Just a Country Girl stuck in the City

Just my ramblings

I have spent the last few months decluttering and reorganizing our home--what a blessing it has been to get into those closets and corners and clean them out--how freeing--I honestly think my home decluttering is very much like what needs done in our hearts from time to time--There are times we just need to pull away from everything and spend some time deep cleaning our hearts--go into those hidden places that others do not see, but we know is there and just begin purging all the dirt, grime and filth that accumulates--We all have those hidden places--When we go into our 'prayer closet' and begin looking deep within we will find things we forgot were there--things that burden and weigh us down--much like 'stuff' we horde in our homes--We must get rid of that stuff in order to move on and experience God grace to its fullest--I am in the process of purging my heart as well as my home--I have held onto things for way to long and its time to let go--when that root of bitterness takes hold it grows into so many areas of life and a person becomes depressed, saddned and angered over the smallest things--Sometimes these bitter roots took hold in childhood--or maybe as an adult someone or many people wronged you and you never forgave them--when left unattened these roots ruin all the other fruit that may be there--This is not an easy process because when we let go of that anger, resentment and bitterness our walls come down and we are vunerable--we open ourselves up for all kinds hurts--Kinda like when we purge our homes of clutter we open up spaces we forgot was there and if we are not careful we will fill them right back up with junk--we must stay on top of our household chores and decluttering--such is our spirtual life--once things are purged and thrown out--we must be diligent to not allow that garbage back in--We must deal with situation when they arise--don't stuff it--I am famous for stuffing my feelings when they get hurt--I pretend all is ok when inside I am crying--then one little thing may happen and I blow up--but still I am angry--the only way to get over that is to give it to God--fully and completely--Doesn't this all sound so easy--LOL--It isn't--its hard to look at all the garbage--sometimes its even overwhelming--some you may have to deal with daily--but you can learn to distance youself--and learn to say no when you mean no--learn to be assertive and let someone know when they hurt you--It really is ok to stand up for yourself--Sometimes parents may be the ones that hurt you--sometimes it friends--church members--regardless of who it is--we must GIVE IT TO GOD--and walk away--don't go back and pick it up--God already bought and payed for it all--now give him what belongs to him and HE will take care of it! I will quit rambling for now--have a great day!

~Kris

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Good Morning--This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you.

I do not need your help.

Have a nice day. I love you.

P.S. And, remember... If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

Save on Shaving Cream

Don’t you love the ease of shaving with your favorite shaving cream or lotion? Well, you can get that simple time saver for less!

When your shaving cream or lotion runs out, don’t replace it. Instead use olive oil! Olive oil is a bit thicker than other oils, but also provides essential moisture to your skin. Rub it on your leg and shave as usual. If this seems like the end of this frugal practice, hold on, because you will also save on your moisturizing lotion. When you use olive oil in place of shaving cream, you won’t need to moisturize your skin afterwards. DOUBLE SAVINGS!

This tip works with men as well, and since olive oil doesn’t have an odor, no purchasing of separate products. Now that is a simply frugal savings!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking. She is a writer, speaker, and vintage seamstress. For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

We found a house

We found a house we like.  It is a 7 bedrooms,  4 baths 4200 square feet and on almost 3/4 acre, only for 350 thousand!! , we are in California remember.   We were emailed it and just loved the pictures and how it sounded.  We went to see it and it is two house not one house!   Ugh!!!    Why do they not tell you that when you are looking at a few to see?   They know what you want, so why do they waste my time??

We are going to look at another one, but this one is smaller only 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and 2300 square feet , but it has the land we want. 

We are just looking at this time as we still have our ranch and love it there.  We will see where and if God wants us to move, but we keep looking.

God Bless, mj

Today's Tips --- Fruitcakes (start them now)

Today's Tips:

• If you plan to make fruitcakes for Christmas, you need to make them now, this week, because most fruitcakes have to "season" for at least a month and are even better if you can let them set longer.
  
