Independence Day Celebrations!

What Fun We've Been Having

Hello!  It's been a little while since I've been on here.  We've had a lot going on over the past few weeks!  We were affected by the storm that moved across the eastern US on June 29, resulting in no access to the Internet or any news for several days.  Praise the Lord, though, that we didn't lose power during one of the hottest weeks of the year, though!  We watched the storm come through, and it was unlike anything we'd ever seen.  After the storm, we drove through town to see how everyone else fared, and it was an astonishing scene of destruction.  Massive trees were uprooted and homes damaged, windows were blown out and shattered, debris in the streets, and about 90% of the city was without power.  While everyone has their power back, there is still a lot of cleaning up being done.  I didn't have to go in to work last week--the town where I work didn't have power until last Wednesday night, and I'd requested Thursday off to go up to Michigan to visit family (more about that in a moment).  To sum it up, I ended up with a surprise week of vacation thanks to the storms!  I needed it, but it's been really hard to get the motivation to be back at work this week as a result.  I wish I had more pictures, but these will do for now:

Overturned shed in the yard next to my work.

Wide view of the house across from where I work.  The arrow on the left shows the bottom half of what's left of a pine tree that was about the same height as the one next to it; the arrow on the right shows half of a tree that was destroyed.

A closer picture of the destroyed tree.

Everything in town had pretty much come to a stand-still for the Fourth of July celebrations, and even though the fireworks happened as scheduled here, we opted to stay in and out of the intense heat.  Besides, we knew we were going to see the granddaddy of all fireworks shows up in Bay City, Michigan.  Every year, since before I was born, the city has held a three-day fireworks festival for Independence Day, and this year was the 50th anniversary of the festival.  They had promised that it would be the biggest show ever, and it truly was.  We left Thursday and stayed with my mom, as we always do.  I showed my mom how to make the scented gels, and we made a dozen together, creating new scents and having a good time.

The next day, my mom, stepdad, husband and I all traveled an hour and a half north to a beach on Lake Huron.  It had been years since I'd been up that way, and I had forgotten how beautiful of a drive it was.  We took food with us and once we arrived at the beach, we had ourselves a nice picnic, with grilled hot dogs, all kinds of chips, a delicious broccoli cole slaw, and fresh watermelon.  We spent several hours there, until the beach began to get too crowded for our liking and we began to get a little crispy.  We headed back to meet my sister and her husband for dinner at a favorite Mongolian barbecue restaurant, and we all had a good time together.

Saturday was the big day!  Lunch with my dad, a little shopping with my sister and brother-in-law, and the fireworks festival!!  My hubby and I left a little early to go to a few shops downtown (there are some really great little boutiques in Bay City), and several antiques stores, as well.  I have to credit my love of antiques and historic architecture to growing up in Bay City, because it has a good amount of both!  It's changed since I left almost fifteen years ago, but it still has some great gems.  I found a small cast iron cauldron at an antiques shop just before lunch, and plan to give it a new coat of paint and use it for a little flower pot on our table on the patio.  It's super-cute.  I'll post pictures later.  Then it was time to meet for lunch, and we ate at a little Italian restaurant and chatted.  Afterward, we went to St. Laurent Brothers, the chocolate/candy store that's been there since 1903.  I have always loved going there, and since I no longer live there, it's always a treat to be able to stop in.  I sampled an almond confection that was great--and I don't really even like almonds!--they had coated whole almonds in dark chocolate, then coated it in cocoa powder, and it was delicious!  We did some errands with my sis and b-i-l, and then had dinner.  Then, finally time for the fireworks!  We met my sister and b-i-l at the park downtown, and after waiting for a few hours, it was time for the fireworks to begin!  They shot off 50,000 shells in a fifty-minute show choreographed to music.  It was AWESOME!!  They usually have a great show every year, but this was above and beyond what we expected.  We were all impressed.  To see pro photos and a video of the entire show, click this link to the Bay City Times July 7.  You won't be sorry...unless you're sorry you missed it!  I took video, too, but the videos are way too big to load onto here and even YouTube, so I'll just post a few photos for your enjoyment:

Whew!  This is a long post!

And now...onto the Owl Corner!

Photo from Owling.com.

This week's little guy is called an Elf Owl.  He's called such because he's so tiny.  He's actually the smallest owl in North America, and one of the smallest in the world.  The size of a common sparrow, the elf owl has a call that sounds like a yapping poodle.  Its main habitat area is the southwestern US and parts of Mexico, and eats mostly bugs and beetles.  During breeding season, the male owl is known to sing throughout the night (what a way to woo!), and when the female lays eggs, they usually nest inside old woodpecker holes and saguaro cacti.  The female usually lays 2-4 eggs.  These owls are on the endangered species list.

Photo from Owling.com, and information from Owling.com and Audubon.org.

And finally
...the next post will be post #100!  I'll have to come up with something good to talk about.  Until then, adios!

