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Class of 2017 - Baz Luhrmann Inspirational Speech - Wear Sunscreen

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My oldest child is graduating high school this year.... where did the time go?!?!  My hubby had me listen to the following speech a few months ago and I keep going back to it....   While it may have been written 10 years ago, I think it is still great advise for today's Class of 2017! Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2007, wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists. Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience, I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh, never mind. You will never understand the power and the beauty of your youth until they've faded.  But trust me, in twenty years you will look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now -  How much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.  You are not as fat as y

Lord, Have Mercy Book Review

This book had my attention the minute I flipped it over and read the back cover... "Just when you think you’ve got this wife and motherhood thing down . . .Your toddler expresses his inner Picasso on your freshly painted walls . . . In permanent marker. Your 14-year-old demonstrates her newly acquired modeling skills . . . via every social network known to man. Your husband pulls up in a new car that you can’t afford . . . and only has two seats. Lord, have mercy. What are they thinking?" ...... story of my life!!! Well, not quite, instead of a toddler I have a 7 yr. old daughter and "mess" is her middle name! And my teenager is almost sixteen - but other than that.... it's pretty much right on! .....and my hubby loves pulling in the drive with a mustang.... at one time we had 3 of them, all at the same time. Right now he's talking about a new truck, or RZR for him and the kids, so one or the other will probably be pulling in the drive any day now!

Seven Money Types and What Type I Am

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I am a sucker for quiz books and figuring out your 'type' whatever type that my be.... I love trying to discover who people are, and what makes them do the things they do, or act a certain way.... The Seven Money Types is not a book on how to manage money. Rather, it is a unique approach to understanding how you relate to handling money. This book gives a different perspective on money than any I have ever read. I found it fascinating. It uses Scripture as a baseline and the author does a good job of giving real life examples to back up his theories. This book will change your approach to money, helping you understand other people's interactions with money and your own! What money type are you? I am a Jacob .... My belief is that money should be used to create pleasurable experience (can anyone say travel?? I love to travel and explore the world, creating memories with my family!) I use money to create beautiful moments and buy beautiful things.... spending mon

Asparagus

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This early-spring treat is one of a few perennial vegetable crops, so once you get a patch established, it will give you many years of delicious harvests for little work. Here's my little patch from last year: Asparagus are fresh, crisp, nutritious, and adaptable to use in many different ways. Asparagus are a good source of the following minerals & vitamins: Iodine, Potassium, Copper, Magnesium, Folate, and Vitamins A, C and E.  My favorite ways to eat it are -  Steamed with Eggs... Steam Asparagus on stove top... top with shredded or chopped hard boiled eggs and salt and pepper.  Oven Roasted... This has to be one of the easiest and tastiest ways to cook asparagus. Just trim the ends, lay out on a baking sheet, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese, and then bake until done.  In a sandwich... We like to use a toasted and buttered bread or bagel. Add bacon, steamed asparagus and a fried egg! *Note: some p

Chewy Rhubarb Crisp

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 Crust Ingredients 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup butter Filling Ingredients 3 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb 1/4 cups cold water 1 cups sugar 2 tbsp. strawberry jello granuels - 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 c. sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla  Directions In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, nuts, baking soda. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press 3 cups into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; set aside.  In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and rhubarb and jello. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Combine 2 tbsp of flour and 1/2 c. sugar in seperate bowl and add to rhubarb mixture, stiring for 1 min. or until thickened. Add vanilla.  Spoon over crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.  Bake at 350° for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with ice cream if desired. 

The Passion Flower Story

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The passion fruit is a  vigorous, climbing vine that clings by tendrils to almost any support. It can grow 15 to 20 ft. per year once established. The Story of the Passion Flower   I have this beautiful flower climbing on my arch that I walk under on the way to my office entrance. It is so intricate and beautiful, I thought I'd share a little about it with you all. Although it doesn't bloom until summer - it always reminds me of Easter. The Passion Flower (Passiflora) is a symbol of Christ’s Passion and Cross: including his scourging, crowning with thorns, three nails and five wounds. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus and especially his crucifixion.   The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance that confirmed Christ’s death. The tendrils represent the whips u

The Best Online High School

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"When it comes to education - there is no school like home!" We home school our kids....  In the past, we have used public school for kindergarten and have tried a couple christian schools, but in the end, it just works better for our family at this point in our life to home school.  Over the years, I have had experience using just about every curriculum out there.... Abeka , CLE, Pathway, ACE , Rod and Staff, and more, but I have found the best curriculum to be the one that is put together individually for each child. For the two youngest, we are currently using My Fathers World and love it! I'll try to do a post on that sometime! For high school, our oldest daughter is graduating this year with a Diploma from Penn Foster High School.  I graduated from Penn Foster back when it was a mail correspondence course and was known as ICS Newport Pacific High School/Harcourt High School. Some of the reasons that we love Penn Foster High School a

Taking Care of Me - Surgery #1

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Over the last few years, I haven't taken good care of myself, and as a result, my health has taken a hit..... when you have a special needs kid, multiple auto immune diseases, cancer, and chronic stress, I guess its somewhat to be expected. But, since I've chosen to take care of myself this year , my health is a high priority. My 1st surgery was Monday, March 20th, 2017 "Surgery is the treatment of disease or injury by cutting into the body to repair or remove the injured or diseased body part". I was extremely nervous. I had never been put to sleep or had any type of surgery before in my life. The surgery went well, the worst things about it were the sore throat from the breathing tube, keeping my pain levels down, and the drive home (I do believe we have the worst roads in the US!).  I wasn't expecting the affects of anesthesia to make me have insomnia for the first three days. Or that doing simple household chores would make me tire s

