I Think God Is A Fashonista, Sushi Is My BF, Shabbat Shalom Everyone!

Whee, finally walking in the door after work! Not that it was all that busy today, but I did a lot of fun running around right after work. One of the fun things I did was hit my favorite consignment shop. They have really cool clothes, shoes, and handbags. I found an awesome barg-a $53 designer cardigan for $20. It's aquamarine and white, with 3/4" sleeves, and pretty aquamarine buttons. I've learned not to put off buying certain colors or pieces of outfits, just because I don't readily have something to wear an item with. This is a good thing, cause I was thinking I would have to order a tank to go with it, when I realized my mom had gone to one of her haunts, and found a $3 white tank for me earlier. Now where can you find a one of a kind outfit like that for $23-nowhere!

So, I've been on this kick to live a balanced life within my budget, so that I can retire rich :-) And, I have been paying my tithes, and having talks to God about helping me stay on target. People, I am of a strong mind that God is a true fashionista! Remember the tent of meetings and Solomon's Temple? I'm telling you, God is with team Dianne. I stumble upon bargain after bargain. Not only at consignment shops, but be it at a flea market, a junk store, or a farmer's market, as well.

Unfortunately, this balanced life within a budget means I must adjust to eating sushi out only twice a month, on the lunch menu. But that's O.K. because sushi for lunch, which btw is my BF, can be inexpensive if you know how to order. God is just so cool! I think He loves a good bargain and good food too! Its no wonder I'm a Jesuschic!

Spicy Crab Roll at Jasmine's-Crab, asparagus, avocado, rice, masago, black sesame seeds, and spicy mayo.

It's supposed to rain tonight! I've got the window in the living room wide open, waiting on the rain to come. When it starts, I'm moving up front with my Agatha Christie book! Of course the pets will follow. Ziggy will lounge on the couch arm with me, and Caity will curl up in the pet chair, that she had a "fit" on and ripped the stuffing partially out of the seat, which has now been temporary mended, and sits under the window. I so wanted to BBQ a chicken on the grill tomorrow, but the forecast is for more rain. I checked Daisy the pug's forecast for pets, and she says more rain is headed our way! Boo! Double boo! I took this video with my iPhone of this tree near my home dancing with the wind just before it rains (allow the video a second to play, then pause it to allow it to completely buffer, before you hit play again. I just learned this trick of how to buffer a video today!) Caity and I were mesmerized by the tree dancing with the wind. I thought it was relaxing to watch, so I'm sharing it with you. Of course if you are afraid of storms, this will not be relaxing to you. We've had so many storms in our area lately, that they no longer bother me in that way. What can you do but prepare and pray. Now I embrace nature at work. Isn't it fascinating! 

Oh well, I have a new recipe for lasagna that I also wanted to try out. I can do that where its safe and dry indoors. Either way, I'll be puttering around my kitchen having fun cooking. Picture to follow later!


This morning my bible study covered Psalm 37 and Galatians 4. I love Psalm 37. It is one of my favorite psalms. I also enjoyed reading Galatians 4. Both chapters are full of reassurance from God during trials and tribulations, we all face at some time in our lives. They give us Godly principles of how to "deal," and convey God telling us we are not alone, for He see, He hears, and He knows what we are going thru. Not only does God provide us with The Plan, (Christ as our redeemer) He provides us with Principles to work along with The Plan. His Principles will not give us mediocre results, but successful results! Call on Jesus! Woohoo!  I believe the principles spoken of in Psalm 37 to be the same principles Christ stood on when enduring the ordeal with the angry crowd, the guards, and Pontius Pilate that lead up to His crucifixion. Be a God imitator!


Yesterday, I also read up on the greeting, "Shabbat Shalom." I was curious what Shabbat Shalom meant, so I looked it up on Ask.com. Here is what I found. "Shabbat is the Jewish sabbath. Unlike Christians who celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, Jews celebrate the day of rest beginning Friday evening at sun down throughout Saturday night when three stars are visible. Shabbat is a day of rest, honoring and keeping holy the day to remember the act of creation and the rest that followed the six days of creating. The ideal Shabbat is restful, complete break from the work of the other six days, filled with peace. Shalom, as you know, is the Hebrew word for peace. Shabbat Shalom is a greeting that means 'May you have a peaceful Sabbath." Right now it's 7:12 p.m. where I'm at, so Shabbat Shalom everyone!