  
• I know some of you would love to give them as gifts, but I suggest starting small until you have some success with them. The ingredients for fruitcakes can be expensive. If you buy a ton of ingredients and make several batches that subsequently flop you can be out a lot of money.
  
  
• Be sure to allow you fruitcake to age for at least a month before you put it in the freezer. Freezing stops the aging (or seasoning) process.
  
  
• Always bake at low temperatures: 250 - 300 degrees is best, but some recipes do go a little higher depending on their ingredients.
  
  
• Because they take so long to bake, line the pan with 1-3 layers of brown paper (you can use a brown paper sack) to prevent them from getting too brown and drying out. Make sure the paper comes up a couple of inches past the top of the pan.
  
  
• Fill the pan only 2/3 full with batter.
  
  
• To help prevent the fruitcake from drying out, place a pan of hot water on a lower rack in the oven while it is baking.
  
  
• To test whether it is done, insert a toothpick. If it comes out moist but not gooey, it is done.
  
  
• Let fruitcakes cool on a cooling rack before taking them out of the pan. When cool, dump them out of the pan and peel off the paper.
  
  
• You can bake in muffin pans or mini loaf pans, but be sure to adjust the baking time. It will be shorter.
  
  
• Don't store in a plastic container. The fruitcake will absorb old flavors that have been left behind in the plastic. Wrap in plastic wrap; then foil. Do not wrap with the foil touching the fruitcake because in some cases it can cause a chemical reaction.
  
  
• You can take any basic recipe and change what you put in it as far as the fruits and nuts are concerned. Just be sure you use the same amounts. For example if it calls for one cup of dried pineapple, you can replace it with mango as long as you use one cup.
  
  
• Always mix the fruit and nuts with some or all of the flour for the recipe before you put it in. This keeps all these things from sinking to the bottom. Do this with any recipe that calls for fruit or nuts.
  
  
• As with any recipe, read it from start to finish before you begin!
  

Today's Recipes:

Here are 4 fruitcake recipes that you might try. The first is not your usual fruitcake, but I thought it was perfect for our web site (Poor mans fruitcake ;-) ) and the second is a more traditional one. Number 3 is a no bake and the fourth, (No Fail fruitcake) I dedicate it to all the first timers.

Poor man's Fruitcake

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
4 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each cloves, nutmeg and salt
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. gum drops, no black ones
3 cups raisins
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and line two 9x5 loaf pans with brown paper. Sift flour, and spices. Cut gum drops into fourths, and mix those, the raisins and nuts with part of flour mix. Cream together butter, sugars and eggs. Alternately, add the flour mix and applesauce. Add soda to hot water and mix it into the batter. Then add the vanilla. Add gumdrops, raisins, and nuts mixture. Bake for 2 hours. If you use a tube pan instead of loaf pans bake 30-40 minutes longer.

Christmas Wreath Fruitcake

(Don't forget that you can take out anything like the dates or fruits and replace them with equal amounts of something you prefer.)

1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup red and green cherries
3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup candied pineapple, diced
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp.  lemon zest
4 eggs
2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300°. Mix first 8 ingredients. In separate bowl cream butter, sugar and add lemon zest, eggs and lemon juice. Mix into flour mixture. Bake for 2 hours.

No Bake Fruitcake

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2 cups raisins
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups candied pineapple chunks
2 cups dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup dried currants
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups almonds, chopped
1/4 cup candies cherries
1/2 tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt
4 cups graham cracker crumbs

Grease a 9x13 loaf pan. Mix everything well and pour into the pan. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 1 week to age.

Never Fail Fruitcake

This is a big recipe but you can easily half it. Using half, you can make 22 cupcakes but, if you do, only bake them for 40 minutes.

1 lb. candied cherries, chopped
1 lb. dates, pitted and chopped
1 lb. candied pineapple, chopped
1 lb. pecans, chopped
4 (8oz.) pkgs. coconut
3 Tbsp. flour
2 (14 oz.) cans of sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease two 9x13 pans and line with brown paper or parchment paper.  Mix everything very well and press into pans. Bake 1 1/2 hours. Cool and remove from pan.

