Very good link

For those of you singles who are living at home, either with parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, or just a Christian family, I greatly recommend reading this article.

20-Something Reasons to Live at Home

Amazing, caring Jesus

Any of you remember this post? I do. :) I loved that cup. I used it every morning. The first thing I did when I got up in the morning was check to see if the dishwasher had been run and if my beautiful little cup would be resting, clean and shiny, ready to use. If it wasn't, then I took it out and hand washed it, then dried it, then filled it with coffee. I smiled every time I opened the cupboard and saw it. It made me very happy ... until I broke it. Yup, sadness among all sadnesses. I was bummed. I'd bought that cup (and three others almost exactly like it, just different colors) for my hope chest. But I loved it so much, the brown one was my favorite among the ones I'd bought, that I just had to use it right away. How could I put something so wonderful into a box to wait and wait and wait and wait and ... ? :) Yeah. So I faithfully loved it ... and broke it.

But having it break made me realize that I cared too much for my hope chest things. It was, after all, just a cup, a glass, 50cent cup, and it bothered me for days that I broke it. So I had to rethink some things. I prayed and asked God to help me keep my hope chest things in the right focus, which was not the "most important, dearly loved items" focus. I'd begun to put those possessions in a very high place in my life. Sound crazy? Maybe it was, but I long for and desire the day when I can unpack each and every piece with my new husband. Lovingly and caring-ly putting each one in the place I know I'll find it when I walk into my very own kitchen to make meals for my beloved husband.

After I broke it, I went to the Family Dollar store (where I'd originally bought it) to see if perhaps they would have just one left in the clearance isle. They didn't. So I asked the lady if maybe, just because they were out, they would be getting more in again. I smiled so nicely at her, hoping it would maybe help me out ... it didn't. She said that because it was in the clearance isle that they would never get them again ... ever (yes, she really, truly emphasized "ever" just like that). Needless to say I was quite disheartened.

So, as I said, I prayed and asked God to help me keep my life, my hope chest, my desires, my dreams, my God, my Jesus, all in the right and proper focus. And He did. What a wonderful Jesus! I still would miss having it and drinking out of it when I saw the pictures of it but I was content. God had answered my prayer and had helped me adjust my focus.

Yesterday I walked out to the Family Dollar store to pick up a shirt I'd been eyeing for a while. When I'd picked up the shirt I wanted I wandered through the store, just looking. I love to do that in our dollar store, we have such neat things! So in my wanderings I wandered over to the kitchen isle. Guess what I saw? Yes, the cup!! The cup that they would never ... ever get, never, ever again. It was there!!! Oh, how happy I was. I nearly shouted for joy (I did manage to contain myself, however :) ). I was so excited and happy that I was telling the cashier about how happy I was and how sad I'd been when I broke my first cup and how happy I was that they had it and ... He, obviously not understanding, simply said, very monotone-ishly, "Yes, they are nice cups." I was not, however, going to let it get me down. So I walked, (ever so carefully) back home, cups in bag. I bought two this time. :) One to stow away in my hope chest and one to use.

But as I walked I couldn't help being overcome with thankfulness, awe, shock, surprise. My God cared enough about the little dear-to-my-heart cup to allow the store to get a new order of the cups that they were never ... ever going to get again. I smiled all the way home. How many times do we think that God doesn't really care about that stuff? And how often are we totally shocked when we see that He does? I think that I, for one, should rethink my Jesus and never underestimate His love and care ... even if it's just about a little broken cup!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

*~::June 24, 2008::~*

Outside My Window...A gentle breeze blows, making the lacy looking coral bells dance in the sunshine.

I am thinking...About what a wonderful God we have, Who always provide what we need, maybe not always what we want, but what we need ... I shall NEVER be in want!

I am thankful for...My family and the joy and love we share in our house. I'm thankful the Lord graciously put my in the family I'm in ... how wise He is!

From the kitchen...M&M/chocolate chip cookies for piano students ... and the left overs for us. :) Yumm!
I am wearing...Bare feet, new jeans, a white spaghetti strap under my new favorite white spaghetti strap that has pink flowers on it with a pink silky ribbon, which is under my long sleeve khaki-colored snap up, the sleeves got hot so I have rolled them up. I have a new vine-y hair clip in my hair, cooking cookies gets hot, and just moments ago I was wearing an apron to protect my beautiful frilly shirt.

I am creating...Cookies!! :) But you already knew that.

I am going...To teach piano this after noon and then spend sometime doing different things around the house.