COME VISIT THE PURPLE DOOR WITH FLOWERCHIC again! As always, you're more than welcome to grab a cup of java, sit awhile with me, and rest yourself. 

Caity the lil dog and my resting bench at the park

FLOWERCHIC

Take Me Back, When's The Last Time You "Darned" Anything? One Hot Mess!

Take me back, I feel like I'm back at my auntie's kitchen table experiencing my first bowl of cheese grits down in Atlanta. Before that day I had never eaten grits, I had heard about them, but never eaten them. Even then I loved to cook. It was my spring break present from my family to fly me down to Atlanta for a week with my aunt and uncle. It was my first time on an airplane. Not that I was alone, I met 2 people I had seen around campus. One was a girl who traveled quite a bit. She got me thru the Memphis connection as a newbie, and still made her flight. We ended up flying back home together too. Real nice girl. Anyhoo, for breakfast I'm having cheese grits, fried catfish fillet, and one of my better cups of Java with real cream. Boy, am I in heaven or what?

We don't have a fish market around here anymore. As a child we had one in a neighboring town, and it was owned by Joe Clankey.  He had the coolest market. You walked in the door, and in the summer, the screen door slapped against the door frame as it closed, and off to your right was this huge tub, about waist high full of live fish swimming around in water. All kinds of fish. Catfish, bluegill, croppy, and even eel!  For those of you who may not be fish connoisseurs, eel is this long fish that's black and moves in the water like a big black snake, or it was big in my memory. So my mom would go to the counter and tell Joe what kind of fish she wanted and he would go to the tub and fish out what she wanted. Joe caught his own fish from the river, and sold it. He had this wooden tree slab where he would whack the fish over the head with a mallet, to be humane like, and then clean your fish for ya, and cut it up right there at his make shift table. He'd then weigh it out for ya, wrap it up in white butcher paper, and tie it up with cord. He had this big spool of cord that would twirl as he masterfully wrapped your fish up. He'd tie it in a nice bow for you, so it would be easy to unwrap. He'd always break the cord off with his bare hands. That was always exciting, next to looking at the different fish swim around in the fish tub. That was back in the day when you could eat river fish without all the hoopla. Now days they have what you call fish ponds, where they harvest fish or pools they call them. I think I would faint dead away, if looked at a pool of nothing but black eel.

I got my love of coffee from my great grandmother. Her name was Carrie. Oh do I miss her! She was really old from my first memory of her. My auntie and she lived together in a small apartment when I first remembered her. My mom has tales of her living with my great grandmother in the country on their farm. She raised my mom after her mother died when my mom was like 3 or 4 years old. My aunt would make strong coffee and leave the cream in a little pitcher on the table for grandma Carrie to doctor her coffee with. It was always real cream, never the fake stuff. That's how she taught me to fix my first cup of coffee as a kid. In those days you made coffee on the kitchen stove. Remember those old perk-a-lators!

When was the last time you ever darned a piece of clothing?

darn 1 |därn|verb [ trans. ]embroider (material) with a large running stitch.mend (knitted material or a hole in this) by weaving yarn across the hole with a needle.

My sister and I were talking this morning, after going clothes shopping day before yesterday, that we needed to start darning some of our clothes, rather than always buying new ones. Clothes are getting outrageous price wise. So today, I have a pair of pants I am going to up the hem on, and I am going to sew a button that has been missing since last winter on my lightweight rain coat, and I need to move 3 buttons over on a pair of pants. One on the front, and two side buttons. Just the other day I had to darn 3 places on one of my favorite sweaters.  So glad they had home economics when I went to school. Do they still teach home economics in schools these days? Well they should!

