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19
Mar
A New Chair, Bithdays & More
Julie

I had a turn for the worse for a couple of weeks and was just trying to focus on getting past the pain.  I had so many people praying for me and I certainly felt them sustain me.  During this difficult time, my husband was more determined than ever that I get a new chair.  As soon as I was able, we were off to the La-Z-Boy store.  I sat in every La-Z-Boy in the store many, many times.  I reclined, I sat, I took my sweet time.  Here’s what I picked out:

I love it!! The fabric is very, very soft and it’s so very cushioney!! (Is that a word?) I also love the dark, chocolate brown color. Anyway, as usual, my husband was right. It has made things much better.  I am sleeping in this chair and it’s helped.  I still have pain, but at least I am having times where I have some relief.  Any kind of relief is a blessing! That’s my prayer shawl draped over the back.  It’s been in well use!

We also had birthday’s here the past couple of weeks.  My boy’s birthdays are just a few days apart and we celebrated quietly at home.  I made BBQ chicken wings, pizza and carrot cake.  I did this over a process of a few days and was able to pull it off.  They both wanted the same thing so I did this twice.  Here’s a picture of the finished cake.

This cake was so rich, so sweet and so good!! You can find the recipe here.  The recipe actually calls for the cake to be a sheet cake, but I did it in my round pans which are older than the hills and smaller than today’s cake pans so it ended up being a triple layer cake.  I will never buy a store bought carrot cake again after having this. It was better than anything we ever had from the bakery.  My oldest son really enjoyed this cake

and so did my youngest son.

They both had wonderful birthdays and I’m so very, very thankful for my sons.

My doggies have been needing to be groomed so hubby took them for me one day and here’s my precious, little Holly after her grooming.  Isn’t she just adorable?  She’s so excited, she’s playing with her little, purple squeeky dog toy.  I love her hair short and as much as I have loved doing the whole ribbon and bow thing in her hair, I’m thinking I’m going to have her get this hair cut from here on out.

Sweet Holly has been such a comfort to me during these last few months of dealing with pain. She is always there with me, snuggling with me and knowing when I need a kiss on the nose.  She is definitely a gift from God. 

My sons had their friend over the past couple of days and they had a great time playing video games and munching on cake.  As they have all gotten older, they aren’t able to get together with their friends like they used to.  There’s college, work, and other responsibilities in their lives now and so these times of just having some down time are far and few between.  I’m so glad they were able to get together for awhile. 

I’m SO tired.  Between the birthdays, the pain, and the steroid shots, I just feel like I’m crashing half the time.  I’m going to try and get some decent sleep tonight.  I say that every night, but usually end up having insomnia and total exhaustion the next day. I think it’s the pain pills, quite frankly.  I’ll be so thankful when I’m able to cut them down even more.

Thank you again for all your prayers, emails, and comments.  They have been such a blessing to me and I never take them for granted. 

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Birthday, Cooking, Family, Health, Pets, Recipe, Sons  4 Comments
19
Mar
A New Chair, Bithdays & More
Julie

I had a turn for the worse for a couple of weeks and was just trying to focus on getting past the pain.  I had so many people praying for me and I certainly felt them sustain me.  During this difficult time, my husband was more determined than ever that I get a new chair.  As soon as I was able, we were off to the La-Z-Boy store.  I sat in every La-Z-Boy in the store many, many times.  I reclined, I sat, I took my sweet time.  Here’s what I picked out:

I love it!! The fabric is very, very soft and it’s so very cushioney!! (Is that a word?) I also love the dark, chocolate brown color. Anyway, as usual, my husband was right. It has made things much better.  I am sleeping in this chair and it’s helped.  I still have pain, but at least I am having times where I have some relief.  Any kind of relief is a blessing! That’s my prayer shawl draped over the back.  It’s been in well use!

We also had birthday’s here the past couple of weeks.  My boy’s birthdays are just a few days apart and we celebrated quietly at home.  I made BBQ chicken wings, pizza and carrot cake.  I did this over a process of a few days and was able to pull it off.  They both wanted the same thing so I did this twice.  Here’s a picture of the finished cake.

This cake was so rich, so sweet and so good!! You can find the recipe here.  The recipe actually calls for the cake to be a sheet cake, but I did it in my round pans which are older than the hills and smaller than today’s cake pans so it ended up being a triple layer cake.  I will never buy a store bought carrot cake again after having this. It was better than anything we ever had from the bakery.  My oldest son really enjoyed this cake

and so did my youngest son.

