Friday Favorite

Click here for my favorite laugh this week.

Friday Favorites - Birthday Girl

Let me tell you a story about a girl who between the ages of 4 - 7 years old that I and later to find out others had a real personality conflict with:

I was around her only so that I could hang out with one of my best friends, her mom. She seemed to think her mom was placed on the earth to see to her every little need and I thought I was placed in her life to show her that wasn't true, thus the personality conflict. Well, long story even longer, her dad moved both of them away and I thought the only redeeming factor about the move was that I wouldn't be around this little angel as a teenager. Well, lo and behold, the little stinker grew into a beautiful, fun loving, most of the time respectful, and responsible teenager who is turning 19 today. I have liked her more as a teenager than I ever did as a 4 year old.

I'm so thankful that God is growing her into a godly person who will do GREAT things in her life.

H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y Beth !!!! Love ya.

Friday after Thanksgiving Favorites

Yes, I am one of the silly people who got up very early this morning and headed out to the stores to try to catch a bargain or two. Gotta love the bargins I saw at Walmart this a.m. I got a smaller digital camera that will stay in my purse so that I can always be prepared to catch those Kodak moments. My sister in law & I were back home by 5:30 a.m. I just love Black Friday shopping.

Friday Favorites

I love this cold weather!!! That brings me to my favorite thing today and that is a semi-homemade soup that is so easy to do! The hardest thing about this soup is browning some ground turkey or beef whichever is your preference:

1 lb ground turkey or beef (browned)
2 cans Rotel
2 cans Ranch Style beans
3 cans Minestrone soup (I use Campbell's and add 3 cans of water)

Brown and drain your meat and throw the contents of the cans in a pot with your meat (I usually will add a couple of cans of other vegetables: corn, green beans, mixed vegetables, etc). Cook it until it is hot and serve with cornbread or one of my other Friday favorites Spicy Crackers, it makes a great hot and quick meal for a cold Friday night.

Friday Favorites

Click here to see my favorite funny story of the week. You just have to love kids.

Friday Favorites

Today's favorite highlights a couple who have been Uncle D and Aunt J's friends since before we were married and that was a long time ago. They are in town visiting this weekend from the country. I want to share a couple pictures of our time with them last August at the farm:

They are the BEST and we love them loads.

Friday Favorites

My Friday Favorites today are my favorite second and third grade teachers in my family. I had the opportunity this past Monday to spend the day with some second graders and what fun I had. I can tell you that these two teachers have a heart for the children they teach. Just wanted to let them know how proud I am to be their Aunt J. Love ya M & D.

Friday Favorites

BFFs - aren't they grand! You know how sometimes you just make a connection with someone and you know they are going to be a good friend? This is how I felt when I got to know my lunch buddy, LaDonna. She and I share similar upbringings, outlooks and faith. We both love to sing but she has the talent and I only have the love of singing. She has even been known to break out in song in the breakroom which sometimes gets us some really funny looks. She is a member of Sweet Adelines International which is a world-wide organization of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony. Her chorus is leaving for Hawaii for competition in November and they have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC in February 2009. They also have a show tomorrow night "The Road to Broadway" and I hope it goes well. I'm glad to say she is my favorite lunch buddy.

Friday Favorites

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I begin to think about the soups, stew and chili that will be a staple in our house during the fall and winter. My favorite accompaniment to those are Spicy Crackers and I'm going to share my recipe with you. You'll need:

Box of saltine crackers (you can substitute oyster or Ritz crackers)
1 1/3 cup canola oil
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
2-3 tablespoons of red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like them)

Dump all the crackers into a gallon container (original recipe said this container had to be glass but a gallon zip lock bag can be used). Mix the canola oil, dressing mix and red pepper flakes together (I usually whisk to make sure it is mixed really good). Now pour this mixture over the crackers and then jiggle, flip and work with the container until all the crackers have been coated. Then jiggle and flip the container a couple of times each day for the next 4 days and then enjoy. (We never can wait 4 days and have been known to start eating them after letting them marinate for 2 days or so.) I promise these are really, really good to eat by themselves too.

Friday Favorites

Here are a couple of my favorite role models. They are both women of faith that love the Lord and are faithful servants. I want to be just like them when I grow up.

Friday Favorites

One of our most favorite places to eat is El Paseo: great chips, salsa and food. The Pollo Asada is very good and our favorite entree to split. We never know who we will run into there. If you have never tried it, you should.