That dog Caity is in big trouble! I came in from work yesterday, and as I glanced in the living room,  I noticed that the pet's pillow was on the floor. I didn't think anything about it since that happens quite a lot when I'm not there. I don't expect them to pick them up of course, I just go round the room and replace them. Later on, I go in there to read, and I find their pillow, their pet towel, both on the floor with stuffing piled high in the pet chair! Now I paid $25 for this chair especially for the pets. It has served 3 cats and Caity the dog for 3 years. She is what they called "One hot mess" from days yonder. No, it was not Ziggy the cat. Ziggy is  declawed! It was OHM! I stuffed the stuffing back in, covered it with their LL Bean beach towel that is actually Ziggy's with his embroidered name on the edge, that he now shares with OHM! This was the before picture. Don't be fooled by that meek look of hers!

Sista, just called. I dropped a hint I was needing a tomato for my fish sandwich later while talking to her on her cell, on her way to the grocery. She's on her way over with it. That girl is a real gem of a sister! Course, so am I! Hehe!

I tell ya, I started out living a sheltered life, then that metamorphosed into a hard patch, now I'm livin a blessed life. Ain't God good!

Oh...if you ever have problems with my links, or I should say Blogger's link, simply highlight the links I provide, right click and choose "open in another window" or "open URL" and you will be able to view the links. For some reason, Blogger does not enable hyperlinks any more.

COME TO THE PURPLE DOOR WITH FLOWERCHIC next time, and we'll travel somewhere or unearth something to talk about! Stay blessed cause you already are. You do know that right!?

ARE WE GONNA WALK THIS WALK WITH GOD OR ARE WE JUST GONNA TALK ABOUT IT?

I would like to encourage anyone who is in prayer for a change in their lives to turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4. This is a fascinating chapter in regards to the steadfastness of God on our behalf for all that is excellent. Note the word excellent. For I believe, if we pray in faith for anything that God does not consider to be for our good, He will not allow it to happen. Oh, I know your next question after making that kind of bold statement is, "How will I know to keep believing or not to?" The answer is, always continue to pray in faith. That, and continue to stay in relationship. If it is in the Word of God, than it is available to you to pray for, but if it is not in the plan of God, which is always in your very best of interest, then continue in faith with God. Because whatever God says "No" to, there is a better "Yes" in God's plan for you! 

Don't plead with God to make your plans something He should bless you with. Simply pray and stay in faith. Just know that if you prayed in faith, and things didn't turn out according to your plan, that God has a more excellent plan for you. You might not see that there is a better plan, because you were focused on your plan. But there is a stage we must all reach as believers called maturity of a believer. It is where you decide you will believe for God's best for yourself always, but, that you will understand that if your best is not good enough, that God will take you past what you believe, to what He will deliver, which will be excellent. 

So long as you will not give up on your long-term relationship with God, and vow to mature yourself to where you will not part ways with God when your plan and His plan don't seem to be alike, I believe God's present "No" will be a greater "Yes" than we could ever imagine. 

Deuteronomy 3:23-26 and 4:21 Moses pleads with God, but becomes obedient, and resolute to stay in relationship with God, even though after pleading with God, God's answer was still "No." He pleaded so earnestly, that God finally has to tell him, "Enough!"

Now fast forward to the New Testament in the book of Luke 9:28-36, who is on that mountain speaking with the one and only Jesus Christ, along with Peter, James, and John? None other than faithful, obedient, and mature Moses. 

God had a plan for Moses. Behind God's "No" for Moses crossing the Jordan over to Israel's promise land was God's greater "Yes!"

²⁸ And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up into the mountain to pray.

²⁹ And as he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment [became] white [and] dazzling.

³⁰ And behold, there talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah;

³¹ who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³² Now Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

³³ And it came to pass, as they were parting from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what he said.

³⁴ And while he said these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.

³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him.

That right there makes me want to dance, dance, dance, dance, dance! Praise God! Now are we gonna walk this walk with God, or are we just gonna talk about it?

Below is my all time favorite Angela Spivey song from back in the day. Enjoy!