Three Loves and Lessons Learned

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It's no secret that most of my friends growing up were boys....  I have only had two extremely close girlfriends in my life.... Carla and Suzie - one when I was younger and one as a young adult, - the rest were all guys.  I'm not sure if I liked hanging out with the guys more than girls because I was a tomboy myself, or because most girls are just too much drama, and drama has always stressed me out!  While I could name off a whole list of guys that I considered my friends over the years... there have been three guys who not only were my best friends at the time, but whom I also loved.... I came across the following article the other day and while it may not be true for everyone, it is definitely true for me..... It’s been said that we really only fall in love with three people in our lifetime.  Often our first love (his name was Joshua and I really thought we'd be together forever!) is when we are young. It’s the idealistic love—the one that seems lik

NIV Investigators Holy Bible Book Review

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NIV Investigator's Holy Bible by: Zondervan 5 Stars If you're looking for an NIV bible that is easy to understand and keeps kids interested... this is the one to get !  Have you ever used a magnifying glass? It makes everything bigger and easier to see, right? Detectives and scientists magnify things to understand them better. Well that’s just what this Bible does—it’s a magnifying glass to help children understand the Word of God better. The Bible is a gift from God, but many of the things written in the Bible are hard for kids to understand. In fact, sometimes they’re downright mysterious to kids. Using kid-friendly language and a detective theme, the two color NIV Investigator’s Holy Bible explains the Bible text for kids ages 6–10.  Two central mystery-solving characters invite children to investigate the Bible using the following features: Evidence—Bible book introductions answer what kind of book it is, who wrote it, what happens, and the “

Talking With God Book Review

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Talking With God By: Adam Weber 5 Stars I love, love, love this book!!! The style of writing, the simple truths, the practical lessons, the humor, the realness. It's a great book! Prayer seems like it should be so simple. Yet, when it comes to actually praying, often it feels awkward and complicated. I mean... what should you actually pray about? What do you say? Is there anything I should or shouldn’t say? Do you have to speak out loud? Then comes the craziness which is life. Between work, changing diapers, walking the dog, unread emails, trying to keep up with our neighbors... and the laundry, who has time to pray? The truth is, prayer is simple. It’s like talking. Talking with a good friend. And the best part? Our God can’t wait to talk with us. I have always loved South Dakota ... the Badlands are one of my most favorite places, and we've also been to Sioux Falls, Falls Park and the Corn Palace in Mitchell.... if I'm ever in South Dakota a

Breakfast Burritos

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I like to keep these breakfast burritos on hand for a quick meal, snack, or when hubby needs to pack his lunch for work and I'm out of everything!  I make two different kinds - #1: Eggs, Ham and Cheese #2: Eggs, Sausage, Hash browns and Cheese I also change them up, sometimes I add garlic, or onions, or use different kinds of cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, mozzarella, etc) .... You could add peppers, mushrooms, different meats, or just about anything that you like.. The simplest way to make them is to make a large skillet full of scrambled eggs (I make 1 dozen eggs at a time), add your ham and cheese, (don't forget the salt and pepper), and your ready to put them in your tortilla shell. To make the sausage and hash brown burritos - I recommend browning the sausage first and drain on a paper towel. Cook hash browns in the same pan. While the hash browns are cooking - In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Add browned sausage b

Foundation For A Healthier Life

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Did you know that 90% of Americans are lacking key nutrients in their diets?  Even if you’re conscientious about what you eat —it’s very challenging to ensure that you’re getting the nutrients you need to maintain optimal health. Would you like to feel more energized? Achieve a healthier weight? Experience the benefits of digestive and immune support? Feel younger longer? If so, I dare you to try Shaklee's high quality core nutrition products and create the foundation for your healthier life! Feel amazing in 30 days, guaranteed! Shaklee Life-Strip™ It’s the best, most comprehensive nutrition system in the world. Every serving of Shaklee Life is the culmination of years of research and quality testing to guarantee every Life-Strip delivers pure and potent vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols, antioxidants and phytonutrients.  *Life-Strip includes Vivix. Vivix® Every day, our cells are damaged from environmental exposure, diet and str

Camouflage Cake

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We don't do big extravagant birthday parties at our house.... but, I do let each kid pick what kind of cake they want and their birthday supper meal. I also get them a birthday balloon (Dollar Tree has them for $1) , and we either get them a small gift or go somewhere as a family. I think the whole point is to make it a special day for them to remember! I enjoy making and decorating cakes. You can see some of them here , here , and here .  Wyatt turned 10 this week and requested a camouflage cake with a Polaris 500 ATV on top.... I think it turned out pretty good! I've had a few people ask how I make the camouflage cakes. It really is easy.... First, mix a white cake mix and a chocolate cake mix separately. Put half of each batter into separate bowls and add green food coloring to one bowl of white and one bowl of chocolate cake mix.  Prepare your pans and spoon a little of each batter in random spots until you have the proper amount of batter in each

When your Family Isn't Your Family Anymore

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I grew up as the middle kid out of seven. There are 6 yrs between my oldest sibling and me, and 9 yrs between my youngest sibling and me. There were 2 boys and 5 girls.  I have very fond memories when I was little.  I remember our family trips.... I loved playing the car game with Dad at night while everyone else was asleep..... it was my favorite part of traveling.  I loved going to the auction barn with dad -especially if we come home with a baby lamb or other animals. I loved the wintertime when Mom would read stories, with all of us kids piled up beside her on the sofa. We spent a lot of Sundays at G'pa Stumps house- playing games and eating popcorn and ice cream. I loved spending the night at my G'pa Fricks... G'pa had two nicknames for me... 'Goldilocks' and 'woodchuck'. I loved going to church, singing at the nursing home, and bible study- because it meant that I would spend time with my best friend- she was great. I love