MIA

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here huh??? Well we finally made it to the states and we've been here in Texas for the last 3 weeks. Okay, I'm asking myself, How did I ever live here in this rat-race??? Man o Man is life crazy here or what?? We have been running no-stop since we flew in.

So we're over all the jet-lag and stuff and finally things are settling down, for the most part, life is normally pretty crazy during the holidays anyhow so I'm thankful for any sort of normalcy.

You know what's a bummer? Going from high speed internet to dial up, oh wow I realize how much I hate dial-up. Talk about slow. How can life in these United States be so fast and furious and the internet in some places still crawl like a snail. Oh yea and where my MIL lives (we're staying with her) no one offers high speed iinternet. So anyhow, sorry for running on and complaining about that. Guess I should be thankful I'm not at the library writing this post. :0}

I'm enjoying the Christmas season. I love Christmas!!! I love the feeling in the air and the snow for those who are lucky enough to get it, that wouldn't be us down here in Texas. :0(
I'm not really enjoying the crowds though. How can there be 100 Target stores in our metroplex and still every one of them are packed to the brim??? Oh well, I need the excercize so walking from across the street at the Albertsons parking lot to get to Target is probably good for me huh?

I made some wonderful Oreo Truffles the other day for a Christmas party. Super easy and delish! Here's the recipe

OREO TRUFFLES






1 pkg Oreos
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (room temp)
1 pkg. Almond bark

1. Grind Oreo cookies in a food processor until fine.
2. Reserve 3/4 C of Oreo crumbs, set aside
3. Mix Oreo cumbs with cream cheese
4. Roll the cream cheese and Oreo crumbs into 1.5 in. balls (place in the fridge until they are firm)
5. Melt 2/3 of the package (about 9 squares) in the microwave, remember to stir often
6. Roll the hardened Oreo-cream cheese balls in the melted almond bark and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the balls while still wet with the reserved Oreo crumbs.
7. Enjoy!

*picture borrowed from 30 Day Gourmet

BHG Videos

Wow I was looking around Better Homes and Gardens and you know what?? They have videos, really, lots of crafty videos and all sorts of stuff. So just a little tidbit!
Have fun but don't waste too much time looking. :0)

Pretty Thanksgiving Centerpiece

I just love this look. I love the simple elegance of the white candles and the natural materials. Nice idea for the Thanksgiving table.

Pillar candles, white pumpkins and cream-colored gourds fill the top of a round butcherblock cutting board. Sprigs of wheat act as filler on the right side of the arrangement. Vary the look with golden yellow candles mixed with mini pumpkins and oak leaf sprigs on a tray.

Check out BHG for more great centerpiece ideas.

Gingerbread Waffles

INGREDIENTS
1 cup light molasses
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS

In a small saucepan, heat molasses and 1/2 cup butter until almost boiling. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in baking soda, milk and egg.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the molasses mixture. Mix until smooth.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot with chocolate sauce or syrup of your choice.

Lack of Testosterone at Home

Testosterone Yep you read it right. All the testosterone has been depleted from our household. Johnny (wonderful husband), Cody and Joshua have all gone to Budapest to preach a Baptist history conference. Well actually only Johnny is preaching the conference the boys are going along to play with the missionary family's 13 kids. They are having a ball I have heard through YM.

So Hannah and I have been the soul recipients of the peace and quiet life has to offer when there are no little boys around to break through it. You know what, I hate peace and quiet. I am majorly missing the men in this family. They were due to be there through Monday evening but because they love us so much they are driving home Sunday night after the last meeting. Oh how nice it is to be loved.

We've had lots of fun though, just being girls. The past couple nights we have spent the evenings quietly enjoying the things we enjoy.

Hannah loves paper dolls so we found a treasure chest of them on the net. We found one page that is absolutely full of paper doll links. There are all kinds of choices too. Then we found a really good one, over at Simplicity and it's wonderful. Hannah has had so many hours of sitting and quietly enjoying the dolls that I was able to make two skirts for me and a new Bible bag for Hannah. So if you have little girls, check it out! :0)

Also while we played with the dolls and sewing a bit we listened to an audio book. Actually we have it downloaded and it was so nice to listen to. We listened to the Little Princess in two evenings and it was so nice. I've read the book and seen the movie but I like it better when someone else reads it, then I can do something else while I listen. Anyhoo, I wanted to pass on a link for some free audio book downloads. Scoot on over to kayray.org and start enjoying.

Okay so I'm going to have my dear daughter take a picture of one of the skirts I made a couple days ago so I can post it here.

Oh yea back to the testosterone thing, they're coming home tomorrow and it will be none to soon for me. Although Hannah has been sleeping with me, it's just not the same and I can't wait for my dear one to be back in bed beside me where he belongs. :0)

Seeing the Island Krk

We had a wonderful time showing our friends the Brantleys around Croatia. We went to a wonderful little town on an island in the Adriatic Sea where the walk ways were super small and everything was Mediterranean, it was so picturesque. Here are some pics I took while we were showing them Croatia.

This is the back side of the walled fortress thinggy that butted up to the sea. It was lovely looking out onto the open sea. I took a photo over the wall of the fortress out toward the Adriatic, that's another island you see out there peaking in from the left. Pretty huh?

This was the other side of the walled fortress you seen in the previous picture. It was so cool to be in this 1500 year old island town. Most of the structures on the island were made from the white rock that lines the Adriatic coastline.
The little halls are lined with little coffee houses. They serve the strongest black coffee you could ever want, I order mine with milk. :0)

I loved this little hallway because of the bell you can see at the center of the picture. I think that was a little church like thing.

I was amazed how many little towns there were nestled into the mountains along the coastline.

This last one is Johnny and I with our oldest son Cody (14). See how I'm slowly becoming the shortest on in the family? Even my 11 year old is hitting a growth spurt and my 9 year old daughter is already wearing my socks!

My Super Sweet Family

We've been preparing for our furlough and realized we needed a new family picture. We got all gussied up and headed off for the nearest photographers. In this picture my kids are 14, 11 and 9.

Here is a picture of our kids the day we arrived in Croatia, their very first trip out of the states. Cody was 7, Joshua was 4 and Hannah was 2. Pretty big difference from the above photo. I'm amazed how big my kids are getting, makes my eyes a little wet if I think about it too long. I thank the Lord daily that they are all healthy and pretty normal kids.

Blog Lines???

So am I the only unfortunate soul that is having problems with Bloglines??? I can't get to any of my feeds and I have been trying for weeks. I really do want to come and read all your blogs but I can't remember all my feeds. :0( Am I alone in this peril or what???

Seeing Croatia!

Last week we had the priviledge of showing around some dear missionary friends of ours. The Ingrams are missionries from our home church in Texas and serve the Lord in Romania. They came down and spent a few days resting and looking around Croatia with us, what a great time we had. Croatia is absolutely lovely. Here are a few pics from our trip.

