Packing some heat and Vince's latest kick-butt culinary creation

Would it be wrong to let my son set up his pellet gun in my bedroom window and pick off the bird that sits in our neighbor's tree and CHIRPS LIKE A FREAK every morning at 5am?  Because I am SO going to let him do that one of these days.  Just once we'd like to sleep with our bedroom windows open, but even with them closed this freak bird is loud enough to wake us up.  Remember how ridiculously unnecessary it was two years ago when we first moved in?  Yea.  It still is.

I haven't wanted to kill things very often in my life.  Maybe the dog.  And once in a while the children.  But I have a death wish for this bird and I'm pretty sure my son would be thrilled with the idea, 'specially since he already asked if he can shoot the hummingbirds that visit the feeder we have hanging above our deck.  I said no, but who knows...maybe if the word got out to the birds in the neighborhood that we are packing some heat, they would be a little more respectful and let us sleep. 

I was able to go back to sleep this morning, which was nice.  However, once again we overslept and were not able to make it to church.  GAH!  I guess I should have set my alarm, but since we are usually awakened in plenty of time to get ready on Sunday mornings, either by animals or children, we have always thought it unnecessary to set an alarm.  We did, however, wake up to the yummy smell of cinnamon rolls made by Nick and Vinny!  They have been really interested in cooking recently, because of the mad skills they are learning in their FACS class at school.  FACS stands for Family and Consumer Science which sounds much smarter than "Home Ec" but that's what it is, Home Ec.  Last night they made puppy chow and a couple weeks ago they taught me how to make yummy nachos in the microwave (which launched me on a short lived nacho kick). 

I know the picture is blurry, I just noticed that.  But it's to late 'cause they are so gone!

Ok now that I have rambled my way into talking about food (shocking, I know), the other night Mr. Wonderful made the most awesomest and yummiest burgers that I think I've ever had in my entire life!  We were actually planning on going out to eat, as the kids had already eaten earlier...but after watching an episode of "Diners Drive-ins and Dives" on the Food Network and seeing these yummy burgers being made, we decided to try them ourselves, and oh. my. word. they were amazing!  Vince took some house seasoning (I'll tell ya 'bout that in a minute), onion powder, and liquid smoke and mixed it into the meat.  Then he made them into patties with his very cool hamburger patty press and placed them in the frying pan.  I know, he usually grills them, but you'll understand why he didn't in a minute.  When the burgers were just about done, he took a handful of freshly shredded colby jack cheese and piled it on each of the burgers...enough (and this is the crucial part) so that some of the cheese spilled off onto the frying pan.  Then he covered the pan, and let the cheese melt onto the burger and carmelize into a nice crispy brown on the frying pan.  Then he place each one on a nicely toasted bun and voila....an unbelievably yummy burger that will have you moaning like Bob Whiley did about the fried chicken in What About Bob.  I'm pretty much certain that this baby won't make it into the Weight Watchers Cookbook, but it has certainly made it into Vince's repertoire of kick-butt culinary creations!  Next time he makes them I'll be sure to take some pics.

* House seasoning is our favorite seasoning and we use it in almost everything we cook.  I learned about it from Paula Dean - and it does not even involve "a pound a buttah"!  It is simply this: 1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper and 1/4 cup garlic powder.   We mix it all together and keep it in our cupboard in a small tupperware container.  I don't bother putting it in a shaker - just using some side-to-side motion with the container to sprinkle it on works just fine for me.

Messing around with my new best friend

I have been getting more and more involved, intrigued, passionate, and potentially obsessed with photography lately.  Vince got me my lovely Canon about a year ago, and initially I was scared of it.  You may remember that I left it in it's bag for about two weeks before I started using it.  I was just overwhelmed at the thought of having a camera that was so complicated (and more expensive than I ever thought I'd own.)  But I have overcome my fear and intimidation and have grown to love it!  Bit by bit I am learning how to use it, what the settings can do, and what kind of lighting lends itself to a good photograph (or not).  I know I have a very far way to go and tons more to learn, but I'm getting there. Baby steps. 

Most recently I have started to get to know my new best friend...Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  In a word...IT'S THE BOMB!  Ok that was three words, but it deserves it.  Here's what I have been able to do with it recently...

