A Nation of Killers

After last Friday's tragic shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut, I believe that the U.S. is a nation of killers. 

 

Take a look at these statistics.  In 2010, 12,996 murders were committed in the U.S.  That's around 1.5 murders per hour.

 

In 2011, 33 people were executed.

 

There are enough guns in the U.S. to average 1 gun per person (includes military and law enforcement).

 

If you believe life begins at conception, and I do, or if you agree with scientific evidence that a baby's heart beats at 18 days, add in 1.2 million abortions (2008) data.  That's the equivalent of 137 abortions per hour.

 

So everyday, in the U.S., 3,324 people are killed - sobering isn't it?

 

Did you know that 1.5 million married women between the ages of 15 - 44 are infertile?  How many abortions could be eliminated?

 

This is not an anti-abortion rant or a gun control rant.  I personally am against abortion, but I believe that each person is responsible for making this decision.  And I believe in the right to bear arms, having guns in my own home.

 

This is just data, but it makes me question the ramifications for our nation.  How can a country founded on christian principles hold life so cheaply?

 

Just my thoughts and opinions - I believe in free speech too.

 

 

Random Thoughts

How can it possibly be July already?  I mean, where did the first half of the year go?  Since my last post, I sorted through my kitchen and got rid of some stuff.  I have lots of plarn ready to be crocheted.  I've sorted through all of my Stumbleupon pages and I've finished a couple of projects that I've been putting off.

I've been thinking about Halloween and Christmas - thanks to Pinterest.  I need to make a list of who I want to get presents for and I need to start making gifts that I want to give.  I need to get into blogger and figure out this new format, but again, I'm just a casual blogger and it's not really a big deal as long as I can sign in and type.

Sorting Out

First off, let me say that it's a good thing that I'm not one of those bloggers that's trying to make money doing this because I'd fail.  I'm just a random blogger.  I blog when I want to.

So anyways, I've been busy sorting.  You should see my living room.  Since April 14th, almost a month now, my living room and hallway and foyer have been stacked with stuff left over from my yardsale.  I finally finished sorting and pricing it and my sister packed it away in plastic tubs for the next yardsale.  My living room is clean - yeh!

So, I decided I would sort through and organize some other things in my life.  I labeled everything in my craft room.  I have some recycled shoe organizers that I'm going to store my yarn in.  I am slowly making my way through all my plastic bags, cutting them up to make plarn.

I found all the slips of paper lying around by my computer with user names and passwords and wrote them all down in an old address book that was lying around.  Now, if I can only keep track of the address book!

I have (had) 21 pages of stumbles that I had "liked" - crafts, recipes, gardening, camping, etc.  I am going through them one by one and printing out the ones that I want or deleting them.  I'm down to 19 pages - woo hoo!  It feels so good to get rid of stuff - even if it's only virtual.

I hope to tackle all my digital photos and my kitchen.  After sorting through my kitchen, I'll ask my daughter and then my daughter-in-law if they want anything.  All this extra stuff has to go!

Homemade Febreeze

I can't believe how expensive Febreeze is.  My homemade laundry detergent works so well that I decided to make my own Febreeze.  It's a very simple recipe.



1/8 cup of fabric softener
2 tbs. of baking soda
hot tap water

Pour all ingredients into a plastic spray bottle.  Shake the bottle to mix.  Use anyplace that you would normally use Febreeze.  It works just as well as the real thing and I love how much money I'll be saving.

PS - always shake the bottle before spraying.

Easy Breezy Easter

Easter does not feel like a holiday to me.  We do not celebrate Easter, per se, at my church; instead we celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus every Sunday when we take communion.  My kids are grown so there are no Easter eggs or Easter baskets - no jelly beans or chocolate bunnies.

