Random thoughts on the D's

I suppose that I have been on a bit of a blog vacation lately. I really have been in a writing block and really haven't had much to say. I'm sure some of you readers that check my blog are like...... HELLO what is happening in life outside the city limits... or maybe you have totally written me off. Well I'm still here. Putt puttin' through life. Our house came off the market and we are contemplating a forsalebyowner.com listing. Perhaps lowering our price also. Mr. D had his men's group tonight so Miss D is catching a video right now waiting for him to get home. What better time to blog right. I guess this is turning out to be longer than I thought. My garden is going great. It could really use some warm weather so that my tomatoes will ripen and my corn will get done! I had my first crop harvest of beans tonight. I'm loving my hair cut... it is so easy and every time I catch a glimpse in the mirror I'm so glad that I cut it off. Mr. D is turning 30 in a few weeks! Crazy! We will also celebrate our 7th anniversary in September. I was trying to remember what we have done each year for that day and my brain stopped working at the 2nd anniversary. We usually go out to our favorite restaurant. Ruth's Chris Steak House. We won't be going there this year. We lack the dinero! No gots a the $ for that. We use to say Happy Annisteaksary... but this past week we have been joking about a Happy GoldenArch'sversary. (wow spellcheck didn't like those words!) If you know us you will know that is our humor..a little wierd... but some of you may think... what weirdos. But we are perfect for each other and are so thankful for each other everyday. Thanks for hanging in with me on my blog vacation and I'm sure soon that I will have things to talk about! BSF is starting soon and I'm so excited. Last year I invited a best friend to join me and we got put in the same group... not usually the norm. And we are in the same group this year AGAIN! Thanks God for that special gift.

Weekend Wedding

The flowers turned out great. The transport however left much to be desired. I had rigged up what Mr. D and I thought would work like a charm. But as I was pulling out of the driveway I was thinking otherwise. Remember these florals had lilies in them... they don't take to falling over very well. They get bruised and battered. I made it to the bottom of our road. I had to pull off the road to readjust the florals that were teetering in the back of my car. I had put a waterproof table cloth and a towel underneath the arrangements for the ride. Good thing because I needed them for propping after I took out the florals and put them in another way. But they were very front heavy and wanted to fall forward. So I rigged up a way for them to each be laying on their "back" against the sides of the back of the car..It worked! But I'm sure the people that were following me around the corners didn't like me so much. I took them so slow because depending on the right or left turn on or the other could fall against the other one. Did that make any sense? I dropped Miss D off at my parents house for a nap (that never happened) and headed ever so carefully over to the church. I brought them in and set them up and the one on the left kept wanting to fall forward. Not something that you want to happen during a wedding. So I went on the hunt for a small couple rocks that I could put in the back of the arrangement and weigh down the back of the container... so that it wouldn't fall forward. I couldn't find one anywhere! I headed back to see my cousin the beautiful BRIDE and back in the nursery of the church is where my cousin's husband found a rock for me. It was a bit big.. but designed perfect because it was slightly heart shaped so I could rest it half way in the container and half way on the table. It worked like a charm. They stayed in place for the wedding and then were moved downstairs for the reception. I didn't move them and only a few people even knew that I had made them. I'm not sure who moved them downstairs... but they didn't take note of the rock . Once they were downstairs and set on the pedestals that they were to sit on.... lefty kept falling forward. So I sat in my chair with a "tail light guarantee" that once the tail lights are gone the guarantee is up... my cousin's husband (the rock hound) must have went back upstairs to get the rock to hold the container from falling forward... but a man had to stand there and hold it until he got back. The beauty in this story is that the bride and groom will never know that any of this happened because her people rose to the occasion to make her day perfect... as it was I'm sure.!

