Instant Gratification And A Halloween Freebie for our Friends

We've reopened our etsy shop, this time adding a section devoted entirely to printables.  The listings that don't require customization are now available via instant download!  (I was personally pretty pumped about this, since I'm an instant gratification kind of gal myself.) 

We'll be adding printable items regularly, but already have several in the store, so pop on over and start shopping! 

Speaking of instant gratification, here's a sheet of cute little Halloween tags that we thought you would enjoy. Help yourself!  To save the image just click on it, then right click and select "view image".  After that, click the little "plus" sign to make the image full size.  Then you just save the full size image to your computer.

 These tags are perfect for dressing up a bag of treats for your favorite tricksters.  See what I mean?

 

Thread a piece of raffia, or seam binding, ribbon or baker's twine through the hole, then tie  the tag to a Halloween "happy" for a co-worker, friend, or family member. 

We have more of these in our etsy shop ready and waiting for you to "instant download"! 

Not My Southern Miss

 I'm a proud USM alum, and a rabid fan of Golden Eagle football. I also happen to like winning.  Having a harsh memory of the years when Southern Miss football was hardly worth a mention,I'm here to tell you that winning is a lot more fun.  So it should come as no surprise that I was doing the happy dance to hear that  Anthony Alford had chosen black and gold as his signature colors for the next four years. 

But beyond that, I was also amazed. This young man had drawn so much attention, and was being courted by huge college football programs across the nation.  Add to that, professional baseball teams tried to entice him with massive amounts of money the likes of which most of us have never dreamed.  Most people finding themselves at the center of this level of adoration tend to have difficulty keeping their egos in check.  Not Anthony.  Throughout the entire process he kept his head on straight, maintaining a quiet, respectful, humble dignity.  He made it clear that he wanted to go to college and get an education.  How many people, young or old, would have had the integrity to make that same decision?

Fast forward to Saturday, September 15th.  Anthony, at age eighteen, had been chosen to start for the first home game of the 2012-13 season. The stands were almost completely filled thanks in part to General Hammond's "Fill To The Top" campaign.  The game was broadcast on national television. No pressure there, right?  Anthony scored on the opening drive and the fans rejoiced.  Unfortunately, as often happens in football and in any other sport, the game soon turned, and ultimately didn't go as we hoped.  This was disappointing, yes.  We were all disappointed, probably none of us more so than Anthony himself.

But, what was inexcusable was the behavior of the Golden Eagle fans booing in the stands as Anthony entered the field.  Many of those fans have tried to justify their behavior, claiming they were booing the coaching, not the player.  Whatever. This post isn't a discussion of coaching decisions, but the coaches weren't out on that field trying to concentrate on running plays over the sound of their own fans booing.  No, that was a true freshman named Anthony Alford who was on the field on the instruction of his coaches, giving everything he had to give.

Anthony Alford is a young man of integrity, a wonderful role model for today's youth.  He makes clear distinctions between what's important in life and what's fleeting, obviously unlike a lot of adults.  He took a giant leap of faith in coming to play football for Southern Miss.  I hope he doesn't regret it. Thousands of  Southern Miss fans let him down yesterday.  Shame on them.

Eggs and Peppers with a Twist! Pinterest Experiment Number One

I'm like every other Pinterest enthusiast; I've been building a vast collection of wonderful recipes and projects, and have big plans to give all of them a try!  One of my criteria for "pinning" a recipe is that it must be fairly simple, with a minimum of ingredients.  This is because, in case I haven't told you, I'm not a big fan of cooking.  Eating, on the other hand?  I'm an Olympian in that department.    Anyway, back to recipes and Pinterest.  A while ago I saw a recipe for eggs cooked inside bell pepper rings and it looked like it fit my criteria, so I pinned it and finally got around to giving it a try.  First, let me give a shout-out to my family for graciously agreeing to be my guinea pigs.

This is a photo of the finished product:

And this is how I did it:
As appealing as the original recipe looked, it seemed to me that it might be even better if I added a little touch of cheddar cheese and bacon...since almost everything is better with cheddar cheese and bacon added to it.  First I sliced the pepper rings about 1/4" thick, and cleaned all the seeds and white insides out.  Then I sauteed them for a few seconds on each side in a hot skillet that I had sprayed with Pam.

