inspiration

I am reading a book of encouraging anecdotes

entitled Stories for the Heart.

Every few pages there is a quote... I thought you

might enjoy some of them.

"I am only one, but I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

What I can do, I should do

and with the help of God, I will do!"

Everett Hale

"A hug is a perfect gift.

One size fits all 

And no one minds if you exchange it."

"Oh, God of second chances 

and new beginnings,

Here I am again!"
 

Nancy Spiegelberg

"We are most like beasts when we kill.

We are most like men when we judge.

And we are most like God when we forgive." 

Author Unknown

"If your vision is for a year, plant wheat.

If your vision is for ten years, plant trees.

If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people."

old Chinese proverb

"Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing,

but to turn it into glory."

William Barclay

"If you always do what you've always done,

You'll always be what you've always been."

Josh McDowell 

"It's what you learn after you know it all

that counts."

Are you inspired? I hope so!

Thanks for visiting today!

bath goodies

It has been a beautiful warm spring day here today!

I am hoping we have mild temps here for a few weeks.

Sometimes, here in middle Georgia, we jump right to summer.

I'd like spring to last a while...

especially since we waited for it so long!

When I posted about the baby shower in Tenn, 

I mentioned that part of my daughter's gift was

homemade bath salts.

I thought someone might be interested in the recipe,

so she shared it with me so I could share it with you.

Homemade Bath Salts Recipe:
3 cups Epsom Salt
2 cups Baking Soda
1 cup Table Salt
Food or soap coloring (optional)
Scented Essential Oils (2-4 drops)

If you want more than one scent and color, separate into different bowls before adding the color and scent. Then you can have 2-3 different choices to choose from. Let the bath salts dry for 24 hours before placing them into your decorative jars.

A nice gift that is easy to make!

Thanks for visiting...hope you are having a blessed weekend!

an "out-of office" party

A year ago, we "bit the bullet" at the doctor's office

where I work and started the transition to electronic charting. 

It has been difficult and, at times, frustrating.

But, we have begun to see "the light" at the end of the tunnel

and are beginning to reap some benefits from this

"new fangled" way of doing things!! :-)

To celebrate this one year anniversary, the kind Doctor

took us all to dinner at O'Charley's.

There were 19 of us there tonight.
There were a few who couldn't come for one reason or another.

Here are those sitting to my left...

and those to my right. 

This is Terry, our senior Physician Assistant.

He's been with Doc for about 15 years.

Here's Doc ... he sure takes good care of us!

That's Jamie on the left (below), our newest PA...she's been

with us for 2 years.

That's my girl on the right. She works for Doc from home doing

public relations projects and occasionally fills in at the office.

One of the things O'Charley's is best known for is their

yeast rolls...large, soft, delicious!

Doc ordered several appetizers for us to share

 while we waited for our dinners.

They have a rather large menu...others ordered steaks, ribs,

salmon, salads. I chose shrimp scampi. It was yummy!

We talked and laughed and ate and ate and ate!

It was a fun and relaxed evening...a special way to celebrate

a year's worth of hard work.

I am very grateful to work with such nice people and

 for such a kind and generous boss.

It is a blessing to be able to call them all...

my friends!

Easter lunch...southern style!

A lot of people on the south have ham for Easter, but

our Easter lunch included a chicken and dressing dish,

 corn, peas (both from our freezer), broccoli casserole,

turnips, rolls...and German Chocolate Pie and Cheesecake.

The chicken dish is actually called "Baked Chicken"

and was on of my mom's recipes.

My friend really enjoyed it and said I should post the

recipe here.

So, here it is:

There are 3 layers...

1  8 oz pkg Pepperidge Farm Stuffing

4 tbsp margarine

1/2 c finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 1/2 c chicken broth

 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1/2 c margarine (1 stick)

1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

dash pepper

4 cups chicken broth

6 eggs, slightly beaten

Prepare stuffing as directed using ingredients listed above.

Press in 13x9 baking dish.

Top stuffing with chicken.

Melt 1/2 c margarine over med heat, remove from heat,

add flour and stir until smooth. Add broth, salt and pepper.

Return to heat and stir until flour mixture dissolves in broth.

Remove from heat, cool for 5 mins, add eggs.

