Hope Continually -- Psalm 71:14

Goodbye, February.  You had some sad moments. My Uncle Ron passed away and graduated to Heaven.  We will miss you, Uncle Ron!  My mom has lost her first sibling.  Thank God for Heaven! I went to Charlotte, NC for work. Our church hosted a Super Sports event for our community, car show and Super Sunday for Super Bowl Sunday. We had Family Worship Hour and Lord's Table.  We hosted The Collingsworth Family in concert. The teens had weekly Youth Choir Tour practices, Ultimate Frisbee, weekly youth group. Sierra worked at CFA, worked diligently on her senior school year and took the CLT. Summer worked hard on her freshman school year, did her horse riding lessons, participated in a Civil War Reenactment, and did her weekly piano lessons. They both participated in their American Heritage Girls weekly club. We remembered the anniversaries of our beloved pets passing - Fig and Belle. Summer and I visited Pensacola and our college kiddos overnight at the end of the month...

  This Week's Menu: Monday:   Cool ranch crunch wraps Tuesday:   Crispy cheddar pork chops and veggies Wednesday:   Use pantry items to make a meal. Thursday:   Chili and quesadillas Friday:   I am out of town. Saturday:   I am out of town. Sunday:   Meatball subs and cream of mushroom soup *Monday and Tuesday are new recipes.  I will share if my family likes them. :)

Friday, February 21 We have had some near freezing nights.  I have been covering my garden to protect it.  My tomato plants got a slight burn but overall, everything stayed alive. :) School - Day 119.  While the girls did their school videos, I did a few errands. First I stopped at Wal-Mart for a few items I needed for meals.  Of course, they didn't have ONE item that I needed for dinner that night.  Water chestnuts. I was very interested at the policeman sitting at this intersection in the parking lot.  This is one that no one seems to know what to do.  Only one way has to stop and the other way doesn't.  I have been honked at TWICE here because I did not stop - I did not have to! - and the other driver felt they had the right of way.  They didn't.  While I was there, I was so happy to see two drivers pulled over for not respecting the rules here!  Yes! Then I went to CVS and did a little couponing.  Then I went to the chiropr...

  I wanted to share this recipe I recently made for the first time.  There are lots of variations on this recipe but this is the one I made and we enjoyed them very much!   It is from Magnolia Table: Volume 2. Grandpa Stevens' Cabbage Rolls Cabbage rolls: 1 large head green cabbage 1 lb. ground beef (80% lean) 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice 1/2 small sweet onion, such as Vidalia, finely diced 1/2 cup tomato juice 1 tsp. seasoned salt 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1/4 tsp. Himalayan pink salt 1/4 tsp. garlic powder Tomato broth: 3 cups water 1 cup tomato juice 1 tsp. seasoned salt 1/2 tsp. Himalayan pink salt 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 lemon, halved, for serving To make the cabbage rolls: Remove and discard the core from the cabbage.  Freeze the cabbage for at least 12 hours. Place the frozen cabbage under hot running water, letting it run into the cabbage center.  Carefully loosen and peel back each leaf.  Repeat until all t...

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  Wednesday, February 19 School - Day 117.  Eric took a day off and did some work from home as well. Sierra worked 8-4pm. I loved getting this text and photo from Autumn!   What is more special than this?  Nothing. :) I made two new recipes for dinner.  These are two recipes from Joanna Gaines' cookbooks.  Chicken parmesan - now I make a simple parmesan chicken - this one was so delicious!  Chicken parmesan will probably always be my favorite way to eat chicken. :).  I also made cacio e pepe.  I know, what even is that?  Ironically, I didn't know but Summer knew exactly what it was.  That cracked me up.  She is so much more advanced in her cooking skills and knowledge than I am!  It is basically pasta seasoned with butter, parmesan cheese and pepper.  I thought it was a good side with the parmesan chicken. Once a quarter, our church has Family Worship Hour on Wednesday night.  Our normal Wednesday nights are...

  Monday, February 17 Today is Day 115 for our school year. I took my Volvo to get an oil change, tire rotation and new wipers (they were falling apart). Sierra worked from 11-3pm. I made salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and salads for dinner. Tuesday, February 18 Today is Day 116 for our school year.  It was a beautiful day.  Sierra and I worked on her quizzes and tests a majority of the day on the front porch enjoying the gorgeous sunshine! I finished this biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  He was a pastor during WWII.  I love this part of history and I enjoyed reading his life story. I made this new recipe from Joanna's cookbook - Cajun shrimp sheet pan dinner.  I really liked it!! Then it was off to take Summer to her riding lesson. Nugget's toes and fluff.  She's so funny.

  Saturday, February 15 Rough start to the morning with a headache.  The kitties were ready to get up too.  I got coffee and Excedrin right away.   It is a warm but stormy looking day. Had my devotions...did some blog posts...watched the morning news and checked my e-mails. I wanted to go to Wal-Mart to get Valentine candy on sale 50% off.  I had my grocery list ready for the week so I figured why not knock that out too.   My aunt Joan sent me this photo from my Uncle Ron's funeral.  How special! Summer was gone with her friend to the Civil War Reenactment (since Thursday night).  Sierra worked 3-10pm.  Eric was still in Atlanta.  I was supposed to pick him up at 6:57pm but his flight was delayed over and over again so he ended up Ubering home.  So it was a very quiet day for me at home. Tis the season in Florida - pollen season! I went to Home Depot to get coverings for my garden beds.  Of course I had to look at the...

This Week's Menu 2/17 - 23 Monday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, veggie Tuesday:  Cajun shrimp sheet pan dinner Wednesday:  Chicken parmesan, Cacio de Pepe Thursday:  White chicken Alfredo lasagna Friday:  Grandpa Stevens' cabbage rolls, sourdough bread Saturday:  Chicken fried rice, egg rolls Sunday:  Leftovers