Simple Home Living: 4/6/08

Saturday, April 12, 2008

the marketplace has a new find

New Marketplace Finds here.

Lemon Rasberry Cupcakes

I'm crazy about cupcakes and have been craving lemons, so these Meyer Lemon Rasberry Cupcakes from Martha's caught my eye or should I say my salivary gland? That sounds weird....but I must make them this week with grandkiddos.

Ingredients
Makes 2 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
5 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 cup plus scant 1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
Meyer Lemon Curd
Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Sanding sugar
24 raspberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture; mix until well combined. Add sour cream; mix until well combined.
In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely.

Using an apple corer, make a hole in the top of each cupcake, taking care not to push the corer through the bottom; remove cake from hole. Fill a squirt bottle with lemon curd and squeeze curd into holes.

Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch plain round tip and fill with buttercream. Pipe buttercream in a circular motion on top of each cupcake; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Pipe a dollop of buttercream in the center of each cupcake and top with a raspberry.

The Simple Home - A Lemon Theme

from here. . . .

to here . . . .

to here . . . lemonade with mint. sweet.

i'm so proud of poppi

Miriam: I'm so proud of Poppi!

Nana: What did you say?

Miriam: I'm so proud of Poppi!

Nana: Why are you so proud of Poppi?

Miriam: Because he made the Princess Pathway.

how to make your man shine

This is an excerpt from my handbook - Power Prayers for Your Mighty Man. This can only be viewed on Internet Explorer.

How To Make Your Man Shine

Preparation . . .

Every wife has the potential to make her man shine. She was created and designed with an innate power of influence. God created the woman for the benefit of the man. Scripture says that it is not good for the man to be alone.

Read and write down 1 Corinthians 11:7 - 9
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What a power of influence we have! Not only are we made for our husband’s benefit, but as Scripture says, woman is the glory of the man. What is that glory? What does this look like from heavens perspective?

As I ponder those questions and think about my own marriage, I am reminded about what God says that a man needs most. God answers “what this looks like” through the Apostle Paul when he states in Ephesians 5:33 that a wife must respect her husband. I believe the key and the potential for any wife to get reward in lovingly being her husband’s glory is by showing him unconditional respect. A man will shine, in time, when he has been given unconditional respect.

Getting wisdom and understanding is crucial in marriage. The book of Proverbs says that we are to get wisdom and understanding. Not only does it have great value to understand how God wired men – but also it’s important to understand how men in our culture think and live as they do. Understanding can help mitigate the judgments we make toward them. What do you understand about your husband? Was his father in his life as a positive role model? Does your husband understand his responsibility before God as the leader, provider, protector, and priest of the home? Is your husband passive or angry and if so, why? Is your husband his mother’s little prince? If so, do you understand why? Is your husband stuck in pornography and if so, do you understand the roots of this in his life?

These are tough questions, but it’s a wise woman who will get wisdom and understanding as to what’s happening in the soul of her husband. If a woman doesn’t, then most likely she’ll live with judgments toward him.

You can be your husband’s friend. Being your husband’s friend can mean understanding and ministering to his needs in light of his love language. According to Gary Chapman, in his book, Love Languages there are five love languages and we all respond to one or two significant ones. Do you know your husband’s love language? This could be a fun time of discovery. There is the love language of meaningful touch. The man that responds to meaningful touch likes hugs, pats on the back, tender touches on the arm, many kisses, and, he probably likes having his hand held.

Create a safe harbor for your husband to be listened to. Make him feel safe and secure enough to want to be with you. Watch your response when your man does share his feelings. Don’t say, “You never share your feelings with me.” The reason he might not is that he doesn’t feel safe enough with you to do so.

Another reason a man might not share feelings is that he’s not too sure of them himself. It’s far easier for a man to give advice or money than his heart if he’s afraid. My own grandfather never expressed feelings of love to grandmother until the day she died. Those feelings were expressed by what he bought her. On his 90th birthday his advice to the people at our church was “tell your wife you love her.” These were words of gold that I’ll never forget.

Think about “safe harbor.” What comes to mind when you think about that word?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ponder these questions...please don’t skip over them quickly, but take time to evaluate with the Lord where you’re really at.

How emotionally connected are you to your husband?
What kinds of patterns (anger, arguing, criticalness, defensiveness or contempt) need to be broken?
Do you complain about what your husband does or doesn’t do?
Do you explode or withdraw?
Are you a reactionary—with those “knee jerk” reactions?
Do you focus on the details of what is wrong rather than overlooking and giving grace?
How well do you really listen to your husband? Listening doesn’t mean that you solve problems or find solutions. It’s being in the place of mind where you actually hear his heart.

