Blogger? Wordpress?

Who uses what system, and what do you like about it?

I am considering moving over to Wordpress.

Because I am trying to make my blog look professional and lovely and be something you want to follow.

Any suggestions?

Earning

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 6:23

Daily Light, September 26, AM

When I graduated high school, the parents of one of my friends gave me a leatherbound copy of The Daily Light. In the (gasp) 12 years since then, I have at least glanced at it most days. To be sure of that, I keep it open, in the bathroom. The humidity has bubbled the pages, but I sort of like it that way. I would rather it seem a little worse for wear than be pristine because it was on a shelf.

I glanced at the morning devotion, the verse above struck me. Since I thought it would be a fairly busy day, I tried to make the most of the quick visit to the little bathroom.

Wages. Something that is earned. When I try to earn anything, all I will reap will be death.

Gift. Something given. Something received. Something not earned.

The gift of God is salvation, forgiveness, wholeness. The gift of God is eternal life. Life! Unending, unquantifiable, full, spiritual life.

But when I receive the gift of God, that is, draw on the life He provides through the Spirit, what I will reap is life.

What to do?

It's a quarter to 3, Liz just fell asleep, and Sam is napping, too.

I have at least an hour in which to do something without interruption or distraction.

Here are my choices:

Behind door number 1, whip together dinner so I don't have to worry about it later. While I'm at it I can do a little prep work for some of the other dinners this week (cook a little extra chicken, chop up the green peppers that I have a feeling are starting to get a little on the slimy side).

Door number 2, go to the grocery store so I don't have to do it tomorrow. The list is made, I just have to go out there.

Or door number 3, sit down with a cup of coffee and the new books from the library. The ones that are not about ducklings, hippos, or puppies.

Hmm....

menu plan 9.27.10

I'm giving this menu plan thing a try.

Actually, I plan my meals every week, sometimes more than a week in advance. But this time I am linking up on the world wide web, so now if anyone is interested in seeing what we're eating, well, here is your chance.

Monday (today) - spaghetti.

Tuesday - pot pie with the leftover veggies, broth, and chicken that I roasted on Saturday.

Wednesday - beef roast, either in the crock pot, or in a beef burgundy sort of way. Not sure yet. I guess I should figure that out before I go to the store, shouldn't I?

Thursday - chicken divan

Friday - shrimp & sausage gumbo (I have frozen shrimp, and frozen gumbo veggies. I imagine this shouldn't be too hard to pull off)

Saturday - pork chops, and/or leftovers

Sunday - BLTs and/or leftovers

Lunches - leftovers, mac & cheese, sandwiches, whatever-we-can-find-in-the-fridge-that's-edible

Breakfasts - eggs, pancakes (blueberry!), oatmeal

I don't have any links for my recipes, but one day I will.

I have a few WIC coupons for milk that I need to use this trip, so we will have a LOT of milk all at once. I'm new to the whole WIC thing, so I forgot them when I went to the stores, and now I have to buy 3 gallons of milk at once. I'm thinking about making a lot of pudding, and maybe even yogurt. But I will definitely freeze some of it.

If you have ever frozen milk, do you do anything special so it doesn't explode when it expands?

Gossie

"Gossie is a gosling. A small, yellow gosling, who likes to wear bright red boots."

Gossie is currently a very favorite friend at our house. She walks all around her barnyard in her bright red boots. One day she loses her bright red boots. It makes her sad.

See figure 1.

Unfortunately, L has learned empathy, and Gossie's loss makes her very sad, also.

A couple of evenings ago, I was in the middle of making or cleaning up something in the kitchen when I heard L whimpering. It was the kind of whimpering she makes when she wants some sort of help, but doesn't want to come ask for it directly. (I'm afraid she learned that from me.)

"Baby, what's the matter? Come here, and I'll help you." My annoyance was masked nicely.

Imagine my surprise when she stumbled into the kitchen to present her Gossie book at my feet, pleading with me to understand that she had found her poor, heartbroken friend on the page. No amount of reasoning or comforting would bring her to rejoice that on the very next page Gossie's boots returned on Gertie's feet.

