Several weeks ago it was REALLY nice out, so while I had handbell practice, EJ and his daddy went walking in the botanical gardens.
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Today, unexpectedly, my husband had a day off, so he filled the morning and early afternoon with much-needed errands, and we spent the beautiful afternoon together enjoying Spring.
They are yummy--especially when it's actually chocolate-dipped strawberries in chocolate pudding. I got these punch cups at the dollar store--after searching Walmart for 15 minutes to no avail and a desperate call to my sister in law!
I made the pudding a day earlier, that's why there's a tiny bit of separation. I would have stirred it, but I didn't want to get "dirt" all over the sides of the cups. Another name for this post might be "A Zoo Visit with my New Camera." I love my new camera.
Last week my handbell group played the national anthem at a basketball game. EJ is in the green shirt holding the "Embellishments" sign. My dad snapped this just as I turned to look. Good timing!
Two years ago, I made prayer sticks for our devotional time, and last year I blogged about it. One of the missionaries that we pray for went on furlough last year, and in December, she posted photos on facebook about a notebook she received from one of her prayer warriors. It was filled with dates from the past four years--every day the lady prayed for the missionary, she wrote down the date. The missionary shared what a huge blessing that notebook was, and I can imagine it was indeed!
So that got me to thinking...and I made missionary notebooks of our own. Last week I ordered a chip maker from Pampered Chef, and today I was going to make chips, but my potatoes were slightly squishy, so I decided to make mashed potatoes instead. Cans of tomatoes were on sale last week so we have like, six cans of diced tomatoes. I wondered how I could use them both--the potatoes and the tomatoes. A quick search online told me that the only good way to use both were with a meat, either fish or chicken, neither of which I had. I thought, I'll show them! I'll invent something! So I looked in my freezer and found half a bag of broccoli (which I steamed in my new micro-steamer), and I had a bag of mixed veggies that I pan seared. It really doesn't look very appetizing, but let me tell you--we all three went back for seconds. You can see in the bowl how full it was before we devoured most of it! And even though the broccoli, peas, carrots, asparagus, and red peppers were all frozen, this soup was so much better than any store-bought, from-a-can soup out there. And bonus: there are seven vegetables in here! I will definitely be making this again!
At Christmastime, I bought a living socials deal to Asian Rim restaurant. We finally went last night, in celebration of 20 years ago going to Japan (for the second time). It was a wonderful experience, but there were slight drawbacks. Let me say now, though, that if we had another half-off coupon, we'd go back, but there are other, better, Japanese restaurants out there. (Which that may have been the reason--this restaurant served every Asian country's food, so maybe jack of all trades, master at none?)
Before we even walked in, the maitre d' opened the door for us, setting the tone of high-quality. We were seated quickly and had a very attentive waiter. (We got there about 5:45, so I can't say to the rush hour service.) We ordered a "fast start appetizer", which costs way too much for how little was in the bowl. I meant to snap a photo before we started eating, but the waiter brought it and the smell totally drove all sane thought out of my head. This was shrimp, crab, and octopus with cucumbers and ponzu sauce. |
Who am I, you ask?
In 2006 I had a stroke, and every day my husband encourages me to use my remaining brain cells to the best of my ability. I love to organize, make crafts, and go on adventures (safe ones). I hope that through my blog posts, you will be encouraged to accept and make the best of challenges God throws at your life. Categories
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