Stir until blended and pour over chicken.

Bake 45 mins at 325.

 This isn't a great picture, but I wanted you to see it makes a full

13x9 dish...12-15 servings.
Even if you prefer dressing to stuffing (like me),

 I think you will like this. I serve chicken gravy with it, too...

homemade or store bought...it's all good !

I've enjoyed reading about your menus. It is interesting to hear

about your family traditions and what is popular in your 

"neck of the woods"!

Thanks for stopping by!

lovely sunday

After a powerful, worshipful church service, we
gathered for lunch...Hubby and I, our daughter and
her family, and our friends, the Deans and their son.
Then, C. W. and Little E received their Easter surprises.

All of our grands got gifts, but these were the two

that were at our house and were old enough to open them.

Coloring/paint books, bubbles, candy, cars, etc...

some of their favorite things.

Then it was time to hide eggs. We use the plastic ones, but we

take the goodies out and hide the empty eggs...

over and over and over again!

Below, they were being distracted chasing bubbles while the eggs 

were being hidden.

Didn't take them long to fill their buckets!

After the cold rainy weather, it was a blessing to have a beautiful

day on Sunday so we could be outside.

They had a ball finding them and they even took a turn hiding 

them for each other!

Our daughter wanted some family pictures.

Our azaleas bloomed early and, with all the rain we had,

 they were faded and sad. So, other backgrounds had to do!

Little C enjoyed his first Easter and them turned

 4 months old on Monday !

Sweet family...all in blue!

After the hunt, we headed inside for coffee and dessert,

naps for some, fellowship for others, and the Braves on TV!

It was a lovely day! So grateful for the opportunity

of celebrating the Resurrection Day with family and friends!

pre-easter fun!

We had some cold, windy, and rain filled days here last week.

I am hoping it was our last taste of winter and that spring is 

finally here to stay!

C.W. was coming for the weekend and the plan was

to go to a huge egg hunt at a local church Sat morning.

They advertised there would be 40,000 eggs!

Well, the rain washed away that plan, so we went for

plan B!

First, we hit the bowling alley. We were the first people there, 

but by the tine we left, it was filling up. 

Everyone was looking for something to do inside!

This is the best place to watch your ball make its way

down the alley!

 

He beat me in the first game...fair and square!

We don't bowl often, so it takes me a while to warm up! :-)

Then, we went to a local "fun place". 

They have a cool mini-golf course...

with plants and water falls and wild animals!

 

 Then, it was home for lunch and dyeing eggs.

He was very careful...he didn't want to crack them.

While we waited on the eggs, we played Sorry and Life.

He won both of those games, too!

 

After dinner, he helped me decorate the table for 

our lunch on Sunday.

The eggs turned out well ...colors were bright

and no cracks!

We had a great day and the fun continued on Sunday!

More on that next time! :-)

Hope your Easter was special!

Happy Easter

Google image

Oh, The Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me, is the current
Of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to
Thy glorious rest above!
 
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth
never, nevermore!

How He watches o'er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own
how for them He intercedeth, watcheth
o'er them from the throne!
 
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
'Tis a heav'n of heav'ns to me
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Thank you, Jesus, for loving me!

Happy Easter! 

ramblings

Thursday ramblings!

- Our first amaryllis bloomed Tuesday. They are so pretty...

wish they lasted longer!

- Chick-fil-A is selling fish for a limited time. What's up with that?

I also saw one of our BBQ places, Sonny's, is now selling
BBQ egg rolls! I'm sorry, but that just seems wrong to me! ha! ha!

- I went to the bank today for the office. I was the only one in the

three lanes of drive-thru. We scan the checks now, so
the deposits are very small...just a little cash. It took the teller

15 minutes to process my deposit. That seemed like a
long time to me.When she came back, I almost
(notice I said ALMOST) said, "I thought you got lost!"
But that would not have been kind, so I just said,
"Thank you!" and left.

- I cut the strips for the next quilt I am making.

 Funny, how many widths there are in

bolts of fabric  that say "44-45" inches. One print is 42!

- Have you ever thought of what you should have/wished

you'd said after an encounter? Last week when we went to finish

our taxes, Jackie, our preparer, greeted me and we had

the usual exchanges. Then, she looked at me and said,

"You look really nice. Have you had any work done?"

