Green...

What a blessed day! I’ve always believed that God doesn’t give you more than you can handle. I think He realized I was reaching my limit. Today, my grandma came home from the hospital, and I got my much needed, wanted, and prayed for job! I’m so looking forward to reading the next chapter in this page-turner that is my life.

I’ll have to fill you in about exactly what my job will entail another day, since I’m still not completely sure. I do know I will be working for a national distributor of wholesale fabrics. The fabrics are used to customize upholstery, window treatments, and bedding. I will be working in the creative department eventually. I believe they are going to train me on the basics first, and then I will have the potential to move up to a prestigious creative position in the company. At this point, I am just so excited for this change in my life!

Why Green is relevant:

1. I’m still a little rough around the edges like a greenhorn.
2. I’m about to jump over the fence and sink my toes in the greener grass.
3. I am no longer green with envy.
4. This job means the green light for so many things in my life.
5. Of course, this job will bring in the green money!



I know that three things made this happen: prayer, patience, and faith. I still have no idea what the future holds, but my spirit is renewed! I get to go into the office tomorrow to do paperwork, get myself situated and ready to go, and get a few questions answered. My first official day will be Tuesday, after the holiday. It’ll be the start of a brand new chapter! God will give us what we need; it won’t be according to our schedule but His…



I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. – Psalm 40:1

You don’t HAVE to go to work; You GET to go to work…

Blue...

As I stare at my computer screen trying to decide what to write about…I can only think that I feel blue right now. Sometimes being an adult is overwhelming. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. Of course there’s the job search, my grandma’s in the hospital, I noticed someone unfriended me on Facebook today, my husband’s out late tonight, and I miss my friends and family. I think that we all feel blue once in a while. It’ll pass as usual; but for now, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to feel blue.

It’s sort of alienating when someone tells you to cheer up or makes you feel bad about feeling an emotion that God gave you. I know lately I’ve shown my frustration with society in a controlled and mature manner and gotten responses that made me feel like dog poo. That’s probably why I got unfriended. I would rather say what I feel and be unfriended on Facebook than sit back and let people think I am okay with everything that goes on in the world today.

If you’re mad, be mad. If you’re sad, be sad. If you’re happy, be happy. If you’re frustrated, be frustrated. As long as you don’t let any negative energy stay with you too long, you’re in good shape. I don’t have to be happy and positive every second of every day! Jesus once walked this earth and felt every emotion that we do. It’s not a sin to feel an emotion. The way we handle our emotions is what matters. If I scream and yell at everyone in my sight because I’m mad, we have a problem. However, if I quietly feel blue for a couple of hours, there is no shame in that.

Positive things that came from feeling blue today:
1. I found something to write about.
2. I feel better because I wrote about it.
3. Maybe I inspired someone to be okay with their feelings.

Other uses for the word Blue:
1. A color
2. A dog on the cartoon, Blue’s Clues
3. The title of several films
4. Included in the name of several bands such as: Blue Oyster Cult, Blue Man Group, and Blue October
5. The title of several albums by artists such as: Diana Ross, Joni Mitchell, and Third Eye Blind
6. The title of several songs by artists such as: LeAnn Rimes, Eiffel 65, Lucinda Williams, and The Smashing Pumpkins
7. Part of the name of a bazillion paint colors

On your way out in the morning, put on your blue jeans, grab a blueberry muffin, and gaze at some blue jays on your way to the car. For lunch, have a salad with bleu cheese dressing and a side of blue corn chips, with a scoop of Blue Bell for dessert. Listen to a little Blue Oyster Cult on the way home, while you decide between Blue Hawaii and Blueberry Pie paint colors for the dining room.

A little humor at the end of a rough day never hurt anyone…

In It for Life...

As if just trying to eat healthy isn’t hard enough, I’m going to give you something else to think about. I’ve mentioned the documentary Food, Inc. before (See In a Heartbeat…), but I’m going to elaborate on it a little more now. This documentary goes straight to the source, farmers and ranchers, to uncover the truth about where our food comes from. The results are shocking. Too often the powers that be dictate how our food is produced, instead of the way God intended!

