Spring Is On the Way!

Looking for Crocuses

I am thoroughly excited about the prospect of spring!  When I leave for work in the mornings, I hear birds singing that don't sing in the winter.  I see fuzzy buds on the pussy willow trees.  The rain, as copious as it's been here, has a fresh scent to it.  The garden has been planned out as of last night, with green beans, my asparagus patch, onions, lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes and green peppers.  I think I might even have a small patch left for trying my hand at a cut-flower garden!  Hard to believe that it's finally time to start working on that.  Winter seems to not want to let go quite yet, with a rain/snow mix forecasted for today and tonight.  But spring is surely just around the corner!  I might have to take back what I said in an earlier post about the reliability of the groundhog.  We'll see...

Busy, Busy...

We have our annual Maple Sugarin' program out at the McKinnis house farm this weekend, but I won't be able to attend.  My husband's parents are coming to visit, and it sounds like we will be spending a day shopping and exploring Toledo while they are here, which should be fun.  We have plans every weekend, I think!  If we are not out and about, we are trying to do some cosmetic work on our house that we had been putting off until we decided whether to refinance or move.  We refinanced, so now we need to get to work!  Seems like there is a lot to do and not much time to do it.  Hubby and I are also starting to exercise and eat right again, so that we can hopefully lose some of the weight we've packed on over the holidays (and after :) ), and I'll try to keep you posted on our success.  I'm doing a combination of treadmill and exercise with my Wii fitness board, and I am very sore this morning!  But sore is good, and hopefully I can keep getting exercise in before work in the mornings.  That's the goal!

It's important when we are busy to always keep God in everything we do.  Evangelizing is more in our actions than in our words!  Proverbs 3:5-6 states "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  I always try to remember to acknowledge God in my words and actions, but I will be the first to admit that as a human, I do fail.  But this passage is a good reminder that we are to have God in our minds and hearts in all that we do, regardless of how busy and preoccupied we might become in our own lives.

Singin' In The Rain

Our Yearly Flood

What a dramatic last few days it has been!  We made the national news again for our flooding problems here.  Hard to believe that we've flooded again, and yet, I'm getting used to it.  It seems like there has been some sort of major flooding in this area at least once each year since we've moved here.  I found myself backtracking twice on the way to work this morning, both times due to flooded major roads.  I wish I had taken my camera around to take pictures, but I really don't want to face a possible third-degree misdemeanor, whatever that may be.  It doesn't sound pleasant, I know that!  If you would like to see pictures of what the northwest Ohio area looks like that other people were brave enough to take, here are a few links from an area television station for you to view: Riverbend Recreation Area (you can see the main entrance to the reservoir, and the newly-built covered bridge that spans the river), Lighthouse Park (you can see the tops of the pine trees, and the tops of the pavillions, this photo was taken before the river crested), Riley Creek, near Pandora (notice the half-submerged mailbox on the far right half of the photo), and the Bluffton area (the community was reportedly evacuated, but this cute doggy seems to be patiently waiting for his owner to heed the warning).  The downtown is again under water, parts of I-75 were closed due to flooding, and surrounding areas and communities have been evacuated once again.  I don't know how these businesses keep rebuilding and reopening like this...unfortunately, it has taken a toll on our downtown area.  I know that this area is not the only area that has flooded; there has been flooding across Indiana, and other parts of the country too.  Please pray for all of the people that have again been affected/displaced by another flood.

The flooding seems to have stopped, and things are now slowing returning to normal.  Flooding is no stranger to our earth, it has happened to varying degrees for thousands of years.  God promised that he would never send another catastrophic flood again after THE flood He sent back in Genesis: "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." (Genesis 9:16)  Even when catastrophes do occur, God does not forget us, or turn His back on us.  Look for the rainbow in every bad thing that happens, both literally and figuratively!

A Fart By Any Other Name...

Note: If you are offended by adolescent humor, you have two choices: 1) don't read any farther, or 2) read, learn something, and hopefully laugh!

"A fart is just a turd honking for the right-of-way"--My husband

Marriage is a fascinating journey.  For many people today, it doesn't suit them.  But for me, it's the one relationship I can't imagine going without in life.  It's ordained by God.  It's a constant lesson in give-and-take.  It's the most rewarding attachment we will ever have.  I love that in our marriage we just don't care about how we are aging right before each other's eyes.  I guess that's part of the fun of growing old with another person...and no two days are exactly alike, so I see, hear, learn, and/or do something new every day.  And, it seems, we never stop learning about each other.  So having said all of that, I feel compelled to say that it is also peppered with some awkward, and sometimes smelly, moments too.