Gossie was heartbroken, and my dear child was insisting upon mourning with her.
There is so much to be learned from her, if I'll only let my heart out of its casings occasionally.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Rom. 12:15

Bloggy Versatility

Versatile, huh? I don't know about that, but I'll take it.

I was just awarded with the Versatile Blogger, a peer award, though the one who awarded it to me is hardly my peer. And I mean that in the best sense--she is my mother. Yes, yes, moms do tend to award for unnecessary things ("best pancake mixer" and "fastest Lego picker-upper" or "quietest at the library"), but I appreciate her nomination of my blog to join in this love-fest. I think she means it, because otherwise I don't think she would have put my name up there with the highly intelligent bloggers she listed herself. Thanks, Mom! It's my first blog award! Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.

For those of you who do not know, my mom, Meg Moseley, is an actual novelist. Meaning she has sold a book! When Sparrows Fall will hit the presses in May 2011, and I hope you look it up. Several months ago she allowed me to read one of the many drafts, and I was begging her for further installments as I flew through the chapters she gave me. It is a great story and I enjoyed all of it--I really couldn't wait to find out how it ended!

Since I don't participate in these very often, er, more like never, I'm excited about the idea. Here is how this blog fest works.

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass on the award to up to fifteen deserving bloggers.
4. Contact the bloggers you chose for the award.

Alrighty, rule #1, check. Now, #2.

1. When I have a spare hour (which I do more because I am a procrastinator, not because I get work done so that I can play), I am more likely to sit down with a sudoku puzzle than an actual book. But I have to wait until Sunday for a new puzzle in the newspaper because the lame county paper that is delivered free only comes on Sundays.

2. My favorite sound is my 15 month old jabbering about whatever goes through her little head. I don't know what it is about, but it is very serious, and sounds a lot like, "Ieeeeez ein, nnnn ha einnnah, hey ahy aye-aye, nud da da!" What can I say? She's so smart.

3. If you asked me where I want to go to eat and I had full freedom to name any place at all, without deferring to anyone else (which is rarely), I would almost inevitably say, "Five Guys Burgers & Fries" for one of their "little cheeseburgers." Their "little" burgers are normal sized burgers. Their "hamburgers" are two hamburger patties. And they don't charge anything extra for any topping you could ask for on your burger. Their fries are worth every penny, too, especially because they not only fill a Styrofoam cup heaping with fries, they fill it up, dump it into your paper bag, and then refill the cup and put it in the bag upside down. That's even when you order a small fry. It seems so generous, even though potatoes are like the cheapest thing in the world to give away. That's part of why I love them so.

4. I have a cowlick in my hairline on my forehead, which I got from my mom (thanks, Mom), and apparently I passed on to my daughter (you can thank me later, Liz). This makes anything a hairstylist would think of doing with my hair kind of a disaster. At least that's what I get for going to places that charge less than $15 for a hair cut.

5. There is a horrible stingy, rationing side to me. Yes, that's helpful when you're trying to save money or be creatively frugal with leftovers. But it comes out as meanness. "No, you can't eat that bacon as a snack! What if I were going to make BLTs for lunch tomorrow?!" That's well and good, but I usually say something like that when there is neither L nor T in the house.

6. By the time I was 16, our household and/or yard had hosted 1 horse, 1 dog, 12 pigs for 4-H, 10 rabbits (well, first there were 2; you know how that goes), 2 cockatiels, 2 parakeets (OK, the 'keets were my brother's), and 7 cats. This may have had something to do with us homeschooling. If I remember right, we called it 'animal husbandry' if all we did that day was pick up our pigs for fair.

7. It's after 3 PM and I am drinking coffee right now, even though last time I did this I didn't sleep well until after 2:40 AM. But that also had something to do with toddler canines breaking through toddler gums. Hence, more coffee.

8. I can't stand that when you type "gums" it says it is spelled incorrectly. Even the computer should know that the pink flesh that your teeth live in is called your gum, and you really should be able to pluralize it. OK, this one was a freebie.


