Day 19: Little Known Facts

Ok, today I'm going to share some little known facts with you!

Since it is the 19th, I'll list 19 things.

I'll start off by listing  a few things about myself...

1. I'm currently obsessed with salsa and fresh cilantro!!! Yum!

2. I love soup- more than likely, if I'm cooking, it is some sort of soup

3. I hate washing any kind of condiment off of dinner plates...ewww, grosses me out!

Especially mustard...I hate mustard!

4. I have a crooked top lip- one side is puffier than the other, it makes putting on red 

lipstick a little tricky.

5. I love dolphins!

6. I've never been to the ocean

7. I used to have repeating dreams about rocks 

and those colorful pick-up sticks in a reflective room.

8. I'm allergic to horses.

9. For Valentine's Day once, I and my girlfriend went toilet shopping. No joke.

10. I totally wrestled a guy to the ground once in a skirt playing spoons...I won. 

The spoon looked like the letter 'U'.

11. I'm certified in the Science of Iridology, Kinesiology and Herbology.

And now here are some USEFUL little known facts.

12. 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs equals 1 teaspoon.

13. Yeast and mold in the body are the main causes of most diseases/illness and physical issues.

14. Your stomach can get jostled out of place by sneezing hard, throwing up, wrestling etc.

and it can cause stomach aches, difficultly breathing, back pains etc. 

But you can easily pull/tug it back in place on your own. 

15. Fluoride was invented in Germany under Hitler and is actually used to make

people more docile, accepting and dumbed down. 

(Article here and here.)

16. Sugar is as addictive as cocaine.

 

17. Tea Tree/Melaluca oil or Slippery Elm herb can be used to stop bleeding.

18. Clove oil (diluted in olive oil) rubbed onto the gum and tooth is good for tooth ache.

19. Heart burn is often caused by a kinked esophagus...to fix this,

position your hands right under your sternum (the middle of your chest, where your ribs meet)

and tug downward in a jerking motion down to your belly button. Repeat.

This will be sensitive if it is kinked, but just keep tugging!

And there you go!

A few things to get you thinking, have a great day!

~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

Day 17: Five Favorites, Pinterest Recipes

Today I'm going to share with you

my top five favorite tried-and-true Pinterest recipes to date!

 

Top Five Pinterest Recipes 

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

 Brought to you by Chef Mommy,

this recipe is a family favorite and has been for over a year.

During the colder months it stays on high meal rotation.

Not only is this soup oober yummy, it is really easy!

I've made a few changes to the recipe such as adding:

water chestnuts

thyme, marjoram and oregano (about 1tsp each)

By skipping the cream and thickening part at the end,

I've also created a version that is dairy and gluten free for the other half of the family.

Easy Home Made French Bread

I've lost count of how many times I've made this wonderful recipe!

This recipe from Deals to Meals is just what the name says...easy!

With just a little bit of planning, 

I can whip this up and have it ready to go with any Italian or soup meal.

 If you are intimidated by yeast breads, 

this is the best recipe I can think of to get you started!

In fact, I have used the same method they use

for rising the bread with other yeast breads/rolls and it works wonderfully! 

It has changed how I make yeast breads!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 

I haven't made this recipe as many times as the wild rice soup,

probably a total of three or four, but each time it is wonderful!

This has great flavor and rises above ordinary potato soups,

especially served with freshly snipped chives!

The best part?

This dish of yum is apparently served at the Disney Parks Coronation Cafe!

You can find the recipe at the Disney Parks Blog.

 Simple Seasoned Asparagus and Peppers

 

This is a relatively new recipe, I found it over the holiday season

while looking for a different sort of side dish that was gluten free.

I am SO glad I found this recipe!

This is FABULOUS! 

I have made it about three times now, and each time is great!

Not only is this a healthy dish, but it tastes wonderful and is really simple to make.

You can find the original recipe here at Scratch Mommy Blog,

although I have made a few changes to my version.

I double the asparagus, while leaving everything else the same,

and I use Red Wine Vinegar instead of plum vinegar, and it tastes great!

Also, I mixed up my own Adobo seasoning using this recipe.

This will make a lot of Adobo seasoning, and you won't use it all for this recipe,

so keep it in an empty spice jar for next time!

Sweet & Buttery Yeast Rolls

I love breads.

I know, I know...carbs and all that,

but I seriously can't live without them!