They both had wonderful birthdays and I’m so very, very thankful for my sons.

My doggies have been needing to be groomed so hubby took them for me one day and here’s my precious, little Holly after her grooming.  Isn’t she just adorable?  She’s so excited, she’s playing with her little, purple squeeky dog toy.  I love her hair short and as much as I have loved doing the whole ribbon and bow thing in her hair, I’m thinking I’m going to have her get this hair cut from here on out.

Sweet Holly has been such a comfort to me during these last few months of dealing with pain. She is always there with me, snuggling with me and knowing when I need a kiss on the nose.  She is definitely a gift from God. 

My sons had their friend over the past couple of days and they had a great time playing video games and munching on cake.  As they have all gotten older, they aren’t able to get together with their friends like they used to.  There’s college, work, and other responsibilities in their lives now and so these times of just having some down time are far and few between.  I’m so glad they were able to get together for awhile. 

I’m SO tired.  Between the birthdays, the pain, and the steroid shots, I just feel like I’m crashing half the time.  I’m going to try and get some decent sleep tonight.  I say that every night, but usually end up having insomnia and total exhaustion the next day. I think it’s the pain pills, quite frankly.  I’ll be so thankful when I’m able to cut them down even more.

Thank you again for all your prayers, emails, and comments.  They have been such a blessing to me and I never take them for granted. 

God bless you – Julie

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16
Feb
Mementoes
Julie
 This morning I went through some boxes my husband had brought in from our storage that had gotten damp.  Unfortunately, these boxes held wonderful momentoes of my children’s babyhood, youth, and other things that I wish had never even been in the storage shed.  I’m not sure what I was thinking putting them out there, other than I thought it was air tight and safe.  I found some wonderful things that I was able to save and it took me down memory lane.  My boys baptism candles and records.  Pictures of my baby at about 2 years old pointing to a pasture full of horses.  My high school diploma!! I also found an album of photos that I put together of me during my first pregnancy and then pictures of my son and I after his birth.  Honestly, I don’t even remember ever putting that together.  I also wonder how I possibly found time to do that as I was working full time at our business at the time and worked up until I went into labor! Trust me when I tell you how wonderful that treasure is!
Unfortunately, I also found pictures that had stuck together in a huge stack.  At first I thought I would have to pitch them, but then decided to look up on the internet about how to get them apart. Several sites recommended freezing them and then taking them apart. If that doesn’t work, there are other things that were recommended.  The freezer sounds easy and I’m praying that it works.  
There was quite a bit I did have to just throw out.  I had stationery and envelopes that got wet and ruined.  The envelopes sealed themselves or sealed to other things.  I was kicking myself the whole time I was going through those things.  The things I did keep, I wiped down carefully with a cloth dunked in water & clorox and wrung out well.  I didn’t want the mold to continue to keep eating into things and I also wanted to kill the mold.  This worked out really well and I feel confident that the things I kept are mold free.  I’m so thankful that most of my children’s things were saved.  Amazingly, I also found a packet of things I had made as a child in grade school!  Thank goodness, those were in perfect condition and were saved, too.
After this, I had to rest and worked on my writing while sitting in my recliner.  Have I said how much I “heart” my recliner?! :)
I’ve been putting some things together for my friend to use at a tea she is hosting at church this weekend.  She needed “foo-foo” things and knew I was the gal to call.  I put a few more things in the box for her when I felt up to it later on today.  
My boys are still sick.  My oldest son was well enough that he went to his college class but he came home just wiped out.  My youngest son is still very sick and now it seems my husband has it, too.  I always worry about him when he gets these things because he is diabetic and it’s hard on him.  I’m praying that he will not get this illness too bad and gets over it quickly.  He was supposed to have eye surgery tomorrow morning, but we had to cancel and will have to reschedule when he’s completely well.
I have knee shots in the morning.  I’ll be glad to get them over with.  One amazing thing is that now I don’t have to have a series of three shots – they now just do one.  There’s something new they do and the one shot does the same as the three used to do.  That’s so nice.  One shot and I’m done for six months, unless I have to have a cortisone shot in between.  When I have the shots, the day is a day of rest for me as I am not supposed to walk but very little for 24 hours after the shots.  Tomorrow, hopefully I’ll get more writing done.  
Don’t forget about my giveaway! The CSN stores are so wonderful and there are so many things to choose from.  I have always loved the things I’ve gotten from them.  Go to the top of the page and click on the link to the giveaway to enter!
God bless you – Julie

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27
Dec
Pourings from the Heart
Julie

How was your Christmas? Ours was amazingly beautiful, blessed, and wonderful! We didn’t have much under the tree, but that was okay! In fact, I really think it made us thankful for the couple of things we did receive and, more importantly, it made us really thankful for each other.  I know the day was more about the people around me than the stuff around me.  Very little money was spent because we don’t have but a little, but the joy came from focusing on what Christmas is all about and the fact that my little family was together. 

