Ginger Snaps! Topic: Crickl's Recipes Once the weather gets cool, I consider it Fall. We get Fall weather here in the mountains earlier than normal. So I am already in the Fall mode….thinking about mums in my garden, looking for changing leaves, and rooting out my Fall recipes. Pumpkin bars, apple pie, soups, aaaaaaaaand the ever Fallish of Fall recipes….ginger snaps. We lived in New Jersey for almost ten years and every Fall we would go to the store and see tall stacks of orange boxes at the end of the grocery isles…..boxes of Sweetzel’s Spiced Wafers. By the second Fall we lived there, I had to buy a box of them since there were so many stacked up in every store you went to, that it made you curious as to what was so special about these cookies….well it made me curious anyway. From the first bite, they became my favorite cookie. They weren’t like other ginger snaps…..they were almost black with spices and hard as a rock, so you has to dunk them in your coffee or milk, which just added to their charm.
When we moved to Arizona, I was sorely disappointed when Fall came and there were no Sweetzels….anywhere. A friend of mine from New Jersey sent me 2 boxes of them one Fall because I had talked about it so much…..er, whined about it probably. She felt sorry for me. =) The next season, I decided I would go on a search for the perfect ginger snap recipe. I don’t know if you’ve made ginger snaps before, but there is a lot of variance in ingredients and taste. It took 2 years and probably 4 bottles of molasses to find a good recipe. And now I’m sharing it with you…cuz I’m so nice. I just want you to have a wonderful Fall and to have the snappiest ginger snaps to lead the way. They are best if you have a tall glass of ice cold, freshly pressed apple cider with them, but if not, use the beverage of your choice….coffee, tea, milk.
Ginger Snaps
3 sticks butter 1/2 cup molasses 2 cups sugar (or 1 c brown sugar and 1 c white sugar) 2 eggs 4 cups flour (I use half whole wheat flour) 4 teaspoons soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more) 1 teaspoon ginger 1 teaspoon cloves (heaping tsp)
Soften the butter. Add the molasses, sugar and eggs. Beat well. Sift together the spices, flour and soda. Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture. Mix well. Refrigerate overnight. When thoroughly chilled, form into small balls about 1 inch in width. Roll the top side of these balls in sugar. Place on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies.
Tip: Use sugar in the raw, or turbino sugar to roll the cookies in before baking. The larger sugar crystals make them look cool.
Starting at the beginning...again Topic: Humor/memes I was called a spazz today.
Let me just say…..I don’t think it is a natural thing to let your children take the wheel of your car that you have yet to pay off! It causes serious blood pressure problems. It does not promote good will between child and parent. It causes me to utter loud gutterral noises when I think we have a chance of careening into other cars…or curbs…or people innocently walking on the sidewalk. (when in a split second emergency situation, I cannot speak words…just sounds….not pleasant sounds.)
My daughter Bethany got her learner’s permit a couple of weeks ago. After letting her drive home from getting the permit, I told Charles that he is now responsible for her driving education. He rarely has the time or energy for it though, so it’s been falling to me. Turning her first corner, her first day of driving she didn’t put the connection of ‘we need to slow down’ to ‘step on the brake!’ so we went careening around the corner, nearly giving me a fainting spell. After we turned, we both looked at each other and I said, “the brake…USE the brake around corners.” She said she couldn’t think that fast of what to do….I said I wasn’t getting in the car with her again until she could!
Yesterday we were driving along a quiet neighborhood street, in a school zone, going 15 miles an hour. Bethany spotted a grown man riding a bike on the other side of the street and she slowed down and almost stopped. I said, “What?” She said she wanted to make sure he didn’t dart out in front of her. I covered my face with my hands and laughed myself silly. Had to explain that people did not usually dart out in front of moving cars. People walking on the sidewalk beside the street kinda make her freaky too. And she is a little skittish about the middle line in the street. She likes to stay far, far away from it….we’re talking driving by the curb. Watch for parked cars!