FLOWERCHIC

In The Kitchen Making Italian Wedding Soup

OK, I'm on my way out the door with my shopping list in my purse to give this new recipe a twirl. Today I am making Italian Wedding soup! I have been wanting to make this like forever. I've got garlic toast on the brain to go with it. I still have french bread in the freezer from making french toast. And I've got mozzarella cheese in the fridge too. Oooooh, this is making me hungry, gotta go shopping!

I'm back from the grocers, and boy did they have a meat sale goin on! Picked up some pork chops for grillin with a small amount of unhealthy "seasoning" around edge to keep it tender. I've been complaining about them cutting all the edges off. You gotta have a little to keep it from drying out on the grill. I made out like a bandit with a little over $36, not bad. Most of the soup ingredient I already have on hand, so I was able to take advantage of the sale.

Here is what the finished product looks like. I've placed a link below for the easy recipe. I'm not one of those cooks that show you how its done, I take the easy route and show you the finished product. Ha!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_334894_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html

After I went shopping, I came home and picked up my Agatha Christie book to take back to the library for Amnesty week. Woohoo, all my sins, I mean, fines have been wiped off the books.

Well I did finish putting my entryway back together. I love my hodge-podge room.

This is where all my treasures are. My bookshelf with all my books, which is also where I drop my purse at, my keys in a cute bowl I brought leftovers from my mom's, but never returned, "Wow, did I just admit to that? Oh well, as my sister would say, "Tell the truth and shame the devil!"" In this room I have placed my favorite red 50's barstool, my old fashioned wagon, that I use a lot around the yard, and hauling laundry to and fro from the car, my metal rack with all my goodies where I store bottled water, and fresh fruit that I grab on my way out the door to work, can goods, pots n pans, and my collection of dog leashes. This room is an extension of my kitchen and my living room. Both of which are small. So I decorated it up and made it work for me. 

Its time to read a little, and enjoy a bowl of soup! Since I can't share a bowl with you, I'll leave this song for you. Click below and enjoy. Come to the purple door and visit with me again. Who knows what will be going on.

FLOWERCHIC

http://youtu.be/zSif77IVQdY

WHAT IS IT WITH THIS GENERATION AND SHUTTING DOORS!

I watched my mom as she went into church today. There are at least 7 steps into our church sanctuary. She holds on to the rail as she maneuvers each step with her purse and cane. Then she makes her way into the pew where we normally sit. Mom has arthritis in her hands and fingers, her wrist, and her spine, she walks with a cane sometimes, but not all the time. She never gives up. Every day she has a plan for things that need to be done.  She is slow, but steady, and very determined. She carries herself well. 


I made her bed for her today after church. And I didn't tuck the sides in, just at the foot of the bed. I remembered. I no longer feel the need to tuck the sides of the sheet in three fourth of the way up the mattress. I have prayed away all the night monsters that might grab her leg in the night! She is not afraid of the night monsters grabbing her leg and has requested that I just tuck the sheet in at the foot of the bed. This is our joke.

In church, we shared laughs, and smiles, and whispered like school girls! Lately, I've been on her about putting some "umph" into shutting doors, especially the passenger car door. I've told her, "One of these days, we're going to walk out of church to a dead battery." This morning her response was, "Your door is too heavy for me." Today, she met an old friend who was coming in the door to church as we were going out. As I turned to check on mom, I noticed the door to church was standing wide open. Shortly, one of the members came and waved as she came to shut the door to the sanctuary, behind mom's friend, who is around the same age as she. I chuckled and thought to myself, "What is it with this generation and shutting doors!" Then I just smiled as I shook my head. Strength and energy are a few things the young, and the abled take for granted. For some, it takes all they got to do the things others think nothing of. 


My sister and I laugh about this, and are determined in our minds today, that we shall shut all doors firmly in our advanced years!


The time I spend with my parents...I count it all joy as an adult woman. They are both true blessing in my life.