I made ham, cheesy potatoes, mixed veggies and pumpkin pie for our Christmas dinner, and I must say, it was really one of the best meals we’ve had for Christmas.  I told you about the 99 cent per pound ham I got at Safeway and the fact that it wasn’t spiral cut.  It didn’t matter in the least! In fact, I thought it was better.  I spiced it and created my own delicious glaze that everyone loved.  I used my electric knife to cut paper thin slices that could be used for sandwiches later.  Love my electric knife, people!  I got it one year when they were selling them for cheap at WalMart.  It was like $5.00 or something ridiculous.  The cheesy potatoes were just that – super cheesy.  I created a triple batch of the cheese sauce this year to pour over those lovely potato slices and it was just wonderful. The only downside was that during the baking, we started to smell smoke.  Some of that lovely cheese sauce had dripped over the edge of the pan and onto the oven floor below making a smokey mess.  I had put the pan on a cookie sheet, but it was a small one and it just ran right past the cookie sheet.  I had to pull everything out and clean up the mess so we didn’t die from smoke inhalation! I then put a piece of foil beneath the pan and it caught all future drips.  At the end of the day, I cleaned my stove and it was so hard – I had to flip the switch to clean.  LOL  Anyway, I made my pies Christmas morning, too, which I never do, but it all worked out and everything was delicious.

Yesterday afternoon, we all played games – Sorry, Racko and Canasta Caliente.  FUN! We love to play games at our house, but we don’t do it nearly as often as I would like.  We all lead such busy lives, it’s hard to sit down and make the time to play the board games together.  We are going to try and do it more often, though, as we really enjoyed it!  I didn’t cook yesterday but had leftover Christmas dinner fixings and then I did make a couple of dips for snacking.  My son (of the pizza fame) made white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies and they were wonderful, too!

The only downer to yesterday was MIL creating problems AGAIN and upsetting everyone. Truly, she thrives on this and it’s a constant thing.  My hubby has made it clear that she will never change and to expect her to, is to drive ourselves crazy.  I know this, I accept it (I guess) and yet I still have this small place in my brain that thinks one day she will wake up and say, “Gee, I’ve been really obnoxious! I’m going to stop!”. Ummm, yeah, right.  Just not gonna happen.  Period. My problem is that I still allow her to upset me and ruin my days.  I’m still trying to figure out how to handle this and, at this point, am not sure how to, and that further drives me crazy! We have had to make so many changes in our house because of her, for example:  Every time we would cook, she would come out and turn off the stove or oven.  I didn’t know she would do this and one day I came home to what I thought would be dinner all nicely cooked in the oven, to a raw roast freezing cold and uncooked.  Oh, yes. I was furious! Of course, confronting her about it, only a made her do it all the more. If she thinks something is upsetting you, she amps it up and does it more and more. Anyway, I would put a pan on to boil for pasta or whatever, go and do other things, and she would turn off the pan. Or I would put something in the oven to cook or bake, come back a few minutes later and the oven was off.  It was/is so irritating! So, I got child gates and put them up at each end of my kitchen so she couldn’t go in there.  That made her mad, but it worked for awhile until the other day when she pushed on one of the gates until it popped and she got in there.  Same with the refrigerator.  She was constantly leaving the doors open and we had to call the repairman out to fix it twice! So, I put child locks on the fridge.  Great, until one day she got mad and pulled the handle on the door so hard it broke the lock! So now we’ve moved a piece of furniture in front of the one opening to the kitchen (I KNOW!!) and we’ve moved a chair in front of the fridge plus put a new lock on the fridge (I KNOW!!).  The remaining gate is so tight and positioned in such a way that we are praying she can’t knock it out.  Just so it doesn’t sound like we’re heartless, she has her OWN FRIDGE in her room which we stock with her favorite foods and she is still able to get to the glasses and water in the kitchen.  The area of the kitchen I have blocked off is where the stove, oven and pantry are.  The pantry is a whole other story that I shall save for another day when I feel like venting.

