Fertile Crescent.........

I have been reading a book called "The Conquest of Civilization" By James Henry Breasted. Its an older book and very interesting. The author is well known for his excellent chapter on Egypt. I am still currently reading it; and I am on Western Asia: Babyonia. Its talking about the very beginning (of civilization). I have also been reading and studying the Bible at the same time. So much history is happening! It is so amazing to learn all of this! I learned a lot of this in school, but not this detailed...... I also think it is very important to know your geography and history when studying the Bible. This did happen...........! And we didn't just magically acquire the Bible! People lived and breathed in whole different time! I love history!!!!!!!  :) 

Yummers!!

I love ice cream! My sister Ruthie has access to bring home free ice cream from Cold Stone. YUMMERS!! She is so sweet to think of me so often! I  love 

Cold Stone ice cream........ My favorite is sweet cream with strawberries. I think I could live off of ice cream :) ....................Does anyone else share my love?

Scrub A Dub!!

Cleaning day! Organize, put away, vacuum, bathrooms, closets, junk drawers, laundry, kitchen, floors! Whew! Its nice to have that all done! Now I can enjoy the weekend! =)

Getting excited for the Olympics?

Don't you wish you could do this? I do........! =)

Remembering........

I cannot believe it has almost been a year! Time goes by so fast. On the other hand, it seems like such a long time ago. It was such a glorious day! Here are a couple of memories...................................................................................................

Update.............

Update on our (myself and Ruthie's) progress with the Fluidity bar.......(We still love it!!!!)  www.fluidity.com

My legs are looking so lean and tight, its only a 35 minute workout so you don't feel like you are about to throw up!!! You stretch every muscle after you work a certain muscle group. They say you will see results if you work out two times a week.......  I try to work out at least three to four a week. 

Growing up as a kid I took ballet and gymnastics, I know that this method works. You are using your own body weight. This workout targets the low back, hips, thighs, buttocks, abs, arms and calves. But what I love about it is that it gets the hard to exercise spots like the love handles and the bottom. 

The best part of all.......... if you have mid to low back problems it builds all of those muscles. I have a really bad low back problem that I have been going to the chiropractor for and the chiropractor has noticed a big improvement in my low back :)

"George and Martha"

I love children's books! Well, not all, but I love finding excellent ones. I discovered a little series called "George and Martha", by James Marshall. They are older and not so modern, but just wonderful classics. Its about two hippos that are best friends. I love the way they are illustrated and the way the writer writes. I think I love reading these books as much as the kids do!!!! =) I even bring them home so I can show them to Benjamin! Hee hee. Does anyone have any favorites to share? I would LOVE to try them........... =)

The kids I look after......

I just love the children that I Nanny. They are not ordinary children; both their parents are doctors, she is from Canada and he is from South Africa. Their devotion is their jobs; they love what they do. The mother works about 90 hours or more; he works between 50 and 60 hours a week. They are also Muslims. When I was hired I told them upfront that I was  a christian, so if they had any problem with that we could all just move on.

 It really has been a great opportunity for me. The children are so bright and smart; they have a pure love for their God (even though they don't understand it) After being with them for a year, they seem to think like me. I never wanted to come across that I was going behind their father's back, I just live my life and show a love and devotion for my God. I know they are hungry for that relationship. I play Delirious in the car and at first they didn't care or weren't even interested, but now they love all the songs and they sit back quietly in their seats and listen; sometimes they sing, (the littlest one always sings, she is 2 1/2 ) They love the song "Majesty" that Delirious sings. Sam, (the boy) asks questions like "what does blood of the lamb mean?" I am amazed by their questions at times. He understood and loved my answer. We have had conversations about heaven, hell, christianity, atheism, secularism, politics, President Bush, America and its founders, the pilgrims, C.S. Lewis...(they love Chronicles of Narnia) the Bible, and the Jews. Eighty percent of the time they bring up the question. I love to talk about all of it.... so we usually have wonderful conversations. They are proud of their faith, but they relate and understand mine. I believe that they are viewing themselves more as Christians now then Muslims. They would never say that in front of their dad, (they are only 8, 6 and 2 1/2) their dad is very passionate.....about his belief. 

I realize the effect that I have on these children. I love them and pray that I have planted seeds in their lives that they will never forget. 

Harry Truman

Talking about books, I have been reading several really good ones. One of them I have been reading since August, it is a big baby though! And I don't want to finish it :) David McCullough's Truman. Its about the life of President Harry Truman. One of the things I love about him is that he was just an ordinary man. He had principles and a desire to serve his country..... but he had never intended to become President ( He was the president following Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death) in fact he was FDR's vice president. I can't tell the whole story of how he became president, but I realize how much he went through and how strong he was through it all. They were in the middle of World War II and just coming out of the great depression when FDR died......Truman hadn't been briefed about anything. It is an inspiring story and I recommend it highly. 

Benjamin's library

With Enya playing in the background, its a perfect setting for reading :)



Here are some pictures of Benjamin's study. When we moved into this house one of the biggest perks about it was that it had a nice sized loft. Our book library is pretty vast, and don't forget that all these books used to be in our bedroom! So I am especially excited about his nice library :) We got this whole book shelf set for $50.00  through Craigslist. It looks like we have already outgrown it!

A Christmas Tea

Tea time are some of my happiest times. I love tea with cream and sugar and always served in a tea cup. Mugs are for coffee and hot chocolate (I believe =) ). It has been a long time since I have had a tea time like this one. My usual routine is to have a really good book and soft classical music on in the background. 

