LenaLoo Has Moved...
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LenaLooBlog
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Battle Razor
Mused by LenaLoo at 12:24 AM 4 wishes granted
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
I Got an Award!
Wow! I am so flattered! I never even thought my blog would ever be read by anyone and now I have an award! Thank you so much Noah's Mommy!
Translated: "This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."
I am passing it on to:
- Mommaof4wife2r@Thorn Among Roses - because she makes me smile with her kids crazy antics!
- Queen Jeannie@Jeannie's Happy World - because she is so encouraging!
- Megan@INfertile Myrtle - because she makes a topic I struggle with okay
- Lorna@CoconutNoodleMonkey - because she makes me laugh out loud, literally, and is as ADD as me
- Faith@BlessedQuietness - because she embodies what this award is about!
- Dani@Wine Laced - because she started a blog to keep in touch with me!
- JenniferP@Petersons Go Public - because she is so creative and inspiring!
- ADDiva@GardenSpirit and ADDiva - for taking care of other ADDivas with everything she has!
Other Things I Am Praying About
- FamilyLife - The ministry and it's workers, our application process
- References - The people that will be talking to FamilyLife about us
- Amy - for her family and that she finds child care soon
- My family
- Toby's family
- Our church
- Our friends and bible study group
- Homebuilders - prayer before we begin our group in the coming year
Mused by LenaLoo at 1:18 PM 0 wishes granted
Labels: Church, Family, FamilyLife, Friends, Homebuilders, Prayer, Requests
Global Prayer Movement
Campus Crusade for Christ,which FamilyLife Ministries is a part of, has a Global Prayer Movement going on... I signed up to pray on the 15th of every month at 6pm (the day and time of our wedding to help me remember), but they also have a prayer journal that I will update a link to every month. You can download it and print it out, but I just bookmark it and look at it daily (it's in my bookmark bar) before I pray. This months Focus is West Africa. Today the prayer is for blessings for their partners to be able to continue to give faithfully to the ministry. It also has a daily verse, today's is:
1 Chronicles 29:21-24 (New International Version)
Solomon Acknowledged as King
21 The next day they made sacrifices to the LORD and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD that day.Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the LORD to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officers and mighty men, as well as all of King David's sons, pledged their submission to King Solomon.
Mused by LenaLoo at 12:10 PM 0 wishes granted
Labels: CCCi, FamilyLife, GPM, Prayer
Prayers for Today, Hope for Tomorrow
I started this branch off of my normal blog to keep track of all of the things I am praying for... If I can pray for you in any way, let me know and I will add you to my daily prayers... I would like to update with answers to prayers here as well :)...
- FamilyLife - The Ministry Toby and I are in the application process with
- CCCi - Campus Crusade for Christ International (FamilyLife's Umbrella Organization)
- GPM - Global Prayer Movement a ministry of CCCi
- HomeBuilders - A small group, focused on building marriages and families using materials created by FamilyLife (the first study is available for download here)
- Requests - Any prayer requests I get will be vaguely reported on here (I won't use specifics, and I can keep things anonymous if anyone prefers)
- Updates - on prayers requests I have had, or on other things I have been praying about
- Books - Since this is also kind of a devotional blog for me, I may recommend whatever book I am reading in my devos here
- Events - I will let people know of any events that are coming up, that I am praying for or that we are attending that have to do with prayer, spiritual walks, or evangelism
Mused by LenaLoo at 11:53 AM 0 wishes granted
Labels: Books, CCCi, Events, FamilyLife, GPM, Homebuilders, Prayer, Requests, Updates
Our Interview With FamilyLife and a special offer!
Okay so I promised you guys an update on our interview this morning, and I will get to that, but first I want to tell you a little bit about the ministry we are applying for... FamlilyLife Ministries is based in Little Rock, AR and they are a group committed to helping marriages and families across the US and around the world. Their biggest ministry is an event called Weekend to Remember (which I wrote a little bit about in this post and this post) and I have a special offer for my readers and friends... If you check out the link above and feel like you would like to attend a conference in the coming year, leave me a comment with your e-mail and I will send you the discount code I have for my group. You can go to any conference on any date in any city, as long as you register 10 days prior to the conference, and get an $80 discount. I encourage everyone to go! It is great for a marriage tune up, or just for inspiration! Toby and I were so moved when we attended our Weekend to Remember that we attended a staff opportunity meeting! That's what led us to our hour long interview this morning...