Power Prayers for Your Mighty Man is available for immediate download here via paypal.

apron confessions

This lovely lady just paid me a visit and as it's polite to do - I paid her a visit. OK..to all you who say hello and I don't respond so quickly . . . please forgive me, I've got grandkiddos on the homefront, I'm wipping hubs brow as he finishes the princess pathway and I'm making cupcakes...well, sorta.

Anyway . . . if you're into aprons PLEASE go check out the cutenss of this woman's ideas for aprons. OH MY GOSH...so cleaver!

12 main skills of wellspring listening - from my coffee talk handbook

This is an excerpt from Chapter 11 of my handbook on listening - Coffee Talk (which can only be viewed on Explorer).

If the attitude is right, anyone can learn the Wellspring Listening Skills. Attitude is 90%. Skills are the other 10%.

Skill number one: Stop, look, listen and discern. Ask yourself what the arena is that you are about to engage in. Discernment and wisdom are your greatest friends. Ask yourself what tone or issue is in this arena. As you are discerning, think of skill number two.

Skill number two: Posture to Wellspring Listen in this arena. Put up the James chapter 1 Grid —be quick to listen and slow to speak. That means totally focused on her story and the words she is using and the emotion in her voice.

Skill number three: Put your thoughts on hold (after you have discerned the tone). Put the pause button on. Stop thinking about what YOU want to say next.

Skill number four: Look into your sister’s eyes and hear her words. Track with what she is saying. As best as you can, capture as much of the essence of what is being said.

Skill number five: Keep your thoughts on pause so that you can hear her heart ~ it helps in tracking what she is saying. Don't be thinking about the advice you want to offer her. Don’t be trying to think of how you want to fix this situation - just listen. If she wants advice, she just might ask for it.

Skill number six: Attend and Understand. Attending is the process of filtering out some messages and focusing on others. When we attend, we get ourselves, our own thinking and judgments about what we are hearing, out of the way. The beginning stage of understanding happens when we start to make sense of a message. Unfortunately, a lot of times it’s possible to misunderstand the message. To get understanding, don’t judge prematurely. We get understanding by getting clarification. Clarification happens by asking questions. A question might be, “I’m hearing you say...is that correct?” Take time to understand the speaker’s thoughts and ideas before judging her. This is especially hard when they seem to conflict with yours. Conflicts can happen because of the interpretation of words being used. What I think a word being used means may be totally different than what she is meaning it to be in the context of her story. Ask what she means by the word she used. The final point in this skill is to remember not to have an exchange of ideas, but to hear her heart with your heart. Listen first, make sure you understand and then later evaluate.

Skill number seven: Reflect, Feedback, Summarize. "I’d like to see if I’m hearing you correctly. So, what I'm hearing you say is..." Your sister will let you know if she's not been fully heard. Feedback, summarize, paraphrasing all mean that you reflect the speaker’s thoughts or feelings. Unless they are fed back, how else can she know that you are following her. Her head nods don’t always imply you are tracking. You restate her comments as naturally and accurately as possible. This is a way of cross checking the information. This may seem quite awkward at first if your sister has said a lot of stuff, and you’ve had some difficulty following her.

What you can do is take the essence of what she has said and put in the form in the form of, “What I am thinking I have heard you say is… “ . As best as you can, repeat it back to her. In trying to track with her, if she has rabbit trailed, just take the tail end of what she has said and reflect that back. Reflecting is mirroring. It’s as if you are holding up a mirror so she can see her image, but the mirror is really a mirror of what’s in her heart. Remember that verse in Matthew that says that out of the heart the mouth speaks, because that’s what is happening. Her mouth is speaking what is in her heart.

Skill number eight: Ask Questions. After you have reflected what the speaker has said and they nod or verbally let you know they were heard, it’s then appropriate to ask a question or two. In Wellspring Listening, we teach women to ask permission to ask a question. What we say is, “May I ask you a question?” It’s a way to grace a woman rather than assuming we can just ask. The one being asked the question has every right to say “No.” If that is the case, let it rest. It could be that she has more to say and therefore what would be appropriate is to allow her to say more. We want to respect boundaries. Grace her by allowing any awkwardness to roll off. If the person says, “Yes,” then proceed with

Skill number nine. Please, don’t ask questions to satisfy your own curiosity. You might become so interested in her story that you will want to hear more. That is not Wellspring Listening. Good questions can encourage them to think about their problem and give them the opportunity to understand it more clearly.

