Shortbread recipe (This one is for you, Zanna!)

This is an easy recipe. After familiarizing yourself with this recipe, it will become faster to make. Cleanup is faster if you form the dough shapes on a cutting mat rather than on a cutting board or just your counter top. Cutting mats can be bought at Wal-mart cheap and are easier to pull out and put away for when you are baking and cutting. They are found in the kitchen aisle with the other cutting boards and chopping blocks.


Ingredients:
1 1/4 C flour
3 T. Sugar
1/2 Cup butter (softened)

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Mix the flour and sugar in a bowl and cut in butter. Knead the mixture with your hands until the dough starts to cling and form into a dough substance. You may have to play with it a bit ;). Form into a 10x6 inch rectangle and cut into whatever shapes you like. I prefer cutting them into smaller and equal size rectangles. Place them an inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Place the pan on a rack and let cool for 10 minutes before transferring the shortbread from the pan to a plate. Enjoy with your hot tea or with a glass of milk!

Spring Cleaning

I am doing spring cleaning this week and the next. I recently bought a book called Mary Emmerling's Quick Decorating Book and was inspired to redecorate a bit and organize. So that has lead me to do spring cleaning as well. I am enjoying it and looking forward to acquiring some more baskets to help my clutter control (as Mrs. Emmerling calls it). Clutter control is just another term for collecting together junk, putting it in some sort of pretty or old container or basket and therefore transforming that junk into a whole new form of decorative flare. This will be fun. I will be taking pictures when I get to the point where I am satisfied with my accomplishments.

Here's to the beginning of a new form of clutter control and redecorating...

stupidity and refrigerators don't mix very well....

Well, can you guess what I did recently? Well actually Saturday? I went to shut the refrigerator door after putting away the orange juice. We left to go to Cashiers for the weekend and when we got back home Monday night (5/26/08), the refrigerator door hadn't been shut all the way! Our "new" refrigerator door doesn't shut unless you actually use your brains. I apparently wasn't using my brains and didn't make sure it was all the way shut. Everything in our refrigerator is ruined now because of my stupidity!!! Yep, I have had to throw out everything! And now am going to be writing a huge grocery list of all the necessities that were ruined.

Here is what my list looks like so far:
~ milk
~ eggs
~mayonnaise
~ketchup
~mustard
~ cheese
~ italian dressing (yes this is a necessity to me since I am a salad queen)
~ orange juice
~ lunch meat
~margarine
~vegetables (the ones in the fridge turned brown and black)


Our apartment complex is not level. It is a bit inclined. Not enough to notice it when walking, but if you were to pour out a cup full of water directly onto the floor, it wouldn't spill in all directions it would head south in a straight line. So when we got our replacement refrigerator, its door was hinged on the wrong side and now it no longer closes on its own when it is open. It won't close when being swung closed. It has to be manually closed all the way in order to insure its sealing. I have been promised by our landlady that she will get a guy to come and rotate the door so that the hinges are on the other side (making it easier to move in our kitchen as well). That was about three months or so that I was promised that. I beginning to wonder how easy it is to do the whole thing ourselves...

I've been tagged

Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I am deathly afraid of heights. Even seeing other people go near balconies and lean against the rail makes me nervous that they will fall. It is mainly a neurotic problem of mine. Haven't really found out what it is. Something to do with my terrible gait and balance. I have nearly fainted being up four stories high at the High Museum of Art in downtown ATL. We were finished touring the place and had to walk down the narrow ramp four flights down. I had to sit down because I felt dizzy while Mr. Price asked the elevator man if I could go down with the old people. I could, and I did. Mr. Price and that elevator man were my heroes!!! I found out, that the reason the man was on elevator duty was because he too was afraid of heights!

2. My hobbies consist of: crocheting, knitting, cooking, playing the piano, talking, sewing, reading, getting involved in unique and different crafts, home decor, and blogging.

3. I am obsessed with bricks. When I see a stray, unclaimed brick, I grab it and plan on using it for a bookend. And let me tell you, I even have my Mom and Dad asking for me to make bookends for them out of bricks. All because one day I decided to crochet around a brick and call it a bookend. I do not have a brick bookend in my name anymore because I have given them away as presents to Mom, Dad, Sarah, Hannah, and one to Brittny (who used it as a door stop). If you see and know of stray bricks, I would love them!!!! I own two door stops, but no bookends (YET) and have a couple that I will crochet around soon and dub as bookends. I can't have enough bricks. I have used even half of bricks and make bookends out of them. Even half of a half has been useful to me as a paperweight.

4. When my fingernails grow long enough to where there are the natural white tips on them, I must clip them soon or it distracts me. I can feel them when they are that long and they feel annoyingly strange. I have been this way since I was eleven. It used to distract me on Sundays and I would end up biting them until they were short enough and then I could concentrate on the sermons.

5. I can't sleep without socks on my feet and haven't been able to since I was two years old. I have had to wake my Dad and Mom up in the middle of the night, while we were staying in two hotel rooms in Virginia, just so that I could borrow a pair of socks because I had left my socks in the car. I was 18 when that happened!

6. I have two cats and am now a cat lover and wish I had another cat, but because of living in an apartment that is small and because of the rules, we can't have more than two. Life isn't worth living without cat hairs in my life even though I am allergic to the hairs.