I guess what I am referring to is, is it just me, or do our bodies seem to have more "extra air" to expel as we get older?  To my best recollection, I can't remember having so much gas when I wake up, eat something, or for no apparent reason in the middle of the day.  (Thank the Lord that I don't have co-workers who sit next to me!)  So, my only conclusion is that this stuff just happens as we are getting older.

Perhaps we are conditioned to see this necessary bodily function as funny.  Maybe there have been too many sitcoms or too many home movies on America's Funniest Videos that have conditioned us to  automatically burst out in giggles when we hear that familiar noise.  Is this why we have whoopie cushions?  (And yes, I had one when I was a kid.)  My husband actually brought into our marriage a video tape (remember those?) of a preacher who made the most bizarre faces when he preached, and someone had the idea to insert a certain reel of sound effects whenever he made the faces.  It's called "Pastor Gas", and you can view a clip from YouTube here.  I'll be truthful and say that it does make me laugh!  You can find a plethora of gassy clips on the Internet, everything from people to cats to sound clips.  Whatever the reason, it seems to be a common occurrence in our home.  And to be honest, I don't really care.  Better to laugh at it than to be mortified by something so silly after years of marriage!  Oh, the stories I can't tell you...

But why do we have this problem?  A few different medical websites suggest that we begin to have problems with digestion as we age.  Certain foods become harder to digest or process, and the bacteria in the intestines that easily digested sugars in food when we were young have a harder time breaking it down as we age.  The more sugar there is to break down, the more bacteria you need, which causes the bacteria to multiply.  This multiplication is what causes gas.  Who knew?  See, we learned something new!  Now that I know the cause, I will...well...probably not change a thing about my diet.  At least, not right now.  I love sugar too much, so my hubby will just have to put up with my puffles for a while longer.  I love you, hon!

With all that we've experienced together so far, I can't help but wonder what the future will be like.  Will we have to give our guests gas masks when they come to visit?  What will we look like when we have wrinkles, gray hair, and hip replacements?  Will we need Life Alert devices for when we fall and we can't get up?  And most importantly, when we've been married 50 years, will we be sharing the same dentures and offering each other Beano?

Beware The Ides of February...Oh, wait...

I Feel Like Ramblin'
I don't know why I chose the Shakespeare reference for my title this time, I just felt like being random.  So!  I've been getting much of what I wish for lately...first I wished for lots of snow.  I sure got that wish!  Then, I wished for it to all melt and for spring to come.  It's been spring-like and the entire 12+" of snow that covered the ground has all but melted away!  Now, I wish that the spring weather is here to stay, and that I had millions of dollars!  I'm very much looking forward to the days when I can open the windows to air out the house after along and stuffy winter...get some spring cleaning done...get my garden planted!  I'm ready for all of the sickness to fade out and the sinus problems to disappear for another year.  Last year at this time, I was preparing for my sister's wedding, which I still think about often.  It was one of the best weddings I've ever been to!  Everyone had a great time.  And it was so nice and warm out!  Lately I seem to be waxing nostalgic.  I keep thinking back to my sister's wedding, back to good times with friends...college...people that are no longer here.  Life sure is full of changes.  I know, the only thing constant in life is death and taxes.  What would life be like if no one or nothing ever changed?  What if you could stop time when you finally accomplish everything you always hoped for when you were young, and just bask in the happiness?  What if you never had to say good-bye to people you loved?  I guess that's where faith in Jesus Christ comes in, even though your faith doesn't save you from going through some pretty difficult situations in life.  I think that I feel like I'm in a stagnant part of life right now, which makes me look to the past instead of planning for the future.  It's easier to look at the past--you already know what happened.  No one ever knows what the future will hold.  I guess that's why we should appreciate what we have right now, and who we have right now, because there may not be a tomorrow.  Carpe diem!  Carpe chocolate!

Uncertainty can be troubling, and unfortunately, life is full of it.  There are many verses in the Bible about trusting God when life seems questionable.  I like this one: "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."  Psalm 55:22.  Honestly, it's not always easy to trust that God has the best things in store for us, but He does!  You might see it right away, over time, or never at all, but God's way is always the best way, and He will always watch out for His children.