Good questions can help her bring out her true feelings about a situation as well as expose the real issue.

Poor questions can bring confusion or distract her from confronting the situation or the problem. Don’t lead her in a direction you think she needs to go to help her find the answer to her situation ~ that’s back door fixing. Lead her to discover what God wants her to know and what He is saying to her. Remember that her discovery is the goal.

Speaking of issues—the issue is very rarely the issue. Often when you think that THIS (whatever the this is) is the ISSUE, I’ve discovered that if you keep letting a woman pour out, the issue you thought was the issue is not always the issue. There’s always something else that God seems to be after.

The Importance Of Right Questioning. It’s a wise and caring woman, desiring to listen and hear the heart, who asks the right kind of questions. Asking the right kind of question can either open up or close down another woman. I have found that if I ask questions that only give me a “yes” or “no,” then that will be the only answer I’ll get—a “yes” or a “no.” Those kinds of questions typically can make a woman feel cornered, controlled, or trapped. They are good questions for a court of law, but not a safe place for a woman needing to be heard.

Good questions are the kinds that give the speaker the ability to “say more”. These good questions do not begin with a “do you” kind of statement. The “do you” and the “will you” and the “are you” are
pushy and threatening. They can make a woman feel controlled or intimidated, making her take the defensive posture.

Ask “yes” or “no” for clarity only.

Open-Ended questions generally begin with WHAT or HOW. Take your "do you" or "are you" questions and rephrase them. Don’t be discouraged with the process it takes to learn to do this.

A few of the open-ended questions/statements I suggest:

"You said something about.....would you tell me a little more about that?"

"How is this related to the other point you made?"

"What exactly are you meaning when you say_____?”

“How does that make you feel?”

Unfair Questions:
Asking a question that is really a statement.
An example of this might be, “Don’t you think the Lord understands what you’re going through?”
Asking a question with a hidden agenda.
Asking a question that begs for a correct answer.
Asking a question based on an unchecked assumption.
Asking a question that traps (yes or no questions trap).

Good Wellspring questions clarify the speakers thoughts or feelings.

Skill number ten: Be Supportive. There are times when someone sharing wants to know more than the reflection of what they are saying. They need to know that you’re with them. They need to know that you care about them and accept them right where they are. Support is NOT telling someone who is upset that everything will be fine. Support is not allowing that person the right to their feelings. Support is caring and letting them know you’re “with” them. Support is weeping with those who weep and mourning with those who mourn. I like to say to women, “Thank you for sharing this with me ~ I feel honored to hear this part

Non Supportive Statements:
“Don’t worry about it, it will work out.”
“You shouldn’t feel that way.”
“It’s nothing to get upset about.”
“That’s a silly way to feel.”
“Hey, it’s only___________.”
“I know just how you feel.” (not)
“It’s just a_____(dog, party, job, whatever).”
“You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
“Ten years from now you won’t remember a thing.”
“There are a lot of other fish in the sea.”
“You know, it’s your own fault.”
“Well, it must have been God’s will.”

how you relate to your dad is probably how you relate to your husband

Relating to Husband, Relating to Dad

How you related (or didn't relate) to your dad has set you up to how you relate (or didn't relate) to your dad (or don't relate) to your husband. Understanding the patterns of how you related to your dad will help reveal the present patterns of how you relate to your husband or how you will relate to a future husband.

If you related to your dad in an unhealthy way (probably modeled by your mother and haven't yet resolved the past and don't understand the Bible way to do so), then you'll probably have some issues to work through so you can relate to your husband biblically.

Any "unbiblical messages" from dad will be the "grid" in which you operate in your marriage. If these "unbiblical messages" aren't recognized, chances are you might be tearing down your house by emasculating your husband by controlling or mothering him (ignorantly). Perhaps you're stepping into his arenas of God-given responsibilities.

When girls don't get the God-intended building blocks (especially from Dad), they tend to grow up feeling insecure and unprotected. They grow up feeling unacceptable with little value. This girl will become a woman who will potentially struggle with body image, self-nurturing tendencies (shopping, eating), controlling tendencies, or even an imbalanced dependency on men or an imbalanced independence from men. She will most likely look for love in all the wrong places and give herself sexually before marriage.

The precious woman will probably get good at manipulation and control because of the turmoil of hurt and resentment will leave her too vulnerable if she doesn't self-protect through controlling her outside world.

This woman might struggle with competing rather than complementing her husband and thus begin to tear her house down with her own hands (Proverbs 14:1).

