3.2.1 cupcakes

The girls came over this afternoon and I used my Pinterest board to remember something simple and fun to do with them.

You mix 2 boxes of cake mix together in a large zip lock plastic bag. One of them has to be angel food cake mix....the other is up to you. I had a spice cake mix which really smelled great as we were 'mixing it' and baking it.

So, get a coffee cup. Put in 3 tablespoons of the dry mix. Add 2 tablespoons of water. Stir very well. Microwave for 1 minute. Let it cool a couple of minutes, then use a knife to slightly loosen around the edges. 

It should just fall out. It actually was fairly good. I added a bit of peanut butter to the top of mine and had it with my afternoon cup of coffee and cream. Nice little treat when you don't want a whole cake around the house.

One of these girls likes to dive into her cupcake.

ok, on to other stuff, now. That's why I chose the 3.2.1 method of cooking!

in less than 2 weeks...

My BOY and his sweet family will be HOME from Australia. I am kinda giddy with excitement right now just thinking about them being here, my youngest getting married, having all the little cousins at the wedding...spending time just BEING with them for one whole week.

Here they are for their first Easter in Brisbane. They get to go to Hillsong...Wow, I'd love to visit that church. Well, I may just have to pay them all a visit next year!

I can't wait to hold my newest grandbaby for the very first time. Isn't she kissable? Squeezable??

And here's the big guy, himself. Can't wait to hear all about 'Kindy' (his preK class) and what he has been up to.

Sam's Asian Chopped Salad

I'm one of those people that can eat the very same thing over and over again. 

Breakfast: coffee with cream (2 cups sipped very slowly on a really great morning, 1 1/2 cups inhaled on a morning that I have to be somewhere before 9 AM)

2nd breakfast: Greek yogurt w/ a banana sliced up into it...or whatever fruit I have on hand...usually about 9:30 on those good mornings

early lunch: peanut butter sandwich with agave syrup and a few sun chips...about 11:15..maybe an apple or a few baby carrots

late lunch: more greek yogurt or maybe another peanut butter foldover... about 2 pm ...maybe a cup of coffee, too

dinner: this is where it changes up a bit. I eat just about anything, but none of the things mentioned above. I am really not 'into' food. I have a brother that gets excited like it's Christmas eve when he tells me about his latest sauce concoction or soup recipe. I dunno. I just don't 'get it'. 

So, if I find a very easy meal that could be lunch or dinner, is good just out of the bag, OR cooked. WELL, gotta share. 

RUN to Sam's and get this little bag of goodness. It's only about $2.50. Hurry. You know Sam's only carries the stuff you REALLY like for about 2 or 3 months. The check out guy even confirmed that he loved this salad, but didn't see it being on the shelves much longer. I could have cried. Yes, it's that good. Try it cold. Try it stir fried with some grilled meat. JUST try it! It's mostly cabbage, no lettuce. The sauce and combination of cilantro mixed into the salad mix is amazing. I'm having it for lunch today.

go fish!

I don't even like to eat that much fish, much less 'go fish'...but if I had a rod, I would have parked myself out at this pond all morning. This is over in Lake Somerville State Park where we camped this week. The very last one is my personal favorite. 

I have no idea what 'seines' means. Need to look it up.

Got some rain Monday night that made the flowers bow down onto the path.

In the scheme of things

Something about being outside reminds me not of my smallness, but more of my place. It helps to remember the sun keeps coming up, the water still laps up to the shore. Butterflies and moths are going to fly through golden Black Eyed Susans. Ladybugs will find a perch on my leg. The audience is just me. The stage is before me and the show never ends. The special effects are outstanding. My work today is just to be still enough to not miss a thing.

hop scotchin' on nana's driveway

this weekend...a ton of fun and it's not over yet!

Door #1

I woke up thinking about a friend who is having surgery to remove lymph nodes because of a report of cancer...microscopic cancer cells...in the lymph nodes. It seems like this has been a spring for cancer to raise a very ugly head. One friend died last week after a diagnosis just late last summer. A cousin has been fighting for months now. A friend at church is going thru chemo now. And my list goes on...

I was just thinking about how a diagnosis like that would make me just stop cold. Really. This life as I know it now is going to end. In my mind I could just see this door. STOP before entering. Really, I would come to a screeching halt. That door even SMELLED like fear. Does fear have a smell?

As I was thinking about this, I could sense a whisper beside me. "Sue Anne, look...this is not the door. I've already opened another one for you. My door is right next to it. Just open it. Come in. Step into the life I have created for you. Life that goes on and and on. In my presence forever."

Thank you, God. Thank you that you make decisions to come to you so simple that even a child can understand. Thank you for that life you have created, those 'whispers' of it I even hear now. Thank you that you even call LOUDLY to me when I need you to get my attention. Thank you for the red door on  my own house that reminds me of the passover. Help me be a good doorkeeper, making it easy for people to choose your doorway.