This is a picture of Trevor and his girlfriend Whitney on prom night.  This is how it looked straight out of the camera.

  
Love that picture!  And this is what I was able to do while playing around in Lightroom...

Isn't that fun!?

Here is a picture that I took of Vince and his dad a couple weeks ago when we met them for dinner at Pannekouken.  I have no idea why it looks so yellow (or how to spell Pannekouken), but it probably has everything to do with the lighting in the restaurant (and maybe some photographer error, who knows).  But anyway, here is the picture right out of the camera...

And this is how I was able to make it look after messing around with it in Lightroom tonight while listening to Patty Griffin...

I'm not sure what Patty had to do with it, but I'm so happy I could just spend hours and hours and days and weeks doing nothing but sitting here at my computer going through all my thousands of photographs on my computer and editing them in all kinds of fun ways.  But I won't, because I have a husband and children.  And a house and a job.  And I may need to go to the bathroom now and again.

Folding up my map

Mr. Wonderful read this to me last night.  It made both of us cry.  Read my last post and you'll understand why...

"You and your spouse may think you have your entire life mapped out.  You know where you are going, and you have figured out the way to get there.  But be forewarned:  You may run into delays and detours.  In fact, God may ultimately have in mind for you a change in destination. 

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

It's hard to discern what is happening when things seem to go awry along our life's journey.  Did we mark the map correctly?  Did we make the right turn?  Have we missed an important intersection?  Something's wrong.  Nothing looks familiar.  This is not the direction we're suppsoed to be going.  We must be lost!

When panic begins to set in, pull over for a few moments, shut off the car, and breathe a little prayer.  Ask God to calm your fears and help you understand what He's doing in your life.  Fold up your map, put it away, and pray for new direction, asking God to not only show you the way but ride with you and be your guide.  Then turn the key, shift into gear, and head on down the highway, trusting in the Lord's goodness and in His ability to take you where He knew all along you needed to go.

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

We think we have control over our lives, don't we.  We so often live with the illusion that we know what the future holds for us and we plan accordingly...we plan to grow old together.  We budget and count on the fact that we will be working the same job five...ten...twenty years from now.  But then, unexpectedly, life happens.  Things change and we are taken by surprise.  Spouses die.  Or they leave.  Jobs end or companies shut down.  Our desires or the needs of our family changes.  Or our perspective does.  And suddenly, the road ahead seems less clear and we are unsure of which way to go as we find ourselves on an unexpected and sometimes scary path.

Vince and I are all too familiar with these situations, if not personally then we know someone else who has been.  I bet you have too.  And it can really throw us off balance for a while, can't it?  Somehow, I always blame God for it...as if He was obligated all along to adhere to MY plans for MY life, and now He has decided to turn the tables on me and mess things up, or let things get messed up, or whatever. 

But here I am again, reminded of the fact that Jeremiah didn't quote the Lord as saying "I know the plans that you have for yourself...", but rather "I know the plans that I HAVE for you".  (And it should say in parentheses "so shut up, stop whining and work with me here"). 

Ok, Lord.  I get it.  And thanks again for waking me up at 4am to tell me all this. 

Really, thank You.

I'm here! I'm here! Wait....where am I?

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet.  Not that I'm aware of anyway.  But if you know me, then you know that it's not outside the realm of possibility that I have indeed fallen off the planet and am still oblivious to my whereabouts. 

Let's pretend, just for kicks and giggles, that I am still here.  Where exactly HERE is, I'm not so sure. 

Am I starting a daycare?  I don't know.

Am I quitting my job?  I don't know. 

Am I sure of what God wants me to do?  Heavens no. 

Am I confused?  Ummmm....yea.  You could say that I'm just a little confused.  Kind of like the Grand Canyon is just a little hole.

I built it, and they have not come.  I am all ready to open my daycare.  I've got toys, games, activities, plans, a website, contracts, policies, a license from the State of MN, an ad in the paper and our town newsletter, and I've got lots and lots of people encouraging me and telling me how fast I'm going to fill up and what a wonderful thing this is that I'm doing.  What I don't have are kids.  Other people's kids I mean (I still have my own, of course).  I don't have one single family signed up.  Barely any calls even.  I spent $80 on a 2 week ad in our paper and got exactly one phone call.  They wanted a daycare that would be open from 6am - 10pm.  Umm, sorry no.  It's been almost 2 months and not a single bite.  So here I am sitting on the end of the dock with my pole in the water, waiting...while my bobber is bobbing around and nothing is happening except the sound of crickets chirping in the background.