This is about my third yeast roll recipe,

and I can tell you now, the search is over!!!

These are so, so wonderful!

Someday, this will be Grandma Desarae's roll recipe, passed down through generations.

They are that good.

You can find the recipe at Eclectic Recipes blog.

These might take a little more time than some other yeast rolls I've made,

but they aren't difficult, and they are totally worth it!

 

 

And there you have it!

Those are my top five Pinterest recipes!

It was hard to narrow them down, because I have found other great eats,

but these are probably the most repeated and memorable dishes!

For more tried and true recipes and projects from Pinterest,

you can visit my 'Pinterest For Real' board, with thoughts,

tips and changes usually written in the pin description.

I hope you enjoy!

~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

It's Not About You: Single on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day.

I'm going to be honest and straightforward in this post.

This subject has been nagging at me for a few weeks now,

and I just can't keep quiet about it.

I want to address how single women are handling Valentine's Day.

Let me start by saying...

Valentine's Day is not about you.

Did you know that Valentine's Day was established in remembrance

of a man who was executed for his beliefs?

He wrote sweet notes to those he cared about because he knew he was going to die.

This man was willing to die for something he believed in,

but today this fact gets glazed over with chocolate and roses.

Something else different in the approach to modern Valentine's is that

single women everywhere use this day to bemoan their relationship status.

If we don't have that special someone,
we tend to congregate in groups and celebrate our friends instead.

Sure we have a good time.

But you know what? We all sit at the table as hypocrites.

 We try to pretend this is good enough, that we are happy to be with our friends,

when really, it is all a great big facade we use to drown out our woe-is-me pity party.

I've celebrated a few Valentine's with girlfriends, and genuinely had a good time!
But this year something shifted and I saw things differently.

Imagine your best friends are getting married,

but instead of letting them have their day, you and and your girlfriends

decide to have your own party because none of you are getting married.

Do you see how petty, childish and self centered that sounds?

"I just wish I had someone to give me flowers and take me out."

Let's be honest with each other, what we are really saying is,
"I wish I had someone to celebrate me."

Women have made Valentine's Day all about them!

It is all about your man celebrating you and showing you just how special you are.

Not only is that selfish, it sounds dangerously akin to idolatry.

Valentine's Day is not about you.

Did you know that you have chosen to be single?

Yes.

Your singleness is a choice.

You may look at is from the perspective that the right guy just hasn't come along.

 But pay attention to a set of words in that sentence...right guy.

This implies that there has been a wrong guy.

This implies at one point you made a choice...'I don't want him, he isn't right.'

At that moment you chose to be single.

Singleness is not something that is thrust upon you, it isn't a disease... it is a choice.

If you were given the chance to go with someone on a trip, but decided not to,
then spent the rest of your time bemoaning the fact that you weren't going on a trip somewhere,
wouldn't that seem a little foolish and fickle?

As silly as that may sound in the that context,
that is how many single women approach Valentine's Day.

There are plenty of fellas out there who would snatch you up,
you could probably pick one up at Wal-Mart!

While they may not be what you want, you are still making that choice to be single.

If you have a hard time with being single on Valentine's Day,

I would challenge you to scrutinize yourself.

Just because you are single doesn't mean you have no purpose...

it doesn't mean you can't live a life of joy and meaning now...

and it doesn't mean you are an incomplete person.

If you are an incomplete person without a relationship,

then that is your own shortcoming, and you need to work through

some issues because no relationship is ever going to complete you.

Another point I would like to make.

Stop for a moment and look around.
You live in a point of history that is truly amazing.

If one stops to listen to what the men of God and prophets are saying,
it doesn't take a theologian to know we are living in extraordinary times.

And those times are growing short.

Jesus is coming back...and it may be very soon.

The world has grown cold,

and we are in the winter seasons of the world's time.
Things are shifting, changes coming that may
forever alter the comfortable world we live in.

Yet we focus so much on temporal things.

Yes, we all long for companionship, myself included!
But I'm convinced God knows our needs (Matt. 6:8)
and He longs to meet them. (Is. 30:18; Phil. 4:19).
If we know this to be true, we can likewise be assured that
if we haven't been given a significant other,
it must be that God does not see that as our most pressing need.


~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

Day #13: Favorite Quote(s)

Favorite quotes!
First one...

"I'd rather be a hammer than a nail."

