New Things Ahead

I know it has been a while.  Let me give you all the run down of what has been happening lately. 

We have moved out of our castle (the North Carolina cabin) and into a one bedroom 'hotel type' room at the Inn.  We had a short break.  We traveled home to NC and visited family and friends.  I love going in for a week visit.  It's like a party for an entire week.  Everyone is always excited to see us and we are just as excited to see everyone too.  Even a trip to Walmart in NC is exciting because I am just hoping that MAYBE I will run into someone I know.

When we returned to NY, we returned to "Studio 57" at the Inn.  This will be our new residence for the next couple of months. 

I took a couple pictures.  I tried to wait until it was cleaned up, but it seems as if the room will always look a little cluttered.  There isn't much room to put things.  Most anywhere I have lived, my 'things' have had their home inside of our home.  Everything has a place that it lives and when it is used, it must return to it's home.  Well - all of our things are kind of hanging out in the one big room with us.  Not inside of a drawer or closet or basement or cabinet.

I would be posting the pictures, but I can't seem to locate my card reader that I need to hook up to the computer.  When I find it, I will post the pictures, but until then...

Let me tell you how splendid this place is.  First of all - they cook - EVERY SINGLE MEAL for us.  While I do enjoy cooking myself, it is nice to have a short break from it (especially the cleaning up part).  We have the opportunity to have a couple different choices at every meal about what we would like to consume.  They always have fresh salad and all the fixin's.  They always have fresh fruit.  They normally have two choices of meat and then a couple veggies to complement the meal.  Then there's dessert.  They have dessert at every single meal.  I have not been eating the dessert at every single meal, but I did have pecan pie and strawberry cheesecake so far.  I am trying to take it easy on the desserts this summer.  It's going to be tough, but I must.

Exercise will be easy to come by this summer also.  I have been walking everywhere and it is very hilly here.  We walked into town yesterday to mail a letter.  Then, we walked to the 'Linen closet' to pick up fresh linens and then back to our room.  We probably traveled about two miles (at least it felt like it).

Everyone is so nice and helpful here.  The nights have been pretty cold here.  There are no heaters or air conditioners.  The air conditioner is the condition of the air.  So, we asked for a small space heater and someone gave us two (since our room is kind of long and rectangular shaped).  Then, this morning I went to breakfast and accidentally locked me and the girls out of the room.  I saw a maintenance guy working and he had a master key!  Perfect!  He came and let us back in.  The door knobs are the kind that turn from the inside even though they are locked.  It mess me up and makes me think it is unlocked.  We have access to an indoor pool and the lake has a 'beach front' with sand that we can go to and all is within walking distance.  The local grocery store and pharmacy is within walking distance.  And also, Stewarts is in town too.  They serve YUMMY ice-cream.  It's not soft serve, but it is still very yummy.

The Inn is providing all of our linens and also taking care of laundering them for us.  They also provide us with all of our paper products.  If we need toilet paper, tissues, little plastic cups, trash bags, and bathroom cleaners, they provide all of that.

Also, one of our new friends have offered to let us do laundry at their home.  That is such a blessing.  We went yesterday and done two loads of laundry and the girls got to watch two of their kid movies while they were there.  It was much better than taking them to the laundry mat and sitting there waiting on the laundry to be done.  Not to mention that my friend has a SUPER capacity washer and where I would have probably 3 1/2 - 4 loads at the laundry mat, I only had two at her house.  You know who you are - Thank you so much for being such a blessing to us.

We had some new neighbors who moved in yesterday.  One of the families speaks Portuguese and one speaks Spanish.  We may come away with some Spanuguese by the end of the summer.

We are happy that we have internet access inside of our room thanks to the location of our room and the nearby internet lounge for the STC workers to check their emails.  All of the STC staff will be arriving this weekend and then STC training starts next week.  Then, the first week of camp begins!  Yippee!  Michael is at the BI everyday in training and getting prepared for his ministry this summer.  Maybe he will hijack this blog and fill you in on all the details about his summer ministry.  I could try to explain it, but I know he could do a much better job. 

Thank you all for praying for us this summer.

Firsts

There is always a first for everything.  Some of you who read my blog may have experienced this before.  I have not.

I washed an entire load of laundry by hand.