After a moment of unbelief, I said, "Uh, no!" The next day,

I was thinking about it and it hit me...I should have said,

"As a matter of fact, yes...I had my ears pierced!!" ha! ha!

Ok, enough of that! Hope you have a sweet Friday!

 Thanks for stopping by....your visits

and comments bless my days!

freezer cooking

My daughter has a friend who has a flair for freezer cooking.

She started a blog about it and now has a large following.

Last year, she started having classes several times a year.

Each attendee pays a fee and she provides the ingredients.

When you leave the class, you have multiple meals ready to go

in your freezer to cook at a later date.

My daughter has been to one of the classes, has tried several

of her recipes, and has found others on her own.

As we were preparing to go to Tenn recently, she decided

she wanted to make some meals for her brother and SIL's

freezer....to help when the baby boy comes in May.

So, she enlisted Chan to help and...

they chopped...

 

and browned...

 

and sliced...

 

and bagged!

 

At the end of this cooking class, there were 7 meals

in the freezer...complete with cooking directions.

Each meal is either baked or tossed into a crock pot.

I thought this was an incredibly thoughtful gift!

My son and DIL really appreciated it...

I think they will appreciate it even more

 when they are eating them!! :-)

a night out

Twenty five years ago, Covenant Care Services, a state-wide

Christian adoption ministry was founded in middle Georgia.

For the last 9 years, they have held a Ladies' Night
 out as a fundraiser.

For the past five years, the doctor I work for has bought tickets 

so we could attend. This year's event was last Thursday.

After the program, which featured a local
 Christian singing artist,

we went to a fellowship area for dessert .

This was the table that greeted us as we entered the doors.

It was beautiful...especially with my daughter and our friend and co-worker,

Kristen, standing beside it!

Another impressive table marked the center of the room.

Dessert consisted of various cupcakes and fresh strawberries....

not as elaborate as in past years, but simple is good.

And cupcakes are certainly the rage these days!

The back of the program shared these facts about Covenant Care:

--We are a gospel ministry, not just an adoption agency.

 The message of redemption through Jesus pervades all we do.

--We are committed to primarily serving Georgia.

--We respect the dignity of birthmothers.

We never coerce women to choose adoption and do not

pressure them through the decision making process.

--We are committed to keeping adoption affordable.

We are one of the few adoption agencies in the Southeast

that does not rely primarily on adoption fees for our income.

Covenant Care also works in conjunction with

Caring Solutions, a Christian center for crisis pregnancies.

I am grateful for the wonderful work this organization does

and that it is located in our area. 

I am also grateful for a caring boss who desires to support

this ministry and to bless us!

from pretty to practical

Our three largest azaleas have white blooms.

This one is by our driveway and is always loaded

with blooms. It has looked happy the last few days!

Our neighbors cherry trees are looking happy, too!

 Another neighbor has this pretty wisteria in their yard.

I love the way wisteria drapes...

and it smells so good!

When we talked with our contractor about our pantry,

we agreed (or so I thought!) on wood shelves.

One day, I came in after work to find one of his employees

almost finished installing white wire shelves.

He was confused, too, because he thought we were planning on wood.

He offered to remove the wire ones and start over, but I told

him not to. It wasn't that important to me, and I knew that in a few years,

I would have to re-paint those wood shelves...not my favorite

thing to do! For the most part I have been happy with the wire except

 for the fact that some things will not sit flat on the shelf...not good...

 and it makes it difficult to stack things.

Well, Hubby came up with a solution...

he found sheets of this plastic which are really made to cover 

florescent light fixtures. He cut them to fit the shelves and

...voila!! a nice flat surface! And because it is clear, you don't

really notice it. Grateful for a handy hubby!

 Got back in the gym a couple of weeks ago after months of

being, well...not in the gym! :-)

I decided I needed new walking shoes so I found these at Kohl's. 

They are Skechers with memory foam...

and soles that feel like "tiny trampolines"...

or so the box said!

Not sure I would describe them that way, but they are 

comfortable and make walking on the treadmill easier.

So, that's whats going on here...from pretty to practical!

What's going on with you??