When I got home from church, my sister and I went to the beach.  I've lived in Florida for 25 years and I only live about 10 miles from the beach, but I'm not a big beach person.  It was a beautiful day to go.   It was sunny and cool and relatively uninhabited.  I got some nice conch shells and a few pieces of sea glass.  Sea glass is tough to find; the pieces I found are small and I'm going to see if I can make a necklace out of them.  I also found my very first shark's tooth.  My sister has a knack for finding shark's teeth.  Anyways, we came home with a small handful of them.

Afterwards, we went to Dairy Queen and got a couple of large blizzards - yum!  After that, we came home and took a nap.  What a perfect day!

Pinterest

My daughter introduced me to Pinterest and I love it.  Some people think it's just an artsy fartsy site or a design wannabe site, but it's more than that.  Creating your own boards and pinning & re-pinning items allows your friends, family, and the world insight into who you are as a person.  It lets me be totally me and that is very cool.

Home made Dish Cloths

I've noticed that I blog in spurts, which is OK I guess.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about making home made laundry soap.  Today, it's dish cloths (or rags, as we used to call them growing up).  I've seen a lot of patterns for dish clothes, but the cloths are too small.  I need something substantial, something that going to wipe a fair piece of counter top.

Here's my pattern (easy of course if you can crochet)

Chain 34. 
Row 1 - Single chain in the 2nd chain from the hook to the end (33 sc).  Turn.
Rows 2 - 45 - chain one and single chain to end of row.  Turn
Tie off.

That's it - you know, it's got to be easy or else, I'm not interested.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I've seen this recipe for homemade laundry soap all over the internet.  Last week, my sister, who does all the laundry, came to me and said, "we've only got one bottle of laundry detergent left."  So I decided that now is the perfect time to make my own laundry soap and see if it really works.  It only has three ingredients, and it's easy to make (one of my favorite words - easy!)

Ingredients:

1/2 bar of Fels-Naptha soap
1 cup of borax
1 cup of washing soda

all of these ingredients can be found at Walmart.

Grate the soap into a container.  I used a regular 4-sided metal grater (smallest grate).  Add the borax and the washing soda and mix well.  I store the laundry soap in a small covered plastic container.  Use 1 - 2 tablespoons per load of laundry.

I brought home some dirty kitchen towels from the church and washed them using this laundry soap.  It worked.  The towels came out clean and smelled fresh.  This stuff works.

A Little of This and That

I know it's been a while since I've done any blogging, but I've been busy living my life.  I had one really bad week where the headaches were sooo bad and I pretty much just went to work, came home, and slept.  The headaches are a result of my accident in November and I don't know if they'll ever go away.  The doctor gave me two shots at the base of my skull and this past week, the headaches have been tolerable.

Work has been busy.  We're getting ready for a ministry fair tomorrow at church.  I've been learning new accounting software, putting together a new church directory, and rearranging my office space - whew!

I've been dabbling in a few different projects and I've crocheted a couple of things, made some homemade laundry detergent, and I have a stack of new projects and recipes that I want to make.  I've been working on reorganizing my home pantry with new shelves and storage buckets, plus there's stumbleupon, pinterest, and pogo - I love these websites!  Don't worry.  After I put the finishing touches on some of my recent projects, I'll be blogging about them.

Ever Have One of Those Nights?

Did you ever have one of those nights when you just couldn't sleep?  Well, here I am; it's 3:40 am and I'm wide awake.  It's so quiet in the house and outside.  The only sound is the clicking of my computer keys.  I'm supposed to be at work in 5 hours (yawn).  Instead, I'm staring at my computer screen wondering why I can't sleep.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

My favorite soup right now is Panera's Sonoma Chicken Stew.  It's like chicken pot pie without the crust.  It tastes so yummy!  I was thrilled when I came across this recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Soup from http://www.skinnytaste.com/.  It is so delicious - you have to try it.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

1/4 cup flour
2 cups water
4 cups fat free milk (I used 2%)
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
8 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms (I'm not a big fan of mushrooms, so I only used about 1/2 finely chopped mushrooms)
2 chicken bouillon
pinch of thyme
10 oz. frozen classic mixed vegetables
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small
16 oz. of cooked chicken breast, diced small
salt and pepper to taste

Create a slurry by combining 1/2 cup of cold water with flour in a small bowl and whisk until well blended.  Set aside.

