Three Legitimate Fears

     I alluded to fears in my first post, but didn't go into full detail. Picking only three will be pretty easy because I have three fairly general ones, and all others tend to branch off from one of these. Legitimate is such a hard word though. What seems completely understandable to me to be scared of, others might scoff at. On the other hand, my manly hubby is absolutely phobic when it comes to snakes. Me? Not so much. Rats? Spiders? Nope. So I will understand if you read this and laugh, wondering why I'm afraid of some weird stuff. I wonder sometimes myself.....

     Here they are in no particular order:

Fear #1  Heights

     Again, I really have no idea where this started, but it might have something to do with the Luke Perry scar that adorns my right eyebrow. It literally cuts right through my brow, and it's origin is a total mystery to me. It started showing up in pictures when I was around 8, so there you go. Anyway, HEIGHTS. That to me can be as small as one foot off the ground to a few stories up. I am absolutely petrified at malls where they only have a short, thin glass wall stopping people from plummeting to their deaths. This 'barrier', if you will, is there so that people can look down at lower levels. Why? What is so important to look at down there that they can't see by simply walking down to check out? Who decided this was a good idea?!? I can't walk any closer than 15 feet. You will actually find me touching the store walls as I pass. If I get any closer, I know with a certainty that someone will bump into me and I will be flung through the glass, and fall to my death. I literally can't even look in the direction of the opening. It makes me want to throw up.
     This goes for manhole covers, street grates, balconies, hotel windows, movies that show high places (Spiderman!!!) and ladders. Strangely enough, not airplanes. When you are up that high, it doesn't look real. Good thing too. I love traveling.

Fear #2  Too Much

     This one has no real 'start' that I can think of either. Just random memories of specific times where things were added to my "too much" category. I remember a time growing up when meat got put in the stove on a hot day, and for one reason or another, it was left there. A few days later while in the kitchen with my brother eating some cake, I heard some weird noises behind me. Plop. Plop. Plop. I turned around and found maggots were dropping out of the stove like a waterfall. I almost died. Cake was quickly forgotten, and my brother and I ran outside screaming our faces off. I couldn't even think of going in the house until they were gone. Maggots got added to the list.
     When I lived in Louisiana the summer after I graduated, my room got invaded with ladybugs. Oh, you think they are cute? Try having them come in the ceiling, windows, floorboards.... Nowhere was safe. Ladybugs? Added to the list.
     I hate ants. There are never only one or two of those.
     Crowds? Forget about it. I can't handle it. This went for the school cafeteria too. I got free lunches growing up, but I couldn't make myself walk into the packed, noisy lunchroom to get food. I usually ended up paying for something from the food cart outside, or not eating at all. This fear of too many people has made it's way into more areas of my life as I have gotten older. I now have a hard time at school functions, stores, and even church. I feel like I can't breathe and panic, completely clautrophobic-but with people-not walls. I freak out until I am in an empty, open place with only a few people. I really have just started avoiding these situations all together so I can avoid the panic attacks that accompany them. I used to have nightmares that had to do with people looking at me. The fear is debilitating. I still have such a hard time if I have to speak in public. My voice shakes and I really just want to cry. Or run. Unfortunately sometimes you have to do these things, no matter how uncomfortable they make you. That's why I force myself to go to school plays sometimes. (Ugh, the dread associated with gatherings!) I wish I didn't have this fear. It might have something to do with getting lost at Disneyland when I was 11 years old. It was my fault. I'm not a patient person, and I thought my brothers, and sister were taking too long on the ride that I was too scared to go on, so I wondered off to look around. I thought I would be back in time to see them getting off the ride. I wasn't. A policeman was found, a message was left at the hotel, the lost children's room was visited, and five hours later my brother Aaron came and rescued me. I remember it was scary, but I felt safe because it was Disneyland. But looking back on it, I can't recall much of a fear before this event. Hmm.....

