A Beautiful Hodgepodge

 

1. How do you define beauty? 

I think beauty is found in the little things that make life better. It is a beautiful sunset, a great front porch, a good book, or sitting around a table with people you love. It can also be laughing until I cry with friends. Beauty is found in kindness, in people who make others feel welcome, and in the grace we give one another. Beauty isn't about being perfect. It's about finding joy and meaning in the life we've been given, even when things aren't always easy. To me, beauty is something that makes you stop, smile, and be thankful. Our world tends to define beauty as "our looks." 1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. I seem to have stepped onto a soapbox - please forgive me! 

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World) Our son and daughter-in-law, along with three of their best friends, just took the train from Birmingham to New Orleans. They said the first few hours were fun. They flew home haha! We took our kids to ride the "North Pole Express" when they were little. We boarded the train with Santa . . .and rode to the end of a track and back again. I think I would enjoy a luxury train trip through the northeast during autumn when the color of the leaves would be spectacular!  When we were in Austria, we took the train to get around the countryside. I enjoyed those rides every day!

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells...choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently. I have been walking on eggshells with one person. I don't want to go into the story on my blog. 

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs...your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? Well, I love tacos and I love pistachios. I am not a fan of oysters nor clams. I use eggs in recipes, but don't eat them alone very often. We hosted one of our neighborhood supper clubs at our house on Sunday night. I didn't take a single photo once everyone arrived! We were too busy laughing, talking, and eating. Michele brought the salad and it is my new favorite and it had pistachios in it! Here is a version of the recipe - I don't think Michele chopped the pistachios. https://iowagirleats.com/jennifer-aniston-salad/

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. I would like for birthdays to be a bigger deal than they are! Mark's mother always made us all feel so special on our birthday. We have a hard time getting everyone together these days!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I really enjoyed getting out a few fall decorations for our dinner party. Y'all . . .I forgot to light the candles!

Sunday Stealing - True or False . . .

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week's meme was inspired by FOMA. He shared 10 random true statements. Let's see if they're true of you, too. You can answer with just true or false or give a more elaborate answer, if you're so inspired.

TRUE OR FALSE

1. I'm married. True - 42 years to Mark

2. I'm raising a teenager. False - I have raised teenagers at one time, but our twins will be 40 later this year.

3. I recently vacationed in California. False

4. I have traveled to Asia. True -- I've been to Istanbul . . .half Asia, half Europe and I've been on both sides.

5. I have a dog. False

6. I received money from a class action settlement. True - I started to type false, but I think I remember seeing a small deposit recently that was from some big company. It was basically change and I am not even sure what it was for.

7. I've been in the waiting room when a family member had surgery. True - two stories -- one time Mark's mother had colon cancer and his siblings and spouses, including me, were camped out in her room (not exactly a waiting room). We actually got in trouble because we were laughing too much and were too loud. Another waiting room story - when our son had his colon removed back in January of 2016, so many people came to hang out with us in the waiting room during his surgery. They brought snacks and drinks and just sat with us for hours. ok - one or two more waiting room stories -- waiting on all three granddaughters to be born - exciting times. Actually, our youngest granddaughter's birth day was quite scary. Our daughter had some complications and sweet baby girl did, too, but all is well now!

Seeing the photos above brought tears to my eyes. That was a scary waiting room experience and a scary few weeks. Mark and I burned up I65 north and south during the end of that pregnancy and the first weeks after birth. She is a spitfire two year old now!

8. I have attended a convention. True - quite a few!

9. I subscribe to my local newspaper (either print or online). False. Back when we had the Birmingham News in actual paper form, I was a long-time subscriber. First they went to cheaper paper . . .and I couldn't stand holding it! Then, I realized that I had read whatever news article the day before online.

10. I recently had work done to the exterior of my home. What are our parameters for recent? Mark actually did some heavy washing on the outside of our house a month or two ago. Our house burned in 2022 and was rebuilt in 2023 so we had lots of exterior work then -- from a new chimney, to a new roof, to an all over paint job - that is just the outside. Here are some interior and exterior pictures from the night of and the next day. 

Those pictures brought tears to my eyes, too! The redo is lovely. These were right before we moved back in -- one year and 10 days after the fire.

We are having neighbors over for dinner on Sunday night and this is how the dining room looks today.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Go Team! Hodgepodge

 

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I'm just here for the snacks). Who's your team? If you're playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

We live in the state of Alabama in the middle of the SEC. . . .where who you cheer for matters. "Are you an Alabama or an Auburn fan" is a question asked at almost every new friend gathering. Mark, his twin brother, his twin brother's wife, our kids, our daughter-in-law, our niece and her husband are all Auburn graduates. War Eagle is a common greeting - we've been in other countries and have seen someone sporting an Auburn hat or shirt and as we pass . . .we say, "War Eagle" and they respond! I guess we rank ourselves as fans . . . somewhere near the top. We watch or listen to most of the games. Our daughter has purchased tickets for us to attend a game in November - Auburn vs Samford. haha! I'm a Samford student so how appropriate. I will probably still cheer for Auburn. I love the feel of a college town on game day. Exciting!

this popped up in my memories - this is our granddaughter who is 10 now - I had bought that little dress for her!