7. I love books and owned just over 700 before getting married. Between my husband and I we have over 1000 put together!! Most of his are in his parents garage attic, and mine are mostly around the apartment with only three or four boxes full in my closet.

well I am not going to list anyone, because most everyone has already been tagged once and twice.

So far...

~I have done two loads of laundry today
~I have not eaten breakfast because I am lazy and don't want to make it
~I have made up the bed
~I have washed all dishes
~I have not mopped the floor like I said I would yesterday
~I have not made tea cakes like I promised I would for tomorrows tea party with my neighbor
~I have utterly failed at writing a to do list for myself today but am enjoying this list
~I have one load of laundry left to do
~I have read six chapters of The Last Battle for the first time in my life and am enjoying it greatly
~I have practiced piano everyday this week
~All week I have successfully prevented Nathan from getting into his violent sleep walks just by asking him random questions that make him think!
~I have succeeded in producing a second blooming on one of my Kalanchoe plants!!!
~I have also succeeded in blooming my African Violet
~I have been very happy with married life
~I have been blessed by God in so many ways and am truly thankful for all that I have been given in my life

May 21,2008- how my day is going so far

Ok so I wake up and guess what I find out? That I was supposed to be at the chiropractor's office YESTERDAY at 2:00!!!!!! Clumsy me! I had thought it was supposed to be today that I was going! This is the first time that I have forgotten and I have been going there regularly for two months now. I called up the office and left a message apologizing for my forgetfulness and pleading for forgiveness while wondering if it was possible to reschedule. SO I will be waiting in torment until next Tuesday to go in to the chiropractor for an adjustment.

Aside from the horror of missing an appointment, I am happy to share with my readers that I am going on a picnic with my husband today!! Nathan is getting off work at 12:30 and we will be spending nearly the rest of the day all by ourselves and all over Franklin, NC. We plan to go to Wal-mart after lunch and buy some clothes. Yippeee!!!!! I love clothes shopping. I used to hate it, but I love it now. This will be the first time that I have gone clothes shopping since before Christmas. Even though it is Wal-mart. But hey, they do have some cute clothes. I probably will only be buying one article of clothing, because of our financial struggles we have had for about two months. A five dollar shirt is affordable though.

After the Wal-mart trip we will scoot ourselves back into downtown and just meander the among the shops, probably deposit the $20 check we were given on our anniversary that I have neglected to deposit all this time. If I can remember to bring it with me. I am looking forward to this happy occasion of getting to spend precious time with my husband. We don't get to spend much time with each other at all except for a couple of hours in the evening and hardly any time on the weekends.

Oh, and I almost forgot, we will be having Jake over for dinner around 6:30 and will be going to see Prince Caspian in the Franklin Ruby Cinemas at 8:00. That I really look forward too, but will enjoy every minute I get with my husband alone before dinner and the movie. Jake has been waiting to see this movie and really doesn't like going alone, which I don't blame him. It is nice that we don't have to travel far to get to a theater. Even if it is a small and not stadium seating theater. The nearest "nice" theater is an hour away.

Most things up here you have to travel far to get to. Like the nearest mall, theater, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, Starbucks, Borders, American Bread Company, and any kind of mall type shopping. The only thing we have up here is Wal-mart, K-Mart and Lowes. Then the local shops and chain fast food restaurants like Hardees, Wendy's, and Mcdonald. There are three Ingles and one Bi-Los for grocery shopping in Franklin. And surprisingly, the K-mart is more popular than the Wal-mart and they are both old stores. Not the super marts like they have in GA. Our thirty minute drive neighbor town, Sylva does have a super Wal-mart thankfully for when we do need something that none of the other stores have.

Ok I am rambling and need to get lunch made and dinner in the crock pot.

News from the Forrester Front!

So I am currently reading Three Musketeers and have found it an incredible adventure and so amusing to read. I have found also that I may have a talent for baking homemade bread!!! I didn't get an excellent shot of the bread and had forgotten to take one before eating a slice of the warm bread. The braids did not come out like the pictures in the book showed, to my dismay, but it was still fascinating to see the end results of my efforts. I will try to perfect this one!

What I heard when I woke up!

Today, I woke up feeling special and knew in my heart that today would be a wonderful day! And indeed it already has been a wonderful day. Today is a milestone in my husband's and my history. Today, we celebrate our first year anniversary. It has taken months of waiting and counting for this day, but it has finally come and I don't want it to end. Nathan woke me up at 6:45 with whispers in my ear, "Hello, my one-year anniversary wife! I love you! Did you sleep well?" What a wonderful way to be woken up. All these months Nathan has been the most loyal person in my life. He has woken me up every morning, helped me to my feet, and assisted me to the kitchen in order for me to make our breakfast. I couldn't have done it without him and often wonder how I managed to walk immediately after waking up each morning before I was married to him. There are so many things that I love about being married and rejoice that the Lord gave us to each other. We hold a special relationship with one another. One that will last until death parts us on earth.

