Fifty days and counting...

We’ve been compared to peanut butter and jelly, Ethel and Lucy, and even thought to be sisters... Tab and Nic, a friendship that started before we were even born. Our mothers met at church and became friends shortly before Tabitha was born. Seven months later I was born and not to long after we were having our first play dates!

This past August, Tabitha moved to South Carolina where she has been teaching 1^st grade at a private school. It has been difficult but our friendship has spanned the miles and still continues to grow deeper. In just 50 days, it will be Christmas break and Tab will be coming home for two glorious weeks!

Can't wait to see ya, girl!

When you become reluctant to change...

"When you become reluctant to change,

remind yourself of the beauty of autumn."

Deal of the weekend

Okay, so I have this fascination with books, whether they be children's books, grammar books, purely educational books, historical fiction, or classics. This weekend was pure heaven for me, when much to my delight I received my Scholastic Order that I had purchased from work with a few of my absolute favorites for kids, (see below)

...and there was the biannual library book sale! My favorite purchase would probably have to be the Little House on the Prairie series. When I saw them, I immediately reverted to my childhood. Watching Little House reruns with mom when we lived in Texas, and then finally being old enough to read the actual books. These were a definite favorite series of mine!

I also couldn't resist picking up another copy of A Tale of Two Cities, I mean it is only the greatest classic of all time! I was also pretty excited at finding one of Louisa May Alcott's first novels ever written, A Long Fatal Love Chase, as well as a Grammar guidebook for children, and a book full of literary essays by great women authors! This weekend's purchase was a grand $15.00! (worth every penny of it!)

The best thing about being a sister...

Sisters by birth, friends by choice...

"She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities.

She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway.

She is your partner in crimes, your midnight companion,

someone who know when you are smiling, even in the dark.

She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent,

even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child."

"Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Indulge in monumental sulks,

in huffs, in snide remarks. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom.

Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there.

Defending you against all comers."

"A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit,

a golden thread to the meaning of life." ~Isadora James

What is the best thing about being a sister? It is having a friend... When they laugh, you laugh, when they hurt, you hurt. I am learning more and more each day how strong the bonds of sisterhood truly are. My sisters are not perfect, in fact I could tell you all their faults, and they could tell you mine. But, that does not make me love them any more the least... What is true love? Finding a perfect person? No, it is knowing all about a person and still loving them in spite of all of their imperfections. Sisters truly are one of the greatest bonds God ever blessed mankind with. I am so very thankful that I have been blessed with two!

I love you, Brooke and Lauren.

Rantings...

Being a great lover of the classics and always looking for a new book to read, I find myself frequently looking at what others are reading in hopes of finding something good. Just the other day I was helping out in the Big Kid's room at work and noticed a kid engrossed in a book, so I asked to take a look at it. The title and picture on the front was slightly disturbing and what I read on the back cover was even more. The book was entitled Cut and this is what its description said:

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But

enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside.

Now she's at Sea Pines, a residential "treatment facility"

filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie

doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She doesn't

want to have anything to do with anyone. She won't even speak. But Callie can only stay silent for so long...

I flipped through the book and its contents were even more alarming than its back cover! I put the book down and looked at the twelve year old boy.

"You are not reading this book! Why would you want to read a book like this? I don't want you ever bringing a book like this to after school care!"

He looked back at me with a questioning look in his eyes and replied, "Well, I have to read this book...It's for school, my teacher said I have to read it..."

I felt so angered yet so saddened too...Really, truly this is what our tax dollars are going towards...educating the children in the public schools on what, how, and why teens get depressed enough to slit their own wrists? Wow!!!

I am so very thankful that God has blessed me with a godly heritage and with the great privilege to have grown up in a Christian home and to have attended a Christian school!

Sparkly and Heavy!!

Last night my very dear friend Liz got engaged. I had known it would be coming for a week and I had done my very best to steer clear of her, just any case anything I might do or say would make her suspicious. Her boyfriend/fiancee did a great job with surprising her, she was totally clueless! Today I was able to spend the morning with her. She came to my house grinning from ear to ear and just glowing with excitement! Her ring as described by her, "is just so sparkly and heavy!!!" To which I would definitely have to agree, here is a picture of it...the picture really does not do it justice, it is absolutely beautiful!

Just the other day I was being melancholy and wishing that I could be teaching somewhere out of state like several of my other classmates, but still being here and being able to have the bride-to-be and my great friend all to myself, is something I know I would never trade for any teaching job out there. Today as I drove and she sat next to me calling up more relatives and friends, hearing their responses and listening to her tell the story again and again made me feel so very lucky to have a part in this important and exciting time of her life. I am so anxious to help her out with anything and everything; we've already made plans to go out next week shopping for something bridal related!

Congratulations, girl, I love ya and am so very excited for you!

Dinner on Me!

Being out of college and no longer having projects and reports to fill my time, I have been assigned one night a week to prepare dinner. It can be anything I want, however I must shop for it, buy all necessary ingredients, and then cook it myself. I must admit that at the beginning of the summer when I was first told of my contribution to family meals I was not looking forward to it. However...I have discovered that I love to cook, and especially to try out new recipes on my family. It is amazing all the places I have found a great recipe at, for instance, Rachel Ray (whom you never can go wrong with), Campbell Soup's website, a cookbook that I received at high school graduation and rarely ever cracked open, or even from a fellow blogger! Last week I needed a quickie before a midweek evening service, I decided to try out a new recipe from here, and this was the finished product:

It was a huge success and the only alterations

I would have made to the recipe

would have been to marinate the chicken prior

to placing it in the oven...

With the recent weather change and rapid decline in temperature, soup was sounding really good to me. So I looked around online and found a great recipe for Seafood Bisque. The meal ending up costing a little under $20, which is typically more than I usually spend, but it was definitely worth it! With this recipe you can use whatever type of seafood you enjoy. I chose shrimp and crab meat. You cook your choice of meat in a sauce pan with a half a stick of butter. Once your meat is cooked you add it to 2 cans of Campbell's Cream of Potato, 2 cans of Campbell's Cream of Shrimp, 4 cups of Half-and-Half, 1 cup of heavy cream, and hot sauce to taste. I also put some Cayenne Pepper to give it an extra zing!

Heat through and then enjoy!!