She'll tend to marry a man who is passive or passive-aggressive (both angry men) who don't understand let alone live out their biblical manhood job description. It will be an angry marriage where often the relational dynamics are like father/child. She might end up being with a dominate abuser because she isn't aware of her own value and worth as a woman. Her husband doesn't see her as a gift either.

These can be some "rotten fruits" of undealt with father wounds for women. God loves women. He grieves but women struggle with getting there. It's not until someone tells her that she needs to take a look at the inner turmoil that aches in her soul because of some of dad's missing building blocks.

The Fix?
The Fix can be a long, slow one and it's "fixed" through relationships. We get damaged in relationships and we get healed in healing relationships. Women heal with women and men heal with men.

The first steps are to learn what it means to be accepted and loved by God just as we are. We are glorious (yet fallen) Image Bearers. We are cleansed Daughters. It's Jesus that made us beautiful for the Father.

Next in the steps of healing are to be taught right doctrine and to have a right (biblical) view of God, of self, of others. We need to understand how to do relationships biblically.

Women need to understand what appropriate boundaries are, how to rightly respect (and understand the principles on the Princess Pathway, accept others where they are at, believe the best and even release others to grow on their own. I'd also say that a woman needs to see herself as His Princess and she need to learn His dance for her - with Him. That dance is such an anchor in a moment of pain.

Prayer is key to walking a healing path. Journaling is also needed (you can only view this in Explorer). Creating safe places with safe people who will "hear the heart" to undo the blocks around the heart is imperative. In a sense we allow God to give back to us the blocks we didn't get by being in a relationship with safe people and by allowing ourselves to become vulnerable with one or more trusted women who will "hear our case and NOT fix us."

A woman must also take authority back from those she's allowed to define her. Anyone who you seek to "people-please" you'll tend to live by their rules and their yardstick rather than live by Gods. If we don't live by how God defines us, we'll stay stuck. A woman must learn to love and accept herself the way her Abba Father does.

Finally, but definitely not conclusively, a woman must learn about her feminine design and she must understand what her own biblical job description is. And, if you're really having a hard time with all this, then a personal, biblical life coach, like my friend, Linda might be needed.

12 Reasons Wives Refuse to Respect Husbands

I've been visiting this issue of respect and uprooted this article that I think is from the Love and Respect website.. It's good. I imagine this is for someone today.

12 Reasons Wives Refuse to Respect Husbands
This idea of respecting a husband is tough. After all, many wives do not feel a husband deserves respect. So, why would a wife act respectfully when she does not feel respect?

I am for wives. I want their husbands to love them. I believe fond feelings of love are ignited in the husband when a wife let's her husband know that she respects who he is as a human being, even though he fails on many fronts. Though his flesh is weak, when she respects his spirit, he responds to her.

But, this idea of respect is unsettling because wives don't "feel" respect. Here are some of the "reasons" offered to avoid showing unconditional respect.

This is important to address for every wife. A simple axiom exists: No husband feels fond feelings of love and affection toward his wife when she shows contempt for who he is.

Though the Bible reveals unconditional respect can win the heart of your husband (1 Peter 3:1,2) and Ephesians 5:33 reveals this is your husband's need from you, are any of the following views reflective of your heart? This article is designed to help you consider the "wall" you may have erected against showing respect.

1. You Resent Him: angry at him, for whatever reason, you feel he does not deserve any such words of honor. Well, I agree at one level. You aren't to do this because he has earned it. You are doing this because the Bible has given this instruction in Ephesians 5:33. As odd as this expression seems, this is called "unconditional respect." Let's trust our Heavenly Father's wisdom in doing this. He cares about you.

2. You Are Preoccupied: You are fixed on your love needs and the needs of the family that expressing respect to him is a marginal concern. There's no time to get around to acting on this respect thing. Having said that, you know that isn't exactly true. You have time to talk to him about your emotional needs, right? Every wife is looking for more face to face time to talk and increase the feelings of love between the two of them. No wife is too preoccupied for such talk time. This web sight is designed to give you tools and knowledge so that when you talk you can introduce respect talk. You'll be encouraged that this can result in the feelings of love increasing between you. My goal is to create fond feelings of love in his heart for you. Showing "respect" is what motivates him to be more loving! You aren't too preoccupied for that!

3. You'd be Self-deprecating: Expressing respect to him would devalue and degrade you; he would be honored at your expense. Well, this is highly unlikely. That won't happen any quicker than if he loved you that you'd became a self-centered prima dona. He will seek to love and honor you in turn, not devalue you. Why would he dishonor someone seeking to honor him? That violates the honor code among men.