Well I’d better stop…she may read this and then she’ll hurt me!
It’s an adventure….something I’ve done by rote for years and years…now I am seeing it through the eyes of a newby. Each little thing that I do by second nature, I have to remind her of….every time. Brake to slow, gas to go, look before changing lanes or turning, put it in park, turn off the engine and give me the keys when we get home.
Don’t you hate being a newby? Don’t you dread having to break one in? ;)
Season of refreshment Topic: God things It is beautiful Fall weather outside here....high 69, breeeeeeezy, crisp, leaves rustling, faint smell of a fire place in the air...mmmmmmm. It is so refreshing! I am sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Maggie read her story for the day...I'm only getting that it's about a frog and the 'tools' he has to help him swim and survive in water.
Where I really want to be is sitting out on the lawn swing enjoying the day....soon I will be. So I'm taking a minute now to share a new page I've found. It is called The Drinking Fountain. I started perusing it this morning during math time. =) Math time takes forever and it is review, so I was perusing between checking answers. I have been finding the internet a very dull place lately…mostly I check mail, a few message boards and a few blogs. I guess I’m not very good at finding new places to explore. The Drinking Fountain is full of interesting links and blog pages arranged by the personality type of the author….very fun idea! So check it out if you’ve run out of places to explore on the net.
I hope you have some refreshment in your life today….I know it is just what I needed after a couple of weeks of seeing tragedy and horror. Pray for those who are relocating from the Gulf area, that their lives will be refreshed and the places where they settle will be a blessing to them.
Proverbs 11:24-25
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
3 T butter 3 T flour 2 T grated onion salt and pepper 8 American cheese slices 1 can chicken broth (or vegetable broth) 1 1/2 c milk 1 cup cooked broccoli pieces, chopped very small or processed in a food processor
Melt butter in large saucepan. Add onion and cook 1 minute in butter. Add flour and whisk until incorporated. Stir in salt and pepper to taste and whisk in half of milk. Tear up cheese slices and alternate adding cheese, chicken broth and the rest of the milk, slowly whisking as you add cheese. Add another can of chicken broth and more broccoli and cheese to make a larger batch. Use real cheese and not ‘cheese food’ and you’ll be happy you did. =)
Tip: Grated onion is a good way to add real onion flavor if you have kids who don’t like pieces of onion in their food. I have a mini food processor that I grate onion up in and it almost liquefies it. You can use this method to add onion flavor to salsa, homemade salad dressings, soups, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, potato dishes, omelets and anything else to which you normally add onion.
When I was very young... Topic: Humor/memes I found this meme on Stand up and Walk. Go here and enter your graduation year in the search box. Click on the top 100 songs of that year and start crossing and emboldening. Songs I didn’t like are crossed out, songs I really liked a lot are in bold, songs I don’t even remember have question marks after them.
I liked the radio and listened to most of this stuff, but I never was the kind of person to know the names and artists of songs. The artists I mostly listened to at home on my stereo (on albums!!) were Dan Fogelberg, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor. Not really top 40 stuff, but when you see the list you’ll understand….ha! I was NOT into disco…..and unfortunately I grew up in the age of disco.
