Just Because

I missed "I", but here I am with "J".

This week I made lasagna roll-ups, using a conglomeration of recipes to make it the way I wanted. I think it turned out great. So I thought I'd share my invention...just because. :)

This is my mix:

It included a large container of ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, a generous shake or two of grated parmesan cheese, 2 small eggs (about 1 large), 1 box frozen spinach, and 1 lb of cooked ground beef. Mix.

I then spread it onto the lasagna noodles cooked just to al dente(about 8 min).

After which I rolled them up and put them into a sprayed 9x13 pan. I had a few extra, so also used a 8x8 pan.

  

I poured pre-made spaghetti sauce over the top (whichever flavor your family prefers would work), and then sprinkled with more grated parmesan cheese.  

 After cooking at 350 for 30 minutes, they came out looking like this:

 And this:

And, while I had a few leftover (the whole family wasn't here), and I served garlic toast and salad with it, they were GONE the next day--with a little arguing over who got to eat the few that were left. :)

In my house that means they were a hit, and will be fixed again. :D (I wish I could make a very big grin smiley face right now.)

So this is the meal I made this week...Just because I felt like it. hahaha (which is rare)

Blessings,
Ginger

G-words

I am perpetually behind this week. Right now I don't even know what letter we're on, so I have to go look...okay, I'm back. The letter G.

I'm stumped. My brain has been working hard the last few weeks, learning to juggle more stuff than usual, which equates to less reading time, which equates to a Grumpy woman--me. Reading is a Good break for me. It allows me the down-time I need as an introvert.

So...G -- random words that I know that start with this letter

God
Good
Google
Gracious
Golly (said with a Gomer Pyle accent)....Goooooollly....
Grief
Glad
Gratitude
Giving
Get-up-and-go (I think mine has gotten up and gone  LOL)
Gingerale (which I don't like, btw)
Gingersnaps (don't like them either)
Gnat (nope, don't like them either LOL)
Gorgeous
Gallant
Gone

What G words can you come up with (without cheating and looking in a dictionary)?

Blessings,
Ginger-- my final G word  :)

Faith Like a Child

This week I assigned a paper to one of my children asking for him/her to explain his/her relationship with God. I asked permission before posting this. My child prefers to stay anonymous.

I hope it reminds you of who God is and how we should have Faith like a child.

~~
My relationship with God is strong, but it can use improvement.

I pray at least once a day every day and usually more. I love God very, very much and I know He loves me even more than I can imagine.

God is the one person I know I can trust. I know He will never fail me and he will always be there for me.

I want to serve God with all my heart and I want to know Him better. I read my Bible and I speak to Him and worship Him. I want my relationship with Him to get stronger and stronger.

Sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough for God or that He's forgotten about me, but I know it's not true. I know He will always be there as long as I want Him to be. He is a gentleman. If I kick Him out of my life, He will still be there waiting when I come back because He never leaves, but I have to open the door if I want forgiveness and healing.

Man will always fail me, but God never will. With God I shall fear nothing. God is my light in the darkness and my joy in sadness. He will care for me even when no one else will.