4. You'd be Neglected: Communicating respect could go to his head and he'd be even more self-centered and neglecting of you emotionally. But that makes no sense. Did that happen in courtship? Your glowing attitude attracted him to move toward you and to focus on your heart.

5. You'd be Ridiculed: if you showed respect he'd sarcastically say, "You're a liar in light of all the disrespect you've shown me!" If he said this, it would be for one reason: your respect is too good to be true and he is being flippant. Stay the course! Flip it around, if he did something very loving to you, like brought flowers home unexpectedly, might you say, "What got into you? What do you want?" You do this because when things are too good to be true, you protect yourself with sarcasm. You are not ridiculing him but guarding your heart. Your husband will do the same. He isn't ridiculing but exclaiming, "I hope this is authentic. Prove to me you are sincere."

6. You'd be Manipulative: Knowing that "respect talk" is powerful and opens a man up, better to say nothing than manipulate him to say and act in responsive ways. However, this isn't manipulation but motivation. Yes, if a wife's motive is impure, then that is wrong. But, the solution here is to be authentic. The solution isn't, "Well, since I'm an impure person, I won't do this." What if he said, "I refuse to love you at all since I cannot love you perfectly!"?

7. You'd be Unjust: Telling him you respect him is so unfair since he should be initiating love toward you; you shouldn't be the one acting first. Maybe it isn't fair to you. But who is the mature one? If you are the mature one, it is wise to act first and act on the wisdom that will achieve your goals. To hold back as the mature because you feel it would be unfair makes little sense. Further, it makes no sense to show disrespect until he is more loving.

8. You'd be Accountable: Claiming respect for him demands that you continue to state and show respect, even personally changing wrong attitudes; so better not get into this in the first place. This is true, there is a call to change disrespectful attitudes. But, those are held onto because one believes disrespect will motivate him to be loving. That is comparable to him being unloving to motivate you to be respectful.

9. You've Tried This: Thinking such "respect-talk" has been spoken in the past, it's pointless to say it again. I have found this questionable. Many wives tell me this whole idea is foreign, so I question if the kind of respect we are discussing was shown. But, even if true, I have also found husbands responding in extremely positive ways to this respect. However, because the wife was looking for "flowers," so to speak, and no flowers came, then it didn't work. Yet, the next day a whole series of new things were done by him, and she didn't pay attention because it wasn't what she wanted. "If there are no flowers, then it didn't work."

10. You'd be Weakened: Feeling you need control, telling him you respected him would empower him and bridle your power. Peter says you can win him through respectful behavior (1 Peter 3:1,2). Peter did not see this as powerless but powerful. I know what you feel but please allow me to side with Peter on this one. I happen to believe he is inspired.

11. You'd be Lying: Not respecting him because of his poor performance as husband and father, you'd be untruthful in uttering words of respect. The respect test focuses on what is true not on what is untrue. It also looks at the spirit of the man, not his performance. The 3 disciples failed Jesus at His darkest moment. Yet, he said, "Your spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." We guide you in looking at the spirit of your husband created in the image of God. We happen to believe God's creation has some things in it that can be honored.

12. You'd be Depleted of All Energy: You are feeling wounded and wiped out; you feel hopeless. However, you are not so depleted and hopeless that it kept you from reading this. You have the energy. You are not finished yet in spite of what you say to yourself and others. Bottom line: good willed husbands respond to respect like wives respond to love.

Would love to hear your comments on this.

Friday, April 11, 2008

celebrating with cookies?

these just got posted at my marketplace!

sit back and . . .

Today, we are sitting back . . . taking a deep breath . . . and saying, "life is good."

how to make a princess pathway

Every Princess needs a Princess Pathway to stroll on, push her baby

and take in the beauty pauses of God moments.

And of course. . . . as life would sometimes have it - Princess Pathways end . . .

. . . and the King, building the Princess Pathway, hasn't finished it for us or at least so we think.

Princess Pathways take thought, strength and well . . .

a King and a Poppi who understands that

Princesses love to dance and need pathways to stroll on.

But, then an amazing thing can happen . . .

The older Princess (aka Nana) has learned what the King (aka Poppi) needs.

She knows that if she encourages him, he'll be able to find strength and time to continue the pathway so all the Princesses can walk on the Princess Pathway. . .

so. . .

. . . the older Princess (in all her feminine demure) sits close to her King - so that she can wipe the King's brow (another word for - encourage, adore, admire exceedingly, give honor - all meanings of respect).

This King likes that. Most Kings in the Kingdom like that. Many older Princesses would do well to learn what their King likes. They do well do learn what it means to respect their King (words of affirmation, kindness, adoring looks and things like that).

