The Path to My Blog....

. . .is paved with good intentions.

I know you have heard all the excuses before,

 so I won't bore you with all the details.

Suffice it to say that

 the pictures that follow are just a sample

 of all the goings on  around here.

There were also several things 

that I didn't remember to photograph!

The above is the "Blessing Tree"

that hubby and I made for the big

50th Anniversary shindig

for

Bishop & his lovely Wife.

 This is a picture of the honored couple

& the fruits of 50 years of commitment.

Since we didn't want to hang around for hurricane Isaac

we took the opportunity to go on a little trip.

I will be posting about the recovery 

in neighboring Braithwaite in a later post.

I do not want to gloss over it.

I feel like it would get lost in this mix 

of random reverie.

My latest kitchen adventure:

 Griddle style corn cakes & greens,

topped with a

Tomato & grilled ham salad 

&

Buttermilk Vinaigrette

 This picture is long over due!

Eloise is opening a package

 from our dear sweet blog friends

 over at B-skep Chronicles.

 This little ray of sunshine 

"Brie"

now comes to my house 5 days a week

while mommy works.

Her daddy is a Marine,

 so he is working very hard too.

 These three children were guests in my home 

 For Approx. 3 weeks.

 Keep them in your prayers.

 Finally....

The Biggest News:

Eloise is officially in the youth group 

and sporting braces.

Not pictured:

the 5 yr. old I watch on weekends

&

the 4 kids (ages 5-14)

that I tutor in order to finance 

the aforementioned braces.

We have also been sorting through

 and getting rid of a lot of clutter.

After much prayer and family discussion,

we have decided to downsize.

Come this spring we will be putting our

"Way Too Big for Three people"

home up for sale.

This is not an emergency or sad event.

It is a choice we are making,

that will possibly get us to the 

"debt free" status quickly.

Maybe with less debt & clutter

I might have more time 

to keep my blog up to date....

....don't hold your breath!


BY THE WAY:

HUBBY HAS LOST 45 LBS
IN 6 MONTHS
&
I HAVE LOST 36

Our Latest Discovery....

Since we don't get much any time off

 for vacations,

we pretend like we are tourists

every Saturday.

The Whole Foods market 

where we shop 

has a wonderful massage therapist,

who gives $1/minute massages.

Hubby, Eloise, & I

each get 5 minutes

before we pick up a few groceries.

Another Saturday tradition is 

playing like we are restaurant critics.

Sometimes this can be disappointing,

but not this week.

We found a cute little burger place

that serves locally grown,

grass fed beef.

If you opt for the burger with a bun,

your meal will include

fresh bread from a local bakery.

The above pic was my low-carb

burger(actually on the menu)

dressed with creole tomatoes 

and wrapped in lettuce.

This came with a baked sweet potato.

Hubby and Eloise split a regular

on bun 

with fried onion strings on it.

All Excellent.

This is the only place we've found 

that serves grass fed beef 

in a totally casual environment.

The fans and ice trough in the middle of the table

made eating on the patio a truly

pleasant experience.

Here is a link:

Straight Stick Ranch Burger Company

We Are Free To Be Random...

Unfortunately hubby had to work 

this 4th of July.

He was doing maintenance on the diesel trucks.

This was good news to Eloise,

 because the trucks are parked at the marina.

She and hubby found a stick,

 an old rusty hook,

 a coke can tab

 and a discarded piece of fishing line.

With the makeshift pole

and three shrimp

(donated by 2 young men who felt sorry for her)

Eloise caught 4 crabs after 2 got away!

One of them didn't come out without a fight.

That little guy tried to pinch her foot

 when she got him on the deck,

so she stepped on his pincer.

He then swung around and got her with other claw.

She beat him with her stick till his arms fell off.

Was that image too violent?

Sorry.

btw: the pic is dark, because

 hubby's phone doesn't take good pics.

I love old photos.

This one is of Hubby's

Grandmother & her three sons.

(far left is my father-in-law)

I'm sorry I couldn't enlarge it 

without distorting it.

Hey...

I think they're on to something.

Maybe we can attach a card reader

 to the offering bags!

LOL.

I warned you in the title that this would be random.

;-D

Hope you had a happy Independence Day.

Transformation Report....

A couple of posts ago,

I wrote about the changes 

we have made.

I am pleased to announce 

that hubby has lost another 15 lbs.

and I have lost another 3 1/2 lbs

 That brings us to a total of

25 lbs. lost for hubby

&

10 lbs lost for me

(went down 1 skirt size!)

 This is not the fastest way to lose,

but for the most part

(minus my little episode Sun.) 

we are both feeling great.

We eat little bits every couple of hours

and we never feel hungry.

We even allow ourselves little treats.

Once we figure out how to 

squeeze in a little exercise 

and a little more sleep,

we will be well on our way 

to being the fit & healthy family

God created us to be.

P.S. Congratulations to all of my friends who are winning the battle of  the bulge. Y'all are looking great. Keep up the good work.

We will be headed to Camp

at 4:00 am

so I won't be posting for a few days.

Be sure to check next week

for all the details!

Oh So Tempting...

 One of our friends went to work
 "down the road".

He was given some freshly caught shrimp.

He texted to make a deal.

He would share his shrimp if I would cook them.

 He requested a fried shrimp po-boy,

so I dredged them in flour with spices,

then in an egg-milk mixture.

After the egg, 

I ran them through some bread crumbs.

 I fried them in peanut oil

and drained the excess oil on paper towels.

Our guest was then able to dress

 and eat his sandwich.

You will be proud to know that

I was a good girl.

I grilled my shrimp in olive oil 

with asparagus, garlic, peppers, and herbs.

I did splurge a tiny bit though.