A journalist by the name of Michael Pollan is an expert on the subject of food and appeared in the documentary. The author of Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual has shared his knowledge with many and has even appeared on The Oprah Show. I’m going to share a few of my discoveries with you now.



Poultry and Beef

Chickens are pumped full of antibiotics to be ready for slaughter in half the time nature intended. In addition, the chicken has doubled in size over the last 60 years. The chicken breast is in such high demand that the people in charge of having them produced have gone to horrific extremes to make it readily available. Look for chicken and eggs that are labeled as free-range. Free-range chickens are allowed the proper time to mature in the proper environment.

In addition, look for grass-fed beef and milk from grass-fed cows, also known as pastured dairy. God created cows with the intent that they would eat grass. Lots of times cows are fed certain feeds and hormones purely for the purpose of fattening them, making them mature quicker for slaughter, which is unhealthy for us.



Processed Foods

Basically everything you buy in the grocery store is processed. There are very few products in the store that you can buy that haven’t been put through some crazy process of creation. Even the foods low in fat are high in sugar, leading to a continued unhealthy lifestyle. The advertisers keep the truth away from you because they know if they just slap that fat-free label on the front of the package, your interest will be peaked.

Many people say that they can’t afford the actual good, healthy food. What they don’t realize is that unhealthy, processed foods will eventually lead to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, among others. You can pay more now or later when you are paying for your healthcare.

Cook for Yourself

You should cook at home, from scratch as often as you can. There are tons of restaurants out there that want to cook for you! Don’t let them. Or at least let them less often. They are going to add tons of salt, sugar, and fat that you would never dream of using. When you begin to cook for yourself with natural ingredients, you will see many changes in your life. You will feel better on so many levels.

What to Look For

Look for farmer’s markets when you can. Your local farmers are not looking to sell to mass corporations; they are just looking to sell what they’ve grown close to home. Plus, you will have the opportunity to ask the farmer directly how they grow their food.

Read labels and educate yourself. If nothing else, this post should just make you think a little about everything you bring home from the grocery store. I know there is no way we can change every habit that we have, but we can make small steps. We might not even be able to buy these specially-labeled products in our stores. I’ve started by just buying more fresh produce and less processed boxed and canned goods. As time passes, we can all slowly add more changes.

Check out the Mexican restaurant Chipotle. You can eat anything there and rest assured that it is natural and healthy. It is a fast-food chain whose creator actually cares what he is feeding to the public. I can speak from experience that their food is delicious!



A few of Pollan’s Food Rules:
1. Eat food.
2. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
4. Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
5. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

“It’s not that hard to eat well if you’re willing to put a little more time into it, a little more thoughtfulness into it and, yes, a little bit more money.” –Michael Pollan

Use your fork up to 3 times a day to vote for what you believe in...

In High Demand...

Mondays can be brutal. Today was no exception for me. The day started out pretty normal. I was moving through my list of tasks, actually pretty quickly for my procrastinating self. By late afternoon, I had paid some bills, balanced the checkbook, worked out, and now the laundry was washing and drying.

I was folding a load of blues, which consisted of pajamas, underwear, and workout clothes. After a few minutes, the whole basket was folded into piles of like items spread out on my bed. I had a small pile of underwear in my right hand and a short stack of t-shirts in the other. I put the underwear in my upper right dresser drawer, then bent down to put the t-shirts in the lower left dresser drawer. As I pulled the handle and the drawer came out, I was shocked by what was inside!

I found ants, thousands of stupid ants‼! They were scurrying around as if I had just disrupted their ant bed, you know outside, in the ground, where they’re supposed to be! The only thing I could think was to get them out of my house. I rolled the empty hamper over and filled it full of the ant-infested clothes from my drawer. I quickly pushed the hamper outside onto the back porch. I could deal with that later. I had to hurry and get rid of the ants still in the house.

I didn’t want to spray the ant killer from the can into my drawer so it could seep into the wood and ruin it forever! So, I got a wet paper towel and started killing by hand. I swiped them up in the towel while mashing down, then ran to the sink to drown them. I know it sounds inhumane, but they were ants infesting my t-shirt drawer‼

Eventually the mass majority had bit the dust. I decided to check the other drawers and sure enough the drawer above was infested as well. I got an empty basket, filled it with the infested clothes, and ran it outside with the now-infested hamper. I proceeded to kill the ants in the shorts drawer, and luckily that’s where it stopped. I didn’t hesitate to use the ant killer spray along the edge of the carpet behind the dresser and on the lower edge of the dresser.