So, this King likes that his older Princess thinks he's way cool. He likes it when she admires him, his hands, his work. He likes it when she's close. He likes it that she is there, sometimes not even saying anything. Sometimes her silence is such beauty.

(Of course, the older Princess must battle the fifty million things she "should" be doing that are racing in her mind. She works - hard - on settling her heart to show respect to her King.)

And, so the King/Poppi gets inspired to continue the Princess Pathway - all for His Princesses. . .

. . . the Princess Pathway that leads to the "bump" . . .

. . . and he contines to be inspired . . .

even though a little Princess steps on the area he's working . .

and he . . .

. . . turns to give the Princess a Poppi Hug . . . and then . . .

. . . gets back to work . . . because his older Princess . . . continues to sit close by.

The End. It's all about respect - your man thrives on you respecting him.

girls...you've got to add vita d to your calcium

Arriving at the mid-fifty year old age bracket, I know the risks of osteoporosis and have faithfully taken my calcium.

Well, a few months ago I had a blood test and for some reason was deficient.

That's not good. I faithfully take 1200 mg of good calcium daily. So, the reason for my deficiency? Lack of Vitamin D.

Check this news wire out:
ORLANDO, Fla., Mar 27, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- New data indicates an aggressive Vitamin D treatment plan should be considered when caring for all Osteoporosis patients. Doing so may help decrease their likelihood of developing Vitamin D deficiency. These findings will be presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 17th Annual Meeting & Clinical by Harinder Singh, MD on Friday, May 16th at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando.

"Our research suggests that Vitamin D deficiency is quite prevalent in patients with Osteoporosis," Dr. Singh said. "Much more so than was originally believed."
Singh will present how his research showed an alarming rate of Vitamin D deficiency amongst patients being treated for Osteoporosis and furthermore, how it should be met with an "aggressive" treatment regimen.

Research on the topics of Vitamin D and Osteoporosis will be a major highlight at this year's meeting. Two major sessions include "Osteoporosis: What's New and What's Next," where AACE Member Nelson Watts MD, FACP, MACE will discuss a possible once-a-year treatment for Osteoporosis. The other session, "Vitamin D Deficiency: A Near Universal Health Problem," will focus on how adequate vitamin D intake may help reduce the severity of chronic endocrine-related diseases.

Puritan Pride is an excellent company that offers 15 cents on shipping for all orders AND a buy 2 get 3 free. Such a deal.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

cuppa, cuppa cupcakes

Lookey here what I found - a cupcake blog over at cupcake bakeshop! It pays to scout around. I've been looking for a yummy chocolate cupcake recipe and i think i found it.

These are her - pear & vanilla bean filled chocolate cupcakes with vanilla bean butter cream. Since, I'm crazy about cupcakes I think I must try them.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes~30 regular cupcakes /
375 degree oven1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
7. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

I made these a week ago. We had a family dinner (all eleven of us) to celebrate Miriam's Big 3. The pink ones were made Martha's Banana Cupcakes. They were yummy. I also made her recommended frosting - but don't think I'd make that one again. Too much with the banana.

learning to grieve well

Grieving isn't fun. It hurts. It takes the feminine soul into unknown waters where it makes one think they might drown.

Grieving is a must for personal growth and relational maturity.

What we don't grieve - we don't heal and area of our life where we don't heal - will spill over into how we "do relationships."

It matters to God how we do relationships and my son-in-law recently told me about a conference he went to where the speakers were addressing how we often relate to one another (in the community of faith) like we did in our family of origin. Ouch. He said the speakers were saying that God wants us to relate to each other according to Biblical principles and NOT family of origin.

I wonder if, because we don't grieve and thus don't heal if that's not why the Body (community of faith- followers of Jesus) keep trying to find a new community to join - because the old one touched on the place of pain not healed?

What's not grieved won't heal. What's not exposed won't heal. Hmmmm. . .

In my book Seven Spiritual Habits I wrote a chapter on Grieving and just felt led to share that chapter here today. I'm thinking there are some readers who are stuck and who haven't grieved and need some fresh perspective.

The habit of Growing in Relationships also includes the principle of giving yourself permission to grieve over losses of the past. Living life like a race detours the necessary soul work required to allow grief to do its perfect work to heal a wound.

Ingrid Trobish once wrote, “Only the one who is able to hurt is also allowed to heal.” That’s true isn’t it? Only when a wound is made can a scar grow flesh back together. Those hurts that have been grieved well heal the best.