I want to share with you a few things that I love about Nathan.
Nathan, like his name means, is a gift from God to me and those around him.
Nathan is special, talented, has a wonderfully big heart, knows how to make me smile even when I don't want to be cheered up. He is comical. And even though he does splash water all over the mirror when he wets him comb to fix his hair (creating smears all over the mirror), he still remains my best friend and I could never get angry at him for the little things he does that may drive me a little bit crazy. I love all those things he does that are a bit wacky or insane. Everyday, he loves me and I love him back. Everyday, he not only tells me that he loves me, he shows me that he loves me. Not a day goes by where we don't share true loves kiss and hug.
Nathan likes to pick on me nearly every day, but that is what makes him even more love-able and cute. He knows when he needs to be serious and when I am hurt.

How can I tell him enough how much he means to me? I love him for all that he was, is, and will be. I love him in our everyday and all day. Even if I am frustrated or upset with him, which is not often, I love him. I could never see us separated and know that our love is deep and will last. Not even in my dreams am I angry with him. He is the only man I care to love like I do now. And the only man that I want to grow old with. God bless him! He deserves so much for what he does for me and for loving me as much as he does.

Recent Accomplishments

About two weeks ago, my husband Nathan asked me why I hadn't been on my sewing machine in a long while. Good question! I don't believe I have been on it since Christmas. I decided it was best for me to bring out my sewing machine and try to get something done. The problem was that I didn't exactly know what I wanted to sew. I remembered that I had bought eight bandannas for a tablecloth idea I had seen in a Martha Steward book. I walked into my bedroom and spotted them on my chest of drawers still folded and waiting to be ironed. There were four red and four navy blue bandannas of the common paisley pattern. I fetched my iron and table top ironing board out from our linen closet while tucking the can of nearly empty starch under my arm and plodded to the kitchen eager to start on my new project.

I really don't enjoy ironing too well, but do it only when I find I have to or am excited about something that I want to do. This project needed to get done, but had been stalled at the time because I didn't want to iron the wrinkled bandannas. Upon taking out my sewing machine, I had found I really did miss sewing and was eager to plunge into this project. Ironing took all of five minutes to accomplish plus wrinkled napkins that had been waiting to see the iron for a month.

I cleaned off the counter and got everything set up and ready for me to begin. The foot pedal and electrical cord installed and the bobbin and needle already threaded, I began a little journey that ended in a cute-as-a-button red bandanna tablecloth that I placed immediately on our small, round kitchen table. This was too much excitement for me to handle alone. I couldn't wait for my husband to get home and see. When he did finally get to see it, we were using it for lunch and then later for dinner. I have been using it for breakfast and dinners since the day I installed this new luxury into our kitchen. I hadn't used the table since my "monster" of a kitten ;) had taken over that table as her own. This time, I fought back and showed her that it is my table and squirted her incessantly with a mister bottle for the next couple of days until she finally came to understand that it was unsafe to go treading in that territory.

A day or two later, I covered the seat cushions for the chairs around the table by pinning down navy blue bandanna around each cushion to complete the ensemble. I now have a doily in the middle of the table on the tablecloth and a fake vase of red flowers to complete the centerpiece. I am in love with this new look to our kitchen and want so much to have a tea party for two on this table.

I am now working on a seat cushion for my piano made out of bandannas and quilt batting. It may take more effort and a lot more energy and thinking, but I will carry it out to its end and not stall and procrastinate on this one. It will cost my back the more I stall. When I sit down at the piano for longer than thirty minutes, I can feel the stress in my back and neck from the hard seat of the bench. I needed a seat cushion and had looked online for some, but in the end bandannas from the dollar store only cost me $4 and a huge bag of quilt batting was given to me for free. That is a far greater deal than what I had seen on the internet. I hope to be done with this project in a couple of days. After that, I plan on making a reversible lap quilt that is blue bandannas on one side and red on the other. It will only take me eight bandannas to make that and very little time.

It has been easy sewing with bandannas because the bandannas already have a hem. The casualness of a simple bandanna has never looked more luxurious or formal to me than it has been over the past few weeks since I have discovered this new hobby and obsession of mine.

What's in your quesadilla?

Recently, I was sitting at our bar reading through a cookbook called "How to Boil Water," very much wanting to make something new for dinner and something I had never made before, when I came across a section on how to make quesadillas. On that page, it instructed me step for step how to make one. I was much impressed and enthusiastic on this idea. I threw the rest of the ingredients out of the list and decided that no cookbook was going to tell me what to put into a quesadilla. I would do that part my own way.

Nathan came home from work just as I was ready to come up with my own concoction of what I wanted to see in my quesadilla. I realized, "what kind of quesadilla would Nathan want?" So I informed him, "I am making quesadillas for dinner tonight and would like to know what you want in yours." Nathan of course first had to hear my story of how I stumbled across this idea for dinner. Before getting his answer, I informed him that he may have anything he likes, that we have in the refrigerator and cabinets, in his quesadilla.

He answered me and with a few suggestions on my part and decided that he would have his quesadilla with cheese, stir fried chicken, my homemade hot salsa and sour cream. He was brave to try his this way, but I was dead set on him getting his quesadilla just the way he liked it, no less than that. It was to be just the way he wanted it and I was going to make sure of this.
I decided that my quesadilla was going to go first in case of mistakes, though I was doubtful of this. I knew from the minute I layed my eyes on the cookbook page that I could do it and with flying colors. But still, I had to do mine first so that my husband got the best one.

