I’m feeling a little ADD
I’m not sure what it is, but when I sit down to my computer I start going all ADD.
I have got a ton of work stacked up right now – getting out our Easter mailer for church and then I have no less than 3 freelance web sites cooking right now.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the work and it’s a blessing as we save for the adoption.
But I totally get distracted. I work for a bit, check my email, work, check bloglines, work, check the news.
Help!!!!
WFMW: Using Up Old Bananas
I’m republishing my most popular WFMW – one that still gets people here via google….
I thought that everybody knew this trick but in talking with some
ladies lately I discovered that it just ain’t so, so here it is.
If you’re like me we often end up with one or two bananas in the
bunch that go bad before we eat them. Really once they starting turning
brown on the outside my kids refuse to eat them no matter what they
actually are like on the inside.
But overripe bananas are AWESOME for cooking. So take those old
bananas and toss them in the freezer for a later baking episode. There
are two ways two do this. First, you can throw them in a gallon Ziploc
bag still in the peel. Then when you’re baking something you can
usually pry out the number of bananas you need (you can always do a
quick partial defrost in the freezer if you can’t separate them). Then
when they are thawed you split open the peel at the bottom and then
just kind of squish out the banana.
If that seems a little gross to you then you can peel them before
you freeze and freeze them in quart size bags – usually 3-4 bananas to
a bag. At least that seems to be what my two favorite recipes call for.
As a bonus I’ll even give you the two favorite recipes:
Chocolate-Bottom Banana Squares – super yummy, not super sweet and don’t even have a strong banana flavor
Super Easy Banana Bread Recipe
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. baking mix (i.e. Bisquick or generic)
2 egg whites, gently beaten
3-4 mashed bananas
1/4 c. chopped nuts (optional).
Combine sugar and baking mix. Add egg whites and bananas. Stir. Ad nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.
Back to Shannon’s for more ideas.
I Heart the Dollar Stores
So now that I am back to work full time and have an actual desk to sit at, I’ve been getting myself organized. I realized I needed a monthly planner to help me track out all my project deadlines. I use my computer for a lot of stuff but I needed something I could easily take to meetings, etc.
So I ran out to do some errands. My first choice would have been Wal-Mart cuz their cheapest. But it was the only thing I needed there and it was the icky Wal-Mart and I just didn’t want to bother. I needed to go to The Dollar Tree for something and there is an Office Max a few doors down.
So I went in and looked at monthly planners. $11 something for a VERY plain monthly planner. But I paid it and went on my way.
I strolled through the Dollar Tree and picked up a couple Valentine’s things I needed. As I’m standing in line to pay I happen to glance back and notice on the end of the aisle is a slew of monthly planners. For $1. I promptly put one in my basket.
I returned the other one to Office Max a day later.
I heart the dollar stores 
Snowy Weekend
We got away this weekend to go up north to the family cabin in Strawberry, Arizona. We had originally planned to do it over President’s Day weekend but last Monday there was a big storm and they got 15" of snow at the cabin which is a rarity.
So we made a last minute decision to go this weekend instead. We spent some time hunting down some appropriate snow gear (us desert rats are ill prepared).
We didn’t know how much snow would still be left by Friday but we loved seeing several inches still on the ground when we arrived. We didn’t spend much time outside as it was late by the time we arrived.
It hit about 18 degrees Friday night but we were snuggly warm – I think that’s the only time in our 14 years of marriage that Mark has slept under an electric blanket.
Saturday morning, however, we realized that we weren’t too smart when we pulled the van up next to the cabin and it was STUCK! Mark spent at least an hour trying to get it out to no avail. So we called our trusty USAA Roadside Assistance (LOVE THEM!) to get a tow truck. Of course by the time he arrived I guess enough snow had melted that he was able to drive it out. Oh well!
We loaded the kids and the sled in the van and headed off to try and find an appropriate sledding area. We really had no idea where we were going but we soon came upon about 2 dozen cars lined up on the side of the road. Didn’t take much to figure out this was the sledding spot. It was a huge area that was really great. There were tons of people out with inner tubes, folding chairs, coolers, little stoves. Us, we didn’t even bring a bottle of water. (Natalie and I resorted to eating the snow
The kids had a blast. Mark and Noah discovered that the BIG hill was definitely made for inner tubes and NOT plastic sleds as they caught air several times and ended the ride with sore tail bones.
Natalie on growing
One afternoon last week I noticed that Natalie’s(5) pants seemed short. These are pants that I just bought this fall – 3 months ago.
"Are you growing?"
"Duh, mom. I’m growing all the time remember!"
"Well I know but I think you grew extra tall. I think you grew two inches last night. You’re getting too big."
"No I’m not. I’m the right size for how long I’ve been here."
Me laughing
"You know mom, for how long I’ve been alive."
Big Changes Require Big Faith
Well it seems as if this is certainly a year of change for our family. First with the adoption, and now with jobs.
After nearly six years with Palm Valley Church, Mark is leaving
his position as Executive Pastor. We truly love our church, the staff and our
friends but Mark feels as if God is calling him on to something else. We’re not
sure exactly what that “something else” is at this point. After months of
praying for God to show us what he has for Mark next, we feel as if we just need
to obey his “Go” and take a leap of faith that will allow him to show us the
amazing things he has in store for us. (And there is no doubt that they will be
amazing.)
Of course having the major breadwinner leave a job in the middle of an expensive adoption is quite a scary thought. But we are so blessed that we are in a position of NO debt and a nice emergency fund that allows us to be obedient to God’s call without the hesitations that many people would feel because of the finances.
God has also opened the door for me to step into more of a full time role at our church as the Communications Coordinator – handling the print and web communications. He is so faithful to provide in our time of need.
We appreciate all your prayers for wisdom and clarity in what God would have for us next. We are both super excited to see what the future holds. We would also appreciate your prayers for Noah and Natalie as we realize that there is a lot of change happening in our family this year and we want the best for them.
You can read Mark’s thoughts here.