Flowerchic 

ORDER IS A GOOD THING, AND GOD IS A GOD OF DETAILS

Up with the birds this morning and its my day off. :) Happy Good Friday everyone! Lights on in the kitchen, coffee being made, Caity's stretching in her doggy abode, Ziggy's giving himself his morning bath, and I'm yawning as I type. Today's agenda?  Shopping for zucchini, squash, asparagus, baked potatoes, & all the other things needed for supper. Plus, getting the seafood and veggies prepped for grilling out. However this morning, I'm getting my house in ship shape for family.

I'm taking a break from re-shelving my books back into my entryway bookshelf. I'm finding this chore not to be so much a chore as a love. I'm randomly flipping through books as I place them on the shelves, and dusting them off. I notice myself smiling as I perform this task, because I love my books and I love to read. As I shelve each book, I'm reliving the storyline as I go, when reading the titles and authors on the spines of each one. I've totally reorganized the entry way to make it more efficient and organized.

The other day I was reading the book of Numbers in my bible study. I was at the part where in my mind, God is making a big deal about the blowing of the horn when He wants to assemble Moses and the people. One blast, assembles to tribal heads, two blasts the tribal heads and the people. The order of movement starts with the east side of the camp, and then the south side of the camp when heading out to the tent of meetings with Him. At face value, you wonder why the specific order? Why the attention to detail? I find when I ask questions about the smallest of details in my study, it is there that God gives me great revelation, because I have noticed that God is into the details. Rather than just reading through my scriptures, I am learning that when I stop and mosey into the specifics that catch my attention, It is there that I find the character of God.

Think how many people there were in these great procession of movement to the tent of meetings. Without order there would be chaos. Beside being a God of detail, God is a God of order. Both of these characteristics are a big deal with God. He is the great orchestrator of all creation. In God's world, there has to be order! If they all moved at once, mayhem would occur. Think about what happens when we all pray at once for something to occur in our lives. It's not just our situation that God is in charge of arranging things to work for our situation. Its the trickle affect, that shifting of the whole world in some way. This revelation has taught me to be more patient in waiting for my prayer requests to manifest. God's got me until my prayer is answered, but there is a whole lot of shifting going on in the Kingdom to work out the logistics of our prayers. No longer do I see God waving His magic wand over my situation. God is into what is excellent for me, and for you and those connected to our prayer request. God remembers every prayer. Once the prayer of faith is met, it instantly falls in line with God's order of procession.

Well, speaking of order of procession, I must get back to moving my day along, so that I can throw this great celebration feast together for my family. Remember what this weekend celebration is all about. It is about the coming together of God and Christ's Plan for salvation of Jews and Gentiles. Their Plan was to allow Christ to be our Redeemer by the laying down of His life willingly, so that we as believers could be one with He and the Father through the forgiveness of our sins daily. Christ became the final sin offering for all mankind throughout all generations. It is because of this Plan, that we as believers approach the throne of God with boldness, and confidence as children of God, that He hears our prayers of faith, and acts in our best interest to bless us.

FLOWERCHIC

HEY GRANDPA! WHAT'S FOR SUPPER!

Well I made it back from eating sashimi at Jasmine's! I had the Tuna Lover's lunch with my friend, Charlotte, she and I are both foodies. Charlotte is teaching me joys of eating sushi and sashimi.

Afterwards, I went to Aldi to go shopping for groceries for Sunday's dinner. I have decided that I am grilling dinner rain or shine.  I am serving a seafood dinner. I am going totally non-traditional, which I usually do! So the menu will be grilled Tilapia, scallops, and shrimp, as well as asparagus, orange and red peppers, purple onions, mixed with yellow squash and zucchini and huge baked potatoes with chive and sour cream. The last time I made the veggie dish I did it in the oven and they loved it! They will really love it fresh off the grill with a smoky wood chip taste to it. 

For drinks, I'm mixing a cool concoction that is so very simple! Take individual bottles of Perrier water, place them in the refrigerator, when ready to sit down to dinner add individual packets of Crystal Light packets to each bottle. The mineral water is what makes this so refreshing! Want to add pizzazz, take a mason jar and add blueberries, pineapple chucks, raspberries, and blackberries for a cool look!