I had to use this picture first, not that I'm proud of my best friend, well yea I am, he's my knight in shining armor and he's gets better every year. :0)

This was the prettiest little corner in the Palace of Diocletians in Split, Croatia. It was huge and this was only 100th of the size of the palace. What a sight!

Croatia's coast is totally clean. We were on the island national park of Kornati in the Adriatic. The water was like something out of a movie, you could see way down to the bottom it was so clear.

We took an hour and half boat trip to the islands. This is our Hannah getting to drive the boat. Actually the captain was selling those bandanas and was trying to get us to buy them. The funny thing is, he also had a plastic pipe that he gave her, she wouldn't take it but still. After Hannah was the captain we watched about 25 unsuspecting sailors get pulled into the captains room, he placed the bandana on their heads and the pipe in their mouths. Little did they know, by the time the last one had the pipe in his mouth it had been in about 20 other mouths before his. GROSS!!!

The boat ride came with complementary entertainment, well two guys singing actually. Really they don't look like much but they sang divinely. The sang Dalmatian love songs about Croatia. It was great. We talked with them for a long time.

We walked through the narrow streets of Diocletians palace and it was amazing. Want a wonderfully historical but lovely place to visit...Croatia! Oh yea those are my kiddos! :0)

This is the tower to the 2000 year old place of worship in Diocletians palace. I took this picture from an underground dungeon kinda place, it was awesome.

This is coastal town of Vodice, we stayed here in an apartment. We payed 50 Euros a night for 7 people, not bad huh??? The Apartment was brand new, it was really nice.

Me and my huney, married 15 years and still having way too much fun! :0) And yes I know that fluffy women shouldn't wear stripes!!!

We found a really nice place along the coast and looked for shells and critters. That's me in the black skirt with the sun glasses on my head. We found a hermit crab and I was showing how sweet the little things are.

Then we found a little sandy place and let the kids wade. Well it started as wading then it turned into swimming. Yes they were fully dresses except for shoes. They had a ball. I know your not suppose to swim in your clothes but oh well, it was great. They had to ride in the cargo part of the van on the way back to the apartment and they sang all the way.

Here's the last one from the trip, the sunset was just perfect too. We loved our time by the water. WOW what an incredible God we serve. He took the time to make every detail perfect in His creation. How blessed we are!!

Yep, it's me!

Goodness have I been gone a long time or what??? Over the last few weeks we've driven more than 2000 kilometers and seen way too much.

It's really nice to have guests from the states but when they are back to back it gets a little tiring. We did have a wonderful time over the last several weeks and I took lots of pictures. I'm going to downsize them later and post some.

We started school a few weeks ago only to have the guests come. It set us back a bit but things are back in swing now. This year we have a 9th grader, yea a 9th grader, I'm shocked too!! :0) Then we 6th and 4th graders, our plate is a bit full this year, hey it would be full with only the Algebra. Did I tell y'all that I stink at Algebra??

Oh yea one more thing...Thanks Ladies for all the sweet e-mails letting me know I was missed and wondering how we are, that means a whole bunch to me! Y'all are just way too cool!!!

Well I got this death notice this morning from a friend and thought I would share it. The latest victim of the EColi outbreak! Very sad!

MIA

Wow, have I ever been missing in action!! Things are sure jumping around here now. We're less than 2 months from fulough and we have something big every week until departure. Man I'm tired just thinking about it.

I'm sitting here waiting for another missionary family from Romania to arrive, as soon as they arrive we are headed for the coast for a little mini-vacation. We made plans a while back and then it just snuck up on us, so it's here. The suit cases are packed, we're making sandwhiches for the trip and waiting... I'm make sure to take lots of pictures to share, Croatia truely is one of the most beautiful places in Europe, but I'm a little partial. :0)

Have a wonderful week Y'all!!!!

Greatest Software Ever!

Prevents user from going to Hell!!


Jesus 1.0


I am writing because of questions from people regarding installation of the latest version of the popular program Jesus 1.0 (also available as Yeshua 1.0). It seems that installation of Jesus 1.0 eventually leads to several conflicts with other programs you may be running and may even require certain upgrades and utility programs.


Jesus 1.0 usually installs easily enough. The program has been around for years and was written so well that it has never needed to be upgraded.


It runs on the oldest of machines as well as on the fanciest of operating systems running at blazing speed. System requirements are minimal.


Jesus 1.0 requires virtually no RAM initially and is self installing. The evaluation copy and full version are available free of charge despite reportedly enormous development costs.
Problems arise however as you use the program. Jesus 1.0 runs in the background and does a systematic evaluation of all programs, utilities, and games on your system. For example Jesus 1.0 does not run well at all with Religion 1.0 and higher or Hate 1.0. There are extreme conflicts with these and other programs that are unresolvable. Jesus 1.0 also evaluates network connections that may be dangerous. Jesus 1.0 uses pop-up windows to suggest better utilization of disc space by deleting old programs and routines as well as severing dangerous network connections. This is actually very helpful and responding Yes' will result in extremely efficient and productive use of your system.


When installing Jesus 1.0 you should be aware that when a pop-up window makes a suggestion to remove a program or routine, there is no choice on the pop-up to say: "Do not show this warning again." Some feel this is a flaw in the system because they cannot remove these persistent warnings. The warnings actually become more urgent such as: "Continued use of Program XYZ or Game ABC may result in a Fatal Error or Permanent Damage to Your System".(NOTE: Jesus 1.0 does not uninstall easily, if at all. Software engineers debate ad nauseam whether this is even possible.)


Removing old programs at the suggestion of Jesus 1.0 can be difficult so we recommend a powerful utility program called HolySpirit 1.0. HS 1.0 is capable of removing any old program that is in conflict with the smooth operation of Jesus 1.0, while also sweeping for viruses. HS 1.0 is actually a utility that comes with Jesus 1.0, but often needs to be installed or unzipped (though some report that it self-installs automatically).


HS 1.0 can be a bit of a memory hog and is a little unpredictable. It can even make the system appear unstable for brief periods of time. HS 1.0 wipes out old programs, defragments your hard drive automatically and even increases hard disk space and available RAM. HS 1.0 makes Jesus 1.0 run at lightning speed on any operating system and debugs your communications software. HS 1.0 also has utilities that read and write in any language when necessary. It is really quite marvelous and runs as a memory resident program.


We have found that HS 1.0 runs best in conjunction with any of the popular HiSWord software programs available from Yahweh. HiSWord is an extensive online manual that also automatically repairs broken files, clusters and strings of data. HiSWord is only available in KJV, is in public domain and is quite commonly available at modest cost.. The NAS, NIV, etc., have been determined to be very poor and unreliable substitutes for the King James. They have been known to totally destroy users via unquenchable fire.


You also may have heard that there is a powerful utility command available in Jesus 1.0 called Repent.exe. Repent.exe does not install as a shortcut. The command causes an intensive reworking of your entire system somewhat like a soft reformat. All illegal and pirated programs are deleted, sleeping viruses are purged and all software is updated. Repent.exe is an extreme command that causes an evaluation and virtual rewrite of your system, item by item, but the results are terrific. Some report a screen warning with Repent.exe that says: "This Will Take Considerable Time-- Do You Want to Continue?"