This week flew by. Monday was the only day that we were home all day.. other than Friday too. Mr. D cam e home form being out of town again all week. Miss D and I stayed very busy. We had a bridal shower on Tuesday. A bbq birthday on Wednesday. We went to pick up flowers and do lunch with some fabulous family. Then Mr. D was home and we played in the "pool" and took naps. We had a great relaxing day yesterday. Today we are getting ready to go to a wedding. I did some flowers for the wedding last night. Two alter arrangements. They turned out really nice. Blues with a hint of orange. I put some cream lilies in there to break up the color a little. I will post pics once I get them down to the church. That transport should be interesting. I had to measure the back of my Jeep so that I could make sure that I could fit them in once they were completed. It will be a slow go to make sure that they don't topple over. It should be a fun day. My cousin is getting married at the same church that Mr. D and I got married at almost 7 years ago. I haven't been back since (it was my childhood church) and it will be nice to hear the organ pay the same wedding march that was played for me. It was gloriously loud and beautiful. My garden is booming. We had cucumber and cauliflower with tomato lunch yesterday. My beets are about done and the corn has cobs that are forming!!! It has been so fun. I went out yesterday and spent some time before it got to hot. I was weeding and poking around. It is just so peaceful. Off to continue to get ready. We have to leave to get the flowers to the church before pictures get started. I also have to take Miss D to her Grandma's house to get a nap before the wedding. Uggg... what busyness. Fun Fun though! Pray for a safe and easy transport for the flowers.

Good but not that good!

Last night Mr. D and I felt like sharing a bottle of wine. We each had a glass and the rest is left in the carafe. I'm thinking that the bottle came from a friend that left it at our house. We use to meet every week on Thursday for Friends nite.. to hang out and watch that show. You can see that was a while ago.. that show isn't on anymore. Anywhoo... I grabbed it from the wine rack and we popped it open. It was... good. As Mr. D was uncorking a thought went through my head. I wonder if it is worth any money. It was a 1989 and it was just sitting on my wine rack for years. I bet that I've had it since 2000. We enjoyed it... but today I thought to humor my curiosity and google the writing on the bottle. It is in French.. so I had no idea what the name was. So I typed in all the info that I thought was important. Guess what I found out... you don't even want to know. Click below to see the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!

wine worth what!?!

I will be enjoying the rest tonight... perhaps with a new appreciation.

A day at the fair

Mr. D was off from work on Friday and so we decided to head out for a family day at the fair. Miss D loved the rides! She also loved the animals too! It was an overcast day with sun breaks later in the day. It was perfect weather. Miss D took a 2 hour nap in the stroller while we strolled the exibits. We had such a great family day!

Welcome Home Mr. D

We welcomed Mr. D home tonight from being gone all week. I made Meatloaf and he asked for me to make it just like his mom did. It is her recipe and I have made it so many times and each time it just isn't the same. I'm sure all you wives out there are feeling me on that one. Well tonight I got it spot on. Moist and full of flavor. I think the full of flavor was because Miss D was helping me make it and she was in charge of shaking the spices in. She didn't listen to well to the first, second and third time I said stop. So we were heavier than normal on garlic salt... perhaps that was the key. I had a special helper in the kitchen and I thought it would be fun for her to help with the mashing of the meatloaf. She dug right in and didn't mind the feel at all. We had fun cooking together. She is getting so good at being careful and listening. Mr. D also came home to as you can see in the picture me with a new hairdo! I was fed up with my long hair and called to get a hair appt. I was able to get in this morning. My mom strolled Miss D around while I was getting my hair CHOPPED. She put it in a ponytail and then cut it off. The pony tail is about 10 inches long. Locks of Love anyone! So I had the pony tail on the counter when he walked in from being gone all week. I was upstairs.. I heard him come and greet Miss D.. Then I came down the stairs... Surprise honey I butched my hair. I'm so not attached to my hair at all. I love a good change. I also love the woman that cuts my hair at Toni N Guy. I have never had a bad haircut in my life... the price I paid I cannot udder aloud. I have done a few floral jobs in the last few weeks so that in my head justified the expense. And also because I haven't had a hair cut since February. So long to my long hair... hello to fun and short new do!

8 all time favorite shows

Eight Crazy Post 3

Today it's my EIGHT ALL TIME favorite TV shows. Don't forget to join in on the EightCraziness and post about your 8 all time favs on your blog!

#1 LOST

#2 Friends

#3 So You Think You Can Dance

#4 Seinfeld

#5 ER

#6 Brady Bunch

#7 This Week In Nascar (speed channel)

#8 America's Next Top Model

These are in kinda random order.
My all time favorite is LOST for sure...Number 7 is my new favorite show. Don't judge me k!

