What's for dinner?

I don't know. That's the problem. I am so tired of my old cycle of chili, spaghetti, chicken casserole, tacos, etc... I need some fresh new ideas. So, I thought I'd ask you guys, my friends! Do you have any scrumptious recipes that you think I should add to my repertoire? If so, either post them in the comments or email them to me and I will repost my faves so that everyone can try!

Here's my first recipe. It's not technically a "meal", although I could make one out of it. Here is my friend Melissa's recipe for Easy No-Knead Bread. It is sooooo delicious. Per her recommendation, we ate it with dinner. Then put butter and sugar and cinnamon on slices the next morning and popped them in the toaster oven for some ridiculous cinnamon toast! Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!



Combine and set aside:
2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. salt
2 pkgs. dry yeast (1/4 oz. each)

Heat until warm:
1 c. water
1 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Have on hand:
1 egg
2 to 2 1/2 c. flour
butter

Mix egg with liquids, then stir all into flour mixture. Blend at lowest speed on mixer, then blend on medium for 3 minutes. By hand stir in another 2 to 2 1/2 c. flour. Cover, let rise 50 minutes until light and doubled in size. Stir down. Spoon into greased 6" x 9" loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. Brush top with butter.

I will tell you that this recipe requires a loaf pan larger than the one I got as a wedding gift in the pyrex set of glass dishes. If this is all you have, just fill the pan about 2/3-3/4 full of dough and discard the rest or try to make rolls out of it or something. Also, when my friend Melissa made it, it was raining outside so at the part where it says to mix in another 2 - 2 1/2 cups of flour, she had to had more to get it to the right consistency. The dough should just be pulling away from the sides of the pan.

This bread is G.O.O.D. Bon Apetite!

A Tree

“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.”

God spoke to me through a tree this week. I'll tell you how:



This is my patio peach tree. Jon and I bought it last summer because our "backyard" - the size of a postage stamp - was looking dull and dreary. Our dogs had killed all the grass in it, so we replaced it with pinestraw and outlined the patio with brick. It looked nice, it was just really....brown. Well, this poor tree was not very well taken care of. We were in and out of town a lot and it started losing its leaves a little early. I tried to revive it, but fall was in full swing. So, I wasn't sure if it had been revived and was just losing its leaves because it was fall, or if they were falling off because the tree was dying.

Assuming it was too far gone, I neglected it most of the fall and all winter....not watering it once. I figured people that came to our house would just think this was its "winter look" and in the spring I would purchase a new one with leaves and try again. Well, low and behold, this past week we noticed some red buds on the darn thing. And by this weekend, voila! I'm usually not a huge fan of pink, but seriously....how could you not love this tree! It is beautiful! The color! The bunches of blooms! I can't even believe my eyes!



This tree is a perfect example of how God and I work together. I take control of things until I can't figure it out or life wrecks it and then I leave them for dead. After I've released my white knuckle grip, God works undercover to create beautiful things that inspire glory and wonder. He reveals them to me only at the right time - when their color and fragrance are at their peak. Then FINALLY I step back and worship. Finally I see what He was doing all along, despite my attempts to control and eventually kill it. Finally I give Him the glory He deserves.

I sing this song to Liam every night. I started doing it because I wanted to pray these sweet words over him every night, but I have found that it is mostly myself who is blessed by their message:

Great is thy faithfulness
Oh, God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not
Thy compassions, they fail not
How thou hast been, thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning, new mercies I see
All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

The days are long... But, Hallelujah! In the morning, the mercies are new!

For Jon and Hannah

Boy Don't Try to Front

I know JUST what you are...



I wash my hands of you!

In a Nutshell...

This is what I've been trying to say all along. I feel like this guy lives in my brain and has gathered so many of my thoughts and expressed them concisely and rather humorously, at that.



Amen, brother....amen.

Sorry :(

I'm in a blogging slump. I feel like I have a bajillion thoughts...things I could write about. Things I would LIKE to write about, even. But, when I start typing my brain does this thing where it splits off in so many different directions that I can't keep track of any of my thoughts. And then I start reading what I typed and it sounds scattered and silly and just...not good. See. I can't even get out a decent thought. I have no idea why. Well...I kind of know why. I think it might be because I have so much swirling around in my head. And I can't separate the thoughts into concise entries. So either I write a post that will take you 5 hours to read or I don't feel like I do any of my thoughts justice.

Life is not bad. But it is challenging. And I am learning and growing and being stretched and I can't put words on it. I try to, but they don't stick. They just fall off into a pile. And when I try to scoop them back up and arrange them, all I end up with is a jumbled mess. It's kind of like those magnetic word thingys that people have on their refrigerator. I want to say what I want to say and all I end up with is "BRIDGE...I LOVE MUSIC...DISCOVER...GROWL..."

Just now I read this post. And it stunk...like dung. Sorry about that. Once I can pull myself together (man) I'll let you know. Until then, I apologize for the silence. Or maybe I don't, seeing as what you would have to endure if I continued typing. (Scene fades with "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel)

Picture by ~[Northeast Photography]~

The Bakers

The Bakers are old college friends that I lost touch with after we graduated. Sadly they lost their precious baby girl just days ago. While we are not close, I grieve with them nonetheless - as a mother, as a friend, as a sister in Christ. Please keep this sweet family in your prayers. Their blog is www.thebenjamites.blogspot.com