Reflections on Life Changes and Retirement

Life never stays the same. A person is forever evolving, changing and should be met with excitement. Nothing is truer than that aspect when one retires and moves to a completely new location. Last summer and fall, my husband and I made the decision to finally put the Salem house on the market and move to Central Oregon where we have two acres, a 14 x 70 Manufactured furnished home, and garage. The decision did not come lightly as we prayed and waited for God's guidance for several months trying to decide what to do with the property. Should we sell it, swap out the old home for a newer home in the winter, or just move to another state. One thing my husband and I have learned - RETIREMENT IS A FIGMENT OF THE IMAGINATION! After thoughtful prayer, the decision was made to move to Central Oregon, keep the property, and the house until the spring after the winter snows, and then swap out the older home for a newer manufactured home. With the decision made to keep the current home on the lot, all our belongings went into the two-car garage. The boxes are piled high on top of the furniture we kept. Downsizing is not easy as our garage can attest. God has taught us how to live together 24/7. This is a new experience because my husband would work 12 hour days at the gun club and now he has been underfoot quite a lot. When he goes to the valley I miss him terribly and can't wait for him to come home. We've also learned how to live in a small rural area with trips to Bend when needed. Another change has been to attend a new church in Bend, Solid Rock Community Church. My husband has been friends with the pastor for several years and we knew this would be our choice when we moved to Central Oregon. We miss our old friends at our old church but know this is where God has been leading us for quite some time now. My husband says he just wants to serve the Lord at our new church and I've been enjoying getting to meet everyone. Our prayer is God will use us both as we continue serving the Lord. Of course along the way, we've been struck with illness and I'm fighting uterine cancer. I have level one stage one uterine cancer and am undergoing a 12 week oral chemotherapy. We are thankful because God has been gracious. The cancer is treatable and curable and hasn't gone invasive into any other organs. My husband and I are so thankful for God's gift of good doctors who know what they are doing and who care. My husband has been diligently working on putting together his goals for the next year and I've been inspired to set a few of my own goals such as writing on my blog more often and getting those recipes to our friends and family who follow my blog. I'm also making a goals to work on my book and try to finish it year. It needs to be edited and there are a few things needing to be added before I even get to the editing part. I've posted my scone recipe many times, but I've got a new variation of it you'll love. I discovered using lemons was a tasty treat and one of our daughters says she likes them better than even the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal muffins I make so enjoy. Lemon Scones 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda zest from 4 lemons 1/2 cup butter cold and cubed Mix above in a food processor just until butter is crumbled. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream. pulse until blended - This doesn't take very long at all. Turn out onto a floured board and cut the mix into two balls. Re cut each ball into 4 pieces and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-14 minutes until just golden brown. Remove from the oven onto a wire rack with either waxed paper underneath or parchment paper. Drizzle while hot with the following: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and the zest of one lemon. Also mix in 1/3 cup softened butter. Makes 8 scones.

Life/Stuff gets in the way of real living....

Has it really been that long since my last post (2013)? Have I been that busy that I've fallen down on the job in posting on my Blog? Well,,,,,, yes it has and yes I have been busy. One of the big things taking time has been my husband and I fixing up our home of 25 years so we could sell it. The reality will be happening shortly when we sign over the papers to the new owners. Will they like the house as much as we did while the kids were growing up and even after the kids left home? We still love our old house. I have spent the last nine months packing boxes with the help of a dear friend. It seems this chapter of our lives is over. I'm sitting here in our La Pine kitchen typing while the garage is stacked to the rafters with "stuff". Where did we get all the "stuff"? Even after parring down for the last nine months, I still have "stuff" and will be rethinking each and every box as I eventually get to unpacking. Only unpacking right now won't happen. Hopefully, we will be either building or putting another manufactured home on the property. In the meantime, we are still in transition (although taking a break since its now hunting season and that takes precedent over everything). The men (four of them) got up early and were gone by 6 am this morning for their first morning of the hunt. Of course I'm cooking for them and will post one of my recipes I make when they come home. One of our hunter friends requests this dish every year. Its a Bacon/Corn Chowder soup served with cheesy biscuits. What moving boils down to is being flexible among all the crazy issues and challenges be it health issues or just trying to make room in the garage for something else. I'm afraid to go look in the garage. Mike says the boxes are piled up to the rafters. Laughing and smiling all the way trying to figure out what to do next. One thing remains constant though is the love God shows us through each challenge or issue. Mike and I have an opportunity in a new location to make an impact for God. We get to share our faith and "our" story to our neighbors and the new church we will be involved with. We want to serve God in the capacity He has for our lives. On to the new reality. Bacon/Corn Chowder Soup 1 pound of bacon diced Cook bacon until fat has rendered. Pour off fat except for 2 tablespoons. Chop 1 onion into small dices and fry until translucent Salt and pepper to taste Dice 3 potatoes (small) and add to onions Cook for about 5 minutes. Add one package of frozen corn, cooked bacon. Add 3 cups milk and 1 cup half and half or cream Simmer on low until the potatoes are cooked through. If you want a thicker soup, add some instant potato flakes. Again, season to your taste - you can even add pepper flakes if you so desire. Serve Hot. Makes about 4-5 servings. While soup is cooking, measure out 1 cup of biscuit mix and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Add 1/2 cup milk and drop by teaspoon onto a parchment lined cooking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Melt 1/4 cup butter into a cup, sprinkle with a pinch of dried parsley flakes and garlic powder/salt. Spoon over hot biscuits when done. Serve hot.