This was our win on Saturday night - 17-16.

Our daughter sent us this photo of her two girls - ready for the game.

Just FYI - their daddy is NOT an Auburn fan.

We also cheer for this cutie's team.

We cheer for this one, too!

Our son and daughter-in-law even had an Auburn theme at their gender reveal. 

We've even had on Auburn attire in several Christmas card photos.

In the photo below, you can definitely tell how much bigger

I was then . . than now. 80 pounds!

Now that I've bored you to death . . .let's move along!

2. What's something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

I am formulating my game plan for this week. I have several big writing assignments due for school. I have to work Wednesday until 6:00 and then we are going to Bible Study. I have to work Thursday and I hope I can find some time to write our Sunday School lesson. On Friday, I need to finish everything for school, change our sheets, put together a chicken casserole, buy some flowers for the dining room table, set the table . . .because Saturday we need to drive down to our daughter's house (2 hours each way) to watch our 7 year old granddaughter be escorted onto the field by her daddy for homecoming and then stay for part of the game. Sunday morning I have to be at work at 7:00, teach Sunday School from 9:45-10:30, help host a new member lunch at the church from 12:00 - 1:00 and clean up . . and then hurry home because we are hosting a neighborhood supper club group at our house at 6:30. I may need to formulate my game plan on an excel spreadsheet. Lest you think we are always on the go . . .we didn't go anywhere except to run an errand or two on Friday or Saturday of this past weekend! (of course, I did work on Sunday morning, but it was a light crowd) We did go to dinner at a friend's house on Sunday night.

work selfie

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What's a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn't as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what's a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

I do not like chicken wings. If I were a guest in your home and you served them to me, I would eat them. I don't order them or cook them. Our kids LOVE wings. I think they all like them spicy. I love to make Big Wheel sandwiches for tailgate parties, along with brown sugar brownies. Speaking of Big Wheel sandwiches - I need the round King's Hawaiin loaves of bread and haven't been able to find them. I just looked online and supposedly Walmart has them, but I haven't seen them in the store.

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your 'life playbook' you think everyone should know?

Mark and I don't discuss anything important after 7:00 p.m. at night. 

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they'd like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

I, like most of you, will never forget where I was when I saw the second tower go down. I remember wanting my children (freshmen in high school at the time) and my husband home in our house together.

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

I didn't blog about our weekend because we really didn't do very much. We did cook dinner a couple of times.

I made shrimp and cheese grits and fresh corn on Saturday night.

I made shrimp tacos for lunch on Sunday.

We had a great meal with our friends - grilled pork chops, Asian slaw, broccolini, and grilled bread.

For Labor Day, Mark smoked two small pork tenderloins on the Pit Barrel Cooker (smoker) and I cooked some green beans and some field peas. We had some leftover Asian slaw (not pictured).

This may have been the best pork tenderloin I've ever eaten.

Labor Day Questions for Sunday Stealing

 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Since it's the Labor Day weekend, we're going to keep this simple. On us all! The first question came courtesy of AI.

Labor Day Questions

1) What’s something you want to do before summer slips away? I don't have any "summer" plans that I need to do. We took a vacation to the beach. We've had a weekend at the lake. I celebrated my birthday and we celebrated Mark's birthday. I've been to the neighborhood pool a couple of times. I had thought I might go this weekend, but it is so blasted hot that I have no desire to leave our air conditioned home to float in a warm pool haha!

2) What book are you currently reading? I am reading Book 16 in a cute little mystery series. The setting is Hawaii. The private investigator is a youngish woman and her two buddies are two old ladies. I've read several "heavier" books this summer and I just needed something light and easy.

3) What have you been listening to? Two mornings this week I listened to Christian radio while I was driving to work. I don't usually listen to anything in the car. The main thing I'm listening to is . . .our air conditioner. Heat index has been around 110.

4) What shows or movies have you been watching? We just finished Furious. It was very intense. We've been watching Ransom Canyon . . . some of the sex scenes were a little much for my taste. Mark actually scrolled ahead during at least two of them. I'm sure I was overreacting haha! (not) We've just watched the newest season of Reacher. We've been watching LeeAnne as our palate cleanser before bed. We think the new season of The Gentlemen is out . . .we will start it soon. I am answering the questions on Saturday afternoon and we are watching Auburn football - War Eagle!

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

A Gritty Hodgepodge

 

1. What's something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to doing? I haven't been to the local veggie stand. There is a man who brings fruits and veggies to a local church on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I've purchased produce from him for years . . .and haven't been a single time this year. I also haven't been to the neighborhood pool as much as I wanted to go!