When all is lost and I don't know what to do or who I am, I can find myself in Him. He has a purpose for me and i may not know it now, but He will show me in the future and I will serve Him and obey Him even when I don't know why He is asking me to do things I don't understand.
~~~

I'm not biased in the least, but I think it explains how our Faith really should be like that of a child. I need to work on this. How about you?

Blessings,
Ginger

Not so much a baby anymore. :(

PS. I am going to publicly embarrass my First daughter and wish her a happy 15th birthday right here on my blog. Happy Birthday sweet one. :)

Baby Elizabeth

Distractions

I've thought about this blog post off and on all week, trying to Decide on a good "D" word. I found one a few minutes ago.

For the last few weeks...ok, if I'm honest the last few months...I have been Distracted, and haven't gotten near enough writing/editing done.

What has me so Distracted? Let's see how many I can list...

• books, mostly good - I do LOVE to read (see my 2013 Reading Journal if you have a doubt)
• children - yes, well...I chose to have them LOL
• eating - enough said
• sleeping
• TV
• going to the pool
• rewiring the underground electric dog fence
• Candy Crush
• Facebook
• selling my horses
• produce from the garden - someone has to freeze and/or can it
• a rejection early in the summer, and the most distracting of them all...
• my self-made pity party

Yep, I'll be honest. I spent most of the summer feeling sorry for myself, or feeling like I wasn't meant to write. While the rejection letter was one of the "good" ones, it still sent me reeling. Sure I can compose a few well-written sentences, but if my plot is unbelievable and my characters are shallow, and repetitive, how good is my writing?

So that's what I've been Dwelling on all summer. It Devastated me more than I realized at the time. I don't know HOW to fix my problems, and to be honest all the books in the world aren't really going to help me, despite my attempts to read a few of the good ones. I don't learn well that way--never have.

BUT...well, I'm tired of Dwelling on it. I'm attempting to rewrite a different manuscript that was requested at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer Conference. When that's done, I'll find someone to help me work through whatever problems it has. That prospect is Daunting, but, with God's Divine help, I can and will prevail against the lies the devil has been speaking to me all summer.

So, enough about me. What types of things Distract you when you have something to do that seems Daunting?

Blessings,

Ginger

Canning Challenge

A week or so ago, I took my first solo trip into canning tomatoes. My mom used to can tomatoes when I was a child, but she did water-bath canning.

My husband bought a pressure canner recently, and well I wanted the canning to go faster.

I'd never used a pressure cooker before, much less a canner. I was nervous. Not to mention the fact that it barely fits between my gas cooktop and the microwave (which hangs above the cooktop).

But I did it. Here are the pictures:

I started with vine-ripe tomatoes, fresh from the garden. Then blanched and skinned them.

The prepared jars and lids being heated:

I decided to do a cold pack with the tomatoes. I put them in the jars with lemon juice and a bit of salt then poured very hot water in until it reached 1/2 inch from the top of the jar, which really only wound up being about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.

A jar before processing:

My completed jars in the canner:

After they cooled, they looked watery, so I decided I would not be doing the cold pack method again. But it's only 7 jars, and I didn't blow up the house. :)

So there was my canning challenge. LOL I hope you enjoyed it more than I did. 

Have you canned successfully? Or unsuccessfully? Tell us canned and if it taste good?

Blessings,
Ginger

Trips

Many things are pulling on my time this season, so I am taking the easy way out and posting some pictures of  some of the trips my family have taken over the years. I hope you enjoy.

2000 - Gatlinburg trip

2001 - My husband and I went to Paris, France

2002 Poconos

2004 Seaworld (and Disney)

2006 - Ohio (Cedar Point is on the other shore)

2008 - Wyoming (husband and I on a cattle ranch)

2010 - A visit to Grandma and Grandpa's

2011 - Gatlinburg (this is Cades Cove)

I hope you've enjoyed my walk down memory lane.

Blessings,

Ginger

L is for Losing

L is for LOSING

Losing weight.

Losing my mind.

Losing my fear to move forward.

Today I've lost the capability to think of anything to blog about, so I will keep it short and ask you...

...what do you want to lose? Or what do you fear losing?

Blessings,

Ginger

G is for Getting ready

Getting Ready

This will be a super short post today. I am busy with last minute details as I get ready to leave early tomorrow morning for the ACFW Conference in Dallas, TX.  I am so excited I can hardly contain it.

I get to meet two of my three critique partners. One of which is traveling  from AUSTRALIA. 

I also get to meet some of my favorite authors and lots of new up and coming authors. I will have appointments with an editor and an agent. I am privileged to sing with other like-minded individuals in the ACFW choir under the direction of Rachael Phillips.

Maybe in the next few weeks, I'll get a chance to post about it.

Gotta go now. Dinner time and there's still so much to do.

Blessings,

Ginger

A2Z-take 2 "K"

This weeks letter - K - was a toss-up between my kitchen and my kids. Since I have written numerous times about my children (which I prefer to call them versus kids, which are baby GOATS  LOL), I decided to show you my kitchen.

Just this last week, my new gas cook-top was installed. I'm loving cooking with gas. Prior to this I have only ever had electric burners. I knew a long time ago, when I started watching cooking shows, that gas was best, so I prayed and talked to my husband. Finally, many years later, I have what I wanted and I love how quickly it heats. No longer do I have to wait around for the burner to get hot, nor do I have to move the pan away after I turn it off to keep the food from burning on the hot burner. Thankfully, as of this date, I have not burned anything, not me or my food.  :)

But this post is not about my gas burners, it's about my kitchen.  So there it is, in all it dirty splendor. haha. It's not really dirty, just active. I managed to catch it empty, just after my children had fixed their breakfasts. It really is as big as it looks. I am truly blessed with a large kitchen, though sometimes, when we're all in there getting food, it doesn't seem big enough.