This was all taken from my newsletter:

Living On A Dime

Somedays I wonder--

--how I get through the day in one piece--LOL--a few weeks ago I was doing dishes and dropped my cell phone in the water(we only use cell phones)--believe it or not it still worked--I let it dry over night--put the battery back in and it worked--well except for the camera--which I never used anyway-- yesterday I was out feeding rabbits, gathering eggs and what have ya and I noticed my phone was not clipped onto the waist of my skirt like usual--I figured I left it in the house--got the chores done and began looking for it--not in the house--I retraced my steps outside and there it was--smashed into the dirt--LOL--I usually drive to the feed shed and pen when its cold out and I had ran over it--it looked fine so I figured it would still work--not a chance!--so I suspended dd's phone and put my number over on her's until after Christmas when I can afford to get  another one--I do have the phone insurance so it will only be 50.00 to get another one but right now I am saving everything we can--And something I realized is that I had all my phone numbers programed into my phone--and I do not know the numbers--Made me realize how I too have been bitten by the technology bug to the point I do not have my oldests dd's cell phone number memorized or even my own sisters--Soooooooo, one good thing that has come from it is that I will now do better keeping track of phone numbers of those that are close to me--Boy! Have we as a society gotten lazy or what? No wonder kids are not learning things anymore--everything is programed for them--just push a button and call a friend--no more dialing the number!--What an eye opener to me!--Our brains are slowly wasting away all in the name of technology! Time for me at least to begin using the built in computer God blessed me with--MY BRAIN! What a concept--LOL--

~Kris

Christmas "get to know you"

1.) Wrapping paper or gift bags?  I have to say that every year I try and do something different in that department. One year I wrapped everything in brown mailing paper. Used raffia for ribbons, it was really pretty.

2.) Real tree or artificial? Most of the time it's artificial but this year I might get a real one.

3.) When do you put up the tree? A few days after Thanksgiving, around the weekend after.

4.)When do you take the tree down? The day after Christmas.

5.) Do you like eggnog? OH yes, but I can't have too much of it.

6.) Favorite gift recieved as a child? My Easy Bake Oven. It prepared me for my life as a mom, LOL.

7.)Hardest person to buy for? My husband, he is by far the hardest. He never tells me what he wants and then whatever I do get him, he always looks depressed.

8.)Easiest person to buy for? I would have to say that would be my wonderful daughter, Kristy. She loves anything that she didn't have to buy herself. LOL She loves old vintage things, so last year all she wanted was garage sale and thriftstore items. I had a blast shopping for her and she had a blast opening her gifts.

9.)Do you have a nativity scene? Yes a few small ones, but I would really love a nice one that I could set up on top of my entertainment center.

10.) Mail or e-mail christmas cards? Mail, with pretty Christmas stamps.

11.) Worst christmas gift you ever recieved? I would have to say a tread mill that my dh gave me one year. It was one of those manual ones. Lets just say it went back to the store. lol

12.) Favorite christmas movie? A Christmas Story. The "B B Gun Boy" as we call him, is  in my top five movies of all time.

13.) When do you start shopping for christmas? Early November, sometimes sooner.

14.) Have you ever recycled a christmas present? Probably so.

15.) Favorite thing to eat at christmas? Cornbread dressing and turkey.

16.) Lights on the tree?  Most years yes.

17.) Favorite christmas song? I'll Be Home for Christmas

18.) Travel at christmas or stay home? Always stay home, everyone comes to me.

19.) Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes I can.

20.) Angel on top of tree or star? Old fashion quilted star.

21.) Open presents christmas eve or morning?  Christmas Eve at the inlaws and Christmas morning at home.

22.) Most annoying thing about this time of year?  The crowds.

23.) Favorite thing about this time of year? Baking goodies and the cooler weather.

24.) Favorite ornament theme or color? When my dad died 26 years ago, I made an ornament with his picture in it, so that would have to be my favorite one.

25.) Favorite food for christmas dinner?  Same as #15.

