Time Spent with the Right Man
September 29, 2008|Comments (20)
In my single days, my friends and I devoured each and every relationship advice book we could get our ringless hands on. We adsorbed a few key lines from one and then raced on to the next — blaming the apparent shortage of quality and single menfolk on any number of things. Namely the vast quantity of cute little blondes. One of the lines that we quoted most often was: “Time spent with the wrong person is time wasted.”
We felt this addressed our tendency to hang on to failing relationships — ones we knew would never be right for us — or decide to date someone just because we thought we would never get another offer. Never. Most people in that part of the country married their high school sweethearts so at the ripe old age of nineteen, I had passed my prime. Hopes of getting a date were pretty slim (about as likely as my acceptance to WWF training camp *giggles*). Did I mention this was a college town? Well, I was amazed at how many people met at college and spent the rest of their lives in wedded bliss. How did that happen exactly? I failed utterly at that one, too.
So, I kept busy. I went camping, took random trips to the beach with my friends, traveled around the country, and rode my horses. After all, being single wasn’t a disease that required a cure. It wasn’t a life sentence to taking an extra long time in the produce section of the grocery store in hopes that I would crash carts with someone who met a few simple requirements: shared my faith, had a job, didn’t live with their parents, and happened to be single. It was on one of these trips, those adventures I was determined to enjoy, that I decide to leave Virginia and move. I planned on just moving to Washington for a few months. Just long enough to enjoy the end of summer and beginning of fall. A change of scenery was in order.
I met Josh just before the winter rains began. I was moving into a new place and he was preparing to move out of his apartment. We’d been neighbors and didn’t even know it. After having declared him utterly gorgeous, I promptly invited him to a steak dinner — my treat. He accepted and we’ve been best friends ever since.
No time with him is ever wasted. Not a single moment. On a scale of one to ten, one being the smell of papaya and ten being an ice cream sundae — he’s an ice cream sundae.
My advice to all those ladies out there who are waiting for the right guy? Serve steak instead of fancy girlie food. And never settle for anything less than your best friend — the one who will stay up all night watching goofy eighties movies with you, tells you when you’ve got boogers in your nose, mothers you when you’ve caught the flu, and shares your dreams and your faith.
Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup (Better Than Granny’s)
September 27, 2008|Comments (17)
Okay, I have no earthly idea what your granny’s baked potato soup tasted like but I’m willing to bet that it can’t begin to compare with this recipe! Cheesy, heartwarming, and filling — this soup really has it all. It’s loaded. Loaded like a M32 Multiple Grenade Launcher headed for battle. Only this soup is pretty ding dang peaceful because after one bowl you are rendered completely useless. It would be excellent to serve during “peace talks.” What an oversight — serving chicken cordon bleu instead of this totally kicking and easy to make soup.
Now for the lineup (okay, I forgot to put some ingredients in the picture — you caught me):
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 6 medium red potatoes, unpeeled and cubed
- 1 white onion or 4 green onions (choose your own adventure)
- 1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
- 1 rib of celery, minced
- 4 tsp. white vinegar
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 cups milk (I use goats milk) + 1/4 cup flour + 1 heaping tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup (heaping) Monterrey Jack cheese, grated + 1/2 cup (heaping) cheddar cheese, grated
- OR 1/2 cup (heaping) Colby cheese, grated + 1/2 cup (heaping) pepper jack cheese, grated
- 6-12 strips of cooked beef bacon, chopped
- black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
Place broth, potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, vinegar and salt into a thick bottomed kettle (I use the same kettle that I cooked the bacon in but I pour out the grease before adding the other stuff). Cover and cook on medium-high heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, grate that cheese and whisk the milk with flour and mustard. Paint a portrait. Learn a new language. Write a Miss America acceptance speech.
Stir once and a while, okay?
Remove lid. (Yes, I had to tell you.) Pour in that milk, flour, mustard mixture and stir. Stir! Add cheese, black pepper, and bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 6-8 minutes. Serve. Enjoy. Make another batch. Send some to me. And this is what it looks like as you stir:
Can anyone say *heaven*? This stuff is seriously addictive. Seriously. This is last meal material, if you ask me.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you… I have TWO giveaways going on. TWO! Of course, you’ve probably know about the green cleaning Value Pack but did you know about the homemade soap?? Check it out!
The Real Scoop on Cleaners: What You Need To Know and a GIVEAWAY
September 26, 2008|Comments (41)
We live in a very busy world. The stats don’t lie: 160.6 million people in the U.S. alone are working their tails off at full- and part-time jobs. What does that have to do with household cleaners? Everything.
You see, the large corporations manufacturing these products know that you, the consumer, don’t have time to do the research and figure out what they (the cleaning companies) are exposing your family to in every clean-up wipe, disinfectant spray, and detergent. Marketed to make your life easier also keep your family healthier, one might wonder why so many of these amazing products have intense and VERY scary warning labels.
Well, perhaps you hadn’t wondered. But I did. I’m all over those warning labels like face paint on KISS (That’s a band, folks. One I am rather fond of. Don’t judge me.) I raided my cupboards and found some very unsettling stuff that had invaded my cleaning supplies.
There are some options for do-it-yourself cleaners but many of us just don’t have time to mix ingredients and play chemist in the kitchen. So which products are okay to buy off the shelf? Which of the “green cleaners” will actually perform? Which products are truly safe to use around our babies, grandbabies, or sweet puppy dogs? (Yes, I worry about what chemicals are around my cuddly-wuddly puppy dogs. Don’t you?)
After considerable research and help from friends who are just as concerned about harmful chemicals and living an eco-friendly lifestyle, I found a TERRIFIC company: Simply Neutral.
Have you heard of them? Have you tried their products? Well, today is your LUCKY day! I am going to give one Value Pack (which includes the all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, and nonabrasive cleaner) to a lucky commenter so they can try these products and rave to their friends. And while I know that you are all equally devoted KISS fans, but painting your face to look like the Starchild (a KISS reference) and knocking on your neighbors’ doors to rave about theses products is not recommended. What is advised is telling every single person who will listen how great they clean and how you don’t have to worry that they will turn your family into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles every time you clean up around them.
And the price? I know you are curious. I know you are sitting in your desk chair thinking, “That Lacy girl must be rolling in the dough to afford a fantastic product like that.”
Oh, my goodness no. As a military wife, I can tell you right now that I can’t afford to buy designer-name-brand anything. I am a non-generic person who must buy generic. There are entire aisles in the grocery store that I don’t even walk down because I can’t afford a single thing on the shelves. How about that for some honesty?
But just to make it even easier on you… and I am all about that… the lovely ladies at Simply Neutral want to offer you a 10% discount on any order you place online using the code: *simplyonline*. They also offered up the giveaway of the Value Pack so I wouldn’t have to cough up the bucks to give you one myself. And, I want you to know that I contacted them. I wanted to write about their product. That’s how much I love them.
Employment Stats -Bureau of Labor Statistics
A Report Card - Women’s Voices for the Earth
Voting closes at 10:00 a.m. Monday (September 29th). Winner to be announced at noon EST Monday September 29, 2008. Your comment is your entry. Can’t think of what to write? Tell me about the worst mess you have ever had to clean up. Please no repeat entries. Tell your friends!
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