I am praying that the Lord will show me how to handle this situation to where I’m not losing my mind.  Confronting her does not work, talking to her does not work, ignoring her does not work, and catering to her does not work.  Frankly, she is an evil person and has a totally obsessive and narcissistic personality that allows her to only consider how things are affecting her and no one else.  What I don’t like is what it is doing to me as a person.  I feel uptight all the time, on edge, and totally stressed.  I try to do as many things at night that I can so I don’t have to deal with her because if I do have to deal with her, she always, ALWAYS, says something cruel that effects me the rest of the day and then I, in turn, affect my wonderful, loving family in a negative way because I’m either crying or ranting. Neither are good and certainly not what the Lord calls me to do as a wife and mother. My friend reminded me the other night that I need to stop it in my mind before I react to it. Absolutely. She’s right. The key to stopping it in my mind? Not there yet, but I know the Lord is growing me through this and He will provide that key and give me the grace I need to handle this….and the love. The love seems impossible right now, but that’s just it, isn’t it? We are called to love the unlovable and, believe me, dear readers, this woman is unlovable, but that’s the point; God couldn’t grow me through this and I couldn’t give him the glory if it wasn’t going to grow me and create in me a more Christ-like Spirit! Pray for me, dear friends, that the Lord would give me the wisdom to know how to handle this and to not allow it to touch my heart.  That’s what this really comes down to, of course, is that I’m allowing her to touch my heart and hurt my feelings.

Today I’m tired. I had 4 hours sleep last night (I’m still battling insomnia) and I really want to go back to sleep, but I can’t and I won’t.  I’m going to get going and do some things for my family that will bless them.  I’m also in the process of writing down my goals for 2011.  Can you believe it? 2011…how weird did it feel to just type that. Anyway, I’m going to make bread today for the freezer and I would like to go through a couple of boxes of mementos that need to be sorted, organized and put away.  After all that, I intend to sit and work on my cross stitch for awhile and enjoy my precious family and my beautiful home that the Lord has so graciously blessed me with.

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Children, Cooking, Family, Home, Hubby, MIL  7 Comments
22
Dec
A Glass Half Full
Julie

It is SO cold here today.  The wind is blowing hard and I can see tumbleweeds moving across our land by the window.  This movement bothers our dogs and they are constantly growling at these big, brown moving objects.  No amount of reassurance can convince them that these are not something to worry about.  Normally, I’m not excited about the wind, but today, I welcome it.  It’s been raining here off and on for days and I’m tired of the mud.  Having the wind blow will at least dry up the wet dirt and make our roads more passable again! I am so thankful for a warm home, my faux fireplace that blows our nice, warm air, and my family around me!

Yesterday, hubby and I ventured out.  I am SO tired of being at home all the time and I think it’s good for me to get moving once in a while.  We went to Safeway because they have the hams for 99 cents a pound.  No, it’s not spiral cut, but do I need to pay an extra dollar to a dollar and a half to have it spiral cut?  We like the flavor of the seasonings on the spiral cut, but again, I can do that!  I got one ham for Christmas and one for the freezer.  The ham has the bone in, so I can put that in a pot with beans and make another meal out of it.  While we were there, I got the red potatoes for the cheesy potatoes that will go with the Christmas ham.  We bought my mother-in-law her stash of goodies – cookies, cupcakes, Dr. Pepper, and donuts.  The Dr. Pepper was on sale, buy 2, get 3 free.  When we checked out, it was quite a sight! It looked like a junk food feast, which of course, it is.  She lives off that stuff, not sure how, but she does. 

It was nice to go out, but even better to get home.  I haven’t been sleeping well for weeks.  My doctor said that the pain pills can have the affect of a stimulant and that’s what’s happening to me.  I’ve always thought that pain pills would knock a person out, but that’s not the case with me.  When I was on larger amounts of pills, they did have that affect, but now I’m just wide awake all the time.  I go to sleep for about an hour or two and then wake up and read until 4 or 5 in the morning.  Then I sleep for about one or two hours again, and then I’m up.  It really is exhausting.  However, and this is huge, I am SO very, very thankful that my pain levels are down.  If I never sleep again but my pain is down, I’m thankful and blessed.  Always look at the glass half full – always look at your blessings.