We are moving at the end of this week.  We must move everything out of this cabin and either in our trailer or up to the Inn. 

There's no washer and dryer hook up at the Inn.  boo hoo.

The washer and dryer belong at the tongue of the trailer and had to be loaded first.  So, yesterday evening, Michael moved them out. 

I almost cried. 

Today, I realized that I had already piled up an entire load of 'whites'.  I have a drying rack that I use to hang our towels on.  I decided that I could wash those 'whites' and rinse them in the tub and then hang them on the rack. 

Needless to say, my girls heard the water splashing and hurried in the bathroom.  They were SUPER excited.  Their excitement is contagious. 

I washed and rinsed.  Hannah wrung out the pieces.  Cari hung them up to dry.  I was a complete assembly line.  It was perfect. 

I almost cried.

I thought about how spoiled I am.

Amazing Grace

Today we celebrate Memorial Day.  We remember all those who have fought or who are fighting throughout the years.  MANY, many thanks to all who have served in the armed forces of America!  God bless you!

Today I was also thinking about my grandfathers and Michael's grandfathers, all of whom fought in a war, all of whom survived.  When I think about that, I think about our countless family members who are alive today because they survived.

You may think you are free because you live in America. 
You may think you are free because of all those soldiers who fought for our freedom.
But, are you really free?

Freedom is not really FREE.
It comes with a price.

My Lord and Savior paid the highest price for my sin when He gave His life for me so that I may have freedom from God's wrath. 
Amazing grace.

The Bible says in John 8:36 - "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. "

There is only One who can make you truly free. 
His name is Jesus. 
Do you know Him?
He can set you free.

Chicken Pie

It is more like Chicken Casserole, but we call it Chicken Pie. 

You will need:
3 chicken breasts
Salt & Pepper
2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
Milk
Butter
Pepperridge Farm Cornbread Stuffing

• Boil the chicken breasts until done.
• Shred up the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
• Salt and Pepper the chicken to taste.
• Empty 2 cans of cream of chicken soup in a bowl.  Pour one of the empty cans full with milk.  Mix together.
• Pour that on top of the chicken.
• Melt 1 stick of butter in a pot.
• Stir cornbread stuffing in with the butter.
• Spread this buttered stuffing on top of the cream of chicken soup mixture.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. 
• The buttered stuffing on top will get a little brown - that is when it is done.

You can add veggies to this mix.  I normally add green peas and carrots.  I buy frozen peas and fresh carrots.  I put the peas into a small pot and use a vegetable peeler on the carrots so they are super thin (they cook faster that way).  I put about a half cup of water in there and cook until that is done.  Then, I add it in with the cream of chicken soup mixture.

Enjoy!

Hot Ham and Cheese

Hot Ham and Cheese....  a simple favorite.  But, there's a little more to mine than slapping ham and cheese between bread and toasting it.

You will need: 
Bread
Black Forest deli ham  -  sliced super thin
American Cheese  -  get the white one.  The 'yellow' American cheese is colored with food dye.  And make sure it says 'American Cheese' not 'A product of cheese' on the label.
Butter  -  real, salted butter... not margarine.
Garlic powder
Honey Dijon Mustard
Cast Iron skillet, griddle, or whatever you got that is cast iron.

• Cut your bread a little thicker than a normal slice of bread.  Maybe 1 + 1/4 thick.
• Heat your cast iron on medium.
• Unwrap half of the stick of butter. 
• Smear that on the griddle. 
• Sprinkle a little garlic salt on the butter. 
• Place one slice of bread on top of the butter and garlic salt.
• Spread a thin coating of honey dijon mustard on this slice of bread. 
• Depending on how thick your cheese is sliced, you could use one, two or three slices of cheese. 
• Pile up as much ham as you like on top of the cheese.
• Spread a thin coating of honey dijon mustard on the second slice of bread.
• Place the second slice of bread on top.
• Using a metal spatula, when the first slice of bread is browned and the cheese is melty, pick up the sandwich.
• Smear more butter on the griddle.
• Sprinkle a little more garlic salt on the butter.
• Flip the sandwich over and toast the other side.
• When that side is browned, remove from cast iron.
• Place on your plate and cut in a diagonal shape making two triangles.  Well, okay, you can cut it whatever way you want.
• Enjoy!