Hope Continually -- Psalm 71:14

I haven't been able to cook or bake much to try new recipes but I thought I would share one my sister baked and raved over!  She said it is amazing.  And a light dessert with a lemon touch is perfect for spring entertaining. :) 7-Up Lemon Bundt Cake Ingredients 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix 1 (4 oz.) Box Instant Lemon Pudding (My sister did vanilla) 1 1/2 Cups 7 Up 4 Eggs 3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil Icing: 2 Cups Confectioners Sugar 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 1-2 Tbsp. Milk Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Spray your 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine all the cake ingredients. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake for about 45-55 minutes (until inserted toothpick or fork comes out clean). Allow to cool completely, then remove from bundt pan. Start preparing icing. If you’re using a fresh lemon, you might like to zest a bit of the lemon for more flavor. That step is totally optional. In a small b...

Things have been a slow go since Wednesday with our house.  The electrician did come on Friday but did not complete the job yet.  Today is three weeks since we moved into the hotel and we hope to get back home soon.  We know we still have a ways to go.   The message my husband preached this Sunday fit in well with our situation...A New Normal.  I feel that we have had to do that for the past three weeks.  He encouraged you to do three things when your life changes: 1.  Mourn.  Grieve. 2.  Stop grieving! 3.  Get up and claim the Promised Land! My situation is nothing.  Minimal.  Just a little inconvenient and throws me off my groove.  That's all.   Maybe you have a situation that has really thrown you into a place where YOU need to find a new normal.  Mourn over your loss. Stop grieving.   And get up and claim the new normal! Saturday, my husband and I were so encouraged by all thos...

Connections.  It is neat making connections with people about the Lord. More times than not...bringing God into your daily conversations is not awkward and weird.  I think that you will find that there are more believers in this world than you think! I was thinking of these recent scenarios... We were sitting at breakfast in our hotel and I noticed this family with teen daughters praying before eating.  About 15 minutes later, my husband mentioned an older couple at another table praying as well. I was meeting with our insurance adjuster and he found out that we home school.  He asked what program we use and I mentioned a program out of Florida called Abeka.  He said, My wife and I use that for our kids! My husband was talking at softball practice to a lady there...he invites her to church...her husband and she comes the next day! We were having dinner with an older couple in our church at a restaurant and my husband gives her an Eas...

I seem to be accident prone since we transitioned to the hotel! One night, I was heading to work in my husband's car.  I turned the corner and heard this crash...I had put my ceramic mug on the top of the car to hang up my church clothes and forgot about it.  There was my mug in tiny pieces on the road.  Bad decision. Then, I was opening the door to the swimming pool and opened it right on my toe.  Blood and open wound.  Just saying that makes me almost faint.  OK...I need to stop thinking about that!  Bad decision. If that wasn't enough, I started cleaning the church Wednesday and the vacuum was clogged.  It never fails.  So I take it apart to unclog it...forgetting to unplug it.  I am reaching in with my hand and accidentally turn it on!  The roller and brush didn't feel so good.  Really bad decision. Basically, I made some bad decisions.  And it cost me.  Most of what happens in our lives are a...

What a busy but good weekend!  We are blessed to have the opportunity to serve the Lord. Saturday, we had our fourth annual teen rally .  It was held at North Valleys High School.   We had 45 teens attend and three teens accepted Jesus as their Savior!  Yes, there was fun and games...but the most important was the preaching of the Word of God.  Words that have the power to change and transform lives.  We are grateful to West Coast Baptist College who came and sang for the rally.  We also appreciate Eric Goetsch who preached for the rally.  He and his wife, Lexa, were a blessing to our church. Saturday was two softball practices...getting a quote on some bathroom work...childcare for the teen rally and work that night. A friend gave me my first plants for my raised garden beds.  Neat!  I am looking forward to getting them in the ground. :) Another birthday present from a friend.  I love spring scarves! ...

I thought I would share with you our recent home school activity.  As a church last year, we held an activities for our home school kids.  We began with five families and 20 kids.  Three of those families do not home school any more so it is now our family and the Ruby family.   Great group of kids and we enjoy being together! We started with a picnic at the Oxbow Nature Study Area.  We then took a hike on the paths by the Truckee River.  So beautiful! Loved the beautiful ducks that came to visit us! Still snow on the mountains in the distance but a warm 70 degrees in Reno.  Spring is here!  After the hike, we went to the nature center and heard a talk about all the animals that live in this area.  Very interesting! Then we took a tour at the Kimmie Candy Factory.   I think one of the interesting things I learned was how the world's supply of cocoa beans are grown on small farms.  I ...

