Life just got busier!

My fall semester of school just started and first appearances at least appear that it will be taking significant time. Extended tax return due dates are just around the corner at work and we have a new employee as of today that I will be spending significant time training. So I really need to increase my work hours. And the laundry fairy doesn't visit my house. I sometimes get some visits from the housekeeping fairy in that my hubby helps with those responsibilities. So all that to say, I recognize that I must spend less time blogging these next few weeks. I'll sneak some visits and posts in along the way, but if you notice that I'm not around as much, you know why.

Infinite Grace

The Women of Faith Conference was GREAT!!!

The speakers are always so good. They provide an opportunity to laugh and at the same time remind me just how great God is. Their theme always focuses on God's grace and His personal involvement with each of us. This year's theme was Infinite Grace.

I'm always amazed at how they all say something a little different but it always coordinates into one big message of LOVE.

They always provide lots of opportunities for laughter. I think this year that may have been the thing I needed most. It was good to LAUGH!

As I reflect back over the messages from the conference and what God was speaking into my heart, I think perhaps the one word that sums it all up is LIVE. I was reminded of the acceptance of situations, the value of relationships, the power of choice, the importance of expressing emotions, and the magnitude of God's grace.

So if you've never been to a Women of Faith conference, check it out here. Find a friend or a group of friends to go with you, and go!!

I hope you all have a great day today!!

Photo Challenge--Sweets

I've been a little extra busy lately, so I had to pull some old photos for this week's Brenda's Photo Challenge. This first picture is the groom's cake which I made for my son's wedding a couple year's ago. It was a sweet occasion.

And it was such a sweet occasion that I'm using the Brides' cake from the same event as my second photo. My co-worker made this beautiful cake. I made the flowers and the brides bouquet next to it. I really enjoyed being a part of this wonderful event for my son and his lovely wife.


My last picture takes a little different approach to the theme. My second son, Stephen, has a very special girlfriend. They've been dating for 4 or 5 years now and they celebrate their "dating anniversary" each Nov. For their 3rd anniversary, he made her a bank and took pictures of the project throughout the process. He spent hours making the bank and then put the pictures together as a Power Point with their "song" playing in the background. So my final entry for sweets is the finished labor of love. It thought this was a very "sweet" display of his love and devotion to her. They are not engaged yet, because they are waiting until they are both finished with college.
Now I'm off to the Women of Faith conference. So it will be later tonight before I can check everyone else's pictures of Sweets. Have fun!!

Women of Faith Conference

Tomorrow night and Saturday is the annual Women of Faith conference in Dallas. My sister is coming to my house to go with me. My niece in law (husband's niece) lives near here and is going too. We bought our tickets with a group from my Sunday School class and church. So it should be a lot of fun. I usually learn some things too. The speakers are all really neat ladies with wisdom and spiritual insight to share.

Have a great day!!

Home

We arrived home today after our long weekend trip. We have decided that we will hire ourselves out as rain makers. It seems that almost every time we plan a trip with primarily outdoor activities, it rains!!!

We did not get to do some of the things we (I) really wanted to do because of rain, but we still had a good trip and it is good to be back home.

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.

Summer School Over

My summer school classes are over. It was a good experience and I feel prepared to begin my advanced classes this fall. But I'm ready for my 11 day break.

We are about to leave on our weekend trip. I'll probably post a few pictures tonight if I get some good ones today at the Palo Duro Park Canyon.

Have a great day!!

Ready for a VACATION!

We've not had any vacation this year so far and I'm ready.

This is the last week of summer school and fall school starts on Aug 25. That means there is exactly 11 days between my last day of summer class and the first day of fall class. By the way, one of my instructors for the fall classes emailed our first assignment due when we arrive on day 1 yesterday.

SO....Hubby and I are planning a long weekend get-a-way for this upcoming weekend. We are going to Amarillo Texas to see the outdoor musical "Texas." We'll check out a few other area attractions and then visit some relatives in the west Texas area before coming home on Sunday or Monday.

Hoping to get some good pictures while I'm gone.

Anyone know of a "must-see" in the Amarillo area?

Brenda's Photo Challenge--PLAY

When I first heard the theme for today's photo challenge, I thought that should be easy because so much would fit the theme. But the more I tried to decide how that theme fit me and my life and how to capture that with pictures, I really found it difficult. It has given me time to think about how "play" or "leisure time" fits into my life. My life is pretty full of "responsibilities" currently and I have spent some time evaluating the balance.

My conclusions are:

1) I find joy and pleasure in the midst of routine responsibilities and that doesn't lend itself to photographing.

2) My blog time is currently my primary source of designated "play" and you all see it so why take a picture of it.

3) My other, very closely related, purely pleasurable activity is taking scenery type pictures. I share these with you all the time.

So Sharon at Funky Fairy Tales has provided a great challenge for me and helped me appreciate the value of "playtime." But none of that resulted in photos to post.

So last night I reviewed some of the pictures I had taken at various times of the family pets to post. This one is my "grand-dog" this last Christmas when my dil was helping TUCKER get in the Christmas spirit by letting him PLAY reindeer.


