On This Day in History...

Well, it's the 15th anniversary of my 29th birthday and I've already had a lovely morning. Jeff woke up early and cleaned the kitchen and then took me out to breakfast. Katherine has agreed to drive the other two girls to track practice at UTA, so those are all the gifts I need. (Love language = acts of service.)

I received an interesting letter in the mail for my birthday and thought I would share it here. It documents what happened on "This Day in History" waaayyyyy back in 1966, the year I was born.

Top Songs for 1966:
We Can Work It Out by The Beatles
I'm A Believer by The Monkees
Summer In the City by Lovin' Spoonful

1966 Prices:
Bread - $0.22/loaf
Milk - $1.11/gallon
Gas - $0.32/gallon
Stamp - $0.05/each
Avg. Income - $8,395/year

Famous People Born on Feb. 25:
Jim Backus
George Harrison
Enrico Caruso

Popular TV Shows:
Hogan's Heroes
Batman
Mission Impossible
I Dream of Jeannie
Star Trek

Hot New Toys:
Twister
Hot Wheels
Mystery Date

I actually still felt pretty young, until I looked at the price of gas and stamps. Guess I'll go drag out and dust off my Mystery Date game and see if I can find a good-looking man to take me to dinner.

Chicken Soup for the Soul (Or What Ails Ya)

Here's another "just had to share" recipe from my menu last week -- Grandma's Chicken Soup. I love soup during the winter and this one hits the spot. Obviously it takes a little more time than just opening up a can of Campbell's, but it is well worth the time. As one of my tasters said, "Just had to say, that was the best chicken soup in the history of chicken soup." (Thanks, Melissa!)


Grandma's Chicken Soup

1 whole chicken, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
2 cups chicken broth
3 large carrots, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. fine egg noodles

Discard the gizzard and liver from the chicken. Place the chicken and broth in a stockpot and add enough water to cover. Add the carrots, green onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat.

Cook until the chicken is tender and registers 165 degrees with a meat thermometer. Remove the chicken to a platter, reserving the broth and vegetables. Debone the chicken and cut into bite sized pieces.

Return the chicken to the broth mixture. Stir in the noodles and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with crackers or bread. Yum!

This Ain't Your Mama's College Experience

Katherine visited SFA this past weekend to "check out" the dorm situation and get an idea of which one she might want to live in. This morning, as she was unloading the dishwasher...(Rats! I just realized when she leaves that job will be undone.) Sorry...I digress...

This morning we were discussing laundry. Probably because I have a thousand loads to do today, and she said, "Oh, the coolest thing! One of the dorms I looked at has washing machines and dryers that will text you when your laundry is finished!" Seriously? Now you may not agree, but it isn't a real college experience unless you go down to the laundry room to find your slightly damp laundry sitting on a table because someone else thought it was "finished" and needed the dryer for themselves.

Texting you? Seriously? Next she'll tell me each dorm has a housekeeper that folds and delivers it, too. As my Grandma Cannon might have said, "What is this world coming to?"

Going Beyond

I spent the weekend at a women's conference with about 2,000 of my closest sisters in Christ. The event was held at McKinney Memorial Church in Fort Worth, just a few minutes from home. My mother and aunt, along with two cousins attended. It was a wonderful time of music with Anthony Evans, one of my favorites, and Priscilla Shirer, an amazing Bible teacher. We were challenged to not sleepwalk through the various stages of our lives, but to live every day focused on Jesus, not our circumstances.

Our group on Friday night, before the conference.

Anthony Evans and the worship team

Priscilla Shirer

One of the things I loved most was gaining a difference perspective on how to study your Bible, no Bible study book involved. Priscilla called it "Five P's of Bible Study."

1. POSITION yourself to hear from God. This requires silence and solitude.
2. PORE over the passage and paraphrase the major points. Meditate on the Word. Put yourself in the story.
3. PULL OUT the spiritual principles. How can this affect my life?
4. POSE the question. Am I following these principles in my own life?
5. PLAN obedience and pin down a date.

Two thoughts that really struck me this weekend:
1. God does not speak to be heard, but to be obeyed.
2. Sometimes we are so busy talking that God cannot get a word in edgewise. Ouch!

And, my favorite verse from the conference: Ephesians 5:14

"Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you."

Amen.

Snow, Snow, Snow

I Love...