                                      
 I broke eggs into each of the rings and cooked them until they were set, then carefully flipped them over.  You can see from the photo that I had a little problem cutting the pepper rings completely straight, so the egg white escaped under the edges, but we didn't lose sleep over that.

Now, this is where the twist comes in.  I put about a tablespoon of Hormel real bacon bits on the eggs, and then topped each egg with 1/4 slice of cheddar cheese.

The cheese got nice and warm, but didn't melt completely, so I put the eggs into the microwave for about 10 seconds, long enough for the cheese to finish melting.

The bacon and cheese added a little extra flavor and protein, so I only served it with some sliced kiwi and a biscuit.  Now, the best news about this dish is the calorie count!  The  bacon bits are only 25 calories per tablespoon, and the cheese was 90 calories per slice, but I quartered the slices so each egg only had about 23 calories worth of cheese.  The total calorie count for one serving (2 egg rings) only came to 236.  Of course that doesn't include the calories for that biscuit, but you could easily substitute a slice or two of low calorie toasted bread.

The family gave this dish a rating of two enthusiastic thumbs up, so I'm happy to say Pinterest experiment number one was a success!

Righteous or Self-Righteous? The Great Chic Fil-A Kerfuffle

I am not a theologian, just a good old southern girl raised by Godly parents.  I generally try to keep my blog posts light, fluffy and cholesterol-free.  However, as a Christian, I've been a little unsettled by this whole Chic Fil'a cluck fest.  It's really just one more symptom of a bigger disease that's been spreading across this nation.  That disease is Self-Righteousness. 

In Acts 1:8 Jesus told the disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  What a comfort this must have been to the disciples, but along with that comfort came great responsibility.  That responsibility extends to us as Christians today.  We should all be witnesses to the saving power of Jesus, not just on Sunday, but every day and in every aspect of our lives.  

So how do we do that?  Well, thank goodness, we have some instructions.  We just need to remind ourselves to read the manual.  In Matthew 5 we are told about Jesus teaching the disciples at the sermon on the mount, while reminding them that they would encounter resistance and be persecuted for their beliefs.  He said, "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."   

Let your light shine, so you'll be a source of warmth, comfort and reassurance in this cold, dark, and sometimes scary world. Keep in mind that people aren't going to be drawn to your light and your message if they think you are going to club them over the head with a fried chicken sandwich.  Let your light shine, but please be cognizant of the distinction between righteous and self-righteous.  

Thanks to a combination of media spin, politicians, and the internet, there is an awful lot of vitriol being spewed in our world.  But, this is really nothing new.  The disciples and followers of Jesus caught all kinds of grief after Jesus ascended to Heaven.  They kept the faith despite great persecution.  Peter wrote his fellow followers a  letter of encouragement.  In I Peter 3: 15 he reminded them  "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

With prayer and constant vigilance, we can set ourselves apart, guard against being manipulated,  resist the urge to return evil with evil, and keep our light shining.  My nephew wrote a blog post on this subject that I'd like to share.  Hope you'll take the time to read it:  A Word of Warning for Christians on Chic Fil'a Day

A Father's Day Confession: We're Not Normal....

It's true.  We aren't normal, or at least that's what we've been told on occasion.  And...after observing a variety of family dynamics over the past few decades or so, I'm beginning to think it may be true.  We can thank our parents for that, though.  They taught us, by example, that family always comes through for each other through the joyous times in our lives, the scary times, the sad times, and the down right catastrophic times.  They also taught us to find joy and thankfulness even in the midst of catastrophe.  They taught us that life's way too short to let a petty disagreement come between family members.

Our Mom and Dad are the epitomy of selflessness.  They loved and still love all of us unconditionally, and were humble enough to let us think, in all the years we were growing up, that everybody's family was just like ours.  We're older and wiser now, though, and have seen enough tragedy in this world to realize just how blessed we are.

I'm going to let this slide show speak for itself today.  It's in honor of our Dad on Father's Day, and it's also a tribute to our relationship with our parents and the love that they still share with each other after 60 years of marriage.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!  We love you very much!

