Picture worthy ... it's so warm!!

*~::Simply Beautiful::~*

*~Click on a picture for a close view~*

I Will Praise Him, Still

When the morning falls on the farthest hill,
I will sing His name, I will praise Him still.
When dark trials come and my heart is filled
With the weight of doubt, I will praise Him still.

For the Lord our God, He is strong to save
From the arms of death, from the deepest grave.
And He gave us life in His perfect will,
And by His good grace, I will praise Him still.

By~Fernando Ortega

Classic Oatmeal Cookies

* 3/4 C. butter, softened
* 1 C. packed brown sugar
* 1/2 C. granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
* 2 C. rolled oats

**Preheat oven to 375F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and if desired cinnamon and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in oats.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Trnasfer to wire rack; cool.

*** I really like the taste of the cinnamon and cloves. It gives it a "christmas-y" flavor. However, they are just as good without the cinnamon and cloves. :) ENJOY!

Thank you ... sweet peeps

I just thought, since you were all so wonderful and thoughtful when I mentioned my cold, that I would let you all know that I'm much better now. My nose is no longer stuffy, my ears are no longer plugged and my energy is pretty much back up to normal. :) So thank you all for your kind words and well-wishes!! It means so much to me to know that you all care enough to leave me a little comment. :)

Tag

1. Fill in your memories of 2008.
2. Link my blog to yours. (Or my profile, at least.)
3. Tag others, and comment on their blogs so they know they've been tagged.

I was tagged by Rosebud.

~A good book I read~
A trilogy actually: "The Door Within" by Wayne Thomas Batson

~A great film/movie I watched~
Prince Caspian

~A new place I visited~
The Bad Lands, in South Dakota

~An inspiring verse or quote I read~
"...And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You." Ps, 73:25

~A new skill I acquired~
Playing new games.

~A lesson I learned~
That God's timing is always right, even when I don't think it is.

~A moment I will always remember~
A walk in the woods in the falling snow.

I tag: Leah, Katie, and Melanie.

Check it out!

My sister wrote a post that made me laugh. Check it out!

Also, this is my 300th post!!! Wahoo!!! Hurrah!!! :) Just had to tell ya peeps that.

Another rather pointless post

So today, I woke up around 7:30am (my normal time) and had to pretty much push myself from my covers and out into the open. For some reason today I was very tired. I decided to not take my routine shower. I didn't really feel like taking a shower (and, a side note, I wasn't in the best of moods. I was a little down and my cold kind of made me feel worse). Then around 8:15-ish I walked out to my car (started by sweet little brother) and climbed inside. Off to work I went. The wind was blowing pretty hard and as the wind was blowing it blew the soft, loose snow around too, making drifts on the road. I told myself the plows would be out later to clear the roads, that I didn't have to worry about it.

Upon arrival at work I parked in my nicely shoveled "parking spot" (which is faithfully cleared away by J. Thank you J.) At work I sat, holding M., and listened to the joyful chatter and playfulness of the children! (Such fun.) But as I was tired (already mentioned) I thought I'd close my eyes for just a little rest. I nearly fell asleep peeps! Right there, on the couch at work! *gathp* (as Tigger says). I decided it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep and tried to keep myself awake. I listened to more things and enjoyed watching the children. M. has a cold and was a little fussy today. And as you know, when a little child is fussy and there's nothing you can do to calm him down, it slowly wears on you and makes you feel a little defeated.

All the while I was at work I kept my eye on the weather. I mentioned that the roads were starting to get a little drifted on the way to work and I didn't want to end up on the side of the road, unable to go anywhere on my way home. On the way to work I drive on a gravel road and there is a spot where there are two farms within walking distance of each other and the wind blew the snow around and around in between them, so much so that I couldn't really see the road and since I couldn't see the road I couldn't see the massive drift across the whole road. It slowed me down quite a bit, but I was able to get through it. A couple of hours after I got to work however Mrs. J and I decided it would be best if I headed for home, as she didn't think the plows would be out and the roads weren't getting better.

So out to my car I went. I got in, buckled my seat-belt and put Lexie (my car) in reverse. I slowly backed out of my "parking place" and soon put my care in drive. I didn't, however, "drive". I was stuck ... and there wasn't even hardly any snow! (a couple inches ... maybe. But I think what happened was that my back wheels were on ice and one of them was off a little "ledge" of ice, making me unable to get free.) After a couple minutes of trying to go back and forward, then back then forward and being unsuccessful, J appears from around their van. "Do you need help?" he asks with a smile, already knowing I was stuck and did need help. "No," I said, "I just enjoy playing around in your drive way." :)

Another couple minutes brought the arrival of Mr. J. :) With the two of them working to help me set my car free (for the third time this winter) I was soon on my way again! (Thank you Mr. J and J!! Such faithful rescue-ers you are.) Down the gravel road I went. Soon I came to the place between the two farms that I nearly got stuck at on the way to work. As I knew it was coming I tried to prepare myself for the drift. Since the wind continued to blow I still couldn't see the road in that area (but it had also blown more snow on the drifts). The first drift slowed me down, the second one nearly made me lose control of my car (I didn't though) and the third one stopped me ... completely. I was stuck. Determined not to have to call the J.'s for help a second time in not even five minutes I put Lexie in reverse and rocked it back and forth a few times, successfully freeing myself from the grasps of the rather deep drift. Wahoo!! Three cheers for Lexie!

