Pinterest Poppers Take One and Two

Pinterest "Popper" take one...one of my friends posted a recipe on pinterest for jalapeño poppers.  We love them, so thought I would give it a try.  They were ok - just not what we had in mind.  Some of my northern friends and family will like them.  It is basically a popover with cheese and jalapeños.  My family is just not the biggest fan of popovers.

 Pinterest poppers take two... I substituted 1/3 of the flour with cornmeal and 1/3 of the milk for sour cream.  We liked these better, but I still think it needs a little tweaking.  Becca said to lower the amount of eggs, and I think she is correct.  I will mess around with it more on the weekend.  Once I get it mastered I will post a recipe.  If y'all want either of the first two recipes just let me know.

 Chuck -messing around on his phone - not the most photogenic tonight!

Becca - I caught her - looking this way and that!

I guess she thought if she closed her eyes the camera would disappear. - What a nut!

Tonight we had homemade soup and the biggest, fluffiest cornbread to sop it up.  It was good - I always love homemade soup on a cold day.  It's not Charles' favorite but he will eat it every now and then.

Kick Off Preparation

Here is the little set-up they put together to blow up 7500 balloons last night for the big celebration when we welcome the missionaries for our conference this week.

Just a few of the balloons being taken to the sanctuary.

Here they are putting the finishing touches on part of the balloon drop.  It's always a fun way to kick off the week.  I can't wait to see which missionaries will be here this week.

We recently tried buffalo/bison meat.  It is leaner and healthier than beef and is very good.  We had buffalo burgers and buffalo sausage.  We all liked it.  Tonight I put on a crockpot of beef stew - yum! 

Protection from such men

The more I get into the Word the more it comes to life!  I'm sure that I have read this verse before, but today it jumped right off the page.  Do you ever have that happen to you? 

"O Lord, by Your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life...." - Psalm 17:14

You see I was recently in a little accident - Praise the Lord - it was a fender bender and not a fatal crash.  We were all able to drive away, no one seemed to be hurt and it seems that the only damage was both cars  will need a new bumper.  I hope and pray that is all that comes from it.  I don't like accidents...but who does?!?    It seemed that the other person in the accident was a good person with character and integrity.  I'm praying that the Lord will save me from the type of men described in Psalm 17:14.  You see, there are people who do want their reward on this earth.  I know you have heard about people that get in accidents (sometimes intentionally for this purpose) to get as much money from someone else as they can.  There are people that will use you, scheme, conive, trick and do what ever they can to get something from everybody and everything.
I am praying that the people in this recent accident are christians and seeking their reward in Heaven not here on earth.  
I'm praying blessings for the driver of the other car. Certainly we carry insurance, both cars for this very purpose - to put ourselves and/or our vehicles back into the same shape they were in before an accident. 
     This recent circumstance made me stop when I read this verse.  It made me stop and pray immediately for protection from this.  I realized this is something that I need to pray specifically when I pray for protection and even other areas of life.  There are so many areas where this could apply.  When we are dealing with a salesman, pray the Lord takes you to the one that is honest and not seeking to get all of his "reward" in this life from you - that he will be fair and a person of integrity.  When you are in an accident, pray that other person isn't going to go to the doctor unnecessarily making up injuries or trying sue you for their "reward" in this life.  When you need something repaired on your car or home, pray that the craftsman is beyond reproach and doesn't add this and that to pad his own pocket for a "reward" in this life.  Pray protection around your family and your home.  There are those who will steal what is not theirs.  We had a sweet friend who had their lawn mower in their gated and locked back yard and someone came and stole it in broad daylight - probably to pawn - which was for a little "reward" in this life, definitely not a reward in Heaven.  I'm sure your mind is thinking of several other examples right now where this prayer would be beneficial.
     My next prayer is that I not be one of these men, and that those I love not be one of these men. It is so easy to let things of this earth overtake us.  Our vision is often horizontal instead of vertical.  Our circumstances can overwhelm us, scare us, anger us and more.  I pray my reactions will be pleasing to God.  Let me tell you a little story that not only was just right - it also was a learning lesson for Becca.  Several years ago, our washing machine was out of commission, therefore we had to go to the laundry mat for a few weeks.  Becca always went with me.  We were sitting there waiting for the machines to finish when I saw Becca watching something intently.  Then she ran over and picked up several coins.  There was a man who dropped some change, unknowingly and was busy moving his clothes from the washer to the dryer.  She was excited about her "find", and was telling me all about it.  I said, well you know what you need to do, right?  She did, but wasn't immediately gung ho about it.  She knew she needed to return it to him.  She wanted me to take it to him, but I said no, you need to go take it to him and tell him he dropped it.  She headed in his direction as slowly as she could, got his attention, returning his money while explaining that he had dropped it on the floor.  He just stood their, dumbfounded and shocked.  He couldn't believe it.  Really?, this little kid, really brought back this handful of change to me?  It wasn't five minutes later he came back over to Becca and in the best English he could muster, said thank you for being honest and gave her a crisp dollar bill!  Oh, pleased as punch - she was - she got that money back plus more - way more!  You see the money really didn't matter, not really.  That was just her little reward on earth.  She learned a huge lesson that day on honesty, integrity and doing the right thing even when you don't want to do it!  I believe she will have a reward in Heaven too for doing what pleased God.  I pray that we all have rewards beyond our wildest dreams on the other side.  Keep lookin up!