Now rule #3. I will pass this on to a few blog friends. The last thing I want to do is to pressure these folks into any kind of "chain blogging" trap, but I'm giving The Versatile Blogger to these particular blogs because I follow them, and I think they're cool.

1 - Magen @ evangeline - This is one of the sweetest, most peaceful and honest blogs on the web. And Magen makes beautiful hand-crafted clothes, hair clips, and accessories. I "ooh and ahh" at the items in her store.

2 - Rachel Anne @ Home Sanctuary - I don't know how I stumbled upon this blog, but I have followed her for at least a couple of years. And I join the gals for her Friday "Company Girl Coffee" when Fridays and my blogging coincide.

3 - Pop @ Go, Pop, Go! - His blog is truly versatile, because he covers being a dad (Pop), working out, making food (though sometimes more often he talks about food than about working out. hmm....), and flipping off the things he can definitely do without, which is balanced on another day by things he is thankful for.

4 - Bethie @ Bethie at home - I love Beth, and she loves Jesus and her family and her friends, and she tells great stories, and her chili recipe is the best. You will have to go through the archives to November 2009 for her crock pot chili recipe, but I promise it is totally worth it.

5 - Alicia @ Alicia's Homemaking - This girl amazes me. Really, you have to look at her blog, because if she didn't have photos to prove it, I wouldn't believe that she really has a baby, a husband, a neat apartment, an exercise routine, homework that she finishes, a budget she keeps, homemade food she prepares, a blog she maintains, and friends that she actually relates to regularly. I'm thinking she might have a twin she's not telling us about, who does her slave labor.

6 - Keith & Patricia @ Wednesday Wisdom - This is a collection of parenting wisdom, and it is written by the parents of friends. Their words can be taken seriously because they have 6 kids, and all of them are normal, healthy, productive members of society, for the glory of God.

7 - Joyce @ Keeping up with the Moys - We started following each other's blogs after "meeting" via Company Girl Coffee. We were both pregnant with our little Chinese babies, due within a month of each other. If we didn't live on opposite sides of the country (almost), we would surely be in play group together. If she had time.

8 - Elisa @ The Not So Pharaoh Farrows - Elisa is adorable; I met her when she was a wee camper and I was a young staff/counselor at camp. Now she and her husband have just been married for a year, and they are an adorable couple, who have brave and caring hearts. Her blog is beautiful and cute.

So, have at it, guys. You're all versatile, and award-worthy in my eyes. **golf clap - because Liz is asleep on the other side of this wall**

Now, on to rule #4.

Accidental Chicken Soup Pilaf

Tonight for dinner I created something delicious and completely accidental. It started out as chicken soup. But I boiled away almost all the broth, and then added too much rice. So it became soupy rice with chicken soup vegetables. And it was really, really yummy. I am writing it out so that I can make it again--on purpose.

• Start with the usual suspects for making chicken stock:
  
• chicken bones (these were raw, actually almost still frozen). This time I used the spine parts that I'd thrown into the freezer for this purpose. (Note to self: never buy chicken leg quarters again unless it says "without nasty spine part" on the package.)
• carrots, onions, celery. These will not be the final veggies, so I cut them into really large pieces - quartered, really. I used 1/2 a monster onion, 2 carrots, and 2 celery stalks with leaves. While I was at it, I also chopped the veggies for the finished product and threw them into a tupperware in the fridge to be added about 30 min before the end of the cooking process.
• Add enough water to cover. Throw in spices; this time it was Marjoram, Bay Leaves, Coriander pods, and Black Peppercorns. About a teaspoon of each. A sprinkle of salt.
• Boil, then bring to a simmer, and cook with the lid on for about 3 hours, or until you come back to check on it and say to yourself, "oh, crap! What's the point of making a stock if you boil it all away?"
• Strain out the vegetables, bones, and herbs, and try to figure out how to use the measly 1 cup of stock left in the pot.
  