I added a teaspoon of butter to the pan

at the end of the cooking process. 

Drum Roll Please....

 We are pleased to announce the results

 of our big "conversion".

We have been eating lots of yummy food,

feeling great,

and 

LOSING WEIGHT!

I had a sneaky suspicion 

that hubby was losing weight, 

but only confirmed it today.

He has dropped approx. 10 lbs.

(I say approx. because our scale is a cheap one)

I have lost about 6 1/2 lbs.

The above pics are of my lunch/dinner

 for my trip to and from Houma tomorrow.

The sandwich is tomato with

 fresh basil, sea salt, & roasted turkey breast.

I am having so much fun helping my family 

to discover new flavors.

It really does help to know that many of our 

friends are on this health journey with us.

It seems funny to think that we are trying to make our church smaller!

Miracles Never Cease....

(Chicken Picata w/ artichoke, tomatoes, capers, etc...)

 For those of you who personally know me,

 it is a well known fact

 that my hubby and daughter

 are purely carnivores

and

purely junk- food- ivores.

It has been source of contention in my home

 for quite some time.

 (Beef, avocado, sprouts, & spinach rolls)

After having a family pow wow 

a week ago,

the other two thirds of my family

 decided to willingly surrender!

 (15 grain bread, low fat cheese, lean meat, pure joy)

We now drink a low fat,

fruit & protein filled

smoothie for breakfast,

then we eat several veggie & fruit filled

 mini meals throughout the day.

(the above pics are just a sampling) 

Words cannot convey

 the long awaited joy that I feel,

 knowing that I am

not serving my family foods that will

harm and possibly kill them.

This is truly a

Happy Mothers Day!

 Eloise & Cousin planting seeds.

 Some seeds that Eloise started earlier this year.

This is an old picture.

The plants are bigger now.

We actually used the sweet Basil 

in the Chicken Picata dish at the top.

This is a bonus post:
      I just wanted to share how industrious and resourceful my little darling is. About once a year, I go through my closet and get rid of all shoes that are really unbalanced. For some reason the outsides of my heels wear out really quickly. After a while, I can't walk in them comfortably because my feet fall to the outside. This in turn causes my ankles to twist, my knees to hurt, and my back gets all out of whack.
Anywho... I recently did a shoe tossing. After I dumped three pairs of shoes in the garbage, I returned to my closet to wipe down all of the keepers. I suddenly became aware of a whirring noise. Upon further investigation, I realized that Eloise had rescued the cast off shoes. She was using the "pedi paws" spinning pet-claw file to even out the heels. Now I can get another season out of my favorite sandals.

 I love that kid. 

November Review.....

 This is a picture of Eloise sporting her new boots, groovy ear warmer(made by Plain Old Kristi), and her spiffy new sling. She is now the proud owner of a bright green cast. Pray for me Y'all. In her short little life she has managed to flip over the handle bars of her scooter and crack her front tooth(baby thank God), flip off the monkey bars and get a rock embedded in her forehead(3 stitches), skinned her face and broke her nose, and now that is all cleared up  and she has broken her arm. I guess now she will walk on the inside of the stair railings like a normal person! 

This is my most recent gift basket and probably one of my favorites. I had a lot of fun and flexibility with this one, because I actually knew the recipient. I must say, I was very tempted to keep the adorable sewing box and pin cushion message board, but I was a good girl.

This was Eloise's 1st real concert with GNOYO.

Our seats were all the way in the back, so the pic isn't too clear.  

Eloise & cousin Ting pose for a pic in their matching holiday outfits. 

This is our turkey, getting ready for his little procedure.

 I'm sure my vegan friends are horrified out there, but my hubby doesn't do stuffing, so our turkey is surrounded by shredded strips of ham.

A few of our holiday goodies.

This is the newest member of our family. His name is Boolee. His owner recently passed away and he didn't have a home. The S.P.C.A. was going to put him down , so.....you know the rest.

He is very mellow and sweet, but not nearly as handsome and photogenic as Oreo. I had to say that last part, because Oreo is not dealing well with the idea of sharing his house and people with this huge stranger.

 So far this month I have made:

turkey salad, turkey pasta Alfredo, and turkey noodle soup, but I think my latest turkey makeover was the most unique. I had 4 turkey wings wrapped in foil, so I broiled them in the toaster oven and poured buffalo wing sauce on them. Two wings and a couple of side items and I was stuffed like a ......

TURKEY!

I have a couple of quart sized bags of turkey in the freezer, but I don't think I will be thawing them any time soon.



Thank God For Dirty Dishes

Thank God for dirty dishes;

They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,

We're eating very well

With home, health, and happiness,

I shouldn't want to fuss;

By this stack of evidence,

God's been very good to us.

~Author Unknown~

I hope that you are all enjoying the holidays.

Love & Prayers,

In Case You Haven't Noticed....

I absolutely love to have gatherings in my home. Nobody leaves my house without being offered something to munch on either. The above pic is of my dining room table prepared for a weekly women's Bible study. We also had scrambled eggs, grits, and smoked sausage. The mini quilt was one that I made for Eloise to take for nap time, when she started school. It's a little tattered from Katrina, but I thought it added a nice touch.

 This was my niece's 7th Birthday party.

 The girls prepared their own pizzas.

 They also decorated cupcakes.

 Above: spreading the pizza dough.

 The birthday girl is concentrating on her masterpiece.

 Another guests packs up her creation to take home.

The children made mini root beer floats while waiting for the pizzas to cook.

A couple of the guests could not attend due to uncontrollable circumstances, but all in all I think it was a success. The kids truly enjoyed playing with and eating their food.

To view our vacation pics, you will have to visit our other blogs.