Following the instructions from the cookbook, I melted cheese in my biggest frying pan and made sure it coated the bottom and a bit of the sides of the pan. I then Placed my white corn tortilla on the pan and sprinkled shredded cheddar cheese on the surface of the tortilla. I placed a portion of the chicken, that I had stir fried in olive oil previous to buttering the frying pan, onto one side of the tortilla and then smothered that chicken with sour cream. I had to do all this quick like so that the tortilla wouldn't brown before its time to brown. I then folded the softened tortilla in half covering the chicken and sour cream. Waiting about a minute or two I checked to see if the bottom of the quesadilla was browned a little and when it was just that I flipped it and let the other side brown.

When it was finished crisping up, I transferred it to the preheated 200 degree oven and let it rest on a cookie sheet to keep it warm while I cooked Nathan's. In order to cook his, I put more butter in the pan, after first wiping out the pan a with a paper towel, and let his butter melt. Keeping to the instructions I proceeded to follow in the same manner as I had done before and cook his quesadilla.

Placing his along side my quesadilla, I shut the oven door and set the table in a jiffy while letting my computer geek of a husband know that it was time to finish up his game and come eat dinner with me. Actually, I probably only said, "dinner is ready my love." But of course that is understood that he better be done with his game for the moment. I have no problem with him playing computer games while I am making dinner, but when dinner is served, my stomach waits for no one. :)

It was a hit and a favorite instantly at our table. I made the decision right then and there, that we would try many different quesadillas and that I would search for the perfect filling for a quesadilla until I found one. But I found out that our first quesadillas we ate were the ones that both of us thought highly of and felt was the perfect ones for us. It fit us like a glove.

I have discovered that quesadillas shows the character of the one who is eating it. Each eater of a quesadilla will let you know how he/she likes their quesadilla. It is as if each quesadilla was imprinted with a tell tale mark of the person eating it. Some prefer theirs with meat, some with veggies, some without. When you go to a mexican restaurant, you can go up to any person eating a quesadilla, and I bet you will find that each person out of the whole mass of quesadilla eaters is going to have a different quesadilla than the rest. When it comes down to it, not one of the mass of quesadilla eaters will have the same quesadilla as any of the others. Each person is unique in their own way and their quesadilla will tell you that!

Each person likes their own quesadilla the way they prefer it. Their own favorite quesadilla. It may take them time to find their perfect quesadilla for them, but if they truly are into quesadillas, they will spend the time to look for that perfect quesadilla. And I promise you that quesadillas are worth the time to try to find the perfect concoction for the perfect flavor for you.

And now I ask you this, "what's in your quesadilla?"

A replacenment for our refrigerator!

Yesterday evening, after deciding that I would cook my chicken after going to rent a 99 cent movie at the movie rental store. Mondays are 99 cent days on all movies even new releases so we take advantage of it every Monday. We were heading out to get a movie called the Ultimate Gift when I remembered that we left our weekend movie at home that we needed to return. We turned back and was passing our landlady's house when I noticed her waving to me as if signaling to me. I shouted at Nathan to back up the driveway. Rolling down the window, I heard her say, "we're coming down the hill, we have a strong man to help with the refrigerator."

He was about Nathan's size only with more muscle than flab. (Sorry Nathan, it is true!:) So we drove down to our apartment and after moving furniture aside from the doors and after locking the cats in our bedroom so they wouldn't escape, I pulled everything out of the refrigerator and freezer in a flourish. Just in time too! Nathan and the muscular man, whom I figured was the Landlady's future son-in-law, had brought the refrigerator through the sliding glass door and set it down in the hall to make room for pulling the other refrigerator out of the way. I swept up cobwebs and dust that had gathered behind and beneath our old refrigerator and then took a wet rag to mop up old liquid residue.

After that, they had the refrigerator in there in no time and I was set to put everything back into the refrigerator after thanking them for everything. I am sure I was glowing by this time. I had a newer refrigerator and it was a lot bigger too! I have way more space than ever now. The only thing I don't like about it, is that the door opens the opposite way and gets in the way, and the top shelf on the door to the refrigerator has little egg dimples where eggs are supposed to sit. I think I prefer leaving the egg carton in there without taking them out each time that I buy eggs. I will find a use for it. And no, the egg dimples do not detach or I would have given it to the landlady for holding until we move out.

Finally I told Nathan I was finished putting everything in its place and was ready to go to the movie store. This time we grabbed the other movie before forgetting it again. We got to the movie store and waited in line for twenty minutes and asked for our movie that we had reserved for us for that day. Come to find out they didn't get it reserved after all. But the lady working remembered putting one on the shelving cart to be shelved. So we got to see Ultimate Gift finally after waiting nearly a month or two to be able to get a hold on one of the four copies that they own.

To end the day off Nathan and I watched that movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed crying at the same places in the movie with him and laughing together at the good clean humor in the movie. Not one single cuss word either. I highly recommend it! Great storyline too!

Well, Nathan will be getting home for lunch soon so I need to plan his meal.

My freezer quit on me...dinner time!

