Bill . . .what more can I say?

Mark has three siblings.  Of course, he has an identical twin brother whose name is George.  Mark and George are the oldest.  Then they have a brother whose name is Bill . . he is three years younger.  They also have a sister whose name is Susie . . .but alas, she lives far far away. . .and she is the baby of the family.  All three boys have a birthday in August and we celebrated all three birthdays on the same day.  Bill has Parkinson's so Mark is always quick to do the things that require a steady hand. . . like lighting the candles.  Mark has also always been known as the brother who liked to play with fire when they were kids . . .in fact, he and George burned down a shed in a neighbor's yard when they were just five years old . . .and they had to talk to the Fire Chief!!

You will read more about this in another post . . .but Bill's choice of cake was caramel pecan. Of course, this cake was made by their momma. . . who is not young. Just wanted to make sure that you understood that.

Bill is getting ready to blow out the candles.  I'm sure that we were singing our very off key rendition of Happy Birthday.  We really sing it worse than any other family :-)

I love owning a camera that is fast enought to catch someone in "mid blow" - that sounds weird . . .but you know what I mean. Our old little digital camera would take so long that the candles were out, the smoke was gone, etc.  In this picture, you can even see that some of the candles are still glowing!!  Oops - sorry this is a post about Bill . . .not about my camera.

The next two pictures are so funny to me. Mark's momma also made homemade icecream . . .the kind where you cook the custard . . .and remember she is not young. Anyway, the Elliott family eats the largest bowls of ice cream that I have ever seen in my life. I would say that their average bowl of ice cream is probably four scoops!! Mark served Bill's ice cream and had it delivered to him with a gigantic serving spoon instead of a regular spoon.  Mark is such a jokester . . . our kids call him, "Jerk Benny."  So what does Bill do?  He starts to eat from the giant spoon.

He doesn't just start to eat with the giant spoon. He is able to get that whole spoon into his mouth!!!  We were all laughing so hard!!  Way to go, Uncle Bill!!

The difference in men and women . . .and how they spend birthday money

Men and women are just different.  In lots of ways.  Some that are obvious.  Some that we won't discuss.  I think men and women are different in the way they shop.  Mark hates to shop.  He detests shopping for clothes or gifts.  I think he enjoys shopping at Bass Pro Shop for toys.  For his birthday, he received a check from his momma . . . and I gave him two gift cards to Bass Pro Shop.  On Saturday, he came in from working in the yard and got dressed and said, "I'm going shopping."  Imagine my jaw dropping to the floor!!!  He was gone for quite a while and when he returned, he had purchased something he had been wanting for a long time.

Mark bought a white river fly fishing rod and an Orvis reel.

I don't know about you, but when I purchase a new toy - some scrapbooking materials or some new fabric, I come home and begin to "play" with my purchase.  Mark did the very same thing.  I realized he wasn't in the house . . .and I walked out on the deck and found him backyard fishing again.

He was enjoying his new purchase!!

Look at his determination and concentration!!

The church with the red door

We were sitting in our living room on Friday night and Mark said, "I want to go to the Pita Stop." I said, "let's go tomorrow night." I sent a text message to Dona and asked if she and Gary wanted to meet us. Her response was, "sounds like a plan."


The Pita Stop is a restaurant that is practically on the UAB campus. They have the best hummus in town. They have shrimp kabobs that are to die for. They serve them in a giant Pyrex dish with fresh fruit and Greek salad and hummus and pita bread. Really yummy!!

Cute picture of Dona . . .the guys are already chatting and we can't seem to move from the sidewalk.  You can't see in the window behind Dona . . .but if you could, you would see a conference room table with a "dead as a doornail" cactus on the table.  I believe that the office was the office of a corrupt politician . . .who has been "put away" for a while.  This is an excerpt from the article in the newspaper a couple of years ago:  accused of using a local charity's coffers as his own "personal piggy bank,"So and so was led away in handcuffs by two deputy U.S. marshals after a federal jury in Birmingham found him guilty Wednesday of 97 counts of mail and wire fraud."  I think he is in jail for about 20 years . . .it looks like no one has been in his conference room since he was sentenced back in 2009.  I've never seen a plant quite as dead!!  (this had nothing at all to do with this post . . .)

There is a church across the street that I love. I've never been inside but I love the red door!!! As we were leaving home, I grabbed my camera so I could practice a little.

The church looks really small from the outside. I'm not even sure of the denomination . . .maybe Episcopal? I think it would be neat to say, "I go to the church with the red doors."  (just looked up info about the church on google - it is indeed Episcopal - St. Andrew's Episcopal . . .here is a statement from their webpage - made me laugh!! - "We are a liturgical, high church (smells and bells!)" -- I had heard that said about a church before but never heard a church say it about themselves!!)

We really have some beautiful old buildings around town but I've lived here for my whole life and so often, I just don't even think to "look."  One of our young adults moved here from another state and he is always going to our tourist attractions . . .and I always realize that I've never been to that attraction before.  I've been trying to look around with new eyes!!