In fact, there are normally several warnings before the Repent.exe command is implemented such as: "Are You Sure You Want To Repent.exe?", "The Repent.exe Command Will Result In Total System Re-Write", "An Undetermined Number of Files Will Be Lost", and a strange one that says "The Axe is Already At the Root of the Trees--John". Don't let this alarm you. Clicking Yes' at all prompts may result in what appears to be a system shutdown, but others report quick results and a reboot. It can be a scary experience, but we have never heard of the Repent.exe command resulting in a permanent crash.


To the contrary, the command generally results in maximum system efficiency and function. Bottom line, we view the Jesus 1.0 is an essential program which we highly recommend especially with use of HS 1.0 and HiSWord 1.0.


Hope this is helpful.


Instructions on how to install Jesus 1.0 (Yeshua 1.0)
1.. Log on with God. (PRAY)
2.. CONFESS - "My system is corrupt and I need you. I confess my sin. Save me."
3.. INSTALL - "Lord Jesus, I need You. Write Yourself onto the tablet of my heart and mind and never leave me. Re-write me and restore me."


Detailed instructions for installing Jesus 1.0

The Roman's Road to Heaven
In one minute I can explain to you how you can know for sure that if you died today you would go to Heaven.

All you have to know are 4 things.

1] Man is a sinner. Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

2] There is a price on sin, eternal death. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

3] Jesus paid that price on the cross. Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

4] By faith in Christ we can be saved. Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.



HERE IS HOW YOU CALL UPON THE LORD

Do you admit that you are a sinner?

Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?

If you are sorry for your sins and would like for God to save your soul, just ask Him.

Dear Jesus,
Please forgive me of my sins. I trust you today, JESUS, and only You, to take me to HEAVEN when I die. Thank you for saving me.
Amen.

Just as you were born to your parents, you were born into the Kingdom of God when you called on Jesus!

Special thanks to Baptist City for this great thinggy. :0)

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

For those of us blessed with many years. :0)

Jesus loves me this I know
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim
Still He bids me to trust in Him

Chourus

Though my steps are oh so slow
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may
He'll be there to lead the way.

Chourus

When the nights are dark and long
In my heart He puts a song
Telling me in words so clear
"Have no fear for I am near"

Chourus

When my work on earth is done
And life's vic'ries have been won
He will take me home above
Than I'll understand His love

Chourus

I love Jesus, does he know?
Have I ever told him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say
That I love Him every day

Happy Monday Y'all!!

Hey Y'all!!

Wow has life every been busy. We've been busily getting ready for the rainy season so to speak. With things about to start hopping we have some things that have to be done now.

With furlough coming up Johnny and I have decided to make our own presentation this time, a totally new thing for us, but it's coming along. We were wanting a DVD presentation with video and all and finally after weeks I think we're gonna make it. I'm so excited! :0)

Well Autumn is almost here and I can't wait. Hey it's m favorite time of the year. I can't wait for the trees to change there outfits for the new season, I love the Autumn colors and the romantic feel in the air. Wow you can really see God's hand in nature when the seasons turn.

Well I'm off to finish dressing for church and to make sure my kids have their shirts tucked in, pants on right side out and hair brushed, I'm sure you understand!!

Monday's Weigh-in

Just wanted to quickly post today's weigh-in and no I'm not bragging! Just sharing some JOY! I weighed in today 5.7 lbs lighter than last week! Wow and I'm excited.

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin killed

BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition. He was 44.

Okay, I know this has no bearing on life or the Bible but my kids will be so sad when they hear this. They really like this guy, or liked him. Can't help thinking he was lost, how sad! Hope someone got to him with the Gospel but more than likely not.

Just Life in General

Hey all!! So things are about the same here. I've been doing some packing and some cleaning. Oh home officially has no stored items whatsoever outside of the kitchen and bathroom. We've been packing up no essentials and moving them to the national's attic. It's nice to have empty closets! :0)


Our busy season is about to start. As you know we're headed for furlough in 2.5 months, and yes I'm counting down. So mid-November we fly out but until then we have a full docket.
We have a missionary family from Romania coming in 3 weeks to see Croatia then a week after they leave we have a family of 6 coming for a survey trip. A week after they leave we have a very nice man from our home church in Texas coming for a missions trip, then after he leaves we have the ordination of the national pastor. Whew, let me catch my breath and calm myself before I panic!!! So after the ordination we have a special guest speaker coming for a 1 night service and while all this is happening we are in our annual Fall campaign at church. So what does this all mean???? Oh I don't know, I just thought I would share my panic with you!! :0)


My kids are getting so excited about seeing the grands when we get to the states. They are Mammy and Papaw kids. They adore their grandparents and with good reason. Oh yea and they have a new cousin Madison that is also there and they are looking forward to that.


What am I looking forward too, you ask; WAL-MART!!! I am so looking forward to going to Wal-mart, and no I'm not kidding. Do you know how cool that place is??? Really, you know why Europe is so far behind America??? No Wal-mart! Yep that's it, really I'm thinking that's the cure for all these third world countries. Oh okay, yea I know Jesus is what they need, but I'm thinking Wal-mart is up there on the list somewhere. I'm just kidding.


We've officially started school and you know what I was wondering??? Where did summer go?
This year I have a high schooler!!! Oh my, am I really that old??? YEA!
I have a 9th grader, a 6th grader and a 4th grader. We're doing Switched in Schoolhouse this year. We have used it for 3 years now and I love it. We do supplement with Saxon math, I really love Saxon.


Anyhoo, this is what's going on here. I am planning to make Hannah two skirts today, she is outgrowing everything she owns. She is defiantly going to be bigger than me. ;0)


Oh yea is it feeling like Fall there??? It is here, it's actually jacket weather and I love it. I love crisp mornings, sweaters, hot cocoa, the smell of the heater when it's turned on for the first time, and cuddling under quilts. I just love the fall.


Have a wonderful day y'all!!

Texas Sheet Cake

I thought I would post the Texas Sheet Cake recipe I made for the Childrens Crusade at church. It really makes a huge cake and is great for get togethers.

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

Original recipe yield: 1 - 12x16 inch cake.
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour
Servings: 20

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons milk
4 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sift together and set aside in large bowl the flour and sugar.
   
2. In saucepan over medium heat bring to a boil; 1/2 cup margarine or butter, 1/2 cup shortening, 1 cup water, and 4 tablespoons cocoa.
   
3. Pour cocoa mixture over flour and sugar mixture. Stir in buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well and pour into a greased and floured sheet pan.
   
4. Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes.
   
5. To Make Frosting: Five minutes before cake is done, bring to boil in a saucepan 1/2 cup margarine or butter, 6 tablespoons milk, and 4 tablespoons cocoa. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the confectioners' sugar, nuts (if desired), and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and immediately pour frosting over warm cake. Cake may be served warm or at room temperature.