26.) Favorite christmas tradition? Putting up the tree and drinking egg nog while listening to holiday music.

27.) What do you want for christmas this year. My family around me.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Fires in California

I do not know if you see on your news things about California , but we are having major fires.  We have 6 going and 3 of them are close around us.   We live in Chino.  Chino Hills was Chino to, until they changed it to Chino Hills ( it was always just called the hills) because they did not to live in a city that has a prison.  Carbon canyon is also part of Chino Hills (Chino).   We live a few miles form Diamond Bar and Corona.  We have fires all around us.  We are praying for the people who lost their homes and for all the people helping out.  So many people lost it all.

People were evacuated 3 miles from us.   It has been very smokey and it looks like it snowed due to the ash.   It is fall but we have been in the 90's.   Hubby had such a hard time getting home from work on Friday.  The 3 freeways were closed as was Carbon Canyon.   It took him over 2.5 hours to drive the 17 miles home!!

God Bless, mj

Pictures of Marty's life

I am posting more pictures of Marty.

Marty as a pup:

As a young man:

At Disneyland :

Different Christmas pictures taken at Disneyland:

Him with one of his puppies:

As you all can see we love this guy a lot!!  Marty was a part of all our lives everyday.   I am still developing  rolls of film.  As I find pictures of him I will post them.

We miss him so very much.

P.s here is one of the poor guy dressed as Snow White:

He just love to be with us and his sisters, even if they painted his nails and dressed him up as a girl.

God Bless, mj

Weekend Wrap-up

My weekend was a really good one. I got a new car! Yeahhhh! Now I can make a left hand turn without my car killing and leaving me on the side of the road. It was too funny, each time I would make a left turn, it would kill. It was to the point where if I could have gotten to where I was going by making a right, I would have. But that wouldn't have gotten me too far.

My friend Debbie's dh surprised her with a new van a couple of weeks back so she offered me her Marquis. She owed $2,800 on it but she sold it to me for $2,000, what a great friend she is. She even drove it to me from out of town. She moved several years back and now she lives about two hours away from me towards Texas, so we only see each every so often. 

She arrived Friday night after dropping her grandkids off at their other grandma's house, and it was a late night gab fest.  Well not too late really, I think we were alseep by midnight. I remember when we would stay up all night and chat. Boy, we are just getting old. Another sure sign was that we would sit on the porch all night and day, but it was too cold for us so we stayed inside wrapped up in blankets and did our chatting, lol.

We did venture out for some garage salein' Saturday morning with my daughter. I spent only $3 or $4. I bought two books, one is "Foods that Heal" and the other is "The Healing Foods".   I am really interested in learning as much as I can about eating healthier. I also picked up a cute little kitchen rug.

We also went eat lunch at a new Mexican resturant in town, yummy stuff.  She left yesterday afternoon and I missed her not long after she left.

So this morning my dh and I headed out of town to Sam's for a few things. I hadn't gone in a while. I had to depend on my daughter to take me where I wanted to go, if I had to make a left turn lol, so I was excited to be able to go without worry. Hubby and I had a good time getting out for a change. Can't wait to do it again soon.

My camera is still not working, otherwise I would show you'll my new ride, lol. Have a good evening and thanks for stopping by.

Simple Womans DayBook

TODAY 11-17-08

Outside My Window...The sun is shining, the dogs are enjoying the sun and chickens are pecking the ground

I am thinking...how grateful I am for the life I have

I am thankful for... for all the trials I have had and will have in life--Its then I grow

From the kitchen... I smell pot roast with potatoes, onions and carrots

I am wearing...T-shirt and long denim skirt

I am creating... a nice decluttered home for my family

I am reading...Raising Small Livestock(again)

I am hoping...for a mild winter

I am hearing...My crabb family CD 

Around the house... everything is neat and tidy

One of my favorite things...Thanksgiving Turkey

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: finish up my decluttering and organizing

Here is picture thought I am sharing

Be sure to visit Peggy at "A Simple Woman" to join in and do your own day book.

~Kris