Fear # 3  Porcelain Dolls

    This one I do know the beginning of. It will forever haunt me. It has also made people think I am crazy over the years, but whatever. Had you seen what I did, you would be terrified too! It all started when my sister, Holly and I went to our friend, Kristine's house. She was from the Philippines, and had a small 6-8 inch porcelain doll in her room that had been in her family for a few generations, I believe. The doll was on the headboard of her bed, and the thing creeped me out. Like, bad. I couldn't look at it without it giving me a bad feeling. I don't know why this one day it bothered me more than any other day, but it did. While we were playing in her room I turned it around so it wasn't watching us, and the three of us went back to playing. Soon after I looked and it was facing forward again. Confused, I went over and turned it around again and went back to playing. The next time I peeked, you guessed it, it was back facing us instead of the wall. I don't remember how many times I played this little game before I just grabbed a shirt to toss over it. I was told not to, but I did it anyway. "She won't like it," I was told. I didn't listen. This was a doll we were talking about after all. (Also, I'm not very good at listening to reason coming from others all the time.)  *Toss*  Nailed it! It was hidden by the shirt and I felt safe, even though I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I just stared and stared. I was about to look away when I noticed movement under the shirt, and it slowly started coming off. Now, I don't know how slow it was really moving, but in my 12 year old mind it was playing out like a horror movie. It seemed to take forever to fall. Then I saw WHY it fell. The freaking doll arm had to have twisted all the way around and was moving-on it's own- knocking the shirt off. I lost it. I screamed and got up to run out of the room, only to have the door not open. It would not budge. Mind you, there and no lock on this door, but I tell you with all honesty, we could not get it open. I can't remember if Holly was screaming or not, because I couldn't hear much over my terrified screams for the "stupid door to open!!!" I do remember hearing Kristina telling me to apologize to the doll because I made it mad. I yelled out amid my panic that I was sorry, and the freaking door just opened. I could have left a trail of fire after me, I ran so fast! I just wanted to be out of there. I was so scared. We all got outside onto her porch and tried to calm down. She told us a story about how the doll moves on it's own. Always has. Her grandfather had even caught it walking down the hall back in the Philippines, years and years before. I ask you, Dear Reader; why would you keep it?!? I would never pass it down! Haunted doll, you say? No thanks!! I didn't go into her house again, and she moved soon after. But the fear of that day? Burned into my brain.
     Can you believe that for Christmas that very year, my Grandma gave me a porcelain doll as a gift??? I KNOW!!! She had no idea. It would have been a huge cudos to Grandma for scaring me, because my family knows I can be hard to scare, but it was completely unintentional. She actually loved and collected them, and never knew that I hated her gift. After bringing it upstairs that morning, I cut off all of it's hair and hid it in my closet for the next few years, until I could look at it enough to throw it away.
     When I moved to Oregon and lived with my Grandparents to go to College, Grandma thought it was absurd that she had to put her precious dolls away. They were all over the house. Everywhere you turned, the creepy little things watched you. I get chills just thinking of this story because it scared me so much, and of course my boys love hearing about it. Stupid little porcelain clown dolls, and ventriloquist dummy's also fall under this category. Yuck!!
     I have had ghosts around me for as long as I can remember, but the thought of a doll moving? No. Too much. If you escaped the clown scene in Poltergeist unscathed, I envy you. I can't watch that part to this day. Brings back too much.

There you go. My three legitimate (to me) fears, in all their glory. Tell me this wouldn't scare you:

Now imagine her moving on her own. See? Nightmare for life!

20 Facts

I found this post "30 Things my kids should know about me" on Pinterest a while ago and fell in love with it. So much so, that I tacked it onto the favorites board on my computer as well as pinning it; and there it sat. For a few months. It sat there until I decided a week ago that I was going to do something about finally getting it done. So I did. I wrote all the questions down, get this: in my craft journal. Now I was serious. Seriously meaning to actually, really do something about it. Possibly something my kids would be able to eventually read some day. I was Inspired!! The problem was, I wrote all of these things down around 3 a.m. That is the time I usually get very inspired to do something, and I come up with a lot of great ideas, and plan things to do the next day......and I go to sleep. Then I wake up unmotivated. Or worse; I wake up and completely forget about the genius idea that I had come up with, and was positive I would never forget, so I didn't bother writing it down. I didn't need to. Ugh. Unfortunately this last scenario is exactly why I now keep a craft journal on my side of the bed. No more brilliant ideas will be lost because of  my lack of the proper writing utensils/paper during the unholy hours of the morning. But, as I was saying-I loved that post. I'm pretty sure my kids know a ton about me now because they ask me a million and a half questions per day; but I thought I would write down some stuff for them to be able to look back on some day when they are less interested in asking. Also, the blog that I got it from has some very interesting questions that I think would be fun to know about your mom. (Ahem. Hint, hint, Mom) That being said, I will probably think of a different question for the day that asks about "who you would eat dinner with and what you would eat?" I've never understood why that is something to ask another person. What does that tell you of their character? It just tells you what they are hungry for and someone they like, or say they like. Lets be honest, most people feel that if they don't throw in Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr. or someone inspiring, instead of who they really want to say (Elvis, anyone?), they will sound like a shallow racist and go to Hell for sure. So, expect a different question that day if you are following along.