Eight Crazy Post 2

In keeping with Eightcrazy.........................

Here are 8 of my favorite things

Musicals

This Rock

My Favorite kind of Ice Cream

Scene out the front windows

My Love in a Cup Drink maker

My Miss D

My Marriage

Anything painted by Monet

you don't even want to know how long it took to load 8 pictures!

My little Miss D has been coming out of her room in the middle of the night and climbing into bed with me... not cool!

We decided to bribe her with stickers to say in her bed all night. Three stickers and then she gets to go to the dollar tree and pick out a treat. So in 3 nights.... she had 3 stickers... it worked! After church on we headed to the store so that she could pick out whatever she wanted to buy. I asked her on the way what she was going to get... she said "fruit snacks". Ok whatever.. I did tell her that she could get whatever she wanted. I don't buy her fruit snacks so here was her chance to get some! She had said that she wanted purple fruit snacks. I wondered if the dollar tree would even have fruit snack let along purple ones. My little prophetic girl... I knew that she had never seen fruit snacks in the dollar tree before. We have only been there a few times. After a few times up and down the aisles I came across the fruit snacks. They were on the top shelf of the aisle and there were only one kind. Guess what color the box was... PURPLE. Crazy huh.. I think my little girl may have a gifting. This is not the 1st time that she has surprised me with something like this. But that is a whole different post...

We opened the box and there was 4 packets... so 3 more stickers and she gets to have another packet. What has happened the last 2 nights... climbing back in bed with me! I need to crack down tonight! Mr. D is out of town for work and I do have to admit that I like to snuggle with my little Miss D! Not tonight though! I'm cracking down... I'm not backslidding!

Eight Crazy to go along with Eight

Eighth comment
I had to go back to November of 2006... here it is...


Jim said...
Wow. Now that is a coffee lover.
7:15 PM
here is a link to read what he is talking about.... my little Miss D of course.


Eighth post
back to Oct 2006 for this one... here it is So True.

WHY GO TO CHURCH? A Church-goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So I think I'm wasting time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals, but for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing .... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment! REMEMBER: FAITH MAKES THINGS POSSIBLE...NOT EASY ! Author- Unknown For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16-17

Click on over to Eightcrazy to see what this post is all about... also check the calender to see that this friday is 08-08-08~!

whoo hoo

the picture tells all............!

They love me... They really love me!

I am the featured chef TODAY! How cool is that. Hop on over to this great site and share in my Saucy Chef Sits Day! Plus enjoy the recipes that they posted of mine. I had 13 comments about the recipes and it was very cool to wake up to some comment love!

Cherry Delight

I'm really wishing that I would have taken a picture of the yummy dessert that I made last night for our Community Group. I had to bring snacks... so I included my signature Hummus to big dipped with cucumbers and Pita chips. Then I brought a tub of Licorice which was a total hit with the kids. I brought Mango Peach Salsa (from Costco). Then served with Vanilla Ice Cream was a Cherry Delight as seen on page 248 from the cookbook pictured above. Credit Given where due to Anna Musser of Manhein, PA and Marianne J. Troyer of Millersburg, OH.

CHERRY DELIGHT

Make 10-12 servings. (I doubled it and I think that it could totally be tripled for a large crowd)

• 21-oz. can cherry pie filling
• 1 pkg. yellow cake mix
• 1/2 butter, melted
• 1/2 cup walnuts, optional (I skipped the walnuts)

1. Place pie filling in greased slow cooker.

2. Combine dry cake mix and butter (mixture will be crumbly). Sprinkle over filling. Sprinkle with walnuts.

3. Cover and cook on Low for 4 hours, or on High 2 hours.

4. Allow to cool, then serve in bowls with dips of ice cream.

Note: For a less rich, less sweet dessert, use only half the cake mix and only 1/4 cup butter, melted.