1. My Sharona, The Knack 2. Bad Girls, Donna Summer 3. Le Freak, Chic ?? 4. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy, Rod Stewart 5. Reunited, Peaches and Herb 6. I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor 7. Hot Stuff, Donna Summer 8. Y.M.C.A., Village People 9. Ring My Bell, Anita Ward?? 10. Sad Eyes, Robert John 11. Too Much Heaven, Bee Gees ?? 12. MacArthur Park, Donna Summer ?? 13. When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman, Dr. Hook 14. Makin' It, David Naughton ?? 15. Fire, Pointer Sisters 16. Tragedy, Bee Gees 17. A Little More Love, Olivia Newton-John 18. Heart Of Glass, Blondie 19. What A Fool Believes, Doobie Brothers 20. Good Times, Chic 21. You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond 22. Knock On Wood, Amii Stewart ?? 23. Stumblin' In, Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman 24. Lead Me On, Maxine Nightingale 25. Shake Your Body, Jacksons 26. Don't Cry Out Loud, Melissa Manchester 27. The Logical Song, Supertramp ?? 28. My Life, Billy Joel 29. Just When I Needed You Most, Randy Vanwarmer 30. You Can't Change That, Raydio 31. Shake Your Groove Thing, Peaches and Herb 32. I'll Never Love This Way Again, Dionne Warwick 33. Love You Inside Out, Bee Gees 34. I Want You To Want Me, Cheap Trick 35. The Main Event (Fight), Barbra Streisand 36. Mama Can't Buy You Love, Elton John 37. I Was Made For Dancin', Leif Garrett ?? 38. After The Love Has Gone, Earth, Wind and Fire 39. Heaven Knows, Donna Summer and Brooklyn Dreams ?? 40. The Gambler, Kenny Rogers 41. Lotta Love, Nicolette Larson ?? 42. Lady, Little River Band 43. Heaven Must Have Sent You, Bonnie Pointer ?? 44. Hold The Line, Toto 45. He's The Greatest Dancer, Sister Sledge ?? 46. Sharing The Night Together, Dr. Hook 47. She Believes In Me, Kenny Rogers 48. In The Navy, Village People 49. Music Box Dancer, Frank Mills 50. The Devil Went Down To Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band 51. Gold, John Stewart ?? 52. Goodnight Tonight, Wings 53. We Are Family, Sister Sledge 54. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy, Bad Company 55. Every 1's A Winner, Hot Chocolate ?? 56. Take Me Home, Cher ?? 57. Boogie Wonderland, Earth, Wind and Fire ?? 58. (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away, Andy Gibb 59. What You Won't Do For Love, Bobby Caldwell 60. New York Groove, Ace Frehley?? 61. Sultans Of Swing, Dire Straits 62. I Want Your Love, Chic 63. Chuck E's In Love, Rickie Lee Jones 64. I Love The Night Life, Alicia Bridges ?? 65. Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now, McFadden and Whitehead ?? 66. Lonesome Loser, Little River Band ?? 67. Renegade, Styx 68. Love Is The Answer, England Dan and John Ford Coley 69. Got To Be Real, Cheryl Lynn ?? 70. Born To Be Alive, Patrick Hernandez ?? 71. Shine A Little Love, Electric Light Orchestra 72. I Just Fall In Love Again, Anne Murray 73. Shake It, Ian Matthews 74. I Was Made For Lovin' You, Kiss 75. I Just Wanna Stop, Gino Vannelli 76. Disco Nights, G.Q. 77. Ooh Baby Baby, Linda Ronstadt 78. September, Earth, Wind and Fire 79. Time Passages, Al Stewart 80. Rise, Herb Alpert 81. Don't Bring Me Down, Electric Light Orchestra 82. Promises, Eric Clapton 83. Get Used To It, Roger Voudouris ?? 84. How Much I Feel, Ambrosia 85. Suspicions, Eddie Rabbitt 86. You Take My Breath Away, Rex Smith 87. How You Gonna See Me Now, Alice Cooper ?? 88. Double Vision, Foreigner 89. Every Time I Think Of You, Babys ?? 90. I Got My Mind Made Up, Instant Funk ?? 91. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Michael Jackson ?? 92. Bad Case Of Lovin' You, Robert Palmer 93. Somewhere In The Night, Barry Manilow 94. We've Got Tonite, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band 95. Dance The Night Away, Van Halen 96. Dancing Shoes, Nigel Olsson 97. The Boss, Diana Ross ?? 98. Sail On, Commodores 99. I Do Love You, G.Q. ?? 100. Strange Way, Firefall ??