So with out anymore rambling, here I go:

Question #1    List 20 Random Facts about yourself

1. I love all things rainbow. The more colors something has, the happier it tends to make me. I would decorate the house with rainbows and unicorns if I could, but Dad wouldn't like it so I won't. But I want to. That is why I wear colorful socks (that you guys steal). I decorate myself.

2. I love magic (Hence the unicorn reference.) I wish it was real. I wish I went to Hogwarts, like really went there. If you don't understand that reference, I have failed as a parent. I would walk around calling out random spells and waving a magic wand, if I thought it would work. It also might get you strange looks from kids at school so just remember I am sacrificing my happiness, because I love you guys and care about your feelings. You're welcome.

3. I am not a natural parent. I know right? I had you all fooled! It is so much harder than I ever thought it would be. I used to have patience with kids, and since I became a parent I realized that I used it all up on other kids. Sorry, It's unfair, I know. Hey, take it up with the Big Man. There isn't anything I can do about it.

4. I have a lot of crazy fears, and most of them I don't remember where they came from. I know where the doll fear came from. That, I will never forget. But heights? I climbed on the roof of our two story house growing up, hanging out of a window where I had to swing my legs to even get onto the roof because there was nothing under me to catch me if I slipped. I climbed to the top of the tree in the front of that same house, that was nearly as tall as the house, and would just drop onto a pile of blankets and sleeping bags that were loosely piled on the ground. (Know this-if I ever see you do anything even remotely similar-I will kill you. I won't wait for the ground to do it. If you do stupid crap like that, at least have the decency to do it when I don't know about it. Like I did. That crap will give a mom a heart attack!) I'm also scared of too much of anything, and I really do mean anything. People, ants, ladybugs.......if I feel there is too much, I panic and can't breathe.

5. I adore Christmas. And Halloween. Any reason to decorate, I'm there! That is a tradition I want you to carry on. Even if your spouse (like your father) says that it "looks like Christmas/Halloween threw up in here." That is when you know you are doing it right. Maybe even add some more. Good thing your dad was kidding. Side note, choose your spouse wisely. Make sure they like decorating before you marry them. It IS important.

6. I'm always right. Even when I'm not, you'll never know. I have earned this right as a parent, and you will earn it too, sometime in the very, VERY distant future when you have kids. So stop arguing with me about everything. Seriously. I want to smack you.

7. I DO remember your point of view. Vividly. I remember feeling very justified in thinking my parents were just mean, hateful people that didn't want me to have any fun. Now that I'm on the other end? I get it. I see both sides and even though I do remember what you are thinking and feeling, I also see the point of view as the parent and may not always agree with you. And as you see in fact #6, I am always right. Also, sometimes you just piss me off and I say 'No' just to spite you. I'm an adult in age, not always in maturity. You will understand this when you are a parent too.

8. I blame-shift sometimes to cover my short-comings. But it's not my fault.

9. Christmas music can make me in a better mood. 70's music works as well. Music calms me down, so quiet down the screaming, tantrums, tattling, whining, begging and let me hear my music. It will help us all.

10. Despite popular belief, I do know how to use the bathroom by myself. I haven't once fallen in. Well, once, but I was a kid and it was the middle of the night and one of your uncles left the toilet seat up. So, It couldn't be avoided. (Did I mention my blame-shifting tendency?) Just know, if I go to the bathroom alone....I will be just fine. Trust me.

