We moved (and so did my new blog)

Hey guys and dolls: I finally started my new blog "Confessions of a Coffee Lover". You can click on http://melissaflaming.blogspot.com.

Also, we're in New Mexico! More info to come!

Just Dance

I'm listening to my two youngest sing/dance to Wii's "Just Dance". I tried it last night, and lemme tell ya, it's DANG HARD!! Had a great workout. I'm rather proud of myself for not requiring everyone to leave the room whilst I "danced".

It's loaded with songs I'm familiar with -can we say

"70 &80's"?!?Bonus!!

Random-ness

I'm in the process of setting up my OWN blog. I want it to ooze "Me". But it's not ready yet, so don't peek.

For now, I'll just give a little snippet here and there.

We're down to 17 glorious days before we're back in our "neighborhood". Remember Mr. Rogers? He really WAS my favorite to watch on PBS (before the days of cable, satellite, Disney Channel & so forth). I tried to get my kids to watch it when they were little. I dunno...they were bored to tears. Anyhoo, I am so ready to mean it when I sing, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood..." My bro-in-law recently posted a Facebook status with a quote from Andy Stanley: "

"Never stop dreaming! When your memories outnumber your dreams, the end is near."

Ok, Sorry, Andy, that's MY quote now. I've DREAMED of this day for more than a year. Why? Cuz I've been so far from home and everything that says, "Me". I truly have felt that my memories have overtaken my dreams, and I'm only 39! I cannot allow my heart to resign itself to mediocrity. I was made for so much more (and, by the way, so were YOU!!).

I'm realizing that this would be a perfect post for my NEW BLOG, so I'm gonna stop here.

Quinoa Tabouli

Ok, here's the requested recipe. Granted, it's one I make every Friday at work, and I NEVER thought I would these kinds of foods...vegetarian junk, I mean stuff. I like the flavor, but the quinoa is a little too weird in my mouth. I'm all about texture when it comes to food. Normally, Tabouli is made with bulghur wheat. I'm sure you can just sub out the quinoa for bulghur.

Quinoa Tabouli

1 c. Quinoa

2c. water

3 med. tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced

1 1/2 c. parsley, coarsely chopped

2 T. fresh mint, chopped

1/3 c. lemon juice

1/3 c. olive oil

1/2 t. salt

Rinse quinoa in cold water, rubbing between fingers to remove bitter, outer layer. Bring 2 c. water to a boil. Add quinoa. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 min. or until water is absorbed.

Chop veggies and herbs. Place in bowl and add lemon juice, oil, and salt. Stir gently. Add quinoa and gently toss. Allow to refrigerate for a while to blend flavors.

Variations: Substitute Bulghur Wheat for quinoa: Bring 2 c. water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add bulghur; cover, and let stand until water is absorbed (15-20 min.).

Could it be more simple than that? Hope you enjoy it.

Ya'll Get to See the Real Me

Hello, Peeps. This morning I thought, "It's time to let the world in on my life, if only briefly. I keep putting it off because it's been so long that I get all tied up in knots wondering what to post. Fear of blogging- Blogophobia? I dunno. Ok, this is my "Personal Thots" paragraph...

Why am I so hesitant to be me right now? Here I've been counting the days until we get to go HOME to NM, yet I feel like I can't be me because I don't want to offend anyone, or I fear peoples' reactions or thoughts...I really battle with fear of man. Sometimes, I honestly think, " I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks about me!"sorry, family if my choice of words causes you to gasp. Sometimes there ARE no other words. Yet, other times I think, "What do they think of me? Am I a failure? I wonder who's reading this and rolling their eyes (only payback for the thousands of "eye rolls" I gave my parents) thinking, "She sure has made a mess of her life. When is she gonna decide what she wants and settle down?"

Well, I'll tell you...NEVER. Why? Because God didn't make me that way. I am realizing that I was created with an "adventure mode". Some peeps are created with a "nesting mode", and I am completely jealous of that at times. To be in one place, one job, one church, one group of peeps that you've known for a lifetime...that sometimes sounds so inviting. But God didn't make us all the same (duh).