Childrens Crusade in Čakovec

Well our annual Children’s Crusade is behind us and I have to breathe a sigh of relief. I painted clouds, wrapped boxes, prepared face paints, sign-up lists, name tags, verses for the wall, 2 huge Texas cakes, was up at 5 to prepare for the day and then ran my bus route as Mimi the Clown. Talk about a full day. We had a ball; we were a little down for this sort of day but still had a wonderful time with more than 50 there to hear the Gospel.

Our theme this year was Božji dar je život vječni u Kristu Isusu or for you non-Croatia-reading folks: God's gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

When we have these kids day we do our best to keep the Gospel just the way God intended it to be, simple and strait forward. Why do we humans have to complicate everything? We take the simplest and clearest message in the world and add to it and take away until half the world is unsure what God's true message is. Wow are we humans ever flawed!

So anyhow, I forgot, after the services we had lunch on the grounds, well not on the GROUND but on the church property :0) you knew that didn't you??? So we had cowboy beans, hot dogs literally translated HOT DOG with four legs, yea it makes for a laugh, and all the trimmings. It was delish and guess what I did, I ate!!! Okay I have confessed and I feel better. :0)

We had many profess Christ as Savior on Sunday and we're so glad we went to the trouble to doing all the decorating and cooking, you know one soul would be worth our working all day every day for the rest of our lives, they are that important to God!

Well as with all big days, I’m glad the clown costume is in the washer, the horses are gone, all the confetti is picked up and a few more names line the pages of that big book in heaven.

Oh yea I'll post some pics as soon as I figure out who 5-fingered my digital camera!!!!! :0)
Thanks for reading gals!

Whoa was that fast or what??

Check out this really cool way to fold shirts. Is this the coolest thing or what???

Georgous Fall Wreath

I was looking around the web for fall decor considering it's less than a month until Autumn starts and I found this! Isn't it lovely?? I love the quail feathers and just the totally classy look of the bronze ribbon. Anyhoo, I'm not decorating for fall this year at out home but I wanted to share this with you. It's lovely isn't it!!!

• DIRECTIONS
• Begin with a pre-made twig wreath (22 inches wide).
• Using hot glue and a glue gun, attach tiny pheasant pinfeathers to a few twig ends.
• Using hot glue, attach Brazil nuts (found in grocery stores) around the center opening.
• Insert medium-size pheasant feathers, all facing the same direction as the twigs. Attach with hot glue. About a dozen long tail feathers are used in the lower third of the wreath. Divide the feathers, using half on one side, half on the other, gluing them horizontally so they resemble whiskers on a cat-s face.
• A large bow of brown satin, attached with florist-s wire, is centered above the large feathers.

Permanent Residence

I have such good news! Really it's wonderful news. We now officially have permanent residence in Croatia. What does this mean?

• we don't have to carry our passports anymore
• we never have to apply for our yearly visa again or any visa for that matter
• we can now register our vehicle for the normal amount of time instead of having it registered according to when our visas go out.
• we now have a Croatian ID like the nationals
• we can be out of the country for more than 11 months
• homeschooling will never be in questioned for us again

This is such a huge thing, we have prayed along with many of our family and friends and we're so thankful.

Praise the Lord!!

Implanted Chips in Our Troops?

Okay, I'm greatly disturbed by this news but not surprised. Hey we know the end of the story and we win, so there isn't a huge cause for alarm, but this is prophesy in motion.

We are going this week to renew our daughters passport and it looks like she will have the PP with the chip in it, that's as far as we'll ever go, No Chip, No How, No Way!!!

I read on another blog that they believed that we would be here during the tribulation, I just want to say I wont be!!! I am pretrib kinda gal!!!




A Florida company wants to get under the skin of 1.4 million U.S. servicemen and women. VeriChip Corp, based in Delray Beach, Fla., and described by the D.C. Examiner as "one of the most aggressive marketers of radio frequency identification chips," is hoping to convince the Pentagon to allow them to insert the chips, known as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips under the skin of the right arms of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen to enable them to scan an arm and obtain that person’s identity and medical history. The chips would replace the legendary metal dog tags that have been worn by U.S. military personnel since 1906.

The device is usually implanted above the triceps area of an individual’s right arm, but can also by implanted in the hand if scanned at the proper frequency. The VeriChip responds with a unique 16-digit number, which can correlate the user to information stored on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure is performed under local anesthetic, and once inserted it is invisible to the naked eye.

The company, which the Examiner notes has powerful political connections, is "in discussions” with the Pentagon, VeriChip spokeswoman Nicole Philbin told the Examiner. "The potential for this technology doesn’t just stop at the civilian level,” Philbin said. Company officials have touted the chips as versatile, able to be used in a variety of situations such as helping track illegal immigrants or giving doctors immediate access to patient’s medical records.

On Monday the Department of State started to issue electronic passports (e-passports) equipped with RFID chips. According to reports the U.S. government has placed an order with a California company, Infineon Technologies North America, for smart chip-embedded passports.

The Associated Press said the new U.S. passports include an electronic chip that contains all the data contained in the paper version name, birth date, gender, for example and can be read by digital scanners at equipped airports. They cost 14 percent more than their predecessors but the State Department said they will speed up going through Customs and help enhance border security.

The company's hefty political clout is typified by having former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, on its board of directors.

Thompson assured the Examiner that the chip is safe and that no one — not even military personnel, who are required by law to follow orders — will be forced to accept an implant against his or her will. He has also promised to have a chip implanted in himself but could not tell the Examiner when.

"I’m extremely busy and I’m waiting until my hospitals and doctors are able to run some screens," he told the newspaper.

Not everybody agrees with Thompson, the Examiner reported, noting that the idea of implanting the chips in live bodies has some veterans’ groups and privacy advocates worried.

"It needs further study,” Joe Davis, a retired Air Force major and a spokesman for the D.C. office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, told the Examiner.

And Liz McIntyre, co-author with Katherine Albrecht of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track your Every Move with RFID," said that VeriChip is "a huge threat” to public privacy.

"They’re circling like vultures for any opportunity to get into our flesh,” McIntyre told the Examiner. "They’ll start with people who can’t say no, like the elderly, sex offenders, immigrants and the military. Then they’ll come knocking on our doors.”

In an e-mail to the Examiner, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wrote: "If that is what the Defense Department has in mind for our troops in Iraq, there are many questions that need answers. "What checks and balances, safeguards and congressional oversight would there be?” Leahy asked. "What less-invasive alternatives are there? What information would be entered on the chips, and could it endanger our soldiers or be intercepted by the enemy?”

The company, the Examiner wrote, is also unsure about the technology. According to company documents, radio frequencies in ambulances and helicopters could disrupt the chips’ transmissions. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, VeriChip also said it was unsure whether the chip would dislodge and move through a person’s body. It could also cause infections and "adverse tissue reactions,” the SEC filing states.

But Philbin downplayed the danger of the chips.

"It’s the size of a grain of rice,” she said.

"It’s like getting a shot of penicillin.”