Cabin Fever

Top o'the mornin' to ya!

Aaah, do I have the spring fever.  I'm looking outside at the beautiful white landscape, ready for it to be gone and warmer weather to set it.  There is so much snow everywhere, but with temps forecasted to be around 50 by mid-week, that should take care of a lot of snow.  It seems like it's been an exceptionally hard winter this year, and I will be glad when the trees have leaves and I can once again go outside in sandals and a tee-shirt instead of heavy winter socks and a bulky winter coat.  Aahh, I can almost smell the spring air, and feel the warm breeze.  I enjoyed the weather briefly yesterday, when I made a trip to the store to get hubby some items to make him feel better--he seems to be having some sort of sinus problem and had a very sore throat for the past few days.  He seems to be doing much better today, though, which is a good thing!  It was very nice out, and I got away with just wearing a lightweight jacket.  I'm ready for that to be the norm!  Maybe I just need a warm-weather-destination trip. 

Valentine's Weekend

Well, today is Valentine's Day.  We celebrated the holiday on Friday though, which was good since my husband came down with the sickness Saturday.  We had a nice dinner out, exchanged gifts, and had an overall very relaxing weekend at home.  My hubby is sending me to a local day spa again this year as my gift.  I really like the spa, and it's such a nice experience.  He sent me there last year for the first time, which was a wonderful surprise and a great pampering experience.  If you've never had the opportunity to spend a few hours at a day spa, I would highly recommend it!  You won't be disappointed.  

Recipes

Yesterday, to end the weekend, I made a pot of beef stew.  Can I just say YUM?  I tweeked a recipe that I found online for beef stew (from Paula Deen's beef stew recipe) and have my version posted on the recipe blog.  I'm not bragging, but it was delicious and really hit the spot last night!  I also made a half-sized Hershey chocolate cake on Saturday, and that was a wonderful dessert.  If you want to see the recipes and haven't visited the site, click here.  Thanks to everyone who has checked it out.  I hope that you find recipes on there that you try and like, and I would love to post some of your recipes on there as well!

Today we celebrate love.  You don't have to be in a romantic relationship with someone to enjoy the Valentine's holiday, although that is generally the main target audience of this day.  Chances are, you have family and friends that love you just as you are!  God certainly does.  He created you, and you are His children.  He loves you no matter what.  Ephesians 5:1-2 reinstates how much He loves us: "1Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us...".  God loves us so much, and wants to be with us always, that He allowed His Son to die for our salvation!  Now that's love.

Snow Day!

Photo from the All Things Digital Website

Hello from snowy, slippery Ohio!  I had a snow day today thanks to the storm that has debilitated a large chunk of the country right now.  I guess the groundhog is predicting an early spring this year...we'll see.  I have to say, I don't trust anything a groundhog says.  You know how they are.

Because I was home today, I took the opportunity to do housework and baking.  I tried a new recipe for dinner rolls which can be found on the Recipes page under "Top Notch Dinner Rolls".  I found this recipe on The Amish Cook website.  This is a good and informative website about Amish life and culture, and frequently features pictures and recipes of Amish life, as well as the "Amish Cook" weekly column written by an Old-Order Amish woman named Lovina Eicher and read in many newspapers across the country.  This is her editor's website. Okay, now that you have all of the background, I have to say these rolls were very good!  I am posting the full recipe, and it makes around 30 decent-sized rolls.  I would recommend halfing it if you are a small family like us.  I'm going to try and freeze the rolls, and I will comment on the recipe about whether this ends up being a good idea or bad one.  This is a great bread recipe, and I think it would make two good-sized bread loaves if you want to try that.  We are having meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and the rolls, and for dessert I whipped up a chocolate pudding pie in a graham cracker crust.  I enjoy being home to make a hearty meal for a cold, snowy day!  I hope everyone has weathered (haha, pun intended) the storm well, and that everyone stays warm and safe for the rest of the winter, no matter how long it may last!

The weather has been rough this winter.  I really think that this winter has been the worst in quite a while...cold, snowy, gray and dreary for the majority up to this point.  So it warms me to think of how much God loves His children, and remembering that always gives me hope of what is to come!  Think of these verses: "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."--Deut. 32:4; "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."--Psalm 9:10; "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."--Psalm 36:5.  Praise God for His unconditional love always!