A special thank you to our Community Group.

What is a community group? Well one might say its just a group of people from the same community who come together for a purpose. That assumption might be right, but there is so much more to a community group than just coming together. Our church at Morning Star has small home groups we call Community Groups. These groups come together for the purpose of sharing God's Word and fellowship. The Bible says that "Where two or more are gathered in His name, there is fellowship with one another." This is a paraphrase but the premise is simple. Our group comes together to discuss The Word. We talk about our Christian journey with the Lord and strive on how we can improve this journey and become closer to Jesus through the sermons from our Pastor and from asking thought provoking questions designed to make us think and examine our lives. We encourage each other and our fellowship is sweet. This past year Mike has had the privilege of leading our group. The group's dynamics may change from year to year but the focus stays the same. Tonight we had our end of the year potluck and as always, the food was delicious and the fellowship sweet. Mike and I want to thank each couple and person who has made our community group worthwhile. We enjoy each and every one of the people who make up our group. Each person is special and unique in their own way and our group wouldn't be the same without them. I truly believe God has placed the people in our group that should be there and we have a lot fun but we also get serious about our relationship with the Lord. I just wanted to be sure to thank everyone in our group. Because I experimented with a new recipe for our potluck and it was a hit, I thought I'd share the recipe here in this post. Orzo/terryaki chicken salad 2 cups of cooked orzo pasta 1 pound cup up terrayki chicken (cooked previously) 1/2 cup parmesean cheese - shredded 1/2 bottle of Cardini's Ceasar salad dressing 2 hard boiled eggs chopped Cook terrayki chicken (I use equal parts of brown sugar, soy sauce, plus 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon ginger) Place all together in a bowl and toss with the salad dressing. Cover with a little of the shredded cheese on top and chill until ready to serve. Serves a family of 4-6. Enjoy.

Legacies

What is a legacy? Proverbs 13:22 states, "A good [woman] leaves an inheritance." As parents, each one of us wants to leave some kind of legacy for our children. Each decision we make affects our lives, spouses and children. I wonder sometimes, if I've made the right kinds of decisions regarding my children and how they view my life. What kind of example did I make, what have I passed on to my children they will remember me for, and what have my children learned from me? Priscilla Shirer says, "Our legacy of faith, compassion, gratitude, perseverance, forgiveness, patience and love should be carefully crafted and then purposefully passed on we well." When our children were still at home, I tried to be an open book for them about my relationship with the Lord and how He affected my life. I hope I was able to pass on the legacy of the attributes Priscilla talks about in the quote above. Will my chilredn they remember that I was not only a good cook or baker, but my life reflected my relationship with the Lord and they would want this relationship as well. I hope they saw in me a woman who wanted to be one of those Proverbs 31 women. One of my daughters recently wrote a post on her blog sharing her faith and what she believes and how she grew up learning of a relationship with God via my relationship or even the relationship of my parents having passed down from generation to generation. Does this make sense? I was humbled when this daughter shared her testimony of how she grew up hearing stories of the Bible and Jesus. I remember the day clearly when she gave her life to Christ at the age of 3 years old. Yes, she was a very smart 3 year old and knew what she was doing. So as I sit here writing this post, my challenge to you and even to myself, "What kind of legacy am I leaving for my children and their children?" Of all the legacies I leave behind, the one I want to be rememmbered most is my relationship with the Lord. Leaving behind recipes is another type of legacy I want to leave. I have made scones for years now and every time I make them, I get raves for the original taste and how simple they are to make so here is my recipe for scones. Scones 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon soda 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cream of tartar Cut 1/2 cup cold butter into the flour mixture until the mixtures resembles large peas. You don't want to cut in the butter too much because you want those pockets of butter to explode in the oven. Cut in 1 cup half and half and stir until moistened and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times into a ball. Cut into two balls and then cut again into quarters. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake a 375 degrees until golden or about 15 minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet and serve immediately while hot. Makes 8 scones.