... Which went great! Cliff is such a nice guy... He and his wife are in the process of adopting twins right now! So exciting! Anyway, we talked with him this morning about all of the reasons we feel called to work with FamilyLife ministries (whether it is here at home, or in Little Rock where they are based) and what the process looks like... In the next couple of months we will be busy filling out the application, taking an assessment, and praying about and collecting references. Then, our paperwork will be evaluated by a new person (not Cliff) and we will then possibly be asked to attend a Ministry Preview in Little Rock February 18-22! And by the end of that trip we will be given a Yes, a No, or a Wait by FamilyLife and we will go home and then give them our answer within a week! After that, if God is still calling us to be a part of this ministry, we will attend Training, in Orlando, FL May 2-9 and learn how to raise our support (this ministry is a fully sponsored missionary organization)... In the meantime, we will stay at our jobs until we raise 80% of our support, at that time we will go back to Little Rock to do a house hunting trip and also interview for our specific placements in the office... When we raise 100% of our support we will pick up and move to Little Rock to start our ministry with FamilyLife! This is an exciting journey for us, and we know God has not let us get too comfortable here for a reason. Whether we end up in Arkansas or not, FamilyLife is part of us now and we are so thrilled to have this opportunity!
Mused by LenaLoo at 10:13 AM 2 wishes granted
Labels: Future, God's Plan, Marriage, Rave
Monday, December 8, 2008
Contemplations
Mused by LenaLoo at 4:15 AM 4 wishes granted
Labels: ADD, God's Plan, Ramble, Rave, Work
Fun Mail and Coke in the Crockpot?
Those two topics are unrelated but I figured I'd write about them in the same post... Sorry for my poor camera phone photos... I need to get a phone with a better camera... Like a Blackberry Storm... Hotness... Anywho... Don't you love it when you get good stuff in the mail, rather than just run of the mill junk? This week I got some good stuff (we don't check our box everyday like we should)...
- a handmade Christmas card from my soon-to-be Sister-in-law who lives in Scotland
- a P&G brand sampler (samples of Tide, Prilosec, & Pantene Pro-V Shampoo)
- an envie (envelope) of Q's (coupons) from my GG (Grocery Game) Q Train
- some beautiful handmade buttons I bought from this Etsy shop, Buttered Parsnips
Pretty simple actually, you put a roast in the crockpot, season with salt, pepper, season salt and garlic powder (the basic 4 in my house, found in most of my family's recipes),
toss in some veg (tonight it was potatoes and onions)
and pour in a can of Coca Cola Classic... Seriously...
It comes out looking like this and tasting perfect... Not sickly sweet or anything... In fact, not really sweet at all... Just good...
As my dear ol' Dad likes to say, "Try it, you'll like it!"
One or two more Notes of Randomness:
- If you're working on collecting Q's for GG and you are having trouble, try swinging by your local Starbucks after closing on Sunday... When they close up they put out their leftover newspapers to be collected by the delivery guy who takes them back to be recycled... I picked up 3 extras tonight at 1 location!
- I got my first Christmas gift of the season yesterday, a new sofa! My MIL, Teresa bought it for us an it is so comfy! It also has a queen size sleeper in it! Isn't it pretty? It's from Pottery Barn, but she got it for a steal (like 75% off of what it should have cost new)... We are going to have the slip covers dyed a chocolate brown though, so my cat's fur doesn't show up on it as bad. It is impossible to keep them off of it! We have been using this very small, uncomfortable futon from Ikea that I have had since before we got married... It had broken slats in it too, so it was pretty lousy to sleep on... My parents will sleep much better now when they come to visit!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Something cookin...
So I had a long day at work, but on my way home I got a craving for tacos... I ran to the store and picked up some tortillas and other fixings... I already had some chicken cooked up so I just cooked some onions and shredded the chicken and heated it up with some fresh lime juice... I started heating some oil to fry up my tortillas when I realized I had flour tortillas and not corn (not a big deal, I just had heated oil for no reason)... Not wanting to be wasteful, I decided to make Bunuelos... I mixed up the ingredients in the link (I only made a half batch) and made it into little balls...
And sprinkled them with Cinnamon and Sugar...
