Saturday's Song

Today's song:

New Soul, Yael Naim

I love the catchy melody of this song. I first heard it on a commercial for something...I have no idea what it was for now. The product was forgettable, but the song was not :0)

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)

See I'm a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate? try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make
La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)

This is a happy end
Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong

This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I'll take you far away

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

New soul... (la, la, la, la,...)
In this very strange world...
Every possible mistake
Possible mistake
Every possible mistake
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes...

Thursday's Ten (on Friday)

I was gone ALL DAY yesterday, so this one's a little late :0)

Ten Things You Should Definitely Do if You're going to KY Kingdom

10. Ride on the van with adults instead of the bus with the kids. Ahhh.

9. If you're like me, under NO circumstances should you wear sunscreen because it will interfere with your tanning plans. If you're like the rest of the population, put on sunscreen and reapply. I embrace sunburns; most people do not.

8. Wear a swimsuit under your clothing. The waterpark is definitely worth it.

7. Himalaya. I love this ride :0)

6. Breakdance. I really didn't want to do this one because I was afraid that the spinning would make me sick, but it was definitely fun.

5. Blizzard River. Warning--it's REALLY cold, but it's a nice little rafting experience. Nothing as fun as actually whitewater rafting, but still nice.

4. The Tornado. It's basically the most fabulous water slide ever

3. The Deluge Water-Coaster. Very cool--and wet!

2. Thunder Run--a very fun wooden roller coaster. My favorite.

1. Drive a little further north and go to Holiday World instead

Recipe of the Week

Lora's Fabulous Vodka Pasta

ok, so I cheat and use Bertolli sauce, but the rest is all me If I find a good vodka sauce recipe I'll adjust

1 box penne pasta
1 jar Bertolli vodka sauce (after trying a few brands, this is the absolute best)
1 pound Italian sausage--I use hot, but I've also used mild and it turns out ok
1 medium onion, chopped
possibly portabello mushrooms--sometimes I just don't have them to add, but they're yummy when I do!
various and sundry spices for the sausage, depending on your preference. I sometimes add some fresh garlic to it as well.

*brown the sausage. Add spices early on in the process, and add onion when it's completely browned and drained.
*add mushrooms and sauce, in this order. Simmer while you cook your pasta. Combine and enjoy.

This should make 4 servings at the very least...it feeds me for a few days :0)

Saturday's Song

We are singing this hymn at church tomorrow, and when we rehearsed it this morning I almost laughed. The words are so applicable to my life right now when I've been craving Sabbath rest and simplicity. The melody is simple and beautifully fitting to the words...which, although ancient by our assessment are completely applicable to my life. I hope they speak to you as well.

The hymn is an old one, and this is what Wikipedia says about it:

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is a hymn with words taken from a prayer contained in the poem The Brewing of Soma by Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

Here are the lyrics:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our feverish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Thursday's Ten

Today's Ten: Ten Things I'll Do Now That Most of my TV Shows are Over

1. Transform my patio garden into a meditation space as well as functional garden. I want to start doing yoga on the patio as often as possible. I need to find the perfect water source--I've been looking for over a year, so hopefully I'll find the perfect fountain...or whatever.

2. Clean more often ;-)

3. Pull stuff out for a yard sale--hopefully the end of June.

4. Continue making my home and environment more "green".

5. Organize ALL the closets in the house. That should take awhile.

6. Cook more often, and entertain.

7. Get my scrapbooking caught up.

8. Make some more jewelry--I've been slacking in that department lately.

9. Get caught up on correspondence.

10. Watch more Rachael Ray and Ellen :0)

Recipe of the Week - Heavenly Angel Food Cake

I'm in love with Southern Living recipes lately--apparently I'm embracing (finally) the inner Southern Belle. Here's a dessert from a couple of months ago that is fabulous! It's a perfectly light summer cake...perfect for humid Tennessee days!

Heavenly Angel Food Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tarter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 375°. Line bottom and sides of a 13- x 9-inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides of pan. (Do not grease pan or foil.) Sift together first 3 ingredients.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold in sugar mixture, 1/3 cup at a time, folding just until blended after each addition. Fold in vanilla and lemon juice. Spoon batter into prepared pan. (Pan will be very full. The batter will reach almost to the top of the pan.)