I’m making McMama’s today with the help of my family.  A McMama is a breakfast sandwich made at home.  I’ll have a picture tutorial soon.  It’s easy and so much cheaper than eating out!  I also have another recipe that I’ll share and it was so very yummy and it made my family happy! That’s always a good thing.  :)

God bless you – Julie

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20
Dec
More Of Him
Julie

This sweet, little tree is on the mountain that sits to the east of my home.  Every year since I’ve lived here, someone decorates this tree on the side of the road.  I’ve lived here 17 years and every year when we drive up the mountain road, there is that tree, lovingly decorated for Christmas.  I have no idea who does it, but we look forward to seeing it and we would be sorely disappointed if one year it was gone.  I haven’t been up the mountain this year, but I’m sure it’s been decorated once again.  There’s something very reassuring when things are always consistent, year after year.

This year has been a year of disruption and learning to deal with a new “normal”.  In March, my mother-in-law came to live with us and our home has not been the same for one moment since.  In early October, I fell and injured my back, herniated 2 of my discs, which gives me a grand total of 3 damaged discs. My youngest son is still dealing with his back issues, too.  My husband has had one eye operation after another in the hopes of stopping the leakage behind his eyes due to his diabetes. I lost my sweet, precious poodle, Tammy Lou, in late October after having her for 12 years. Yes, it’s been a year of tremendous change!

Other changes that have definitely brightened my life are my role as a Bible study leader and working an afternoon in my church office.  Seeing my sons working together in college and working toward their futures has been wonderful. Making so many wonderful, new friends and re-connecting with other friends has blessed me beyond measure.  Having the Lord open so many doors for us to grow in character and walk closer with Him is definitely the greatest blessing. He uses the bad things to grow us in the good things – they really go hand in hand.  It’s not always easy to remember that or be content in that, but it is still true.

I don’t want to make it sound like I wake up every morning and thank the Lord for my mother-in-law or my pain.  I don’t.  I have to talk with Him for awhile before I’m able to let it go and praise him for even those things.  I also confess that I’m still working on it – day by day.  I’m still having attitude issues regarding all these things but through Christ, who strengthens me, I will be able to lay it all down at the foot of his throne and THANK him for these things.

I’m praying for more of Him and less of me. . . daily!

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Faith, Family, Hubby, Sons  3 Comments
16
Dec
A Perfect Day
Julie

I had my back shot this morning.  It wasn’t as horrible as I had made up in my mind it would be.  I’ve had them before, but it’s been awhile.  I was sedated, so that was a good thing, and my doctor was very friendly and kind. I think I owe that to my son, though, whom I was told is my doctor’s favorite patient! LOL  They talk football together and they really enjoy each other.  I’m praying that this shot will help me and take my pain levels down.  I scheduled another shot for about a month from now.  He would have liked to have done another one in 2 weeks, but he’s going out of town and won’t be back until a month from now.  I know it’s all in God’s timing, so it will be perfect.  Keep me in your prayers, if you think about it, that this shot will help me and reduce my pain so I can at least get back to the things I enjoy doing!

After the shot, hubby went and got me a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha coffee! :)   I’m married to a great guy! He also got me a quilting magazine called, “Quilt Life”.  I’ve never heard of it and am anxious to see what it’s all about.  My hubby is always doing sweet thing like that for me and I’m blessed.

It’s raining here today and it’s a wonderful day to sit in my recliner, with my quilts tucked around me and the heating pad on my back, and nap and rest.  I’m also going to work on my Bible study and then later, play some Guild Wars with my son.  Personally, I think that’s a perfect day. 

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Bible Study, Family, Hubby, Sons  One Comment
01
Dec
A Journey of Pain
Julie

It hasn’t been easy, this journey of pain I’ve been on for over two months.  Just writing “two months” shakes me to my very core.  I never, ever thought I would still be battling pain this badly after two months.  Never…but I am. I know that having two injured discs in my back (plus a third weakened one) is not child’s play, yet I really thought at this point I would be doing better.  It’s really a day by day process.

I’ve been taking pain pills and I’m noticing that they are affecting my thyroid levels, so there’s that issue, too.  Some days I’m battling not only pain, but anger and/or depression.  Yes, that’s to be expected with the pain issues, but add the thyroid thing in, and you have one crazy woman! lol  The morphine is really starting to affect me and I’m going to call my doctor and see about getting a smaller dosage or a pill that I can at least break in half when I need to.  I’ve had some really strange dreams while being on the morphine.