Take a look at your body. Look at your scars. You may find one on your knee from a playground battle in kindergarten, or maybe one from burning yourself while baking cookies. I remember clearly when my left leg was scarred. It’s pretty faded now, but it took years to get that way. I’d been riding my bike as a nine-year old...and the rest you can imagine.

I’ll bet you could tell me all about what happened when you got your scars.

Life brings us other kinds of hurts, too. These are the kind that cut into the soul, leaving us wounded and in need of healing. Others don’t see these hurts, but we know they’re there. We feel them. Unlike watching the wound on my leg heal from my bicycle days, I couldn’t watch the wound in my heart (from the rejection of my divorce from my first marriage years ago) heal. It’s those cuts in the soul that seem to heal much more slowly. Sometimes they take a very, very long time.

Some physical injuries require a scab to be removed and an antibiotic and cleansing treatment to be applied, because the wound healed too quickly and infection is now oozing out from underneath the scab. It’s like that with emotional scars, too. When we ignore emotional injuries, and don’t provide the right atmosphere for healing, the “infection” will ooze out – in many different forms.

Unhealed wounds ooze with anger, bitterness, depression, resentment, or a refusal to get close to people, among other symptoms. Emotional injuries that haven’t healed properly deeply affect our relationships today.

Where are your emotional scars: loss of childhood, insecurity as a child, sexual violation, death of a parent, abandonment, sixth-grade ridicule and teasing, a first-love experience, abortion, a phantom mom, an uninvolved dad, divorce, loss of a sense of who you are, or…?

Unless you allow grieving to do its deep work of healing in your emotional injuries, it will be difficult for scars to fade; and there will be some type of detrimental effect.

How do you know what needs to be grieved?

Wherever there is loss, there is an element of grief that needs to be processed.

As you continue in the days to come, begin thinking about some of your emotional injuries. If a little pressure in an area causes pain, perhaps the Great Physician wants to bring healing by taking you to a deeper level or to a place that you have never been. Be open to it. He’s always gentle in His leading. Here’s a little list of where emotional injuries may lie: death, divorce, a child leaving home, a child going to school, a new job, moving, abortion, miscarriage, loss of a job, or changing churches, are just a few.

Now, let’s try to understand what grief is and what we do with it. Grief is the combination of sorrow, strong emotion, and the resulting confusion that comes from loss of someone or something important to us. Grief affects each of us in different ways. It can cause a heart to be shut down emotionally and leave us with a sense of intense aloneness.

When a heart (an emotion) is shut down, our relationships are impacted. Not only does a deep, internal sadness prevent healthy, empathetic connection, but it reduces our capacity to enjoy life. Grief not dealt with but stuffed can result in depression. You can know that someone is experiencing depression when they continue to “live in 1996” ~ or whenever it was that a significant loss occurred.

Becoming a Principled, On-Purpose women requires that we take an honest look at significant losses in our lives, not for the purpose of digging up and wallowing, but to allow Jesus - Who heals, to touch any undealt-with wounds so that we can move forward with His purposes in mind. The last thing we want to do is to stay stuck, reduce the explosion of joy in our souls, or not press in to all that God has for us. Grieving is a good thing. When we grieve well, it propels us forward to the good character changes that He has for us.

So, may you learn to not fear grieving and may you grieve well.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

organizing product reviews

Laura is a self proclaimed organizing junkie and she's got a new post on her product review blog that's . . . well. . . about organizing. This book - she LOVES. Read what she says about it here.

sweet marketplace sales

check out the fresh finds at my marketplace.

girls...the church of oprah?

Oprah: God is a feeling experience...not a believing experience.

The Church of Oprah. What are your thoughts?

Monday, April 07, 2008

maria's salsa - the best mexican salsa in the world

Maria makes the best Mexican Salsa in the whole world. She even taught some of us how to make it and would you believe we sold every jar for a fund raiser? I begged Maria (who joined our game night last Friday) to send me her recipe for her secret salsa. Just kidding.

I'm growing everything in my garden to make this salsa. Thanks Maria for the secret salsa recipe.

Ingredients:
1 jalapeño (fresh)
1 whole tomato – diced (can use 8 oz can of diced tomatoes instead)
¼ small small onion
¼ cup fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 lemon - squeezed(may substitute lemon/lime juice)
½ tsp salt
1 dash cumin (not necessary, only if you’d like)

Instructions:
(if you like more of any of the above, feel free to add them)
1. Cook jalapeño in water (until turns light green)
2. Chop jalapeño, tomatoes, cilantro, onion, garlic, and tomatoes in food processor (to desired consistency- may add water)
3. Combine all ingredients in bowl
4. Squeeze lemon or lime
5. Add salt and cumin (to taste)

ENJOY

game night with the girls

Daughter Candace loves parties and games and anything exciting and so she hosted a girl's game night at my home this past Friday. One of my daughters from India came to share in the fun. Not only was it her first "girl game night" but we got to be in on the NEWS. Vidya's marrying Ravi this June! Wouldn't it be incredible to go to a wedding in India! She'll be returning to Bangalor in June to marry the love of her life.