Well my freezer quit on me today and all my ice melted. I do not have a cooler that will fit everything that is in the freezer at the moment. And even then, I can't get ice until tonight when Nathan comes home from work. I think it may have been melting on us since last night when we got home and discovered that the ice had melted again. This has been happening for nearly three weeks now. I would notice the ice cube trays with water in it instead of ice and then they would freeze up in the next three hours. So it was working a little. My landlady still hasn't been able to get two guys together to move a fridge she has for me in the garage. I had cleaned out our fridge about three weeks ago in anticipation of an exchange of refrigerators. I was right. We are getting a used new refrigerator. I am grateful for this. Because I really didn't want to have a man in our apartment working on a refrigerator that is older than me and me be alone with him here and only cats that I could sick on him if I needed to.

So anyway, it has been nearly twelve hours since I discovered all of the ice melted instead of just the top two trays. And I am wondering, do I do chicken on the Foreman grill for dinner tonight or hamburgers? I have chicken breasts that have thawed in the freezer that need cooking, and then I have beef in the refrigerator that really cannot go another day without me cooking it. Nathan says "HAMBURGERS!!!!!" And I want chicken 'n dumplings. Or marinaded chicken grilled. And then I get Nathan telling me, "make a HUGE meal, and then heat it up tomorrow for more. " I can't have chicken and hamburgers for dinner tonight!!!! Oh and I also have a wedding cake in the freezer that I am scared to see what it looks like. Our top piece that we were saving there for our first anniversary. I think we will be using over the weekend for when the Greer's will be coming up. No sense trying to freeze it up again when it probably already has thawed out in the freezer.

Oh on top of this, I just got our electric bill and come to find out, it is higher this month that we have had it in the past six months because our freezer decided it wanted a helicopter's motor, to a freezer's compressor! Really! It sounded like a helicopter from in my bedroom with the door closed and with our fan on high. I could still hear it. And I really did think it was Big Mama, the hospital helicopter that belongs at the hospital that is walking distance from here. The freezer only made that noise when it was running. And that was usually every five to six hours. I counted. And then we no longer heard the noise for most of the time and that is when it began to die. Well our monthly bill we have worked hard at keeping it $50 for the electricity. And now it has gone up to a $70 bill. Yeah, we haven't used the heater at all in winter and haven't needed to what with cooking, neighbors who are old and cold in all seasons, computers, laundry room next door, and only one wall being an exterior wall. That has been nice. All winter long and just a $50 bill each month and sometimes lower.

I love to cook dinner, but am in a dilemma for what to use, beef? or chicken? I have so many ideas, but I really don't want to mix chicken with beef for dinner. I only want to cook one meat to go with dinner tonight, not two. Otherwise Nathan will gorge on more that he really needs. He is picking up hamburger buns, he insists, so that I have no excuse for why I can't make hamburgers on our George Foreman grill. Of course he would get buns if he wants it, but that doesn't mean I will make it. :)!!! Nathan is cute when he insists on getting a meal that he likes. He doesn't do that often, but when he does, he knows that is what he will get for dinner. LOL. I can't resist those big eyes and that face. When he asks for a meal, I have to give in and make it his way. Hamburger mixed up with seasonings and marinaded with Worcestershire sauce with mustard and ketchup smashed between wheat buns.

Well I need to plan the sides to go with dinner, but all of our vegetables are mushy from being in the freezer and thawing out!!!! Hopefully we will get our refrigerator tomorrow and no later! Nathan has volunteered to help move the refrigerator and so has our landlady's daughter's fiancee. The problem is it can't be moved before 6pm on any given day because they both get off work around 6. Otherwise it is an early morning before-the-crack-of-dawn exchange of refrigerators.

Hopefully, something will be worked out, or we are camping out in our own kitchen for another day.

