Really?....

Tonight we went to Whole Foods on Magazine,
 because today was Hubby's parents' 41st anniversary
 and his mom is currently in the hospital.

 I wanted to bring them flowers
 and a couple of goodies to celebrate,
so I headed to the bakery
while Hubby & Eloise went to pick out the flowers.

 I briefly scanned the bakery department.

 There wasn't anyone in line, so I took my time browsing.

As I turned to my left,
 I realized that I was looking eye to eye with a man who I thought looked a lot  like Sylvester Stalone.
 He turned towards the front of the store
 and I went back to browsing.

After a while I turned back to the employees behind the display case to select my pastries.

 I tried to get their attention, but they were all whispering and pointing, so I turned to see what all the commotion was.

There was the Sylvester- looking guy getting in line with a tall, thin, model-looking lady
 and a young girl (12 maybe).

Really?

In my own defense, I never forget a face,
 but I haven't owned a television or been to the movies in almost 2 decades,
 so I wasn't sure what his family looked like.

 When I got home I googled
 and was instantly looking at a picture of the same people I saw standing in line at the grocery store,
 but in much fancier clothes of course.

I then went on to read that he has chosen New Orleans for some of his current movie projects.

Well don't that beat all?

I had to laugh, because I wouldn't have even realized who I was looking at had it not been for the excitement, of the people who obviously  knew more about this man than I did.

I got to thinking (as I have been known to do on occasion), does my enthusiasm about Jesus cause others to pause and investigate further?

 When the King of Kings arrives on location
 in the midst of busy people,
 who don't know much about him,
does my response lead them in the right direction?

 I want the people I come in contact with to leave thinking,
 "Really?....I've got to find out if that was really Him!"

I know, I know...
 that last part was a little deep for some of y'all.

If you found this post a little bizarre, it's ok.

I'll tell you like Bishop....

"Just send me a chocolate cake and $50 and I'll forgive you".

Love & Prayers,

Me

P.S. Is anyone else having problems posting pictures with blogger's recent changes?

Today......

I SLEPT IN LATE

(way late)

I ATE LOTS OF YUMMY FOOD:

(too much to list)

I WILL VISIT MY MOTHER-IN-LAW

(read scriptures and pray for her complete healing and salvation in Jesus' name)

I WILL KISS MY HUBBY

(the man who has vowed his life & heart to me)

I WILL HUG MY BABY GIRL

(as we sit on our cozy front porch and watch fireworks)

I WILL THANK MY GOD

(as I sink peacefully into my comfortable bed)

WHY?

BECAUSE

I

CAN.

Happy 4th of July!

Dead Computer Blues & Lots of Other News.....

     My beloved computer is fried y'all! Also my daughter's computer has been experiencing technical difficulties due to some crazy virus junk. I could blog from my phone, but I do not have the patience. I prefer not to used Barbi sized keyboards! Well any way here are a few pics of our last two months. They are not all the quality that I prefer and I don't have pics of everything, but here goes:

Alabama Tornado Relief Trip

 Eloise observes the destruction in Tuscaloosa.

 Eloise said, "It looks like nature created it's own sculpture".

While we were up in that neck of the woods we stopped to see a few relatives. This is a picture of Eloise and our double first cousin Connie Sue and her little bitty egg laying chicken. Isn't that precious...bless your heart.

Most of our family made it through with no damage, but all that remains of my cousin's antique house is the stone archway. We didn't force our way through town just to take pictures. If you are not familiar to the area, house, or persons involved, one pile of rubble looks just like another. I guess, living in a post Katrina world,  I have simply had my fill of destruction.

Mother/Daughter Luncheon

 Eloise & Maw Maw

 A good friend & some of her family.

 We bought Eloise this American Girl kit to nurture her entrepreneurial spirit.

 These were some of the headbands and clips that she came up with.

The theme of the Mother/Daughter luncheon was a Farmer's Market, So Eloise was allowed to sell her wares. She earned $26.

This was the Ladies' Dept. bulletin board that I decorated for the event.

In The Kitchen

 I finally gave Spaghetti Squash a try.

I simply cut it, cleaned out all of the seeds and pulp, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with seasoning, inverted in baking pan, added a little water, and baked for about 45 min.

 When it was finished I scraped out the flesh.

Ahh...now I see why they call it "Spaghetti" squash.

I served it with meat sauce, like traditional spaghetti.

 It was delicious.

You can also do the whole butter/brown sugar/cinnamon thing if you prefer sweet over savory.

 Since we were in the adventurous mood these past couple of months, I decided to try this combo:

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Cayenne Icing

So what was the verdict....most really liked it .....but it was a bit over the top for a few.

 Eloise has been learning her way around the kitchen with a homeschool friend.

They even made mini birthday cakes for their dolls.

Eloise the Performer

 For her final performance of the season, Eloise was able to warm up in the same dressing room as the performers of  "Wicked".

She was thrilled to get a backstage peek of the Mahalia Jackson Theater.

I did not get any shots of the sign language/ stick performance, put on by the Children's Church, but I couldn't resist snapping a pic of Eloise, other children,  pastor, and other adults singing a rousing rendition of "Father Abraham".

Sorry this is a blurry shot....I didn't have my camera.

Youth Department Spring Formal

 As a chaperon, I do not usually don such attire, but I couldn't resist the begging and pleading put forth by my precious little girl. At first I agreed to just try it on. When she saw me she said, "oh girl, you have to get the dress....I have never seen you in a dress like that". To which I replied, " your father will have a heart attack"!