**Disclaimer** I apologize profusely for the music of my senior year. =(
First hand report Topic: People/Family stories I have a friend in Hattiesburg, who I emailed after the hurricane to check on her safety. Not expecting an answer for a week or more, she emailed me back on Friday, four days after the storm, letting me know she and her family were all ok. They had been without electricity until Friday and had 20-30 thousand dollars worth of damages on their home. It was a short note with a promise to write more later. Yesterday, on Sunday, I got this update. She said I could post it on here in hopes that people will gain more understanding on the devastation, even an hour away from New Orleans, and that people will pray, pray, pray for the people there.
To use a word that can most describe what has been going on is almost impossible. The hurricane was beyond anything we could have imagined or prepared for. We started getting high winds around 9 Monday and they finally calmed down around 9 Monday night. We had sustained winds of 100 mph and gust higher for about 3 hours The eye passed over us. Even after being here for Camille, I can honestly say this was ten times worse for Hattiesburg. My kids have now been a part of history. I can honestly say though, we all knew God was taking care of us and that we would live through this to give Him glory for what he has done.
We now have water....muddy though it is, we can't drink or cook with it, but we have now all had hot baths for the first time in a week. There are so very many who are not as fortunate. Two of the men who work with my husband, one lived in Gulfport and the other Pass Christian, have lost everything along with thousands more. The company was able to finally let my husband know they are alive which is a blessing.
The damage in Hattiesburg and surrounding areas is totally unbelievable. For days the biggest hospital had no water or power. Things are getting slowly back to normal for many, but many may be without power for weeks or months. There are so many trees down over power lines and power lines broken.
One thing I want to tell you though. Everyone is screaming the government isn't doing enough. They are here in force, guards are having to patrol the streets because of looting here, so I can only imagine New Orleans. New Orleans is a horrible situation, but a lot of what you are seeing on the news is just like the situation in Iraq. They are only reporting the bad things not the thousands of people that are pitching together trying to help each other. They had told anyone in New Orleans that did not have a way out before the storm, they would put on busses and take them to shelter out of town. Many chose not to go because they wanted to be able to steal and loot, not imagining the flood gates would fail. Now, many stayed because that is there home, just like the many on the Ms. coast. No one could have prepared for this. Complacency played a big part, in that we do get so many hurricane warnings and then they fizzle. We had prepared more than we normally do, because for some reason, we felt it was going to be bad.
We have had 7 deaths here. One man shot his sister over a bag of ice. One has been killed when his car was stolen. Human lives are all important, but what the world needs to know is that mean people are mean people and are using this to rob, steal, and do anything they can because the police are tied up trying to help people provide.
They have no idea when the schools will be going back. Our high school has power, but is being used as a Red Cross Center. The middle and lower elementary schools have so much damage, they just can't set a date. They are all within a mile of my house and like I said, the eye came right over us. The calm of it was very eerie, but a welcome relief. We have pictures and when we get cable internet back (which will probably be months) I'll send them to you. It would just take too long with dial up.
Thank you for your prayers. We are going to be fine. As I told you, keep your prayers for the people who have nothing to start with. I do have a roof over my head but many are sleeping in tents. God is good.
Beloved, let us love one another... Topic: God things My pastor, who happens to be my husband, was preaching this morning. We have been watching coverage of the hurricane relief efforts and all the media hype that goes along with such a major event. So many people are pointing fingers saying it was God's wrath on New Orleans or they are blaming the government, judging the motives of relief workers, the President and FEMA. He said he thinks it is God's wake up call for American Christians....to wake up and see the desperate needs of each other and reach out. We get so caught up thinking of ourselves and our comfort or trying to analyze why so many people are on welfare or addicted to drugs that we don’t help at all. What we need to do is what Jesus said to do...help the poor, the downcast...and we don't...we just judge them. So when this happened, it caused our hearts to be broken for the poor again and to do what we can to help. This puts us all on equal ground, doesn’t it? The hurricane fell on the just and the unjust. Now we need to help those in need, the just as well as the unjust.