NEWSMAX.COM

Almost There

I decided to make a blog just for my diet. I'm just starting again with the help of my dear one. We're going to do this together. I'm calling it Almost There becuase I was almost there before I fell and gained back almost 20 lbs. I'll be posting there often too, so drop in whenever you can. :0)

When Babies Laugh

I saw this cute little sniplet and had to add it. It's so cute. Is there anything more adorable than a baby laughing?

Kids Day in Pribaslavec

Yesterday we spent several hours in a nearby Roma (Gypsy) village. We had a ball. Within 2 minutes of our arrival we were swamped. There were kids and adults everywhere. We had a delicious time singing, playing and then giving the Gospel to these people.

Oh yea and we did some clowning around too. That's me in all my Goofy glory. That's Mimmy the Clown. I've been doing this for a few years and since most children and even adults have never seen a clown in person it's a great crowd drawer. Hey I believe, get them in ears shot of the Gospel in anyway we can. This helps. :0)

Johnny got this picture of the little beer toter strolling down the street. Right after this we seen another little boy coming home from the little store in the village. He couldn't have been older than 6 and he was carrying a huge 2 liter beer home for dad or brother.

These people; the Roma have been outcast and forgotten. There are thousands in our area and they live in the most unbelievable state. While in the village, I saw about 10 children between the ages of 1 and 6 totally naked, hair matted and the scars of their short life speaking the tale of their short, little lives.

Please pray for the Roma peopel in Croatia. They are the forgotten people that all of Europe is ashamed of. Each of these 1000s have a soul that will one day spend eternity in Hell or in Heaven with Jesus. Pray for them and please pray that God will send someone specific to fight for these souls.

Oh yea, by the way, several adults and children confessed Christ as Savior while we were there. Pray for them. :0)

Recipe Box Show and Tell

Over at Mountain Musings they're having a Recipe Box Show and Tell. My box isn't some special wooden one handed down from Mom or Grandma, but it does it's job. I purchased it at the Dollar General for 3 bucks.

Jump on board, can't wait to see yours! :0)

Menus for Moms

Monday
Easy Garden Alfredo
Sourdough Bread
Green Beans
Honey Nut Peaches

Tuesday
Basil Balsamic Grilled Fish
Brown Rice
Grilled Vegetables

Wednesday
Pea Soup
Crusty Bread
Easy Banana Pudding

Thursday
Chicken Enchiladas
Refried Beans
Mexican Salad

Friday
Barbecue Chicken Pizza
Salad
Jello Salad

Menu 4 Moms recipes and grocery list for the week August 21-25, 2006

Useless Facts About Croatia :0)

**This is for you Mrs. Cathie!! **

Okay some normal day to day things in Croatia.

FOOD

We pretty much eat like Americans do. I mean I only know how to cook like a good Texan so that's how I cook. The only difference is pretty much everything has to be from scratch. We have almost no prepackaged foods here. I pretty much prepare meals like our grandmas did.

When we first arrived in Croatia in May, 2000 we went on a radical diet. Really, I couldn't read the packages and couldn't find the Hamburger Helper anywhere (the base of all Bible college students menus) so we didn't do alot of eating, or at least we ate tons of sandwiches. :0)

Okay the price of food here in Croatia:

• 1 liter milk is about $1
• We don't have Mrs. Bairds or Wonder bread here in Croatia so we buy the huge loafs of bread daily at the Pekarna (bakery) around the corner.
• We do have COKE for any of you fans out there, they are about $2 a two liter.
• For 10 eggs, (eggs come on 10 not 12, strange I know) are about $2.
• Chesse is pretty expensive, we pay about 32 kuna a kilo for the cheap stuff which is about 7 dollars.
• Sugar is about $1 for a lb.

Food items Croatia knows nothing about:

• FF cooking spray
• Black eyed peas (for those southerners)
• BBQ sauce
• Kraft Mac and Cheese :0)
• Maple Syrup
• Cake Mixes
• Cake Icing
• Biscuits
• Chili
• Tortillas
• Salad Dressings (Croats and Europeans in general only use vinagar and oil)

Supplies that i've yet to see in Croatia and I miss!

• Zip lock baggies (Thanks Shawna :0)
• Fabric softner sheets
• Crayola Crayons

Misc prices

• Gas is about $5 a gallon (yea you guys thought you had it bad)
• We pay for every call placed from our phone, there are no "local" calls in Croatia. :0)
• We have to pay to have a TV (which we don't) and to listen to the radio (don't do that either) It is still required to pay for the use of the TV and Radio whether they are used or not.
• The chimney sweep comes yearly and you have to pay for his service whether you want it or not.

Wierd Things:

• Each child is required to remove his shoes before entering the school building and wear house shoes while at school. Really, I'm not joking!
• Europeans love playing soccer on asphalt.
• Croatia doesn't have any amusement parks or mini golf places.
• Most kids in school have cell phones from the age of 7.
• Mom is always the boss of the family
• Croatians never cook green beans
• You never eat sweet things for anything but dessert. No sweet baked beans or cole slaw!
• Croats believe that if you eat raw potatoes you will eventually die from a high fever.
• If you sit on cement it will ruin your kidneys and it very dangerous.
• Croats almost never eat ice, it will give them sore throats but they love to eat ice cream.
• It's totally legal to make moon-shine.
• Pink is a very popular color for wedding dresses.

There are tons of other things about Croatia that are oh so interesting but I can't possibly think if them now, as soon as I publish this post I'll remember, always do!!! :0)

Photo Fraud in Lebanon

A friend in Hungary sent me this link today. It's a really interesting short video. Just for the record I am totally pro-Israel and until they cease to be God's people I will be a friend to Israel. Just had to throw that in. :0) Photo Fraud in Lebanon

Sew Collage

Sewing materials and tools are just pretty! Many of the tools of sewing end up being valuable collectibles, but why not show off your love of sewing with a framed collage? Don't want to give up your special memorabilia? Just visit a few thrift shops, flea markets or garage sales to gather up the interesting pieces for your collage.

Materials
Shadow box frame (deep frame)
Acrylic paint of your choice to paint frame
Specialty paper as background (or your favorite fabric!)
Notions: charms, buttons, threads, old scissors, scraps of lace, anything related to sewing
Glue

Instructions
Paint the shadow box frame if purchased unfinished. Select a paint color that coordinates with the colors of your collage elements. Generally, the frame should be lighter than your darkest color of element. The frame is not the focus of the design and should not stand out more than the collage.


The lace and doily used in this collage were tea dyed to soften the white of those items. To tea dye, make a strong cup of tea using several tea bags; dip lace and doily into the brew for 15 minutes. Allow lace and doily to air dry and then iron.


The first step to create a collage is to just play with your elements. Try different arrangements until happy with the overall design look. This collage took me 2 hours to design and less than 5 minutes to glue! The time spent in "perfecting" the elements is fun and worth every minute!

Take a good look at your finished design. Sketch, write notes, take a picture. Anything that will help you remember placement.


Glue, starting with the bottom-most elements. Allow 24 hours to dry. Put together the frame and hang your masterpiece!