11. It is really hard for me to come up with 20 facts.

12. I adore reading. I didn't always, but I do now. So keep at it and eventually you will like it too. (Even if the book is longer than 100 pages, Ben.) The best books are long and have no pictures.

13. I love the smell of rain, oranges, lemons, vanilla, cinnamon, your Dad's cologne, books and paint.

14. I really do get mad when you chew with your mouth open. Even though I am self-diagnosed with Misophonia,  it's a REAL disorder; I will duct tape your mouth shut and feed you intravenously if you keep chewing loudly next to me. It's disgusting. Get it under control.

15. I may not like you sometimes, but I will always love you. I understand it goes both ways. You don't have to like me all the time either. You do have to let what is bugging you go, and get over it because family is forever. They are the only ones that will always be there. Don't let anger ruin that. Let things go.

16. I love doing crafty stuff with you guys. It makes me proud to have kids that enjoy making things with me, even when you sneak into my stash while I am sleeping. (Ben.)

17. I am a huge photo junkie. Yes, I do need 4,000 pictures of you guys. You grow up too fast, and I like looking back at pictures of you. One day you will be happy I took this many pictures of you, when you are visiting with your kids and looking at the hundreds of photos and laughing. I might even have them printed out by then. Until that day, just smile for the camera!

18. I believe in honesty, love, and loyalty. Give those gifts to others, and hope for them in return.

19. Random acts of kindness are always a good idea. We have been blessed with so many wonderful things from anonymous, generous people. I truly believe in giving what I can, and helping others out without even thinking of getting anything in return. Never give to receive. It's the wrong way to do it. Do it with a loving heart, and let the blessing be that you are doing a service to someone that needs it.

20. I still have a hard time spelling the same words I would always get wrong as a kid. Not sure why. Misspell? Appreciate? Calendar? Necessarily? Those words still suck to me. Thank goodness for Google.

"Boo Boo Salve"

It has been a while since I have made my own healing Balms. Mostly because it is kind of expensive to do so. But I must say-I do prefer them. I love knowing what is in stuff, and have a certain pride that comes with doing it myself. Think Tom Hanks in 'Castaway', when he first made fire. It is pretty much like that, when you make something from scratch, use it and then: it WORKS!! Wow. What a rush!

Because of this, I always stock pile recipes for DIY stuff on my computer. Mostly to do 'someday', but this is the first one that I was like, "Hey, I think I might actually make that. Soon!" My boys are always getting scratched up, and I can never find our tiny tube of Neosporin. A glass jar? I can find that.

Here is the original link:

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2012/11/healing-boo-boo-salve-a-k-a-homemade-natural-neosporin/

Her pictures and directions are top notch, so if you feel like making this, follow her. =)

But since this is ME, with anything that I see, I follow the directions & ingredients; and then add my own spin on it. After reading all of the comments (Which I ALWAYS do. Some of the best suggestions, mess ups, and tips are always in there, as well as any questions/answers that you may have yourself.), I figured out that:

1) You must not add Honey when it is too hot, and you must continually stir it-even throughout the cooling process, so it doesn't separate. Good to know!
2) Adding Vitamin E will keep this from going rancid faster since it does have Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Thanks for the tip! (I have always added Vitamin E before, and I am a big believer in it because I have had fabulous results.)
3) Then, Helichrysum Essential Oil. This was an interesting find. I had never heard of it, but after doing some research, I think this stuff is amazing!

A brief description of it's benefits and uses are here:

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/eo/helichrysum.html

Properties: Antiallergenic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antispasmodic, astringent, cholagogue, cicatrizant, diuretic, expectorant, hepatic, nervine, stimulant
Benefits: Acne, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, bruising, burns, colds, cough, dermatitis, eczema, fever, lethargy, liver congestion, muscular aches and pains, nervous exhaustion, rheumatism, scarring, spleen congestion, sprains, stretch marks, sunburn, wounds. The antibacterial and anti-inflammatory actions of this oil make it a wonderful addition to burn or bruise blends.

