3 Gifts Blue

Yesterday I came across another blog/website that is quickly moving to the top of my favorite list.  It's called A Holy Experience and the author is Ann Voskamp.  I added the button to the sidebar on my blog for easy access.  I have only read about 5 of her posts, but each one is filled with spiritual food and wisdom...I LOVE IT!  She has written a book entitled One Thousand Gifts A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.  My copy is making it's way to me through the mail as we speak and I cannot wait to get my hands on it! 

Ann has a Joy Dare for each day of the month.  I believe it's called "1000 Gifts".  Today the dare was to find 3 Gifts Blue.  Today 3 gifts blue quickly came to mind for me.

1. I woke up to a blue sky.

I know the farmers are trying to cut wheat, but last night it rained here. It was just what my gardens, grass, and flowers needed. A refreshing drink that only rain water can bring.

2.  A blue baby blanket.

Monday of this week baby Wyatt J joined our family.  The first nephew, grandson, and great grandson on the Basinger side.  He is perfect, whole, and healthy; a true gift from God.

3. A blue sapphire.

Monday of this week The Husband and I celebrated 7 years of marriage.  Good seasons and bad seasons have come and gone, and through it all we have grown stronger together in our relationship and in our Savior.  Another wonderful gift that God has blessed me with.

Romans 8:28-29 says,

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;"

The Farmer, Ann Voskamp's husband, said in response to a situation that took place on their farm, "From where we stand, we can't see whether it's something good or bad.  All we can see is that God's sovereign and He is always good, working all things for good."

We all have so many more then 3 Gifts Blue to be thankful for on any given day, and yet how often do we find ourselves dwelling on what we don't have, or what didn't go according to our plan.  Ann said,

"When your heart's grateful to God at the start of the day, you can trust God in the hurtful of the day."

Having a heart full of gratitude for our Lord and what He did on the cross truly does make it easier "to trust God in the hurtful of the day." 

Today the prayer of my heart is what Charles de Foucauld prayed,

"Whatever You may do, I will thank you

I am ready for all; I accept all.

Let only Your will be done in me...

And I'll ask for nothing else my Lord."

We serve a sovereign God who causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.  What are your 3 Gifts Blue today?

You can read Ann's post for the day, "Because Hard Days are White Horse Days" here.

Taste of Home Tuesday: Fresh Berry Shortcakes

These Fresh Berry Shortcakes are a very tasty dessert!  The husband said they were not to sweet, and light, a good summer dessert.  They may be light and tasty, but they are certainly not light in any other area!  I had to take an extra walk after I enjoyed mine.:)  Everyone deserves a treat now and again...so treat yourself sometime, you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:
5 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice

SHORTCAKES:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1-1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream, divided
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coarse sugar, optional

WHIPPED CREAM:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar and orange juice; set aside.

For shortcakes, combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, orange peel and salt; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk 1-1/2 cups cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 8-10 times.
Pat or roll out to 1-in. thickness; cut with a floured 3-in. scalloped or round biscuit cutter. Place 2 in. apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon cream; sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

For whipped cream, beat cream in a large bowl until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until soft peaks form.

Just before serving, cut shortcakes in half horizontally. Place bottoms on dessert plates; top with strawberry mixture. Replace tops; dollop with whipped cream. Yield: 10 servings.

Steal of a Deal

I was wanting a few more flowers to put out and around so we ran by the garden center in walmart while we were doing our grocery shopping.  They had 6 packs of impatiens for 84 cents.

So I bought 2!  I barely had enough pots to put them in.

They prefer shade, so hopefully the spots I found will work.  Now to keep them all alive!:)

The garden

I have two gardens.  One small one on the edge of the yard and a larger one out on the edge of the field.  We planted the small one first filling it with potatoes, onions, beets, tomatoes, and a couple rows of green beans.  The large garden also has green beans as well as okra, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pumpkins.  The green beans are just starting to poke up in the large garden.

I love how the outer part of the seed looks like a cap.

Baby green bean plants.

Early morning if my favorite time to work in the garden.  It's still cool, the sun light is just perfect, and the birds are chirping all around.

Justin's bamboo has taken off.

Spook was lounging in the cool dirt by the potatoes.

Jezebel was being silly and rolling all over in the grass.

Now if only the weeds would stay away!

Happy Memorial Day!!

camping

Each Memorial Day Justin and I like to go camping.  We didn't think we were going to be able to make it this year, but it worked out to go.  We headed over near Marion where a very generous couple lets us camp across the lake from their bed and breakfast.  It's beautiful.

The husband cooking our hotdogs 

We didn't have time to look for rocks to make a fire in so we used our little grill the first night.

Chris and Christine and the girls made the trek over for supper.  Leslyn loves her picture taken and was posing for the camera.

After we ate the girls wanted to swim so Justin got in with them.

The cows watched from the dam.

The Kremeiers brought their little dog Brody.  He got a little too close to the water and slipped in.  The picture is a slightly blurry, but it was too funny not to post.

After they left Justin and I found some rocks and made a fire.