Ruthie made black berry and Nutella turnovers. They were extremely yummmmmmmmy! My boss gave me a beautiful red table cloth and matching napkins for Christmas. It made our tea party really pretty =) It was a nice quiet and peaceful moment after all of the holiday excitement. 

A Beautiful Christmas Eve

Christmas is an exciting time! God said to rejoice! For our savior has been born! A savior for all mankind! Israel had been waiting two thousand years for the Christ that would redeem them of their sin. Thank you Lord!

These pine cones smelt like yummy warm cinnamon. It filled the whole house!


We had a lovely Christmas eve dinner. Our dinner was Zuppa Toscana soup with soft dinner rolls and yes, RIBS! Our desert was cherry blackberry pie. I didn't want to show the cooked picture of the pie, because the berry sauce overflowed and looked really really messy! The pie was delicious though! I just took one can of cherry pie filling and a bag of black berries mixed them together and put them directly over the pie crust. The sweetness from the cherry pie filling was enough for it all! I don't like it too sweet =) 

All of us at our Christmas Eve service

Stockings

My sister Ruthie, has been making stockings recently. She has done such a nice job and it really inspires me to pick up sewing again. We both have decided to take a class together at Joanne's fabric store. I am getting really excited about it. =)

 We are progressing on our baby blankets that we are crocheting, but I have noticed recently that my blanket has started to decrees on the side! GREAT! Now I have to go back AGAIN and try to figure out what I did wrong =)! The pattern is so simple, but I keep messing up on the number of stitches. Maybe I should try another pattern? Oh well, its a lot of fun and I have enjoyed doing it with Ruthie. =) 

Family Christmas Pictures

Benjamin and I at our churches HUGE Christmas play.

Ruthie is so pretty!!!


Here are some pictures of the family. Myself, Benjamin and his brother and sister who live with us. =) We have a lot of fun together! Yeah, that's why we have a nice size house! Ha! It would be a little much if it was just for Benjamin and I! =) 

Is it just me or does anyone else have trouble using blogger? I can hardly do anything with my page. I don't know if it has to do with me having an apple? Or if it has to do with Safari? I have spent hours trying to upload a background and other things. I get a little farther each time, but not much =). Any thoughts?

Here are the rest of the pictures of our new house........

Here are the rest of the pictures of our house. I am still deciding how to decorate! There is a lot of space to fill. But luckily it is such a pretty house, it looks pretty nice on its own! Yes, we do have a pool, which in Arizona it is almost necessary to have one. God has greatly blessed us with this beautiful home =)

Sean Hannity

Sean Hannity is one my heros! If anyone is interested in politics or world events tune in to The Sean Hannity Show AM radio. We actually went to one of his events in September held in New Jersey. Its called "The Freedom Concerts" held in honor of the fallen solders and their living children. They had Ann Coulter, Cornell Oliver North, LeAnn Rimes, Rudi Giuliani, and tons more. It was really encouraging and inspiring. I will post pictures later. 

Some Pictures Of Our New Home =)

Here are some pictures of our new house! I couldn't put all of them up. I will post more later. 

Crocheting!

I have gotten encouraged to start up crocheting again! I admit it is extremely fun and exciting to see progress on my project. Really crocheting is not difficult. The toughness is learning all the basics, but after that let your fingers fly!!!

I have found it!!!!!!!!

I have found the most wonderful thing in exercising history!!!! And I have already safe proofed it for everyone. It DOES work! I have been working out with it for two weeks now and I have seen EXCITING results!! All in the comfort of your home. Hint, if you are interested in purchasing this product, I would suggest you check if it is listed on Ebay. Or you can be like me and pay the full price for it brand new. =) I would suggest you look at the Fluidity page. www.fluidity.com

Oxford England

Above are some pictures from our Honeymoon. One of our stops was Oxford, England. We loved it!

Roast Beef Brisket

Yummy! Pure country brisket for Sunday lunch today! So yummy and so easy! Just look for beef brisket at the grocery store and then you can either cook it overnight or in the morning (which is what we did) and have it for lunch. At least 6 1/2 hours at 180* degrees. You don't need to use any seasonings. And then we usually just use nice sesame seed buns with pickles and onions and some of our favorite barbecue sauce. The meet is so tender! You have to try!

Beef Brisket
Recipe courtesy Butch Lupinetti, BBQ Pit Master
Show: Throwdown with Bobby Flay
Episode: BBQ


http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2006/08/16/bt0114_brisket1_e.jpg

1 (6 to 8-pound) beef brisket
1 cup seasoning rub (recommended: Butch's Smack Your Lips Magic Dust)
Preheat the oven or smoker to 225 degrees F.
Trim the fat evenly across the top to 1/4-inch thick. Season the brisket liberally with the seasoning rub. Cook in the oven or smoker until the internal temperature on an instant- read meat thermometer reaches 175 degrees F, about 6 to 8 hours. Remove the meat from the oven or smoker and wrap in a double layer of aluminum foil to seal in the juices. Turn the foiled meat upside down and place it back in the oven or smoker for 1 more hour. Remove and let the meat rest for 20 minutes. Slice in 1/4-inch thick slices.

Serve with jalapeno peppers and/or onions on a bun or in a soft flour tortilla shell with fajita seasoning and sauce.

Enjoy!

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.