Another secret of mine: I've purposely not blogged or posted pics of where we've been living for the past year because I've been embarrassed and ashamed of where God has allowed us to be-an old, two bedroom mobile home that doesn't look very pretty on the outside. Isn't that horrible? There. I said it. When I take a step back and look at His hand in our lives since last summer my heart is so full of thankfulness, but I've not wanted to share it because of pride (even now there is a lump in my throat). Dang, this is freeing!!! (But I still won't post any pics).

Last night Jarrod and I were looking through a blog of someone we know here in town. I finally told him, "Ok, I need to stop looking at all this because I am feeling so jealous of it all." Beautiful home, beautiful fabrics, beautiful EVERYTHING!!! And here I sat, longing to be able to release all of that creativity that I have, but not knowing if/when it will ever happen again.

All of that to say...

We are getting to move back HOME to New Mexico in June!! When we made the decision to move here to Kansas, it was in a terrible time of crisis, financially, with the economy, etc. I don't know; maybe it was a mistake, maybe not. Either way, we moved here, hoping/dreaming that God would allow us to "prosper" in a quieter community, simpler lifestyle, all the things you think of when you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. But ya know what? It isn't HOME. For any of us. We've been here 1 1/2 yrs. and honestly had some good times..and crappy times, too. That's just all part of living in this world. Yes, we have dear, dear friends that we wish could go with us and keep getting together every weekend. Our kiddos have good friends that I know they don't want to leave. However, it's time. It's time to be where we love to be; to be with family as our kids grow up; time to invest in their lives as much as we can before this ol' world is over. I don't know how many years we have left here; when Jesus is coming back. It sure seems like it can't be that long now. But however long or short it is, I want to live it out to the FULLEST! BTW, this is still a major dream of ours...

Wow. I just realized that this "paragraph" is now a full-blown article. Well, you don't have to read it if you don't want to...too late, huh? We have about 3 wks. left here in Newton. I want to live those 3 wks. to the fullest. I honestly don't always know how to do that. I think it really involves God, though. In fact, I'm SURE it does!

Another blog...

For anyone that's even remotely interested, I'm starting another blog, a personal one, over on wordpress.com. I'm not exactly sure how often or what I'll post, but I think it'll be more of an interactive online journal for me. Not ever been one to like to write in a book, but maybe it'll start to flow if I'm typing. Weird, but hey, that's me!

If you're interested or maybe even bored, come on over sometime. address is http://jarrodf.wordpress.com.

Thanks!

Forever Update

Ok, so it's been about forever since anyone has updated this thing, especially me. So, here ya go.

First off, this past weekend was Jake's last basketball tournament; 4 games on Saturday: 10:00, 1:00, 6:00 and 8:00. Talk about "all day"! Anyway, he's been working for the past 2 weeks, along with 4-5 other guys, with former KU Jayhawks player Alonzo Jamison, who is now an Assistant Men's b-ball coach here in town. Well, it paid off (I mean, it was free, but...you know). The first game Jake scored 15, and 7 in the 2nd. We lost those two. Then, during the long break in between he got a haircut and came back and scored 30 points in the 3rd game. Yes, that is a 3-0, 30! At halftime the score was tied 21-21 and Jake had 19 points! It was fun to watch. The last game he had 15 and they won the last two, taking 3rd place in the tourney! Thank you, Alonzo!

Ok, so an even more important reason for getting back to this blog today is to tell you all of a story of what happened to me this morning. Melissa had gone in to work early, and so I had to get the kids ready and out the door a little earlier, so that I could get to work on time. I had been able to spend some time reading my Bible this morning, but not really much time to pray and prepare for the day. So, after I dropped the kids off, I was just contemplating what God was doing in my life and began talking to Him and realized I hadn't asked for forgiveness for some personal stuff that I'd just recently covered over. (You don't need/want to know what it was and it's not the point anyway) :) What was so amazing is how God decided to speak back to me that I was forgiven. I know it was Him so don't bother arguing philosophically with me about this. Anyway, I'd had the radio on softly, but after I finished praying, I turned it up. And low and behold, this song by Sanctus Real "Forgiven" was playing and God let me know that I was forgiven. Beautiful time for me! Thanks, God!!

The link above is for Youtube video of the song with the lyrics. I hope you enjoy it and are blessed as I was!!