Yummy... I made more than I could eat, so I am going to take some to my friend Gracie... These are right up here ally... Mexican and Sweet... Lol... They were not like I remembered them... My nanas were way more crispy, or something... I don't know what she did different... I'll have to ask my Mom when she's not at a John Mayer Concert (she took my Dad for his Birthday)... I should get her recipe for the next time I make them...
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Worst Christmas Gift Ever?
Friday, December 5, 2008
More Twilight and...
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Finally Saw Twilight!
Okay, I am officially "one of those" people... I saw Twilight today, after devouring all 4 books this last week, and despite the tweeks and some odd casting, I loved it! When Bella is looking up "cold ones" on Google, I actually shuddered and said "that's hot" out loud... Out.Loud. Because it was. Hot. "It's like diamonds, you're beautiful" and he is. Beautiful. Charlie I'm not quite sure about... Ava as Esme? Not sure either... But I like Kristin Stewart as Bella, and Edward... Perfect. I also liked Jacob, but I wasn't too sure about Eric or Mike. Alice I totally got and the rest of the fam was okay. Emmet fit to me... It helped that I read the books after the movie came out though... And the scene where Charlie meets Edward... Totally happened to me that way... Homecoming Freshman year... Dad was cleaning the shotgun on the coffee table... Poor Nikko nearly peed his pants... My brothers thought it was HILARIOUS... So even though I didn't see Charlie doing something like that, I totally got a laugh out of it... All in all the changes weren't too terribly distracting (unlike Robert Pattison's other feture, HP 4: Goblet of Fire, could barely even sit through that one because of all of the uneccessary deviations from the book) and I enjoyed it. A LOT. :)
Check out this Music Video from the Soundtrack:
Mused by LenaLoo at 3:22 PM 1 wishes granted
Christmas Tree Inspiration and Most Comments EVER!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
My Extra Special Christmas Wish List
These gifts are hard to put on a regular list so I am going to list them here in case Santa (or my Mom or my Hubby) needs some hints, these ideas are good for my b-day too *smile*:
- A Designer Blog Header from
- This class at U Bead It
- My own XBox Live Account
- A Deep Freezer (or gift card to somewhere I can get a deep freezer, I would like an Energy Star one...)
- The first 2 Twilight Books, Twilight and New Moon, Hardcover with Original Covers (ie: not movie edition please) or a Gift Card to Barns & Nobel or Target to get them...
- Exercise Clothes (Shorts, Shirt, Yoga Pants, Jacket, Speedo Bathing Suit, Goggles), Gym Bag, and Shoes (or Gift Cards to get them - Sport Chalet, Target) to use at the gym
- This purse (psst - you can get it at Ross) and Matching Wallet
- Any of the Post Secret Books (Post Secret, A Lifetime of Secrets, The Secret Lives of Men and Women, My Secret) by Frank Warren
- The Seafarers Expansion to Settlers of Catan (and 5-6 player expansion for it, this site has a special if you buy them together)
- Magazine Subscriptions to Real Simple, All You, or ADDitude
Merry SITSmas!!!
A SITSmas Carol
I've decked my blog with boughs of holly...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
Would be the season to be jolly...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
Since I don't have too much money...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
I must learn to be more frugal...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
'Stead of shopping I must make stuff...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
Rather than get in lots of debt...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
Follow me in merry measure...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
While I bust out the tape measure...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
Join me in this yule tide pleasure...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
And be sure that you remember...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
The true meaning of this season...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
More than gifts and stress and shopping...
Fa la la la la la la la la...
Okay that song was lame, I'll admit it, but I am having issues with not being able to buy the gifts I want to for my family and friends... What do you SITS gals do when the cash flow is low but you want to give something thoughtful to family and friends for the holidays (besides entering SITS give aways for $200 Target gift cards)?
And my 3 favorite SITS gals right now are:
Nanny Goats In Panties
Sera @ Laughing Through the Chaos
Thorn Among Roses
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Fred lives on...