I am reading...The recipes for dinner (Texas Hash), the cookie recipe (Color cookies) and the timer on the stove that tells me how long it is until the beeping tells me the cookies are tired of getting baked.

I am hoping...That dinner gets done in time for my brother to eat with us (his wife-y is gone for the day so he's eating with us) and also for some time outside today, in the hot sun and warm breeze, smelling my roses and letting my feet enjoy the grass.

I am hearing...Fernando Ortege, The Shadow of Your Wings, playing on my MP3 player and the timer beeping on the stove ... just a moment please, I must rescue the cookies.

Around the house...The fans are blowing, keeping the air moving so we don't roast in the house. The breeze moves the curtains that adorn the windows.

One of my favorite things...Is (are) the little glass bottles holding roses in the window that I put there yesterday. They are so cheery!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I'm not really sure. :) Teach piano, as every week. Work on my crocheting project, make an apron for cooking that I've been meaning to make for ever, etc..

Here is picture thought I am sharing...The new favorite shirt I was telling you about earlier. :)
Remember if you would like to participate be sure to visit The Simple Woman blog and see her guidelines.

*::Window Flowers::*

A little something to brighten your day ... Enjoy!!!

Strawberry Picking

Yesterday I picked the strawberries while Mom and Dad were gone getting groceries. I haven't picked strawberries in a while so it was rather fun. I'd forgotten how well the little strawberries "hide", sometimes I went over an area three or four times and still found strawberries each time. It took a while but it was fun to be out in the sun and listening to my music. I also had Keda, the dog, out with me too. :) (To see the pictures better, please click on them.)

**~~**My little strawberry picking towel, the music, and the strawberry bowl. The pink towel was Keda's because she had taken over mine, so I got her her own. :)~~The picking begins.~~Sweet Keda. Near the end of the strawberry picking I looked for her and could see her leash but I couldn't see her, so I called her and she promptly appeared from under the peony plant/bush. :) Silly girl.**~~**









**~~**The strawberry patch, can you see the strawberries? ... Me either. :)~~How 'bout now? Can you see it yet? I can ... because I took the picture. ;)~~And now? Surely you can see Mr. red-headed strawberry now.**~~**









**~~**Peek!! I told you I knew were he was. :)~~Beautiful red strawberry happily growing under the protective shade cover of the big strawberry, clover-like leaves.~~And yet another happy strawberry.**~~**








**~~**AHHHHH!!!!! I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding, I ... squashed a strawberry when I knelt on it. :) But I was a little shocked at first.~~All the strawberries I picked. Waiting to be cleaned.~~Getting cleaned and waiting for the tops to be taken off and for the strawberry to be cut in half (some where so big I cut them in fourths!).**~~**














**~~**The finished product. I covered them with sugar and left them for about an hour until we had strawberry shortcake! Yumm!**~~**

Psalm 97:4-5

4) His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.

5) The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.









Pictures from www.allposters.com

*''*''*Peonies*''*''*

I'm back!

Some of you perhaps knew that I was going to the MMTA (Minnesota Music Teachers Association) convention and some of you didn't. :) But either way, I'm back home and ready to sleep. :) I'm very tired, which I can't figure out because I sat for nearly two days straight! Just wanted to let you all know I'm back in business. Also, check out my friend Shelly's new blog! Welcome to the blogging world Shelly! Yearn for Surrender. I also linked her under my "Friend Sites".

Pasta Nests and Vegetables

Makes 12 servings
::~4 cups fresh cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, cut into small pieces
::~4 tablespoons butter or margarine
::~3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
::~1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
::~1/2 teaspoon salt
::~Dash of pepper (Dash - Less than 1/8 teaspoon)
::~1 1/2 cups milk
::~2 8-ounce cartons dairy sour cream
::~1 12-ounce package dried fettuccine, cooked and drained
::~2 beaten eggs
::~1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

::~::~Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the cauliflower, broccoli and carrot pieces in a small amount of boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain the vegetable mixture; set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter or margarine. Stir in the flour, shredded lemon peel, salt and pepper. Add the milk, sirring constantly, until the ingredients are well blended and the mixture is smooth. Cook and stir until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir the sour cream and vegetable mixture into the milk mixture. Bring the mixture almost to a boil; remove from heat. Spoon half of the vegetable-sauce mixture into a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Place the cooked fettuccine in a large bowl. Add the beaten eggs and Parmesan cheese; toss until well coated. Using a long-tined fork, twirl several strands of the fettuccine around the tines (pictured left). Using a second fork, push the twirled pasta strands off into the baking dish (pictured right), arranging the strands to form a "nest." Repeat with the remaining pasta to make a total of 12 nests. Spoon the remaining vegetable-sauce mixture around the pasta nests. Loosely cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake in the 350 oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until hearted through.