Wow! So I decided that this would definitely be in my salve. Along with everything she suggests, Vitamin E, and Emu oil. Emu oil is another thing I have fallen in love with when making my own stuff. It has amazing benefits for your skin and has added something special to my Balms in the past.

The kids had a snow day, and since I already had everything here (After shopping at my favorite Natural Herb Shop here in town a few days ago), I thought, "Why not now?". I got off my butt, gathered my supplies, and started. It was very easy, I will say that. I was pleasantly surprised. When it came time for the Balm to cool, I just put it on a plate and sat in front of a fan, constantly stirring-rotating between the 3 until they set. It took about 30 minutes, but since I was watching the Ghost Adventures marathon-I was totally okay with this. It turned out great!

These are my ingredients: (minus the Coconut Oil & EVOO. Those were in the kitchen.) This is dried Comfrey, Dried Calendula, Beeswax, Lavender E.O., Helichrysum E.O., Emu Oil, And Vitamin E.

 

 

 

  

 

This is me stirring them with my tiny whisk, during the cooling process.

 

 

 

 

 

This is them all done. Yay!

 

 

 

 

Since Miles has been congested over the past few days, I made some of her Homemade Vicks Vapor Rub. Link below. I went the Peppermint E.O. and Campor E.O. route, and added a few drops of Lavender E.O. in as well.

 

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2012/12/homemade-vicks-vapor-rub/

 



 

I LOVE Chuck. The show is brilliant, or was. It's not on anymore. Unless you count the DVD's playing at my house. My kids are even fans, and frankly I am sad for anyone that hasn't heard of-or watched this show. So for my birthday, I decided that I wanted a shirt to show off my total nerdiness. Unfortunately, the shirt selection out there on the world wide web left something to be desired. Either it wasn't what I wanted, not big enough, or cost too much. So what to do, what to do??? Oh, yeah-I could make my own. =) Just figured I would walk you through the process...(There are more than one shirt, since I painted 4 of them tonight, but this is the process.) Ok, I start out by finding a Logo I liked on Google, and drew it onto paper. Then I made copies, so I didn't ruin my original.

Then I drew it onto Freezer Paper, tracing over my original, and cut out with an exacto knife. You put the iron on 'Cotton' setting, and iron on the freezer paper-wax side down. Make sure you put some freezer paper on the inside of the shirt where you will be painting-wax side up-so that the paint doesn't go through to the backside. Once it's on, paint the background...I chose red to match the Logo on the DVD box.

When the background paint dries, iron on the foreground letter freezer paper, and paint.

After the letters are all dry, peel off all the freezer paper. If any of the paint has leaked through, you may have to just touch up a little bit. Place a big piece of freezer paper over all the painting, and iron on cotton setting again for about 20 seconds.

Take the freezer paper out of the inside and done, done, done!!! I love how they turned out, and can't wait for mine to dry so I can wear it!

This is my next one to do....

Another photo album by Smilebox

Open letter to the makers of Eco-Friendly Shower heads...

To the makers of the Eco-Friendly Shower Head I bought:

Stop. Just Don't. You are truly terrible at making shower heads. Really. Have you ever taken a shower with one of your products? Yes? Be honest now. Let me start out by saying- I have. And I was left utterly underwhelmed. I bought your shower head because the one I had was complete crap,  and to satisfy some "green" guilt I have since I am seriously too lazy to recycle most of the time. To tell you the truth, I have a recycling garbage can to make it easy. I don't even have to sort anything! I literally just have to dump things that can be recycled in, and I really just can't be bothered. But, if I buy something with the words "Water Saving" and "Eco-Friendly", I feel justified in taking long showers, because it would technically be like taking a 2 minute shower with all the water that is being saved. Global warming would cease to exist, and peace would be restored to the world, right?!?

Guess not.

Your product said it has a "powerful full stream". Excuse me? If you call standing under a light meadow mist 'powerful', then you clearly went to one of those over-priced creative schools where you did macaroni art to learn Geography, and no answer was wrong because they didn't want to crush your soul. I'm sorry, I only went to public school where we did boring book learning, and were taught that such a word meant something like strong, forceful, vigorous, mighty. Might be my mistake, because I know that it is possible to make one.