Am I learning to trust God in all of this confusion?  I'd like to say yes...I'd love it in fact...to be able to honestly say that my faith is growing and I'm more sure than ever that God is and will continue to guide my steps and lead me down the right path. 

I could say that.  But I'd be lying. 

This is what I get for praying for God to help me trust Him more.  He just lets me flounder around in a big ole cesspool of confusion...or so it seems from my perspective.  Which I don't trust AT ALL anymore.  I could add an "hmmmph" here, but that just wouldn't cut it.  Because I'm actually pretty mad.  I'm just wondering what in the world is going on?  I thought this is what God wanted me to be doing.  I thought it was an answer to years of prayers to be able to be home with my kids and still be able to provide for them financially.  I thought it was the right timing, and the right everything.

I'm not sure how to feel about all of this now.  Or what to do.  I'll just keep working at my job I guess (which I do love) until God makes it clear that He wants me to do something else (which I thought He had already done, but I won't go there again).   

Has this ever happened to you?  Where you thought you were on the path that God had planned for you, but it just wasn't going where you thought He was leading you?

There is no Plan B...

Wow. How selfish I have been. How easy it is to lose focus and forget why God created me...why in the world I am here.

I spend so much time thinking about what will make me happy.  What I want out of my life. 

How much do I really do for others?  Am I making a difference in anyone's life?  How many people have I lead to Jesus...who are on their way to Heaven now because I have been courageous enough and loving enough to share the truth with them? 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?  Matthew 16:24-26

Random Dozen time!

This week's Random Dozen theme is "one".  Click on the link above if you'd like to join the party (or just read about everyone else).  

Everyone who knows me knows that it's really difficult for me to pick just one of anything, so I'll try to answer without rambling too much...

1. What is one really fast, know-by-heart "go-to" meal to fix in a pinch?  Exactly what I made for supper last night because I had exactly 1/2 hour to cook and feed the kids before the boys had baseball and I had to leave for worship team practice (breathe)...spaghetti. 

2. What is one item you won't leave home without. (Purse and license do not count.)  My sunglasses!  I wear them whenever I go outside, unless of course it's nighttime.  My eyes are really sensitive to light, and if I squint alot I'll get a headache.  So I never leave home without at least one pair (I have 3 almost exactly the same).

3. Where is one place you never tire of visiting?  Does Coldstone count?

4. Share one factoid of your family's history.  My mom, my sister and I all have the same middle name...Marie.  No, I was not named after Lisa Marie Presley.

5. Complete this sentence: "Once upon a time I...." married my Prince!

6. If you could win a one year's supply of anything, what would it be? Ummm.....Coldstone?  Ok, that might not be the best idea, my waistline would scream.  Practical Lisa would choose gasoline.   

7. "One quirky thing you may not know about me is...." oh dear, to choose just one.  I have a strange affinity with numbers, especially 8 and 6.   They just make me happy, I don't know why.   Palindromes give me great joy and if they involve 8's and 6's I get all giddy.  Just ask my best friend Chris.  She is one of the few people who understands (and accepts) this about me, and she's the first person I will be calling in the next couple of weeks when my odometer reads 86,868!  And when it turns 88,888 I will be throwing a party. 

8. You have one dollar in your pocket. What will you buy?  Probably a Diet Dew, even though I'm trying to give up pop.

9. "One thing that always makes me laugh is ...." My kids and my husband make me laugh every single day. 

10. What is one thing you could do today to help yourself reach a personal goal?  Start an exercise plan like walking everyday for 30 minutes.

11. What is one thing you could do today to bless someone else?  Send a handwritten note.  People don't do that very often, but I just got two from friends in the past week and they blessed me immensely!  So I want to make a habit of doing that more often.  It means so much more than an email.

12. What is one thing you're looking forward to soon?  My husband and I have tickets to see Casting Crowns this summer!  Other than that,  just the little everyday moments are what I treasure.