I realized today that I never explained how Fred the turkey came to grace our table this year... I was browsing through the ads in my paper one day (a new habit since starting GG) and saw that SaveMart was giving away a 15lb turkey to every customer who spent $99.99 in one shopping trip. Now this used to be easy for me, pre-GG, but now the thought of spending $100 (leaving me $50 in my budget for food for the next 2 weeks) in one go made me cringe... So I decided that I would just buy things that we needed that would not hit our list (ie:eggs, meat, and milk) to last us the 2 weeks... So Toby and I hit the store, Coupon Binder in hand (yeah, it's a little OCD, but it keeps me organized) and went straight to the meat section... Lucky for us, the butcher was at that moment starting to do markdowns, so we followed her down the aisle tossing stuff she had just marked down into our basket... We ended up with 3 small whole chickens, 3 pkgs of Half Chicken Breasts, 3 pkgs of 90% lean Ground Sirloin, a rack of Pork spare ribs, and a beef chuck roast! We also got 5 dozen eggs, some juice, a 10lb. bag of potatoes, and some fresh fruit and salad. All for $100! On top of the score, we got Fred, our 18 lb. friend for $5 (just paid the overage for the extra 3 lbs.)... We ate from him just about every day this week... His final performance was in a Turkey Pot Pie...
I got the idea from $5 Dinners and the pie crust recipe was my family's (same one used for the Pumpkin Pie)... Next time I will use half butter and fresh shortening (I did this on a whim today)... But what made it taste so great was rather than using straight white sauce, I mixed in the rest of my white turkey gravy and a lot of the juice I had saved from Fred as well as some cream cheese (which I used in my gravy this year after KT did it last year...) made it taste great! I think next time I will add in some chopped mushrooms (maybe canned ones) and some diced potatoes... Yum...
Mused by LenaLoo at 4:15 PM 4 wishes granted
Labels: Cooking, Holidays, Rave, Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 27, 2008
It's Begining to Look a lot Like Christmas...
Thanksgiving is almost over (well it is for me anyway)... And since I celebrated it to the fullest this year (all week oh yeah) I officially feel it is time for Christmas music... I waited all year for it and now it is time... So enjoy the blasts from my past and classics as well... Get started on the decorating and shopping and have a wonderful holiday season!
Mused by LenaLoo at 10:54 PM 2 wishes granted
Happy Turkey Day Everyone!
Well, it was happy, but not a Turkey Day for us... Somehow I think some wires got crossed and we ended up having Roast Beef for Thanksgiving dinner today! I think it was a special request by my brother-in-law Simon
(pictured here with Nana - yes, that is his hat she is wearing!) who is leaving for Prague in a couple of weeks... Boy am I ever glad I cooked Fred on Sunday, I would have been a sad panda if I hadn't been eating turkey with all the trimmings all week! (Though I could always go for more turkey!) I may buy another small one when they get marked down tomorrow if their are any left when I make it to the market (still feeling a little under the weather and I have to work from 11:45am-4pm tomorrow)... Is anyone heading out to brave the madness that is Black Friday? I don't think I am going to this year... I think I'm just going to hang out at home after work... But I might hit Target to see if there is anything I need that has been marked down... Blessings to my family in LA and to the Metzger/Alterton clan braving the desert and driving down to the Grand Canyon! Have a Happy Holiday All! I am off to deck the halls (well my blog at least)!
Mused by LenaLoo at 7:29 PM 0 wishes granted
Labels: Friends, Holidays, Rave, Thanksgiving
Monday, November 24, 2008
Makin' Pie
Me and My pal Grace made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving last night! (That is such a bad pic! Oh well...)
There is the filling and the dough :)
And the pies in the oven...
This is what the husbands were doing, and that's Grace's cute dog Flora (I totally named her!)
Here's our finished pies in all all their glory...
Grace is keeping one and this is the one I'm saving for Thanksgiving...
And of course we had to eat one right out of the oven...
Yum...
We used the recipe my family has used for years... My Mom and my Aunt Marcie always make Pumpkin Pie together this time of year... Thanks for making pie with me Grace! It made Thanksgiving feel right :).
Mused by LenaLoo at 9:28 PM 0 wishes granted
Labels: Cooking, Holidays, Ramble, Thanksgiving
Sunday, November 23, 2008
New Traditions? Let's Hope Not!
So Fred came out of the oven and he was lookin a little, well, extra crispy on top, so I was scared but...
He done good! Fred was perfectly juicy inside! Toby and I ate dinner at 12am, just like my mama predicted lol... She said it reminded her of her first Turkey experience (not ON Thanksgiving, and WAY later than they should have been eating) it makes me smile that I am carrying on a little tradition, but I am hoping that this is not the start of a new tradition (I would lose my mind)! Toby loved our little all-to-ourselves-Thanksgiving meal though, and I enjoyed it too,
(please don't mind the mess behind food... it was far too late at night to be setting the table... we just kinda dug in) but I will pay for it tomorrow when I can't get up for church because my back is killing me (I pulled it at work Friday and was in bed most of the day on Saturday because it hurt so bad)... Hopefully a couple of Motrin will do the trick tomorrow like they did today (funny that I was reading and watching anti-motrin propaganda most of the day today lol)... Hopefully the magic turkey drug will start working on me soon here! Goodnight!