Bake at 375° on an oven rack one-third up from bottom of oven 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Invert cake onto a lightly greased wire rack; let cool, with pan over cake, 1 hour or until completely cool. Remove pan; peel foil off cake. Transfer cake to a serving platter. Spread Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting evenly over top of cake. Garnish, if desired.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 packages softened cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 (16 oz) pkg powdered sugar

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add lemon juice, beating just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended; stir in lemon zest.

Thursday's Ten

Today's Ten: Things Catherine does right now that are cute/sweet

(I know I've done something similar in the past, but with her current grumpy state of mind I need to remind myself that she really is a sweetheart!)

1. "Honk Lowa" accompanied by her index finger torpedoing itself toward my nose. I never should have started it...
2. "Luh-oooh" (translated: Love You!) that she now says without prompting. Today I was leaving and she said "Bye-bye Lowa. I luh-ooh."
3. "I running. Fast" and other such narratives of what she's doing. All day long. Cute. At times not so much. But hey.
4. Manners police. As she hands me something she'll say "Thank you, Lora!"
5. "I miss it!" when she's looking for something.
6. "I fixed it!"...one of her favorite games now. She "breaks" something so she can be Catherine the Builder.
7. "Yay Lowa!!!" she now celebrates me too. I get cheers for doing laundry, dishes, lunch, using the bathroom...I guess it's good that she's not completely self-centric...
8. "I tired. I sleep now. You lay down too. I hold you". Unfortunately I hear that a lot. I started a baaaaad habit with her of laying down on the couch with her when she's really tired and letting her snooze on my shoulder for awhile...and now she begs for it. Oy.
9. "I want to hold you." another one of those most of the time cute/other times not so much phrases. Accompanied by an adorable holding up of the hands with the wrists together and an irresistable tilt of the head.
10. "Ooooohhhh....halaluv....Je-yus" I started singing "Oh How I Love Jesus" with her every day at naptime after we pray. Now she begins it and it cracks me up how theatrical she is with it!

Recipe of the Week: PepperJack Chicken

yeah, so I'm getting domestic in my 'old age' so I'm going to include one recipe per week on this blog. I made this chicken for the first time on Sunday night and absolutely loved it! It's SO easy and quick.

(pictured over a bed of rice with fresh diced tomato)

PepperJack Chicken (from Southern Living)

1/4 cup mayo, divided
3/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese w/peppers
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp finely chopped pickled jalepeno
1 clove garlic, minced
6 skinless/boneless chicken breast halves

Combine 3 tbsp mayo, cheese and next 3 ingrediants
Place chicken between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap and flatten to 1/4 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Brush both sides of chicken lightly with remaining 1 tbsp mayo; place chicken on rack in broiler pan (*Lora's note: I simply used a wire cooling rack on top of an aluminum cake pan)
Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat with electric oven door partially open.
Broil 5 minutes on each side.
Spread cheese mixture evenly over chicken; broil 5 more minutes or until mixture is browned.

Enough

Enough: A Mother’s Day Reflection

Even though I skipped the service at church today, I did fulfill my obligation to the teens, and led class. During the worship time, we sang a song that we sing often, only today I just stood there. I couldn’t bring myself to sing the words. The chorus of the song is this:

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

I couldn’t help thinking that the teenage girls singing the song had no idea how hard it may be in the future to sing those words and mean them. And I myself have sung them so many times, deeply and passionately, believing each one. But today was different.

So many questions fill my mind. IS all of Him more than enough for all of me? My head says “yes” and my heart says “maybe”. Because the next two lines are what get me.

“For every thirst and every need”. Will my life in Christ, which is vibrant and faithful really replace my longing to be in relationship with a Godly man? And fulfill the even deeper aching for a child? Up until now it has. But over the past several months I find myself looking for more. I don’t want it outside of God’s Will…but is His Will going to crush my dreams? Yes, this is where faith enters in…and suddenly I am terrified of my deep faith.

“You satisfy me with Your love”. But the truth is, I’m not satisfied anymore. I’m shaky as I admit this, because I should be satisfied. I’m living the single girl’s dream: I have a fabulous house, a wonderful job, and things are good—in most ways better than good. I’ve finally came to peace with myself and my demons of the past. I’m healthy and I’m happy. I have wonderful friends surrounding me. But satisfied? No. If I am honest, I realize that is not the case.

So where does that leave me? Am I any less a God-seeker now? I don’t think so. I certainly hope not. But maybe today I’m a little less faithful, a little less trusting. And I’m hoping that’s where I’m supposed to be. Maybe in my state of disequilibrium, real joy will be found.