**This article was taken from the 501 Sewing Secrets Newsletter, you may sign up here.

Four Things Meme

Four Things Meme
Okay so I kinda 5 fingered this from a few other blogs and I tagged myself, it looks so fun. :0)

Four jobs I have had in my life (outside the home)
1. Dairy Queen (oh the original Blizzard, YUM)
2. Cashier at Motts 5-10 store (I was 15)
3. Fork-lift driver at ADH (Ran through a wall once too ;0))
4. Worked for the NFL (National Foundation Life Insurance, not the “NFL”)

Four movies I could watch over and over
1. The King and I
2. Fiddler on the Roof (so worth watching if you haven’t, oh yea it’s filmed in Croatia too)
3. Sound of Music
4. My Fair Lady

Four Places I have lived
1. San Antonio, Texas
2. Ft. Worth, Texas
3. Arlington, Texas (yes I’m a Texas gal)
4. Cakovec, Croatia

Four things I like to do
1. Sew
2. Read
3. Cook if I’m not on a diet
4. All things puter!

Four places I have been on vacation
1. Budapest, Hungary
2. Venice, Italy
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Pula, Croatia (there are a few fringe benefits to being a missionary in Europe)

Four websites I visit daily
1. Yahoo Mail
2. MSN News
3. Vessels Unto Honor
4. Bloglines

Four of my favorite foods
1. Whoppers
2. Guacamole (new found love, yea I found it now that i'm on a diet ;0) )
3. Big, sweet salads
4. Tortellini

Four places I would like to be right now
1. In the states with our dying Nanny
2. Visiting with my little brother in Texas
3. At WALMART!!!!!
4. Istanbul (I would love to go there)

Four friends I think will respond
Oh I dunno, I got in on the end of this thing, so help yourselves! Your TAGGED!!! :0)

Disappointment

It seemed at late that the tide was turning here in Croatia with missionaries. We were expecting 3 missionaries to come this fall on survey trips. We had high hopes that soon we would no longer be the only IFB missionaries here.


With the weekend came the news that one of those missionaries has chosen to go to South America as a missionary, and with good reason and the other has decided that it is going to be another 3 or 4 years before he can even start deputation. We praise the Lord that one of the families purchased plane tickets this weekend for their survey.


You know the hardest thing we deal with here in Croatia is loneliness. I know, I know, with Christ we are never alone, I know that and we're not, but some good fellowship sure is nice.
Since we arrived in 2000, we have seen two families come and pretty much turn around and leave for one reason or the other and now as it seems things are changing it looks like maybe they aren't. Yes I know I'm whining!


So I've been thinking alot lately well actually for the last 6 years, why hasn't God sent more missionaries to Croatia. We are the only IFB missionaries here and our church is the only IFB church in the whole country of Croatia so there is an obvious need. So I wonder about two things: is it God that isn't calling people to Croatia or is it people whom God has called that aren't obeying? You know in all of the Balkans (croatia, serbia, bosnia, macedonia, albania and montenegro) I can count the IFB missionaries on one hand. For 20 million plus souls there are only a handful of IFB missionaries. I just wonder if our hearts have grown so selfish or cold that we are no longer moved by the missions presentations, if souls in need no longer matter as much as plasma TVs, boats and new kitchens. I really ponder these questions alot lately.

Croatia is not Mexico, people don't except Jesus here like they do there. Croats are basically very prideful, like we Americans aren’t?? :0) But they, like Europe in general feel no need for a relationship with Jesus they are simply happy with their sacraments and rosaries. Content to let the Catholic Church have the relationship and themselves just ride on her coat tales. The idea is, "I don't want to know the truth, who cares if I'm in error my life is fine like it is."

So Croatia isn't an easy place to work, hearts are very cold but there are hearts here empty with out Christ. So is God not calling people or are people so far from God these days that they can't hear His call? I don't know, I think about this often.


When we came our kids were 2, 4 and 7 and I constantly worried about their loneliness and prayed for missionaries to come. Now they are 14, 11 and 9 and I wonder if they will come. It would be nice just to have a lady to go shopping with or get a cup of coffee and kids for our kids to play with.


I know this sounds like a bunch of whining, it is! I'm not whining against God, no He's wonderful whatever state we're in but we sure had our hopes up that this was the beginning for a change here in Croatia. A change so our church and the Christians here wouldn't be alone and they and yes we would have some good fellowship.


There is still a family coming for a survey in less than a month and we're so excited but also a little scared. We have had missionaries come for a survey before and decided that Croatia wasn't for them so we're a little gun shy but I'm going to try to have faith. Try to think positive not that that helps at all but it makes the days go by nicer. I know God has a plan for the hearts of the 5 million Croats here in Croatia, I know He does. It's not His desire to see anyone perish so I have to think that my second thought is correct, Christians just aren't answering the call anymore. How sad with our growth and prosperity we have out grown the need to hear God speak and guide.

Brief Button History

When I was a little girl, my siblings and I spent many a weekend at my Granny's house. My favorite thing to do was to sit on her big afghan covered bed and book through her button tin. She must have had millions, everyone a different color and size. I loved it and would love to have my very own button box, maybe I'll start one. :0) I came across this account of button history and thought I would pass it on. Enjoy!

• 2000 BC
  The earliest decorative buttons were unearthed at archaeological digs in the Indus Valley. They were made from shells of various sea mollusks, carved into circular and triangular shapes, and pierced with two holes for sewing them to a garment. Historians have determined that buttons were purely ornamental for almost 3,500 years.
  
• 13th Century
  Baggy, free-flowing attire was beginning to be replaced with tighter, form-fitting clothing. A belt alone could not achieve the new look, and pins were easily misplaced. Buttons became popular as garment fasteners.
  
• 16th Century
  Metal and jeweled buttons were used in abundance! French King Frances I ordered 13,400 gold buttons from his jeweler, which were then fastened to a single black velvet suit. Louis XIV is said to have spent over $5 million on jeweled buttons.
  
• 18th Century
  The first buttons were made in the United States by Caspar Wistar, a German immigrant. The design on buttons often reflected how the wearer felt about issues of the day, such as scenes of the French Revolution and engraved eagles after the American Revolution.
  
• 19th Century
  During her long period of mourning, Queen Victoria used black jet buttons almost exclusively, setting a trend that resulted in black glass buttons becoming the most popular style of this era.
  
• 20th Century
  Art Nouveau, two World Wars, the Roaring '20s and the playfulness of Disney characters all influenced buttons. In World War I, the British Army used 367 different kinds of buttons, and spent $500,000 per year just for the paste used to polish them.
  
• 21st Century
  Buttons of the 21st century are yet to be determined, but the trend is towards decorative and fun. Use buttons to embellish a collar or lapel, accent a pocket or seam, or create a decoration of your own. When it comes to decorating, cast your mind back to your childhood button-box days and let your imagination be your guide.

What a Blessing!!

Hey look what the mailman delivered. Shawna and her sweet family from Journey to the Prize sent us this wonderful care package filled with all my family's favorite things.

