Personal Baggage

“Personal Baggage” could mean so many things. So many, in fact, that I won’t even try to name them all. We all have it. No one is excluded. And some hide it better than others.

What I’ve been trying to figure out lately is, how do we wind up with it? I’m not talking about everything we might have gone through that puts us in that position, but rather, how we manage to let it loom over our heads. Is it the way we were taught? The way we view God? The way we view ourselves? The words of others, well meaning or not?

Whatever it is, it can make us feel a lot of different ways. I’ve even heard people say they were doomed, or that they were getting what they deserved from life. It’s turned a lot of people away from the church, away from family and friends, and even away from spouses and children. It can be so debilitating that it can turn a person into someone they don’t even recognize themselves!

And what part does “talking” play in the whole scheme of personal baggage? Does it help to talk? Does it make it worse? Is it giving in to some outside force that prompts people into a sort of “confession” for whatever sake they deem it profitable?

Not that I have many answers for any of the above. I have my own personal baggage, and there are times it seems a lot heavier than I remembered. I believe that may be my own doing, and I’m still trying to work through that…how to process it and deal with it, how to be relieved of it, if that’s even a possibility, and how to figure it all out. I guess I’m no different than anyone else that has their own baggage. We all try to move on.

And we do. Each day passes. Every minute goes by, regardless of whether it was good or bad. I guess that’s just how it is.

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Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie

Oh yes, it does sound good, doesn’t it? I am an avid lover of all things cheesecake. However…I’ve never made a true cheesecake, baked in the oven. I plan to, at some point in the near future because…CHEESECAKE!  🙂

However, this incredibly simple, easy to make pie calms my cravings every time. Don’t worry, this is the simplest of simple recipes, trust me.

All you need is:

• 1 package of cream cheese
• 1 tub of whipped topping
• 1-1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup of confectioners sugar
• 1/2 – 1 cup of milk

Put all of that together in large mixing bowl and mix it up really good. You can use a stand mixer, hand mixer or a fork, it’s completely up to you. Then divide this mixture between two graham cracker crusts – chocolate is best, I’m not gonna lie! If you’re feeling particularly froggy, you can make your own crust using graham crackers, either honey or chocolate, or you can even use Oreo cookies, with the middles discarded, mixed with a few tablespoons of butter and then pressed into your pie plate or pan.

After you’ve put the mixture into the crusts, let it set up in the fridge for about 3-4 hours, if you can wait that long  🙂  And then enjoy!

It really is just that simple. It takes hardly no time to make. I like to make it just before bed and give it all that night and the next day to set up, and it is unbelievable!

Have fun with that, and thanks for stopping by!

A Simple Stew

An “old-time” favorite traditional supper passed down through many, many generations of my family. It’s never the same way twice!

A little bit goes a long way!

Source: A Simple Stew

How to Make an Omelette | The Pioneer Woman

I received this little tidbit in my email this morning and I absolutely had to share! You might think an omelet is one of the easiest things in the world to make, but it’s one of the things I struggled with the most. Now, my wonderful husband was always quick to remind me, “Honey, it’s not about how it looks, it’s going to taste great no matter what.” 

It’s true that not “all” of an omelet’s qualities lies in the way it looks, but, as a cook, it certainly mattered to me  🙂  

So, for anyone who hasn’t quite mastered getting omelet to look as good as it tastes, I suggest you try it this way. I’m sure you’ll be as pleased with the results as I was! If you like this, be sure to subscribe to this blog. You’ll get some amazing stuff on a daily basis.

Confession: My first few attempts at making omelettes were fairly disastrous. They tasted great, but wow, were they ever ugly. I couldn’t get them to hold together, so the filling would spill…

Source: How to Make an Omelette | The Pioneer Woman

why being a mom is enough. – Finding Joy

I randomly came across this today. And it really struck a chord. How could it not? I have worn a great many hats in my 40+ years of life, but NONE that I cherish and thank God for as I do being a Mom. It is the very blood that runs through my veins and I wouldn’t change them for the world. Everything that I do, I do with them in my mind, heart, spirit and heart.