After we crawled into our tent it began lightening to the east.  Just to be safe, I crawled out and put everything in the back of the Jeep so it wouldn't get wet if it should rain.  The coyotes, turkeys, and frogs kept us awake for a while, but we both finally fell asleep.  In the middle of the night it did start raining so we had to get up and put the fly on the tent.  When we woke up the next morning it was misting and everything was wet.  Justin made us breakfast in the mist and we tried to wait it out.  We finally packed our stuff up around 11:30 and headed home.  I'm fairly certain that it only rained over our little campsite.  When we got home everything was dry and the sun was beginning to come out.  Oh well, we were able to camp for a night as well as work on different things around the house for the rest of the weekend.

Taste of Home Tuesday: Big and Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you are interested in a recipe that makes large soft and chewy cookies this is the recipe for you!  Because of their size and the temperature at which they bake, I was afraid these cookies were going to be on the dry and crunchy side but they were amazingly soft.  There is something about refrigerating dough that helps make cookies chewy and soft.  The husband gave me the "ok" saying I could make them whenever I wanted.:)  Enjoy! 

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions
In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
Shape quarter cupfuls of dough into balls. Place in an airtight container, separating layers with waxed or parchment paper; cover and refrigerate overnight.
To bake, place dough balls 3 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Press a shallow indentation in the center of each with your thumb, reshaping sides to smooth any cracks. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks; cool. Yield: 2 dozen.

Taste of Home Tuesday: Lemon-Lime Poppy Seed Cake

Photo by Taste of Home

Ingredients

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix

1/4 cup poppy seeds

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup lime juice

GLAZE:

1-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons lime juice

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds; beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan.
Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. 
In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth; drizzle over cake. Yield: 12 servings.

This cake was very moist and I thought very good!  My glaze had a little bit to much liquid and all ran off the cake.  (It stinks when you run out of powdered sugar and live in the country:)) I will definitely make it again!

A Relaxing Sunday

A week ago on Thursday Justin traveled to Nebraska for a shoot to represent Hodgdon.  We had kindergarten round-up on Friday here, so I had to stay home for that.  Before he left we decided Sunday after he got back we would spend the day together hanging out and relaxing.  Sunday morning we got up and went to our Spiritual Formation class (Sunday school) and church.  The class is using one of Francis Chan's books Basic. Who is God?  We haven't been to all the classes, but the ones we were able to attend have been really good!  After church we I did some quick shopping.  I still had some birthday money left and was finally ready to spend it.  Sunday was a gorgeous day so when we got home we planted our tomato plants (they weren't doing so well in the little pots we bought them in several days earlier)  and then went fishing.  There is a small pond just up the road from our house.    

Justin gave it a try first.

We had a little bit of everything

even worms.

Sadly the fish weren't biting so after I got my lure stuck in a small tree and replaced it with a worm, I started playing with my camera.

Tiny white flowers

These are beautiful as long as they aren't in my yard!

This grasshopper was just sitting in the dirt.

This little guy was just hanging out.

There were frogs everywhere!

Emma was getting brave and walked out on a log.  Right after this picture she fell halfway into the water but was able to pull herself back out.

Pretty pond

Sunday was a wonderful day!  It was so nice to have him back home and just hang out together with nothing on the agenda!

Butterscotch Bars

Sorry no picture today.  I was looking for a dessert last night and found these butterscotch bars.  The layer of cream cheese caught my eye...everything is better with cream cheese!  Justin ate one when they were still a little warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  He said it was amazing.  I just had a plain bar and agreed that they were pretty good.  I will say they are pretty sweet.  I'm taking the rest to small group tonight so we'll see how they go over there.  Here's the recipe:

Butterscotch Bars
Ingredients
1 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 package (10 ounces) butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped pecans
FILLING:
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions
In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugars until light and
fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, oats and baking soda; gradually add
to the creamed mixture. Stir in chips and pecans. Reserve 2 cups.
Spread remaining dough into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine filling ingredients; beat until smooth.
Spread evenly over crust. Crumble reserved dough over filling.
Bake at 375° for 40-42 minutes or until golden brown.

Wide Open Spaces

Last night Emma and I took a short walk up the road.  It's fun to go to the city once in awhile, but for me this is MUCH better.

Green wheat that's headed out and slowly starting to turn.

Little friends in the road

Cows out in the pastures (These cows always come running to the fence when we walk by)

Pasture land in the setting sun

The view from my front lawn

A setting sun

It was calm last night and as we walked up the road I could hear the announcer at the track meet on the edge of town announcing.  (We live about 7 miles outside of town.)  I couldn't believe how far the sound was traveling.

Thank you Lord for the wide open spaces!

The Big City

Several weekends ago Justin and I had the privilidge of going to St. Louis with Hodgdon (where Justin works) for the NRA convention.  Our hotel was right beside the arch.   

The hotel had two round towers that the rooms were in.  We were on the 9th floor.  It was very different but kind of neat to look out across the tower.

One night we went on a Riverboat Cruise for dinner.  The food was very yummy!

A colored fountain.

Tall tall buildings were everywhere!

The cardinals were playing at home that weekend.  It rained and rained and the place was still packed!

If you didn't want to walk you could rent one of these little things.  I think I would feel bad making someone else peddle while I sat back and enjoyed the ride.

More colored fountains.

The hubby and I before dinner.

It was wonderful to get away for the weekend.  Like I said it rained most of the time we were there and made it difficult to get around.  (We had to walk everywhere because we rode a charter bus there)  Once the sun did come out we were able to get out without the umbrellas and take in the city.