As you can see in the picture, we've been feasting on Oreos, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Whoppers (my favorite), pop tarts and tons of other goodies.

I'm always amazed by how kind people can be especially when the act of kindness is done for someone unknown. Special thanks to Shawna and her family from some very thankful missionaries. :0) What a blessing you have been to us all.

I have to go now, headed to the kitchen for a Butterfinger. :0) Yummy!!!

Uhhhggggg Blogger!!

Okay so you see my site isn't itself today.

Anyone have any idea why the outline does that. I mean, sends the side bar to the bottom???? I posted my wonderful Monte Cristo sandwich and this is what I got, hmmmm. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!!

I'll work on it later, I'm leaving to run my bus route now, sure hope for a bunch tonight!

Happy Lord's Day!

Monte Cristo Sandwich

When we lived in the states our favorite restraunt was Cheddars, a laid back casual cafe. We went often with our extended family. My absolute favorite dish there is the Monte Cristo sandwich, it's to die for. They serve it with rasberry sauce and fries.

Well while buying groceries at Aldi's European sister, Hoffer I found a bottle of American rasberry sauce. It is simply delish!!!

So here's the recipe for the Monte Cristo, it's so easy and delicious, but make sure to serve it with rasberry sauce! :0)


Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 5 Minutes
Ready In: 15 Minutes
Servings: 8


INGREDIENTS:
· 1 quart oil for frying, or as needed
· 2/3 cup water
· 1 egg
· 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
· 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 8 slices white bread
· 4 slices Swiss cheese
· 4 slices turkey
· 4 slices ham
· 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
· 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting


DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat 5 inches of oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C). While oil is heating, make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper; whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Assemble sandwiches by placing one slice of turkey on one slice of bread, a slice of ham on another, then sandwich them with the Swiss cheese in the middle. Cut sandwiches into quarters, and secure with toothpicks.
3. Dip each sandwich quarter in the batter so that all sides are coated. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides. Remove toothpicks and arrange on a serving tray. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

**Some people like current sauce too, so that's an idea. It's really all according to your taste but it's a must to have some kind of sweet preserves for the sandwich.

Enjoy, we're going to!!!

Happy Saturday!!

So how was your week?? Mine was pretty uneventful. Didn't really do alot this week other than school and laundry. :0)

For dinner the other night I made chicken sour cream enchiladas. Usually these are great but.... well I called Johnny and had him bring me a jar of fefferonies, they are the closest thing to green chilis that we have. Normally I usually seed and chop a whole jar and add them, so I did this time too. It wasn't until the meal was finished that I realized these were not ordinary peppers, they were the super hot kind. I'm talking breathing fire hot. It wasn't exactly funny but it did have some humor in it. My dear husband tried so hard to eat them and managed quite a bit but boy were they hot. Usually my enchiladas are delish, if I do say so myself but this time not even the dog wanted the leftovers!! :0)

Oh yea I did the typing test I found over at Mrs. B's place and I didn't do well. I scored like 85% accuracy with 35 words a minute, maybe I need to take it again. ;0)

I wanted to share a few new blogs I've been visiting lately. Mrs. Kate over at Maranatha does absolutely wonderful devotions and she's in the middle of a series on discouragment. Pop over and see her, you wont be disappointed.

Been visiting Kristi over at Thimble Thoughts, I just love reading about her sweet family.

I make it over to Courtneys quite often too, she is so sweet and has so much wisdom for one so young.
Anyhooo, if you don't visit these ladies, take a look.

I'm off to prepare my activity for Sunday school tomorrow.
I'm leaving you with this sweet poem written by the late Pastor Jack Hyles, I thought it was really sweet. Have a wonderful Lord's Day!!!

THE JOY OF FRIENDSHIP
By Dr. Jack Hyles
Baptist-City.com

Oh, a friend is one whose presence

Is a happy holiday,

And some minutes spent together

Beat vacations far away.

One whose handclasps for a moment

Far surpass a day of rest,

And is always an oasis

To the one he loves the best.

Yes, a friend is one whose presence

Far exceeds a weekend trip.

And a rendezvous together,

When the two can sit and sip

On a cup of tea and chatter,

Gives to both more rest and zip

Than two weeks high in the mountains

If one friend is far away,

Or a cruise upon the ocean,

When the other has to stay.

And a friend is one who thinketh

Halitosis smelleth sweet

When it cometh from the closeness

Of the one he loves to meet,

When they two can sit together

While they rest their weary feet;

For it's only at such moments

When they both can feel complete.

Oh, a friend is one who liveth

Oft to share a funny joke;

And one minute spent together

Beats an hour with other folk;

And a friend is one who pulleth

As he shares with me my yoke.

If the road is straight and narrow,

Or exerts a sudden bend,

The one who walks it with you

Is the one we call, "A friend."

Murphy's Law of Sewing

1. Fusible interfacings always fuse to the iron.
2. If you need six matching buttons, you will find five in your button box.
3. The seam you meant to rip out is invariably the other one.
4. When you are in a hurry, the needle eye is always too small.
5. The fabric you forgot to pre-shrink will always shrink the most.
6. The pattern you wanted to make again will have one key piece missing.
7. If you drop something out of your sewing basket, it will be your box of pins with the cover off.
8. Whenever the construction process is going well, the bobbin thread runs out.
9. The scissors cut easiest past the buttonhole.
10. The magnitude of the goof is in direct proportion to the cost of the fabric.
11. Your lost needle will be found by the person walking around barefoot.
12. Collar points don't match and you've trimmed all the seams.
13. The iron never scorches the garment until its final pressing.
14. The steam iron only burps rusty water on light silk fabric.
15. The sewing machine light usually burns out on Sunday.
16. Pinking shears get dull just by looking at them.
17. Gathering threads always break in the middle.

Oh My Brownies!!!

Hey look what I found on the shelf at my local grocery store!!! Yep it's brownies, hey it even says Brownies on the box in English.

So because my Johnny loves brownie fudge sundaes Soooooo much, we made some. I purchased some ice cream, fudge, candied hazel nuts, and whipped cream and made some really good sundaes and NO I didn't have one not even a little one.

And what did I accomplish???? I scored some really big brownie points!

This and That!!

Oh I have to post this pic that a friend sent me, I thought it was so funny. Can you imagine how that tatoo hurt? Why do people do that to themselves anyhoo???

~~~*~~~

Okay so it's been wicked hot here lately, but the good thing about it being so sunny is I can take pictures with my digital inside, the flash is out. Well I woke this morning and you know what, it's georgous! The sun is playing hide and seek with the clouds and is loosing. It's so nice and cool this morning, what a wonderful change but alas I can't take any pics inside. Hmmm! I woke up this morning wanting to take pictures of the house to post for the Tour of Homes but it may have to wait until tomorrow. Man and I had the house looking so good too!!!