This was a total hit. Since I double the recipe I used a really big slow cooker. That way there was more surface area for scooping and even cooking. There were equal parts cake mix and cherry filling. Downfall to using a small slow cooker.. first it may not all fit, that would be a huge mess during the transfer to a bigger slow cooker.... cake mix would be mixed in with the pie filling and then it would be a sort of Cherry Delight dessert casserole (hmmm... I may be on to something there).Then it would be to deep for adequate scooping portion proportion. (did you get all that?) Best advice is use a big slow cooker if you are going to double the recipe. And that is all I have to say about that.

Look at you Girl

The song that pops up first on my music player is the song that Mr. D and I danced our first dance to at our wedding...Look at you Girl. Mr. D picked it. Ain't that sweet!

Garden and Life Update

I had to spray for Caterpillars(note the holes in the leaves) on my Broccoli and Cauliflower (sorry all your organic people out there...guess I won't be sharing with you). I had to be done or else the grubs would be in the fruit and I would be cleaning them out after the harvest and NO THANKS. Better to just spray and KILL so there would be no more damage. I sprayed last Monday and just sprayed again today. Everything else in the garden is growing great. My carrots have finally taken off... and the second crop I planted is up about a inch and leafing out. The tomatoes are covered in blooms and my corn is growing at fill steam. Corn sure does take alot of fertilizer... Can't wait to start the harvest. Having a garden is so much fun. I'm close to getting my 1st zucchini! Don't you love my hanging baskets. They are huge. If you know me then you will know where I got them... gotta love the family business. Keeps things around here very colorful! They are beginning to need daily water.... which can get a little lame. But well worth the daily sweep of the front porch to look out the window and see these. I picked up this little treasure at a garage sale for a steal... it is an antique cart. I planted it up with some pretties.. and isn't it cute.

We showed our house (yes it is still for sale) yesterday. I showed it to the couple that own the property next to us. He has always liked our house and yesterday brought his wife over to look inside. They loved it. He jokingly said that they would have an offer to us in a few weeks. I've learned not to hold my breathe regarding that statement. We have had numerous people like our house. I have to admit that it does show very well. Picture perfect as put by the last realtor that showed our house. How could it not be on a clear day with a view like this. I'm sure going to miss it when we sell. But I know that God has blessed us with this land and house... how much more could He bless again. That is where trust and faith come into the picture. We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for our future. The waiting sure is hard.... but we are enjoying everyday that we have here and God has used the time well. We have built wonderful new friendships and deepened some existing bonds. It is an interesting time.. but it is forcing us to wait upon the Lord knowing that HE has a plan to prosper and not to harm... we a learning to live each day as the present. We are also learning not to live in the future because we have done that in the past. And the future will never exist. It will only ever be the present. So striving for that daily has been a challenge.. but so very fulfilling.

Wondering Wednesday

Today I'm starting a weekly day with a question. What better day to do it than Wednesday?

I want to know what "grinds your gears"?

Today for me it is a sprinkler system that we paid $6000.00 (we paid by zone and we have 18 zones)(we have 2 acres to water)that doesn't cover and water our entire lawn. Once the nice and hot days of summer arrive our lawn starts to look like junk! We have been running each lawn zone starting at 1am and the whole process finishes up around 10am. Then I've resorted to running the system mid-day starting at 1pm and just running the lawn zones for times a week. I have to say that the installer worked really hard and I have to admit that it was a very large job... BUT since we paid by the zone I would think that each zone would do a significant job covering and watering the lawn completely. There are a few spots that get double water where the sprinklers overlap and those area are kinda lush... but there are some serious dry spots (those spots I can stand in while the sprinklers are running and not get wet). We have to run some of the zones for more than 30 minutes just to get the lawn damp. Ugggh...We are on a well so our water bill isn't the issue. For me it is the constant running of the sprinklers and then the one sprinkler that we bought at Ace Hardware...(the rotary cheep-o kind) that I have to drag around the yard to get the dry and dead looking spots watered. With that sprinkler it does cover a large circle... but I have to leave it running for like 4 hours in one location to even make a difference. On Monday I was adjusting the cheep-o movable sprinkler to a spot in the front yard and it has a cheep-o plastic stake that it attached to... well as I was pushing it down into the soil I about slipped and fell on my face in the yard. I was on the phone at the time (I don't think that had anything to do with it...:-) But I got a face and shirt full of sprinkler. Good thing I didn't have any mascara on yet or I would have looked like a black runny mess of a face.