They don’t see you stand in the bathroom and gather your resolve every morning. They don’t see those of you who mother alone without much support. They don’t see the trips to the car back and forth and back and forth. They don’t see you counting to ten a dozen times before noon. They don’t see you look at the bank account and sigh and try to figure out how to make three meals with what’s left in your pantry. They don’t see you walking into the principals office, doctor’s office, friend’s house and defending your child.

Source: why being a mom is enough. – Finding Joy

Mustard Plaster

This is my brand new blog, dedicated to “Old Time” things like home remedies, recipes, spirituality, and much more. Please take a moment to check it out if you like these types of things. There is also a Facebook group and page for it as well.

How it works and how to make it.

Source: Mustard Plaster

Mustering Courage

Trying to muster up the courage to share something from your past is, in my opinion, one of the hardest things in the world to do. That’s one reason I have so much respect and admiration for those that can do it. Especially the ones who have been through even more than I have.

In my own situation, I often wonder, “Why give place to the devil? Why bring up the accomplishments HE has had in my life?” which often stops me cold in my tracks.

I am a firm believer in moving on. Further away from what I’ve been through, further away from the tears, the lonely nights, the suicidal thoughts, the need for anything to take me away at no concern whatsoever for the end result. I don’t want to go back there. I just don’t.

I have recently been praying and I wonder sometimes if the small things that seem to be confirmation are actually, really confirmation or not. Which prompts more prayer and so the circle continues.

Well, it’s been two years coming. It was the reason I started this blog, in a way. I just never realized that the further away from the past I got, the less I even wanted to think about it, let alone go back and relive it and stir it all up again. Aren’t the sleepless night enough? The nightmares? The regret?

<sigh>

Monday, Monday

Today is Monday. It’s been a complete day of havoc and mayhem and all that stuff. And just a few days after I made the comment that my daughter, in all her wide wisdom, told me not to make… “You know, Mondays have never been all that bad.”

I know. Completely ridiculous thing to say, huh?

Well I said it all right. And today started off late… I didn’t even hear the alarm go off. My back was giving me fits and as I sat up in bed, I commented again that we might want to look into getting a different mattress. I don’t know whether or not it would help, but I keep thinking it. I sent my husband off to work without his lunch. Which isn’t like me at all! Then, as I was getting everything ready to start the day, I dumped a glass of soda right into my laptop keyboard!

That’s when I just stopped everything and cried. Anyone that knows me knows most of my life, outside of my family, is IN THIS THING!!! Don’t get me wrong, I keep my really important stuff backed up on Onedrive and Dropbox, but still… it’s how I do everything from writing, to shopping, to weather, to movies, to talking to people…just about everything!

I immediately unplugged it, flipped it, pulled the battery out and held it upside down. {Oh and no, this ain’t the first time it’s happened, lol.} Then while it was sitting upside down, I ran and grabbed the vacuum and vacuumed out the keyboard and the back of the thing. Then I just left it, sitting upside down on the bed, assuming that it would be the last I would see of it. I tried to stay busy, but I just couldn’t keep my mind off the fact that I had known better, yet I still sat my soda right beside my laptop (which will never happen again, I assure you!) and here I was, without a laptop.

One of the things I did to try to stay busy was to mop. I had mopped last night, and left the mop water sitting and when I dumped it out this morning, a mouse had drowned in the water. So, I started to cry again! Poor thing, that absolutely broke my heart, even though I really don’t like them or want them in my house, thinking of the poor thing falling in and drowning just broke my heart.

On a happier note, though, my wonderfully tech-savvy husband came in from work and had my laptop running in less than an hour I’d say. He knows just what to do and after hearing my story and all my apologies, he hugged me, kissed me on the forehead and said we would work something out. And sure enough, here I sit…typing away on it!

I think I’ve joined the ranks of those who are a bit less than enthused with Mondays. However, I’ve learned a valuable lesson or two: do NOT sit your drink next to your laptop, and back stuff up on a regular basis!! I knew better than the whole “drink” ordeal, but I had only planned on leaving it for a few seconds…just goes to show how fast something can happen. And thank God for Dropbox and Onedrive. If you don’t have them, and have anything important you need to keep, by all means download them and start using them. That was my only solace in thinking my laptop was gone, was the fact that my work was still going to be accessible, even if a lot of my pictures wouldn’t be.

I sure hope you guys have had a better Monday than me! Thanks for stopping by!