2. Were you the student who sat in the front row or hid in the back of the class? If you could go back and take one high school class again just for fun, which would it be? Give me a front row seat! My kids and husband laugh at me because if I were in an actual classroom rather than a virtual student, I would be on the front row now with my hand raised to participate!

3. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher (this can be applied to anyone who teaches, not just classroom teachers)? I think teachers need to be authentic. I think they need to have a love of people and a love of teaching. I think they need to be kind - they can be stern or strict when needed, but still need to be kind. Some of my professors have been encouragers - I think that is important, too.

4.  September 2nd is National Grits Day. Have you ever eaten grits? Are you a fan? If so how do you like yours? Would people describe you as 'having grit'? We love grits at our house. Please do not serve runny grits to my husband. He wants his spoon to be able to stand at attention in the grits. He definitely loves butter in his grits. We also like cheese grits as a side dish with many different entrees. We personally think it is an abomination to put sugar in grits :-). 

I don't know if I would be described as "having grit" or not . . .I made it through some tough times when I was young. We made it through our house burning and a year (plus 10 days) of rebuilding. I'm a college student at 68 years old . . .maybe I do have grit.

not one . . .but 2 pans of cheese grits!

shrimp and grits

These are jalapeno popper shrimp on top of grits!

shrimp and grits

This was the homemade version of

a dish that one of our local BBQ restaurants

serves - grits, and greens, and BBQ

You can tell we like grits. I literally opened google photos and typed in "grits" and it pulled even more pictures than I've posted haha!

5. What's something you're never too old or too young to enjoy? You are never too young or too old to enjoy laughter! Technically, a baby doesn't laugh until he or she is about 3 months old . . .so I guess you could be too young. There is nothing like hearing a baby laugh. Thinking about that sound makes me smile. I hope I'm laughing until I take my last breath. Also, I guess we are never too young or too old to enjoy good music. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. One of my classes this semester is Research Methods. We had to turn in our proposal for our research. Here is what I turned in:

Proposal Topic

The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Loneliness Among Young

Professionals Ages 22–35

For my research proposal, I plan to examine the relationship between social media use and the increasing concern about loneliness that is being experienced by young professionals in the age range of 22-35 years old. I think this is a particularly interesting topic because I work directly with this age group every week. They are connected to their phones but seem incredibly lonely. They want to make connections with people but often have their eyes glued to their phones. This fits within behavioral research because social media use can be measured, as well as loneliness. Researching this could show whether social media use is associated with increased loneliness or whether it allows these young professionals to make actual connections. I can see how this topic would allow for development into a research question, hypothesis, and research design for the final research proposal.

It was approved! Here are the comments from my professor:

Lisa, this is a strong topic. You have already narrowed the population, identified two measurable variables, and resisted assuming that social media necessarily increases loneliness. That gives you room to follow the research wherever it leads.

Your next step will be to decide what you mean by “social media use.” You might examine time spent on social media, particular platforms, or the difference between actively interacting with others and passively scrolling. That distinction could make this an especially interesting study.

Weekend in Review

On Friday, Mark was kind and went with me to the church to set up for an event. When we completed that task, we headed to REI at The Summit. Mark bought three pair of performance pants and I bought one pair.

Trader Joe's has a location in the same shopping area, so we headed to the store. We had decided that we would make WW pizzas for dinner. If you combine 1/2 cup of plain fat free Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup of self-rising flour (I use White Lily), you can make delicious pizza crust that is healthier than normal. On top of my small amount of Rao's red sauce, I added turkey pepperoni and fat free mozarella, along with a few chopped onions and sliced green olives. 

Mark doesn't like red sauce so we sprayed his crust with avocado oil and he added cheese and hard salami and two kinds of olives, a pepper from his plant, and some pepperoncinis. They were delicious. I also ordered groceries which were delivered about the time the pizza came out of the oven - of course, right?

On Saturday morning, I headed to my WW meeting. I've stayed within two pounds of my goal weight since the end of June. I keep thinking that I will post before and after photos and talk about my journey, but I haven't found enough courage yet :-)

I ran by Walmart to pick up the things I couldn't order. I headed home to ride the bike and eat lunch. Then I took my car to the car wash! It was filthy!!

In and aroundall of the other things, I also did homework. I really liked the lecture below from my Methods of Research class.

I liked this lecture, too!

On Saturday night, we met our son, daughter-in-law, oldest granddaughter, and friend for dinner at the Pita Stop Express. My food was yummy!

Our granddaughter needed dessert. This piece of chocolate cake was massive. Mark and our daughter-in-law ordered baklava.

I was at work by 6:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. Sometimes my job includes fun things like helium balloons.

The ministry fair falls under my job description.

Mark helped me put the tablecloths on (Friday's job!).

I think it went well!

Sunday afternoon, this memory popped up on Facebook. I can't believe it was 18 years ago. This was when Glenn and Laura were in college. Glenn and Mark roasted a whole pig for the Wesley Foundation.

So what did you do this weekend?