Everywhere I go I am hearing of people wanting to volunteer or donate or help in some way. Even as far as Phoenix, they are offering shelters for the hurricane's homeless. I hope people are hearing the good news....people everywhere care…our humanity is kicking in. People are doing what they can to help in any way. The police force and forest service people here are taking shifts to come and help in recovery and clean up also. I think in all of this...when it's all said and done, that God will be glorified through His people….through true love that is shown in deeds.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. 1 John 2:9-11
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18
Drawn in... Topic: People/Family stories I can’t believe we have not yet received information overload on New Orleans and the recovery effort there. We have had the television on to CNN and FOX news channels, almost constantly here, and I am held riveted to it. The news stations are doing a really good job of making this catastrophe personal….all the individuals they interview, the pictures of people walking around looking desperately for their loved ones, pictures of the squalor they were rescued from. The media is our link to the disaster….it compels us to donate, to pray, to feel for these people. The same thing happened when 9/11 and the tsunami in India were reported on. Trying to describe how catastrophic this is to my kids this morning as we had our devotions before starting schoolwork, I got this huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, having a hard time describing it to them out loud somehow made it more real to me.
Before, when we’ve heard about hurricanes that had hit Florida or the east coast or gulf states, it was just a community or just along the shoreline that was destroyed. (I hate to say ‘just’ when it represents people’s lives, but it is necessary to make a point.) This time it wiped out a whole city, more than a million people lost everything…think about that… everything …..and more than one city, it devastated communities all along the coast and inland too. I emailed a friend of mine who lives in Hattiesburg, MS, wondering if they had received damage and if they were alright. I finally heard from her this morning, September 2. She said even though they are an hour north of New Orleans, they have 20-30 thousand dollars worth of damages on their home and everyone around there is in the same shape. She is really grateful to have her family and friends safe, as well as a home and some things left. And today their electric power came back on. I got the impression from her brief report, and because I know her heart, that she was way more concerned about the people in New Orleans, Gulf Port and Biloxi who had lost everything and so many who had lost loved ones than she was about having a damaged house.
Times like these put a more realistic perspective on life for us. I have been feeling pangs of guilt and selfishness when I pour a glass of clean water for myself, take a shower or watch television in comfort. I look at my family and have them all home with me tonight, even my college daughter is home for the long weekend. We really do have so much….so much.
Every day is a bank account And time is our currency So no one's rich, nobody's poor We get twenty-four hours each So how are you gonna spend Will you invest or squander Try to get ahead Or help someone who's under
Teach us to count the days Teach us to make the days count Lead us in better ways Somehow our souls forgot Life means so much Life means so much Life means so much
Every day is a gift you've been given, Make the most of the time every minute you're living
Absolutely commatose Topic: People/Family stories I have a hard time reading things that are not punctuated, capitalized, italicized to show me how to read and interpret the passage. A lot of people type their blogs or post on internet message boards and messengers in this style. Quite often I have to ask what the poster?s meaning is exactly. (Because I have to know)
Well I?ve come to a place in my life where I have looked down and seen the comma. I looked up comma usage on a grammar and language sight and believe me, you do not want me to post anything I read there, except for a few quotes that made me smile and chuckle as I read them. Basically a comma separates a sentence so it is more easily interpreted. It is usually applied orally by a slight pause mid-sentence?.pause, take a breath, but don?t stop, there?s more. I was thinking this morning that a comma is just the word picture for what is happening in our family life right now.
My oldest daughter moved out of this house yesterday and here we are in the pause, taking a breath, waiting to see what happens next. We can feel the pause. It is a real thing, almost tangible. I felt it last night when walking down the hallway to go to bed. The lights were off, dishwasher was started, everyone was in bed?but not everyone. Hannah had moved out and her bed is not here anymore. (She has moved 30 miles away to share a mobile home with 3 other girls while going to college.) It was a strange, unpleasant feeling to know that I can?t have that peace of mind knowing that all my children are in bed and safe. One of them is out of the nest and off to fly solo now. I think it?s going to take a little more faith, a little more trusting God to go on past this comma and continue as a family. There is no way to prepare for such a day. I have been busy trying to be excited for Hannah and preparing her to live on her own, but now that it?s a reality I find myself unprepared and wanting some white out to blot that comma to Kingdom come! She came over today after church to use the internet and to see us, and I found myself trying to think of ways to prolong her visit?.just like my mom used to do when I would drop by their house when I was in college. It used to drive me crazy! Now I understand?.I want to hold on.
