A Wednesday

We are still on a major budget, but yesterday the girls and I just had to get out. Though our normal route to Chattanooga is blocked by a rock slide*, we forged another route and visited our favorite place!

We didn't do much, but it was good to go. Hannah has been looking for whole milk yogurt, I know, exciting right?! She can't find it in our little town, so we went to GreenLife and found it!!! I love GreenLife.

Then the girls begged to go to Panera, their favorite place. So, we did. Love their French Onion Soup!

It was a good, though short visit.

*More on the rock slide. This happened in Nov. and another small one in Jan. The first one was a very large slide that took off the side of a mtn. One rock was the size of a tractor trailer. SCARY. They are still working to clear everything, shore up the mtn., etc. This is along our normal route and each time we drive it I think about rocks falling. Not small rocks... large, car damaging rocks.

The Mt. Vernon Statement

We all realize that our nation is not moving in the direction we desire. Though scripturally we know this is all part of the plan; I believe we as Christians are still to stand for truth and justice.

The Mt. Vernon Statement is calling conservatives to stand true to the constitutional ideas of liberty and self government.

Please go here and consider signing this statement.

Prominent signers:
Ed Meese, former U.S. Attorney General
Edwin Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council
Becky Norton Dunlop, president of the Council for National Policy
Alfred Regnery, publisher of the American Spectator
David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America
David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society
T. Kenneth Cribb, former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government
Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
Kenneth Blackwell, Coalition for a Conservative Majority
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
Kathryn J. Lopez, National Review

Crocheting

Sarah decided she wanted to learn to knit, so Hannah bought her materials for Christmas. She is moving right along.

Hannah decided she wanted to learn to crochet, so went to purchase herself some hooks and yarn the other day.

Not satisfied with struggling to learn herself; she decided to drag me into it! I was only willing because knitting with TWO needles intimidates me and if I had to choose, crocheting it is.

I am on my 7th row of a scarf. Tension is too tight so it is bowing a bit. My fingers hurt. Jesus will come back before someone can wear this. And they better like a scarf with a mind of its OWN!

Happy hooking!!! (is that inappropriate)

Enjoying Starbuck's with my girls!

SNOW

It is snowing again today and it is beautiful. We are expecting more tonight. William made a dash to the grocery store; we were getting very low on everything. So we are good for awhile now.

Surprisingly we are faring well being in this much. We have baked, cooked, read and watched some movies. I have always struggled with accepting circumstances, but I am getting better at it. I am learning to make the best of a situation and remembering that it isn't forever.

And the snow is so pretty...

Will...not...fall...asleep.

Godly Womanhood

“Godly womanhood…the very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other type of women: beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career women, talented women, divorced women. But so seldom do we hear of a godly woman—or of a godly man either, for that matter. We believe women come nearer to fulfilling their God given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife, than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realms of morals to be old-fashioned, than to be ultra modern. The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct.”

-Former U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall

Easy Bread (per Hannah)

This bread is crusty, chewy and amazing!!! Only 4 ingredients!

Crusty White Bread
From Artisian Bread in 5 Minutes a Day via The Ivory Hut


3 cups of lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


Grab a very large mixing bowl, or a large container that you can cover. In it, mix the water, yeast, and salt. You don’t have to heat up the water to a precise optimal temperature for the yeast. I’ve even used just regular tap water, and it’s worked well for me. Just let that sit together for a while (you don’t have to wait for the yeast to dissolve completely), then dump the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. You don’t need to knead this, and you’re not looking to make it come together into a dough ball. You just want everything mixed well, with no streaks of flour left, and you’re done.


Leave it in your container, covered (but not airtight, or it’ll pop), for a few hours. When it has risen and then deflated a bit, your dough is done. It’s ready to be used or stored in the refrigerator.

To bake the bread, just grab a chunk of dough, about the size of a grapefruit. Dust your hands with flour to help prevent sticking, and gently pull the sides of the dough toward the bottom, rotating the dough, until you get a roundish shape with a smooth surface. It should only take you about a minute or less to do this. The dough won’t be entirely in the bottom, where it may look bunched up, but don’t worry about it.


Put it on a cutting board that’s been dusted with cornmeal to prevent sticking, and let it rest for at least 40 minutes. No need to cover it. If the dough has been refrigerated, it helps to let it rest a little more, until it’s no longer chilled.


Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake, put a cast iron skillet (or a pizza stone) in the middle rack of your oven, and put a broiler pan (I used a cookie sheet) in the bottom rack. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Dust some flour on the top of your loaf, and slash the top, about 1/4-inch deep.

After twenty minutes of preheating, it’s time to bake. (You can put the bread in after 20 minutes, even if your oven hasn’t reached 450 degrees yet.) Slide the loaf onto the baking stone, and then quickly pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan. Then quickly shut the oven door to keep the steam inside.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until you get a nice brown crust. Remove and let cool completely, if you can wait that long.