Another chiropractic visit

Yesterday I went for my second visit to the DC (doctor of chiropractic) and had adjustments made to my spine, neck and hip.
Living two minutes away from downtown is a very convenient thing for me right now since I don't have a car and can't drive legally. I have found it can be enjoyable taking strolls through downtown or going to the dollar store and grocery store on days when the weather permits it.
Yesterday though I had an appointment to see my DC at 4:30. I planned my whole day around this time and made sure that everything I needed to get done, would be finished before at least 4:00. In case you didn't know, I have a fear of being late and prefer not to think of what would happen if I was late.
I was ready a long time before 4:30 and wanted it to come so that I wouldn't have to look at the clock constantly making sure that I didn't loose track of the time. Well 4:00 came and I was ready, but since it only takes 5 minutes to walk to the DC office it wasn't time for me to go yet. My instinct was telling me "oh it may take longer though because of the traffic lights and having to wait for the crosswalk signs to tell me to walk!" But I just had to ignore instinct this one time. I decided to place my tote bag at the door and then sweep the floor to pass the time. When I was finished sweeping the floor it was still only 4:10. I then decided to wipe off the counter tops for the second or third time in the past hour. By 4:13 I decided it was time to go.
I walked fast down the street and got to the two crosswalks in perfect timing. It was as if they both were in sync to my walking and changed right when I needed to make the crossing. Well this was great. I made the walk in two minutes getting to the office with 15 minutes to kill. Good thing I brought Johnny Tremain along with me. I read about two chapters into it after signing in and sitting in one of the waiting room's ergonomic chairs.
I ended up being admitted five minutes early only to talk for about ten minutes on the topic of the book I was reading. He happened to see me put the book into my bag while he was helping an old lady patient of his into her jacket and out the door and had inquired of what I was reading. It turns out that my DC has two children that are home schooled and that are reading through the Little House On The Prairie serious with their mother. She happens to enjoy reading out loud to them and Dr. Barnes happens to be interested in knowing what kind of books they would be interested in. He kept apologizing and trying to get on with asking me questions, but then he would ask again, "now are there gory details and battle scenes in this book?" I would assure him it was great for kids and adults and that it didn't describe gore at all. He was fascinated with my account of the book and couldn't wait to get his wife the book to read to his kids. I told him I would write down the name of the book and author for him.
Finally we got down to business and he took me to get three x-rays done of my spine. One from the side, strait on, and from the neck up front on. After they were developed, he spent time studying them and telling me exactly what he saw and the numbering of the lumbars. He then counted my lumbars and put pin marks on the ones that he needed to adjust so that he wouldn't have to recount them to find them.
It turns out that I not only have scoliosis in my lower back, but also a bit of a curve in the upper spine and then my neck is straight instead of curved with the top most bone of the spine, the atlas, being off to the side. The rest of the time he spent adjusting the pin marked bones and then asking me a little more about the book. I wrote down the title and author of Johnny Tremain on a business card of his.
It ended up that he was a bit concerned that Nathan and I would have trouble paying for the x-rays and decided that he would give it to me free and I ended up paying $24 for spending a little over an hour in the office, half of which was spent discussing books. I asked him how long he thinks it will take for my spine to be straightened out, knowing in the back of my head that I want it to be straightened out before a year is up, but not thinking it possible. He said he didn't know for sure and that it all depends on each person as to how long or short it takes. He knows that Nathan and I want to plan on having children, but he can't tell me an exact time period.
I told him I understood, but inside I was screaming to know. How long will it be? A year? Two years? My mind goes crazy with not knowing the unknowable. Only God knows. And only God can know. But still I wonder if a DC could know an estimated time based on experience. I will work hard to have our first child and I will promise to do whatever it takes. Exercising it half of the healing process, and the adjusting is the other half of it. But ultimately it is up to God himself.
I pray that I may have the patience I need.

10 Months

I sit here thinking back to the times Nathan and I had when we were dating and then when we were engaged, married, and life as it is now, and I see that God has truly blessed our lives! Today marks ten months of being married. Nearly a year now. I am excited and can't wait to celebrate our anniversary.

One of my favorite memories with Nathan were the ones where we were still dating and the excitement behind knowing that God had placed Nathan in my life for a reason. I didn't deserve this! Yet he still blessed me with him. I still think back to the circumstances in which we met. How his uncle John thought to put together a dinner for us to meet. And how it worked out beautifully! He and I talked the next day during the Sunday covered dish dinner and sat together. He opened the car door after I accepted his offer to drive me home. I was so giddy over the fact that he asked me in such a sweet and gentlemanly way. I remember being impressed that he actually opened the door for me. I laugh remembering my giddiness and how I took him the long way home so that we could talk longer. He told me he would see me again on Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving was two and a half weeks away! That was a long time. But we gave out our email addresses. On Monday night he asked if he could call me on the phone, and I said yes he could. He called me up and we talked until midnight. This happened every night that first week only the time that we hung up got later and later until one time it was 3:00am and we decided to set a limit. Then we both got Verizon Wireless cell phones on that Friday after meeting. This way we wouldn't have to wait until 9pm when I could receive his phone call in order to get free minutes. And he could call me anytime he wanted. I remember watching for shooting stars at the same time over the phone. And we often saw the same shooting start. Well it was really just a meteorite shower, but we called them shooting stars. It was very romantic. By the time Thanksgiving came around, I felt like I knew him so well. And I had. We learned to love each other over the phone and learned to know each other very well. The only thing we hadn't told each other yet was "I love you!" We both would think it in our minds and hearts. But we couldn't say it yet. I was waiting for him to make the first move, and he was waiting for the moment when he got my father's blessing.
He asked my father on Thanksgiving night first if he could date/court me and then he said that he already knew that he wanted to marry me. And Dad said yes to both. We were engaged Decemnber 23,2006. I knew he would be asking me soon and just had no clue I would get it as a Christmas present. Nathan was my best Christmas present I had ever known. I had no idea, in the beginning of year 2006, what was coming, but I welcomed it with an open heart and arms.
Nathan truly has been one of the best things to have happened to me. And even though there are times when I am lonely and when I wish I had more friends up here, I know that Nathan will be here for me and will be an encouragement to me when I need it the most. I love him very much. I look forward to growing old together with him and wouldn't want to grow old together with anyone other than him.
I enjoy every moment I can get with him and miss him every time we have to say goodbye again. It is the hardest thing to say goodbye in the mornings and afternoon when he goes to work. But it is worth the waiting to have him come back home to me in the evenings with open arms. I thank God for him daily.