Today, Christians are under attack more than ever in this country.  While this is not the first time a nation has rebelled against the commandments of God, I think that we are approaching some really serious consequences for our rebellion.  I have to believe that we have been under the protection of God for a long time, but probably not much longer.  We as Christians are called to be modern-day prophets and evangelists in a world that doesn't want to hear a much-needed message of love and hope. The prophet Ezekiel experienced a world much like the one in which we live today: "He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against Me to this very day.  The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen —for they are a rebellious house —they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak My words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious." (Ezekiel 2:2-7)  Sounds an awful lot like what we are still called to do today!  

Time To Change Things Up A Bit!

Well, hello!  It's been a while since I've written a new blog.  I've been dealing with some pretty low moods lately, and when I get that way, I have no interest in doing much of anything.  That all seems to have changed with the change in the weather, and as I sit here on St. Patrick's Day in shorts with the windows open, listening to the birds sing outside, I am having a hard time believing it's still winter!  But I'll take it, if it means getting me out of my funk and in a better mood (I'm sure hubby will, too).  I'm hoping this beautiful weather is here for a while, but I don't believe that the cold weather is gone for good just yet.

Thanks also to the weather, my thoughts over the past week have turned to gardening.  Hard-core.  I am eager to begin a new garden for the year, and be able to enjoy delicious fresh veggies from my backyard.  On the plan this year will be corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, and of course, asparagus.  I had hoped to see an asparagus shoot poking its little head out of the ground when I went out to look yesterday, but alas, nothing yet.  I'm sure I'll see something soon, though.  Hubby and I went to the home of a coworker/friend this afternoon who was offering to give us some lilies that she had split from her garden, and she also gave us some black-eyed Susans to replant, too.  They are sitting on our back patio right now, but hopefully they will be in the ground by tomorrow.  I'll take pictures once they start growing and blooming.

Ingredients for Candy Bar Cake--NOT on the WW plan.

My thoughts have also turned to losing this extra weight (I'd call it winter weight, but honestly, it's about three winters' worth of weight, so it would be a bit of a misnomer).  Hubby and I broke down, after not having much success or motivation trying to manage our diets on our own, and purchased a Weight Watchers membership.  So far, it's working well, especially for hubby, and it's only been a week.  It's not a bad plan, but I think I'd rather go back to counting calories.  Once the membership expires (in May), I may go back to doing that, since I should be back to within my normal weight range by then.  Not down to my goal, but at least back to acceptable.  So, I went online and printed out a bunch of recipes from the website, and I plan to begin trying them over the course of the next several weeks.  I will also review them on here, and if they are good, I'll post them for you to try as well.  I figure, even if you are not trying to lose weight, why not eat healthier anyway?  I went on Pinterest and did a search for Weight Watchers recipes, and found quite a few that sounded good.  You can also just do a Google search and find them.

Since we've started the Weight Watchers plan, I admit that I feel like I'm not eating enough.  According to them, though, I am.  I just feel hungry all of the time!  I know that it's for the best, though, if I want to be healthy.  It's nothing compared to what Jesus experienced in the desert--He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights!  If that's not hunger, I don't know what is.  Just the fact that He was able to go without food for over a month shows that He was more than human.  When the devil came to tempt Jesus to turn stones to bread to eat, and prove that He was God, Jesus replied, "“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (Matthew 4:1-5).  Jesus could have done it, but it wasn't the reason that He was fasting to begin with.  Maybe when I'm hungry, I should turn to the "soul food" that God offers each one of us every day through His word in the Bible.  Hmm.  Food for thought.

Birthday Weekapalooza!

Hubby's Birthday

Definitely homemade!

Well, it's here again--my husband's birthday!  Where has the year gone??  We try to have a week of fun when our birthdays roll around, which is usually a fun time.  So this week has been his Birthday Weekapalooza!  He requested a blueberry pie for his birthday, instead of a cake, so I was busy Friday baking.  I made the pie, and I also tried a new recipe for Strawberry Bread, which turned out very well.  It was a delicious recipe!  (Note: The link for the bread will take you to the recipe in my recipe blog.) I gave him his gift, and surprised him with a trip to the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio.  You drive through a large, fenced-in area that holds deer, llama, bison, zebras, and giraffes, and you are allowed to feed them all!  As you enter the gates for your first trip through, you are given a cup of animal pellets, which is included in the admission price.  You are also able to buy carrots and more food, and feed the animals as much as you want--they come right up to the car and know exactly what you are going to do!  It was such fun.  We'd never done anything like that!  Check out the pictures below:

"Hey, you guys have air conditioning in here??"

"C'mon, guys, I just want a carrot..."

Quit using my car as a napkin!

Whoa!

No caption necessary.

After the trip through the safari, we went back to the park for some Naspig races at Pork Chop Downs.  Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died after the safari, and I didn't get any pictures of the pig races, but trust me, it was fun!  There were also animals in the park to see, and we spent a while walking around and just enjoying the beautiful day.  Hubby had a great time, and a great birthday!