A brilliant idea . . .if I do say so!!

First of all, I'm not sure if these "rolls" are carried all over the country or just in the south. These are Sister Schubert's blueberry rolls and Sister Schubert is actually from Alabama! She made rolls for an event at her church and then started making more and more rolls and now she is famous!!


We just finished a study of the seven deadly sins in our Sunday School class and we have a guest speaker next Sunday so I needed a "stand alone" kind of lesson for today. Years ago, we played Bible trivia one Sunday and it was quite funny. I decided it was time to do that again. So I decided I had better feed folks, too! We stopped at the Pig in Bluff Park last night on the way home from dinner and purchased three pans of Sister Schubert's rolls - one pan of blueberry and two pans of "pigs" (little sausages inside a roll). I got up this morning and popped them into the oven while I was getting ready for church. We leave home around 8:00 a.m. and church starts at 8:45 and then Sunday School is at 10:00. Everytime we have taken food, I find it so hard to keep the food warm. I've used my pyrex carriers with the heated pads but I needed some way to transport three pans.

I had a brilliant idea.  The moment that I removed each pan of rolls from the oven, I quickly wrapped the pan securely with foil.  Then I slid the first pan down into the bottom of my crockpot.  Perfect fit!!  I wrapped the other two pans tightly in foil and slipped them on top.  I put the blueberry ones on top since they have icing and I didn't want the weight of two pans of "pigs" on top smushing the icing to the foil.

Look at that - three pans of rolls - perfect fit!!

I popped the top on the crockpot and Mark carried it to the car.  When we got to the church, we plugged the crockpot in and turned it on low.  After church, I removed the first pan and it burned my fingers!!!  Perfect!!  They were as hot as if they had just been removed from the oven.  I actually chuckled to myself thinking of how many times I've carried Sister Schubert's rolls and tried to keep them warm . . . and it was as simple as one, two, three!!

Preachers? Celebrate life? Yes!!

Just in case you haven't noticed or for some reason you don't know this about me . . .I love a party. I love a celebration. I love to laugh. I love to eat. We were talking at work the other day and felt like we needed to celebrate something (which of course, is actually just an excuse to take a longer lunch break and eat some good food - hee hee). I said that I would send out an email to all the staff and as I was typing the email, I realized that three of our preachers had a birthday in August (or maybe even four of them). One of our preachers just finished all her treatments for breast cancer and is cancer free!! One of our preachers just returned from three weeks out of the country. Those all sound like reasons to celebrate to me!! So we planned a celebration.

Our celebration was held in the Holy Grounds Cafe area which is in our youth building. It is just the right size for all of us to gather and we have an ice machine and serving tables, etc.  The Dollar Tree has the best deal on balloons and I pre-ordered 15 smiley face balloons - they just scream celebration, don't they?  When I stopped on the way to work to pick up those balloons, they also had some that said, "Today is your day" or something like that so I bought one for each of the ministers.

Let's see . . .who is waiting in line for the food?  That is Haley on the left.  She is our Communications Coordinator and she does such an awesome job.  Haley is talking to Jeanne (our Assistant Children's Director) whose baby is due in about six weeks (I think we might need to celebrate again!!) and Karen, who is also pregnant (she is our director of lay involvement).  Ann is next.  Ann is my "boss" and she is also the business administrator.

Here are three of our ministers - from the back.  I was having a hard time getting photos of folks.  Suzanne is on the left - she still has on her wig in this picture but this week has been coming to work wigless and she looks so cute.  She has little short dark hair all over her head.  We are so very happy that she is cancer free.  She is an amazing minister with a heart of gold . . .and more importantly, a heart for God!!   Drew is in the middle - his birthday is in August and if you check out a previous post, you can see him at my house celebrating with Mark.  Drew is our minister over evanglism and young adults.  I work directly with Drew and am enjoying getting to know him better and better.  Our church is his first major appointment out of seminary and I think we are doing a good job of teaching him about ministry in a large church.  Listen to me saying "we are doing a good job" - but in reality I guess that is true!!  On the right is Bobby and I do believe his birthday is this coming Monday!!  Bobby is our minister of visitation.  He calls and visits all of our shut-ins and those who live in retirment homes and nursing homes.  He is only in the office about three days a week but all of those folks really love him.  He brightens many days for many folks!!  His wife's name is Twink and I think that is the cutest name ever.  She is just as cute and matches her name well!!

Here is Mack. He is our minister of administration (or something like that - I should know since I work there!!) He is over our maintenance crew and our kitchen among other things. He and Bobby are both retired United Methodist ministers who are serving part time on our staff. Here is a picture of the front of Suzanne. Isn't she beautiful? God's light just shines through her in amazing ways!!

Our maintenance crew was all over in one corner. That is David sitting in the back and Fred toward the front. Fred is in charge of all of the maintenance operations at Trinity. He recently repaired my air conditioner in my office and has made me a much happier middle-aged woman. Some folks think that you could hang meat in my office now because it is so cold . . .but I'm LOVING it!  David is sitting up on a platform so that is why he looks so much higher/taller than Fred.