Chiropracttor visit today

I just came back from the chiropractor today and had discovered in depth about what is really happening with my hip and back. I have scoliosis, which an MD had told me probably happened when I was born, and I have a hip misalignment which happened around the age of 14 or 15 falling off a horse. Dr. Barnes my chiropractor as of today, was able to tell me a lot about my hip and back that even Dr Mitchell my former chiroprator hadn't told me.
I showed my year old x-rays to Dr. Barnes and he was able to take measurements and be able to tell me that my whole hip has been rotated so to say and that it is causing my spine to curve. He knows for sure that falling off a horse at the speed it was going (gallop) would cause my hip to do that and as a result would cause my spine to curve to make up for the hip being out of place. His first question after taking measurements on the x-ray was, "do you and your husband plan on having kids?" Of course we plan on it. I told him yes, we want kids. And then he told me right out, that it wouldn't be a good thing to have kids with the way my hips are right now. This wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I am glad that he had told me this. I asked him why an MD would tell me that it was fine and his response was, "because an MD isn't trained to do chiropractic care and doesn't have to know all about chiropractic work, so they are ignorant of a lot of what chiropractors are trained to know." I am angry that an MD would tell me that "yes it is ok to have kids, it isn't a problem." That gave me a false hope. And now I am glad to hear the truth even if it does hurt me a little to know that not only does our plans for having children rest on Nathan's job situation, but also on my hip and spine alignment.
The hardest lesson in learning this news is patience in waiting before we can plan on having children. My fear is that it will take longer than two or three years before we can have children. I live alone all day and have trouble dealing with loneliness because I only have Nathan. I don't have a car and can't drive yet. So on rainy days and cold days I stay home all day. I do have cats, only they sleep all day.
Please be in prayer for me.
I am very thankful that I was warned about the problems with childbearing with my condition. I regret that I didn't visit a chiropractor immediately after the accident, but I was ignorant of that kind of field of doctors and probably never had heard of them before. As Nathan told me recently, I probably would have been a completely different person at the time that we met if I hadn't had these struggles with my health. He is right I am sure. I learned to pray more when I was sick than when I was healthy. And when I was in pain than when I was subdued. I am reminded of Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to happen for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose."
My prayer is that God will work in my heart through these times of bliss at knowing that we may have to wait longer than we want in planning a family. Also I pray that God will grant me peace to be able to bear being alone, during the days, for however long it takes for me to be physically fit for childbirth.

Cookie Monster!!

When Nathan arrived home from work last night, he was excited and animatedly told me about some strange caller he spoke to at work that day. He sat down in the computer chair and proceeded to talk until he noticed the arrangement on the table with the cookies being the center attraction. "Cookies!!"was his own personal interruption of his story. Grabbing one, he proceeded to chew and I decided to make fun. "Nathan, don't eat that! It is for a picture I am taking!" His eyes got big and remorseful. He took me into his arms and apologized ever so humbly while I tried not to laugh. I couldn't last long and laughed and told him that I got bored and decided to find something new to photograph. When I couldn't find anything interesting enough, a picture popped into my head and I proceeded to make cookie and find things to arrange around the cookies. So then I showed Nathan the pictures I had already taken and the blog. He laughed at me and then ate some more cookies and asked about dinner. He thanked me for the cookies and said that he had been craving them for sometime and that they were perfect and chewy in the middle just like he liked them.
Today I decided to make soup and photograph it. Nathan's lunch became my photographic experience and this time he had to suffer cold soup and nuke it a little in the microwave to get it to where the cheese would melt. Sadly enough, I forgot to take a picture of Nathan while he was eating it.

Tasty Morsels

Yep I can get distracted with taking pictures, but I decided to make cookies in order to have this picture taken. And, no, not all of the cookies were able to fit on the plate so I ate a couple! MMMM! Sugar cookies turn out nicely every time so I made these moist sugar cookies from one of my random cookbooks called "Where's Mom Now that I Need her?" I collect cookbooks and happen to have this one. Even though I didn't need Mom for much after I was married. I knew how to do everything. There may have been little things like which shaker does the salt go in. The one with two holes? Or Three? LOL. Yeah that was one reason I called Mom. Another may have been about bread. I had made bread a few times before and just needed a question answered that my book didn't address. Anyway here are some pictures that I had fun taking.

"Is your refrigerator running?"

Do you remember when you would get a call with that question asking if your refrigerator was running? And if you responded yes, the next line was, "well you better go catch it!" Well if I got a call from someone today asking if my refrigerator was running, I would say, "I don't know." Honestly, I am not sure half the time if my refrigerator is running or not. When it is running it sounds like someone is cranking up their car and trying to get it to stay cranked. I believe that the compressor is trying to quit on our refrigerator. I have to make a call to our landlady at 10 and tell her that our refrigerator is making really loud noises when it is running, and that the ice in the freezer melts and then freezes and then melts again and that there is water dripping from our refrigerator ceiling. I was supposed to call her yesterday, but was not feeling all that great and decided that our refrigerator will last another night. Yesterday, I decided that if I was going to call Jerry our landlady, then it probably would be best to clean out our refrigerator of past due leftovers.