To which she replied, in a dreamy voice "yes he will...when he sees how beautiful you look".

My resolve melted.

 Hubby & I at the restaurant.

Me & some of the young people being silly.

A lesson in Free Enterprise

 Due to all of the heavy equipment used to remove all of the Katrina debris, our streets were left with a gazillion potholes. We are finally in the last phases of recovery. My neighborhood (and several others), is almost impossible to navigate, because they have removed huge chunks of road, in order to make the necessary repairs.

This year hubby and I decided to teach Eloise a lesson in responsibility, so we told her that she was going to have to raise some of her own money for camp. She thought about it for a couple of days, then she asked her Grandpa to loan her the initial $10 investment to buy a case of freezie pops at Sam's.

So,you might be wondering what freezies and potholes have to do with each other.

Well, I'll tell you.

Road construction, in south Louisiana, in June, makes for a lot of weary workers. Enter the "Freezie Girl" as she has now been dubbed and you now have a beautiful business arrangement.

She is learning a lot about supply and demand....like when her supply is running low and people are demanding freezies.

Word spreads quickly....as soon as she steps out the front door the workers begin reaching in their wallets.

She has a product that they want at a reasonable price.

She sells them for 25 cents.

In three 30min-1hr shifts she has made enough to pay her debt to her Grandpa, buy more for future sales, give her tithes, and completely pay her $125 camp tuition.

"When life gives you potholes....make lots of money"

P.S. She is never alone ....I either walk, run, or drive along side of her.

Hope you enjoyed this run-on post!

Hunting Season Is Open....

 ...bargain hunting that is.

These two pair plus several others only cost $2 to $4 / pair.

 Sorry, it is hard to capture the shine of the sequins and maintain clarity.

 These shirts, that will fit Eloise in the Fall, only cost $3 each.

These cutesy fleece lined knit sweaters were only $2 each.

My aunts new baby girl should fit in them perfectly next winter.

The two tiered basket at the top of the pic is my favorite bargain.

I wanted it a few months ago, but Hobby Lobby was asking $39.99.

Two weeks ago I was browsing and I noticed that the last one was on sale for $19.

I wasn't thrilled with the price, but it was better.

When the cashier rang it up I asked if she made a mistake.

She shook her head and assured me that the rack was only $3.50.

I immediately ran home and had my husband mount my latest hunting trophy on the wall!

Flashback......

     I mentioned in a previous post that I received a new phone for Christmas. I was overwhelmed with all of the features. It has a camera, but I rarely used it, because I didn't want to plug it in to the computer and then have to e-mail the pics to Wally World. That's just too many steps for this impatient woman.
     On a recent excursion I noticed an advertisement that said I could effortlessly send my pics to the kiosk using their new bluetooth system. All I had to do was stand in front of the instant print machine, select photos from my phone's gallery, select the bluetooth kiosk #, and voila my pictures appeared instantly on the screen in front of me. Does it get any easier than this? I don't even have to keep track of my little chip thingy.
     So now I have to explore all of the photo editing tools offered by my new best friend. The soft edges in the above picture and the crayon border in my header are both compliments of my phone highly sophisticated piece of technological genius.
      I'm sure there are probably some of you who are out there yawning, but I'm just thinking back to the dot matrix printer. You know, the one with all the holes along the edges of the paper....the one that always got off track and ended up jammed in a pile....so after several aggravating attempts you were rewarded with graphics that were a cross between cave drawings and bad pointillism. Only those, who are old enough to have experienced one of these painful episodes, can truly appreciate the beauty of modern technology.
     I would have to say that the above mentioned printers came out about the same time as those sun glasses (can you say CHIPS or Poncharello?) I guess it is OK for some of the styles to make a come back. At least I'll have plenty of pictures to blackmail Eloise with later.

Spontaneous Photo Shoot.....

Since we are homeschooling this year, Eloise hasn't taken any school photos. The year is almost out and it didn't seem right not to do the picture thing. Last Saturday she played in a community outreach concert for  GNOYO. Since she was already dressed nicely.....since I had my camera handy...and since it was a beautiful walk from the concert chapel to our car...well you know I just couldn't help snapping a few.

~PROBLEM SOLVED~

All is well in my OCD universe once again.

The Wedding....

 This is a picture of the cake I made for a friend who has recently become a member of our church. In spite of the fact that I only had 2 weeks to put the whole wedding together, I think it was beautiful. I must take a moment to give credit where credit is due. I was slightly extremely fatigued as the time for the wedding approached and I still needed to sculpt the roses out of fondant. Sis. Debbie W. ran over to the church and whipped up the roses for the top of this cake out of butter cream icing in probably less than 10 min. Thank you, thank you, thank you.!!!  After that, she helped sister Evangeline clean up the huge mess that I made while I finished up a couple of the boutonnieres. I don't think I would have made it without her.

This was Sister E's Corsage.

The ceremony was held in the fellowship hall and there were approx. 50 people there.

The flowers on the arch and head table were hand made out of tissue and beads.

Stacy & Kassidy(miracle baby) waiting for their cue.

Stacy and her big brother practicing their walk.

The moment they've all been waiting for.

Sorry I don't have more pics. At this point I was trembling from exhaustion and could hardly stand.

Love & Prayers,

Miss Riya