• Then add about 2-3 cups of stock from a box that you were hoping not to break into, since that was the reason you were making chicken stock in the first place.
• Add sliced/chopped carrots, celery, and onion. This time I used 2 carrots, half of a monster onion, and 1 rib of celery. Add any chicken meat that fell off the bones.
  
• Dump in about 3/4 cup dry rice.
• Boil, then cover and simmer for about half an hour. It ends up being very soft and flavorful rice, full of veggies and chicken. Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches and pretend you meant to make it the way it came out.

Love and Fear

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect (complete, mature) in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19 NIV)

For several days I have been focused on love. Not love in the generic, touchy-feely, warm-fuzzies kind of love, though that's not bad in and of itself. I'm focused on the way I love. Do I love well? What is my motivation for what I do? Is it love, or is it something else?

When I get up and take care of my family, wash their clothes, talk to them, prepare and serve food to them, what is truly my motivation? I know there are women who really, purely do whatever they do because they love their families. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and daughter more than anyone else in the world, and would do anything for them. But when I am sweeping petrified rice and cheese off the kitchen floor for the third time today, is it done out of love?

I have found that often my love is imperfect. In fact, it is almost always imperfect.

I do things out of a sense of need, duty: "If I don't do this, it won't get done." There is care and love involved, but it's not the major motivating factor.

I do things out of a sense of obligation: "I said I would do this."

I do things out of a sense of responsibility: "I have to do this; it's what a good wife, a responsible adult, a good mother, a mature Christian, etc., would do."

Or out of fear of rejection, or of failure to live up to certain expectations, whether real or imagined: "What if they saw the mildew growing around the bathtub?"

So in all these examinations of my heart, I have found more than ever that the verse is true: There is no fear in love. And fear has to do with punishment. Or at least with consequences. Love is expressed by the things we do. If I do because of love, then it is pure, free from these other motivations. If I do because of fear, then it's not really love at all. There's no faith in it.

Where does this pure love come from? It has to come from the deep and abiding conviction that He loves me. That the Father loves me enough to give His son Jesus, who loves me enough to submit Himself to death, and who loves me enough to be raised to life by the Holy Spirit, who loves me enough to dwell in me and pour out His love in my heart.

Then perfect love drives out fear.

The 15 month update

Today Lizzie is 1.25 years old. To be honest, she has never been more fun.

Here are a few things that amuse and delight us about who she is right now.

I love how she can follow directions. She throws her diaper in the trash, puts the Goldfish she dumped onto the carpet back into the bowl, gives the animals kisses, is gentle when we tell her to be, and helps me water the tomato plant.

She is the only person I've ever known under the age of 2 who is completely capable of blowing her nose. If you hand her a tissue and tell her, "Blow your nose," she will actually do it, and wipe it until something comes out! Sometimes she does it voluntarily if she has a little something in there that needs wiping--usually on your shirt, of course.

When cuddling, it is mandatory to have all the necessary equipment: Boppy pillow, striped pillow to lean back on, blanket, baby doll (or soft toy of choice), and snack and/or sippy cup. Lamp must be turned on. Parent is optional.

Coasters are very important. All drinks must be on something, whether it is a book, a napkin, a magazine, or a post-it note, it can't just be on a bare tabletop.

Last week I taught her how to play "Ring Around the Rosie" and she loves it. What I love about this game is that while it's fun for her to play it holding hands and dancing in a circle, she can play it the lazy-parent way: I sit on the floor and sing while she runs circles around me until "we all fall down!"

When playing with a phone, she says "Ha!" (hi) and holds the phone between her ear and her shoulder. Apparently she watches us too closely.

Coloring is a new favorite pastime, and she has taken to holding a pen, pencil, crayon as close to the tip as she can, clearly imitating the way I write.

Because we have recently subscribed to Netflix, with unlimited access to shows and movies online, she has learned that by pushing the correct buttons on the remotes, she can access her favorite shows: Barney and Thomas. If it sings, dances, chuffs, or whistles, she loves it. I know it's not the best thing in the world, but sometimes I just want her to sit quietly and eat her snack, and Thomas the Train is the only thing that will accomplish that.