Baby clothes redux......

This week I received three boxes from my daughter in Washington State holding our grandson's clothing he had outgrown. I was overwhelmed with memories of the clothing I normally would purchase as a single parent for my daughter. She requested I cut up my grandson's out-grown clothing and make a memory quilt. What a unique way to use a child's clothing! Now why didn't I think of this???? I even mentioned to her when she was little, she was the only one in our neighborhood with designer jeans at the ripe old age of three years old. I spent $60 on a pair of Jordache jeans and thought she was the cutest little girl in the world! I purchased clothing for her every six months because she would "out-grow" her old things and of course needed new things to wear. In fact, I preferred her to have new clothing and would forgo my own clothing needs so I could clothe her in the cutest trends imaginable. I even sewed some of her clothing because I couldn't find the girly clothing I wanted for her. Having fun making my little girl look pretty in "girly" things was what I looked forward to. I got the most frilly items I could find to dress her up in, and everyone who came in contact with her thought she always looked so cute. By the time my daughter was six years old, she began to revolt by wearing clothes only she wanted to wear. Even at an early age, she made sure she had had enough of the "frilly" gril thing. Oh DARN!!! I had to relent and let her wear the things she wanted to wear, normally not dresses, but pants and tops and definitely not frilly. Shopping for her just wasn't the same anymore. Having said that, our children grow up to have their own personalities and clothing styles. I found out this same daughter through time enjoyed wearing "classic and clean lines" clothing. She had her own style and looked the way only she wanted to look. I laugh so much looking back on how she developed her clothing style. She was stubborn in her own ways and remains to this day very particular about what she wears. Now she is having a little girl of her own and I asked her, "Are going to dress up your little girl in 'frilly' clothes?" Her comment was to only say "yes". Again, I laugh and know she will have her hands full as her little girl develops her own style as she grows up. I know - parents always say "payback" but I loved dressing my little girl to look girly, but alas, she developed her own style in her own time. (sigh) So now I'm finding I need to transition to figure out what kind of recipe I need to share to go along with the story and can't really think of one. Here's my contribution to this post: Memories made are important for both the parent and the child. One of the things I used to do with my daughter when I was a single parent was to take her out to breakfast before I went to work and she went to pre-school or daycare. Sharing a time with her at one of our favorite restaurants will be one of the best memories I have with her. I would order a cinnamon roll and she would order bacon and share my roll. Moral of the story? Make time to make memories by spending person time with your children, i.e. either a date time with ice cream,trips to the beach, breakfast, or just a special one-on-one time you can share with your child and build memories. Both you as the parent and the child will carry those fond memories of your special times spent together.

31 years ago....