Mused by LenaLoo at 12:39 AM 3 wishes granted
Labels: Cooking, Holidays, Rant, Thanksgiving
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A Conversation with Fred, My Free Turkey
Me: (standing in front of the fridge with the door open) Hey Fred
Fred: Sup?
Me: So I know you were expecting to be the centerpiece of our Early Friends Feast tomorrow, but I just don't think that's gonna happen...
Fred: What? Then Why the heck did you defrost me?
Me: Well, I thought we would be eating you tomorrow, so I naturally had to decide that a few days ago and put you in the fridge.
Fred: Well that was stupid, you should have made sure first cuz you can't put me back in now you know.
Me: I know, sorry Fred, things happen... Now when am I gonna find time to cook you?
Fred: Tonight.
Me: What? I don't feel like it, it is already 5pm and you won't be done for a long time.
Fred: I don't care, I am tired of sittin here waiting around to finally have some peace! I have been knocked off, plucked, brined, frozen, and thawed! So pull me out and give me the attention I deserve!
Me: Fine. But, you know, I've never done this before...
Fred: Amateur! Alright, you just listen to what I say - get me out of this plastic and put me in the sink.
Me: Alright.
Fred: Now get out some salt, no not that iodized crap, the good stuff. Yeah Kosher, that's what I'm talkin about. Now rinse me with some cold water and rub that Kosher salt all over me real good.
Me: (rolling eyes) What is this, ClubMed?
Fred: Do you want to eat tonight? Then listen up! Keep rubbin! Hey do me a favor, get this junk outta my mouth!
Me: (pulling out neck and other parts) Ewww... what was that?
Fred: I had a neck stuck in my throat, thanks.
Me: Anytime... I thought there was gonna be a bag of stuff in there...
Fred: (let's out a fart and drops giblets) There, ya happy? Toss that crap out, we aren't gonna use it.
Me: Okay...
Fred: Now melt up some butter for me.
Me: What for?
Fred: Would you just stop asking questions and do what I tell ya?
Me: Alright alright, pushy bird aren't you?
Fred: Better believe it!
Me: What next?
Fred: Mix up some salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley and pulse it through that electric grinder Nana got you.
Me: You sure are asking for a lot Fred. I though this was going to be easy since I am not stuffing you.
Fred: Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa missy! Not stuffing me? Are you crazy?
Me: Well, I don't like stuffing and that would just make you take longer to cook...
Fred: (mumbling) Not gonna stuff me, what is she thinking? (Louder) Well, you gotta put somethin in me so I don't have to hold myself up when I'm in that oven roasting. Have some decency, geez!
Me: Well what would you like?
Fred: Carrots, Celery, Onions, and Apples...
Me: Apples?
Fred: Don't question me, I'm feeling fruity...
Me: Okay... So about the butter...
Fred: Lather me up!
Me: Right, then the seasoning?
Fred: Yeah dry rub it on, then stuff me up... Don't forget to put flour in the bag to keep it from bursting, and cut some slits in it for the steam to let out...
Me: Alright, you're all stuffed up and ready, into the oven you go!
Fred: See you in the sweet there after! Don't forget the mashed potatoes!
Me: Bye Fred! (after shutting the oven door) Whew! And I thought Turkey's lost consciousness before they were plucked, guess I should know better since they run around with their heads off... Well, now I better get to those mashed potatoes... I don't want to suffer the wrath of Fred when he comes outta that oven...
Mused by LenaLoo at 8:13 PM 3 wishes granted
Labels: Cooking, Holidays, Ramble, Thanksgiving
SITS
I have a new button on my blog that looks like this:
SITS has such a cool concept, you should go check out what they are all about!
Since there isn't any type of prompt today, I will borrow another from Jennifer P. over at The Peterson's Go Public...
Edit: Okay, the prompt wasn't behaving itself, it was showing things that I haven't done so I am deleting it so I don't get in any more trouble with mi Mama (sorry mom) - Censorship! j/k But check out Jennifer P.'s it's funny...