It?s not that I don?t trust Hannah?or that I don?t trust God to take care of her needs. This is a good thing. We?re excited for her to start her life and to be on her own?.to see where God takes her in her life. It?s just that this changes things. It changes our family?.we will have some redefining to do in our home and in our hearts. Soon, new habits and game plans will emerge and become a new kind of normal for us. But until then??gotta learn, gotta grow, let go and ?.trust.
~~I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.~~ — Oscar Wilde
~~And what does a comma do, a comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if you like it enough is easy enough without the comma. A long complicated sentence should force itself upon you, make you know yourself knowing it and the comma, well at the most a comma is a poor period that lets you stop and take a breath but if you want to take a breath you ought to know yourself that you want to take a breath. It is not like stopping altogether has something to do with going on, but taking a breath well you are always taking a breath and why emphasize one breath rather than another breath. Anyway that is the way I felt about it and I felt that about it very very strongly. And so I almost never used a comma. The longer, the more complicated the sentence the greater the number of the same kinds of words I had following one after another, the more the very more I had of them the more I felt the passionate need of their taking care of themselves by themselves and not helping them, and thereby enfeebling them by putting in a comma. So that is the way I felt about punctuation in prose, in poetry it is a little different but more so …~~
High Anxiety Topic: God things We got an itinerary last Sunday and I have been nervously thinking about the trip all week long. I have been on the internet reading about it and trying to find out that all important question….can I use my American hair drier there? Another important question….how to entertain myself on a five hour flight to New York City, where we will board a plane to fly all night long to Tel Aviv.….should I bring my own pillow and blankie?
Yes, you read correctly…we’re going to Israel! A couple in our church is sending us and paid for it all. Charles is very excited. I am trying to be excited….but all I’m able to come up with is fear and nervous thoughts. I know that once I am on the way and physically there, I will not be as nervous, but in the mean time….which is 10 weeks…..I am feeling really skittish and letting my imagination get the best of me. Why does our mind do this to us? I even had an anxious dream about it the other night. Anxiety is a strange thing! I thought it might help to talk about it but the more I mention it to people or write about it, I have found it doesn't really ease the sensation. I realized I am talking to the wrong ears....here I've been trying to find my comfort in people and their words when the only source of true peace is always with me.
....I hate it when I do that...
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Divine design Topic: God things Have you ever stood back and gazed at a brand, spanking new car and admired in awe how it just ‘happened’…..wow! After billions of years, this metal came together to form an engine that makes it run, all bolts, belts and converter thingies in the precise places that make the car able to be driven by human beings. Why, even the inside of the car has a perfectly formed seat for our tush, some even capable of holding a whole family of tushes! Some are more evolved than others of course, which is consistent with the theories of evolution. It amazes us, doesn’t it?
Of course it doesn’t. No one in their right minds would think that a car just happened…it is a complex system of parts that work together in just the right way. That would never happen without a maker, a designer. Yet our schools , universities, and some (not all) of our leading scientists are telling people that our world, more complex and intricately designed than any car, simply evolved….oh, it took a long, long time they say, but they are trying to make us believe that it just happened. I refuse to give in to popular thought on this. Evolution is a theory, not a solid piece of evidence exists to support the theory. And while no hard evidence exists to prove the creation theory either, the cellular structure of the earth, the precise things that happen to make the earth a balanced and valid atmosphere for human life is amazingly, undeniably by design.