How do you write about something that happened 31 years ago and keep it fresh and interesting, especially to those who know my story. Here's the latest version of how my world was turned upside down in a 30 hour period. When I was first married, I wanted oodles of children, at least four or five. However; God had other intentions in mind for me and after 8 years of marriage, I still wasn't able to have children so I applied to an adoption agency in Oklahoma. Now, having a husband in the military, the average time spent in one place was 3 years. After waiting two years and six months, and a home visit that failed terribly (our then dog jumped up on the social worker and I had coffee grounds in her coffee), the social worker called and started a routine conversation. She wanted to know if I was working, how my attitude was and if there was anything new in my life. I could hear take a deep breath on the other end of the phone and she said there was a baby girl for me. "What??" I said. "Are you sure?" "ME?" The social worker then asked if I wanted her to call back after the screaming had died down and give me all the particulars. I said, "Don't you dare hang up! I want to hear everything: How much does she weigh, how old is she, what does she look like and when does she get to come live with me?" Calmly the social worker gave me all the information and told me to appear at noon on Wednesday to pick her up in Tulsa. Now, being a Monday evening at 5 pm, it didn't leave much time for me to prepare for this new baby coming into my life. After the social worker hung up, I just sat thinking, "God, my heart is overflowing with love for this new baby girl and I can't believe this is happening to me." Long story short.....A daughter by the name of Sarah Elizabeth came to live with me on a stormy Wednesday afternoon. She was perfect in every way!! What an amazing experience to know in less than 30 hours, I would become a mom. Yes, there was a bit of a meltdown the night before we went to get her, but my blessing from God has been worth all the joys, love and tears a mom feels for a child. I have watched this baby grow from a small baby to a young woman who has a child of her own. She is beautiful inside and out and I can't wait for the next chapter in her life as she continues to grow in God's grace and love. I am blessed beyond measure and I'm sure she feels the same way when she looks at her own son with that knowing smile indicating,"God loves me, and my love as a mother is something to be treasured and valued through all the days of my life." Nothing is beter than that!!!! My story hasn't stopped and later in life, I received another gift from God in the form of my husband. He had several children so in the long run, my dream of having lots of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren has come true. But that's another story for another time..... Recently when my daughter came for a visit, she requested a meal of meat loaf and baked potatoes. So here is the basic recipe for meatloaf. 2 pounds ground beef 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt shakes of a pepper shaker 1/4 cup finely chopped onion a handful of oatmeal 1 egg 1/4 cup ketchup for the top Blend all ingredients together except the ketcup. Place the meat in a pie plate and shape in a round loaf. Pour the ketchup over the top and use a fork to spread the ketcup all over the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Place foil covered potatoes in the oven with the meat loaf and the meal will be done all at one time.

Happy New Year

I've been lazy in updating my posts and the beginning of the new year is a good time to get back into the habit and reflect on what God has done in our lives this last year. I can honestly say this last year has been a challenge for both Mike and myself. The challenges we had were dealing with a serious illness for Mike and plus all the doctor, hospital and chemo appointments needed in order to deal with the illness. Remembering the first week we found out about the cancer, God rocked our world and we felt like we had been hit with a freight train. In the course of four days, Mike had 3 surgical procedures, numerous blood and lab tests plus his first chemo treatment. Sitting in our recliners during the evening we first came home from the hospital, Mike said, "I have cancer". I think it finally sank into our brains at that time. Throughout the summer months of chemo treatments, more tests and lots of doctor visits, we saw God's hand in Mike's life and how we were able to share our faith. We shared our testimonies countlessly, prayed with others who were experiencing challenges in their lives and saw positive changes in those lives. Mike's Oncologist is a Christian and during Mike's last visit asked if they could pray at the end of Mike's appointment. Now, how many doctors do you know who are willing to pray with their patients! Mike and I also were able to share our lives in a class on Sunday mornings called, "Honor begins at Home." We had a total of 24 people in the class. Our prayer through this class was that God would touch the lives of those attending and make a difference in their lives. Mike and I are hearing periodically from those who were in the class and how their lives were changed by the Holy Spirit. We were on vacation one Sunday and we gave the couples a "Homework" assignment that required couples spend a date night and do a "check-up" on their marriage and what they were doing right and what needed fine tuning. One couple told Mike the date night would never happen because the relationship was so strained and hostile. Just this last month, this same couple approached Mike and told him on their vacation to Arizona, they started walking in the evenings and talking. They eventually talked about their marriage and did the "check-up". The husband told Mike their relationship was the best now than it had ever been in the past. This is just one story we heard. There are a few more, but time and space preclude me from sharing the other stores. Mike and I are blessed that the Holy Spirit was present in the lives of those attending our class and the class had a positive outlook on their lives. This glory goes to God alone! Christmas was a highlight this year too as we had a lot of family here at the house and I love to just sit and watch the kids and grandkids visiting happily together. What a blessing it was and I'm sure I had this funny smile on my face all afternoon long. All the work, cleaning and baking was worth all the smiles, giggles and hugs. I want to thank our friends, family and those who know us who have stood by us and been prayer warriors this past year. Mike and I feel so blessed by you all and I can't think of a better way to end this post than by thanking you all. With the new year upon us, our prayer is for continued healing and good health for both Mike and myself, and continued fellowship with those we hold so dear. Again, thank you all!!! PS: No recipe this time, just a thank you to you all.....