I have really, really been trying to handle this whole thing with grace because I know one thing – I’m exactly where God wants me to be at this time.  It’s His will.  He is growing me, changing me, building character in me and breaking those unbroken areas in my life that need to be broken. Yeah, it hurts – no doubt about it. However, I would rather be in pain and following the Lord and yielding to His will than to be perfectly fine and doing my own thing without Him.  I’ve done that and it really stinks.  Really. Stinks.

To help myself focus on what God wants and not my pain, I’ve been writing out index cards with Scriptures that really speak to me or comfort me.  I have these wonderful index cards that have different colored stripes across them.  I have no idea where I got them, but I love the fact that I can color-code my Scriptures.  It has really helped me to search the Bible for Scriptures and then write them out on card.  There’s something very special and healing about writing out the Word of God in long hand.  I’m working on learning these Scriptures by heart as I know hiding the Word of God in my heart is the greatest treasure. 

I’ve also been very blessed by my family and friends.  My family never, ever makes me feel like a burden (although I’m sure it must feel that way at times) and they have all been so supportive and kind through all this.  My friends have been so wonderful, too.  I’ve gotten phone calls, cards, e-cards, emails, and the other day, flowers.  They have all encouraged me and helped me to feel not so alone or isolated.

Yes, there’s that.  Isolation.  When you’re in pain, you’re isolated.  I’m having to stay at home the majority of the time and all the activities I was doing, are put on the shelf for the time being.  It’s been especially hard in the area of my serving at church.  No one has made me feel bad for my inability to serve  but it’s hard to give up those things that I enjoy doing so much.  I’ve been so blessed, though, that they have worked with me regarding all my serving and made it possible for me to do what I can.  I have to say, I really am in the best church with the best people, ever.  The fellowship there is just that – fellowship.  What a blessing!

So, yes, I’m in pain, Yes, it’s hard . . .sometimes I cry, not just because of the pain, but because of the loss of not being able to do so many things.  Through it all, though, I have one thing that never changes.  The Lord, Jesus Christ.  He is the same always and He cares and is with me through all this.  I really couldn’t go through all this if I didn’t have Him.  He is my Rock on whom I stand.

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Church, Family, Pain  4 Comments
01
Dec
A Journey of Pain
Julie

It hasn’t been easy, this journey of pain I’ve been on for over two months.  Just writing “two months” shakes me to my very core.  I never, ever thought I would still be battling pain this badly after two months.  Never…but I am. I know that having two injured discs in my back (plus a third weakened one) is not child’s play, yet I really thought at this point I would be doing better.  It’s really a day by day process.

I’ve been taking pain pills and I’m noticing that they are affecting my thyroid levels, so there’s that issue, too.  Some days I’m battling not only pain, but anger and/or depression.  Yes, that’s to be expected with the pain issues, but add the thyroid thing in, and you have one crazy woman! lol  The morphine is really starting to affect me and I’m going to call my doctor and see about getting a smaller dosage or a pill that I can at least break in half when I need to.  I’ve had some really strange dreams while being on the morphine.

I have really, really been trying to handle this whole thing with grace because I know one thing – I’m exactly where God wants me to be at this time.  It’s His will.  He is growing me, changing me, building character in me and breaking those unbroken areas in my life that need to be broken. Yeah, it hurts – no doubt about it. However, I would rather be in pain and following the Lord and yielding to His will than to be perfectly fine and doing my own thing without Him.  I’ve done that and it really stinks.  Really. Stinks.

To help myself focus on what God wants and not my pain, I’ve been writing out index cards with Scriptures that really speak to me or comfort me.  I have these wonderful index cards that have different colored stripes across them.  I have no idea where I got them, but I love the fact that I can color-code my Scriptures.  It has really helped me to search the Bible for Scriptures and then write them out on card.  There’s something very special and healing about writing out the Word of God in long hand.  I’m working on learning these Scriptures by heart as I know hiding the Word of God in my heart is the greatest treasure. 

I’ve also been very blessed by my family and friends.  My family never, ever makes me feel like a burden (although I’m sure it must feel that way at times) and they have all been so supportive and kind through all this.  My friends have been so wonderful, too.  I’ve gotten phone calls, cards, e-cards, emails, and the other day, flowers.  They have all encouraged me and helped me to feel not so alone or isolated.