There is no question in my mind about the existence of God. It’s obvious to me that the Universe down to the smallest part of a cell was created, not an accident, that it is planned, designed. Everything in nature has order and purpose, including us as human beings. The Bible tells us that God created humans in the image of God….meaning, I believe, that we are different from plants and animals in that we can reason. We see beyond food and bodily function to relationship, character and self-control. We can plan, create and think of others before ourselves.
Not only are we different from plants and animals, we are even different from each other. He designed our physical bodies to function so well, everything working together like clockwork. But He also designed our minds, our personalities, our purposes. Scientists are finding that we are not only shaped by our environment, but that people have a set personality from birth. We are programmed, wired, designed to be a certain way. And amazingly enough differing personalities work together to make the world a create, well run place to live. One of the most comprehensive personality tests is the Myers Briggs temperament sorter.
I first took the sorter 16 years ago as a young married adult. It is the one most helpful thing we have done as a married couple to learn to understand and appreciate each other. And it helps to accept and understand other relationships I have with people too. My friends, the family members I grew up with, my children, coworkers, church members….all have personalities that I sometimes find difficult to get along with, irritating and hard to understand….because they are different than me. They don’t do things the ways I like to do them….they think differently about how to relate to their world, how to learn, make decisions, and how they like their world ordered…or disordered.
One of the most helpful things I’ve learned through this is that just because others don’t do things the way I think is best, they are not necessarily wrong, they are just different. So I try to sit back and observe people to see how they are wired now, to hopefully appreciate how they think, how God designed their personalities. Because of lessons I’ve learned and because it helps so much in relating to other people in my life, I think it’s one of the most valuable things I could pass on. But I’m not an expert, so I’m just going to give a websight and let the experts speak.
Here is a free online personality test. Remember, be honest. Choose the answers that really express who you usually are and not what you think is an ideal answer. At the end of the test, press the submit button and it will give you a 4 letter synopsis of your personality. Follow the links to study about your personality.
Questions Topic: Humor/memes Another idea swiped off of someone’s blog. But this one is so old, I don’t remember where I got it….so I’m sorry to the author! Just a getting to know you better meme from the internet. I’m sure you’ve all seen these. I would love it if you would send me your answers!
1. What is your favorite word? Ooooh, I like words a lot. I can’t possibly pick one. Some of my favorite words to hear are I love you, thank you mom, I’m home and Come to dinner! lol
2. What is your least favorite word? Butt, curse words, especially the name of God as a curse or exclamation.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Being outside if it’s pleasant, being cozy inside if it’s not, being the only one awake in the house late at night, a clean house.
4. What turns you off? Bad smells, rude people, waiting….
5. What is your favorite curse word? Well I don’t use curse words, but I have several exclamations I use: Rats!, ‘for Pete’s sake in a handbasket Louise!’ ‘Oiy with the poodles already!’
6. What sound or noise do you love? Wind through trees, water running, babies cooing, puppies howling, a car pulling in the driveway. =)
7. What sound or noise do you hate? My clothesdryer, the squeal on our car’s a/c belt, dogs barking incessantly.
8. What job other than your own would you like to attempt? Producing a Christian music videos or worship videos. Putting photography and music together in other words.
9. What job would you not like to do? Anything tedious or smelly.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? IF???? For Pete’s sake in a handbasket Louise! What do you mean IF? I want to hear my Lord say Welcome home Child, job well done.
Movies R us Topic: Humor/memes
I am Schindler's List.....well, that's who I was the second time I took the test. I have to admit that the first time I took this personality quiz I came out as Sunset Boulevard. lol It sounded too self-centered and egotistic so I took the test again. ;) I just changed a couple of things and made my answers more middle of the road instead of one extreme or another.
I found the quiz on Shannon's blog, Wind scraps and I really am stretching to find something to blog about this week because all that is happening here is back to homeschooling stuff, cleaning the house and yard work between thunderstorms. So I appreciate the idea! =)
Go take the test! Hit the comments link below and let me know who you really are.....