A little brag...my husband made the center island. It wasn't there when we moved in. The previous owner, who happened to be the builder, left the island out of the kitchen. I wanted/needed the extra counter space so my husband took woodworking classes, bought the tools, and produced this great piece of furniture for me.

Well I think that's enough about my kitchen. As you can tell, I love it, though I do hate cooking. At least when I do have to cook, I can enjoy the room I'm in.

What's your favorite room in your house?

A2z meme "J"

The Power of JUST

This one little word has a lot of power. Did you know that?

According to dictionary.com the word JUST has thirteen definitions. I won't list them all here because for my purpose today, I am only going to focus on definition number twelve. JUST - only, merely.

As a stay-at-home mom, I have heard many times, "Oh, you're JUST a housewife," or "JUST a stay-at-home mom."

No, I'm not JUST either of those things; I'm both of them and many more. First and foremost I am a person with feelings. Secondly, I am a child of God. I am a wife and a mother, but I am also a teacher and a writer (whether or not I ever get published is irrelevant, I am still a writer).

When necessary, I become a taxi driver, a nurse, a vet, a groundskeeper/gardener, a chef/baker, and so much more.

I am not JUST anything and neither are you.

What things do you do that keep you from being a JUST type of person?

Blessings,
Ginger

A2Z-take 2 "E"

Here comes another story. I can't help it; it's dying to be told.  :-)

Eli the Elephant

Eli knew he was a very large elephant. Everyone told him so at least once, and, well, even his father couldn't compare in size. Lots of his friends said he was scary and they didn't want to play with him anymore. He didn't mean to be scary. He couldn't help how big he was. He kept his head lowered so he wouldn't seem so big, but it didn't help. Of all the elephants in his herd, only his mother spoke with him as though he were normal. He spent most days alone, though, because he didn't want the others to think he was a baby, always hanging around with his mom.

One day his grandmother approached him and told him that he was grown enough to leave and join his father's herd. This made Eli sad because the other bachelor elephants didn't accept him either. He walked away, after saying goodbye to his mother, with tears in his eyes. 

He didn't know where he was going, but knew he would be alone for the rest of his life. None of the females he'd ever met would talk to him, even when he got enough nerve to say, "hi." 

Somewhere, a long way from his former herd, he found a watering hole. He stepped close and took a long drink. The longer he stood there, the quieter his surroundings became. He lifted his head and looked around. He moved his ears, listening. He didn't see or hear anything. He ducked his head once more and took another drink. His long walk had made him very thirsty.

He lifted his head again. Something wasn't right. He took a step back. He heard a howl. He lifted his foot, and twisted around as fast as he could. Behind him stood a lioness, licking her paw.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were back there."

She growled at him. He lowered his head and walked away. She limped to his side. "You really didn't do it on purpose?"

"No."

"Why aren't you scared of me? I could kill you."

Eli laughed at the lioness. Her eyes blazed. He stopped laughing. "I don't think you could kill me, but even if you did, no one would care. Everyone thinks I'm too big anyway. Maybe I would be enough to feed your whole family."

The lioness looked away. "I don't have a family," she whispered. "They think I'm strange because I like to attack big animals and really small animals. I won't chase antelope or zebra. It's no fun."

He looked at her closely. She didn't look hungry. "You must be doing okay by yourself."

"Yeah, but I'm lonely."

"Me, too. Do you want to hang out with me? I don't have any friends either. You just have to promise not to eat me." He giggled at his joke.

She giggled too. "Sure, my name is Ellie."

"I'm Eli. Ellie and Eli. Funny."

Ellie and Eli walked into the woods to take a nap and they stayed friends for the rest of their lives.

Blessings,

Ginger

A2Z - take 2... the letter "A"

Patty Wysong, a wonderful lady I'm blessed to call my friend, has restarted her A2Z meme for the new year. Starting today we, her, I and a myriad of others, will be blogging subsequent letters of the alphabet. You can go to Patty's Blog to see her post and find others who link there. Grab a cup of your favorite warm drink, and enjoy.

Adam the Alligator grows up

 

Adam, the most awesome alligator alive, lived in Florida. After all, the Everglades were a mighty fine place to live. The warm water washed over his body as he lay on the beach sunning himself early one fine August morning. Afternoons grew too hot and Adam hated to be hot. It agitated him and made him angry enough to chase even old Albert, the oldest, largest alligator around.

One day Adam chased Albert, but the old alligator turned on him and bit Adam on the leg. Adam let out an anguished roar. "Why'd you do that? I was just havin' some fun."

"'Cuz I'm tired o' you young whippersnappers chasing me around. Leave me alone. I'm too old to fool with the likes of you."

Adam limped away, nursing his sore foot. He'd never seen Albert so angry. As he lay in the shadows of a grove of trees, Adam's friends came and teased him about getting hurt. Adam got angry, but his leg hurt too bad to do anything but hiss at his friends. At that moment he realized they weren't his friends at all. They laughed at him and teased him, but not one of them asked how he felt or if he needed a lump of meat to feel better.

A few days later, with his foot on the mend, Adam went in search of Albert. He crawled to Albert's side, far enough of away to not be a threat, but close enough to talk.

"I'm sorry I was mean to you Albert. I realize now how tough it is to be here without friends who care about you. Will you forgive me?"

"Sure kid. Nice to see you finally grew up and realized life is not all fun. Sometimes we have to do things we don't care for - like giving up friends that take advantage of us, or asking for forgiveness. Those are hard things to do. Now let me show you how I've lived as long as I have."

Albert, the old alligator, took Adam and showed him lots of tricks about catching prey and staying away from traps. He showered love on young Adam by investing time and effort into him.

Many years later, long after old Albert had eaten his last meal, Adam turned on a young whippersnapper alligator named Arnold. Several days later, Arnold came and apologized to old Adam and Adam in turn taught Arnold all the things he'd learned in his lifetime.