Pour remaining water and milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil.  Add celery, onion, mushrooms, chicken bouillon, thyme, frozen vegetables and return to a boil.  Partially cover and simmer on low until vegetables are soft, about 20 - 25 minutes.  Remove lid, add potatoes, and cook until soft, about 5 - 10 minutes.  Add chicken, and slowly stir in slurry, stirring well as you add.  Cook another 2 - 3 minutes, until soup thickens.  Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

I actually made this soup the night before and it was wonderful for dinner the next evening.  I don't have a picture because it didn't last long enough for me to take one!

Paper Mache Heart

I like to try new crafts, so when I saw an article on how to make miniature pinatas, I thought it was a cute idea.  I modified the directions to make my own paper mache heart.

Start with a cereal box and a heart template.

Open up the box and trace two hearts on the cereal box.

Cut the hearts out and using masking tape, assemble the heart.  I used strips from the box to make the sides of the heart.

Cover the heart with masking tape.

To cover the heart, I cut purple and pink tissue paper into strips and then I tore the strips into pieces.

Using mod podge, cover the box with the pieces of tissue paper until the box is completely covered; then add a top coat.

After I finished the heart, I made a hanger for the heart by braiding purple, pink, and white yarn together.  I hot glued the hanger to the top of the heart.

Here is the finished heart hanging on my front door.  It's a cute, easy decoration to make.

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

Oh, I love Teriyaki Chicken!  And this recipe from www.sixsistersstuff.com is amazing!  Easy too!  Here's the recipe:

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. garlic
1/2 onion, chopped

Cook all ingredients over medium heat until boiling.  Place 4 - 6 frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot.  Pour sauce mixture over chicken.  Cook on low 6 - 8 hours.  Serve with rice.

Scrumptious!!!

Crocheted Hearts

These crocheted hearts are super easy to make and they only take about 2 minutes!  I downloaded the pattern from the internet (sorry, but I can't remember which website).  I made a bunch of these in different colors for my Valentine tree.

Crocheted Heart Pattern

Size D crochet hook
Yarn of your choice - I used Red Heart
(Use any size hook or yarn to change the size of the heart)

All stitches are worked in the first chain.

Chain 4.  Work 3 triple crochet (tr) into the first chain, 3 double crochet (dc), chain 1, 1 tr, chain 1, 3 dc, 3 tr.  Chain 3, slip stitch into center and fasten off.  The slip stitch helps to create the "v" at the top of the valentine.

These hearts are very versatile.  You could make a garland or use them to set off a gift.  Happy Crocheting!

Recycled "Valentine" Tree

My neighbor gave me a small pink table top Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago that she didn't want.  When she gave it to me I thought, "this is the ugliest tree I've ever seen."  I thought to myself, "maybe I can put it in the church yard sale."

After a couple of days though, I thought, "this might make a really cute Valentine's tree.  I took off all the Christmas bulbs, the tree topper, and straightened out the branches.

Over the next few days, after work, I made some valentine's ornaments and re-decorated the tree.  Here is my new and improved Valentine's tree.

Most of the ornaments I made from scraps of fun foam and scrapbook paper that I had lying around the house.  I crocheted some little hearts from scraps of yarn I had.  I'll post directions for the crocheted hearts on another day.

Here are some close-up photos of the tree ornaments -

This ornament was made by gluing a smaller heart made out of fun felt to a larger heart, then adding a button.

The tree topper was made from two different colors of card stock.  This is a danish woven heart.

This is a pink heart made of card stock with different buttons glued on.