For dessert I am fixing a blueberry pie with a scoop of Prairie Farms vanilla ice cream. Pie crust is in the fridge and canned blueberries are on the shelf. Fresh blueberries are too expensive. Blueberry pie is one of my mom's favorites.

Well I gotta sneak a pet update in here. Caity's glamour spa day went well. I gave her a bath, I clipped her nails, administered her flea and heart worm meds and her stomach worm pills (cause she eats ahem-unmentionables when we go on walks. She is so quick to eat stuff, before I can get a chance to stop her.) And I trimmed her back side. For those of you who don't know, I am on a mission to stay within budget, and one of my cuts is pet grooming. So, I am doing Caity grooming myself. To glam it up, I'm calling it our spa day! So far she has been looking pretty good. I'm no professional, but she still looks better afterward than she did before. Ha!

I love going to flea markets! After shopping, I went to my favorite place and bought my tomato plant, and I picked up a few gifts for a friend who is forever giving from her heart, and who has blessed me many times. So come Monday, I will box them up and send them off to her. Its just a bunch of cool, funky one of a kind stuff. I'm placing them all in a nifty handmade bag and shipping them off to her with no forward notice. I may try to make her one of my greeting cards. I love to make my own cards and give them away! It makes the whole gift giving a total love feast.

Today, I decided to make Flowerchic's World Famous Egg Salad! I make great egg salad! I hated egg salad as a kid, and refused to eat it. Then one day Martha Stewart made it, and I went straight to my kitchen and duplicated it. That's the thing about egg salad, most all of the ingredients are in your kitchen. However, I have seen and heard of some exotic ingredients in egg salad. Egg salad is not tuna salad minus the tuna. It is not potato salad minus the the potatoes. Its a simple salad! Its what Mrs. Farmer Brown made when she had too many eggs! Ha! Its what mother's made when they needed to stretch "daddy's" pay check. Yes, I'm from the tail end of that June Cleaver era. Its inexpensive, easy, and delish, not to mention quick.

You mash 8 boiled eggs, add salt and pepper, mustard, chopped celery. Wahla! You have egg salad. The key is to get fresh eggs, there is a difference. You want to jazz it up, add sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. I don't like my food to look like a color wheel, so I add mustard powder, but to each his/her own. I use celery hearts and the tender stalks. I always eat mine with a really beefy tomato. I love it on garlic toast with radicchio lettuce or red leaf lettuce, and hey, I'm good! Sometimes I add a few herbs that I especially like too. Add a glass of ice tea with lemon and I'm really good!

I live a very basic and simple life, with ups and downs like everyone else, but for the most part, chugged full of joy. Three maybe four years ago, I learned the difference between joy and happiness, and my life has been forever changed. For I learned that I can have very little and have the gift of laughter, which is free of charge. I can be in the middle of a horrible day, where I do declare no one loves me, and I can sing a lil diddy of praise to God, and he shows up with tons of love. I can see into the future, past my current circumstances, to what God has promised me, and find my outlook has shifted to the better. I can close my eyes, and be silent, and block the world around me out, just by singing a praise song in my head, or by encouraging myself with a scripture. My fav, Proverb 3:5-8 or my dad's fav, Psalm 121:1-3.


So, whats your fav scripture that gets you thru? Feel free to post a comment, or tweet me.


FLOWERCHIC

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY EVERYBODY!

Today marks in history where Christ rode a procession into Jerusalem. Soon, He would follow thru on His and the Father's Plan to redeem all mankind, Jew and Gentile. Becoming a Holy Sacrifice thru which we all would be reconciled with the Father without shame. Christ grabbed those keys of sin and death from Satan's hands, walked out of hell with them, and arose to sit at the right hand side of God, once again! Mission accomplished! Aren't you glad!!!!!!


I waved my palm in the air, like a saved child of God, who didn't have a care in the world! I'm practicing for that great day when Christ comes, and I step to the side and get in line!


Be blessed in all you do, as you enter in and out, and about your day!


Flowerchic