~~~

 

I hope you enjoyed my A post.

Would you leave a comment and tell me how God spoke to you through my story?

Thanks,

Ginger

"Y" is for...

YARN

"What? Yarn?" you say. Yep, yarn.

I've made a few things in my time. This is probably the one I'm most proud of - up to this point.

My husband is a long-standing Pittsburgh Steelers fan and I made this scarf for him several years ago.

Right now I am making a scarf for my nine year old. He wanted an University of Alabama (Roll Tide) scarf for Christmas. (That sounds like a seriously wrong sentence, but it is grammatically correct. I think. Ugghhh!!!)

I asked him exactly what he wanted and then I went online and looked at scarves, which are few and far between, that had the Alabama name and colors. White was not an option - he is nine afterall. So we chose gray and Alabama Red. He wanted a red background with gray words - Roll Tide. 

But I couldn't settle for that. NO WAY! So I did a little more research and consulted another Alabama fan. Did you know that you can knit two sides at the same time? It's called double knitting. You can view a video on youtube if your interested in finding out more.

My colors are red on one side and gray on the other. But that wasn't enough either. I KNEW I could do the writing (see above Steelers scarf), so I have worked it out on graph paper. And reworked it out on graph paper. And worked it a third and fourth time. I had to do the same for the above scarf too. Trial and error are the best teachers.  :)

So here's how it's going to look:  Gray side says ROLL TIME (in red); Red side says ALABAMA (in gray). I'm only partially done so no pictures yet. I did have to undo twice. The first time I realized my "R" was backwards and possibly upside down.  LOL Thus the need to go back and rework my design. The second time I purled when I was supposed to knit and knitted when I should have purled. Sigh, it does happen.

I am on a roll now, and I have another (quieter) request for one just like it from my fourteen year old. I told him I didn't know if I'd have time - but I will make time. SHHHHH!!! Don't tell him. I want it to be a surprise.

Have you ever made anything with yarn? Maybe just have a favorite something made with yarn (and with love)? Tell me about it.

As always - under HIS wings,

Ginger

"X" is for...

EXactly...

and

EXciting

Are you eXcited to find out the answers from last week's Meme? I'm eXcited to tell you.

No one got all five eXactly right, but Niki Turner was the closest with three out of five.  :)  You guys did great. Here are the answers.



Number one: Indeed it was chicks, as some of you guessed. This is our batch from last spring. They are so cute. While these chicks are yellow in the picture, they grew up to be Rhode Island Whites. Yes, they turned white.  :)

Number two: the bottom of my son's shoe. Yeah, Niki. She is the only one who guessed this one correctly.

Why do I have a picture of the bottom of his shoes? He wanted to see the two sides together and didn't want to take them off. Look at those big feet. He's fourteen and in a size 12/13. *sigh*














Number three: No one guessed this one correctly. It is a close-up of Midnight's tongue (turned sideways). Go back now, look closely at the picture and you can see her taste buds and the center crease of her tongue.  :)









Number four: I got the biggest kick out of your guesses for this one. Some of you guessed fur of some kind. And you would be sort of right. It's a close-up of my husbands chin when he had a beard, which he no longer has. This was actually taken the day he shaved it off.  LOL













Number five: Lastly, the rose. How could I do a close-up of something without one of them being my favorite flower? Almost all of you got this one right. This rose is actually from my garden. Isn't it beautiful?  :)







Object lesson: It is hard to see the whole picture, when you can only see a small piece. As we walk through life, we see snapshots - a moment in time - and we think we have the whole picture, that we know the whole story. In reality, we only have a single puzzle piece or maybe a few that have been put together, depending on our age. Only God can see the whole picture; therefore, we have to trust Him with the future.

Thanks for playing the game with me.

As always,
under HIS wings,
Ginger

"W" is for...

What???

I thought I'd do something a little fun this week. I have some pictures here of everyday (sometimes seasonal) items at MY house.  Hahaha.

Picture 1

Picture 2

I will send a $5 Starbucks gift card to whomever can correctly name all five pictures. (Quick aside: if the above sentence should say whoever instead of whomever, please tell me how to know the difference.)

None of these have been "altered" in any way. They are all small cropped sections of pictures taken at my house in the last year.

Can YOU do it?

Please make sure your answers correspond with the number on each photo and leave your e-mail, so that I can contact you, IF you manage to name them all correctly.

This contest will continue until next Tuesday when I do the "X" post. The answers will be revealed then.  Good luck.

As always,
under HIS wings,
Ginger

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5