The next picture is of my precious Little Bit of her first Christmas when she liked to PLAY, "Let's re-decorate the Christmas tree." She would take the ornaments off several times a day and my part in the game was to put them back or clean up the broken ones. She absolutely loved climbing that tree. Strangely enough she's not done that again after that first year.

And now Little Bit is PLAYING like she is a soft drink!!

This last picture is one of my favorite pictures of Little Bit. My son, Stephen is a drummer and he was practicing with his drum pad. She wanted to PLAY drums, too!!


Be sure you check out the other participant's photos by going to the Brenda's Photo Challenge Blog.

Sky Pictures I took last night near my house

Mid week update!

I was privileged to do something a little different than my normal duties these last two days at work. It was a nice break from routine. I hope it was just what I needed to get me out of some unproductive rut I've been in at work.

We've had a specific client for a number of years that the owner of the firm has always done about 95% of the work himself onsite at the client's office. Most of our clients have work done by staff accountants that is reviewed by the more experienced team members for final approval. So the owner works primarily in a review and signing capacity. But this client had been an exception to the rule. I had some limited knowledge of this client because I had provided some technical assistance at times over the last several years.

So this year, it was decided that both of us would go to the client's home office to complete the work together. It worked great! We worked really well together, each being responsible to take care of the work that fell within our strengths and complimenting each other very well. We completed the project in the time we had alloted to it. We also enjoyed the 30 to 45 minute drive each way getting a chance to discuss some office and personal things. I worked full days and yet have not actually been to my office in 2 days.

So today I have a day at the office. I'm sure it will be full of returning phone calls, email, and staff member questions. I think the office had some computer problems while I was out and so I get to assist in fixing those today.

The next 2 days I am going to a leadership conference with the owner and a co-worker. She and I are the "management team" that the owner depends on to help with many of the decisions regarding staffing and running of the office. So the three of us are going to a conference on leadership to improve on our management skills. I'm looking forward to it.

How to make Grandmama's Sweet Cucumber Pickles in only 9 Days!!!

My mama could make the BEST sweet cucumber pickles of anyone I know. As a child I watched her and helped some. After she died, I got one of her pickling crocks. Most of the time it sits in the corner with some silk sunflowers in it for decoration. BUT every few years, I plant cucumbers in my garden and then decide to follow Mama's directions for making sweet pickles. It's quite a process. I thought I'd share it with you.

Are you ready?

The first thing you need is a cucumber plant in your garden. Well, I guess you need a package of seeds first, but I didn't think to take a picture of the seeds. So the first picture is the young cucumber plant in our black dirt.

Then you need some patience for God to help these little plants grow some cucumbers.
When the cucumbers get big enough to look like a pickle, you pick them and wash them. You have to scrub to get the prickly things off and make them nice and shiny.


Then you get some pickling salt and mix it with some water. You put 1 cup salt to 1 gallon of water to make a brine solution.

The cucumbers and brine go into Mama's very old crock.

Now the crock gets sent to the corner to be quiet and nice for 3 days. You might check on it from time to time to make sure the cucumbers stay in the salty water.


After 3 days, you pour the salty cucumbers into your sink and rinse them off.



It's cuttin' time now. You cut the ends off and throw them away. You cut the cucumbers into chunks about 1/2 " thick.



Now you mix together some Alum and water. You put 3 Tablespoons of Alum to 1 gallon of water.

Back into the crock! Cut up cucumbers and Alum water go back to the corner for 3 more days.


Pour 'em out, rinse 'em off, and put 'em in the jars! Squeeze 'em in real tight!


Add 1 stick of cinnamon and a handful of whole cloves to each jar.

Time to make the Syrup! You need to mix vinegar and sugar together in a ratio of 2 cups sugar to 1 cup vinegar. It takes a lot of sugar!!

Get it good 'n' hot! Boil it real good!

Pour it over the cucumbers in the jars. Cover the group of jars with wax paper to keep them clean but don't seal them yet. The next 2 days, you drain the syrup back into the pan, add a little sugar, reheat it to boiling and pour it back over the pickles. On the third day (that's 9th day total) you seal the jars. If you're lucky, you'll hear little pops throughout the day until each jar is sealed.

And that's how you make Sweet Cucumber Pickles, Grandmama's way!!

Lunch from my garden

I didn't take pictures, but our lunch today with the kids visiting was mostly from things from our garden. It sure was good!

We had purple hull peas; turnip greens (from the freezer from garden earlier); sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, and yellow squash with ranch dip (didn't grow the dip); cornbread (not from the garden); and watermelon for dessert. Oh, I also cooked some yellow squash in the oven with cornmeal on it. I put one of my homegrown Jalapeno peppers in my plate of peas.

God sure grows good veggies!!

Busy, busy day

Today has been a very busy day that started really early for me. But I have gotten quite a lot accomplished and that always feels good.

I still have a few things on my to do list for the weekend.

I have a question.

Where is everyone getting such fantastic, beautiful backgrounds and designs for your blogs? I'm not so swift on all this and I just chose from the blogspot templates and made a few minor changes.

Can anyone tell me where to go or how to spruce up and get a blog face lift?

Okay, I found a link on someones page and played when I should have been finishing up my day's chores.

Oh well, you gotta play some. Right?