Just a few things I love today, (or really like a lot):

my fuzzy red robe

Southern Living Magazine

12 inches of snow

worship at church

tulips

spice tea

Ghiradelli chocolate with peanut butter

my chiropractor

a warm house

planning a beach vacation

lavender

Avon catalogs

hand-written notes

bread pudding

Cloudy with a Chance of (More?) Snow

Who can believe the amount of snow we've had this winter? I haven't tried to measure it, but looking outside I bet we've accumulated at least four inches on the ground this morning. And, they are predicting from two-four more before tonight. It's still coming down at a pretty fast rate. I have a few more pics, but Blogger won't cooperate by uploading (of course). So, I'm going to make myself a pot of tea and rejoice in the gorgeous, gently falling snow. And, be thankful for the things that snow brings with it: no basketball practice, no track practice, no banquet at school tonight. Snow = freedom.

Guess What I Did Yesterday? (and might again today...)

Restaurant Style Salsa

Here to share my latest success story with this delicious salsa recipe from The Pioneer Woman. (I should make that a link, but just too tired and lazy. Shouldn't honesty count for something?)

A little background: We received a gift of homemade salsa and chips for Christmas. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, in the family raved and raved about how amazing it was and it was sooooo much better than that "junk" I usually buy. (I must stand up for Pace Picante Sauce here. I think it tastes good!) I think those two jars of salsa lasted maybe two days.

When I saw a recipe this week for "Restaurant Style Salsa" I thought, why not? I'll give it a whirl. It can't be THAT much better. I have been proven wrong. It's delicious. So tasty that I decided to share it with you, along with a couple tiny changes from the original that will allow me to call it "Genny's Pioneer Woman Salsa."

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• ¼ cup Chopped Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin (I discarded the seeds. You decide.)
  
• ¼ teaspoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• ¼ teaspoon Ground Cumin
• ½ cups Cilantro (more to taste says PW, but I say less is best)
• ½ whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like. (PW must have a very large food processor, because I had to do mine in batches or the container would have overflowed.) Anyway, that's it! Test immediately with tortilla chips. And, if you can make yourself stop testing, refrigerate salsa for at least an hour before serving. Enjoy, and say "bye-bye Pace."

Zimbabwe, Genetic Mutation and the U.S. Dept. of Education

What could these three things possibly have in common, you might ask? They are the topics of my children's projects that have consumed most of my weekend. All three girls had a major one due on Monday. Every time I turned around this weekend, I was handed a piece of paper to be reviewed, index cards to be checked, posters and boards to be formatted, etc., etc., etc. My head is full of information currently swimming therein. (And who writes using the word "therein?" Proof that my brain has suffered some type of "mutation" this weekend.)

A second question you might ask would be, "Well, other than exhaustion did you gain anything from helping with these three projects?" The answer would be "Yes!"

I learned:

1. The Dept. of Education is a seriously overstaffed, overspending federal agency that doesn't really do anything but try to enforce lots of rules based on lots of statistics, most of which are probably created to suit their nefarious purposes. Some guy named Arne is the head of it. What kind of name is Arne? Wonder what his salary is? Can you say "red tape?" Can you say bureaucracy? I can't. It makes my head hurt.

2. Creationists are clearly the rational thinkers on the genetic mutation issue. Evolutionists missed the proverbial boat when it comes to their viewpoint. This, of course, was no surprise to me. I just wanted to reiterate that God is the Creator and in charge of it all. Thank goodness! Also, I'm so glad I've missed crossing paths with the seven-legged frog, the see-through toad, the two-headed snake and the monkey-faced pig. (Although I hear the circus is coming to town next week)

3. Zimbabwe is a country with a history of confusing acronyms, leaders named Mufasa and the British occasionally popping up to try and claim power over guys named Mombo and Sfunga. Some guys came into power and ran off the other guys who were head of groups with acronyms for names. Oh yeah...Abigail's timeline of Zimbabwean history looks great.

As does Katherine's board.

And Rebecca's poster.

Are we finished yet? Because I've got to get my tickets to the circus.

I've Got the February Gray Day Blues

Doesn't this picture make you feel gloomy? This has been our weather for the past few days. I believe we need some sun soon or I will crawl into bed and not come out for six more weeks.

Varsity Basketball Senior Night

Miraculously, Blogger has "allowed" me to upload these pictures of Katherine's senior night recognition in basketball. Each of the five seniors were honored with yellow roses and a photo of them with their coach, along with a Scripture selected by their parents.

Katherine said the opening prayer.

Welcoming the starting five on the court

Don't we all look like we wish we were somewhere else?

Four of the five seniors: Erica, K, Erinn, Sharon

One more game, and then...on to softball!