Tips from Our Kitchen:
::~::~You can substitute one 16-ounce package of loose-pack frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots for the fresh vegetables in this recipe. Cook the frozen vegetables according to the package directions until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain the vegetables and cut them into small pieces.

::~::~Half of a medium lemon yields about 1 teaspoon of shredded lemon peel.

Ana's tips:
::~::~I do use the frozen vegetables for this recipe although after they are cooked I don't cut them into small pieces and it still cooks just fine.

::~::~I don't use a 3-quart rectangular pan, I use a glass 9X13" pan ... then again, maybe they are the same thing. :)

::~::~ I honestly don't know how many nests I come up with. I just make the nests the size I want and put them in the pan until the noodles are gone. :) Maybe I come up with 12, I've never checked.

::~::~Once I twirl the pasta nests and put them in the pan I spoon the vegetable-sauce mix around and on top of the nests, just to keep them moist.

Pictures and recipe found in America's Best-Loved Community Recipes - Volume II

*~{ Morning Happiness }~*

*~*Coffee in my new, very cute, very adorable cup! I don't know why but coffee tastes so much better in cute cups. :) It also is fun to journal with adorable coffee-filled cups, too.*~*

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY *~ June 4th ~*

Outside My Window... the sun is warmly falling down upon the strawberry plant leaves, it is dancing and shining on the birdbath water and is gently gracing the little male goldfinch that has ended his search for food on the bird feeder.

I am thinking... about the time when the Lord blesses me with my own home, when He blesses me with a husband to love, cherish and adore.

I am thankful for... all that the Lord provides and how wonderfully He provides it, even when we hadn't even thought of asking for it. (Can any one guess what I'm thinking about?) :)

From the kitchen... fresh baked Brown Sugar Crackle cookies. Yummm. And supper: Texas Hash.

I am wearing... an old, comfy t-shirt, faded and worn bluejeans, fuzzy pink and purple socks that are tucked safely inside my faithful black clogs. Comfort itself!

I am creating... this post and hoping it is satisfactory to all who choose to stop by. :)

I am going... to church to night. To spend time learning the Word the Lord has graciously given us and to spend time fellowshipping with believers in conversation and in prayer before the throne of grace.

I am reading... Pride and prejudice and loving every moment of it. Jane Austen has such a way of capturing ones attention.

I am hoping... (and praying) that one day I will be the wife, mother and homemaker the Lord has called us as women to be. What a joy to wake up every morning and know that I'm doing just what the Lord created me to do!

I am hearing... the birds chirping happily outside, the cars that drive by and the oven heating up as it cooks supper.

Around the house... is the cozy atmosphere my Mother works so hard and faithfully to create, and is wonderfully doing so.

One of my favorite things... being bare foot in a long skirts outside in the sunshine with the grass between my toes as I look at my roses.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: to continue teaching summer lessons, get ready for the MMTA convention, deep clean my room, go through some piano books.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... (Well, actually two.) new iris bloom with sparkly petals

If you would like to enjoy doing this fun idea visit The Simple Woman blog. Please make sure you read her guidelines before using her idea.

~A piano to call my own!~

It's here!! It came!!! It's in my living room. I just played my Beethoven Presto movement on it!! It's wonderful!!! It sounds beautiful!!!! It's mine!!!!

As a way to help me with teaching, and to support me in teaching, and to prepare me for when I have my own home, my parents lovingly bought me a piano. Yes, I'm helping to pay for it, but it's something that they've been wanting to do for a while, according to my Mama!! I'd never even thought of having a piano and God wonderfully provided one for me! It's a Kawai 47" piano. It was made in 1994. :) And it's wonderful!!! In case you didn't already know that. And I'm happily playing my heart out!! :) Mama and Popi still have their piano, obviously, so we put them back to back in the living room. :) It's a little bit smaller in there now, but hopefully it won't be that way forever, like when I get married (if I get married) and move out. But look at the beauties!!!!!! :) I JUST LOVE IT!!!

The piano on the right is Mom and Dad's, so you might have guessed the piano on the left is mine!! That's Mommy playing my piano, just trying it out. And I haven't the slightest idea what the dog is doing. *Shrugs* Just sitting there I guess. Oh well.Mommy, still playing the piano.