The relaxing 'massage' setting you promised? Oy! I felt like I was being jumped into a gang by the beating I took! It was a full 25 seconds of  "Oh, my....what the frick is happening to my face right now?!?", as I got pelted with boulders of water going the speed of light straight into my eyes; and I blindly fumbled around with soapy hands trying to find the switch to get back the useless "full stream" mode. How have you not been investigated for abuse yet? It's either kitten whisper soft, or Muhammad Ali punching drops of water onto your body.

Wait, There is a 'pulsing massage' setting. Good Lord, I am terrified to find out what that feels like!

You also have a 'drip' setting.? I assume that is what you are supposed to put it on while you are lathering shampoo into your hair? To save some of the water you mentioned? The shower head is supposed to do all the "water saving" for me, so don't put extra steps into my shower routine, okay? Though since this is an Eco-friendly shower head, the people making this are probably fairly 'granola', am I right? Your shampoo doesn't lather, because normal shampoo is full of chemicals that are responsible for melting the ice caps off our beautiful planet, so you guys just use hopes and dreams to will your hair clean, correct? I really think your 'drip' setting is a collection of all the people that feel like a total Drip from buying your janky product.

I will be re-installing my completely garbage, water-hoarding shower head ASAP. Because unlike some people who like to use their shower time to solve world problems, I tend to like to use my showering time to get clean. Preferably before the hot water runs out and my hair is still not damp enough to administer shampoo. Silly me, with my high expectations and all. Though, if I kept your shower head in I might have enough time standing around, waiting to get wet to figure out the cure for cancer. In which case I would send you a letter thanking you for making me a multi-millionaire. Hmmm....nope. Still not worth it. Absolute crap, old shower head it is. At least now I can take a 30 minute shower, and not feel guilty at all about wasting any water. Apparently there are suckers out there that buy what you are selling, so I can use up the water that they are saving, right?

As for me? I'm taking your water-saving rubbish back and retrieving my hard earned money, as soon as my sight is 100% returned. You should seriously think about changing professions, or re-marketing your so-called "shower heads" as "produce misters". You could get a big contract with a supermarket or two. Maybe sell just 'massage' setting ones to Firemen, and they could put fires out in record time? You're welcome. And hey: Thanks for all the bruises.

Sincerely yours,

Tammy H.


   

Question of the day...

I am just curious....why is it that when Non-LDS (or Mormon) people want to find out about my church-they look at websites that are made by EX-LDS people, and not the actual church?

Say you were married, and you ended up getting a divorce. If I wanted to find out what kind of person you truley were, should I ask YOU, or your bitter EX? What kind of things do you think I would hear more about you from your former spouse? The good? Or every horrible thing you ever did that bugged/annoyed/hurt/irritated them? I'm not saying that my church is perfect, because my church is made up of humans, but if you want to find out about it go to lds.org or Mormon.org. There are answers to your questions there, by people who actually know what they are talking about. I feel that though humans are imperfect, every ones beliefs are perfect to them-no matter what they may be. I happen to believe in this. You may believe in the more Mainstream Christianity that includes the Trinity (as my husband does), or Wicca (as a very good friend does). I have a sister that believes in Mother Earth and Father Sky. My point of view is this-as long as your beliefs are true to you, and they make you feel good and strive to be the best version of you imaginable-that is fantastic! I applaud you. I won't judge you for your beliefs, and I ask you don't judge me for mine. Respect is where it's at! We are all just trying to get through everyday life, and nobody should make life harder on anyone. If you don't believe the same as someone else, WHO CARES?!?

I absolutely LOVE the saying by John Lennon:

"It matters not who you love,
 where you love,
why you love,
when you love or how you love.
It matters only that you love."

Ok, enough. I was really just bothered by some things I was reading on a blog, where a bunch of angry people were commenting about my church, and they were either formerly Mormon and scorned by people, or hearing about my church second hand from a non-Mormon. If I want to learn about Buddhism, I surely would not go and ask an LDS person, or some random biased website that I know nothing about the author..... I would go straight to the source. And at the end of day, I guess, that is all I am asking.

Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)

If you know me, you will know that I am slightly somewhat completely in love with Flight of the Conchords. They are brilliant and comedic songwriters, and may I say it's an absolute travesty that they don't have a show any more. Okay, okay-rant over. Jemaine is my favorite. It may be the sexy accent, the nerdy glasses, his contagious giggle, his height...I don't know. But I do have a mad crush. =)

Aside form that-they were asked to write a song for charity to help sick kids. This is the song they came up with after interviewing kids. It is amazing! I think this needs to played on the radio. All. The. Time. Take a listen and fall in love with it like I did. If you feel like donating to the cause of helping out sick children, there are a few links on YouTube. Enjoy, and leave me a comment on what you think of it.

If you have seen The new Muppet movie, Bret (on left above) wrote-and won a Grammy for his song "Man or Muppet". And if you have kids that love the movie Rio-like mine do, Jemaine (on the right) does the voice, and wrote the song for Nigel. He is a fantastic evil bird.

Strawberry Pie

 

 

http://gratefulprayerthankfulheart.blogspot.com/2011/04/strawberry-pie.html

 

 

     I found this recipe on Pinterest, and just knew it had to be made! Which is surprising, considering I really am not a fan of pies. I think my extreme dislike of pies is due to the fact that I really hate pie crust. The poor pie filling is just guilty by association. Sad really. There are only two pies I like, and they must be made in a graham cracker crust-no exceptions. My all time favorite pie is Sour Cream Lemon Pie (YUM!!), and a close second is Strawberry. But it has to have the jell-o type goo in it or no deal. That is why this one was a must have, once I changed out the crust of course. =)

 

     We went to my mom's house to have dinner, and decided to make this for dessert. (Bad idea. I didn't really think about how long this would take to set up.) But I didn't know, so we plunked ahead with the plan. My oldest son, Ben, is in scouts-and I have been very, very lazy about doing anything with him this summer to pass off in his book, so I thought I would ask if he wanted to make it for us. He did! He really was the one in charge of doing all of it. I cut a few strawberries, washed them, and dumped in the Jell-o. Also, out of necessity I showed him how to stir a boiling pot without shooting everything out the side of the pan. Slowly, slowly!!!! Other than that, it was him. Below are a few pictures documenting him.





His favorite part because he was allowed to use Grandma's super sharp knives.

 

Dividing strawberries...

Stirring the sugar, water and cornstarch.

My hand adding the Jell-o. I should be a hand model. =)

Little known fact.....hand on the hip makes it taste better. It's true.

My proud Baby. He even decorated it all himself. Side note- He just told me, "That was how I was saying 'I love you', because I didn't have enough room to write it for you." AWWWWW!!

     He had so much fun doing this, he asked to do this all the time. =) It was so, SO good!! There really are no words other than, "you must make this now!" We followed he recipe exactly, other than replacing the crust. In doing this, I ended up with a smaller crust, so we had some of the Jell-o goo left, but you can always add strawberries to that and make it into strawberry shortcake!

     The blog this came from is very interesting, and I recommend you follow that as well. =)

With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart Blog
http://gratefulprayerthankfulheart.blogspot.com/2011/04/strawberry-pie.html

Strawberry Pie

3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar (It is a SWEET dessert, you might want to reduce the sugar. We like it sweet)
1 1/2 cups water
3 oz box strawberry Jell-O
2 cups sliced strawberries

Pre-bake a 10" pie shell.

Line bottom with the sliced strawberries

Combine cornstarch, sugar and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add the Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Pour over the strawberries and refrigerate until set.

Serve with whipped cream

ENJOY!!!

What Love Sounds Like

This is that song that says exactly what I want to say in my marriage. Alan means so much to me, and even though it is REALLY hard at times, I don't want to give up. I think the best of him, and love him very much. I wish he would listen to it, but it isn't "his kind of music". That isn't important though. All that matters is it means something to me, and can stand as a sort of anthem for when I am feeling down.

Listen to it and see what you think. (It might be a good idea to buy his album too. =) All of his songs are amazing.) Lyrics are below so you can sing along!!!!



Jason Mraz  "I Won't Give Up"


When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts we got
Yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end you're still my friend, at least we did intend for us to work
We didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not
And who I am.

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
Still looking up...

I won't give up on us
God knows I'm tough, he knows
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up...