Super Bowl Snacks

I can hardly believe that January is almost over.  Before you know it, Superbowl weekend will be here and then all I have to look forward to is months and months of basketball and baseball.  I love football - college and professional.  Last weekend, I was seriously in the doldrums when both the Ravens and the Forty-Niners lost; and, as if that wasn't bad enough, Joe Paterno died.  I admired Joe Paterno and I believe that there are very few men like him left.

So, on to this year's Superbowl.  I plan on doing some serious munching out while I'm watching the game.  I'm tired of the same old chips and dips, but at the same time, I want something that's easy to make and tastes great.  Here are two recipes I'm going to try.

Garlic Parmesan Popcorn (all you magazine 01/12)

3 tbs. unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs. vegetable oil
1 cup unpopped popcorn
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
1/2 tsp. cayenne
salt

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring, then remove saucepan from heat and set aside.

In a large, deep pot heat oil.  When oil is hot, add popcorn, and cover tightly.  Cook for 1 minute.  Slide pot back and forth until popcorn begins to pop.  Continue cooking and shaking pot until popping subsides, about 5 minutes.  Remove pot from heat and empty popcorn into a large bowl.

Pour butter-garlic mixture over popcorn, sprinkle with parmesan and cayenne, and toss to coat.  Season with salt and serve.

Pimento Cheese Balls*

2 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (5 oz)
1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (5 oz)
1/4 cup mayo
1 jar sliced pimentos, drained and pressed to remove liquid (7 oz)
1/4 cup sliced scallions
salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

combine cream cheese, cheddar, pepper jack, mayo, pimentos, and scallions in a bowl with a mixer on medium speed.

transfer half of the mixture to a food processor; puree until nearly smooth.  Stir back into other half of mixture until combined.  Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.  Chill 1 hour.

divide cheese mixture into 3 even portions; form each into a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Roll cheese balls in topping of choice (nuts, bacon crumbles, etc.) and serve with crackers.

* I don't have a source for this recipe.  I cut it out of a magazine, but I don't remember which one.

These sound good, don't they?  Go Giants!

My Dog is Fat

This is my dog, Chopper.  He'll be 4 years old this month.  When I first brought him home two years ago, he weighed 36 pounds.  I weighed him this morning and he weighs 51 pounds!  You know what they say about fat dogs; it's true.  I need to lose weight myself.

Today after work I took him for a walk.  We walked down to the end of the street and back.  Honestly, I wasn't sure that he was going to make it.  But he needs more exercise and so do I.  I've decided that he can't have any more dog biscuits or cream cheese until he loses weight; oh, and no more chex mix or captain crunch.

Now I have to decide what I'm going to cut back on.  A couple of days ago, I was talking to my friend, Mike, about fasting.  He describes fasting as giving up anything that you really like for a given period of time.  Where do I start?  I really like diet soda and popcorn and ice cream.  Actually, I just like to eat and one of my biggest problems is mindless eating while I'm watching TV or doing something on my computer.  I am not disciplined (that's a whole nother blog).  Maybe, I can approach it the same way as my dog Chopper.  I only have to make it to the end of the street and back.  I only have to make one conscious decision not to put something in my mouth.  Then tomorrow, I can make the same decision and before I know it, who knows?  I'm gonna try it and see what happens.

More Free Fun in Florida

Like a lot of people, I had last Monday off.  So did my sister.  It's rare that my sister and I have the same days off; she usually works weekends and I work Monday through Friday.  One of the things that we enjoy doing is hiking.  The great thing is that there are so many places to hike in Florida and they're free and open to the public.  We generally try to find places to hike that we haven't been before.

So I told my sister on Sunday that we were going on an adventure.  I didn't tell her where we were going, only that she needed to dress comfortably and bring water.  Our destination was the Pumpkin Hill Preserve and Yellow Bluff Fort located on the northside of Jacksonville.  On our way, we discovered another park just north of Pumpkin Hill Preserve, Betz-Tiger Point Preserve.  Pumpkin Hill Preserve was one of the fifty things that I wanted to do for my birthday in September.