In case you don't see Vidya, she's the beautiful one on the right with the very bright smile (she'd just spoken with Ravi).

We played two truths and a lie and some other bearing your soul kind of game. Tons of fun.

tie the knot postage

Weddings are definitely in the air. Hey it's spring!

Michael and I are attending a wedding in two weeks and my friend Jamala is counting down the days or should I say minutes to her wedding date.

I'll be helping to plan a wedding later on toward the end of the year for a lovely bride from China. She wants an American wedding and I can't wait to start gathering ideas for her.

In the meantime, I just ran across this cool idea - Wedding Postage from Zazzle. They have a bridal dress, the groom's tuxedo, wedding rings and monograms all available as postage stamps. How cute to mail out your invitation with wedding stamps.

ideas for spring parties

I'd rather be planning a spring party than doing my taxes! If I were planning a party today, I'd be using some of these ideas for spring parties that Martha has. Everything lovely - ideas with birds, butterflies and flowers to celebrate spring.

What a great way for guests to identify their seats. This would be super sweet for a wedding reception too. I've included another seating idea here. I've got more wedding reception ideas here.

When you imagine a romantic dinner for two, crumbs never sully your partner's face. Give your fantasy a practical twist with napkins folded into a rose-inspired arrangement. The "flower" and "leaves" are tucked into a tumbler and set at each place setting. Don't worry about making the corners meet perfectly -- a little unevenness looks more natural.

To Form Leaves:

1. Fold a square green napkin in half along the diagonal.
2. Fold it in half again along the long edge.
3. Fold it once more in half along the long edge.

To Form Flower:

1. Use a square napkin of any color. Fold the cloth in half along the diagonal. Place it on your work surface so that the longest side of the resulting triangle is at the top. Take the corner opposite the longest side and fold it up so that it just extends over the top. The top and bottom edges should be parallel.
2. Fold the bottom edge up so that it falls just short of the top edge. Begin rolling the napkin from one end. Guide and adjust the cloth as you roll to give it an even shape.
3. Slip the completed flower between the upper and lower halves of the leaves, and arrange in the glass.

Let a flock of colorful paper butterflies loose, and you'll instantly give party decorations a lift. Trace the template onto a folded piece of paper, cut out the shape, and unfold the wings. (For different sizes, photocopy the template, reducing or enlarging the image.) Attach some to paper lanterns with tape or glue dots (sold by the roll at crafts stores), then fold the wings upward for true-to-life flutter form. For topflight cocktails, make 2 slits in the center of a butterfly cutout, and then slide a straw through.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

rolling out the beauty

The other day, Michael and I strolled down our little garden path (aka Princess Pathway) to admire his handiwork and hardwork. In the moment of sweet reflection, he said, "I want to roll out more beauty." I smiled. Wow. Roll out beauty. That's worthy to ponder. Here's how to make a Princess Pathway and here's how to take Baby Steps on Becoming a Purposeful Home Keeper

We lovingly admired the gorgeous growing goodies in Box # 1 and Box # 2: lettuce, tomatoes, dill, basil, nasturum, french sorrel, stevia, thyme. YES! Hmmm.....I'm thinking of Maria's salsa, great salad and my Italian sauce.

I've never had dill grow like this. I'm smiling. Just noticed some little varmit eating holes in my basil. Stink. I'm going to check out this organic company that has everything organic for the Simple Home gardeners like us.

This past week the Princess Pathway hit a speed bump. My Garden Guy's been on a bit of a "back sabbatical." He hurt his back - not from gardening, digging, laying down the Princess Pathway (the very, very heavy slate), but from bouncing on the trampoline with his grandsons while they were on his back. Go figure - he is Poppi, you know. The best, I might add.

My swiss chard and the hint of arugula is looking lovely.
Nice touch with the petunias, don't you think?

I'm totally excited about this: my purple beans are beginning to beg upward.
Anyone have any yummy recipes for them?

More sweet nasturtium - which by the way is a great planting companion that repels aphids for broccoli and squash bugs and beetles. Cool, huh!

For more gardening delights go here!