Hail Is For Houses

We are finally getting somewhere with the hail damage claim.  On Tuesday, our insurance adjuster was finally able to come and inspect the damage.  We had our contractor there to meet with him as well, and the insurance adjuster agreed with most everything that was suggested.  We had an insurance check in our hands before he left that day!  I can't say that I've ever gotten to deposit a check that big before, but sadly, it will all be gone in time.  Oh well, easy come, easy go!  As of now, we have bundles of shingles and other roofing materials in our front yard, waiting to be installed.  We thought they would come Friday and replace the roof, but no one appeared, so it might be Monday or Tuesday of next week now.  We are still waiting to hear whether the siding can be matched or not.  The contractors we hired use Amish carpenters to do the work, so we know that it will be done well and correctly when it is completed. 

Missing couch

We gave away our couch and recliner chair last week.  Why, you ask?  We gave them to family members who needed some furniture, and we had been wanting to replace the couch for a while.  It worked out that they wanted them, and they were able to come and get them last week.  We did shop for and purchase a new couch, but we are waiting for it to arrive, and it could be several weeks yet before it appears.  In the meantime, we do have one chair and ottoman in our living room, and we pulled out a desk chair and footstool from our other rooms, and we have a somewhat comfortable temporary situation.  While we are waiting for the new couch, we plan to repaint some walls and do some redecorating, so that we will have a fresh new living room once everything is back to normal.  It will be nice to update a little--I tend to get a stagnant feeling when I can't or don't change things around every once in a while.  I'll try to remember to take a few pics and post them on here later!

We're Baaaack!

Hi!


Well, vacation is over now.  Very sad!  I wasn't able to keep up with the last blog post, but really, I did cover the most exciting things that we did.  The Henry Ford Museum was not as good as I remembered, and there was a large section closed off for remodeling and setting up a new exhibit.  There were what seemed like a million kids running amok everywhere.  (Scroll down to see a few pics from the Museum--click on the photos to see a full-sized image.)  We ate at the Weinermobile restaurant in the museum, and it rained the whole time we were in there (which made it a good day for touring a museum).  It rained hard until just north of Toledo, where it cleared up and became sunny and warmer, then the sky turned that dark blackish-blue color off to the west as we stayed just ahead of a very strong line of storms that was heading through the area.  We watched it build the whole way home, saying, "I'm glad we're going to miss that!"  But not long after we arrived home, the storms had built up to include our town, and we were inundated by very large hail, and some hail chunks were the size of tennis balls.  It destroyed the siding on the north side of our house, damaged our roof, broke a skylight in our shed, and took out a few landscape lights.  Thankfully, we had parked both vehicles in the garage, so there was not any damage to them.  After the storm, we ventured out and saw that we were among the fortunate--many homes had broken windows and torn screens, and any vehicle that was parked outside during the storm resembled a golf ball.  Many vehicles had shattered windshields and/or windows.  The storm was so astounding that I grabbed my camera and took video of the hail during the storm, but sadly, I can't get any of them to load onto the blog!  I think the files are too large.  So, I loaded them on YouTube--click here for the first video, then click here for the second video, taken a few minutes later.  The audio doesn't quite do it justice, but it gives you an idea of what it was like.  Neither of us has ever seen hail like that before, and hopefully we will never see it again.  Can you imagine what it was like in Old Testament Egypt during the plagues, when the hail was on fire??

Chair that Lincoln was assassinated in from Ford's Theater.

Wartime Correspondence from George Washington.

Dymaxion House.  Only two were built in the world, and both were used to rebuild this as a walk-through exhibit.  The entire structure is suspended from a central column, like the frame of an umbrella.  Remarkably stable!

Henry Ford believed that one day people would have their own private planes, just like they had their own private vehicles.  The plane was his prototype.

I can't help but wonder if this unbelievably wild weather we've had this spring is indicative of God's wrath.  I wonder if it is a sign of End Times, and I wonder if it is punishment for the way that America has turned her back on God and everything that our forefathers created this country to be--which includes being a nation under God.  We heard an interesting sermon on Sunday based out of the book of Micah, specifically Micah 3:1-12.  I don't think that I've ever read anything out of Micah until now, but wow, it sure seems to apply to today.  It's a lengthy passage, which is why I've chosen not to type it out, but if you want to read it, click on the link above and see the parallels of then and today.  Those of you reading this are probably of the same opinions on morals, principles and politics as I am, or at least similar; we didn't vote in the current administration.  But the majority did vote them in, and the majority is why we might well be considered no longer under God's providence and protection.  We seem to no longer be Israeli allies, and that has never been the case before!  Of course, you and I know the importance of having Israel as an ally.  Sadly, the rest of the world does not understand or care.  For this reason, we must pray without ceasing for God's forgiveness for this country, even though we (collectively as a country) are to blame now.  I think it's fairly certain that we have not seen the last of terrible storms, violent earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and so on--I really think that we are seeing the birth pains spoken about in Matthew 24:4-8: " Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains."  Thankfully, believers in Christ have nothing to fear!