Betz-Tiger Point Preserve, http://www.coj.net/Departments/Recreation-and-Community-Services/Waterfront-Management-and-Programming/Preservation-Project/Betz-Tiger-Point-Preserve.aspx, is located at 12100 Pumpkin Hill Road.  It's a 548 acre park with 3 miles of hiking trails, surrounded by salt marshes.

When you're there, you can forget that you're in a metropolitan area, because it's so quiet and peaceful.

Pumpkin Hill Preserve, http://www.floridastateparks.org/pumpkinhill/default.cfm is one of the largest contiguous areas of coastal uplands in Duval County, encompassing 4,000 acres.  The park borders tidal marshlands.  There are five trails, ranging in length from 0.75 miles to 3.7 miles.

Yellow Bluff Fort, http://www.floridastateparks.org/yellowbluff/default.cfm, is located on New Berlin Road.  It was never actually a fort.  It was an earthen fortification built by the Confederacy in 1862 to prevent the Union gun boats from attacking Jacksonville.  The park is 1.3 acres. 

It was a beautiful day and we had a really great time, exploring and hiking.  I can't wait until the next time!  What's a favorite free activity that you enjoy?

Coffee Cup Toilet Paper Cover

When I saw this cute toilet paper cover, I just had to make it - http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Bath-Crochet-Patterns/Cup-O-Coffee-TP-Roll-Cover.

Here's how mine looks:

roll of toilet paper and toilet paper cover

side view of toilet paper cover

I slightly modified the way I put mine together, so that's why it looks different, but I'm still happy with the way that it turned out.  My sister loves it and it now sits proudly in her bathroom.

Fried Cabbage & Noodles

This is one of my family's favorite recipes.  It only has a few ingredients and it's easy to make.

Fried Cabbage and Noodles

1 head of cabbage, sliced
5 slices of bacon
1/4 cup onion
soy sauce
egg noodles

The great thing about this recipe is that you can make it to suit your own tastes.  If you want to add more bacon or onion, you can.

Fry the bacon until it is crispy.  I usually fry the onions at the same time that I fry the bacon, but fry them separately if you'd like.

Remove the bacon from the pan.  Add the cabbage.

Crumble the bacon and add to the cabbage.  Add soy sauce to taste.  Cover and let cabbage cook down.  While the cabbage is cooking, boil the egg noodles until done.  I used three handfuls of noodles.  Drain noodles.

Mix everything together and serve.

Orange Chicken

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest; one of my friends that I follow had pinned it and it looked so good that I re-pinned it.  Here's the recipe.

1 lb. of boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 tbs. of salt
1 tsp. of balsamic vinegar
3 tbs. of ketchup
6 oz. of frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw)*
4 tbs. of brown sugar

* I used fresh orange juice -  from my oranges on my tree in the back yard

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Put the flour in a gallon bag and add the chicken.  Shake until the chicken is coated.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the chicken.  The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked.

After cooking the chicken, put it in a crock pot and cover with the sauce mixture.

Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours or on high for 2 - 3 hours.  Serve over rice.

Very easy and very yummy!

I Love Books

I love books.  I love the smell of a new book, I love how the pages feel.  I have an E-Reader, but it's just not the same.  There's something about sitting curled up in a chair with a blanket over your lap, and a good book in your hand that you can't get from an E-Reader.

For Christmas, I received the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, and the Autumn series by David Moody.  I have to admit - I love zombies!  World War Z by Max Brooks is one of my favorite books.

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to read.  The first book that my mom gave me was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I think that I still have that book lying around someplace.  I have a tattered collection of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit.  I have a set of  Zane Grey books from my dad.  I'm a huge fan of John D. MacDonald and I hope to one day have copies of all his books.  I have books piled around my bedroom just waiting to be read.  I love books! 

