Today's Grab Bag of Thoughts

I may be the only person that has experienced this, but I'm thinking if you are a parent, teacher, boss, or just a human being you might have too.  It is the very popular act of people blaming other people for their current situations.  We all have probably heard it...it's not my fault so and so made me do it.  BUT did you know that this whole situation goes all the way back to the Bible? This morning, as I was taking my daughter to school, we were listening to The Bible Experience.   This is a theatrical reading of the complete Bible that is so awesome, but I digress. We just found our collection again so we were starting at the beginning, Genesis.  As I am driving and listening, I started to hear it from another perspective...the parental perspective from God's eyes.  God the father speaking to his children as we speak to ours.  He's given them life, food, shelter (so to speak) and everything they ever need....sound familiar?  He give them one rule and just lik

It's been cold here California lately - you know what I mean, cold by California standards - and it seems nothing sounds good for dinner except soup.  On Monday our house got hit with the common cold.  Well with sick people comes...you guessed it Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  Of course I could have just opened a can of Campbell's chicken soup, but really???  Nothing beats an old fashion all day 100% from scratch soup. Picture this:  I get off of work at 5:30 pm and drive to Whole Foods to pick up all of the organic items I need for this recipe: Whole organic chicken, organic eggs for the homemade noodles, organic onions, celery, carrots, parsley, garlic, etc.  Drive home, roll up my sleeves, take off my rings (I don't like to get gunk in them when I cook, strange I know ) and get the kitchen ready for some slow, leisurely chicken soup and noodles making fun. Let's speed it up a bit...Whole chicken in Rockcrok Dutch oven to simmer for an hour while I make cut up t

I've never been a bandwagon type of person.  I'm loyal to my sports teams no matter how bad they are, and believe me they are BAD.  However, over the last year or so I kept hearing the hype of how wonderful the new pressure cookers are amazing.  The world was all a twitter (no not the site) over the InstaPot.  Honestly, I kept thinking why oh why would I need another appliance in my kitchen.  Flash forward to August and the pre-release of the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker.  As a independent consultant for the Pampered Chef I thought well, if they think it is great I should probably finally jump on the pressure cooker bandwagon.  I NEVER LOOKED BACK! When I say I love this thing, I don't even think that it expresses how much I love this thing.  I have the ability to totally forget to take out food for dinner AND still deliver a healthy dinner very quickly to my family.  I have used the Quick Cooker almost every day since I received it. The very first food we made with it

 Over the last few months I have worked almost nightly on making my wedding dress.  I did this so that I could get married  a dress prayed  over, made with love and that included just a bit of those we've lost over the years.  It seemed to me that I could not get married without my little sister and grandparents there.  So I came up with this great way to include them. My Grandma Perkins loved silk pajamas.  I am pretty sure she wore them daily.  When she passed away in 2007, many of us asked for a pair of her Pjs.  I have kept mine with me since then.  When I was thinking about the best way to include her in my wedding dress (apart from using her sewing machine) I decided that I would line the bodice of the dress with her Pjs.  It was hard at first, but then a feeling of love came over me.  It was so great to have her so close to me on that special day. My Grandma Dominguez loved to sew and make things.  She used to make us all our Halloween costumes.  She'd make baby bl

As I sit here 5 days before my wedding day, my mind wanders to the past.  To the days of little girls playing wedding day.  To teenager planning their wedding days years in advance.  Funny, I don't remember ever doing any of that. I don't remember dreaming of the man I would marry or how it would be.  I've been engaged before and it obviously never worked out, so I honestly never thought it would happen.  I have always known that God had a great plan for me, but I was never sure it would include a husband.  Now, I look back less than a year and I can't imagine him not being in my life.  God is good.  He provides exactly what you need.  BUT, he will provide it to you in his time, not yours. Can't wait to stand on that stage Saturday and say I do.

Since I got engaged in September of last year, I knew that I wanted to make my own wedding dress even though I had only been sewing for a year.  Crazy?  Yeah I am sure many people believe that I am.   Why would you do that?   Aren't you scared?   Are you just trying to save money? My answers, Why not?  Yes, I am scared and no I am not trying to save any money.  In fact if you add up all the time it will take me to do it, it would probably cost more.  But honestly, why am I sewing my own wedding dress??? As I sit here trying to put my whole thought process into words, it is a bit harder that I thought.  To me the wedding dress is a very personal thing.  You'll wear the dress once and it will be a day of big celebration but also one of serious commitment.  This day changes your life.  You can't get a do over on your wedding day.  So why would I put that pressure on myself on purpose?  Let's me tell you why... I am taking the time to make my wedding