~~~*~~~

So I haven't been doing such a bang-up job on my diet lately, I'm sure you can tell from my little dead weigh-in chart in the side bar. I have restarted, I know I do this often but this is the last time, I'm doing it this time, finishing my journey. I don't really believe in all that positive thinking junk but I do believe that if you tell yourself often ever that you can't then you would be able to. Our minds are powerful things. So I'm working on being very positive.

In 4 months we head to the states for a years furlough and I would really like to be down 30 lbs by then. It's totally doable at 8 lbs a month, so I'm on a mission.

Last time I went home for a two month furlough I weighed 175 and I'm weighing in now at 190, so I have some work to do to get back to that and then some. So I'll be posting my weigh-in every week regardless of a loss or gain. whewww! I better be good huh? I don't do well with failure!

~~~*~~~

Bloglines???

Anyone having problems with Bloglines? Mine isn't working like it should. For the past three days it hasn't shown any updated blogs but today it showed all of them as being updated and with 7 8 and 9 updates. Hmmm, frustrating a bit.

Well I'm off to get dressed and maybe even do some excercizing, if I can manage my motivation long enough to get dressed. :0)

Have a wonderful Hump Day!!!

How do y'all gab???

I found this over at Just Laugh, Heather's blog, thought it was interesting.

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

25% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I'm just happy I ended up with 0% yankee! No offense to all you very cool Yankees!

Missing in Action!

Okay so I've been checking my bloglines and you know what, everyone seems to be missing in action. I know! Everyone is over at BooMama's surfing the Tour of Homes, I know because that's where I've been. Oh it's so much fun and I've found all sorts of decor ideas.


After living in Croatia for so long I have forgotten how rich Americans are. Some of the homes are mansions compared the the upper class homes here in Croatia. We really are so very spoiled in the states. No wonder most of the world is jealous of America. (please do not send me an e-mail about this, it's true and if you happen to be in a country that isn't for the most part envious of America, then good for you and you fall outside of that most) We, Americans live so luxurious. Some of the homes look like hotels. Don't get me wrong I would love to have my very own suite but there is such a huge difference in the quality of living in the states and in Croatia.


Hey I don't think there is anything wrong with having a really nice home and things, just so they're in their rightful place. Hey after I give my tithes and missions and offerings, if I still have excess then you can count on me having the nicest home that God will allow, but no way I'm going to put my home and things in front of the big picture, the souls of men and the love for a God who gave it all!!!


Oh well I just though I would say that today, don't know why, it was just on my mind.

Oh yea and I don't know why I didn't participate in the Tour of Homes, it would have been neat and I may still do that, we'll see. Better late than never right???

Pincushion Rings

I love this project! What a great way to recycle and make something useful! Don't throw away those scraps of fabric, lace and ribbon! A sewer and crafter can always find a way to use the tiniest of scraps. There are plenty of examples of this design, but have fun creating your own unique looks!

Materials
Scraps of fabric
Scraps of elastic
Scraps of batting or fiberfill
Plastic bottle cap
Needle and thread
Fabric glue
Notions: charms, ribbons, rickrack, other trims

Instructions
Cut 3- to 4-inch circles of fabric. Sew a gathering stitch around the edge of the fabric. Gently pull in gathers until there is a small opening. Stuff loosely with scraps of batting or fiberfill. Pull gathers tight and knot securely.

Pour a puddle of glue into a clean plastic bottle cap. Insert the raw end of the gathered ball into the opening and firmly hold in place. Allow to dry. Check to make sure ball is secure before continuing.

Now the fun starts! You can glue lace or other trimmings around the outside of the bottle cap. You can sew a few charms to the ball. Glue a ribbon rose or yo-yo or button to the top of the ball. Get creative!

Measure the elastic around your finger allowing for about 1/2 inch of overlap. You don't want the elastic tight around your finger; you want it to just fit. Sew overlap or glue with fabric glue.

Turn bottle cap over to bottom. Roughen the plastic bottom by scratching with a pin or craft knife. Glue elastic ring to roughened area of the bottle-cap bottom.

I think I can, I think I can...Nope I Can't!!!!

Do you ever feel like this? Totally frustrated, you know what you want but just can't make it happen? This dog and I are in the same unloved boat. You know that feeling, you know what you want but just can't get it.

Yes that's about it today. I know what I want, a spotless house and a thin body but I'm going through one of those times when I am just totally deprived of motivation. I mean I have a clear insight to what needs to be done and how, but I just really don't care??? Well that's where I am. Hey I'm not calling the kettle white, I know it's sin, but I just can't seem to get out of it.

If you didn't already know, I have the best husband in the world, no really I do! He is so good to me and so considerate of me. When I have times like these, and they are usually right before uncle TOM comes to visit and I just can't shake it, my dear one is so kinda and easy going.

Let's see, what I got done yesterday: cleaned the LR, dining room, kitchen and did 3 loads of laundry. Yea I know, seems like a lot, (of course it was all dirty again an hour later!) but wait... I didn't get the following things done: the rest of the laundry, clean out the fridge, my closet room, the bathrooms, the front patio, the desk, hummm shall I go on, nahhh!

So you see I had a pretty fruitless day yesterday. Oh yea and my diet and died! I don't know why I can't get on board with this, I do great the first week and loose 2 kilos usually but after that I fall back into this trap and it is a trap. So I dunno, guess I'll have to go do some real talking with my Father and pray He'll help me, Of course He will He always does!

Sorry for rambling so, oh yea and I'm sure you've realized that English grammar isn't my stong point???

Craft Newsletters

I singed up for some craft newsletters from DRG and I'm loving them. I have been getting the 501 Sewing Secrets for a while and it's full of god stuff. they also offer newletters about crochet, knitting, cooking, quilting and wood working for women. So if your interested you can go to DRG and sign up.

JUST A NOTE:

With anything on the web, remember that whatever information you give may become public knowledge so I would suggest opeing an e-mail account for newsletters and things so when you are bonbarded with spam it wont clutter your main e-mail account. *Ü*

Scissor Angel

Scissor Angel

I found this idea today when I got my 501 Sewing Secrets Newsletter, and I thought it was so cute. The angel also makes a great ornament.

Materials
Small purchased tassel
1/2-inch wooden ball or bead
Acrylic paint: flesh tone, red, brown
Stylus and paintbrush
Glue
Scrap of fabric (3-inch circle)
7-inch scrap of ribbon for tie
1-inch pearl piping or small crochet ring (for halo; optional)
Small button
Needle and thread

Instructions
Paint wooden ball with flesh tone of your choice. Allow to dry. Dot heart or round checks with red. Dot eyes with brown. Allow to dry.
Sew a running or gathering stitch around circle of fabric to create a yo-yo. Pull the gathers tight and tuck in any raw edges. Knot securely. Now gather at center with thread or ribbon scrap creating wings.
Glue head to top of tassel. Glue wings to back of tassel. Thread ribbon for tie through the button holes with the raw ends of the ribbon coming through the button as the front. Apply glue to back of button and place at center of wings. Glue on halo. Allow all glue to dry completely.
Tie angel to your sewing scissors to protect them from being used as household shears! The angel is also great as a package bow or ornament.