Another Crocheted Scarf

I'm still on my scarf kick.  I've started crocheting a hooded scarf in lavender.  Purple is one of my favorite colors.  The pattern is very easy but it's taking me longer to finish because I started back to work full time this week - almost 2 months after my car accident.  I start to poop out around 2:00 pm and by the time I get home a little after 4:00, I pretty much just want to rest.  I am hoping that my strength and stamina return soon.  As soon as I finish the scarf, I will post directions and a picture. 

Cascading Potato Chip Scarf

I'm on a bit of a scarf kick and when I heard the words "potato chip" in the same sentence as "scarf", I was intrigued.  It turns out to be a super easy scarf to crochet.

I found the pattern at http://www.favecrafts.com/Crochet-Hats-Scarves-Gloves.  Just search for cascading potato chip scarf.  If you're new to crochet, this is a good project to start with.  I love the blue (Red Heart Blue) against the brown (Coffee Fleck).  Hope you enjoy!

PS - I am now the proud owner of a 2012 Nissan Versa Sedan in metallic blue :)

I'm Off To Buy A Car - I Hope :)

I think that I've found my new car.  I've been doing a lot of research.  I decided to go with a new car because the cost of buying a good quality used car is more than the cost of a new car (or so I read).  I believe it, because I have looked at a lot of cars online and the difference in price is not significant; in some cases, a used car actually costs more than the new model.  OK. 

My primary source of information was  http://www.edmunds.com/.  You can search for new or used cars based on make, design, price, options, etc.  I decided that I wanted a 4 door sedan under $15,000.  I was leaning towards a Nissan because my old car was a Sentra.  I went and test drove a Nissan Versa and I loved it - four doors, automatic, power windows & doors, power locks, 6 cup holders (very important), a big trunk, and lots of leg room. 

Next I went to http://www.truecar.com/ and found out where I could get the best price for a Versa.  I printed off my price guarantee certificate and talked with a salesman who told me that he could give me an even better price and the color I want.  How great is that?

So here's a picture of the car that I want and hopefully, by the end of the day tomorrow, I'll be driving it.

A Simple Winter Scarf

It doesn't get cold here in Florida very often, but we're looking at a second night with a hard freeze - time to cover the plants and pipes and bundle up with a jacket and a scarf.  Most of the time though, wearing a scarf  in Florida is more of a fashion statement.  My daughter-in-law loves anything purple, so for Christmas, I crocheted this simple scarf for her.

It's easy to make and only uses one skein of yarn.  I used "I Love This Yarn" in mixed berry from Hobby Lobby.

Use a size K crochet hook.

Chain 27.

Foundation Row: single chain (sc) in 2nd chain from hook.  1 sc in each chain to end of the chain.  Turn.  You should have 26 single chain stitches.

First Row:  Chain 3 (counts as a double crochet (dc).  Skip first two sc.  In next sc, *(1 dc, ch 1, 1 dc).  Skip next 2 sc.  Repeat from * to last 2 sc.  Skip 1 sc and 1 dc in last stitch.  Turn.  You should have a total of 26 stitches.

Second Row:  Chain 1.  1 sc in each chain to end of the chain.  Turn.  (26 sc).

Repeat First and Second Row until you run out of yarn.  Finish with a 2nd row.  Fasten off.  Scarf measures approximately 45 inches.



Another New Year and I Have to Buy a Car

Today a new year begins.  I looked back at some of my posts from last year and it brought back a lot of good memories.  Although I had some bad times in 2011, overall, there was more good than bad.

This year my first challenge will be to purchase a car.  My car was totalled in the accident that I had on November 15th, so for the first time in almost 7 years, I'm without a vehicle.  Luckily, I don't have to rush my buying decision.  I live close enough to my job so that I can either walk or ride my bike.  I have a lot of friends who will take me to my doctor's appointments and my son will take me grocery shopping.

I know that in order to buy a car, I need to have a budget, I need to know the make and model of the cars that I'm interested in, I need to decide whether I want to buy a new car or a used car, and of course, I have to test drive the cars.  My old car was paid for, so I'm looking at the possibility of having a car payment - yikes!  It's a big decision, but I'm making my decision in steps.