South of the Border Pie

2 slices of bacon
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can tomatoes (about 1 lb.)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 package corn-muffin mix

     Saute bacon until crisp; drain on paper towel, then crumble.  Pour off all drippings; measure 2 tablespoons and return to pan.
     Mix ground beef lightly with onion.  Brown meat. Stir in crumbled bacon, tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings; heat to boiling.
     Prepare corn-muffin mix, following label directions for muffins.  Spread half of batter evenly over bottom of a greased shallow 6-cup baking dish; spoon hot meat mixture over; drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls on top.
    Bake at 375* for 35 minutes or until top is puffed and golden brown.
Yield:  6 servings

Recipe is from Gramma's sweet friend Nelda

*We used sausage instead of ground beef, rotel instead of tomatoes and added a few other spices!
Everyone loved it and decided it is one of those "keeper" recipes!

The Day

Busy Day
Woke
Went to Breakfast
Ran back home to wake a sick college student and motivate him to head to class
Run to Work
Schedule next phone meeting - class will be later
Give Bec the key
Lunch
More Work
Another phone discussion maybe a meeting with someone else
Head Home
Talk to MaMaw
Taco Bell for Dinner
Chuck got the low-down on openings
Go to jewelry party with Becca
Visit
Back Home
Talk to Gramma
A little TV
Read
Put my blog off until tomorrow (but here it is...lol)
Sleep

...today not tomorrow

...you see these little dots...that meant I got to busy, couldn't think of what to write or simply didn't do it!

It allows me to "save the date" where I can go back and post something for that date - either what happened or some other little thought.  You may or may not know that posting daily is a goal that I set for the year.

Well - as you can see I didn't post on the actual date - but actually posted the next day.
Sometimes we get in the mindset of, I will do it later or I will do it tomorrow.  One day I will accomplish or finish that, go there, visit there, make that, clean this, fix that, on and on it goes.

It is great to have goals for the future - we absolutely should.  There are things that take work and are not going to be accomplished right now.  But there are things that we can take care of when we think about them.  As I get older, I realize this more and more.  The chores aren't going away- might as well do them, the weight isn't going to disappear - might as well eat right - right now, the phone call or letter you need to make or write will probably be forgotten if you don't stop and take care of it as soon as you think it.

I'm telling on myself a little here - when you see the ... it means I didn't write my blog today.  I put it off until tomorrow.  If I didn't write daily - the world is not going to come to an end, it is simply my little goal.  Procrastination can be a problem though, if you are facing something you can deal with today, finish today, make today, see today - then do it - don't wait till tomorrow.  We never know what tomorrow will bring.

Proverbs 27:1

English Standard Version (ESV)

Do not boast about tomorrow,for you do not know what a day may bring. 

Uplift your 'Tude

I didn't realize it but, Becca woke up in one of those moods this morning and was trying to fight it.  She was in the kitchen making a little breakfast and said - "please turn on some praise music".  "I can just feel that I'm in one of those irritable moods and I don't want to feel this way."
Ok,  I have just the song to pick you up.  Any ideas on what I picked? - yep - who can't resist pepping up a little with Mandisa's Good Morning Song.
Once it was over, Becca requested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKyY8zfjBMQ&ob=av2e Remind Me Who I Am by Jason Gray.  It is one of her favorites right now.
By the time both of these songs were over, she said everyone should do that when they are feeling annoyed - pop in some praise music because it will uplift your 'tude.