Thoughts on Religious Freedom

I support Religious Freedom as stated in the United States Constitution. I hope you do too.

Remember blogging? Yeah, me too.

It's time for my annual post everyone! Yes, I'm still here and not blogging. I miss reading snippets from your lives and the feeling of friendship it inspired. Whether it was Carrot Jello's hillarious findings in a thrift store, or NoCoolStory's unbelievable internet finds, Annie's ideas for making life beautiful, EWBL's fart jokes, Millie's Mad Libs, or EW's wisdom, just to name a small few--I miss it all.

Being a stay-at-home mom with small children made me especially appreciate the ability to connect to other adults from my home when I first started reading blogs. There was a time when my only adult contact outside of church was with the checker at the grocery store or the mail carrier (if I timed it just right). Blogging was like inviting a friend inside to sit and chat, but you could do it in snatches when it was convenient. (Although sometimes it wasn't convenient and you did it anyway.)

Now that my kids are older and all in school, I get out a lot more, but I'm not sure I feel any more connected. There is something about reading people's thoughts and experiences through their writing that you just don't get from casual conversation or from status updates on Facecrack. More people should write. I should write. You should write. But I don't because I feel intimidated by blank pages and screens and I worry that I don't have anything worth saying. Maybe you do too.

But I miss that connection (and I'm also a little vain), so I'm sending my thoughts out into the internet once again where they can be read by 1 or 2 people who haven't deleted me from their news feed. Hi friends! Hope you are well.

Till next year. . .

 p.s. Happy Valentine's Day!

Five

Five years and still here. The finality of the delete button is too much for me.
 

Chicken Soup

Jen's Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

2-3 cooked chicken breasts, diced
6-7 garlic cloves, minced
1 small yellow onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
7 cups water + 2 Tbsp chicken bouillion (or 7 cups chicken broth)
1 carrot, shredded
3/4 cup rice
1 can evaporated milk
1 bunch green onions, chopped and separated

In soup pot:

Saute garlic, yellow onion, and whites of green onion in 2-3 Tbsp. oil.  Add chicken and heat through or cook until it begins to brown.  Add 7 cups water and salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Add bouillon and return to boil.  Add carrots and taste to adjust seasoning.  Add rice. Stir and return to boil.  Simmer 15-20 minutes.  Add evaporated milk and green parts of green onion. Heat through.
Serve with Hawaiian bread or rolls.

Serves 5-7

Notes:
Adjust amount of water to reach desired consistency, using approximately 1 tsp. of bouillon for every 2 cups of water.

Pork may be substituted for chicken; using beef bouillon in place of chicken bouillon.

longboarding contest video

Good luck!

http://www.velozdh.com/t/mabster25

Three years ago. . .

I started a blog. I haven't looked at it for a long time, but tonight I found myself wanting to write. Out of curiosity, I checked the date of my first post and to my surprise, found that tomorrow marks my three year blogiversary. I only kept it current for a short time, but it led me to so many interesting people and even to the opportunity to publish. Who knew?

I got busy and quit posting, but sometimes I wonder if I also stopped writing because I was afraid. (Of what, I'm not sure--success? failure? being able to write something worth reading? losing readers? getting comments? becoming consumed with how to turn my ordinary day into a blog post?)

Well, here's to conquering fear. Maybe it will mean more posts, or an essay submitted for publication. Or maybe it will mean that I keep my journal more regularly--I haven't decided.

On the other hand, maybe it just means that I'm avoiding going to bed, will have a handful of chocolate chips and forget all about this blog for a loooong time.




What's your prediction?

Happy Thanksgiving!