I really don't know how she has learned this so quickly, but she has perfected The Bedtime Stall. Somehow it takes 45 minutes to do what should take 15. As soon as she's done with her bath, there's a burst of energy and a sudden need to read Gossie & Gertie 4 times in a row, and a new diaper, and another drink, and to kiss the cat, and kiss the other cat, and kiss the dog, and kiss the cats again, and eat more Cheerios, and read another book. Oh, and have the last milk of the night.

Lizzie's vocabulary is growing daily. We taught her signs for things so she could communicate before the verbal capacity was fully developed. She knows how to tell us: more, eat, milk, all done, kitty, hurt, change (diaper), swing, book, bath or wash, up, and fan (i.e., spinning around and around). She waves "hi" and "bye" and blows kisses. When something is missing, she puts her hands up as though asking, "where did it go?" or shrugging like, "I don't know." When something hurts, she tells us, and then it's greatly improved when we kiss it. It's also pretty amazing how well she can communicate by pointing and using her vast assortment of the "heh" sound.

Verbally she says or imitates about one new word every day. However, just because she has said it once, doesn't mean she will say it again any time in the next few weeks. But so far her vocabulary includes:
Mama
Daddy
Hi (Hah - so southern)
Hurt (huh)
Here (hee - when giving something to us)
Hat (Ha')
Hot (while blowing)
Help (he'p or heh) (obviously she has her "h" sounds down)
Outside (usually accompanied by a pair of shoes and yelling "ou-sigh!")
Goldfish (go-fish!)
Fish
Bubble
Shoes (Zooz, Soos or Zeus)
Shirt (Sir')
Lizzie (Zizzie)
Kick
Kiss
I love you (ah wuv oo, or ah wuv Mama/Daddy)
Shae (for Shae and her sister Addie)
Cat (Ca')
Bath
Yucky
Dog
Bob (Bob the Builder or Bob the Tomato, or dog)
Up
Apple (Abbo or Abpo)
Apple Juice (Abpo Du)
Gossie (her favorite character in the books by Olivier Dunrea)
Grandma ('Ama)
Elephant (Effant or Effan')
Chicken ("bock, bock" = what chickens say. Can refer to the animal or the meat. She has ordered chicken before by going to the refrigerator and saying, "bock, bock, bock"!)

Her favorite foods are:
grapes (quartered; in fact if they are too big, she gives them back to me to cut smaller)
chicken ("bock, bock")
apple juice
apples (which she eats peeled and whole)
beans & rice
chicken & rice
vegetables & rice ... anything with rice is usually a hit
strawberries, but she gets a terrible rash when she eats them :( no more strawberries for her this summer; maybe next year.
Goldfish. Duh!
cheese
ice cream
yogurt
frozen peas, frozen green beans (long ones she can gnaw on until they're mutilated, then give back)
popsicles

Socially she's really great. She is so well-behaved. On Saturday she was going all day long; first my parents came and babysat her all morning while Sam and I went out. Time with the grandparents is always great stimulation. Then when we got home, we scooped her up and took her to a birthday party for one of her friends turning 2. Then when she was starting to lose it there, we went home, at which point she got her second wind while Sam and I were wiped out. Then we got invited to another friend's birthday party (this one is also her friend, but she turned 16), and brought the delirious child to yet another party. With no nap! (I take that back; she fell asleep in the car for 15 minutes on the way to the first party.) It was almost 10 PM when we got home finally, and she never gave us any trouble! When she finally did fall asleep nursing (for the first time in months), I managed to change her diaper, put on her pajamas, and put her in the bed without her giving more than a sigh. The poor kid was out! I think we're finally recovered from this weekend now that it's Wednesday.

Right now my favorite thing that Lizzie does, though, is give hugs. When she wants or needs comfort, she comes up to me and gives me a hug. Wraps her arms around my neck or shoulders and pats my back--pat, pat, pat. I hold and kiss her and she just hugs and sighs. And when she was little we were worried she wasn't affectionate because she wouldn't hold still. I love that little girl. She's growing up so quickly.