Once the weather gets cool, I consider it Fall. We get Fall weather here in the mountains earlier than normal. So I am already in the Fall mode….thinking about mums in my garden, looking for changing leaves, and rooting out my Fall recipes. Pumpkin bars, apple pie, soups, aaaaaaaaand the ever Fallish of Fall recipes….ginger snaps. We lived in New Jersey for almost ten years and every Fall we would go to the store and see tall stacks of orange boxes at the end of the grocery isles…..boxes of Sweetzel’s Spiced Wafers. By the second Fall we lived there, I had to buy a box of them since there were so many stacked up in every store you went to, that it made you curious as to what was so special about these cookies….well it made me curious anyway. From the first bite, they became my favorite cookie. They weren’t like other ginger snaps…..they were almost black with spices and hard as a rock, so you has to dunk them in your coffee or milk, which just added to their charm. 
Sift together the spices, flour and soda. Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture. Mix well. Refrigerate overnight. When thoroughly chilled, form into small balls about 1 inch in width. Roll the top side of these balls in sugar. Place on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies. 
I was called a spazz today.
It is beautiful Fall weather outside here....high 69, breeeeeeezy, crisp, leaves rustling, faint smell of a fire place in the air...mmmmmmm. It is so refreshing! I am sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Maggie read her story for the day...I'm only getting that it's about a frog and the 'tools' he has to help him swim and survive in water. 
kids who don’t like pieces of onion in their food. I have a mini food processor that I grate onion up in and it almost liquefies it. You can use this method to add onion flavor to salsa, homemade salad dressings, soups, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, potato dishes, omelets and anything else to which you normally add onion.
I found this meme on 
**Disclaimer** I apologize profusely for the music of my senior year. =(
Thank you for your prayers. We are going to be fine. As I told you, keep your prayers for the people who have nothing to start with. I do have a roof over my head but many are sleeping in tents. God is good. 
My pastor, who happens to be my husband, was preaching this morning. We have been watching coverage of the hurricane relief efforts and all the media hype that goes along with such a major event. So many people are pointing fingers saying it was God's wrath on New Orleans or they are blaming the government, judging the motives of relief workers, the President and FEMA. He said he thinks it is God's wake up call for American Christians....to wake up and see the desperate needs of each other and reach
I can’t believe we have not yet received information overload on New Orleans and the recovery effort there. We have had the television on to CNN and FOX news channels, almost constantly here, and I am held riveted to it. The news stations are doing a really good job of making this catastrophe personal….all the individuals they interview, the pictures of people walking around looking desperately for their loved ones, pictures of the squalor they were rescued from. The media is our link to the disaster….it compels us to donate, to pray, to feel for these people. The same thing happened when 9/11 and the tsunami in India were reported on. Trying to describe how catastrophic this is to my kids this morning as we had our devotions before starting schoolwork, I got this huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, having a hard time describing it to them out loud somehow made it more real to me. 
We got an itinerary last Sunday and I have been nervously thinking about the trip all week long. I have been on the internet reading about it and trying to find out that all important question….can I use my American hair drier there? Another important question….how to entertain myself on a five hour flight to New York City, where we will board a plane to fly all night long to Tel Aviv.….should I bring my own pillow and blankie?
Have you ever stood back and gazed at a brand, spanking new car and admired in awe how it just ‘happened’…..wow! After billions of years, this metal came together to form an engine that makes it run, all bolts, belts and converter thingies in the precise places that make the car able to be driven by human beings. Why, even the inside of the car has a perfectly formed seat for our tush, some even capable of holding a whole family of tushes! Some are more evolved than others of course, which is consistent with the theories of evolution. It amazes us, doesn’t it? 
Another idea swiped off of someone’s blog. But this one is so old, I don’t remember where I got it….so I’m sorry to the author! Just a getting to know you better meme from the internet. I’m sure you’ve all seen these. I would love it if you would send me your answers! 
Another day and nothing to blah blah blog about. 
and I really am stretching to find something to blog about this week because all that is happening here is back to homeschooling stuff, cleaning the house and yard work between thunderstorms. So I appreciate the idea! =) 