Hurry up.  And wait.  That seems to be the theme in renovation.  :)  No matter how you may push to have something happen, it probably won't happen in the time frame that you have in mind. I went to the cabinet company to pick out my cabinets and counter top.  However, I have to wait on them to come and measure, draw up the plan, approve it by me...before they can order the cabinets. Which takes three weeks.  So it might be done by Tuesday.  Maybe. Asbestos.  The company was supposed to come remove the tile floor yesterday.  They couldn't.  Have to wait on OSHA to approve that they can now come and take them out.   The general contractor can't even start on the drywall until the asbestos people do their part. Hurry up.  And wait. God did that a lot in the Bible.  He likes to do things in His timing. Abraham and Sarah was one of the biggest examples of hurry up and wait.  And they sure had a h...

What a week already!  I can't seem to find the time to sit down and blog.  Instead, I am taking the little extra time I do have to take the girls to the pool while we are staying here at the hotel.  It is a special activity that they will not have forever so we are indulging while we can. :)  And boy, do they love it!   Monday, we were able to have our house looked at by a general contractor.  He is a super great guy - an older gentleman.  We were able to submit his bid to our insurance adjuster and they decided to up our pay out.  Praise the Lord!  This enables us to use a general contractor to do all the work that is needed to be done. Monday night - Work. Tuesday - School, swimming and softball practice.  And a 13 house photo inspection job!  That was pretty crazy. Wednesday - School, administrative meeting with my husband, Awana club and work that night. Thursday - School, met with our contractor at our house, sw...

I made this delicious soup last week.  Similar to Olive Garden's - yummy! Potato, Sausage and Kale Soup Ingredients 1/2 pound sausage 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 2 cups sliced fresh kale 3 cups 2% milk 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/4 cup cold water 1. In a large saucepan, cook sausage and onion over medium heat 4-6 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender, breaking up sausage into crumbles; drain. 2. Stir in seasonings. Add potatoes, kale, milk and cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. 3. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into soup. Return to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Yield: 4 servings.

So, life is a little bit back to normal.  In a weird sort of way.  LOL!  At least we have some normal things like school.  We have about 32 days of school in the year left so the end is in sight! Laundry.  How nice to have this in our hotel for free!  One thing to make this transition smoother. Tuesday - They took out the kitchen cabinets and cut the wall to dry it out.  Met with the insurance adjuster.  That evening - went to Reagan's birthday party.  She turned two. :)  And...swimming. Wednesday - Piano lessons @ 1.  Meeting with pastor @ 4.  Awana @ 6:30.  Work that night @ 9. Thursday - School.  I had a massage that was given to me by a lady in our church.  To the house.  The plumber came and fixed the leaky/broken pipe.  Service Pro came and got all their equipment and checked the floor.  The flooring company came and took measurements for the flooring.  Th...

On Mondays, I usually share my week previous so I thought I would try to catch up.   Remember the delicious dinner that Miss Dora made for us...here it was! :) This was my gift from my secret sister from two weeks ago - a wind chime for my garden. :) A friend lent this to our girls to play with until her granddaughter got older.  The girls were very excited! This was pretty much the bulk of our week.  The girls had standarized testing all week.  We would do 2-3 sections in the morning and they would also do their regular school day.   This is what my week looked like.  Administering all the tests.  And grading and completing the grades to send in for the end of the grading period.  We completed on Thursday and celebrated with ice cream on Friday. This is how home school moms get through tough weeks. :) My husband had a meeting scheduled for Wednesday so we switched our date to Tuesday night af...

Monday night, we "moved" into our home away from home for at least a few weeks.  Insurance covers a place to stay while the renovations are being completed which is wonderful!  We have a two bedroom, two bath suite at the Staybridge Suites in South Reno. Can hardly say this is an inconvenience!  Indoor pool and hot tub. :)  We have been there the last two days.  LOL! The suite is awesome - much better than a regular hotel room.  We have a nice living space to be in during the day with a kitchen.   This is the girls' room.  They have their own bathroom and a desk and TV/DVD player to do school on. All I have to say is...King. Size. Bed.  :) Breakfast/Great Room. Sorry, a little blurry.  The breakfast buffet. View from our room.