fill in the blank)
-it's raining, snowing, sunny, cold, hot ( never enough of the last!)


But always, always always, every day....
-What are you having for dinner?




It kept us connected and sane. But phone calls occasionally happened and you know your sisters when one calls...from the closet.... " I just need to cry"...." Ok, go ahead".
And tears and silence ensues.


Love you KD

New Job?

KD:  Beginning of the week and it starts off with an interview.  Ever really wanted a job but know it isn't in your control?  Mind you when do we have control?  One of the scriptures my husband and I rely heavily upon going in for a job interview is Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water, He turns it wherever He wishes.  God is the One in ultimate control of our lives, He knows what job is best for us.  Goodness, He knows the future and a better job maybe on the horizan.  So this morning I rest in God, He controls the heart of my interviewers (whether they know it or not) and the outcome is in His Hands.  I'll go in prepared and give the best I have but the clock is ticking and I must get ready.

LA: Procrastinate much?

As much as I love change, recently I have to admit to feeling overwhelmed and wanting to transport myself back about 15 yrs to when our kids were small. When hugs were generous and life revolved around maintaining our home and throwing food in their general direction regularly, Oh and yelling. I'm the loudest in our family. ( yes, there's a certain sense of pride in that. 3 sons! Hello!? )

Life is so full of change right now, I tend to migrate to mind numbing activities to absorb my time  and  distract me from unknowns, and all the things that are pressing for my attention, that to be honest, I really don't want to do.

My go to avoidance's? Facebook, pinterest or basic web searching along with emails, oh and food.

I justify with saying I'm " connecting" or " encouraging", " supporting" or " de-stressing". ( hungry?)

All of which are true.( occasionally,well, more often than not, except probably the hungry)

I read a couple weeks ago, I won't be able to quote it spot on, but the gist is...

Whatever you find yourself doing when you procrastinate, is probably what you should be doing for your livelihood. 

Waste copious amounts of time on the computer? while eating my way through our cupboards and fridge?

Not feelin' it.

But really, the heart of the matter there is the heart of my matter and what matters to me.

Encouraging, supporting, challenging, inspiring, doling out hope, loving on, blessing, edifying, speaking truth with love and being a cheerleader.

That's my procrastination mode, I want to care for and love on people. 

(sometimes with a swift kick to the butt....but that's love that some people need!)

So, here I've found another way to procrastinate...

I'm gonna do my best to share my life, and hopefully, inspire, give hope to, and encourage others to live their best lives and maybe find..... your procrastination mode could be your life's calling!