I took a moment to breathe. Now, it was time for me to handle the ant-infested mess outside. I had put all of the clothes into the hamper and used the basket for the clothes that were now pest-free. I must have gone through 25 articles of clothing outside where it was like 100 degrees. I had to shake out each piece of clothing, sometimes beat it against the railing, flip it inside-out, and do it again…not a fun way to spend my afternoon.

Of course the wind was blowing profusely, which meant that as I shook out the clothes, the ants flew back on me and stung the poop out of me with their vicious venom. These were fire ants by the way, not little baby carpenter ants. After a couple hours overall, my superwoman abilities brought peace to the world again. Well, I still have to refold the clothes, but that can wait until tomorrow!

The positive thing is that I found some clothes shoved back behind the drawers that I haven’t seen in a long time, so they’re like new…

The Bottom of the Hamper

In a Jiffy...

Today marks my 50th blog post. The time has passed so quickly! It’s been fun, therapeutic, and encouraging. I’ve told you funny stories, told you serious stories, but mainly, I just shared my life with you. It’s a great feeling knowing that someone is out there waiting to read what I have to say, even if it’s just a handful of folks. For a couple of months now, you guys have followed along with me, listening to my ups and downs within my job search. I think it’s appropriate that I had a job interview today.

I felt like the interview went well today. The company seems great, and it’s a wonderful opportunity. Due to the fact that I’ve had so many disappointments in the last year, I’m a little gun-shy. No matter how optimistic I want to be, there’s always that feeling deep down that maybe what I’m going through is just another disappointment. I suppose time will tell. I do have faith that what is supposed to happen will happen. I have no regrets. I prepared myself for the interview the best I could. I went in and showed the awesome person that I am and let them know what I have to offer them. I kept it real, so to speak.

Maybe it’ll work out; maybe it won’t. Regardless, I’m beginning to think that I’m seeing a very awesome story unfold. The best stories are rollercoaster rides. People triumph over trials and difficulties. My story would be pretty boring if everything went right all the time. Of course, I’ve got to have a great story to tell. I’ll sit back, enjoy the ride, and remember that it can’t be like this forever. I know that if this job doesn’t work, I already have my sights on another direction. I know that no matter how difficult an experience is, no matter how much hurt it causes, there is a definite reason for it. I know that one day, maybe soon, a really great opportunity will be out there waiting just for me, maybe somewhere I least expect it.

I have come to realize that no matter what kind of tough situation I go through, my positive attitude is what will keep me sane and lead me through it. I have good days, and I have bad ones. Today is a good day because an opportunity has been presented to me. I’ll have to wait a little longer to find out if it is opened for me.

Even if it’s not my turn, I’ve got that list of endless possibilities to rely on…

In the News...

Well, the verdict is in! My first canning experience was pretty successful (See In a Pickle…). Well, two out of three ain’t bad. After all of that slaving over my hot stove, I have yummy fruits to show for my labor.

I have to admit; I’ve been in the blackberry jam for a while now. It just didn’t need all of the pickling time the okra and pickles did. It is so delicious! It’s sticky and gooey and superb on toast. I’m so delighted it turned out well.



The next thing I savored was the pickles, and they turned out just like I thought they would, except they are super crunchy! The ice water soak did the trick. I do like a bit of a sourer pickle, but these are great alongside sandwiches. I think next time I make them, I might add a little bit of sour to the mix.

I’m not a big eater of pickled okra, so I let Justin be the tester for those. He says, “They’re kind of funky.” Like I said, two out of three ain’t bad! I tried them myself, and they weren’t very good. I’m pretty sure the problem was a combination of things. The first problem was that I needed to choose shorter stalks of okra. Because the stalks were so long, I could only fit 5 or 6 in a pint size jar. Therefore, there was too much pickling liquid in each jar, which made the okra very stout with vinegar. Oh well, lesson learned.