Paul Simon

Meaning  it is better to be an active force than to let others (or something) drive you.

I heard this on a Christian radio show many years ago, and it has stuck with me.




Honestly, I didn't even know who Paul Simon was.
So just before posting this, I did some research and found out
it was Simon of Simon and Garfunkel and this quote is actually a song lyric!

Who knew?!

"What is an ambassador's responsibility?

Not to change the people to whom he is sent, but to represent the King whom he serves."

Lydia Prince


I was deeply moved reading about Lydia's early life in the book Appointment In Jerusalem,
where this quote comes from.

It is a great reminder for us as Christians,
that we aren't out to change people, because we can't,
rather we simply need represent God and the truths of His kingdom
through our lives, words and actions.

~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

You're Going to Be Okay...{Coffee for Your Heart}

“No matter what happens, you’re going to be okay because..."

 

 Okay is a relative term.

 It could mean different things to different people.

Okay in America, means you will keep your nice house, your cars,

and be able to afford eating out once in a while.

Okay in a third world country

means you will have a hut roof over your head,

water for your needs and enough food to eat one ample meal a day.

Okay is a relative term.

When I think "it is going to be okay",

it might mean I can't make that car payment and my vehicle gets repossessed.

But God is on His throne.

I might have to turn down the heat to 58 degrees and wear Eskimo layers because I can't afford the bill.

BUT God is on His throne.

It might mean I eat mostly beans and rice,

But GOD is on His throne.
It might mean I live in a country that persecutes me for my faith,
But God IS on His throne. 

Okay to me means, God is still God, He is still there, no matter what happens on this earth.

And no matter what happens, which side of okay I end up on, He will always be there.

He gives me the grace for each day,

and even if worst comes to worst, God is still God, 

and I will get to see Him on that throne. 

 

Everything is going to be okay because God is on His throne.

~~~~
Linking up Wednesdays with Holley Gerth and many other wonderful ladies, with Coffee For Your Heart.

Day #11: A Traveling Story

 Want to know a secret?

I hate flying.

Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word, but I certainly don't like it.

However I've kept it no secret on this blog that I want to travel.

Hmmm....
Does anyone else see a problem here?

Yeah, see, in just a few seconds you made the connection
that flying fears and world wanderings don't exactly co-habitat very well.

Believe it or not,
it wasn't until this past December that I was able to connect the dots.

My brother and I had the chance to go visit some of our family
in Minnesota just before the holidays.
And while I was really looking forward to the trip- I was dreading flying.

I would much rather make the 24 hour drive than fly it!

Seriously,
I was almost making myself sick with anxiety.

Now,
it isn't the act of flying so much that I dislike,
it is security and whole rigmarole of maneuvering the airport,
gates, times, tickets, luggage, that gets my stomach in a knot.

When I was younger, I used to fly on many occasions
in a small 4-seater airplane with my uncle.
Back in those days I had lots of problems with my ears hurting,
and that was the reason behind my fear of flying
Since then, my ears don't pain me like they used to,
but I don't fly in a small 4-seater any more either.

 So, the nigh before our departure to Minnesota
I was in the throes of anxiety, when it suddenly struck me...
"This just won't do. 
Someday, I want to travel to other parts of the world.
I certainly can't walk there!
In order to get where I want, I have to overcome this fear!"

This gave me just the transfusion of steal I needed in my veins
to march tall and unshaken through the airport.


Never mind that in the midst of my confident stride down the loading ramp,
 I left before the stewardess could give me my ticket.
Never mind that my brother had to grab my ticket along with his own and jog after me
so I could even get on the plane.
Never mind that this scene played out in the view of a dashing fellow traveler,
who in fact, I was trying to put on my best "I got this" act for.
Yeah.
That doesn't matter.

What matters is that I made a giant step towards overcoming my flying fears.
Even if that means my brother jogging after me, I still feel it was great progress.

Cold? Who's cold! I'm Epic Man!

What's orange and white and cold all over?Me!

 In the end, we were both able to enjoy freezing our bums off
in the beautiful winter wonderland of our home state!

Yes.
I'm wearing blaze orange and boots that about four sizes too big.
Don't judge me.
Hey, you would too in below zero temps!
And besides, I had been weakened by living in Texas for five years.

Let's hope next time, I'll remember to wait for my own ticket
before sauntering away!

~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!