Thursday, October 29, 2009

We Need a Little of This Today

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
"He Giveth More Grace" by Annie J. Flint

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

NEWS BULLETIN

By the way. Jon is done with all of his flights. He wings next week. For these things, we are grateful:

1. That he has no more flights in flightschool.
2. That we will soon move.
3. That WE. MADE. IT.

I am very very proud of my husband. He's amazing at stuff.

I Pray for the Yankees to Win the World Series

As per Mom's request, here are pictures of Finnegan. He got big.

Blue collar dog.

He likes to sleep on his new bed:
And under the table like this:This is what he looks like when he's not asleep.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Quote of the Day

Jon, earlier today:

If I was an amateur bomb-maker and I accidentally blew up my hand and only had two fingers remaining... I would still be able to count the number of flights I have left!... You should put that on your blog.


Hurray for the Husband and HURRAY for being so close to done!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

When it Gets Below 80 Degrees

When it gets below 80 degrees in Pensacola, then it's called Fall and the pumpkins begin to appear on street corners and in grocery stores. Since I disagree that the presence of imported pumpkins is sufficient to indicate season change, I have been subconsciously waiting. Then it got colder. That helped. Then I decided to make an apple pie. That helped too. Then, in one moment, when the smell of the cinnamony appley pie filled the apartment and Jon opened the door to let in a rush of cool air, it was really Fall and my hot weather depression lifted. It's incredible what a little Fall can do for a Virginia girl. So in light of my happiness, I'm going to share with you my new favorite apple pie recipe. Please enjoy.

French Apple Pie

Crumb Topping
1/2 C unsalted butter
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 wheat germ (so worth it!)

Filling
7 cups Granny Smith Apples (I used three big apples)
3/4 C sugar
1 Tbl cornstarch (or flour)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used more like a whole teaspoon)
1/2 tsp nutmeg (see above)
pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tbl butter cut into cubes

1. Prepare pie crust (oh yeah, I made my own, but you could use a refrigerated one. I would share my recipe, but it wasn't all that great. Find a good one online.) So if you make the pie crust, refrigerate at least an hour. After it has chilled, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a food processor (I just mixed it in a bowl with a pastry cutter) add all ingredients for crumb topping and pulse about 10 times until the mixture is crumbly. Roll out dough and place in 9 inch pie pan. Crimp the edges with a fork. (If the dough has chilled for a long time and is too hard, let sit on the counter until soft enough to roll out)

3. In large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until thoroughly mixed, then toss with apple slices. Mound apples high in the center of pie and dollop with butter pieces. Cover crust edges with aluminum foil to keep from burning.

4. Sprinkle on crumb topping (YUM!) and press down slightly. Bake pie for about 50 minutes, but check progress at 45 minutes. When crust and crumble top are golden, pie is done. Let cool 30 minutes (if you can!). Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.


Now, in the spirit of baking, check out this site... isn't it cool?

P.S. the picture up there is not of my pie. I found it online. My pie was not baked in aluminum. And it tasted better.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I have posted 123 Times, and This is Number 124

Jon only has 5 more flights and in three weeks, we find out where we're going to move.... Ooooh the excitement!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Oh, Please, Won't You Irradiate My Produce?

This is what I think, and I'm right, so do follow my lead.
Irradiation is good.
Pitching a fit about irradiated food is bad.

This is why:

Irradiation kills BAD bacterias that want to give us all food poisoning (Believe me, I hate food poisoning). No radiation remains in the produce after it has been treated, so we shall not all glow after consumption of said produce. Radiation does inactivate a small amount of the nutritional value* in treated beef, but diarrhea and vomiting eliminate ALL the nutritional value. So. Also, I do not like pesticides in my food (I am pro-organic foods), but I do not like buggies in my salad, so I am pro-irradiation. Stop whining, Hippies.

Ahem. So that is what I think. A little dose of haughty opinion to brighten your day and make you less sorry for when I post pictures without words.


* sources:
http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/meat_quality/irradiation.html
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/food_irrad/articles.cfm?ID=11803 (I do not agree with this website, but site it so that you can see my arguement wins)
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm093651.htm

NOTE: The intentional obnoxious tone of this post was designed to be funny. Please do not take offense, as I certainly do not mean to offend.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Dogs are Just Like Their Owners

He fell asleep with his head in his food bowl. Just in case food decided to show up while he was passed out.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Never in the history of my egocentric blog have I been so remiss in posting at least something every so often. Not that I am apologizing. I don't feel that anyone is deprived of joy by less of me making fun of myself, but I do feel as though I should tell you why you are often confronted with the same bland post every time you check up on me.

It's because of this:
And this:
...and this:
... plus Jon and I got food poisoning somewhere in there and barfed our guts out all night, but you didn't want to see a picture of that...

So in between working, studying and trying to teach a stubborn, chewing Labrador that going potty outside is always (and not just sometimes) the best policy, I will write more. If I'm not sleeping.

I do read your blogs, though. So don't be one of those lazy people who get busy and only post every so often. That's lame.