That is what grinds my gears today and I look forward to seeing who out there has anything to post about what grinds their gears. If you do a post make sure to leave me a comment so I can come and check out what grinds your gears... or just leave me comment ( I do love some comment love).

Mrs. D Hummus

To all who have had my hummus.. and to those looking for a hummus recipe here you go.

I have had MANY requests for my hummus recipe and I have finally measured out what I put in. I just make it by a little of this and a little of that... but how can I pass it on that way?

• 2 cans of S & W Garbanzo Beans(drained)



• with the beans you could get the dry kind and boil them... I would say 1 1/2 Cup of dried beans would do.



• 1 1/2 teaspoon Minced Garlic (the canned kind)



• 2 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice (the little plastic lemon kind)



• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream (I also use plain yogurt too)



• 3/4 teaspoon Salt



• 1/3 Cup EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

You need a Food Processor for this dish... I add the first 5 ingredients then blend. After it is well blended as the processor is blending add the EVOO. It will blend in to the perfect consistency. Play around with recipe a little and make it your own. Each time it is a little different.. but now I will stick to this list so that it will be a little more predictable.

Ideas that I've thought about adding...

• olives



• roasted red peppers



• more garlic

...........if you try anything that is a hit make sure to leave me a comment so that I can try it.

Hope you enjoy~ I serve it with tortillas & red peppers for dipping. But that is open for discussion. Crackers are a good staple also.

Store the extra in the fridge and add it to a sandwich or a wrap.

Saucy Site

Check out this new site... giveaways, recipes and bloggin fun!

I linked to a blog from there and found this yummy little ditty that I will surely try as soon as I get fresh yellow squash from my garden! She put it in the cutest little star dish! Check it out!

Whoa... Crazy

"Extremely rare" Twins born in Germany—One Black, One White

Aimee Herd

(July 18, 2008)"Ryan came first and everything was as usual, but when Leo was born, I couldn't believe my eyes."(Berlin, Germany)—German residents, Florence and Stephan, must have been excited at the arrival of their expected twins, but they had no idea their newborns would turn out to be "two-in-a-million." Mum, Florence, hails from Ghana in western Africa and dad, Stephan, from Potsdam in Germany. The mixed race couple’s babies were born with different skin colors—one black, the other white.Dr. Birgit Weber described the remarkable birth, "Ryan came first, and everything was as usual. But when Leo was born, I couldn't believe my eyes."Watch a SKY NEWS video of the twins at the link provided. Source: Staff – SKY News "Watch a SKY NEWS video of the twins at the link provided. Source: Staff – SKY News

Good thing that they were a mixed race couple.... if not someone would have some explaining to do!

Sharing a little view

I know I know..
Our house is for sale.. but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the time that I have left. Here is a few pictures from today as I walked around our land. The fertilizer is kicking in and everything is looking amazing. Hmmm I should include some before shots... Let's see if the pics that I'm trying to load go through. I just never know with dial-up. Miss D saw her first lizard yesterday. It was about 8 inches long and so little. Cute but a bit of an evil stare. We didn't get to close. It was hiding out ((just got an error message on the pics.. will try again) loading 4 this time and not 5) under the climbing baby rose. I took a pic of that bush too.. it was given to me at what was suppose to be my baby shower for Hazel. But instead it was a shower for me and Miss D. I was spoiled with a massage, pedi and lots of other blessings. One of which was that rose bush. Well this season it has doubled in size and is covered with blooms. I can see the mountain so clear today and I hear the sprinkler in the (error again.. will try 3 pics this time) distance watering the lawn. (miss d is napping) We have to supplement the sprinkler system during the hot weather because it just doesn't cut it. We get dry spots in the grass and it looks hideous. My garden is growing great. I have my 1st bloom on my zucchini plant and it is already pushing out a fruit(error again will try 2 pics). It is so peaceful here outside the city limits...I wonder where God will take us after we sell our house. We are ready for an adventure!

Be Patient

Be Patient

Don't be in such a hurry

When you get impatient

You only start to worry

Remember

Remember

God is patient too

And Think of all the times when others have to wait for you.