Overall, it was a great experience. Just the jam is worth the time put into everything. I feel like a pioneer woman now. Maybe I’ll try to churn my own butter next. Well, not really…

It never hurts to try something new. You might succeed; you might fail. But you’ll never know if you don’t try…

In Bloom...

From what the books say, television developed from the radio. People would sit around as a family and listen to talk radio shows, variety shows, FDR’s fireside chats, and even advertisements. Picture was eventually incorporated, first in black and white, then in color. Over the course of my 28 years, technology has evolved more than ever imagined. I remember a time when there was no remote control and no VCR, much less a DVD player. Now, the 3D TV is the next big thing, something I have absolutely no interest in by the way.

The first television set I ever remember watching was the one we had when I was a very little girl. I guess it was from the ‘70s because it was old-school. I believe I remember 2 dials, one for the sound and one to change the channels. We had the foil-wrapped bunny ears to help us pick up our 3 or 4 channels. Our TV couldn’t have been more than say, a 14 or 16 inch. The TV sat on a rolling stand, and it was the only one in the house. There was no VCR or remote control even. Back in those days, we actually had to get up off of our butts and change the channel or turn the volume up. Do you think it’s possible that the TV is the cause of the obesity epidemic in America?



As time passed, my parents brought home one of those giant wooden console TVs, the type that makes you cringe today. The TV screen was embedded in a giant wooden frame that housed the speakers. I guess the goal with this type of TV was to make it look like a piece of furniture. It sat on the floor since the wooden frame created support, and back then, we thought we had hit the big-time. Today I just remember how so many of my friends had newer TVs that sat on top of the console TV when the console TV went out. People utilized its furniture-like qualities and turned it into a TV stand. I would have at least put a sheet over the thing so as not to confuse visiting viewers. Sometimes I wondered if they had so many TVs because they had surveillance cameras.



Over time, the console TV eventually went out, so my parents brought the old-school TV on the rolling cart back out of their bedroom. This just goes to show, the ‘80s was about the time they stopped making things the way they used to. Of course, I was so young back then, I have no idea what the time-line was, but we eventually got one of the new modern, black tube TVs that sat on a stand and (gasp!) had a remote control! I guess times were getting better for my parents, so we started acquiring things like a VCR and cable. Cable brought so much variety; we had no idea what to do with our 17-20 channels!



Over the next 10 years or so, my parents traded the TV out at least once more, and my brother and I got TVs and VCRs in our bedrooms. Of course, my family was a little behind the times. We weren’t in the position to run out and buy the next great thing. I actually value that because I don’t feel the need to run out and buy the next big thing now that I’m the adult. In my opinion, this is the time when families all across America began to separate from the family togetherness that was valued from the Leave it to Beaver days. That darn TV became so addicting, and it was too easy for everyone to go to their own room and watch whatever they wanted to, since the tastes of 4 people were never the same in our house. I remember my brother and me fighting back in the wood TV console days about whether we were going to watch GI Joe or Gem. I don’t remember who won, but I’m pretty sure my mom made us alternate and…share‼ My, how times have changed.

For the last 7 years, since I’ve gotten married, my husband and I have gone through a few different TVs, still utilizing the TVs from our childhoods…imagine that! A couple of years ago, we were tired of watching the 18” that I got when I was in junior high, since our bigger TV went out to that big scrap yard in the sky. We bit the bullet and went out and bought a large flat-screen TV, nothing too extravagant but a big deal for us. We’ll have it probably as long as it keeps on working. These days when you buy something new in the electronics category, it is obsolete by the time you get it in your door, since the techies are out there constantly designing the latest and greatest! This means our 2-year-old TV is already ancient.



I have a love/hate relationship with my TV. I really enjoy watching so many different programs and movies, but all too often, it keeps me from enjoying more cultured and thoughtful activities. Thank you Philo T. Farnsworth for inventing the deal that started the thing that lead to the invention of the contraption that contributes to the state of mush our brains are currently in now!

“Television: Chewing gum for the eyes.” –Frank Lloyd Wright

“Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.” –Alfred Hitchcock

“I believe television is going to be the test of the modern world, and that in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our vision, we shall discover a new and unbearable disturbance of the modern peace, or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by television - of that I am quite sure.” -E.B. White

I guess this gives us something to think about besides American Idol, One Life to Live, and CSI…