You know I couldn't write a post about a celebration with talking about the food. We ordered our BBQ from Moe's BBQ and it was delicious. A church member is part owner and we do love to support our church members. I made oriental brocoli slaw and Ann brought baked beans and two different folks brought potato salad. We  had (and ate!!) the biggest platter of deviled eggs you have ever seen!!  We also had chips and dip and desserts. The food was yummy and I had fun taking this photograph. I told several folks yesterday that I would love to be a food photographer.


So far, this post has been all about the celebration and just some "fun facts to know and tell" about our staff. I also just want to say that I think our church is such a wonderful place to worship God and to serve in His name and to grow in His grace. Not only can I say those things as a long time member, but I can say them as a staff member also. We offer something for every age and stage of life. I truly cannot imagine my life without my church family. Back when our kids were small, Mark was offered a job opportunity out of town. After much prayer and thought, we actually turned it down because we could not imagine leaving our church family. This middle-aged mom loves God and loves her church and her church family and even loves her job working in that same church!!

let the celebrations begin!!

Mark's birthday was on Sunday . . .but we started celebrating last Tuesday. I made a huge cake for our Tuesday night group. I had the 'bright' idea to make two chocolate layers and two yellow layers because we were going to celebrate not only Mark's birthday but Drew's birthday also.  Mark loves chocolate and Drew loves yellow/white cake.  I used two 9" pans and two 8" pans . . ."thinking" that it would make this really cool cake.  My mother-in-law has since informed me that there needs to be several inches difference in the pan . . .I had already figured that one out!!  I made a 9" chocolate and a 9" yellow and repeated in the 8 inch pans.  So this cake was actually two whole cakes.  I layered them and put cream cheese frosting in between the layers.  It was one of the ugliest cakes I have ever made yet I was strangely proud of the cake!!

We needed balloons for our celebration. I love balloons!!

We also needed lots of candles!!

I had to convince our birthday boys that they did indeed need to blow out the candles!!

This cake might have been the ugliest cake ever but it was evidently delicious because our group ate the entire cake!!!

Our celebrations continued throughout the week. On Thursday night, we had reservations at Hot and Hot Fish Club. We had never eaten there before but had heard wonderful things about the restaurant. We even took Mark's momma to celebrate with us. The restaurant is known for their tomato salad. It is made with three slices of heirloom tomatoes and a wonderful aioli and black eye peas and corn and fried okra. Sounds like a weird conversation but oh my goodness, it is wonderful. I wanted to take some photos but I only had my big camera and I thought it would be obnoxious. For our entree, I had a fillet that was to do for!! The sauce was spectacular. Mark had duck and stone ground grits and figs. He said that it was the best meal he had ever eaten in a restaurant. Mark's momma had red snapper. On Friday night, I cooked a wonderful meal of fresh veggies that I purchased at the local farmer's market. We had stir fried squash and zucchini and I cooked boiled okra for Mark (no, I do not eat okra cooked that way!!). Mark said that he didn't want me to make another dessert so I bought coconut Popsicle for him. We continued the celebration into the weekend . . .but I left my camera at my mother-in-law's house so that post will have to wait!!

two new yummy recipes!!

I've made two new recipes this month . . . and both are "party foods." My friend, Kristi, shared this recipe with me. Her husband is the salsa maker at their house. Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, made up the recipe. Then Kristi's husband made it. Kristi doesn't make anything with more than five ingredients. Right???? She told me about the recipe and I stopped and bought the ingredients on the way home. I, too, love cilantro so I added a lot . . .and I loved it . . .but those who don't like cilantro thought it was yucky! Can you believe it? Here is my bowl of salsa at supper club . . .here is the link for Ree's recipe (I feel like I know her so surely I can call her by her first name.) Maybe some day I'll figure out how to type, "see the recipe HERE" and you can click on here and go straight to the link but for now this will have to do:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

I also cut a recipe out of the local newspaper. I think the name of the recipe is savory pull apart . . .or something like that. It is incredible. I made it for the teacher's snackroom during VBS and they told me it was good. I made it for our supper club and oh my goodness, it is so good.


You buy a loaf of sour dough bread. The recipe seems to work best if you can find a round loaf that is sort of tall. Use a good bread knife and make "slices" about every inch or so but don't cut through the bottom crust. After cutting in one direction, make slices across the bread in the other direction. Place thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese in each of the "cuts" going both directions. Use a good cheese - don't buy plain old singles. Then open a 3 ounce package of "real" bacon bits (not the fake ones) and sprinkle in all of the "cuts" - pulling them gently apart as necessary. Now melt a stick of butter (use the real thing) and add one tablespoon of dry ranch salad dressing mix. Pour slowly over the top so that the butter runs down in those same "cuts." Wrap tightly in foil and heat in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Serve on a tray and "pull apart" each piece. Our group of 10 ate a whole one . . and loved it!!!!!!