Patience Under Pressure? That's My Mom

I've written about my family several times, so those of you who take a minute to read my blog already know that God saw fit to give me an exceptional family.   As we were growing up, my sister and I never saw our parents argue.  I suppose they did, but we just never knew about it.  They also rarely lost their tempers with us, which wasn't all that hard where my sister was concerned.  I'm guessing patience took a little more prayer where I was concerned, since I was a little on the rambunctious side in my younger years.  If you don't recall, just go back and read the Koolaid-Gate story.

See the photo at the top of this entry?  That's me on the left,  the little copycat watching my sister like a hawk.  Whatever she was doing with her hand certainly seemed like the thing to do.  Although I don't remember specifically, I'm guessing this photo was taken a split second before my left hand flew up to cup my own face.  After all, if my sister was doing it, it must be cool.  That beautiful lady behind us?  That's our mother.  Do you see how calm and serene she looks?  I don't know how, but she always looked like that, and I'm happy to say she still wears that same sweet expression to this day.

Now if you were to ask my mother, she would deny that I was a "high-strung" child.  Bless her, she has such a selective memory, or maybe she has simply chosen to block out some of the more memorable escapades.   But...there is one little episode that was so outrageous that it sticks out to this day, even in her memory.

I was in college, but had gone home for a weekend to go shopping with Mom at the New Orleans Lake Forrest Plaza.  That mall was brand new at the time, and had all kinds of great places to shop.  Maison Blanche and D.H. Holmes anchored dozens of great little pricey boutique shops, all built around an ice skating rink, which was a novelty in itself in the deep South.  I spotted a white one piece "jumpsuit" with a wide, stretchy red elastic belt.  Now don't laugh.  A get-up like that was quite stylish back then, in an Austin Powers kind of way....I promise!  I tried it on, and it fit me like a glove. A quick glance at the price tag landed it right back on the rack, though.  We continued to shop 'til we were almost ready to drop, then decided to stop for a quick lunch.

While we were eating I decided I'd break some pretty big news.  Remember I told you I was in college?  Well, I was almost done.  In fact, I had only one term left before graduating, but had decided I'd had enough of college.  I'm ashamed to say, but the fact that my parents had picked up the tab for my entire education never really occurred to me.  In fact, I was a little surprised that my mother didn't seem to take my news too well.  For some reason she thought my backup plan for supporting myself...which included the phrase "Would you like fries with that?"...was not my most sound career decision.  We had quite a heated discussion, and both of us shed a few tears.

Then, in a moment which can only be described as sheer genius, my mother played quite a trump card.  She said, "If you'll stay in school, I'll buy you that white jumpsuit".  I think I considered her offer for...oh...about a half second...before flashing a big smile, and saying "OK!!"  We finished our shopping and both of us headed home quite happy..me with a snazzy new jumpsuit, and her without a college dropout for a daughter.

Now, before you label me as the most shallow woman on the face of the earth, let me assure you that I've matured quite a bit in the past few decades.  I went on to graduate a few months after that, raised two children of my own, and have spent the past 30-something years teaching.  I don't kid myself that I've been the patient woman that my mother is.  But I can say that she has set the bar quite high, and I continually strive to be the kind of mother to my children that she is to me and my sister.

My mother is a blessing to her husband (our Dad!), her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a multitude of friends and extended family.   She is having a milestone birthday this summer, and we are going to celebrate in style...(so don't argue, Mom!).  Until then, though, I wanted the world to know that I love her a bunch.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Sixty Years Ago Today

My Dad was in the Army, and stationed at Fort Jackson when he and my Mom married.
They had planned a small wedding, but my Dad's leave got cancelled at the last minute,
so they had to postpone the wedding.  A couple of weeks later, Dad managed to get a 48 hour leave,
so he drove all night to get home, he and my mother went over to the local Methodist church
and got married, then the both of them drove back overnight to Fort Jackson.  Mom was 19 years old,
and I believe that was probably one of the first times she had been away from home.
I remember asking her one time several years ago,"Weren't you homesick?"  and I'll never forget what she said.
"No, I was never homesick, because I was with your Daddy.  I was home".
That little wedding took place 60 years ago today;  I thank God every day for them and the love they share,  and the example they've set for me, my sister, and our families.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! We love you both and appreciate you more than you'll ever know!