Yes, there’s that.  Isolation.  When you’re in pain, you’re isolated.  I’m having to stay at home the majority of the time and all the activities I was doing, are put on the shelf for the time being.  It’s been especially hard in the area of my serving at church.  No one has made me feel bad for my inability to serve  but it’s hard to give up those things that I enjoy doing so much.  I’ve been so blessed, though, that they have worked with me regarding all my serving and made it possible for me to do what I can.  I have to say, I really am in the best church with the best people, ever.  The fellowship there is just that – fellowship.  What a blessing!

So, yes, I’m in pain, Yes, it’s hard . . .sometimes I cry, not just because of the pain, but because of the loss of not being able to do so many things.  Through it all, though, I have one thing that never changes.  The Lord, Jesus Christ.  He is the same always and He cares and is with me through all this.  I really couldn’t go through all this if I didn’t have Him.  He is my Rock on whom I stand.

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Church, Family, Pain  Comments off
30
Nov
Our Thanksgiving
Julie

We had a very nice yet quiet Thanksgiving.  The food was delicious (if I do say so myself) and I loved the company of my family.  It was just our little, immediate family, but it was so nice.  I couldn’t have done the dinner without all the loving help of my husband and sons.  I’m still battling the pain but I wanted to have a Thanksgiving dinner for us so I just planned ahead and did things in increments.  I started some of the preparations on Tuesday and then on Wednesday, I made the pie, boiled the yams, made the dressing (stuffing) and did any chopping or prep work I would need to do for Thursday morning.  On Thursday morning, I got up early (for me) and my hubby helped me get the 25 pound turkey out of the fridge and into the pan, stuff it, and then stick it in the oven!  That big boy was really heavy!  This year we did something we’ve never done – bought a fresh turkey.  It was so nice!  No hoping it wasn’t frozen solid inside, no chopping out the innards because the center is still a block of ice!! Plus, I have to say, it was the best, most juicy turkey we have ever had!  Here’s a picture of that lovely turkey after it came out of the oven.

This turkey was so huge, he hung over the edge of my big roasting pan!  It was actually splattering juices over the edge into the oven and causing smoke.  I had to have my husband take it out of the oven at one point and vent the tin foil so it would quit spitting.  The leg was stuck to the side of the pan-hence it’s rather disturbing look in the picture.  lol 

I also made bean green casserole – it was so, so yummy!  We like lots of extra french-fried onions, as you can see.

I pre-cooked the yams, then dotted it with butter, sprinkled it with brown sugar and cooked it until hot.  At the last minute, I added the marshmallows and baked them until melted.  It was heavenly!

Can you see all that lovely butter just oozing off those yams.  Paula Deen has nothing on me!!

I also made something I’ve never made for Thanksgiving before, but my youngest son requested it, so I added it to the menu and I think it’s going to be a new favorite for Thanksgiving – creamed corn! Just look at that golden yummy-ness!

We had mashed potatoes and gravy.  I just had to take a picture of the gravy that I made from scratch in my huge cast-iron skillet.  Oh, it was SO good!  There’s nothing like cooking in cast iron.  I use cast iron skillets exclusively. 

We also had cranberry sauce.  I’m one of those people that likes it out of the can and, not only that, but I like it jellied and to keep the shape of the can!  I plop it out on a plate and just cut it into slices.  :)

This year I decided to have Pillsbury Croissants.  They are one of my favorites and always make me think of the holidays as my Mother always served them at her holiday meals.  Here are mine all tucked away in a bowl with a towel to keep them warm.

I have to say, this was one of the easiest Thanksgiving ever.  With all my prep work ahead of time, and everyone pitching in to help, it was just a fun time.  When I was in pain, I would sit on my kitchen stool and chop or slice or mix while sitting.  I’ve learned it’s okay to do that. 

We had pumpkin pie that hubby got from Sam’s Club.  Normally, I would make my pumpkin pie, but since we had so much left over, I didn’t want to make another one.  Instead, I made my Grandmother’s chocolate pie.  Oh. My. Goodness.  There is nothing like it.  I forgot to take a picture, so I don’t have one.  :(   I’ve been asked many times for that recipe, but it’s definitely a secret.  Actually, I’m working on putting together a recipe book and some day it will be available in there, but until then . . . mums the word. 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with your family.  I am so thankful to our Lord for all His many blessings he has given me and I thank Him every day, not just on Thanksgiving.  I’m so thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and then everything else trickles down from there.  God is so good.

God bless you – Julie

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Category: Family, Holidays  5 Comments
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