Have you ever kept a leftover in the refrigerator for so long that when you go to take it out to clean it, you can't recognize or even remember what you had for dinner that night. I found a lot of those in our refrigerator. Cooked carrots do not look like cooked carrots when they have seen months in the fridge. And cream of chicken soup is no longer chicken soup, but something that died and decided to grow wings again. ICK!!!! I couldn't believe the things I found in the back of our refrigerator!!! I don't think you would believe it either. If it wasn't for Nathan, there would be no reason to keep leftovers anymore. He eats them for lunch now, so it isn't as bad. Before I started feeding him leftovers, the leftovers got pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten until now. As I pulled out a leftover pasta, I thought to myself, "I don't remember ever making anything like that!!!" Although with the mold growing on it, it's no wonder I don't remember it.

OH the smells that I smelled that day!! I wish I had had a gas mask it was so pungent in the kitchen. I scrubbed hard and long on each gladware and ziploc container that I emptied of its deranged contents.

I don't own real tupperware so I use and reuse the gladware that contained food from our wedding day that we took on our honeymoon for snacking on. Whenever I bought deli meat, I bought it in ziploc or gladware storage boxes and reused them after using up all the meat for sandwiches. And recently I bought some more ziploc containers for storing home made salsa so I now have more than enough food storage containers for leftovers and salsa. We haven't had much leftovers recently, since I have been making less meat with dinner and more vegetables. We eat all of the meal each dinner and if we are still hungry, we eat salsa and drink a lot of water or tea. It has helped Nathan in loosing weight now that I have stopped making all the fattening beefy dinners I used to make and have gone to only one night of beef dinner and the rest of chicken and veggies. Also, it has been several months since he has last seen a dessert of mine.

Anyway, our refrigerator is now nearly spotless and looks strangely empty. I have room!!!




Our clean refrigerator and nearly empty too!



The freezer is also cleaner!



The ceiling of the refrigerator will drip and then freeze up and drip and freeze. It is a constant cycle.



It takes only two or three days for all this to build up in the freezer



a close up shot of where it drips when it melts

A visit to our favorite place (03-01-08)

My favorite place in the world. Where Nathan proposed to me
December 23, 2008. It is nearly a year ago that we were married.
Almost a year ago that we had our first kiss here. Two weeks
before our wedding on a Saturday we kissed on the spot where he
proposed. We didn't kiss until two weeks before, because we had thought
we wanted our first kiss to be our wedding kiss. Then I decided it
wasn't something that would be a romantic story for my kids when
I tell them our story later on in life.

I drove Nathan out to the lake Saturday the 1st of March. It was
pretty windy, but I am glad we went back there. We stood in our
spot where he had proposed (and I said "yes") and also where we
shared our first kiss. While standing there we hugged and stood
there talking about our moments while looking out at the beautiful
cliffs. And then we kissed again and both said how much we loved
each other. *Sigh* It is still as romantic now as it was then. We
Hope to live in NC always and be able to visit our favorite place
whenever we want.


Maybe next Saturday we will go back and actually get a picture of
of our exact spot of where we shared our first kiss and where he
proposed. If only I had a tripod. Maybe for a birthday present.

Sweet Memories

I was recently reminded of how much fun I used to have living at home. The walks I would take with siblings on our family farm, the things we would bake together, the stories we would read. How I do miss those moments, but I am now making moments that I will remember and look back at as moments I wish I was in. I am thankful for all that God has given me. It truly is wonderful to wake up in the arms of the one God gave to me. Even if he sleepwalks often and nearly every night, I wouldn't trade his sleepwalking for the days that have already passed me by, however sweet those memories are.
Yet there are some days where I wish I could have all my siblings with me sharing moments that I know we would love sharing. There are little things here and there that remind me of each one of my family members. The morning sunrise reminds me of my father our common love for all kinds of weather, folding clothes and doing laundry remind me of my Mom and how she would tell me that I wasn't folding things the way she wanted me to fold them. Or how an adventurous day reminds me of Hannah and our love to go exploring in the woods or in the pastures and even roll around in them even if there may be ant piles. Then there is the walk to the grocery store that reminds me of how Sarah likes to go shopping and how much fun she and I would have in the grocery store. I can't forget about the Library. Every time I go to the library I remember the days when I worked in the Library and how Mom and all the kids wanted to come pick me up and check out new books. When I am drinking tea or coffee I am reminded of how much fun Laura, Hannah, Marjory and Alaina would have with our tea parties. Then of course when I am reading a book out loud with Nathan I am reminded of all the times I have read out loud to siblings and how even Gabe would come in the room and would think he would be able to get the kids out of there long enough to talk to me alone and yet he would end up listening to the long chapters of The Silver Chair. He even asked me to read another chapter to my surprise. Gabe doesn't like to read fiction or any book requiring turning the page (aside from the Bible) :).
When I go hiking somewhere with Nathan, I am reminded of Jack and his love for the great outdoors.

There is never a day that passes when I don't have something that reminds me of home and the joys of a big family. One day Nathan and I hope to share in the joy of raising kids. Whether it is soon or a long wait, I know we will cherish the moments just like we cherished our childhood and the memories therein.

The dryer is now beckoning me forth to its presence, but it won't tear me away from my memories. I will write some more later.




Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."