The drive home was also very interesting. The snow blew all the way home and there were a few times I had to go into the other lane to avoid the drifts that completely covered the lane I was in. There was one time, I remember, that it was complete whiteout conditions. I couldn't see the road, I couldn't see the side of the road ... I couldn't see anything. But thankfully it lasted not even a minute and I was out of it.

Making it home, safe and sound, I ate some dinner, took some decongestants for my still stuffy nose, and laid down for a while. I don't think I ever actually feel asleep but I laid down for a while. Little brother E had a friend over this afternoon. E's friend's father told us he would pick up his son around 5:00pm. I knew that he was coming for his son but I though I would be up from my rest long before then. I wasn't. I "woke up" from my very light sleep to a knock on the door and then had to quickly sit up, fix my hair and look half-way decent and mostly alive, after throwing off the blankets that had wrapped me in warmth. I hope I managed to do so, but I'm not quite sure. :)

Now, I sit, blanket over my lap, computer on top of that. Hot chocolate sitting ready to be drunk next to the freshly filled water cup. Pizza also is ready to be eaten. A bowl of mint-chocolate chip ice cream is slowly emptying as I hold it in my hand. I think my Advil-type-ish-pill is finally kicking in and my throbbing headache is now subsiding some. My nose is stuffy, so my ears are also plugged, I'm still slightly tired and to top it all of I think there's something on my contact ... it's slightly scratchy. :)

So, why did I write this overly long, pointlessly rambling post? Because I wanted to write something on my blog, and I didn't really know what to say, so I thought I'd tell ya'll about my day, but I realize it's rather gloomy. :) So ... tell me about your day peeps. Tell me your day was much better and cheerier. :) If not, well, then I can relate. Either way, I'd love to hear from you!

I think the cold is getting to me

I heard reports about it being around -20 (yes, that is 20 below zero) this morning. Mama said she only saw -19 below, but I guess the weather site said -20. Anyway, as I didn't have to work this morning, I slept in for the first time in months and months. It felt soooooo good. But, as I wasn't up in the wee hours of the mornings (*cough* I never am) I didn't see this extremely cold temperature on the thermometer.

When I came upstairs this morning and did look at the thermometer it said -12 below. To me it was cold (as I hadn't yet been told about the -19 below). Thoughts of thankfulness that I didn't have to get up early and go to work came to mind. However, I was planning on enjoying a cozy morning with sister-in-law, Kat and niece-y, Greta. But, when I asked my sweet little brother (who has been faithfully starting my car each and every morning for me) to start my car so I could head over to Kat's, in he came a few minutes later only to inform me that my car was not going to start. I told him I would try, just to make sure it was true ... it was. I couldn't get my car started either (my car, much like me, doesn't take to highly to double-digit negative numbers). So I called sweet Kat and told her my car was unstartable.

So, I took the morning to write some letters and fight off fridge temps and the cold that I woke up with this morning. All in all, aside from coldness outside and feeling a little low and groggy due to the cold that is taking up residence in my sinuses, it's been a good morning.

So why did I write this long, rambling, rather useless post? To tell you, that I honestly think the cold is getting to me. As I mentioned, it was -12 when I got up this morning, looking at the thermometer just a few short moments ago I noticed it was -6 ... what was my response? I kid you not, the first words out of my mouth were "Wow, it's getting warm outside!" *This is where I stop, think, shake my head, roll my eyes and try to figure out why that was the first thing out of my mouth ... but coming up with no logical answer I let it go and tell myself the cold is getting to me.* Why? Because even if -6 is warmer then -12 it's still COLD out peeps. Good grief, I feel like some little old woman who has spent her life in frigid temperatures and has become an old sourdough (definitions 2 and 3).

Candle Beauty

Sunrise on ice on glass

How to wear flip-flops in the middle of winter 101 ...

This is what I saw when I got to the J.'s house the other day.

Intercessory Introspecion

"And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless."
~1 Thessalonians 5:23

"Your whole spirit ..." The great mystical work of the holy Spirit is in the dim regions of our personality which we cannot get at. Read the 139th Psalm; the Psalmist implies, "Thou are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late at nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea; but, my God, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, great depths than any see in nature -- Thou who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot trace, dreams I cannot get at -- my God, search me out."

Do we believe that God can garrison the imagination far beyond where we can go? "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin" -- if that means in conscious experience only, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been made obtuse by sin will say he is not conscious of sin. Cleansing from sin is to the very heights and depths of our spirit if we will keep in the light as God is in the light, and the very Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are garrisoned by God with the stupendous sanctity of the Holy Spirit, that spirit, soul and body are preserved in unspoted integrity, underseving of censure in God's sight, until Jesus comes.

We do not allow our minds to dwell as they should on these great massive truths of God.

~Oswald Chamers ~~ My Utmost for His Highest ~~ Januray 9th.

::~::The Lord's Mercy::~::

22~Through (it is of~KJV) the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23~They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24~"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
25~The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26~It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.
27~It is good for a man to bear
The yoke (suffering) in his youth.
28~Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him.

32~Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.

~Lamentations 3:22-28 & 32 (NKJV) ~